Is this my life now? Saving buggy bois from drowning?

Is this my life now? Saving buggy bois from drowning?

I have a feeling that me and Shadow will be constantly saving bugs. Poor kid. He's definitely mine with his soft heart. We can't just watch someone struggle and do nothing if we have the ability.

The pool guys came yesterday and started up our pumps and filters and all that. They told us what chemicals and amounts to add last night. They left some cleaning equipment and showed us how to use it. Shaun vacuumed and skimmed the pool yesterday. Shadow and Kira took turns skimming yesterday evening. Our cover will be installed on Monday, so until then stuff will be blowing in.

Shaun tested the water today and the chemicals aren't quite right yet. I think he's having a good time with all of this maintenance stuff.

At some point in the near future the pool company will schedule a time to come over and do "pool school" to make sure we know how to take care of everything. They will also bring our robot vacuum and teach us about it. So that should be pretty fun.

Supposedly, we are cleared by the pool company to swim this weekend. The pool still has final inspections to pass, but it's basically done. We might test it out later when the kids are ready. Kira wants our first official swim to be as a family, so that's the plan.

A yellow bloom and an orange bloom.

A yellow bloom and an orange bloom.

Also - thanks, Bear. 😑

Better view of yesterday.

Better view of yesterday.

Y'all, I can't help myself in the moment because he cracks me up, but afterwards I always feel like such a jerk for laughing at him. He is clearly impaired, both physically and mentally - at least a little. And I laugh at him.

For what it's worth I don't think he cares one bit, and I would defend him with my life and spend all my money fixing his broken body so he can live his high-energy-drive best life. But I don't think those things exempt me from being a jerk.

I have issues. 😅 A beautiful, weird, janky dog. And issues. 😂

So maybe 10 days ago...

So maybe 10 days ago, Bear bit me on my toe. It only bled a little, but it ached for DAYS.

This child is SO BORED from not being allowed to play for so long that when he lays up under the kitchen table (which is usually where he is when he not with us or crated at night) that he's begun chewing the bars on the bottom of our chairs.

The other day when I was eating cereal and he started chewing my chair I didn't want to get up at that exact moment to get him a toy, so I corrected him and put my foot on the bar as a deterrent. No sooner than I sat my foot down, he bit my 2nd toe with his top teeth and the bottom of the chair bar with his bottom teeth and it wasn't super fun for me. He was biting with back teeth and "chew" force and I really don't think he realized that I was there.

I feel like he's often not super aware of things with the way he's so clumsy. 😂 He's also really stubborn when we try to retrieve things from inside his mouth. Most dogs who's mouths I've had the pleasure of shoving my hand in have tried to back away or turn their heads or something. Not Bear. He continues chewing down hard - your hand be damned. 😂

I don't know why he's like this. There is maybe a good bit I don't understand about him. But I love him and he keeps life interesting and he's my toddler baby, so there's that. ❤️

Not the best quality here; I'm zoomed wayyy in.

Not the best quality here; I'm zoomed wayyy in. But this dog, I swear. I'm glad his life jacket has a handle. 😂

Friday mood. 😂

Friday mood. 😂

(Ignore my carpet. We vacuum on the weekends and this area is where Bear likes to lay.  It's peak furry right now.)

Pool update:

Pool update:

We have most of our equipment installed, but it's not running yet. The muddy, mucky mess was power-washed and cleaned out this week. We have most of the electric done. It's full of fresh water, but also has dirt and leaves and 3 giant, rusty metal bars across it. It also has what I suppose my mom would call "no-see-em's" in it. I don't know what they actually are (besides a type of bug), but I was sitting here with my feet in and they are barely perceptible, but are climbing up my legs and biting me. So. We have a ways to go.

(Shaun Googled and they are thrips. And they were probing me to see if I was food, not biting me. I stand corrected.)

We have a lot more work to do in the yard after the pool is finished. We want our grass back down because the dust blows all over when the wind blows. If y'all didn't already know:  It's windy as fuck here, but not in a dangerous way, so I like it. Usually. Just not in my back yard right now. 😂

On top of that, we have a small storage building to build and other landscaping to do.

The house is also not presentable right now. We have carpet we want remove and flooring to put down, and carpet that needs cleaning. Since Bear hasn't been able to go outside when he wants (due to his surgery AND the yard construction), he's had a few accidents indoors. We've spot-cleaned, but the whole carpet needs a good wash. Also, Ash had diarrhea in it this morning. I guess we'll be taking her to the vet soon.

Needless to say, we're not having visitors for a while. We need to get our projects done and ourselves settled again. Bear will be cleared for normal activity Wednesday (hopefully!) and I really need our pool cover to be installed by then so the dogs can have some freedom and it won't be a waste of time shampooing the carpet.

Everything has felt so upside-down for the last 2 months. I've been so sad about the state of the back yard that I've been avoiding going out there. My plants are all dusty and gross and I know it's fine, but I don't like it. 😂 All I know is that change is hard. Hopefully, the worst of it is over with and we can enjoy the space again soon.