Making Progress!!

Steves Staycation is going great. We've gotten the bikes to the bike shop to be repaired so we can start riding again. It's been three years since we stored them away in the shed, so it's basically been three years since we got any good exercise. It'll be nice to just jump on them and go again. We used to bike all over Wash DC when we lived there and for awhile, after moving to WV, we took full advantage of the C n O Canal. Then some Evil Witch put a curse on us and made it impossible for us to even go near our bikes. Fortunately, the curse was weak and we've been able to reverse it. In doing so, we've thwarted the Evil Witch's plan and caused her minion to grow increasingly bald and unimaginably bitter. The previous sentence was such an inside reference I don't expect any of you to get it. Should I be forced to explain it to you, I would then have to end your life. On a HUGELY more positive note, we've been working downstairs for the past three days and actually hauled 450 lbs of waste to the dump. Almost a quarter ton of crap just sitting around. Now that we've managed to shed about a decade of our lives I feel good but kind of sad at the same time. I mean it's great that we got rid of it all, because it was just sittin there collecting dust..... I should rephrase that... collecting MAJOR dust.... like almost topsoil!! Still, sifting through all those memories, we can't help but be a little nostalgic. Yesterday, Jon and Steph returned from their end of summer vacay to collect Beau and Turk. We totally put them to work when they got here. They were awesome at relaying all Steves craft supplies to the basement. That ladder can be very tricky, so having 4 extra hands to pass things along was a gift from the home improvement gods for sure. We were, what I guess you'd call, puppy sittin for them. I'm not sure if it's really puppy sitting when the pus aren't a problem. Having Beau and Turk here is more like having your kids come stay. They didn't change our normal routine and they weren't any extra work, so I can't honestly say I did anything. Oh, there is the whole "special" diet for Beau because he has some sort of butt issue. We're also gonna work on his whole "abused" issues because I believe he's using that as an excuse to not have to listen. Now I'm positive some tree hugging Nazi dog shrink could try to prove me wrong, but ummmmm DUH, I don't care!! (Clarification... Jon n Steph DO NOT & DID NOT abuse Beau) He was rescued with those issues..... and boy does he have issues.... LOL!! What good little dogs they were though. Beau, still smelling of Skunk, was so well mannered (no kitty chasing) and even learned a few new tricks...... like how to "Hang Ten". All three pups (Dash included) thoroughly enjoyed their jeep ride to the train station to get Steve on friday. Over 45 mph they all just laid down, so there was no REAL worry of losing any of them. We're still trapping these days and our latest capture was the meanest most pissed off cat I've ever seen. I've trapped raccoons that were friendlier than this cat. This cat would attack the cage when I got too close. Slamming its head and body against the cage door. From the looks of it, he had been in some pretty bad scrapes himself. Nasty deep infected wounds covered his body. He had a huge scar above one eye and was even missing a freakin toe!! I am convinced this is the cat who attacked our Bette (Scotty). He's the one who's been out there every night beating up every cat and kitten in the neighborhood. Well, he doesn't live here anymore and he won't be causing anymore harm to our kitties. He also won't be chasing them into the house and he won't be spraying his stink near here again. Whether he was just mad or evil or possessed... who knows. Maybe he was actually a wild cat.... they do exist. Born ferrell and raised without human contact he could qualify as wild. and then we have Percy the Opossum...... that's what we call him. He's so tiny and he's really not that bright, because as of this morning, we've trapped him three times. At least he's eating well.... problem is he lives under the shed out back, so as long as I'm trapping or have trash out he's not leaving. So for what it's worth.... I let him go for a third time. He doesn't cause harm to our cats, so basically he has every right to stay here. When he violates a boundary I'll consider placing him somewhere else, but until then..... he eats canned cat food for dinner. All in all it's been a productive week so far.... seeing how it's only tues, LOL! We've eliminated a few problems from our back yard, watched the pups with no serious complications and we're making some awesome progress with the downstairs redesign Well, It's back to cleaning out the house. It really is a good feeling seeing years of accumulated stuff just peeling away in layers and slowly revealing a new vibrant home. I've never called myself a collector of anything, but christ..... how did we get so much crap? Today I'm working on my desk and our dining room. Not much dining goes on in here unless of course eating at the computer counts. I'd like to see it multi-functional when I'm done filtering and re-arranging. Wish us Luck!!