Change Is Hard

Having a puppy who is almost housebroken causes a change in lifestyle to some extent.  We now live in a house with all doors closed so that she has fewer options in which to cause mischief.  Sometimes we forget, but she never forgets.  She must do hourly rounds of inspections because if we leave the laundry room door open there will soon appear on our living room floor underwear, socks or kitchen towels.  Sometimes these are clean;  sometimes they are not, she doesn’t seem to have a preferance.  If we forget and leave a bathroom door open within the hour there will be shredded pieces of toilet paper floating around our living space.  She never worries that sharing her creations may get her into trouble.

So.  We live in a house with all doors closed.   But she IS cute!

I have a cardinal that lives somewhere in my yard.  He sings to me every morning and evening from the very top of different trees in the yard.  Yesterday evening he was at the tip of an oak tree, gleaming in the setting sun, singing his heart out for me and Katie as we went for our evening stroll around the yard.  This morning he was in the very top of a pine tree out front singing to us as we went to the mailbox to get the morning paper.  He is bright red, very big and very proud of himself.

This morning as Katie and I were in the back yard looking for a suitable spot to do some business, four bright yellow finches chased each other past us and through the fusia redbud tree that is in full bloom.

And yesterday I got a quick glimpse of the hummingbird, back from his winter travels in Mexico!  Good thing I had his supper ready and waiting for him in the feeder next to the living room windows.

Katie, being the self centered puppy that she is, of course noticed none of these birds.  She is too busy eating grass and digging in the dirt.  She comes in each morning wet, muddy and covered in green grass clippings.  She is her happiest then, well…other than when it’s SUPPER TIME!! 🙂

I go back to Ann Arbor for my second day of work at the new job today.  Wednesday night I told my husband that I had fun at work and he said…”Well..THAT’S different!”

So I start my summer job on Wednesday.  Actually it’s not really a summer job, as it will continue until I graduate next April or until I walk away, whichever comes first!  I spent most of today in orientation and training.  Seems like a lot to remember; I had a hard time keeping up.  But I figure the best training is on the job training, and that starts day after tomorrow.

They seem to spend a lot of time focused on problem patrons and problem issues.  I can’t believe that there are that many problems.  It’s a LIBRARY for heavens sake.  I know it’s a public place, but geeze, I’ve worked in public places most of my life and people that are upset over their money or their loan approval would seem to me to be way more angry than someone upset over a book not being on the shelf.  But we shall see.  You never know about those retirees! 🙂

Puppy is asleep (FINALLY) on my feet tonight.  But then it’s almost midnight and she’s been chewing on my feet and hands and pant leg and hair ever since I got home around 5, so she’s pretty exhausted.  Me too.  She has lots of toys to chew on, but it’s oh so much more fun to chew on me.  This morning since I had to be in Ann Arbor by 9 I had to leave the house by 6:45, so I got HER up at 5:45.  Revenge is sweet.  Of course she got to go back to bed while I was driving in a really bad commute this morning, but it was still fun to wake her up for a change!

Obviously I have nothing profound to say.  I probably will after my first day of work when I find out what the reality of working in a public library is!

It’s been almost a week since I wrote last.  Could be that I’m so busy I don’t have time.  Could be that sleeping in and babysitting the dog have consumed my time.  Could be that I’ve become a sloth.  All of the above could be true as well.  Or is it A and B?  Or B only?  Or..?  WAIT…this is turning into an exam!

Surprisingly I did fine on the two classes I was so stressed about.  Others did better, some did worse.  But I did fine and I’m glad to move on.  Today was orientation for my “summer job” at the Ann Arbor District Library.  They spent quite a bit of time discussing parking.  It boils down to the fact that there is no parking and so I will resume my bus riding addiction.  Stay tuned for more bus stories.  (sorry!)

Puppy and I went to puppy school tonight, and she is suitably worn out.  We stayed and watched the grownup dogs during part of their session which is after ours.  She has a long way to go!  She is getting to like other people, but is still uninterested in other dogs.  I guess that’s ok, as there aren’t other dogs here!  Though I did toy briefly with the thought of getting an adult resuce dog after Katie is trained.  Toyed briefly with the thought and tossed it out!  One dog is more than enough!

Time to go relax.  What a wonderful luxury, to relax without any schoolwork waiting in the wings!  I must learn to enjoy this!

Well, let it be known that socialization did not break Katie’s spirit.  When I came home yesterday from my last final exam she was back to being the devil dog I remembered!  🙂  Even though she is a handful, I’m glad she is feeling better.  I bought her a new toy today that squeaks when she chews on it.  So far she is loving it.  And while it’s squeaking I know exactly where she is!  Though I have to say the noise is becoming irratating.

The final exam was irritating as well.  Way too long, and very unclear.  But it is done, and I am now free, at least until my summer job kicks in.  I don’t know when that will be, I go next week for orientation.  I’m working at the Ann Arbor District Library part time over the summer and into next year.  This will be the true test to find out if I really like public library work as much as I think and hope I will!

The first thing I noticed about Katie and puppy socialization is that she isn’t very social.  There were two labs, a Boston terrier, and an English spaniel in our class.  They are all about the same age, 4-5 mos.  The labs love to roll around on the floor with each other, the terrier loves to terrorize everyone, and the spaniel hates everyone.  Katie was most interested in sniffing around the edges of the gym away from the fray.  I’d pick her up and plop her down in the midst of the fun and she’d wander away.  She wasn’t the least bit interested in any of them.

She did great during the exercise where we passed the puppies around the circle and everyone got to hold everyone else’s puppy.  She got along with everyone.  Toward the end of our hour she would lie down at every chance she could get.  One of the lab puppies actually fell asleep.  They were all exhausted.

Last night she fell asleep on the sofa at 8, half an hour after we got home.  I woke her up to go outside at 11 and she slept the rest of the night.  This morning she didn’t bark to get me up at 6, I got her up at 7.  She slept all morning.  I wonder if socialization has broken her spirit?  The truth will tell when I get home from my final tonight after she has slept all day.

Today I have two more sets of lectures and problems to do in preparation for my final final tomorrow.  Then I have puppy socialization tonight; her first meeting with lots of other puppies.  As she sits at my feet shredding paper out of my wastebasket I wonder how she will react when she’s not queen puppy.

This morning she has managed to chew on a wall, dig the soil out of a plant, and carry the moss from the plant all over the house while chewing it and eluding me.  When I finally caught her and picked her up to hug her heaving body against mine she was hot and her little heart was racing, but she was happy!  I can’t believe she can cause this much of a mess, all over the house, and before 8:00 a.m.!

It’s now 8:20, and I just had to take a break, she pulled another plant over onto the floor, potting soil everywhere.  I guess today is going to be a plant day.

It’s not even 8:30 a.m. and both Katie and I need a nap!

As I rode the bus into campus this morning I mused that this might be my last day of riding the bus for several weeks.  It’s such a nice day, tulips and daffodils are blooming, trees just beginning to bud. All I have to do today is turn in the 503 exam and then go to a computer lab to pull up and print information I will need to study for the 502 exam on Thursday. Nice day!

I have to admit, I will miss Ann Arbor. I can see there are a lot of things just starting to bloom and I won’t be here to see it turn into summer. I think I will miss Ann Arbor when I graduate next year at this time too.

I try to remember if I felt this way about East Lansing when I was graduating back in 1978. I don’t think I did. I was eager to get away and start my “real life.” Oh silly girl, not to recognize when life was easy! I recognize it now.  Aging has some benefits; wisdom being one.

Having finished my first pass at all four questions for the take home final I celebrated by taking Katie (new puppy) to visit Sandy who was Bonnie’s (old dog) groomer. Sandy was very sad when Bonnie died, and as I carried the little puppy into her shop this morning we both burst into tears. Katie got to be held by all the groomers and a few customers. She shook with fear on occassion, as it was loud in there with all the other dogs barking, but she did really well over all.

When we got back home I noticed a squirrel in the top of one of my trees, laying out along a branch. I took the dog inside and got the binoculars. Sure enough, this squirrel is sleeping up there, rocking gently in the breeze, soaking up the sun. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a squirrel lying on a branch of a tree on campus, all four legs hanging down, chin lying on the branch, eyes shut, enjoying the sunshine. I’ve never seen squirrels sleep before. Today I am somewhat envious of the squirrel high in my tree, rocking in the sun, dozing away.

Now puppy Katie is alseep as well, exhausted from her adventure, curled up in front of the screen door on her favorite ratty towel, warmed by the sun. As I watch her sleep I’m listening to an insistent robin singing somewhere close by, the cackles of the blackbirds at my feeder and a distant lawn mower. It must be summer!

Time to go back to review that exam. I’d rather be dozing in the sun and dreaming of adventure.

Today I will be working on a final exam for a class that has been very obscure.  It’s open book, but that’s no consolation because odds are great I won’t even understand the questions.  But I’m going to do the best I can.  Wish me (and the others in the class!) luck!