Adjusting to Change

Well, we've been in the new house for over a week now and things are going great! Jason is obsessing about two main things: choosing a new media center and replacing the front door. His friend kindly came over Saturday to mount our TV on the wall, which turned out to be a pretty big production involving saws and a trip to Home Depot. Since the IKEA shelving I purchased during college doesn't cut it for his vision of entertaining, he's on the hunt for something more sleek. Now that I have 3200 square feet of space to display my impressive knick-knack collection, I don't need the precious real estate on that IKEA shelving anymore and he can buy whatever he wants.

And ah, the front door. It sucks. Here is a picture of it for reference. This photo was taken just after Andrea left the night she dropped off Neptune. Both dogs are pleading with her to take them with her where they can frolic with 12 other dogs in rural Illinois. Her house is that proverbial farm where all people dumping their dogs at a shelter think their "out-of-control," aka "never exercised" dog will end up. It's heaven for dogs. But I digress.

There are many reasons why we both hate it. For one thing, the glass panes go from top to bottom, which means that Levi scares the shit out of the poor mailman every day and that the door is easier to break into than it would be if there were less glass. There is also about a one-inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, so it's like winter swooshing in through the crack at all times. We got a temporary fix at Home Depot, but it looks awful. Apparently doors on old homes in the city are irregularly-sized, so we are going to have to buy a threshold thingy that is too large and then buy some sort of man tool to cut it down. What a pain. As for the windows, I'm envisioning some roman shades to keep Levi from terrorizing all the neighbors. I'm so paranoid he's going to sail through the glass that we put a baby gate up in front of the door. Oh, and the door only has a dead bolt and the door won't stay closed unless the dead bolt is locked. Just those little home quirks we're adjusting to.

We're also adjusting to being a four-pet household. I'm in charge of all the animals in the morning, which leaves me feeling a bit like a zookeeper. The nice thing is that both dogs stay in bed (Levi in ours, Neptune in his dog bed) while Jason gets ready. So when I get up, I've gotten in the routine of letting the dogs out in the yard so they can do their business immediately. Then I do my morning routine, get dressed, make the bed, and prepare for our walk, which usually consists of five minutes of searching for either my keys or my gloves or poop bags or something. Neptune dances around while I attempt to put his collar on.

It's going to take some practice to get used to walking two dogs. Neither one is a puller, but they are both sniffers and we all know Levi is incredibly stubborn. I sometimes feel like a wishbone when one stops to sniff and the other keeps trucking along. Luckily, Neptune isn't stubborn and is easily distracted from the smells. When I get back from the walk, I feed the dogs one-at-a-time in the mudroom. They are already getting used to the idea that one stays in, one goes out. After that, I feed the birds. Then I feed myself. I'm hoping to get the whole system a little more streamlined. I also want to start on Neptune's training. We've been working on sitting before he gets his food, and I want him to learn "look at me" and "don't touch" next. Just before I leave, I put the birds in their cages if they aren't already there, and give Levi his Kong on his bed and Neptune his Kong in his crate. Levi was utterly confused as to why, after over two years of getting his Kong in his crate, he now had to go to his bed to get it. He's been great being left out in the house.

Neptune is still being perfect with the birds. He'll look at them every once in a while, but even when Lola flies around, he doesn't bat an eye. I think he's more scared than anything. I am amazed at how easy the transition was from one dog to two. The hardest part is just adjusting to walking both of them. There has also been a minor health issue with Neptune. He was neutered a few weeks ago and his scrotum is still really swollen. Apparently when large, older dogs are neutered, this can happen. We noticed blood on the floor the other night and his incision is oozing a little blood and pus. This dog is so sweet that I put a warm compress on his swollen, infected scrotum incision and he is kissing me and wagging his tail. Last night we got some antibiotics and pain meds for him. No rough play or long walks until the swelling goes down. Poor guy. That cannot be comfortable.

I can't believe two things I've been longing for for so long have finally come into my life: a second dog and a house. Everything is as wonderful as I dreamed it would be. I am just really happy right now. I am excited for the holidays when my brother and my sister-in-law come into town and I can't wait to see my out-of-town friends. We even received the security deposit from our condo renter yesterday. I cannot believe how much interest we received from potential renters. Everything is falling into place.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days. My sister and her family came by Sunday to see the house. Neptune's love of people obviously extends to kids. He was extremely gentle and sweet.

In the meantime, Levi snuggled with Noah. How cute are they with Levi's head resting across Noah's ankles?

And just for fun, here are a few more of our new boy! Isn't he handsome?