Troubles McSteans

Scout has been doing unbelievably well for a youg pup with Labrador DNA and a mentor who took a year and a half to learn how to "shake". After about a week, she pretty much refused to go back in her crate and since it was there mainly for her to feel safe in our absence, she's had free reign of the downstairs ever since. She's also completely housebroken and plays really well with both Lucy and now Cassidy. She had been doing so well that I just knew a slip up was coming. Yesterday morning I was wary walking in the door from dialysis as I knew the dogs had not gotten their morning walkies. Ryan had left early to go to Waco for work and I don't walk them on the days I get my blood cleaned. On first glance everything looked in order. There were no sofa cushions on the floor, no area rug stains, no dead cat. I settled on the couch, grabbed my computer, went for the power cable and pulled back a mangled cord. I sat staring at the cable for about 10 seconds and ...

I want to start by thanking everyone for the lovely birthday wishes! I was under the weather all week including on my birthday, so seeing all the messages from friends lifted my spirits. All in all with the party last weekend, Doug's surprise visit, and the multitude of birthday greetings it was a great 34th. Yesterday Ryan and I ventured north to IKEA in Round Rock in search of a new armoire/TV cabinet for the bedroom. The IKEA experience is always a bit of a time sink as they cleverly route you through each and every section of the store on your way to checkout. This means a trip to pick up a single item of furniture almost certainly leads to: "You know, we could really use a small table next to the stairs" "We need to consider getting an island for the kitchen" "If we get an island in the kitchen we'll have to get rid of the hutch" "If we get rid of the hutch we'll need to get something to replace the hutch in the dining room to hol...

The floor guys are still here doing their thing. They are finished with the staining and scoring and are going to be working on sealing today. Tomorrow they paint the walls, so I hope we can agree on paint colors before then. Floors in progress Yesterday after dialysis I was planning on staying holed up in the bedroom with Jeff the Cat until around 1:30 when they started scoring the cement. I don't know if you've ever smelled cement dust, but it's nauseatingly suffocating. I had to flee. After opening a window for Jeff the Cat and wishing him the best of luck, I headed off to my parents new house in San Marcos where they were preparing for today's arrival of furniture and boxes. And so begins what is sure to be a tradition of pop-ins. Here's how it goes: Me calling mom, IN the car on the way to their house : "What are you all up to?" Mom: "Not much" Me: "Are you at home?" Mom: "Yes" Me: "I'm coming over." L...

The floor guys are not messing around. They were scheduled to start this morning between 8 and 8:30, so I wandered off to Starbucks to gather some pastries and coffee for Ryan and myself. The clock on my car dash read "8:01" as I rounded the corner of Campfield Parkway (our street) and not only was the Mystic Illusions van parked out front, but every inch of our front room carpet was already stacked on the porch. So now we are prisoners of the second floor along side Jeff the Cat, who is loving this. He never gets his 'people' to himself without some big smelly dogs shoving him out of the way. Now he has two warm people with two warm laptops camped out on his bed. I have the feeling he's going to be spending much of his time inverted between the two of us today. Mel and Lucy are hanging out at cousin Cassidy's today. Apparently, in true Steans dogs style, they refused to go out this morning, so we'll have to make a mid-day voyage over to Hop-a-Long L...

Next week should be interesting. We're having our downstairs redone -- trading our cheap, crappy linoleum and dirty, pet stained carpets for stained and scored cement. We're also having the walls painted. I'm excited about this transformation, but the logistics are not simple. Right now we're in the process of slowly moving all non furniture items upstairs. The movers are coming Monday morning to transfer all of our furniture, Tetris style, into the garage. Because the downstairs will be off limits for the week, we'll have to relocate ourselves and the pets. Jeff the Cat will be jailed upstairs in the master bedroom, while the rest of us may be camped out at Hop-a-Long Lounge with Jason and Cassidy. Also next week: my parents are making their official move from Oklahoma to San Marcos. My mom says packing is going relatively smoothly, perhaps eased by their carting of Ford Escape Hybrid-loads of items down during the past year. I hope they have room for their...