Puppy #2

We recently adopted yet another animal into our family! Please welcome Beretta, a 6-month-old Coonhound mix. At N.E.W. PAWSibilities, she was known as Zoe, but we needed to changed that!  Her and Caliber have been getting along well. We took Caliber to the shelter for us when we began our short search for dog number two. We originally wanted to wait to get a second dog until after our wedding in 2014, so what made us change our minds?

Mike and I were headed out to Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon to get a new vacuum to keep up with Caliber's shedding. (And can I just tell you that the Dyson DC24 Animal is the most amazing thing ever? It makes Michael like to clean! I can't believe how much it picks up, not to mention how much our old vacuum was missing! We had to empty the container THREE times just to do our small living room and bedroom, and that's AFTER we already vacuumed with the old one!) As we pulled out of the driveway, we saw Caliber's cute little face peeking out our front picture window. I told him when I see him watching me leave, it breaks my heart. So Mike said, "Maybe we should get him a dog." I was SO excited. I mean, why wait? So Sunday night we looked at shelters online, and on Monday evening we were walking into N.E.W. PAWSibilities with Caliber to find his new sibling. Mike and I decided we wanted a 2-year-old dog so they were calmer, more mature. We also didn't want any type of hound dog, because they're known for barking.

N.E.W. PAWSibilities was our first stop, and the dogs I liked online weren't really fitting to our energy levels. When we met "Zoe", a 6-month-old Coonhound mix, she and Caliber demonstrated good chemistry and we couldn't get over her beautiful brindle coat. For only being six months, she is extremely calm. She was everything we weren't looking for (a hound dog and  a puppy), so we decided to adopt her! She is the sweetest little girl, though. A big cuddle bug who looks like an Oreo Blizzard. When she sees you come home, or wake up in the morning, she wags her tail so fast her butt can't keep up. So I sing "wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle" to her.






We've had her for a eight days so far, and she's really come out of her shell. She's still submissive, but has become playful. Her and Caliber rough house a little too much, but it's getting better. They're working on learning to share toys (mostly Caliber). They can get very, very loud. Beretta has this wonderful piercing whine, and Caliber has a constant, deep bark. And when their teeth clank together, it's probably one of the worst sounds on the planet. Next to snoring. God, I really HATE snoring. How I fell in love with a mouth-breather, I'll never know.



Adjusting to having two dogs hasn't been too difficult. More water slop on the floors to dodge, but overall it seems pretty easy. The hardest part is breaking up the rough housing when it gets too rough. It's typically stemmed from Caliber NEEDING the toy Beretta has. Poor Beretta.

You Know You Own Your Car When...

Today was not just an ordinary day. Today I felt like an adult. Why? Because I encountered adult problems.

My day started out normal enough. I was pretty bummed that Mike's half day was cancelled, so I would need to come home for lunch to let Caliber out. I always lose my spot when I return and need to park a mile away. Yesterday I actually wandered around two rows before I bumped into my car by chance.

As I pulled into the parking lot at work I noticed a premo spot! There was a vehicle ahead of me in line and I thought "shoot, they're gonna take my spot!" Well they didn't! And thank God, because as I turned around the horse-shoe curve the car's engine light, battery light and oil light came on. I couldn't accelerate, and as I coasted down the aisle I prayed I would at least make it to the open spot. I was so elated when I made it. Then I realized my car also had no power steering, but luckily my arms aren't as weak as I thought, and I made it.

After the initial shock of my car dying wore off, I texted Mike. He had me try to restart my car and hold the gas pedal down at the same time, but that didn't work. After panicking about not knowing what to do, I decided to find out if Bergstrom had a mechanic shop in town.

Bergstrom Body Shop was great to work with when I had my car in for a new door (after my neighbor backed into the old one), so I called the 800 number on their website for help. They gave me a number of their recommended towing company, who I called next. The guy on the phone, while nice, wasn't really explaining things to me. He didn't even ask for my license plate number, so I made sure to let him know. After we hung up I wondered how Bergstrom would get into my car if I had the key, and was told I don't need to be there when the car is picked up... So I called the tow truck company back to tell him I'd put the spare key in the glove box. The man seemed grateful.

When Bergstrom called to tell me my car arrived, I asked for someone to pick me up and take me home. This short ride with an elderly driver was an adventure in itself. I got into the car and we were making chit chat about my employment when all of a sudden the car phone spoke "Please hang up, or press star for more options." Turns out he left me a REALLY long voicemail. We moved on to the weather, and I mentioned it's supposed to rain later this week. He told me that since he just got his car washed, he'll have to take his other car to the bar this weekend so he can stay out later. That way, if it rains, it won't dirty his recently washed vehicle.

When he made a turn away from my house, I asked him where we were going. He said, "The dealership." I was so confused. I thought he knew my home address from the guy that arranged the pick-up, but no that's not the case. Good thing I only live a few blocks away from the dealership, so it wasn't too far out of his way. My street name is both a Court and an Avenue, but they are not near each other. And even though I told the driver that I live on the Ave, and explained where it was, he tried to take me to the Court. Good grief.

When I got home, Caliber greeted me at the door (of course), and I noticed his black nose was now white, so I asked him why. When I turned to put my coat in the closet, my question was answered. He clawed and chewed my wall. Come on! The majority of my hours are worked from home, but this week I was in the office Monday-Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. He is just not used to being alone THAT much, so he did it out of anxiety/boredom. I can't blame him, but I'd really rather he just pee all over or something that I don't need to paint. He also chewed some holes in Mike's gloves he left out. The other day Caliber also got a hold of Mike's hat he left out. I really hope Mike sees the pattern and uses this as a learning experience.

As you can see, I'll need get the paint and brushes out of storage.

While I don't want my car to ever have problems, I do prefer that it chose to die in my works' parking lot than on the highway. I am actually really relieved it happened the way it did. It turns out that I didn't even need to go into the office today; I could've worked the whole shift from home! But if I didn't miss the text telling me that, the next time I would've been driving my car would be tomorrow on the highway by myself. No thanks!

I was keeping my sense of humor about all of this crazy until the mechanic called to update me. My timing belt broke, and they need to order a new one along with a tensioner (whatever that is). Apparently these things are expensive, because my bill (as of right now) is $615. Once they disassemble it to swap out the parts, they'll be able to tell me if anything else is wrong with it. Can't wait!