18 Years

Today marks 18 years that we moved from Peru to Georgia. 18 years... sometimes I find it hard to believe that I can relate to something that happened 18 years ago! Wow - this puts things relative to age into perspective really quickly.

18 years ago my family left a world in which we were very comfortable in, to arrive to a foreign world with a clean slate - to start over. Although my life at that time changed completely overnight (literally), and I sometimes think about what life would have been like if we would've stayed and I would've grown up in Peru, I am thankful for the uprooting.

I'm thankful that my parents, in the midst of all that was happening, considered their family first. I'm thankful that they provided real life examples of the meaning of the words "work to earn a living". I'm also thankful that in spite of moving to this foreign land, they never let us forget our roots.

Checking - In

Just checking-in to report that not much has been going on around here... we've been working on the yard, we are starting to see light at the end of the "lets fight the weeds battle" tunnel, and we planted nice flowers out (where Cali can't get to them). We'll post pictures of these when they start growing in and looking nice. Right now they are looking mighty scrawny.

Pellet and Cal are doing fine, enjoying the nice weather. Thankfully the pollen season (yes, it's a short one, but it's a "season") is nearly over, so we have been spending the mornings and evenings with the kitchen and back door open. The dogs love it!

Why Don't I Learn?

One day I'll learn - I'm certain that I'll learn.

I'm on a cooking kick, so tonight I fixed enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow (to take to work). I ate my dinner, did the dishes and went in the leaving room (forgetting that I had left the food on the counter).

I'm watching TV and realized that Pellet didn't come out from the kitchen. Then I put two and two together... yes, he ate the salad. There were a few lettuces left. Now I have to figure out Plan B...

Bad Bad Weather - Again

There's bad weather again, so we are in the bathroom - again (yes, I have the laptop with me, I have to check the radar!) - waiting for the tornado warning to pass. In the meantime, the dogs are freaking out - as usual - and Pellet is doing strange things:
Poor guy, he's really freaked out. I'm trying to keep cool, for every body's sake...

They are NOT All the Same

Many times we hear "all dogs are the same" and "all dogs behave the exact same way" - these comments usually come from people who are not familiar with dogs (take it from personal experience). Since we've had Cali, I can say first hand that there's nothing further from the truth than these sort of phrases.

We have a nice porch that wraps around our house. Every year (for the past 4) we've planted flowers on all size pots and placed them throughout the porch. When Pellet was a baby he found the flowers fascinating and of course, pulled them out. We reprimanded him and he learned - after a couple of impulsive flower pulling behavior and reprimanding he figured it out.

And then came Cali... last fall we planted flowers and she pulled them. We reprimanded and she continued to pull them. We didn't think much about it because "she was still a baby". So now it's springtime and we planted flowers. I have lost count on the number of times the flowers have been pulled. Just when we think that she's figured it out... SURPRISE!! We planted citronella plants (they are very pretty, by the way), she pulled one of them [two more to go, I guess]. Dogs are supposed to not like citronella scent!!!

So, moral of the story - dogs are not the same. I thought I'd never find myself saying this, but dogs do have different personalities, dogs do have different temperaments and there are such things as "stubborn dog", "intelligent dog", "mischievous dog" and these are the sort of things that make life with these pets so wonderful.

Grant it, I would love to have some pretty flowers on my porch, but definitely wouldn't trade Cali's craziness for the world.

Picture Time!

The time has finally come when our house is [almost] back to normal. Here are lots of pictures of "before" (sometimes "during") and "after" of the project. Enjoy!

Before...
(disclaimer - the liquor is on the table because the liquor cabinet was in the process of being moved out to the garage)

During...

More During...
(this process took about 3 days of work)

After!

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After!

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After!
(please excuse the model)

Out With the Old and In With the New

The carpet is finally up and the floor is down. Pellet and Cali are still a little skeptical about the wood - surprisingly they did wonderful after the kitchen tile was laid.

It's funny watching them slide on the floor when they turn corners and listening to their feet tap tap tap throughout the house - no more being sneaky!

Our household is officially entering a new era... pictures will follow after wet get all of our belongings set up the way they are supposed to be...