Dogboy Manor

Hey, it's only been half a month between entries this time. We've been fairly busy with the big move. We finally got to say goodbye to the 1BR apartment in Arlington and a big hello to Dogboy Manor. Yes, the furred one was VERY upset that we put him in daycare for the day of the move and couldn't wait to get back to the new place on Sunday. He absolutely loves it. It's kind of freaky how much it seemed like he knew he wasn't going back to the apartment when we collected him at the kennel. Since getting to 5802 he has shown absolutely NO interest in getting into the car to go anywhere. I mean, he wasn't that thrilled with car rides before but at least he'd go along grudgingly. Now he won't even come along to pick dad up at the train station!

The furry ladies have settled in amazingly well. The were even playing and investigating the place on the first day. With every previous move their standar response was:

1) Hide under the covers in the bed
2) Hide inside the chimney (if we have one)
3) Hide behind the washer/dryer
4) Hide behind the curtains

We are so proud of how much they've come out of their shells over the years...but they still like to hide under the covers whenever someone comes to the house. The biggest concern at this place is accidentally locking someone in one of the bazillion closets in the place. This has only happened once so far and only for a short time before we discovered that someone was missing from the troupe that follows us from room to room. One thing about moving all over the world, it certainly makes the family closer. Can't take a step without watching where your foot is coming down in case you get a yelp or a hiss in response.

Oh, and the lovely webby things in the tree outside our window "hatched" and a bunch of caterpillars have come out to play. Fortunately they are pretty much confined to an area very high up in the one tree that is growing around our back fence. Much rather have caterpillars than some other things we were imagining it might be...(shudder).

We did manage to get the cable hooked up finally (it was called on account of rain last Saturday) but due to the thick canopy of trees around the house we couldn't get a clear line of site to the satellite. Therefore we've worked out an agreement whereby I will provide continuing direction to Lori ("a little more to the left") who has graciously agreed to (in the safest manner possible) climb up onto the roof (2 stories up), hold the dish in her left hand (she's right handed so should hold on with her preferred hand), grab onto the lightning rod (grounding!) and lean out to where the dish can "see" the satellite. The only down side is she expects me to provide a running verbal commentary on the shows so she doesn't feel like she's not getting the most out of the "HDTV experience". AND I guess I'll have to invest in an umbrella-cap for her so she won't get too wet when it rains. Yeah, I know what a pain this will be for me but this is the kind of sacrifice I have to make every bleedin' day.