Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Last day of September?!

 I just can't believe how fast this year is going by! 

We celebrated Ashlyn's SIXTEENTH birthday at home with ice cream cake. We'd planned to have dinner with my mom and grandparents' the weekend before, but Ashlyn had gone to the park with some friends and did not social distance at all, so we postponed it for this weekend. 


Johnny also brought home some beautiful fall flowers for me last week. I love the way he is always thinking of me and will pick up little things for me while he is out running errands...just to say he loves me. :) I'm a very lucky girl!

I have a work file that I'm currently trying to finish...partly just to get it out of the way and move on to a different file. One thing that I don't particularly like about the new system is that there is far less information given about the files on the dashboard before claiming them. The files in the old queue often had enough information that you could get an idea of what kind of file it is...like if it is a jail call or audio from body-worn camera footage. Often those types of files have poor-quality audio and/or background noise which makes the file quite a bit slower to get through.

Milo woke up early wanting fed...which woke up Boz who needed to go outside. Sometimes we get that out of the way early enough that I can lay back down for a little while before I have to wake Johnny up for work...but not this morning. :P So I let Bozley out, fed the cats, and went back outside to play with Boz for a little bit. Then I came back inside and finished loading the dishwasher and started it so the dishes will be done for dinner tonight. We're having turkey chili for dinner...which is made the exact same way that I make chili already except with ground turkey instead of ground beef. It tastes similar enough that if someone didn't already know, they wouldn't realize it was turkey instead of hamburger. 

After I made coffee and woke Johnny up for the day, I started making some Banana Cake Bread since we had some leftover bananas that were overly ripe. Aubry was super excited when I mentioned it. She said, "Oooh! The kind with brown sugar on top?!" :) After she woke up this morning, she said, "I knew something smelled good!" 

Bozley is needing another bath. I've contemplated taking him to the groomer because I want to get him used to going so that he doesn't freak out when he's older. He really just needs a bath and to have the hair on his paws trimmed right now. He's starting to get his feathery hair on the back of his front legs, his neck, and the top of his ears...but it'll still be awhile before his full coat comes in when he'll eventually need a full-on haircut. Our last dog, Bandit, absolutely hated being groomed. I try to comb Boz pretty often and keep his nails trimmed so that hopefully he doesn't mind having it done as he gets bigger and it would become more difficult. We haven't actually taken any of our other pets to the groomer, so I will have to find one in the area that is recommended. And next week I'll take Bozley in for his last round of puppy shots at the vet! He just needs his last Lepto, Parvo, and then the Rabies vaccination...then we'll be done until next summer. :)   

Well...back to work! 
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Friday, September 18, 2020

2020 is...rough.

This year has been a tough year for our family. While one would probably think it is because of the pandemic...that is just a small portion of it. My Great-Aunt Betty died on May 4th. Then my Aunt Carole died on May 7th. There was a graveside service for each of them, but with Covid-19 we didn't gather as we normally would have. 

And then on September 9th, my Grandma Ina (Carole's mom) also passed away. Grandma's death was particularly hard. For many of us grandkids, a large portion our childhoods were spent at her house. Our children spent a lot of time at her house. Every Christmas Eve was spent at her house. My grandparents sold my mom the land she built her house on...right next door to their house. So we were very close and made so many memories over the years. As grateful as we are to have all those wonderful memories, it's also devastating to know that we won't be making more memories with her. 

My grandma loved to read. She had hundreds of books on three bookcases in the living room as well as built-in shelves that cover an entire wall, two bookcases in the dining room, a bookcase near the hallway, and then three bookcases in the computer room...each one packed full of books. Each one has one of her return address labels or her name written inside the front cover. We were able to go through all of her books and pick the ones we want...as many as we wanted. I've moved all my textbooks and nonfiction books so that I can put Grandma's books on my little bookcase in our bedroom. If I had the room, I'd take all the books and create a library downstairs. I'd love to have built-in bookcases. <3 

The girls and I attended her graveside service. It largely consisted of family and some close family friends saying a few words about her and their relationship with her. Aubry decided to stand up and give her own impromptu speech, which was beautiful. 

Since Johnny had to work and is working from home, we had to bring the puppies with us to my mom's house. They were in their kennels while we were at the cemetery. Afterwards, I took Bozley with me next door to my grandparents' house. He was such a good boy. He does well around people...even crowds of people. He pretty much stayed by me the whole time aside from when some of the kids were walking him around on the leash. He would explore in my vicinity or just lay at my feet. He had no problem with people petting him (although sometimes the puppy biting would start, so I had to correct him with that). He is just so laid back...and the calm is a definite improvement from the crazy, high-strung chihuahuas! But I think having Boz there after the funeral was nice for everyone. One of my cousins told me that she was really glad he was there...because dogs bring comfort and happiness. 

Here is a picture of Boz with Ashlyn and Neko when we stopped at Quik Trip on our way back home: 


Boz really does well off the leash. In the days leading up to the funeral, I spent quite a bit of time between my mom's house and my grandparents' house. He had his harness on, but he doesn't like to go to the bathroom while on the leash so I would unclip it in the yard between the houses (there are no fences) and he never strayed more than 6 feet or so away from me. Eventually I just abandoned the leash altogether because he would walk right beside me as we went back and forth. But...he also doesn't like not being around me. Like if we're in the backyard at home and I go in the house, he won't stay out there. Even if Johnny is out there, he will bark at the door to come inside with me. So I don't know if he would be the same with anyone else. Boz definitely seems to have bonded the most with me...but I think it's just because I'm the one he spends the day with. Johnny is working in the bedroom during the day while I'm usually in the living room with Boz. And to make sure Bozley isn't loud or anything while Johnny is working, I take him with me if I have to go anywhere during the day. I also feed him more often, so there's that. ;) 

We did get some good news this week though. We found out that Johnny will be able to work from home through the end of the year! We're very, very happy about that. I've gotten used to having him home with me all day! I get to spend each of his breaks with him and bring him coffee when he needs a refill, etc. Plus there's more time with him in the mornings and no waiting for him to get home after work. And of course, the greatest benefit is that he's not exposed to illnesses. It'd be nice if he could always work from home! 

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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Labor Day and School Day!

Labor Day weekend was full of laboring! :P

Johnny was working in the yard until late Saturday night trying to cut out some trees that keep growing along the fence. He finally called it quits because he needed some new blades for the reciprocating saw he was using. So I ordered those online for curbside pick-up. Sunday morning Johnny was up early tearing out a lot of tall weeds that have grown around the back porch and along the small fence next to the porch. We need to figure out what to do about that little fence. It's really just a roll of wire fence that is kinda leaned up against some random poles that we stuck in the ground. It doesn't stay up so the animals get back there anyway. One of these days we'll have to decide if we want to keep that area blocked off...and if  so, replace it with an actual chain-link fence or something.  

I've been busy working as well. I picked up three files all for the same case and between 20-35 minutes each in length. The case itself is pretty boring, but the audio is good and the speakers are all pretty clear. Since that's not always the case, I went ahead and picked up the last two files for the case that were still in the queue today. Those two files total 110 minutes on top of the 85 minutes I already had. These files are actually from the old system since there weren't many files available on the new dashboard when I looked the other day. That means I'm typing these files from scratch instead of editing from the AI. Really the only difference is that it takes a bit longer typing up the first draft, and then editing as I would from the AI file. I really like when I'm able to get several files for the same case. Certain words and spellings are usually clarified among different interviews so then I can use that information as reference for the other interviews. 

And Ashlyn started the first day of her sophomore year! There were some issues here and there getting connected to the zoom meetings for certain classes, but that's to be expected. Overall it went smoothly and she even got her assignments all done right after classes were over. Hopefully the year will go smoothly! 


 

And now I gotta get back to work! :) 
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Saturday, September 5, 2020

Hello September!

 Man...I can't believe how fast the months go by. Soon the year will be over again! 

Bozley is now three months old as of September 1st! He is doing so good. :) He is completely potty-trained now, so that's awesome! He's had no accidents in the house and goes to the backdoor whenever he needs to go outside. He'll sit quietly in front of the door unless I don't notice him, then he'll bark after a little bit. He'd also been doing great sleeping in the crate...until this week. :P We'd go to bed and he'd stay in the crate for about an hour before he would start whining and barking. On day 3 of no sleep, we made the executive decision to let him sleep in our bed since he is potty-trained. Now he sleeps in between our feet all night long without waking up and everyone is happy. :) 

We went to the vet today to get another round of puppy shots. He weighed 18 pounds! The vet commented on how calm and sweet he is. :) His skin is completely healed and back to normal. His coat is so silky smooth now. I don't think I've ever felt a dog with such soft fur. And he is such a pretty color. He'll go back in a month for his last round of puppy shots and his rabies shot...then he'll be good until next year! We'll see how his heart murmur is doing during his next appointment as well. Hopefully he has already outgrown it! 
 
We don't have any plans for Labor Day weekend. Johnny is off until Tuesday but I have to work. :P But work is going well! I got the hang of the editing platform pretty quick. When there's not much work available on it, I can switch back to the old site to pick up some files. There has been a pretty steady amount of work between the two. 

Ashlyn starts back to school Tuesday! The high school has changed things around this year to accommodate both students who are learning online and those who are at the school in person. Instead of the normal block scheduling in the past where the students have 5 classes one day and 5 different classes the next which alternate each day, they'll have 5 classes everyday for 9 weeks and then they'll have the 5 different classes everyday the next 9 weeks. And parents can choose to change the learning model (online or in person) at 9 week intervals. Ashlyn will be learning remotely for the first 9 weeks and we'll see how things go. 

Oh and I have these comparison photos showing how much Bozley has grown in just a month (and a few days)! 


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