Canis Familiaris, etc...

Our family is growing. Calm down Mom and Dad, we just got a puppy. Rachel waited 10 years to get a puppy, and since a dog friendly house was high on our home buying criteria, we decided there was no reason to wait any longer. His name is Huxley and he is an 11 week old bundle of energy. We adopted him from the Humane Society by getting our application in early and showing up exactly at noon at Petsmart. Good thing we did because there was alot of other people interested in taking him home.

His mother was a chocolate lab and we think the father might have been a collie of some kind, maybe a border collie. He is black with a white patch on his chest and the tips of 3 feet and his tail have just the tiniest bit of white on them.

So far he's been very good, except we are still fighting to house train him. He's only been on 3 walks with us and he's very good at staying with us. I think he must have gotten some leash training at his foster owners home.


HOUSE UPDATE:
Cabinets are on the walls and drawers and shelves are in. Did I mention that already, well that's really the last thing that happened and that was before we really moved in. For the longest time we were waiting on replacement heat shield before placing the last base cabinet and end panel to cover the dishwasher. We picked those up on Monday night so I'm not sure what our excuse now is.

We received our new upright deep freezer and just in time to pick-up a split side of beef at my parent's on memorial day. Of course there will always be room for ice cream. There's a warm happy feeling of nostalgia that I get from opening the freezer door and seeing a 5 quart pail of Blue Bunny in there.

What else... oh, the cops stopped by to talk to our neighbors. The ones with the yippy dog and the back yard that looks like Mexico (dirt, dead leaves, weeds, junk, and a boat).

The ageless lawnmower we inherited starts on the first pull! At least it does now. Took some tinkering to get it started the first time this season. (Alright, I took it apart and put it back together and now it starts). Now if only we had some grass to cut, instead of weeds.

I'm allergic to something in or near our house. Whenever I go into the kitchen I start sneezing, but I don't think that explanation will stand long under scrutiny. More than likely it's something in our back yard. I think I've ruled out mold in our house. We bought a do it yourself mold dish (a plastic petri dish and solution), but so far none has sprouted.

And we will have our second house guest since we've moved in. Rachels mother stayed with us last weekend and this weekend my mother will be here. It really makes it feel like a home when you can host your family and friends.

The Move and a Top 10 list

We moved into the house over the weekend. I know what you are thinking, "I didn't know they were done?". Well we're not yet, but the lease was up and we were ready to be there, even if the house wasn't ready for us. The cabinets are mounted on the walls, but still to be done is installing shelves, drawers, and doors. Countertops are not in yet, and the floor hasn't been tiled either. Other than that it's livable.

On Friday I cleaned up as much dust as I could from the house and unpacked as much as I could. Alot of stuff is still in boxes, just because we don't have shelves or drawers for it yet or aren't sure where it should go.

On Saturday we got up early and packed up the rest of the things at the apartment. We had taken over most of our stuff little by little, but there was enough left for two small trips. Rachel's father and sister came by about noon and we loaded up the furniture and took it over in two trips each with the pickups. All in all we were done by about 2:30 and I have to say, it was the easiest move I can ever remember. We don't plan on doing it again any time soon though!

On Sunday Rachel and I went back to the apartment to clean. That was hard after spending our first night in the house. I never wanted to go back to the apartment again! The room upstairs is so bright with east facing windows in the morning. We slept in and felt like we were being so lazy, and it was only 8:30 when we finally got up! Well we did get up and head over to the apartment to clean and turn in our keys. We had that finished up by about 2:00 in the afternoon, dropped our keys in the box and walked down the stairs and drove out of the Falls parking lot for the last time. It was a terrible, tiny apartment, but I always get nostalgic when things are ending. We had some good times there.
We headed out to Nebraska Furniture Mart to pick out the upright freezer that my parents gave us for a wedding present and to look for a couple of patio chairs. We didn't find any chairs, but we decided to get the freezer that matches with our refrigerator. After that it was off to Target where we grabbed a couple of folding chairs and a little side table for the deck, until we can afford a real patio set.
We came home and went to the Laundromat since we don't have a Washer and Dryer yet. That is going to get old fast.
When we came home we went for a nice long walk over to a neighborhood park. It was wonderful.
Then we grilled up some good Lone Rock Ranch ribeyes with some asparagus and potatoes and ate at our long neglected dining room table. Afterwards we lit a small fire in the firepit and sat out on our deck and had a couple of beers. I think Rachel agrees with me that it was the 2nd best day of our lives.

Now for the List. Top 10 best things (un-ordered) about owning our own home.

• Having our grill back. Everything tastes better grilled.
• Having a dining room to put our table in.
• The only electronics in the bedroom is the alarm clock, no more blinking lights or loud hum of the computer.
• Parking in our driveway, not in a parking lot between two jerks who are two close to the lines.
• Not walking 200 yards to throw away our garbage.
• Flowers in our flower beds.
• Our shady and cool front porch.
• Our bright oversized deck.
• The bathroom vanity is in the bathroom... not the bedroom.
• My office... err OUR office...