Day 36 and 37 - Today I am thankful...

Today I am thankful for handyman services.  When I was a kid, we used to troop, along with our cousins, to Grandma's house, twice a year, to put up and take down her storm windows and screens.  Grandma was a widow, so her son and son in law did this kind of thing for her.  Or her neighbors.  Like Grandma, I'm an older lady living alone, and I'm not particularly handy.  So when I need something done, I have to find someone who can do it.

Nowadays, that means the so-called "gig" economy comes into play.  There's not a lot of do-it-yourself.  I'm grateful for having found people at various times to remove a shed, replace a door, etc.  Today it will be making space for the new stove.  

It's raining.  One victory was that I convinced Ember to come outside to do her business, despite the rain.  We did not go on a morning walk, and I cooked and ate my oatmeal before 7 a.m.  The carpenter is not due until 9, so I spent the 7-8 a.m. hour clearing off counters, and clearing out drawers and cabinet shelves of the cabinet that I anticipate will be moved.

I got up on top of the 'fridge to clear off and found about five years' worth of crud underneath all the clutter of things I elevated to keep them away from the dog.

All this done, I sat down to breathe and found that the carpenter did not show up at the dot of nine as I had on my calendar, so I'm kind of guessing this is a "window" of time in which he begins to appear.

Still, within half an hour the doorbell rang, and it was not in fact, the carpenter, it was the guy from the lawn service, come to shut down the sprinkler system for the season.  He walked me through the process, which has multiple steps, and I'm thinking I will probably give them a call again in the Spring and let them do it for me.

The carpenter arrived about 10:45 a.m.  He's going to need help lifting the old stove out.  Once they got the old one out, they discovered that it's hard wired into the wall.  So now we need to have that changed to allow for a 4-prong outlet.  They are trying to get that scheduled yet for today.

Old stove out, waiting to be hauled off when they deliver the new one.

The trick will be keeping Ember from tearing into this pile between now and when it gets hauled away!

Empty space awaiting the new stove.  Note the power box there.  The electrician is due to come within the next hour or so to swap that out for a four-prong plug.

Welp, the electrician guy came, and started working on it, in fact did about an hour and a half, but he had brought the wrong receptacle... so he has to come back in the morning!  

I still don't have a time window for the delivery of the stove and 'fridge.

It's still raining, the backyard is flooding, making a stream.  Ember drinks from the stream and at least does her peeing outside.  Now she's back down for puppy nap #2.

Electrician Mike will come back at 8 - 8:30 tomorrow morning to finish the job on the outlet for the new stove.

Things got worse about 4:30 p.m. when the appliance store gave me a robocall saying my delivery window is between 8 and 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday.  The electrician's appointment text says he's not here until 8:15.  Considering that the carpenter was supposed to be here at 9 and didn't get here until 10:45 a.m., I freaked out and called the store.  They told me they could deliver "drop off" but not install, and have the electrician install it?  Yikes, that's no solution!

To reschedule, they were four days out... which hits the same day as my eye appointment!  So that shoves it all the way to Monday.  So, I am rolling the dice and hoping that the ballet works out.  If I ask they to install the 'fridge first, then allow me to transfer the food from the old fridge to the new, then haul off the old appliances, and lastly put in the stove?  Could it work out?  Depends entirely on when who shows up.

So I'm all stressed out.  

Consequently, for Day 37 (Tuesday), my gratitude is for the philosophy, espoused by many, that "things could be worse".  It's kind of hard to argue with that one.  This whole logistical shuffle is such a minor thing in the bucket of life problems, don't you think?

Ember was a good girl all day as people came and went and did things with machines and things got moved around.  I only have to protect those wires from her for a few hours more.

Life is Good.  Seriously!  Spark on!

Day 35 - Today I am thankful...

 

Today I am thankful for the younger generation and their willingness to include us "seniors" in their lives.  As is traditional in my birthday week, we went to the "big" dog park with Carl, and this year, Ember got to come along.

Which leads to gratitude for the times when the puppy is fully exercised, and angelic in sleep!

I wish I could share photos of the outing at the dog park, and I am clipping some so that the foster grandchild doesn't show up.  I don't want to leave him out as he's a great kid and I'm proud to be associated, mind you, but it's one of those security rules for the safety of children.

Long grass, after the first frost, bespeaks of "hunting season" and the big dogs were ready for running room.  Daughter in law told me to smile... an easy thing to do when you're out in a beautiful setting on a nice day!  I clipped it, but you can see a pair of green pant-knees, up in that tree.  Somebody is a climber.

Life is good!  Spark on!

Day 34 - Today I am thankful...

 I just told the Facebook crowd that I'm thankful for videos that make me laugh and give me hope.  I had just indulged in a few minutes of watching someone's Golden Retriever who "loves pumpkins".  It was well produced and edited, and I'm sure for the life of me that I could not find it again to link here.  Bottom line, after a certain length of time, I grew restless with it. I have "stuff to do", as we all do, but I realized I was thankful that such diversions exist.  I am thankful that people spend the effort in making them available.

Ember looks "leggy" in this photo.  Growing critters look gangly at times, chubby at times, and angelic when they sleep!

Her busy morning before this nap was in yesterday's blog.

Step one:  dishwasher installed.  No serious damage from the former machine leaking.

Step two:  Coming Monday... carpenter to deal with making room for the new stove.

Step three:  new stove and fridge arrive, on Tuesday.

In the meantime, today, Saturday, we have a play date to meet Carl and his humans at the dog park.  It is supposed to be a nice day again, and this is practically tradition for my birthday week some time!  This photo is from a year ago.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Day 33 - Today I am thankful...

 

I told Facebook this morning that I'm thankful for my siblings.  Seriously, who else shares the same but different childhood memories?

Since getting up this morning, I'm thankful for Ember "hurrying up" the last three blocks of our morning walk to get home before the dishwasher installer decided we weren't going to show!  We could see the truck in our driveway, and I hadn't been able to answer the phone while holding her leash on the far side of our walk.

I was impressed.  I was thankful that she let the installer hold the leash while I unlocked and opened the door.  I was thankful that she kenneled up for me so he could get to work.  Sometimes you have to be grateful just that you get things figured out and done!

I'm thankful for the support of the folks who read and comment on my blog!  I mean, when I'm feeling discouraged, they lift me up with the hope that it will all come out OK in the end.  Ember will grow into a mature and civil canine member of society and will not be jumping all over or nipping at people, but will settle down, as she did this morning for the installer.

I asked him if he had dogs, he had interacted with her so well.  He said that no, he does not have a dog of his own, but his job requires him to deal with them on the regular.  If he couldn't do this, it would be the wrong job for him, because about half of the homes he goes into, or even more than half, have pets.  I mentioned allergies, and he said sometimes when the pet hair is voluminous, he feels stuffed up.  That reminds me, I'm thankful for the meds that allow those with allergies to function in life!

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!

Day 32 - Today I am thankful...

 

I was having a hard time coming up with gratitude this morning and fell back onto the Anne of Green Gables classic of "a new day with no mistakes in it"...

Then I thought of the Wordle game which took me six tried today and ended up being a word I had forgotten was a word.  Not being a big anatomy buff.

Then when I started to write this blog, and looked for a photo to attach, last night's fiery sunset popped up.  There's always something to be thankful for, even if we are having a hard time.

Looking back at why I was having a hard time, it was related to Ember's regression, or change in phase to adolescence, or something.  Regardless, she was a pill during the rainy day yesterday and has been testing her limits.  And when her Aunt Alicia came over after her work day was over, Alicia tried to interact with Ember and was being ever so good to her, calming the little one, rubbing her belly, etc.  Then when she stopped, Ember jumped her from behind.  Alicia, quite sensibly, decided she had had enough, and left through the house while I contained Ember.

Naturally, I felt like an utter failure as a dog-mom!  My puppy isn't being civil to my human friends and family.  At least she wasn't yesterday!  Sigh.

Thursday is another day.  We woke to frost.  The welcome mat on the deck was frozen to the deck surface.  This gave Ember a "challenge accepted!" moment or sixteen.  She was determined to detach it.  Took her three trips outside before she managed to do so, but she did.

Our morning walk was marred by some evidence of fears resurfacing.  Another big dog accompanied by a similarly small woman... we were trying to negotiate how to keep the dogs separate and safe.  But Ember had been pulling me in both directions (and I'd been letting her direct our route, as I often do).  Finally had to force the issue.  The other lady took her dog off sidewalk into the drainage area.  I convinced Ember to cross the street to a place where there was no sidewalk (the continuation of the drainage area).  And we survived to get home in one piece although my fingers were pretty frozen up by then.

I had my workout with the trainer.  Only one this week.  Turns out the heat wasn't working at the studio, so it was 50℉ inside!  Not bad for working out, honestly.  It got up to 60 by the time I finished my workout.

I came home and got Ember up from her nap.  Took her on a long sniffapalooza in the park, and she got some pets from a neighbor man who'd petted her in the past.  Makes her day when another human not her mom pays attention to her.  But then right afterward there was another little dog being walked nearby and she got one of those fear/reaction zoomie things going.  Calmed enough to get home, let her loose in the backyard, and she zoomed some more.  Big dog.  Little human.  The challenge of the year!

Life is Good.  There is still hope.  It's what keeps a body going!  Keep sparking!

Day 31 - Today I am thankful...

 

Today I told Facebook that I am thankful that the recent precipitation (including overnight Tuesday to Wednesday) came as rain.  If this is the result of global warming, that's the "good" part... where Winter is not quite as long.  I know it's a lot more complex than that, but for now, I'm grateful not to be shoveling the white stuff just yet.

Aftereffects from yesterday seem minor, yes, when I remember that I took a small tumble at the paws of the pup, I can take inventory and draw conclusions, but I'm not sidelined by that issue.

The challenge of rain is that Ember doesn't like it and doesn't like going out in it to do her business.  Being both stubborn and sometimes practical, I invested in a package of "pee pads".  Today might be a good day to attempt to introduce them.  Wish me luck, friends.

In her X-Pen with her collection of toys and treats, following our cooperative attempt to take out a fly.  I think I need a few more fly swatters.

Today's adventure will be taking Dexter (the car) in for his semi-annual oil change, etc.  I don't put enough miles on him to make this necessary, but it gives me a chance to have them "fix" the air pressure sensor.  Honda Fit models of his era have a very sensitive indicator, and it comes on when the temperatures first start to drop.  If I don't have them adjust it twice a year, it is completely unreliable for its intended purpose.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Day 30 - Today I am Thankful...

Today I told FB I'm thankful for service people who put up with the little old lady version of me.  This is because of the ability to laugh at myself on these phone calls to handyman / carpentry folks about making space for the new stove.  They ask questions to which I don't have the ghost of a clue how to answer!

Ember is about 9 1/2 months old.  She may weigh in at 75 pounds but look at those paws!  She hasn't grown into them yet.  Look at the stuffed toy and the towel and how she snuggles.  Change the thought of size, and she still looks like a puppy!  She also acts like one.

In any case, Ember put herself to bed about 8 a.m. and I'm hoping that she lasts through the visit from Jake the handyman!  I really do love that she views the wire crate as her safe and valuable space to go when she's sleepy and she knows "it's time".

In the dark of the morning, when it was 37℉, Ember and I had "discussions" again about Mommy's hat.  This time I was bending over to pick up one of the glow in the dark balls we'd been getting her exercise with, and she jumped me from behind.

Yikes.  I actually went down, this time, phone falling out of the pocket.  I reached for the phone, Ember reached for my stocking cap, and off she went joyfully playing "keep away".  I picked myself the rest of the way up and let her run off with it, declaring that Mommy was done playing.

She took the hat into her X-Pen, and I shut the gate and left her there while I put myself back together again, physically and emotionally.  I got the dog laundry out of the dryer and folded it in her sight while I narrated the rules to her.  I doubt she understands the words, but if not for her, for me, I had to repeat the "no hat, no walk" lesson.  I did not allow the walk to start until Ember gave me back my hat.  I put the hat on, then I did a few "test" scenarios, bending down to attach the leash, etc., to cement the idea that the hat is a part of mommy.  She did not take it again.  This time.  I am grateful.

Two steps forward... 

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!