The One Where I Never Stop

I can't sleep, so I figured I'd post.

Caayn and I took the troupe to the dog park today... Everyone except Artemis, who isn't very social and tends to spend her time barking insanely at all dogs and people. Much fun was had by all! We met up with Jimmy and Spartan. I took almost 300 pictures!! Hopefully I can get some photo editing done this week, so I can get around to uploading those and getting them online. Some of them are really good! I managed to snap one of Athena with all for paws off the ground.

Caayn worked 12 hour shifts all of last week and this coming week he'll be working from 3pm to 9pm. He's doing a training class for tow vehicles (he's done it before but they all got decertified not too long ago). I think I'll like this shift. We can sleep in, as much as Sully will let us anyway, and he's not getting off too awfully late. It'll make for strange dinner times though, and probably lead to us staying awake longer than usual.

However, there is hope he'll be getting our fence put in this week, or maybe this weekend. YIPEE! And I should be upgrading my cell phone too. Going to get one of those LG enVs... Those are so neat looking. I like the one Sprint or AT&T (I forget which) has better, but it's not available for Verizon. I've been contemplating switching us to Alltel, but I don't know. I have to go in to the stores and do some talking. We are supposed to be getting a military discount on the bills, but we aren't. So I want to get in and compare plan prices with the military discount factored in (assuming Alltel offers one).

Not too much else going on in the Phoenix-Caayn household. Looking forward to our trip to PA in June. Not looking forward to all the extra miles going on the van, but hey, what can you do? It's really the cheapest way to get anywhere with 2 kids and a dog along for the ride.

I noticed something funny the other day. The more active I am, the more bruises my legs get. And when I say active, I don't necessarily mean physically. Like just spending more time outside, or doing more driving around! Luckily I don't mind; I love bruises.

Ugh! I don't really even have anything to write about, just feel the need to get my fingers on the keys. I've also noticed that I'm feeling more creative lately. I have the urge to draw, which I haven't had in probably over 6 or 7 years. I also feel the need to write.When I was younger, I dreamed of being a writer. I've got tons of notebooks filled with first pages of stories, random plots, etc. I sort of gave up on it, mostly because I have a LOT of trouble breaking 5 pages on a story. (I know, can you believe it? Me, the one who can go on and on for hours!) But even just something simple like blogging scratches that itch. There should be a term for it, like brain overload or something, where there is just literally too many words in your head and if they don't get out somehow you'll go insane!

The wee hours of night like this are my favorite. My house is finally quiet. Caayn is resting peacefully, Lochlan too. Lochlan is getting to the stage where he moves around in his sleep now, so he seems to frequently end up completely sideways in the middle of the bed. I like to just drink him up with my eyes. Memorize everything I can and hope that I'll still remember it all in 20 years. The dogs start dreaming too. Athena's paws twitch and jerk, and she'll utter little yips. I know she is dreaming about the dog park, the hard ground under her feet, wind blowing her ears back. I guess the barking could be her playing with Spartan, or maybe she is just voicing her joy of the day... even though she is very quiet at the dog park. Achilles never seems to sleep. He moves around a lot. Checks up on me. Why are you still awake? You smell okay. Go to sleep! Athena just rolled up onto her back. She doesn't often sleep in the dead cockroach position, but it always amuses me when she does.

Athena is getting new pigment areas. I'd heard that that happens, where there are spots where the pigment will come in or go away at different times of the year. She just developed a small patch on her muzzle, and near her lady bits a few spots have shown up. Her poor little tail! She has stud tail something awful and has like a two inch bald spot on it. It resembles a rat's tail there. (And I know, because I've owned several rats over my history of pet ownership!)

It's almost 2 now. I guess I oughta get off here and try to sleep. Curling up with Lochlan, Achilles behind my knees, sounds pretty nice. Oh, here comes Athena... she really likes to lay on or near Lochlan. Not sure why, but it is incredibly cute.

Is there anything as wonderful as your family? When everything is quiet, I reflect on that a lot. I've got a fantastic husband who couldn't love me more if he tried, I've got two wonderful sons who make me laugh and melt my heart every day, and I've got dogs. I simply can't imagine anything better than this. (Heck, this family of mine makes living in a dreary place like North Dakota just fine.) It's good stuff. I gave up everything I've ever known to come here with the man I love, and you know what? It has been worth every minute of it. Sometimes taking a leap like that has to be done if you want to open new doors. Looking back, I can't imagine what would have happened if I stayed back home. It would have been pretty dull I think. And not nearly as filled with happiness.

w00t for Good Wi-Fi!

I'm dog-sitting Spartan the Wonder Italian Greyhound. The guys are working 12 hour shifts again and I figured Spartan would enjoy getting to hang out at Camp Phoenix rather than being home alone for a long time. He gets here around 6am ish, and leaves around 7pm.

He is so much fun! He's like renting a puppy, lol. And I really think it's good for everyone involved. Spartan gets to spend his day with other dogs, and going outside, and just hanging out. Athena gets a chance to PLAY, since Achilles prefers sleeping in bed and Artemis is too 'diginified' to play. And when Spartan leaves here, he is completely worn out! Which, I think, means Jimmy gets a chance to relax during his time off at night rather than having to deal with an overly-wound up pup. Plus, he's so darn cute to look at that I like having him around. It's fun watching him tackle the multitudes of dog toys we have around here.

So today I've been waiting him out on the pooping issue. He's not really well house-trained. Italian Greyhounds seem to have an issue with it, and are apparently notorious for being very particular about things. (Like in the middle of our VERY cold winter, he didn't want to go outside, hated getting his little paws wet, etc.) I've just been treating him like you would a puppy. Every couple of hours we make a trip outside, and after he eats we IIgo out. All day he hadn't pooped and I knew he was going to have to... Finally everything in the house was settled enough that I could leave Lochlan inside without him freaking out, and I could wait him out.

I brought along the laptop. Lately I have been SUPER addicted to Questionable Content, a webcomic. It is so funny, the art is really good, and it always seems to strike a chord. (In one of the first strips they are drinking and playing video games, after all.... and thats something that happens around here!) Anyway... Apparently my wireless internet reaches all the way to the neighbor's deck stairs. Which means once Caayn gets the fence in over there, I can sit on the deck and be on the net at the same time! Wheee!!

I've been meaning to post for some time... I hate when you have a blog, and you are really good at updating it, and then one day, you start forgetting. Then before you know it, you are only updating once a month and the post always starts with, "I can't believe I haven't updated in forever!"

Several times I've started a post, so I'm not sure if this will be repeat news... but I called Carol a few days back and talked to her about Cozy, Athena's littermate that I'm secretly (or not so secretly) in love with. I let her know that if she was wanting to sell her, I'd love to bring her home here. However, Carol thinks that she might do well running, so they are going to try her out at the end of the month, when lure coursing and stuff starts. (Up here in the north, you can't do it year round! Too cold!!) So we'll be in touch on the subject. She did warn me that Cozy is really a naughty little whippet. I'm pretty sure a lot of that is not a lot of exercise and not being a real house dog. She had warned me about Athena too, and she is such a sweet dog here. Although from what I saw, Cozy is definitely different than Athena. She's a talker; barks when people come in, and does a lot of the "rah-rah-rah" that some whippets do. (Which I totally LOVE! I'm always trying to get Athena to talk more. She'll do it when me and Achilles start singing, or when she is playing with Spartan, but not really otherwise.)

Anyway, I am really excited about that. I was so nervous to call and ask her about the whole thing... I mean, how do you call someone up and ask if they'd sell you one of their dogs? Especially when you aren't really sure if the dog is up for sale or whatnot. I'm pretty sure Carol would sell the rest of the litter, if the right homes came along, but I don't think she is actively seeking homes out. I wish I was in a different situation, because I would love to take Athena's brother too. He is so full of energy and such a happy boy. He deserves to be in someone's home, being totally loved on and spoiled rotten. Caayn hates when I say this,k because he thinks that I might not stop at Cozy and will just want to keep adding more whippets to the family, lol.

Nope! If and when we get a third whippet, it will be one from Athena, if and when we decide if she is going to have a litter. (And even then it won't be for quite awhile. She's just over a year old and hasn't matured yet, and I don't want to even THINK of the responsibilities whippet babies will mean until we are in a situation where we can handle it. Like, in our own house.... kids a bit older than 3 and under 1.... Lol.)