In Good Company:
In the middle of February, Bentley and I moved to the basement apartment at Callie’s (Bentley’s best friend) house. During the move, I stayed upstairs and house/pet sat for 10 days while Mike & Laura went to B.C. for vacation. (Mike is one of my coworkers). The old apartment is only a five minute drive away and took several trips in the Echo to move most of my stuff. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in 9 months!! Norm, the guy who looks after Bentley at the dog daycare, helped me move the large pieces of furniture in his truck. This was a great relief because, as proud as I was with myself for putting it together the first time, I was not looking forward to taking apart and putting together all my IKEA furniture again. The new place is better for many reasons, but mainly because it is much cheaper. It is within walking distance to the beach and the (unofficial) dog park, it is bigger, and more open, and most importantly has laundry facilities. Additionally, we can help each other out with looking after our dogs, and Bentley and Callie will get to see each other more often. Although, Bentley will likely miss his weekly treat from the visit to the pet store while we waited for the wash cycle to finish at the laundry mat.
Although Bentley and Callie spent a few days at daycare while I did the move, for the majority of the time, I was mainly in the company of 2 dogs and a cat. All of them were vying for my attention. I couldn’t have felt more needed or loved. Whenever I left them for even a short time, it was as if they hadn’t seen me in months upon my return. All three of them followed me from room to room. Even going to the bathroom was a group event. The dogs were constantly playing under my feet and Kahlua (the cat) was on my lap whenever I
was sitting for more than a few minutes. Kahlua is a sweet, beautiful cat who reminds me a lot of our cat Ripley, except that she seems to like dogs!! She is about the same age as our cat (13 years old) and very much a cuddle bug. She sleeps a lot, but when she is awake she can be a bit whiney. When the dogs have finally spent their energy (usually around 19:00 each night), she likes to walk over them, sniff them and rub her head up against them. Bentley is absolutely in awe of this since his kitty usually hisses at him and thumps him at least once a day. Luckily while I stayed upstairs in Mike & Laura’s guest room, I got to sleep on a double bed…..because I usually found Bentley and Kahlua sleeping with or on me!!!
One day that I was on call and Bentley and Callie were in daycare, my crewmate and I decided to lace ‘em up and play some hockey!! We found a great outdoor rink and were invited to play with a bunch of young guys. I had a great time. I was surprised to find that I played and skated fairly well, since I hadn’t played in so long. I really miss playing hockey!!! Since then, a bunch of us from work have vowed to try and get together to play some more. But, it is so hard since we are all on such different schedules. Also, so many of my workmates are leaving all the time for bigger and better things. While I was house sitting, two more of my workmates got interviews with Air Canada. So, while the dogs slept at my feet and the cat on my lap, I spent my evenings studying hard for my upcoming Captain training. After Mike and Laura returned, the dogs had a hard time getting used to being separated from one another. Bentley always wants to go upstairs and Callie always wants to come down stairs. They are slowly getting used to it though.
Work got busier for me after the move and my week of house/pet sitting (hence the late post). I completed my Captain training a couple of days before leaving for my vacation to Hawaii where I got to spend some time with Rob and his family.
In the middle of February, Bentley and I moved to the basement apartment at Callie’s (Bentley’s best friend) house. During the move, I stayed upstairs and house/pet sat for 10 days while Mike & Laura went to B.C. for vacation. (Mike is one of my coworkers). The old apartment is only a five minute drive away and took several trips in the Echo to move most of my stuff. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in 9 months!! Norm, the guy who looks after Bentley at the dog daycare, helped me move the large pieces of furniture in his truck. This was a great relief because, as proud as I was with myself for putting it together the first time, I was not looking forward to taking apart and putting together all my IKEA furniture again. The new place is better for many reasons, but mainly because it is much cheaper. It is within walking distance to the beach and the (unofficial) dog park, it is bigger, and more open, and most importantly has laundry facilities. Additionally, we can help each other out with looking after our dogs, and Bentley and Callie will get to see each other more often. Although, Bentley will likely miss his weekly treat from the visit to the pet store while we waited for the wash cycle to finish at the laundry mat.
Although Bentley and Callie spent a few days at daycare while I did the move, for the majority of the time, I was mainly in the company of 2 dogs and a cat. All of them were vying for my attention. I couldn’t have felt more needed or loved. Whenever I left them for even a short time, it was as if they hadn’t seen me in months upon my return. All three of them followed me from room to room. Even going to the bathroom was a group event. The dogs were constantly playing under my feet and Kahlua (the cat) was on my lap whenever I
was sitting for more than a few minutes. Kahlua is a sweet, beautiful cat who reminds me a lot of our cat Ripley, except that she seems to like dogs!! She is about the same age as our cat (13 years old) and very much a cuddle bug. She sleeps a lot, but when she is awake she can be a bit whiney. When the dogs have finally spent their energy (usually around 19:00 each night), she likes to walk over them, sniff them and rub her head up against them. Bentley is absolutely in awe of this since his kitty usually hisses at him and thumps him at least once a day. Luckily while I stayed upstairs in Mike & Laura’s guest room, I got to sleep on a double bed…..because I usually found Bentley and Kahlua sleeping with or on me!!!Bentley and Callie both have endless amounts of energy to burn and had several wrestling matches and games of chase in the house daily. We went for at least two walks a day and found ourselves getting accustomed to a daily routine. Both of the dogs learned to walk very well together on the leash, leaving their wrestling matches for off leash activity. Thank god, because together, they outweighed me by at least 30 lbs!! They were actually really good puppies (lots of treat rewards helped). Once we reached the lake or trail, they sat and waited patiently until they were both unclipped from their leashes. Then they took off in unison for a new round of chase and wrestle. I put on the snowshoes a couple of days and took them out for a trek on the lake. They were stunning days with blue sky and sparkling snow, but subzero temperatures. The dogs didn’t seem to notice.
One day that I was on call and Bentley and Callie were in daycare, my crewmate and I decided to lace ‘em up and play some hockey!! We found a great outdoor rink and were invited to play with a bunch of young guys. I had a great time. I was surprised to find that I played and skated fairly well, since I hadn’t played in so long. I really miss playing hockey!!! Since then, a bunch of us from work have vowed to try and get together to play some more. But, it is so hard since we are all on such different schedules. Also, so many of my workmates are leaving all the time for bigger and better things. While I was house sitting, two more of my workmates got interviews with Air Canada. So, while the dogs slept at my feet and the cat on my lap, I spent my evenings studying hard for my upcoming Captain training. After Mike and Laura returned, the dogs had a hard time getting used to being separated from one another. Bentley always wants to go upstairs and Callie always wants to come down stairs. They are slowly getting used to it though.
Work got busier for me after the move and my week of house/pet sitting (hence the late post). I completed my Captain training a couple of days before leaving for my vacation to Hawaii where I got to spend some time with Rob and his family.
posted by Leanna @ 2:15 PM
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