What an absence

My deepest apologies. I wish I could give one specific reason for the lack of posts. The reality is, all the things. But if I had to target one, it would be this guy.

I know! What a doll baby. This is Chachi. As in Joanie loves. Not as in, cha cha oo lah lah. Get it right, people. He’s a recent addition as of the end of January and we sure love him. We also may have forgotten how much energy and attention puppies require. We also may have had a realization that Remy was a dream puppy and set a very high standard. I’m using we because Hubs did not forget any of these things but has graciously not reminded me of this.

Chachi was born to chew. He was born to romp. He was born to wrestle Remy.

Juno is unimpressed. Deeply. She would like us and you to know that she did not forget any of these things about puppies either. She feels she fulfilled her elder dog duty in shaping Remy into the reasonable canine he is and she does not have the energy nor the desire to do it again with this one. As such, Chachi is canine non grata around her and she will let. him. know.

Some other notable things. In years past January hits us with an incredible snow/ice storm and the kids don’t have school for a week. We made it to January 24 this year. Then that sneaky wench of a month dropped a major ice storm on us. The kids were out of school for 6 days. It snowed then iced at least 1/2″ on top so the sledding was a major olympic event. They became very adept at flattening themselves to slide under the electric cow fence because bailing out was futile. They’d just slide on the surface without the sled.

There’s nothing quite like potty training a puppy in a snowstorm. Chachi came home on the 23rd. Poor guy. Left the breeder’s house where he was frolicking in grass with his siblings to come here and face the apocalypse. He couldn’t even walk across the snow.

In an effort to capture the usual topics of posts here’s a delightful conversation I spent too much time working through. Please note these questions always happen in the car where I can’t make eye contact or really help in any way aside from speaking.

B: Mom, I’m going to spell this word, can you tell me what it is? I can’t sound it out.
Me: Sure.
B: o – k – i – c – u. What is that? Ohkicku?
Me: O – K…ohhhh I get it. It’s okay, I see you.
B: Yes, those are the letters but what is the word.
Me: No it’s not a word, it’s a sentence.
B: *scoff* No mom, letters make words.
Me: Right but in this instance each letter is a word.
B: That’s not a thing.
Me: It’s like O comma K comma I-
B: Comma is not a letter! Why are you saying punctuation!
Me: Right right, fair point. Say the letters slowly.
B: Ohhhhhhhhkkkkaaayyyyyyyiiiiiiii
Me: No I mean say them with a pause between them.
B: WHAT IS THE WORD? I AM SO FRUSTRATED!
Me: THE WORD IS OKAY! THE WORD IS I SEE YOU WITH MY EYEBALLS! THE LETTERS ARE THE WORDS!
B: Ohhhh. Haha. That’s funny.

Not funny for me.

Another year of heartbreak in the garden. Why do I even try to start them inside? I’ve never succeeded and end up buying plants every May. We keep watering though, this is week 4 of just watering. Obviously something is wrong, but hope springs eternal. Unlike my plants.

Lastly, the chickens are doing very well. Perhaps too well. The egg production is unreasonable. Everyone eats eggs all the time, even the dogs. Especially Remy as he will jump and get a bowl of eggs off the counter. I’d be mad at this behavior if I wasn’t so relieved that it means we’re down a few more eggs for the day.

Well, it’s good to be back from the lengthy absence. I’m hoping the respite gave my creative spirit a reboot. I have my first triathlon in 2.5 weeks and I’m feeling very optimistic about the season ahead! More exciting news next week on that front about a new sponsor I picked up!