Dog Days

Today started very early. It started at 4:15 this morning. With Frasier. Barking. In the living room. He almost never barks inside, and at 4:15 with barking coming from the living room, it got our attention. Bill got up and checked the house, nothing out of place and all the doors were locked, Otter was snoozing in her bed. Everything looked ok, so he came back to bed but we were pretty much awake for the day at that point! Thanks, Frasier, for making sure we didn't oversleep. Remind me to return the favor sometime. We think he was just up early and playing with Maggie. It was more of a playful bark than a serious bark and he didn't bark much. And after that, he made many trips from the living room to our room to see if we were up so he could get breakfast. (No, he had to wait until 5:30 like normal!).

Maggie's soft spot she wants to sleep in is not the couch. It's my bed. And it's not happening!

Bill started his new job today. Not a moment too soon. The last few days, his old boss was really awful. As in acting extremely childish and immature, very rude to Bill and way out of line. All because Bill had the audacity to take another job! I'm not going into details, but he was fairly horrible to Bill. But that chapter is done now, and he is finally out of a very poisonous environment. Thank God. He started the new position today, and I think he's going to be much happier. And there was a small raise with the new job, which was a nice surprise. But even if the money had been the same like we expected, the stress being lessened was enough.

Otter's been fighting allergies the last several days. She's been taking benadryl at night and it has helped, but she was pretty congested this morning so she stayed home from school. She is much better this afternoon, but she's still got some symptoms.

Our oak tree survived! We planted it last year, along with the lacebark elm and the eastern redbud. The oak is a northern oak and last summer was too hot and dry for it, for the growth stage it was at. We really weren't sure it was going to make it, but it's starting to leaf out and we are very happy about it.

Now, if Frasier will just be quiet tonight and Maggie not wander into our bed on accident, maybe we'll actually be able to sleep! :)