And Baby Makes Three

We picked up Dixie yesterday and have been having fun with her ever since.  It didn't take her long to sniff out her new home and find her toys.  It seems like she understands her name, as she will turn and run back to you when you call her.  Time will tell if she is just responding to a voice or really knows her name.  We have had a few accidents--she apparently doesn't like rain because it's pouring here and she is hesitant to  be out in it.   We put her in her cage for a nap  mid-morning and when she woke up she was whining in an urgent manner.  I took her outside and put her under  a covered part of the yard.  She sniffed around a bit, but then just laid down.   As soon as I brought her back into the house, she peed on the floor.    Given her age, I think she is doing pretty well in the potty department.  She is recognizing the patio door where we take her out and seems to head in that direction when she has to go.  

 

We have her cage in the office and I worried that she would fuss all night because she was alone.  We put the big brown dog that Rose sent her in the cage with her and eventually she did settle down.  Tony got up with her at around 5:30 this morning to let her out and she did fuss a bit, but she pretty much slept and didn't do anything in her cage. 

 

This morning, she was pulling the brown dog around the floor by his ear.  That's funny to watch because the dog is at least 3 times as big as she is. 

 

As with most women, she really likes Tony.  She likes me and will follow me around, but if there is a choice between Tony and me, she will run to him and bury her head in his arm while she snuggles down to nap.  

 

We are adjusting to having a new "baby" in the house.  We take care of her one at a time while the other is showering or eating or on the computer mainly because of her accidents, but over time, she will blend in with our routine.  We are just enjoying having her around.  I think that she will be my Weight Watchers plus--I ran around the backyard with her yesterday and around the living room with her today.   I love to watch her run.  Right now, she looks like a guinea pig on the move.  She can get into the smallest  places. 

 

So, we begin our pet journey.  We love our Dixie-girl and I'm sure she will bring us as much happiness as Jack did. 

 

 

Sitting with Mommy in the Office

 

Exercising with Daddy in the backyard

 

Meeting new friends

 

Her favorite place to nap

 

Notice the dog bed on the couch (with plastic under it!!), but where is she sleeping?

 

It's hard work being this cute...she needs her beauty rest

 

Little Man Cole

 

 

Tony, Marie and Coleton (and Tyson!) came in to celebrate Tony's birthday this weekend.  It was good to see them again.    We were just amazed at how big Cole is getting.  He's sitting up now and reaching for things and in general being just a beautiful baby.   He's getting a tooth, and recently getting over an ear infection, but he was cheery and happy to be here. 

 

He was up for most of Friday night--you could tell by looking at Mommy and Daddy, but Cole was up early Saturday morning, playing with his fingers and toes and chanting....da, da, da, da.  He looked like he was ready to claim the day with toys and doting grandparents. 

 

They will be on their way home tomorrow, but I managed to capture about 95 photos so far.  Here are the highlights:

 

 

 

 

Chillin near the fire with toys!

 

"I'm a Swegle, can't you tell?"

 

Look at his hair!!

 

 

Cole does this thing where he picks up his arms and legs at the same time.  He makes little fists and rolls his hands.  I call it his motorcycle grip.

 

Not lovin the solid food.

                                                               Really not lovin the solid food.

 

 

 

Just wait, Mommy....I'll have revenge of the diaper!

 

 

 

 

 

Cole and some Old Lady he found at the house.

 

Listening intently.

 

Mr. Clean checks out his image in the mirror.

 

 

Bedtime story.

 

"Yeah, parents....you just think it's bedtime."

 

Tyson, standing guard while the food is cooking!

 

 

 

 

 

It Must Be A Cold Day in Hell

When we initially started to look for a retirement place, I heard many people say that "it would be a cold day in hell before it snowed down here."    Well, hell must be freezing because we have snow today. 

 

It was chilly all day.  I wore a light jacket to go to the mailbox, but all of a sudden the temperature started to drop.   The wind picked up and the rain that we had turned into light, fluffy snow. 

 

As luck would have it, today and tomorrow are "Open House" days where people from other states are invited to come down and check out Compass Pointe.   Most of the people who come to these  events lately have been from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut, so it's a break for them to get away from snow and enjoy the warmer weather of the south.  Ha Ha Ha....it may not be as snowy as it is in the north, but it's not the warm weather paradise that they probably expected. 

 

It's going down to 28 degrees tonight and the palm trees look funny with snow on them, but we will light a fire, have some pizza and wine and enjoy looking out because we know this won't last.  By next week, it will be in the 60's again. 

 

 

 

Here's Tony's big palm tree, with snow flakes falling on it.  See how it's sticking to the grass?

 

Here's the snow covered table on the patio.

 

I love the camera because it captured big flakes!

 

Here's the view from the front door...snowy and cold!

 

Jack--Always In Our Hearts

I got a wonderful Valentine's Day card from Tony last night, as you can see from the photos I have included.

 

Jack will always be in our hearts.  He was more than a dog--to me he was the child that Tony and I would never have.  He was the pet that was supposed to help blend our family, and when you think about it, that's alot of baggage to put on a little puppy.  But he did become our baby and our fourth child.  And he did it well.

 

As we buy things for Dixie, we are reminded of Jack and the funny things he did.  Oh, I know, he was a pain in the butt some times, but we loved him dearly.   From the first time I saw him until that night that  we drove him to the vet for the last time, I loved him.  I loved how he looked like a tiny rhinoceros when he ran, I loved how he sounded like a vacuum cleaner when he was eating his food, I loved how he ran to the door and got under Tony's feet when Tony came home from the grocery store.  Jack knew that there were dog treats in those bags and he was excited to get one....RIGHT NOW!

 

I loved him when he went deaf and lost most of his sight.  And I loved him when we were taking pictures of the kids and had them all lined up--Jack would run over and sit next to them as if he was saying that he was a kid and wanted to be in the picture too. 

 

We couldn't get another Pug, it wouldn't have been fair to the new dog--he would have had to live up to our Jack memories.

 

I know we will love Dixie, and we will probably compare her to Jack in some things because Jack will always be in our hearts--just like the Valentine's Day card from Tony.  I love it--it's so Jack!

 

 

Here's the front--with his cute little face

Here's the inside--yes, the Pug is humping a leg; it's SO Jack.  When you open the card, the Pug vibrates up and down and the song, "It's Your Thing, Do What You Wanna Do," plays. 

 

Remember Jack with love.  I still miss him.

 

 

 

 

Busy Days

We've been  very busy of late doing fun things and things that will make the house look even better than it does now. 

 

On Saturday, we went downtown to Thalian Hall (pronounced Thay-lee-an), a beautiful old theatre that dates back to the 1700's to see the play, "Xanadu, The Musical."  You may not remember that "Xanadu" was a movie made in the 1980's with Oliva Newton-John that failed miserably.  "Xanadu" takes place in Venice Beach, California in 1980 and later on Mount Olympus.  It's a musical spoof of a young man who wants to build/develop an empty theatre into a roller disco/art exhibit/music venue and falls in love with a Greek Godess that he creates in chalk on a wall near the theatre. She comes to life to help him and they fall in   love--something she, as a daughter of Zeus, is not allowed to do.  In the end, Zeus, changes his mind and  they return to earth to build "Xanadu."

 

The lines were funny and good as were the songs (remember, "Evil Woman," or "Have You Never Been Mellow?"  and we had a great time.

 

After the theatre, we went to the Caprice Bistro for crepes and a glass of wine.  It was a fun evening.

 

Sunday, we did our "house walk" of all of the new homes in The Cottages being built.  They all seem very small at this point.  After that, we played cornhole.  Tony remains the unbeaten champ, but I did best him in game one.

 

Today, we went to Home Depot and picked out material for the backsplash that will go on the wall behind the stove.  We had an amazing, "Certified Interior Decorator" named Tina helping us who was fun and really helped us pick out some beautiful things. 

 

After that, we went to the new Trader Joe's to pick up some very well priced wine.  We got some cheese and a few other things and had a good time just looking around.

 

I really had a great time today.  I picked on Tony all day and laughed at him and with him.  He took it very well and we laughed alot.

 

Tonight we're going to Charlie Macgrooders for their special quarterly dinner.  This is the one with five courses and wine selected for each course...and of course, a great dessert. 

 

Some time this week, we are going "Dixie" shopping and plan on going downtown for Valentine's Day. 

 

So, we are having busy and fun days while I am not working.  I enjoy spending time with Tony and being goofy with him.   We make each other laugh and I think that's what marriage is all about. 

 

Here's the program from "Xanadu"

Here's the backsplash; we got some electrical face plates that look like stone work. 

 

Day One

I started my volunteer assignment at the hospital yesterday.  I had a great time and met a lot of really nice people.  I have two assignments--Patient Registration and Marketing.  I spent yesterday in Patient Registration and learned how the hospital prepares for the numerous patients they see everyday.     

 

I was the "greeter" for incoming patients, I had them register (name, date of birth, doctor's name, appointment time and reason for the appointment) and then they were matched  with their doctor's orders (from the computer).  From there, I either took them to the Lab, X-Ray or Surgery. 

 

In between doing the greeting, I built charts for the patients coming in for the next week.  There were codes that had to be on the chart regarding the illness and the wrist bands had to match the name and date of birth of the patient.   The few times I have been a patient in a  hospital, I always thought it was kind of silly having to give the nurses my name and date of birth every time we interacted, but I realized that mistakes can be made if you have a common name.  Next week there are four women with the same very common name coming in for different things.  They are only different on paper because of their dates of birth.

 

The staff members that I met encouraged me to check the hospital website for jobs.   They said it is very common to have volunteers fill job openings, so that is my mission today. 

 

I worked the noon to 4:00 p.m. shift and after I got home we went to the Club for the "Connection" event where you meet different people.  So yesterday was a very active day for me.

 

Needless to say that after being on my feet all day my legs are killing me today, but I had a great time...in a small way it was having a job again and I really enjoyed that.