Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves

We are everything in that Cher song except tramps and thieves. Well, we're more like bedouins to be honest. We lived with my parents for a while and then we were asked by some friends to house sit while they were on vacation. It's been nice to have our own space for a while, but the animals that we're caring for are just a bit too much to handle, along with a baby.

There's a three year-old black lab, a seven year-old long haired chihuahua, two cats (one of which is completely nocturnal, more about this later), and two fish. Whew! The lab is lovely and we adore each other. The chihuahua has a Napoleon complex and he hates me. Meh. I always get him in trouble for barking at Little J (and chipmunks, and deer, and cars, and moths, etc) so he likes Josh a lot more. He's TERRIFIED of the baby. What a little wuss.

One cat is an attention sponge, and loves being brushed. He loves it so much that he yowls for it at 3 in the morning and Big J has to get up and brush the cat all bleary-eyed. And when we're not up brushing the cat, we're being jumped on in the bed by the other cat. He sleeps all day and then accosts us at night. That's fine if you don't have a baby that occasionally wakes up at night as well. So, long story short, not a lot of sleep is being gotten lately.

Our friends are coming home tomorrow, which is the same day that we're leaving to go visit my brother  in Washington State. So, we pack up everything onto the camel caravan, oops, I mean into the car, and move on to our next temporary home. I kind of like this way-faring style. I think it's hard on Little J sometimes, but it's also teaching him to be flexible. We keep the same routine no matter where we are, and I think that helps.

Here's an adorable clip of Little J and one of his namesakes walking off into the woods together:

Oregon Trail completed

Whew! We made it! We left Monday night and got here Tuesday morning. And, it only took us 10 hours and 18 minutes. Take that, Google maps!

Our car was packed. PACKED! Full to the gills. We could not fit one more iota of stuff in there, or the car would have exploded. I was afraid that taking one thing out of the back would be like playing Jenga and the whole lot would come tumbling out. But, we successfully unpacked everything and our car weighs about 800 lbs less.

We killed about a gazillion bugs. Maybe even two gazillion. Their guts are smeared all over the front end of the car. We also saw lots of animals on the road that luckily we didn't smear all over our car. Here's a list: racoon, skunk, pronghorn, mourning doves, mule deer, owls, and a bat. The deer were just standing in the middle of the road, and we had to honk at them to get them to move. I like to think that they were a group of rebel teenage deer out looking for a thrill at 3:30 in the morning.

Little J did great. He slept like a hibernating bear. We even stopped to get gas a few times and he didn't wake up. He was thrilled to get his grandparents' house too. We went to bed for a bit and then when he woke up in the morning, he crawled and walked around the house like crazy. He especially loves his Nana Sue, but then who wouldn't?

My view from the front seat. Little J was REALLY
crammed in there.

That green ball is holding the entire car together.

Yes of course we brought our maple syrup.
Big J is Canadian, remember?