So far so good.

I’ve just completed my first full week of work. I have my first payday next week – can I even begin to tell you how exciting that is??

The commute into the city has been very easy so far each morning. The fact I travel in right at the end of peak hour in the morning sure helps. I’m loving the environment I’m working in – people that work very hard but still know how to have a good laugh. I think I’m a good fit into the role and I’m loving the fact I’m just getting stuck into some of the work now. There is still a whole LOT to learn about the job, but it’s definitely a case of so far so good.

I still have a lot to do as well in terms of establishing new routines. Trying to fit the necessities of life such as groceries, after school activities and that ever present To Do item – housework, into the new working week is not happening easily so far. But everyone is adjusting little by little and I’m sure it won’t be long before there are patterns and routines back in place.

One thing that I might have to change a little is my usual Christmas card production. Time might not actually allow me to complete all the Christmas cards that I normally do. However, I’m working through the list and you just never know! But I came across a little help in the form of digi-cards from Becky Higgins yesterday. I think I may well be making use of them in some form! Here’s a link if you too would like a little ease in your Christmas card production: http://www.beckyhiggins.com/projectlife/. You might have to scroll down – and there are instructions too. Easy-peasy!

We’ve also been enjoying life around the place – and I have a couple of pics to prove it.

Halloween – this year we had a dog, a cat, a ninja and a jedi knight – plus a wee princess. She had trouble keeping up – at 18 months it is a little harder! There are also truly hideous pics proving that long, curly yellow hair and I are not really a match made in heaven. It was a last minute attempt at a “queen Bee” costume. It was fun – but not so pretty!!

A day picnic-ing with friends. I love that my new camera lets me catch so much detail from afar – I loved being able to just watch and snap while they were completely unaware – and so very much in their element. What is really amazing is that this creek heading out to the sea at Paraparaumu didn’t quite so picturesque in real life, but clearly that doesn’t matter when you are 5 or 8 years old and doing stuff that 5 and 8 year old boys do!  (Del – you and I will clearly have to swap pics! )

Taking Angus for a walk by the river

Boy vs. Dog – Angus is waiting for a stone or a stick to fetch. He then runs after it, realises he’s in a little further and takes off for shallower parts.

See?!

And finally – yes, we saw it! On the TV… but the scrapbooker in me realised that although we weren’t there in person, this was history! So we will know where we were when the All Whites got into the 2010 World Cup. Silly Mummy!

 

Krafty Verve challenge

A couple of weeks ago, Verve started the September parade challenge, which was to do a card featuring natural elements like Kraft card, or twine or somesuch. Knowing I have some new Verve goodies, still to be inked, I thought it would be a great challenge. However, knowing I also have the serious revision thing going on, I have to be very good and ensure I’m not playing instead of studying. So, I did a quick card I needed for a pal of Mr 4′s:

Supplies: Kaiser stamps, Stazon ink, SU! cardstock and twine, scrap Kraft paper, watercolour pencils

I have since done another card for one of the Mr’s cousins but still have to upload it. I managed to use one of the Verve stamps on that one too, so I’ll feel better about that

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Angus update:

Going to bed really well now. Night 3 saw a bit of wimpering as he was put to bed and that was it. The next few nights have seen him walk into the laundry with me, and settling happily. Yay! He does wake us in the morning, but with Daylight saving, so far that time is OK.

Our biggest issue now is the house-training…. I really hope we get this sorted soon. Anytime we’ve managed to get him to go outside, it seems to have been great luck rather than anything else. Yesterday was a bit of a nightmare as we were having “mistakes” soon after we’d taken him to the spot where he was meant to go. Grrrrrrr! However, we’ve decided to go the “crate training method” and I’m hoping this will allow us to get it sorted soon.

This method sounded a bit over the top to me when it was first suggested to us. However, as I need to have the time to revise, I can’t be 100% attentive to him so it seems like a good method for us all afterall. In addition, we want to make sure he has a happy space to be confined in if we have visitors that are not comfortable around dogs. Especially as he gets older – and bigger!

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My Circle Journal made its way home last week. It’s lovely and I have pictures to share too. But again, I’ll have to be a tease and promise that you will see those a bit later

That’s my 15 minutes online time up, so have a great day!

Angus, meet my friends…..

We got to bring Angus home on Wednesday night. The Mr’s could barely contain themselves! That first night was “interesting”… he cried a lot in the laundry. I was so tired from the rushing around in preparation during the day and went to bed shortly after we got him settled in the laundry. Just after 2am I got woken, and he cried, yelped and howled off and on til around 6 in the morning. Oh man!!!

But during the day he settled in perfectly! He hasn’t been house-trained at the SPCA at all, so I had to keep an eye on him and be vigilent about taking him to the spot where we want to do his business. So far, no accidents in the day in the house! Woohooo!!

He has also met various neighbours, a neighbour’s dog plus extra kids. And taken it all in his stride! One neighbour works with dogs at the airport and he just could not believe how quickly Angus had settled in… right to finding spots in the sun and just chilling on his mat with the myriad of visitors we had yesterday.

So, so far, he’s one happy puppy!