Missing Sneaker

I always leave a pair of old sneakers in the basement. This makes walking the dogs very easy. Also, I do not track dirt across the upstairs hardwood floors.

The other morning, after walking the dogs, I took off my sneakers and put them near the door. When I got home in the evening, I went to put my sneakers on, but could only find one shoe.

I searched all over the basement and could not find my missing sneaker. I thought that Oti may have been chewing it, but doubted he could eat the entire shoe. Surely, there would be some evidence of the crime!

I found my shoe later that night. It was in the living room, under a pile of dog toys.

It seems Oti had decided that this new toy belonged with all the other ones. The amazing thing is there were no bite marks. When I picked the sneaker up, Oti grabbed it and pranced around the house.

Panting

Otis has decided that 5:00 am is wake up time. Since we get up at 6:00, Otis jumps on the bed for an hour.

This would not be bad, if Otis did not step on me during the process of getting up on the bed. Having 80 lbs of dog land on you, tends to wake you up.

Even if I could ignore this, once Otis is on the bed he pants. The panting is non-stop and incredibly loud!

All of this noise and commotion eventually wakes Coop. Coop will then hop on the bed and we all shift to make room.

Every day Jeff says we need to get a king bed. All I know is I need to get more sleep.

Color Blind?

Dear Internet, I'd like your opinion. I was looking for a gray pair of pants this morning and just couldn't find them. I asked Valerie and she pulled this pair out for me.

"Um, dear, those pants are brown."

"What? You're color blind" she tells me.

OK, I was in a hurry. As I ironed them, I continued to doubt myself. I tried to pair them up with black socks and black shoes and I wasn't convinced. I swapped them out for an olive pair as a safe bet.

So, what's your opinion?

Are these pants Brown or Gray?
	Brown
	Gray
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Fall

Even though the weather is the hottest it has been all summer, there are signs that fall is coming.

On our morning walks, I have noticed that the leaves on several trees are starting to change color. Also, there are now acorns being dropped from the oak trees.

I have noticed the sun setting earlier in the evening and football is back on tv.

I wonder where the summer has gone.

Lightning Does Strike Twice

When we lived in Oxford, our home was struck by lightning and major damage occurred.

Fast forward to 4:00 am yesterday during the severe thunder and lightening storm. We were all sleeping when suddenly I heard the garage door opening. The Otis security system immediately sounded, making sure that we knew something was wrong.

My first thought was someone was trying to break in. Why choose the garage as the point of entry ??? I don't know, but after all I was still half asleep.

Jeff and Otis (now acting as security guard) went to check out the situation. Our best guess is there was a power surge (due to lightning) which caused a short in the garage door opener. The door was open and had to be manually closed.

We assummed the garage door opener was dead and with racing hearts, went back to sleep.

I was almost asleep at 5:00 am when there was another noise from the garage. Once again Jeff went to check it out. It seems that the door opener motor was endlessly spinning. Pulling the plug fixed the issue.

It seems we will have to buy a new door opener.

Where are the Monarchs ?

The butterfly bush out front has been covered with butterflies.

I love to watch these fragile creatures glide softly on the wind. I often see several butterflies floating above the back deck or outside the kitchen windows.

What I find odd is that the butterflies are always swallowtails. I have not seen any monarchs, with their bold orange and black coloring.

Where did they go ?

Tumbling Coop

I took Cooper out in the yard yesterday to try out my new camera. Here's a couple shots I got of him rolling around in the grass like there was no tomorrow.

5 minutes

5 minutes is the average lifespan of a tennis ball, once Otis discovers it.

Coop will gnaw on the tennis balls, but Oti just shreds them.

Thankfully, we have a good supply chain in Westport ;)

House For Sale

Jeff and I bought our Wilton home about 3 years ago. We looked at many homes, before deciding on this one.

I was viewing Wilton real estate listings yesterday and was surprised that 3 of the homes that we had toured were back up for sale! All 3 homes sold just about the same time we bought this one.

I was really shocked by this, especially in a down housing market. Jeff reminded me that our type of home in Wilton is a starter home and many people want to move into something much bigger.

I can't argue against wanting a newer, grander home. However, people must be well off, if they can lose significant money on their current home and still purchase a larger one.

I forget that we live in the land of the Wall Street traders. Jeff said, imagine what will happen once the big bonuses start flowing again in December.

Furnace

Poor Oti cannot seem to get comfortable in this hot, humid weather. Even with the A/C on, Oti is always panting. His favorite spot is stretched out on the tile floor.

Coop and Oti do not spend much time on the bed at night. I think it is just too hot for them.

When Coop is on the bed, it is like sleeping near to a toaster. When Oti is on the bed, it is like sleeping next to a furnace.

Oti throws off a tremendous amount of heat. This will be welcome in Nov, but not August. I am thinking that we will not need an electric blanket this winter.

Shredder

Ever since Otis arrived, loose papers are no longer safe in our house.

It seems as if Otis has decided that anything on the floor is a toy. I have found shredded papers, napkins, and Kleenex.

I am not sure that these items fell off the table or were helped along by a wagging tail or extra large paw.

While putting away groceries, I left an empty soda box by the basement door. 30 seconds later, Oti strolls thru the kitchen proudly carrying the box! He was obviously excited about this new "toy".

First Images

Here are the first images from a new piece of equipment I got for our upcoming trip to Alaska.

Sleepy

Ever since we adopted Cooper, lazy, sleep late weekends are a thing of the past. Cooper's internal alarm is set for 6:11 am and Otis wakes up at 6:00 am.

Luckily, Otis seems to have a snooze alarm option.

When Otis came over to me at 6:00 am this weekend, I ignored him. Otis sighed, and then hopped up on the bed for a 30 minute nap. At 6:30, he was insistent about us getting up and going out.

Coop was tired and did not stir until the lights went on.

Glads

When I was growing up, each spring my Mom would plant hundreds of gladiola bulbs. Each fall they would be dug up and put into storage.

Whenever I see glads, I can't help but smile and think of my younger days.

While at the grocery store, I saw these sunny yellow flowers with their orange blush. I knew I had to bring them home. They immediately went into my grocery cart.

Dogs Smarter Than Toddlers

As a dog lover, I was NOT surprised to read that dogs are smarter than toddlers. As the article on MSNBC states:
"...average dogs can learn 165 words (similar to a 2-year-old child), including signals and gestures, and dogs in the top 20 percent in intelligence can learn 250 words. While dogs ranked with the 2-year-olds in language, they would trump a 3- or 4-year-old in basic arithmetic"

What did surprise me was that Golden Retrievers ranked 4th in intelligence and Shetland Sheepdogs ranked 6th. I know that our Sheltie was much smarter than any of our Goldens.

This news makes me think that Cooper does understand the commands he is given, but is smart enough to know he can ignore them without punishment.

Butterfly Bush

I think that we may have one of the tallest butterfly bushes in Wilton!

Jeff trimmed the bush to about 2 ft in the spring. Since then, it has grown straight up. My best estimate is that it is 8+ ft tall.

More Tests

Coop spent yesterday at the Norwalk Vet Hospital. Dr Duffy wanted to have an x-ray and blood tests run to see if we could find a cause for the seizure.

We are waiting on the blood test results. The x-rays showed no issues.

The staff at the hospital said that they LOVED Coop, because he is such a happy dog! I smiled at that comment. Poor Coop had no food or water in the morning (in case anesthesia was needed) and still he was wagging his tail and smiling.

Dr Duffy said that we should observe Coop and if there are no more seizures to come back again in 6 months. If the seizures become more common, he will be started on phenobarb.

Setback

While we were in NY, Cooper had a seizure on Sunday morning. Coop jumped off the bed at 4:30 am and Jeff heard him thrashing. When Jeff turned the light on, he could see Coop was in the midst of a seizure.

After the seizure passed, Coop could not get comfortable. He would pace, lay down, get up and start the entire cycle over again. After about 3 hours of pacing, Coop finally began to relax.

I am greatly saddened by this latest setback. It seems that every time we get some positive news, we immediately have a new hurdle in front of us. I wonder if Cooper will ever get the lucky break that he deserves.

Road Trip

We went to upstate NY to visit Jeff's family this weekend. When Otis saw the suitcases, he began to get a little apprehensive. I am sure that he thought he was being dumped at yet another strange home.

Considering that Otis has only been with us 2 weeks, I think he did pretty well. The two biggest issues are jumping on the couch and getting too excited (jumpy) when meeting new people. It seems that Otis was allowed to lay on a couch previously, so trying to teach him that this is unacceptable now, will be difficult.

There are several cats in the neighborhood running lose. The growl when Otis saw one curl up in the driveway was menacing. Otis met Jeff's nephews and enjoyed the attention.

Jeff did NOT enjoy being awoken at 3:30 am on Sat morning. Some people were walking by the house and the Otis security system went off.