Puppy Training is Going Well
Yes, I am writing about the puppy again. My week has been consumed with integrating this beautiful little girl into our family. Let me say right off that things are going way better than I thought they would. She pretty much sleeps through the night with occasionally getting up to go outside. She is incredibly efficient and takes care of business at 3 in the morning. So far the weather has also been cooperating too and no rain. However, one early morning I did have to fight my way through the sprinklers to get to the side yard where the grass and pine straw are. She goes right back in her carrier and back to sleep until we get up around 6:00 or 6:30. So, I have no complaints at all. What she has done is become more brave about exploring which fills me with dread as she would be an appetizer for an alligator or even a large bird. Plan A was to get a playpen which I did and as long as Wyke is in it with her she is happy as could be. She gets lots of free play time too. We are amazed at how gentle her 75 pound brother is with her. I think they are separated by about 70 pounds now. She doesn’t give up and certainly holds her own when they are playing. Life is certainly not dull and it is settling down into a pretty nice routine once again. Plan B was to get a crate for her so we could leave her for brief times during the day. She sleeps in a cat carrier and is very secure there but it doesn’t work well for daytime. The crate arrived in time for us to go out for dinner with my cousins and also for us to go for breakfast and then to church. So far so good. I was a little nervous, just like a new mother is when leaving her baby with someone for the first time. In the middle of dinner I texted my pet sitter and asked if she would go and check on her. I didn’t relax until she send a message back saying all was fine.
The Lead Up to the Wedding
Our daughter Margot and her long-time girlfriend, Hadley, are getting married next Saturday. It seemed a long way off when they first told us they were getting married and what the date was. Months went by and general progress was made on their plans. Then all of a sudden I sent them a message saying “One Month to Go” and now it’s less than a week. It’s like a speeding train that just crested a hill and is heading down the other side without putting on the brakes. The week leading up to the wedding is so full of fun and excitement. I hope they have time to just enjoy the whole thing. Anticipation of the big day, worry about the weather, friends and family traveling from places far away to celebrate with them dribbling in on a daily basis. It is all so special. The flurry of text messages is picking up and the phone calls back and forth about all those details that might be forgotten or missed.
Was a little worried at the beginning of the week that my cough was here to stay but that and my bout with an eye infection appear to have been overcome and I, along with John and the rest of the family are ready to celebrate with them both this week and weekend.
Family Reunion
I am blessed to come from a very large extended family. John has one sister and two first cousins. He looks at me and rolls his eyes. I have 26 first cousins and am blessed to know them all. My mother came from a family of six children with four girls and two boys. My mother is the last surviving sibling at 93 but the children of her brothers and sisters are wonderful to her and keep up with her from wherever they are. This past weekend two cousins came for a visit. We had a wonderful time at one of our favorite places in Beaufort, The Ribault Social Club. Drinks on their rooftop lounge and then dinner downstairs. It is small and intimate and we were treated very well. What fun it was to catch up with them and their spouses. Barbi and her husband Peter came to stay on their way north to their home in Toronto. If it doesn’t warm up there they may be sorry they didn’t wait another month. Alexander and his wife Kim, spend the month of April in Hilton Head as a respite from the winter in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They drove over to be with us for dinner. We joked at dinner that we have cousins from Newfoundland to British Columbia and could probably find one in every city on a car trip across Canada. Not very many in the United States although I do have a couple from my father’s side of the family and one that I know of from my mother’s, plus me of course. After watching the funeral of Barbara Bush on Saturday and hearing her words about family I count myself incredibly blessed to have so many cousins and to be able to keep in touch with them over great distance and many years.
Walking this Week
I found this week that walking was a time challenge. Somehow I managed to get in three days of walking three miles. Pretty pathetic after all my training this winter but the combination of a new puppy and trying to get over a cough and the dreaded “pink eye”, I just didn’t get out there like I am used to. Time to apply the 80/20 rule. This time in my life is the 20 and I will get out there and walk but I am not pushing myself. However, I am packing my walking gear and taking it with me to Asheville. Even a short walk is better than nothing and moving always makes me feel better no matter how long the walk. What I did discover is that the alligators are on the move down here. I see them at the side of the ponds but others have posted movies and photos of very large alligators crossing roads and sidewalks to go from one pond to the other. Not sure what I would do if I came upon one crossing my path, I certainly wouldn’t challenge him/her.
Recipe For You to Try
Slow-Baked Garbanzos from Rancho Gordo. You can click on this link to get the recipe. To be honest I haven’t tried them yet but I am going to. Most days I really try to get my G-BOMBS and the garbanzos would be great addition. This recipe sounds delicious. Remember that G-BOMBS are: Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds.
Have a wonderful week everyone. As Maria Shriver says in this week’s Sunday Paper, I am looking for the Yippee Moments in my life this week and I hope you do too.
