boxofdelights

I believe firecat is right, Newt has no idea how big he isn't.

Newt needed a new home because he would not give up his conviction that it was his job to restrain Betsy's three-year-old son from moving quickly and unpredictably. Now Newt is doing the same thing to my son, but it is not the same thing, because my son is six feet tall. When Mungo jumps up and strides across the room, and Newt throws his tiny body at Mungo's giant feet, it reminds me of the little boy's attempt to turn a stampeding herd of cattle in Australia. It's a miracle he doesn't get squished.


Newt also keeps reminding me of Beginners. There's a Jack Russell in that movie who needs a new home, and gives a lot of soulful gazes. When Newt gazes at me that way, I always think he's thinking, "Thank you very much for having me. May I go home now?"

That is, I have adopted kalmn's dog Newton. Aiko looooves him. Newt does not love Aiko back, not yet, and sometimes needs to tell him so. My German Shepherd accepting a rebuke from a dog the size of his head is hilarious.

I've never had a little dog before. He seems so vulnerable. Much more so than a cat.

He's smart, though. In the house and the back yard, he stays next to me, but when we went out the front door, he trotted out ahead, ears and tail high, to the sidewalk, then right, then, two doors down, into the street where the van that brought him here had been parked. His ears were flat to his head and his tail to his belly when I scooped him up. I don't think he was afraid of me, since he didn't back away; I think it was just the overwhelm of the situation, realizing that he couldn't retrace his steps any further and he had no idea how to get home.

He will get home though. He'll come home to Aiko and me. You were wearing the ruby slippers all along, Newt.

In a comment on my last post I implied that Aiko was not too bright. Then I put my boots and hat on, and found my library books and my keys, as Aiko eagerly followed me. Then I put a dog poo bag in my pocket and Aiko leaped with joy.

Kitsu ate some dinner last night! And then she went to the water bowl and drank! She is still a Very Old Dog but she's not quite through here.

I made the call to the vet who does at-home euthanasia. Tai had a hard time standing up this morning, and then a hard time settling down even after all his morning meds. I decided that if tomorrow morning was harder than this one, I would have waited too long.

So cold here. So so cold. We have no snow, but school was canceled today and yesterday because it was too cold for kids to wait for buses. My thermostat is set at 61 and the furnace doesn't stop. From time to time it sounds like it is about to take a breather, but it always gets right back to work.

The dogs race out because they are stir-crazy, and then they race back in because it is so cold it hurts. I have to make them stay out long enough to pee. We'll just pee inside like you do, they suggest helpfully.

The city has expressed its displeasure with my pile of sticks again (not the same pile; that one got stomped down and covered with compost acceptably; but then I got a bunch more sticks) but I cannot fix it: it is too cold. And! it is totally the city's fault that I have all these sticks in the first place! They're the ones who demanded that I prune all the branches that were sticking out into the alley!

Well, the inspector gave me until a week from tomorrow to fix the problem. (It is funny how much I think I'd like her -- I think we'd like each other! -- if she were not working for the forces of "This is a neat street.") I still have mounds of compost at my husband's house which, if they are not frozen solid, I can haul down here and pile on the pile of sticks. There! I fixed it!

+ Aiko slipped out the front door tonight. He dashed hither and thither, afraid to stay where he was, afraid to go anywhere, very afraid to be caught. Hugh kept his intimidating figure between Aiko and the road. I followed him, sweet-talking. Nixie let Tai out. Tai obeys me, and Aiko feels safe with Tai, so with everyone's help I caught him and brought him back inside.

+ Finals week is over.

+ Hugh and Mungo painted Nixie's designated bedroom with yellow walls and sky-blue ceiling. It is lovely.

- Nixie won't use her bedroom until I deal with the floor.

+ I pulled up the horrible carpet in Nixie's bedroom without much trouble, to find

- horribler stained, stinking carpet pad stapled to disintegrating linoleum over unfinished hardwood.

- Don't know what to do next.

+ Have dog fud. + Have shower. + Have new mask for CPAP.

- Aiko's going to freak when I turn on the CPAP.