Back to School, etc

Things have been busy around our little house. Levi started eighth grade (gasp!), which so far has included some algebra and some coughing/sneezing/running nose. Yes, he got a back-to-school cold, which he kindly passed on to Krista. Somehow I have escaped with only a little stuffiness.

Krista is working on her final stage of training at work. While I’m glad all of her training will finally be behind us soon, I could do without the schedule & stress of training! Fortunately, she’s doing well and studying and getting enough sleep, which makes it much easier to learn whatever it is they teach you during training.

Levi has been reading a lot lately, including several books about Ronald Reagan, his latest style icon. This makes for fascinating dinner conversations, and he spends a lot of time hassling us to buy him a suit. We have provided a blazer, a vest, ties galore, and a dress shirt. He cleans up nicely & looks very sharp.

Yesterday on our walk around the ‘hood, a tiny off-leash Pomeranian named Sally attacked our chihuahua, Clementine. Clementine has some aggression issues. She often tries to pick fights with large dogs, but they never take her up on it. Sally, however, came out of someone’s front yard, and jumped on Clementine before Clem even had a chance to bark at her and say rude things about her mama. Levi and I were surprised – we just tried to walk away with Clem, but Sally followed, all teeth and snarls. Clementine was in the process of beating her down when Sally’s father, a large burly man (named Levi, coincidentally), scooped Sally up, apologized to us & carried her indoors. Clementine sustained no injuries; I can’t say for sure that Sally escaped entirely unscathed. Leash your dogs, please.

Our beloved herd of pets has been well-behaved lately. (knock on wood) They all seem to have adjusted quickly after the move, and the new house has given them the opportunity to achieve a cat-dog harmony that seemed to always be just out of reach at our old house. Oh, sure, if Elsa takes off tearing across the house like a wild cat, Cash is going to follow her, but mostly he wants to kiss her. Jimmy would rather be napping alone somewhere than dealing with any of our nonsense, but he was never one for parties. Mostly it is quiet and calm these days, with much less hissing and barking. It only took a year. Yes, it’s already been an entire year. Time flies when you’re having fun.