Okay, this week marks the beginning of week 4 of owning a puppy. What?! Already?
Since we got him, life has not felt “normal” at all. I mentioned in my post Saturday how most of my typical daily life activities like walking, reading, exercising, cooking…. have mostly all been fitting in a VERY scattered manner, if at all. Also, my diet has been total crap.
- Week of 10/1: got Charlie 9/30, spent week in BRAND NEW puppy mode/ total chaos… and then I was away for 4 days immediately….
- Week of 10/8: parents here, bunch of work meetings and unfortunately timed big work project, trying to manage puppy without gates really because the ones I ordered hadn’t arrived yet…
- Week of 10/15: 40th birthday and celebration stuff, trying to sort out Egypt cancellation + re-plan new Hawaii trip, work project continues, parents here, kitchen remodel stuff…
- Week of 10/23 (this week): MAYBE some hope for a slightly more “‘normal” week??? Asher is gone until Friday in Philadelphia and D.C. on a school trip, so, that’s one less person to worry about. 😅 Parents not here now for a few days, either, and Charlie is…. kind of settling down a bit to where I can sort of do some other things while he’s around. (“Kind of” being the key words. We say things like “Who’s a good boy?” to Charlie, and then sometimes I like to add in, in my puppy/baby voice, “Who’s a kind of good boy???” 😜 just to be more accurate. hehe.)
I got a little caught up on life over the weekend (also kind of).
Got groceries, made an actual meal! (chicken tortilla soup, bread, salad), and sketched out a meal plan for the week, too. I deep cleaned our bedroom AND cleaned the main areas of our house yesterday. Ivan cut Ethan’s hair and drove Ethan to a soccer thing Saturday and got a jump start on some fall yard clean up and tree triming.
SOOOO, I feel a little less behind the 8-ball now starting this new week.
I would love to:
- GET TO THE GYM a few times here. With Asher gone (i.e. no 5 p.m. soccer driving needed), this feels more possible! Yay!
- Cook a couple other meals per my meal plan….
- Maybe go for a walk or two solo + podcast?? Not every day, but just a couple would be nice….
- Read for a few sessions! Charlie LOVES to lay on our bed and is usually calm there (though he actually sleeps in his crate overnight). I feel like we could start implementing some quiet reading time while he hangs out before bed.
Philly/D.C. update:
Asher left yesterday morning at 4:30 a.m. for the airport for his 8th Grade Philadelphia/ D.C. trip! Ethan did this last year and had a blast.
Off he goes….
By early afternoon they were on the ground and out touring already. First up- Liberty Bell!
Again, I said this last year, but the group photo app they use is awesome!! The teacher chaperones and the kids all upload photos from their phones as they go and it’s super fun to see what they’re up to. Asher also texted me these. 🙂
Naughty boy:
I turned my back on Charlie for a minute in the living room and he decided he wanted to join the Halloween ghost decor and become a knickknack. HAHA. 😂
Nice boy:
We had gorgeous fall weather yesterday and he LOVED just sitting or laying in the grass looking out at the yard. This was the first time he just… relaxed outside, without trying to eat something, etc. I sat on the patio for a few minutes near him and enjoyed the sun and thought, “THIS IS NICE!!” Hopefully eventually he will turn into a grown up dog who does things like that often. 😉
And last one… before bed:
We have not been letting him sleep in our bed (we put the crate in our room and he sleeps there). But he just wanted to try it out…. awwww…..
Will report back on how the week goes. Maybe I’m being too optimistic on a Monday morning. haha.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for Asher’s class trip! Such a fun, memorable experience.
GRATEFUL KAE 
What a fun experience for Asher! I think you are in general more level-headed/less anxious than I am, but did you have any concerns or worries about him traveling with his class? I think there is a big class trip at my daughter’s school in sixth or seventh grade, and I am pre-stressed about it.
Your kind-of-a-good-boy is so cute!!!!
I hope your week is smooth and low key.
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I really don’t worry about him traveling like this!! I feel like I am a worrier about many things, but for whatever reason, this just isn’t one of them. He is not a kid who would run off or get lost or do anything particularly dumb, I don’t think- lol. He’s traveled plenty and is great in an airport or hotel, etc., so I just don’t feel very worried at all!
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Charlie is really so cute, worths going off the routine for a while. hahahah… hope you get back to “routine” soon as you feel the best when you can do things you enjoy like gym, reading, walk.
Asher seems to be having so much fun!
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Right, good point! Some things are worth getting off the routine for. 😉 I just have to remember that it won’t last forever… it’s still hard feeling out of sorts. I feel out of touch with a lot of my “normal” things, but hoping that each day and week it gets a little easier.
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I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if I would have what it takes to train a puppy. Our dog adopted us when she was two so we never got the puppy years. But yes just like kids they’re cute when they’re small and then they grow up and develop into their awesome adult selves and adore you madly. So hang in there Puppy Mama!
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I know!!! It really is a LOT. It’s especially hard because I can’t really just put him down just “anywhere” in our house because not all places are “puppy proofed” at all. He is so easily excited too and is also in that annoying biting phase where he wants to chomp on everything when he’s wound up. (Including us….and he sometimes bites hard!) We see lots of glimpses though of a sweet, snuggly dog when he’s calmed down, so I hope once some of these difficult puppy behaviors move on out, it will be smoother sailing! Overall it’s been ok, but… challenging, too!
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Oh, I don’t know if I could resist Charlie sleeping in the bed with me! It’s probably a good thing I don’t have a dog- I’d be way too lenient and he would never be trained properly. Every Charlie photo is SO CUTE. Keep them coming!
The kids here go to Washington DC in fifth grade, which I think is kind of early. I’m not sure they get that much out of it. I hope Asher has a great time, and I hope you have an easier week! Having one less person definitely helps.
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Haha Jenny! I feel like I have not really had the headspace to fully figure out training, etc. Like I’ve watched some videos and listened to podcasts, but I’ve been so slammed with LIFE that I feel kind of disorganized about it all and probably could be doing better/ more…. oh well.
5th grade does seem too early! I think 8th grade is perfect. They learn about a lot of the government stuff etc in school this year, so the timing makes sense, and they are old enough to appreciate all the history without getting super bored. (I actually am surprised that people want to send their 5th graders off to hotels overnight so far from home, also?! 8th graders are so independent, but 5th is young!)
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That school trip looks really fun! We never did anything like that that I recall, although later in school (maybe 10th or 11th) we went to Great America for Physics class and to see a play in San Francisco for Honors English, which was a blast! Obviously there were no smart phones then, and during the San Francisco trip, the carpool actually left one kid behind in Sacramento! 🙂 I imagine that would have been embarrassing for the chaperone!
I do not envy you having to train a dog. My friend has a cavapoo and she actually hired someone to do it. It was not cheap, but it took all that stress off of her. However, the dog (Jelly) still gets up on the barstools and tries to get onto the dinner table etc. so we are not done yet..!
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What a great trip for Asher… and I really love the group photo app thing where you can see what they’re all up to 🙂
Well, and what can I say about Charlie? He’s the cutest and has such an innocent puppy face (cliché but true).
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A new puppy sounds like so much work but he is incredibly cute! You have had a lot going on period so adding a puppy to the mix would be extra challenging. But obv worth it!
I was thinking Ethan had just done this trip! I forget how close in age your kids are! What an amazing experience. Trips like this didn’t happen when I was in HS in my tiny rural ND town.
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