I know my dogs well.  I have systems and habits in place to avoid things I don't want them doing.  Really it's my own fault when I don't follow these procedures and they do what they do.  As I do each morning now, I ran to take Avery to daycare - it can be less than 10 minutes unless I stand there hugging on her or talking to one of the workers.  I returned to find things pulled from the small trash cans and throughout the living room and computer room.  *gah Danika!*

The extra grossness is that she adores tissues - pulling them out and shredding them.  It's cold season in my house, so a few cans are full of My Favorite Egg's, as my mother used to call them, snot rags.

Why was she given free reign on this occasion?  Because after I put them back in the bedroom from their trip outside she woke My Favorite Egg and he brought them back down/out and left the bedroom door hanging open.  I was too lazy to add "wrangle dogs back up the stairs and into the room" onto my pre-departure to do list while tending to kiddo.

Often people close to me will challenge this one saying, but if you're only gone for a little while you can't let them have free reign?  No, no I obviously can NOT.  She's enough of a jerk about this that just being outside mowing the lawn Danika will pull things out of the trash cans.  Thank you for the reminder that what I do I do for a reason and not just because I'm uptight and mean.

Food auctions - I fell in love with them in Jingletown, well at least the auctions that also had food.  There was one here today not too far away so we headed there after a lazy Sunday morning.  Nothing like 3 mangos, 2 caramel apples w nuts, two 1lb+ packs of flavor injected chicken legs, and two packs of 1lbish pork chops for $11.  We didn't get to stay long as it was chilly in there and we had the baby or surely our haul would have been larger.

Even though we weren't gone long we came back to a poopy mess, thanks Obama Dani.  So she needed cleaned up.  I scooped the yard too so My Favorite Egg could mow (one last time).

It was a productive long weekend, but I'm so not ready for it to end.

My day "off".  Let's see here.  I did get to lounge a little while longer in bed, but since I was up for an hour at 3am and 7am to feed the _sick_ baby and pump, lounging wasn't as awesome as sleeping would have been.  I wanted to hit the closest Ollie's which is about 20 miles away, so we packed up and headed out.  I didn't find anything amazing, but it was right next to a Giant Eagle, so I also stopped and did some grocery shopping.

I've gotten two loads of laundry washed (but not away) and the dogs brushed (that means the critters in our neighborhood have something to line their winter nests with).  The upstairs tile (bathrooms and laundry) rooms have been swept and are waiting for me to wash them.  The fur in the house on the first floor is waiting to be vacuumed and I wanted to scoop poop so I have a shot at mowing one more time.  But here it is almost 3pm, so I need to start figuring out dinner.  *sigh*  When do I get to cuddle and console the totes adorbs even though she's sick baby?

I've always posted the first day I needed to scrape my windshield.  I guess I can once again smile and be super grateful to have a usable garage.  For sure today though if my car were outside I would have needed to scrape.  Can you believe it took until well into November?  We only got what looked like a minor attempt at sleet the same day it snowed a little in Jtown.  The leaves are still clinging to the trees here too - which was not the case as we had gone up the mountain last weekend.

I know the cold must come, but I am going to celebrate every ray of sunshine I get.  Speaking of which, it's warmed back up again today, or at least into the 50's which is still pretty decent when the sun is shining enough to need sunglasses.

I ran out today to renew my concealed carry permit.  Of course the sheriff's office here is only open (like many) 9am-4pm and is closed tomorrow while I'm off.  So I got that in motion before swinging in to quickly buy more clothes for the little one.  With her being unusually small I don't have warm enough clothing for her in those sizes - go figure.  At least she is officially too big for some of her very first outfits.  She's growing, slowly, but she's growing.

It is shocking how much we rely on clean water flowing from our faucets.  I had guessed it was from the heavy rains, but it turns out it was simply a failure in filtration at one of the water pumping stations.  Either way I'm living with a boil water advisory.  So I can't use the ice from the ice maker or use the tap water for consumption without boiling it.  I'm lucky I had a couple of gallons of water downstairs for drinking purposes.

The bigger issue is cleaning bottles. So for tonight I just boiled a pot and sterilized the bottles that way.  I also boiled two other pots full to have water for the dogs tomorrow.  But this leaves open questions.  They say not to even use the water to brush your teeth... so can I shower?  I mean, I am still feeding kiddo and the water would be on me.  I guess I need to return to having an obscene stockpile of bottled water in the basement to avoid some of these issues.

The biggest surprise was I found out via text and email from the water company.  It's nice to know they don't assume everyone is glued to the nightly local news on a daily basis.  Hopefully they'll text when the issue is resolved as well, but in the mean time I'll be peeking at their website throughout the day.

The pounding rain didn't stop us this morning... and I'm glad it didn't as it stopped shortly after we left on our way to Jingletown. Of course, it had already done it's job derailing a car ahead of us on 70, so we were stuck in traffic for over an hour while we waited for the accident to be cleared.  This meant we got there way later than expected, but we still had quite a few people able to join us for a bite at El Jalisco, for which I am so grateful.  I can officially say Avery has been to Jtown and got to meet the Laws, the Rohannas, Jon and Heather, and Beff today.  More importantly we got to do some catching up.

The drive home was very uneventful.  I didn't do much but I'm bushed today.  Probably because my eyes were open at 5am, so not only did I not take advantage of the extra hour of sleep but I even got up an hour even earlier.  *sigh*  When The Walking Dead is over I'm showering and wiping out.

Today Davey T, Becky, and Mr Miles came to visit with us!

The only other not completely mundane thing to mention is that I've been dealing with a sore throat for a few days.  I really believe it to just be my sinuses acting up, just sinuses draining - especially since I had a bit of nose bleeding too.  But I was worried on Saturday morning when it became more of a stabby feeling than the typical sore throat.  I mean the last thing I need with a little one around is a cold.  The sore throat has now passed, but I'm coughing a little in an attempt to get some of the crap out of my throat that keeps slamming my windpipe shut.  Come on, it isn't even November yet.  The heat hasn't been running constantly and it shouldn't be that dry in here already.  How long until spring?

I had a lot of boring nights at home by myself in Johnstown too, don't get me wrong... but I'm feeling extra home bound here lately.  Yeah, I can go out by myself but to where... shopping?  To get starbucks?  Those trips out are limited in time too - or I'm stuck in a parking lot half naked for 25 minutes to stretch my time out.  Going out to eat?  I miss some of the places I frequented back in Jtown.  What I wouldn't give for good sushi, mexican, or chinese.  But it's hard to actually eat a hot meal at any point, so those things would be a waste to be near anyhow.

So far this week we left the house to go to church, to a chiropractor appointment, and - in an effort to get past budding grumpiness - two walks to take in the fresh air and nice weather.

I think I'd be better about it all if I were more rested and less stressed.  I know this will all pass - and too fast when I look back in hindsight - but it would sure be nice to have caught a nap earlier, or to know that I can sleep in tomorrow morning.  Heck, just not needing to get up in the middle of the night only to try futilely to get back to sleep would be great.

Saturday 80s, wee hours between Monday and Tuesday - low 30s.  I got the email early yesterday that there was a frost warning for last night.  It's the second half of October, so I shouldn't be surprised, but I feel like it is only July.

I had the space heater in the room overnight as to keep kiddo comfortable, but we still bundled her up.  The rest of the house dropped to 65 (from 70), so I switched on the furnace this morning.  Yay for that first run of the season, burning dust smell.

There is definitely frost out there, it is very apparent on the brand new mulch that just went down yesterday!  I trust my landscaper (since it is my Favorite Egg's father), but I do worry about those poor plants that just went in.  Due to a mix up on the order there are still a few more plants to come and they may not be here until December.  He dug the holes now, since heaven knows the ground may be too frozen to do so by then (heck my dirt is horrible to dig in now without it being frozen).  Hopefully Saffy doesn't decide to expand them or add a few more in the mean time.

I'm officially back to work - 50% vaca time 50% work for now.  Boo.  Starting back on a Friday.... the 13th none the less?  Winning.

Follow up to my previous post about rain (since we got more of it overnight and throughout today):  I have to state how happy I am to have a usable garage.  No lugging in groceries and whatnot in the rain.  I had this epiphany in a different variety the other day when I headed out and didn't realize how chilly it was until I got where I was going and climbed out of the car.

Rain.  It has been a while.  We need it, that's for sure.  The leaves have been trying to change for a few weeks.  Fortunately, we're still getting some decent temperatures.  Regardless, it's October.  The halloween leggings are out - and I even have the kiddo in her halloween outfit today.  Nothing exciting to post about today, but I wanted to take a minute to celebrate autumn's approach.

My time at home is coming to a close very soon.  I almost feel like I need to get out during the day simply because I still can - not that there is anything I need to go do.  We're finding our groove in many ways, but of course challenges remain.  Regardless, I have to say - I get why people would rather stay home.  Sure it's emotionally fulfilling to hold her and see her smile, but more than that.  I don't want to see the role of Mother is easier, but it is in many ways and the stress is different.  I feel like I have more freedom of my time than I do with a full work day.  I can't imagine how consumed my life will feel when I return back to work.

For now I am focusing on achieving a few tasks each day - the ones I'd typically do if I were working (laundry, dishes, vacuuming, that type of stuff) but I'm also indulging when she relaxes.  Sorry, but if I have to sit still with a pump I am definitely turning on Netflix.  Girl gave me lots of peace on Monday, and I was able to cook up all of the squash that I had waiting to be consumed from the farm.  Needless to say I am a little backed up on fresh food.  This always happens with the farm basket as I can only eat so much, but I'm trying to keep up.

My new mattress is doing well for us.  But frankly, I think I'd sleep like a champ regardless.  Yes, I'm sleeping, but I'm still also getting up once or twice in the middle of the night for 30-60 minutes.