Jaci Dawn

I was so tired today. So, so, so tired. And just sort of waiting for the world to end as we know it: a slight pain in my left lower back (about a .5 on a scale of 1-10) and actual blood in the urine. I suppose a kidney stone is just not an emergency to a doctor. But, all things considered, the pain is minimal, I will call the doctor on Monday and the pain is minimal. (I passed a kidney stone once before. It was not a .5 on the pain scale. It was a 15 on the pain scale of 1-10. Yes, a 15. If this one is a .5 and stalled, I am fine. Really.)

But, seriously – back to today.

The boys came over. Three of them anyway. Two of them are still in Colorado. The three that came over took over my house, foiled Harvey on his Saturday WALK! program, and pretty much took over my life. We played with blocks, Legos ™, ate crackers and watched “The Land Before Time”. Zephan was very sad when the T-Rex finally died.

Wait. What? He wasn’t rooting for Littlefoot or Sera? Nope: my boy was worried about the T-Rex. Good boy.

He helped me make cornbread for dinner. He stirred the mix up with milk and egg. He’s a very good mixer. I think this kid has a future in baking.

We presented the dinner on carefully arranged plates designed to tease the pallette.

The meals: chile + corn + cornbread. Zephan’s is on the left & Javan’s on the right.

Food Critic #1 – Javan. He filled up on crackers before dinner so had no comment on dinner. Wait. He ate all of his corn. The canned corn was good.

Critic #2. He also stirred the cornbread.

There’s corn & chile left, but the cornbread is gone. Good job, Zephan!

Food Critic #3.

Wait. He was eating canned baby food. How can he possible critique my cooking?

I just included him because he is so adorable. What can I say??

So – no photos for the rest of the day but I really want to brag on Harvey. He was so awesome. He expected that today was Walk Harvey Day because it was Saturday. But the boys came over and thwarted all of Harvey’s plans. Talk about disappointed. Have you ever disappointed a dog? It’s really sad.

Around 3PM, we decided to walk to the park. Arwen pulled out the stroller for Javan and Eli and I was designated to hold Zephan’s hand. On a whim and a lot of trust, I got Harvey out to walk with us. He weighs 70# or so. He gets very excited. And I really, really want this dog to be good with my grandsons.

He was awesome. He seemed to understand that we had to walk slower and he could not pull on the leash much. He toned it down and walked at the heel, tail wagging, and at “toddler speed”. We went to the park where all the smells overwhelm a dog like Harvey but he kept it reined in. And at the playground area, he really toned it down. He tucked his tail between his legs and shivered, but he stayed under control the entire time. He met my next-door neighbors and he greeted a shy little girl named “Una” who really wanted to “pet the doggy”. Una approached Harvey correctly and shyly and I got down with Harvey to control him. He was awesome. He let her pet him, he wagged his tail and he basically ignored all other stimuli.

And on the walk back home we met two little yappy dogs on a leash. I had Zephan on one hand and Harvey on the other. Harvey hesitated a little but complied with the “sit” order and waited until the yappy dogs were past. he didn’t try to pull me or Zephan off course.

He was, in short, a gentleman. An English Setter. A wonderful gift to me.

In return, he got to clean the dinner critics’ plates.

Left overs belong to the dogs. 🙂

ttfn!