Weekly Puppy Pictures and The Moving Story

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." ~Robert A. Heinlein

The Moving Story

You may recall from last week's post that I was bemoaning the fact that our son and his family were moving two and a half hours away to a home in Iowa. I also expressed some trepidation about having to drive there with their two cats.

One reader, Cindy, wrote, ""I hope this finds that you had a PURRfect drive with no CATastrophes! And...were able to say a goodbye knowing the family is still the family no matter where they may be." So I thought I'd let you all know just how the day went. (Skip this part if you are eager to get to the puppy photos.)

The move was scheduled for Monday, June 1. Our son called early that day to say that the 26 foot U-Haul they had reserved for pickup in Macomb at 8 AM was not there so he would have to go to Keokuk, IA (about an hour away) to pick up a truck, but it would not be available until noon. This was a setback because we had planned to have it loaded and be well on our way to IA by 11:00. Also, our son had many friends lined up to help load that morning, so he had to call and tell them to show up at 1:00 instead.

We got to the U-Haul place in Keokuk at noon. No truck! The people who were supposed to return it that morning had not done so. So the U-Haul people called them and said it had to be returned (do not ask me why in the heck, knowing we were scheduled to arrive at 12:00, they had not tracked the slackers down when the truck had not shown up by, let's say, 11:00!!).  We were advised to go get lunch and told they would call us when the truck was ready.

We were all irked. We knew how many hours of packing, travel, and unpacking were ahead of us. Our son texted all his friends again about the delay and we went to lunch.

The truck was returned by 1:00. By 1:30 we were on our way back to Macomb, arriving at 2:30. The guys went to the house with the truck where the friends were waiting. Our granddaughter and I went to the bank, then to the store to get me a 5 Hour Energy because I knew I'd need it for the drive home, then home to put the dogs out. We then picked up the two cats and were on our way by 4:00. We arrived at 6:30. The guys did not get there until shortly after 8:30.

It took 2.5 hours to unload, another half hour to return the truck and keys to the nearest U-Haul business and say good-byes. We were on our way home by 11:30 and fighting sleep the last 45 minutes. (So much for the "five" in  5 Hour Energy). We arrived home by 2:15 AM, put dogs out, and basically fell into bed, although I did manage to wash my face and put on pajamas.

As for the cats, they were a bit freaked out but their crates had been lined with favorite blankets sprayed with calming spray. Once we were on our way, Zartan slept quietly. Belle was more vocal. We noticed that every time we talked to each other, she fussed, so we stopped talking and listened to an audio book. Once in the new house, the cats were really upset and disoriented. They first found the litter box (thankfully) that my daugher-in-law had prepared for their arrival, and then took up residence on a closet shelf, where they stayed for the duration of the unloading.

The Puppies at Five Weeks

These five weeks have gone quickly. The puppies are growing and getting cuter each day. They are exploring, playing with each other and the many toys scattered all over the floors, and starting to eat puppy food, although they still prefer to nurse. Maggie is not so excited about that part and is showing strong signs of letting me know that it will soon be my job to clean and feed them.

Vader - the black and tan male

Hawk - the gold male (I love his head and face!)

Thor - gold male with white stockings - very flashy

Kimmi - gold female, petite

Jenna - gold and white female. Everyone comments on her markings

Notes and Photos from Friends

Kim wrote about Snickers and sent a couple photos. Snickers is also a Maggie son. "Here is a picture of Snickers. He is an amazing dog… He brings us so much love and laughter…We took this picture of him holding his favorite toy. He loves to carry it all over the home.  Hope you can see in this photo how just so adorable and full of character he has. He is smart, caring and full of love. We all love him so much." 

Snickers

Tammy sent a cute photo of Sugar, one of the Duncan and Windy puppies born at the end of December, and a quick update letting me know Sugar is doing well. She also said, "She is very sweet but very much “wants” to be in charge are everything!!  We couldn’t love her any more than we already do!"

Sugar

I am thankful that many of our puppy buyers keep in touch. It's fun to get the photos and read about the dogs.

Watch for new photos next week.

Life is Better When You Have a Lhasa to Love You!

Joyce