I hate how easily strangers can effect me.  I try to allow school buses out in front of me where I can.  I do it in honor of Mom, who drove a school van, but also in these times they need a little hand and there aren't enough of them to go around, so we gotta be extra nice.

Today the guy behind me laid on the horn and started yelling out his window.  I hate that he ruined my morning.  I hate that he so easily drew me into yelling back at him -- at least I didn't swear.  Just settle down people.

Critter updates:  We now have a woolly bear caterpillar living in Avery's bug catcher container.  He was on a sweatshirt she brought in so I thought we'd try tending to him.  From what I read he just needs clover, grass, and a stick -- we have all of those right here.

Church and Zero (on leash) did spend time in the same room.  Zero's energy is still not quite right for me.  Church still struts around like a confident kittie, so that's good.  We (Church and I) are locking ourselves in the office during the work day.  Zero is starting to learn the rules *knock on wood* and chilling while outside of that room.  I'm hoping to have the energy to try more as the week progresses.

Now if we can just get him to stop turning on the drooly water works when in the crate.  I don't trust him enough to give him freedom while I run to and from getting Avery, so in he goes -- and out he comes a half an hour later soaked.

I spoke too soon on the woolly bears... I am finding 3-5 every day and moving them from the street/driveway to the plants.  Haven't been out yet today thanks to the rain, but with the doggo here, I'm going to need to get strolling soon.  I owe it to him especially today since he spent the longest stint (unfortunately in the crate) without me yet.

I had today off with Avery for some quality time.  I'm really glad on our previous day off (2 weeks ago) we headed out and did something bigger.  I sure didn't want to do be out all day today with the cooler temps and rain, plus... doggo.

We did still go out.  It was her first trip to a movie theatre!  I know I haven't been to a theatre in a while, but dang, it was nice.  Reclining leather seats with lots of leg room and a little table in front of you?  Nice deal.  The Addams Family 2 kept her interest - and mine, but I did have to fight off falling asleep part way though.  From there we hit Big Lots for a few things and picked up a grocery order from Iggle.

While we were gone for almost 4 hours he did ok.  He's drooly in that crate and guzzled/slopped water after coming out, but no accident inside and no bent crate door (I gotta admit, history had me concerned that would happen).  This also gave the cat a window of time to wander the house (outside of overnight) and with Saffy.  He deserved a few hours of normal too.

I saw three woolly bear caterpillars so far today - that's crazy, right?  I see so much in nature here that I never spotted in Jtown, but maybe it's because I have a kid and am simply more attentive to those things now.  Regardless, all three foretell a good sized band of 'orange' later in the season.  *fingers crossed*

I reviewed the tips for integrating dog and cat to refresh my memory.  As such, last night and this morning they had their meals on opposite sides of the bedroom door.  This guy is definitely a bigger challenge than Saffy as he wants to use those paws to scratch and reach, which isn't Saffy's go to.  There is a lot of adjusting he will need to do here in general. I on the other hand need to step up and get him more exercise, which is a good thing for me.

I have been monitoring calories for quite a while now.  I'm down 12lbs since June.  That's not much, but pretty remarkable since I haven't launched into exercise mode.  If I add in two walks a day to keep the dog exercised hopefully that will bolster my progress as well.  I gotta keep reminding myself how much tiring him out can help.

Yes, I have already had the "what did I get myself into" moment, but things will get better and time goes fast, right?  RIGHT?

He is a very lovey boy and enjoys attention.  He seems to be a talker like Satin was and even splays his legs out on the non-carpeted floor like she did.  He is still a bit puppy mouthy, we will work no that too.  It is all about boundaries boundaries boundaries.

Saturday Avery and I hit the road... it's the first time I have left the state in a year.  Our target?  Cross Junction VA to pick up a doggo that came north from Southern Siberian Rescue (my old friends from NC).  His name is presently Oshie and we're working on something else.  I was thinking "Bates Francis" in tribute to one of my favorite hockey players in NC (and also a nice tie to Norman Bates) and my favorite Penguin/Hurricane Ronnie Francis (which was also my Dad's middle name), but my Favorite Egg promptly indicated he was going to call him Master *sigh - boys*

He is a black and white pibald with the most interesting 'eyebrows', super soft fur, looks 'short' to me but I am sure that is due to years of being around non-standard sized siberians.  He is about a year and a half from their guesses and he's a bit wild/clod-like, so we will be working to calm him down.

Nothing like proving I am an unfit mother whilst going to get the new boy-child.  I managed to leave Saffy outside when we left.  There she was, assuredly quite unhappy about the situation for about 7 hours until my Favorite Egg got here *smacks forehead*  I had a neighbor message me too (which I didn't see on FB) asking if I was ok.  The good news is they recognize that leaving her out was uncharacteristic of me.  The bad news is they had to listen to her disgruntled complaints all day.

Saffy and he are agreeable, but she was not in a good mood yesterday.  I am guessing it was due to being tired and maybe even sore from being outside all day on Saturday and unable to lounge in her stacked beds.  She seems to be a bit happier today (her tail was up), but she is not wanting to roughhouse with him -- that might be a good thing if we can break him of that.

I'm glad Avery is bigger that she stands a chance of defending herself, but she isn't used to the dog being crazy and clod-like.  I am sure there will be a few tears, but who has a human brother that wasn't driven to shed a few because "Mommy, he did this".

Church's eyes about bugged out when they caught glimpse of one another.  Oshie was all super psyched.  Unfortunately, Church has been reverted to his room during the day (for now) and given total freedom at night.  We will slowly work forward as I did with Saf and Church, but please do say a prayer for us to help ensure we all become one big happy family.

The first casualty of a new doggo came this morning while I took Avery to school.  I came home to find my radishes on the floor (untampered with at least) and my dish scrubber chomped.  How I see it is that he is taking it easy on me.  He definitely has some anxiety (that was apparent on the drive home, but could also have been 100% from his looooong day on the road moving between vehicles).  Hopefully it will wane quickly as he learns our routine and sees that I will come back every time.

I realized that I ripped Church off.  He wasn't given a middle name.  So, Avery and I set forth throwing names back and forth.  Yesterday while she was at school the perfect name hit me... Noir!  Cat Noir and Ladybug are big with Avery right now so it played in well.  She liked it and agreed, so it is official.  Church Noir.

Happy (20th) antiversary to me.

While a lot of stuff is well and buried and I am very happy where I am today, it does still make me sad that I won't get those milestones.

I'm wiped - and blessed that I have one more day left of my weekend!  I took Friday off to spend a little quality time with the kiddo.  A few weeks back she was moaning about going to school saying she wanted to stay with me.  I took this is a reminder that I was long over due, so I planned two Fridays off here this October since there are so many awesome activities this time of year.

This Friday we drove north to the Living Treasures park off of 79 and we both really enjoyed it.  From there we drove over to an Ollie's that was near by (goodness  I miss living hear one of these stores).  Then on the drive home we side tracked to At Home and for dinner.  By the time we got home it was straight to the shower and bed.

Today we were up and moving to get to the Houston Pumpkin Festival's parade.  We hung around after to take things in there.  It remains one of my favorite events around here this time of year.

I was contemplating another stop tomorrow, but I don't know if I have the energy for it.  I really should get other things done here around the house -- we'll see.

I also have something else in the works that may manifest next weekend that could be a bit time consuming.  For sure it proves I am crazy.

This morning we loaded Saffy and Church into the car and took them to church for the blessing of the animals.  Many years ago (I can't find record of it here in my blog) I took Saffy back in Jtown.  She's getting older, time for a 'booster' dose.

There have been consignment sales and all kinds of goodies in the past few weeks - I do love the fall.