Craziness at the Galena compound

It has been quite a while since I posted here. I have LOTS of excuses, Of course, the bottom line is that my brain was occupied and reflecting on a blog was the last thing I felt like doing.

So, let me recap, quickly.

First: my computer died. Dead. It had been barely gimping along for some time. I replaced it, but that brings a whole lot of work along with it. Much of what I need is still on the former computer. I need to take a day and do transfers, but have no day to take right now. So a lot of my computer time has been adding programs. I must say, I am loving the speed.

Then: I sprung and bought 1000sq feet of laminate flooring. This should be enough to replace everywhere there is carpet. So I have a pallet of flooring sitting in my dining room. I needed to pull up the carpet, which was just plain nasty. I have had Kate for three years and a litter of puppies. I also raised Nugget and Henry through housebreaking, and lost three old and sick dogs. No amount of carpet cleaning really cleans what is under the carpet and pad. And let me tell you, ten years of rearing and losing dogs made for a stinky house. My allergies were insane this past year, so it was time to be able to truly clean the house. Mask on and carpet was cut into strips for removal. Once it was out it was time to clean and seal the floor. This involved a product called Kilz and a 12" paint roller. It also involved shifting furniture around so I could paint, move furniture, and paint some more. It didn't take long for me to realize the best time to do it was right before I went to bed. That way it was dry by morning and I could return the room into a somewhat normal state for the dogs. I have Xpens strung throughout the house to keep the dogs out of areas that are either full of stuff that I had to move, or mid project. How did I figure out to paint at night, you say? Kate. Dear Kate. The first half of the great room was painted and the dogs were secure in the other half, which also housed  crates and a grooming table, couches and chairs. All securely fenced off by a four foot Xpen. Yeah. NOT! Kate, the mountain goat, somehow managed to scale the stacks and lept over the fencing and onto the fresh painted floor. When I yelled she went to the far side of the room and began to fret. When Kate frets she paces. In circles. Ever widening circles. I was forced to calm myself and chirp happy sounds to get her the heck out of there. But it didn't end there. Two days later I noticed a spot of the sub floor that was bare of paint. And wet. I looked up, to see if I had a leak. I knew it couldn't be coming from below. I fenced it off and went to bed. In the morning the spot, although bare, was dry. Hmmm. It seem dear Kate was licking that spot. At night. So it was repainted, and Kate is closed in my room at night and crated if I go anywhere. Today the flooring began to be laid.

(this is a foot. It has been brought to my attention it looks like a severed goat head.)

However, first I had to mess with the new cell phone. yep. Killed it. The Blackberry. I dropped it on Sunday morning. It made an awful sound as it hit the floor. No cracking, but a nice solid sharp sound. The touch screen went dead. Without the touch screen there is no phone. Without the touch screen the phone store couldn't transfer the data, including my phone book. I now had a new fancy upgraded phone, but it was nothing but a complete and total pain to try to navigate. and I had no phone numbers. My stress level was at 12.

Then there is living with a five month old puppy. Perpetual motion puppy. I sit at the computer trying to figure out both the phone and the computer, and she barks. She wants out. She went out ten minutes ago. I ignore her. She really needed to go out. She also gets on the couch now. Then she barks. She doesn't know how to get back down. I have never encouraged my dogs to jump off of things as pups. It is just not a good idea. Now it is coming back to bite me.

And Henry. He has been gone a week now. I think they like him. I think my heart hurts. He needed a place where he could be the star. He needed a place where Nugget wasn't going to kick his bum when he rightfully spanked Ginger. I could see it escalating and knew that it wouldn't be long before someone got hurt. My heart aches, but he is in a wonderful home. Still I cry. I feel I have somehow let him down. Intellectually I know that I did him right. I hold hard to that thought in hopes that I will soon begin to feel better.

Christmas. Somewhere in the piles of stuff that is off the floor, are presents for my grand kids. I love Amazon. I love that my children are good about buying gifts only for the little ones. You see, I have spent a bit too much on myself lately. sigh.

With that I am off to bed as tomorrow I begin the flooring in earnest. Supposedly it will be easy. Click the pieces together and move on. It should be a piece of cake.
It won't be. That I can be sure of.

I blogged. That I am also sure of.