Back in the USA

I've been back in California for 25 days now. I'm living in my new house, with a new puppy, and all of my old furniture that has been in storage for the last four years. I'm still having a hard time getting used to the fact that I'm back for good. It feels like a strange working holiday so far.

The house is great, Jenna and I are working like mad to get settled. Every night I try to do three tasks to get us closer to that end, and Jenna does several more during the day. We've been hanging pictures, setting up AV systems, organizing, and putting away.

The puppy is fun. Here she is right now sleeping in her favorite spot on the stairs. She likes to sleep either on that step or the one above it. I think she prefers the carpet there over the tile in the rest of the house.

She has been a surprisingly good dog over the last week. She hasn't destroyed much, and hasn't had any accidents in the house (given that the shelter warned us that she wasn't house trained is a little amazing from my perspective).

She did destroy a bathroom yesterday by ripping apart every roll of toilet paper and tissue box in the room, but it really wasn't her fault. We normally keep her in a crate while we are out, but she doesn't like it. Yesterday we used the bathroom out of desperation because she refused to go in the crate. BTW, if any of you have good tips on getting a puppy to like the crate, I'm all ears.



Life is hectic right now, but in a good way. We are bringing order to chaos, and looking forward to a visit from my Mom and Dad next month.