Other things that have been going on in our lives… a couple weeks ago, we had a litter of puppies here to visit. There were four, three girls and one boy, nine week old PBGVs running around in our backyard. There are times when I must remind myself that I really do not want a puppy. They were so cute. Strangely, Benny seemed to enjoy them too.

They were here for a class of “Wheelchair Introduction 101.” One of the pups had already been chosen for service dog training. I think she was an appropriate choice. Such a bright puppy! She saw Benny disappear and just a moment later, she disappeared through the dog door too. With just a little encouragement, she came right back out the dog door. A few minutes later, I was opening the door to the kitchen to encourage her to come back out into the yard. Benny was sitting in the kitchen as if he were guarding the house from this ill mannered puppy. I’m very much looking forward to their next visit in a few weeks.

Also got the outside of the house painted. Well, along with eight windowsills and several soffits that have now been replaced with plastic. I decided to change the color of the shutters and the front door. It was kind of a scary decision. For the first time, I didn’t have anyone asking me, “What’s wrong with the color they are now?” The only answer I could come up with right now is, I wanted a change. Instead of dark green, the shutters and front door are now burgundy red. I also felt a little courageous and decided that the garage door was too white. So, I took the burgundy paint and outlined each of the raised panels on the door. While I was doing that, I got quite a lesson in painter’s tape. I was amazed at the amount of bleedthrough there was under the tape! Two trips later to the home improvement store…

There’s a lot of tidying up that I need to do on the garage door. But I decided that if no one gets near the door they won’t be able to see all the mess ups I made. So at this point, I am learning to scrape burgundy paint off of white paint. Soon I’ll learn how to paint white over burgundy. Hopefully, it won’t end up looking worse. But in any case, I really like the look i got. It really is different.

Oh yeah, there was the bike ride. Well, that story will have to wait.

I hope the very caring people who looked in on us are doing okay. I suspect I won’t be hearing from them until next week.

We returned to find my old computer gasping its last breaths. It passed with a large groan and then silence. Right now, I’m pecking at Lew’s keyboard (I’m used to my seven key keyboard). Hopefully, I’ll have something working well in a few days. Thank goodness this didn’t happen last week!

So, if I don’t answer your emails, its because I’m not online.

I’ve been spending a lot of time outside working in the yard.  Benny earned his off leash privileges a couple of months ago, so he’d been out there with me every day.  But with Errie here, I can’t leave the gate open while I’m outside (so Benny could get inside where it was cooler).  So, now he has to stay inside with Errie.  But, when I’m going outside for just a minute, I’ll sneak him outside with me.  Somehow, that seems to make him very happy (and he’s responding better to whispered instructions).

Errie has freaked me out a few times.  Because she’s a brachycephalic dog (a dog with a pushed in nose), she snores.  She sounds just like Lew.  Every now and then . . .  Last night, I had a moment when I thought I’d better wake Lew because it sounded like he was having a bad dream.

But I’m really glad she’s here.  She’s cute.  She’s fun.  She’s smart.  She’s making me appreciate Benny even more!

And in honor of Dennis Hopper
“Born to be Wild” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm5DPlNCmtk

I ended up taking a very active roll in changing my mood.  I’ve been getting into music therapy.  Not the kind with the education and the degrees.  But the kind that gets you to . . .

Move it.  Move it.  Move it.

Or, share words of inspiration, like from Roger Miller

You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

So, you can join me in the joy of the music, the links:

I Like to Move it, Move it  by Reel 2 Real   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9osbpEHvQVE

You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd  by Roger Miller    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI-8hst0bho

More to come.

I’ve been gardening, weeding and planting flowers.  I’ve cleaned the garage, organized and created a workshop for myself.  Made more shelves for the CD library . . .  I guess I’m lucky that I’m in a frenzy instead of coming totally unglued.

In a strange sort of way, I’m looking forward to the first anniversary of Lew’s passing next month.  Then there will be no more firsts — no first Christmas alone, no first birthday alone, no first anniversary alone . . .

I guess its about time I started writing about what the transition is about.  Soon.