Schroeder is Missing

Sad news. Schroeder is missing. All the animals like to hang out on the screened in porch when the weather is nice. Since it was finally porch weather, we left the sliding glass door open so they could all come and go as they pleased. And, apparently, it pleased Luna and Schroeder to find a way to escape the porch. HOURS later, when we only discovered their Shawshank plan because Steve went to put Flip out for his before bed tinkles, he found Luna in the backyard! Despite a thorough search of the yard and a flashlight search of the surrounding neighborhood, Schroeder could not be found. We decided it was too dark and we'd likely wake up to find him back on the porch or in the yard. But we didn't.  I posted a missing cat notice, let the neighbors know, set out tuna all around the house, and we did a very thorough search of the whole neighborhood. Nada. It was cold and rainy last night. Schroeder is probably cold, wet, and scared. We're all very upset!! He may have been a shitty cat whose hobbies included yowling at 2am, throwing up into his food bowl (and my shoes!), biting you indiscriminately, and parking his butthole directly in front of your face at any opportunity, but he is our shitty cat and we love him. So this is devastating.

The good news is that he is chipped and has his claws. So he can defend himself and if anyone finds him and turns him in, he'll be scanned and we'll get a phone call!

Everyone is feeling very needy. I woke up to discover all the remaining animals nestled in our bed:

Luna is super sad. Flip is camouflaged!

Flip has needed extra snuggles, too. Schroeder may have been his nemesis, but I think he's feeling the loss of his frenemy.

Depressed - except for Weird Steve

He even looked sad while I was at work (via the Flip Cam):

One is the loneliest number

But then laziness won out.

Sleeping it off

It's now been 2 nights. I had hoped to wait and find Schroeder so I could just say, "Schroeder was missing, but we found him!" Sadly, we're starting to lose hope. But we will continue the search tonight! And Mimi may be helping during the day today!

Making Wm feel better is the fact he is having his first sleep over at the new house! And I am THRILLED to know that those weirdos won't be using my bathroom and will be locked away from us and we can escape their shenanigans to other wings of the house. If for no other reason, moving was worth it for this!! We'll  order pizza for the little monsters tonight and then, hopefully, not see them again until morning!

And, in other good news, Cricket is proving to be awesome. When I turn her off, she gives me a trip summary. Yesterday, it took 12 minutes to get home from work and I got 39.8 mpg!! This morning, including dropping Wm off at school, I got here in 16 minutes and used 37.6 mpg. WOOT! That's heavy city driving, too. My Forester averaged 21.7 mpg, so this is a huuuuuge improvement.

Lastly, now that we know Flip is mostly Staffy, here is what it says about the breed on the web:
"Though he may look intimidating, the Am Staff, as this breed is nicknamed, tends to be a lover, not a fighter. He is an active, intelligent dog who generally likes people. His short coat comes in a variety of colors and patterns and is easy to groom."

AKC Certified Staffy

Cat Kid

Wm had an eventful afternoon, in which he was injured and muddied and traumatized. And it was all Flip's fault.

It has been raining CONSTANTLY for the last few days. Yesterday afternoon, there was a break in the rain, so Wm and I walked Flip over to our neighborhood park. It was empty, so Flip was roaming around on his extendable leash. He did some doggie business, so I picked it up and was walking it over to the trash can while Wm let Flip sniff all around. Right as I turned around, I saw Flip take off after a squirrel and the leash whizzing out of the handle at top speed. At the same time I screamed, "LET GO!", Flip hit the end of the extension and jerked Wm off his feet. But, Flip is 60 pounds of pure muscle and Wm is only about 65 pounds of skin and bone, so, when he was jerked off his feet, he FLEW into the air. He did, what amounted to, a mid-air cartwheel and came down hard. I ran over, afraid his arm was dislocated or broken. Wm was sitting in the mud, cradling his arm weirdly, so I was planning our trip to the ER. About that time, Flip lost sight of the squirrel, turned around and was like, "oh shit." So he came over and sat, guarding Wm from whatever threat was out there. Little did he know that HE was the threat!

The good news is that Wm is, mostly, unscathed. His arm was fine - neither broken nor dislocated. He mostly had the wind knocked out of him when he hit the ground and bruised his side. It's a little tender today, but Wm said it's not bad at all. So, it looked worse than it was. But, I don't think Wm will be walking Flip again any time soon! He needs to build up some muscle first. Flip has taken off after bunnies while I'm walking him many times and it about  yanks me off my feet!! He's a great walker now and never normally pulls. But, he's a hunter and loses his mind when he sees his prey! I told Wm, the next time that happens, drop the leash! We will track down the dog and avoid injury!

Wm remains a cat person. He is no longer afraid of dogs, but he is like the Cat Whisperer. Wherever we go, the cats come flocking to him. He says he likes cats best because he "understands them," and they are quiet and calm and "don't need too much care." The cats usually sleep in his bed and he loves to snuggle them and brush them. He even claims it's "very satisfying" to clean their little boxes. Ew.

A cat in each hand.

Cat Kid

Cricket

It's been an eventful weekend! On Friday night, I had to go to a retirement party. While it was fun due to a Beatles cover band, there were also like 8 speakers and it got real boring real fast. I texted Steve that we were on speaker #6 and I was not going to be home when I thought I was, and he sent me back these pictures:

Fun at the park

Really rubbing it in!

BUT, I did get to see this:


Then, I woke up on Saturday morning to this:

Flip is 75% Staffy and 25% purebred mutt! I'm really glad we did that! Even though Staffies get lumped in with Pit Bull Terriers literally ALL the time, it is its own, different, breed. So, having this on hand if we have ever to deal with a pit bull ban or other Flip discrimination will be helpful!! It also proves he is a mutt, which is how he is licensed with the county. Boom!

And, if anyone ever thought "bully breeds" or large dogs were loud, vicious, or bite-y, they have never been to a dog park. The Small Dog area is, basically, like an outer ring of hell. We have to walk by there every time to get to the Large Dog area. Which is a delight. Look at how Flip is all, "guys, you're embarrassing yourselves."

Wm is always after little yappy dogs and I would rather die! They also pee everywhere with their walnut sized bladders.

Speaking of Big Kid Wm, he got his school pictures! In which there is a wicked glare in his glasses and he looks so big!!

AND, the biggest news is that we got a new car! And, it's not a Prius. We test drove the Prius C and it was terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. It felt like driving a shitty golf cart. So, we got a Corolla Hatchback that looks just like this:

Cricket

I have named her Cricket. She is awesome! It was also the easiest car buying experience because I was hangry, so I was like, "this is too much, thanks for your time - I'm going to just go buy a Mazda." Next thing I know, they've dropped the price and increased our trade in! THEN, we were with the finance guy for like 10 minutes, tops. Easy peasy! Wm refused to come because the last time we bought a new car, he and I sat in the lobby for like 2 hours watching Adventure Time. But, he likes the new car and says it's more comfortable for him than the Forester. Now I just have to get my vanity plates that say "Cricket" and everything is complete! 

Dead

It's been some crazy times! We got our new fridge delivered and it fit like a glove. Then it promptly broke. A repairman came out right away and it was something super simple (some screw needed to be tightened in the fan) and he was gone in 5 minutes. And now it works like a charm! But then...my car was diagnosed as terminal. We knew it needed a couple things, but when a friend of Steve's who is a mechanic looked at it, he was like, "GET RID OF THIS IMMEDIATELY." The entire exhaust it about to rust and fall out into the street. The brakes are bad. The head gaskets are bad - possibly the radiator. Basically, the entire thing is falling apart. Which is a HUGE bummer because we had been counting on it to last at least 2 more years! But we need to unload it before it just becomes a heap of junk metal. Which could happen at any time.

The good news is that I just got that raise at work. So...there it goes! The BETTER news is that I have talked Steve into letting me have a Prius!!! We are going to go this weekend and get it. I have been haggling via email with a couple different dealerships. I thought I was Art of the Deal-ing it. But, turns out, they are just running good specials right now because the 2019's are coming out. I found one that is tangerine. TANGERINE. But, then, I found one that is boring old silver, but it has leather heated seats and a sun roof. Soooo...my winter backside takes priority over fun colors! Also, Wm and Flip would RUIN cloth seats.

I was talking to Wm about a plant dying and he goes, "as are we all." So...that kid is creepy. I have birthed a tiny Edgar Allan Poe! But, it made me laugh pretty hard. He has also decided he can play Led Zepplin's "Kashmir" with is head. You be the judge:


He had a bad day at school this week, in which he ate not one thing at lunch. We had a talk about how to handle a missing lunchbox in the future so he can actually eat food. He has no reserves to feed off of!

And, I couldn't resist taking a video of Flip's nightly walking demands. If we don't walk him when he thinks it's time, this happens:


And, I'm STILL waiting for his DNA results! Steve thinks lab/pit. I think Pomeranian.

Surprise Email

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave work, a weird email popped into my inbox and I decided to read it quickly before I headed out. I'm glad I did! It was from the main Office of Human Resources. They are giving me a 10% equity raise based on what I do and my performance! Effective immediately! WOOT!!! Talk about coming out of nowhere! That was also a welcome surprise after having to buy a new fridge.

Today is a big day for Flip. Wm needs to stay after school for office hours and it will be the longest Flip has ever gone home alone. We gave him extra snuggles and walking time this morning. He's a needy fellow.

Snuggling

And he has his new toy to comfort him

Wm, apparently, got a lazy group for some project in Physics and they didn't get it done. So, he talked with his teacher about it and she told him to come on in during office hours today and he can complete the experiments on his own and he will get an individual grade. So he was very pleased! I told him snitches get stitches.

Wm was trying to click his heels and mostly just fell down repeatedly with his spindle legs akimbo. Steve tried to give him a lesson - which didn't take. But, then, Steve wouldn't stop jumping around like a madman.

Rain

It rained, literally, all weekend. It was the perfect weekend to snuggle up, though! I made chicken chili, which was perfect. And, we did very little. Steve and I did brave the outside to go buy a new fridge. We got a very fancy one that has a glass door you can knock to turn on the light to see inside without opening it. We actually had to get that one because it was, seriously, the only one in the place that fit into the space we have (unless we want to rip out cabinets)! Because of massive Labor Day sales, it was affordable.

It was also me and Steve's 19th wedding anniversary. We didn't do much this weekend at all. We will be celebrating this week with a vacation day. Well, a vacation day for me and a day off for Steve, since he works next weekend. We did go out to dinner on our anniversary, but it was a major let down. The food was terrible and we were thrilled to have just avoided a major food poisoning disaster. We have plans to go out for an actual anniversary meal on Thursday, so we're hoping that's better!

Wm loves a snuggle up weekend, so he was in hog heaven. He hung out in the den pretty much the whole time. Going between his computer and his "nest." Flip did not have as much fun since he couldn't go for any real walks and, instead, got taken to Pet People for a bath. But, we did get him some treats to make up for it! (Flip haaaaates baths and has a panic attack every time.)

A weekend of snuggling:

How I felt all weekend!

Snoozing

Steve got an aerial shot of us lounging

Even Schroeder came out and got into the game

Wm PRETENDING to snooze in his nest to scare people

When Wm was packing his lunch, he said, in a panic, "do we not have any cookies?!?" Steve, the grocery shopper, was out walking Flip, so I didn't know if he got any more and couldn't find them in "the cookie spot." I poked all around and managed to find a ratty old cookie. But, Wm was pleased and packed it up. When Steve got home, I asked if he had gotten more cookies for Wm's lunches and he goes, "Oh yeah, I put them away with the pasta." Which...was weird - but OK. So, driving to school, I filled Wm in...
Me: Oh, hey, we do have cookies. I'll put them were they go this afternoon and they'll be there for your lunch tomorrow. Pop just put them away with the pasta.
Wm: Why did he do that?
Me: Who knows? I couldn't supervise the unloading of the groceries because I was making chili, so it was chaos.
Wm: Pop is like a child.
HA!

Long Weekend

It was pretty much an awesome long weekend. However, it was so hot. So so so hot. We went to a cookout at Suzanne's house and it poured rain. Poor Graham got drenched just running out to flip burgers! But, Flip was invited, so he enjoyed his BBQ adventure!

It was so hot, Flip only got a short trip to the park:

Pack - Flip bringing up the rear

But, we did take him swimming, which seemed like a good hot weather activity. Wm enjoyed throwing a stick out into the lake for him to fetch. He whined about going, but then whined we didn't stay long enough. Typical.

In our search for air conditioned activities, we took Wm to see the coming of age movie called Alpha about a teenage boy 20,000 years ago who gets separated from his hunting party and, basically, domesticates the first wolf in order to survive and get home. Wm declared it "AWESOME!" It was pretty neat. Very visual - lots of sweeping landscapes and areal shots. I felt bad because there were a number of kids there (young kids) and there were subtitles. Poor Steve sat next to a kid who spent the entire time whispering to his mom, "what's he saying?"

We also did some fun projects like recovering chairs (Wm's chair cushion is now pink - he didn't even notice!) Mimi came over on Sunday and we went plant shopping, which was super fun! I got some really cool plants for the house!! I'm hoping I don't kill them! It was, overall, a very relaxing and fun weekend.

The only horrible thing is Steve got poison ivy while trimming hedges. Then, he gave it to me. Steve's got so bad, it was "systemic" and he had to go to the doctor for prednisone. His is now nearly gone. Mine, however, is still going strong. I am going to start taking his leftover prescription strength antihistamine and anti-itch pills!