We got home from a week at the coast on Saturday, and I have a lot of posting to do because the entire time we were there, I was taking notes in the hope that I would be able to start posting blog entries while we were there, but alas, we had practically no internet. So I was left with a week full of journal entries, which I will now begin to dole out to you.
You’re welcome.
In order to fully appreciate the events of last week, it helps to have some sense of context. So here’s the list I made of things I wanted to do while on vacation.
- Sleep
- Read books on my Kindle
- Scrapbook on my computer
- Swim
- Get a tan
- Eat no more than allotted calories per day
- Enjoy my family
- Drink coffee on the balcony and watch the sun rise
- Ride on the boat
- Reconnect with Brad
- Enjoy the change of pace
- Be still and know that He is God
Now having the appropriate expectations, here’s the first couple of days (edited to keep you from being bored to tears).
Day One
I’m Missing My Puppy
[This blog entry was written from the car, pretty soon after we left home Saturday morning. Day One, we drove from our home to the vet clinic to drop off the puppy, then another 6+ hours to Victoria, TX, where we spent the night.]
Well, today is the day we left for our week long trip to the coast. It was also the day we dropped our puppy off to be boarded at the vet clinic for a week. I’m trying to enjoy being away from home but I have to say, I miss her terribly right now.
Don’t think I regret leaving her. She would be impossible to have with us in the condo – or in the car – or in the room tonight. Truth be told, she’s pretty darn near impossible to just have at home. But that doesn’t make me love her any less. She’s my baby, and all I can think about tonight is if she’s missing me.
Wow. I’m seriously going to cry if I don’t stop writing! I think I’ll sign off now.
The Joys of Traveling With The Family
Well, it’s Saturday, July 16, 2011 and we have officially been on vacation for – let’s see – 11 hours. That only leaves approximately 7 more days until we get to go back home.
If I survive that long. Or maybe I should say, if the kids survive that long.
We are currently all in our tiny hotel room – 2 queen beds was all we could score using hotel points – and Matthew is refusing to go to sleep, or let anyone else go to sleep. I truly think Brad is on the verge of putting him in the hallway with a pillow and blanket.
The truth is, we’re all exhausted. Brad and I have been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now and we’re completely drained. Brad’s been actually working hard; I’ve just been taking care of 3 boys and a dog.
I’d trade with him in a heartbeat, if his company would let me. Which they would not, since I have no affinity for engineering. Or management. Nor do I have a clearance. Or really any of the skillz his job requires. But if I did, I’d trade with him in a heartbeat!
Taking care of the new puppy has been such a beat down. I love her to death and miss her terribly right now but she’s so much work. I haven’t slept past 6am since we got her – and many mornings she wakes me up at 4:30am – and refuses to go back to sleep.
It sounded so simple, really. I mean, I knew the dog would be a lot of work but I had no idea a puppy would be so much MORE work than a grown dog. Who knew she would bark at 4:30 and demand to be fed? Who knew she would chew the paint off the baseboards or puncture my finger and snap my boys in the groin? How could I have known that her pee would kill the grass in our yard and her poop would draw flies – not to mention the perpetual smell that now hovers over our yard. I had no idea that she would sleep when we wanted her to be awake and be awake when I wanted her to sleep.
And that’s just the stuff that comes to mind first. There’s so much more. Like how she chews on our carpet, ripping it with her teeth. Or how she just waits for the chance to dart into my closet and grab one of my shoes and take off running with it. Or how she has ripped several pair of my good jeans with her teeth. And my pajama bottoms are all ripped. And I have a bandaid on my right index finger because she punctured it with one of the razor sharp teeth of hers.
Yeah, she’s a lot of work and as much as I miss her right now, I am going to really enjoy the break. And when we get home, I will be prepared. I brought the book on training our puppy from the library and I plan to have it memorized by the time we get home so I can start working with her. It’s time she learns who’s the boss around here. (me, if you were wondering).
[Just a little side note, added today, July 26: As you will see in the coming entries, I didn’t ever read a single page of the dog training book. And so far this morning, while I have been trying to write this blog entry, our sweet puppy has pooped on the floor by the kitchen table and completely chewed the end off one of my iPhone charging cords. I will insert a picture of the cord – not the poop since I’m assuming you know what that looks like – but wanted to add that the cord WAS plugged in when she did this damage. And she was literally sitting at my feet. I seriously thought she was chewing on the toy I had just given her…I was wrong.]
