Another week behind me, another week ahead. This past week has most definitely not been productive. Between Annie joining our family, still not feeling the greatest, and a lot more crummy weather, I’ve had basically zero motivation for working, cleaning, or doing pretty much anything besides reading and hanging out with my pets.
It’s actually been a pretty emotional week. I’m having a lot harder time adjusting to life with a dog than I thought I would. Which is hard to admit because Annie is probably one of the most low maintenance and easygoing dogs I’ve ever seen. I was so confident that I’d be able to take on any challenge a dog would bring to our lives. And now I’ve definitely been doubting myself. The hardest part has been the house training. She’s such a well behaved dog and knows a lot of obedience commands, so I figured it stood to reason that she’d also be potty trained. That doesn’t seem to be the case. It was easy to write off the first few accidents because she was in a new place, just had surgery, was scared and confused. But now she’s still going in the house, even immediately after I’ve just been outside with her for a considerable amount of time. Yesterday I was taking her outside every 45 minutes! I guess on the plus side, she hasn’t gone overnight at all the last two nights. So she CAN hold it. But why not during the day when I’m taking her out so often? She’s only been with us for five full days, so maybe I’m expecting too much. I’m doing everything I can and hopefully if I keep doing it she’ll officially be trained. It’s just really making me feel like a failure in the process.
Because of the potty training stuff, it’s also making me feel like I can never leave the house. I’m having flashbacks to the first year of Shepard’s life when he never EVER took a bottle, so if I wanted to leave the house without him I had about a max of two hours before he’d need to eat again. Now it’s the same thing with letting Annie outside. Granted I don’t have to leave the house all that often for great lengths of time, but there are a lot of days coming up when she’ll need to be alone. Spring break day trips I wanted to take with the boys, Easter, Great America the week after. Obviously all those things can still happen and I’ll just have to accept that she’s probably going to go in the house. But am I just going to worry about her the whole time I should be off having fun? Will she be a lot better in a week and a half? Who knows. But I hate worrying about it. I hate thinking that maybe it’ll never get any better.
And I guess the other part I’ve been having a hard time adjusting to is how Annie is affecting the cats. But I think it’s safe to say they’ve been making big strides in co-existing in the past day or two. Rory still spends a lot of time in the basement (Annie is scared to go down those steps), and both cats seem to sleep down there at night. But Jack has been in the same room with her pretty often now. He just walks very slowly, otherwise she gets excited and tries to play with him. Rory has been watching tv on the couch with us at night and today he’s even gone back to sleeping on our bed, his favorite spot. So I think things will work out with them. It’s just taking time. I hated to think I ruined their lives. Rory especially. He’s been so happy at this house. He’s usually my constant companion during the day. And then I replaced him. 🙁
Anyway, I say all that to explain my state of mind this past week. But today I’m feeling a lot better. I think it’s helped to have us all home and together for a day. We did a lot of work outside and Annie was with us for most of it. She had a long session of fetch with the boys inside, where she couldn’t get a grip on the floors and was sliding and flying all over the house with everyone laughing hysterically. The cats are starting to act more like their normal selves. Greg even took Annie outside last night so I could go to bed a little earlier. It’s all going to work out and she will become a valued member of our family. I just needed to work through all the emotions to get here.
The Week Ahead
It’s time to come back to reality. I really need to get back to work! I started one last batch of Easter dolls last night. Hopefully I can plow through those early this week and then get started on a wholesale order I’ve been putting off. I’m not sure what I’ll work on after that, but it’s time to start pushing dolls out before summer comes and life gets too chaotic for a consistent work schedule. May is such a busy life month too that I really need to make April count.
Tomorrow is Jack and Rory’s 12th birthday! I’m not sure they’ll cooperate with coming out to get a special birthday dinner, but I’m going to try. I’m hoping to make a pet store trip in the morning to pick up some special toys for all the animals.
The boys have their school concert on Thursday night. I’m really hoping they’re both healthy! Last year we missed it entirely because Caden had a flu. The year before he was also sick, but we sent him to the concert anyway and then worried he was going to throw up the whole time he was singing. I’d really like to be there and enjoy watching my children this year!
So no real goal centered priorities for the week. I just want to get back to work and still spend a lot of time acclimating to being a dog owner!
Meal Plans
I think I need to get a lot more serious about meal planning. All four of us seem to be so hungry lately ALL THE TIME. It’s crazy annoying!
Monday – Chile Relleno Flautas – It’s at home date night and I’m feeling like something new and different. I like chile rellenos, I like flautas. Hopefully it’ll work!
Tuesday – French fried chicken – I never got around to making it last week with all the Annie excitement. Possibly some sort of broccoli slaw salad as well.
Wednesday – One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
Thursday – Pre-concert, something fast and easy. Not quite sure what yet. Spaghetti? Hamburgers?
Friday – Pizza – possibly a loose variation on this flatbread recipe, but maybe with a bbq sauce base
Have a great week!
