We got word today that our new puppy “Bonnie” will be arriving from Ohio this weekend.
There are going to be some big changes around the house. The little dog is going to drive Booger and Baby nuts, for starters. They will be looking for places to hide and nap. Normal routines, like ball playing, food begging, walks to the local park, and wrestling on the backyard grass area will be disrupted by the little devil. We may have to serve meals separately for a while, as the puppy will likely want to encroach on the other dogs’ food dishes.
Bonnie will be watched 24/7 for the first month. She will spend her time playing, learning basic commands, and napping in her crate. We will need to demonstrate to her when and where to pee and poo. Booger and Baby will help with that instruction.
There’s going to be some jealousy, for sure. Booger is used to sacrifice, but Baby is an attention hog. The new puppy will encroach on her “cuddle time” with yours truly. I’m thinking that Charlie can cuddle with Bonnie when we watch TV, Baby can curl up next to me, and Booger can relax on her own couch in the living room.
I will take Bonnie to the local park for on- and off-leash training. It is fairly private in the back part and will give us some room and privacy to try a few things. It is important that I quickly train her to sit, wait, stay, and come. Lots of treats will be gobbled up as good performance is rewarded.
Life as we know it will change on Saturday. I hope everyone gets along, including Charlie and I.
We are also in the midst of a home improvement. A general contractor named “Adam” is closing in the west side of our patio to reduce glare and wind. He will also be designing some niches where we can put up an outside TV and some décor stuff.
Charlie has become friendly with Adam and has secured him as a bookkeeping client for Jonathan. As Alec Baldwin said, “Coffee is for closers”, and my wife is definitely one of them. She could sell ice cream to Eskimos.
Our “trash can enclosure” got completed this past week. This is a fenced-in area to the side of our house that keeps the trash can out of sight and, most importantly, not baking (and stinking) in our garage. We used two “moonlighting” vendors to do the project: a fence guy and a paver brick guy. It came out nice, and looks like it has always been there.
I am gradually increasing my golf play. I go to the practice range several times a week, trying to resurrect what used to be a decent swing. Old age and rust have taken their toll, for sure. Yesterday, I took a lesson from a guy named “Ryan”. He corrected a few stupid things I was doing and also talked me into a few changes with my equipment. My club grips need to be enlarged, he said, and my club shafts should be “Regular” not “Stiff”.
Accordingly, my sweet wife said, “Buy some new clubs for Father’s Day”, and I ordered them!
Today, I played with some friends at the local “Conestoga Golf Club”. I had never played there before, and I played like it on the first nine, shooting a 50. However, I shot 40 on the back nine, as some of Ryan’s tips finally sunk in. There’s hope, I think.
There are 8 golf courses here in Mesquite (population 20,000), and I’ve now played four of them over the past 6 weeks. I am hoping to post some scores and develop a handicap so I can play in some tournaments with my friend “Al”, who is a scratch golfer. My son Jonathan has played in some tournaments with him and they’ve had a good time.
Did I ever mention that it is windy in the desert? Well, it is, and sometimes it blows pretty hard. Two days ago we lost a vertical cacti (Palo Verde?) that snapped in the wind. So, I replaced it with a low lying one called a Fire Barrel, which is about the size of a human head and is native to the local desert.
Charlie and I are going to St. George, Utah tomorrow. That is our nearest big town, about 40 miles north on I-15. We’re going to hit a bike shop, an optometrist, a window treatments shop, Costco and maybe top it off by a nice lunch at the Black Bear Diner. It will be our last big outing for awhile, because after Saturday, we’ll be stuck around the house watching and training our little BonBon.
Oh, Boy, here we go again!
