This thing still on?

Back in October of 2013, I limped away from this blog with a post Summer Blackout Recap. Not a word since then.

You lucky bastards.

Unfortunately for you all I still remember my password and still have access to this blog.

A quick recap. The Talker is almost a teenager (less than 2 weeks to go as a 12 year old). The Princess is about to finish elementary school, and The Boss Lady survived a nasty bout with a viral brain infection last year. I did finish my 3000 mile bike ride challenge last spring, topping it off with a 1 day, 75 miler through the Texas Hill Country.

The last year and a half have included several job changes, one for me, one for The Boss Lady. After a four year detour, she is back in a job that she loves and is having a blast. I gave up a job teaching and working with some of the most physically and developmentally delayed students in our school system. I now teach classes for students who are either Autistic or have other sensory issues.

The Backyard Farm currently consists of one Big White Dog, the black/brown/red/grey short-legged, long-haired, loud-barking Different Dog, The Other Kitty (now 19 years old), 6 chickens and 1 Betta Fish.

There you go. I stayed away of 15 months and you are caught up in 7 minutes. See you in a year or so.

I don't wanna...

Just haven't wanted to write for a while.  I used to apologize for extended absences.  Nowadays I say "deal with it.  Or don't"  I am just not inclined to worry about it.

A month ago I renewed my love of road biking.  The Boss Lady helped me make the leap and I bought a Specialized road bike (aka a ten speed - though this one technically has 18 gear combinations).  I have had the bike for 3 and a half weeks and have already topped a hundred miles in the saddle.  I still grin like a school boy when the new blue racer and I hit 30 miles per hour on a nice, flat cruise.

The new bike may have been a really well timed purchase, too.  A week after I got the new ride home, the bottom fell out of our household.  And since then it has been nice to have something to keep my mind and body occupied.

Not even a month ago we got some awful news about The Big White Dog.  His chest cavity was full of one giant and fast growing tumor and the cancer was already showing up in his kidneys too.  We knew he was not feeling great, but we were certainly not prepared to hear the worst case scenario was coming true.  Less than a week later our 125 pound, 8 year old puddle of puppy was gone.  After realizing that he was unable to eat or drink, The Boss and I knew that we had to let the vet help Kodak go.

And that sucks.  Again.  And Again.

Long suffering readers may realize that this is indeed the third pet we have lost in less than a year.  Our Spring addition to the family was a 2-3 year old Great Pyrenees girl who had been used up by a lousy backyard breeder.  Something went wrong after her spay surgery and we lost her two weeks later.  The kids were crushed.  The Boss was devastated.  I was wrecked.  It sucked.

A few months ago we had to decide to have our 17 year old kitty cat, P.K., aka Pretty Kitty, put to sleep.  She was ancient and it was no surprise. Still, the kids were crushed.  The Boss Lady was devastated.  I was wrecked.  It sucked. Again.

After losing Kodak, none of us are totally back to ourselves yet.  We have mostly quit crying but it is still horrible to realize that our big ol' albino melon head is not sitting and peeking OVER the fence when we arrive home in the evenings.

The 12 pound puppy we adopted last summer is adjusting well to his role as big dog of the house.  Now I can only hope that the rest of us adjust pretty soon, too.

We are running seriously low on pets around here

Maybe the Mayans were partially right.  Seems like there are loads of AtHomeFamily pets that are not making it to 2013.  Early in the Spring we had to have our new dog put-down after she got an infection during her spay surgery.  That super sucked.

A couple of times this year we had to finish off wounded or sick chickens.  Not real fun, but part of the deal with our backyard chicken flock.

Today was a totally different level of yuck though.  P.K., our 16+ year old calico cat went over the Rainbow Bridge this afternoon.  Six months ago it seemed like her time was up.  We made a diet change for her and she perked up and fattened up nicely for a little while.  Last week I noticed she was getting skinny again, but I also saw her jump over our 8 foot tall garden gate so I didn't think much of any of it.  

Yesterday she was really wanting to just sleep in one spot.  This morning she was hardly moving and laying flat out on the kitchen floor when we left for church.  A few hours later we were taking the drive to the vet, knowing that she would not be returning with us.  The Talker is a stoic little dude and he sat in the waiting area after saying his goodbyes at home.  The Princess was torn up and waited with PK until the vet came into the room.  The Boss Lady and I stayed with our first pet until she was gone.  

15 years or more ago, PK got hurt real bad in a fall from our oak tree that towered over a concrete driveway.  Her herniated diaphragm required life saving surgery.  Her broken leg required that she live in a crate under my desk for months.  I hauled her to work daily and would sneak her into the office before my 75 year old boss would get to the office.  He would frequently let us know that he "heard a cat" but PK was so pretty and perfect that none of my co-workers ever ratted me out to The Man.

Our family is really into our pets.  That is probably obvious to everyone.  Still, even though there are 8 more animals sharing our house these days, we will surely never have another Pretty Kitty.

PK, you were a perfect first pet.  We will think about you often and I'll take care of your girls. And us boys, too.

Time to face music

The Talker is making his first ever visit to the dreaded Principal's office today. Seems he and a few other boys can't quit screwing around and being silly on the school bus ride home after school. And I have to admit, seeing the boy squirm and be nervous about this has given me a sick, cheap laugh.

By the time I was in the second grade I was on a first name basis with my elementary school Principal and most of the office staff. I probably spent more time in the office than I did in math class. (Then again, I probably preferred the office to math class.)

The Talker was nervous and twisting in the wind a little bit this morning. And you know, I think that is OK. I walked with him into the school today and we found out that the Principal would be calling them in to discuss the problem. He and his buddies will hopefully learn quickly that there are better times to goof around than on the bus ride home.

The Boss Lady and I discussed this last night. We decided that we will stand with the Principal when he doles out the consequences. Then, we had to revise that a little bit, since our kids do live in the era of ridiculous zero-tolerance policies. (None of which I expect the school to invoke in this instance.) So long as the punishment fits the crime, which might even include a day (or two) off of the school bus, we are OK with it.

Even though I never got in trouble on the school bus, only because we lived a couple of blocks from the school, please believe me, I remember what it was like to be a boy. Seems like only yesterday I was running around the house in my underwear, with a laundry basket on my head, scaring the dog and cats.

OK, so that WAS yesterday. But I wasn't doing all of that crazy crap on the school bus!

2 questions

What did I do to deserve having the cat to climb into my car and use it as a litter box?

A follow up question:

What have done that made me so lucky that the cat peed INSIDE a reusable (yeah, not so much anymore...) grocery sack? Thereby keeping the cat pee safely contained.

And a final insight:

If you are tempted to buy a bunch of those reusable grocery sacks, you could do a whole lot worse than the really big ones that they sell at Costco. They hold your groceries AND evidently, are water tight.

Boo for cats! Yeah for Costco grocery bags!