What would Nellie do?

Good evening folks. Its raining tonight and our plans to head to campus to watch an outdoor screening of the Blindside were foiled! Bummer. We will just have to rent it when it comes out on DVD.

I went on a run last Sunday with Nellie and thought to myself: "I wonder what Galveston is like to our animals?". It was a beautiful afternoon and we were on our usual course. Nellie, our pitbull/greyhound mix, was a gift from my cousins before we left for Texas. She has been such a joy to us. Shes full of energy (sometimes too much!) and is a great Galveston dog. Shes short haired, so shes a good fit for all the hot weather. and she LOVES to run on the beach. We take her down atleast once a week and she goes nuts. Digging holes, running after other pups and enjoying some freedom off the leash. Her only hesitancy is around the water. She's not a fan of getting wet. Our first effort to give her a bath ended up with us on the floor covered in soap and her zipping around the house trying to stay out of our reach. We have since invested in a hose for outdoor washdowns. :-)

Both the cat and the dog have been on the island for 3 straight months. We head to the mainland from time to time for shopping or some treks into the city. But these two have hunkered down "island style" big time. I am learning the best routes for evening walks. There are so many dogs in this town!!! I often head towards campus and have found that Market street is "dog walkers hell." There are about 5 houses in a row just before the library that each have dogs. The minute Nellie graces them with her presence it is a slobber fest of smelling and barking and attempts to nip at each other through the fences. And then theres always the lovely chihuahua at the end. Barking her head off even after we round the corner out of sight. No more Market street for Nellie. I have little doubt that the scene from the road of us trying to just make it alive down to the end of the block is a sight to behold!



Harley the cat seems to like the island too. She has the rule of the attic and spends most of her days hiding amongst our unpacked boxes and guest area. The dog won't go up there and taunt her if we don't accompany her so the cat really has a palatial space up there. From time to time she graces us with her presence (she's such a CAT!). She's also gotten quite sneaky and has managed to crawl out of the house on a couple of nice days when we had our back door open. She's a smart kitten though...she knows where her next meal is coming from and makes it back within a couple of hours.



Alls quiet on the island front as of late. I am looking forward to a visit back home over Easter. Unfortunately Andy cannot join as he doesn't have class off. It will be a nice break for me though - theres a little guy back east that has started crawling. I've got to see it with my own eyes! :-)

Super

Well, we've made it! The great 100 days of separation are over and our united life in Galveston has officially begun as of Saturday November 29, 2009 at 1am. I mention the time as I do believe that is the most exhausting drive I have ever endeavored. Props to Andy who drove solo this past August - what a trek!

The good news is that we are here and safe with Dog and Cat in tow. We were unsure about the wisdom of toting Nellie and Harley along with us in the 24 hour car ride. These two are fair weather friends at best...Feline hissing is a common sound in our house as Harley attempts to show the 50 pound pit bull that she is, in fact, queen of the castle. We were pleasantly surprised to note that both pets are excellent travel companions with not a peep out of either until the last hour as Harley made sure to note that she was no longer enjoying her ride in her carrier. Can't blame her. We wanted to get out of our carrier too by that point :-).

Initial tears and anxieties that spawned as I realized "this is actually happening" have subsided quite a bit as I am starting to unpack boxes and set up the new place while Andy attends class during the day. I consider it a step in the right direction that I can now look at pictures of my nephew without welling up into tears. A funny happening that occurred from Saturday through Monday with incredible consistency.

The new place will work just fine. Pictures will be up soon. the place is actually quite cute and seems to fit our modest lifestyle. my motto : The less house you have the less you have to clean! so we'll stick to that until perhaps some day the world deems scientists and nonprofit managers worthy to be paid the big bucks. It will happen some day, I am sure.

OK, Texan lesson #1 - Texans love super-walmart and SO...DO...I!!! Sunday was our first full day in our new digs and I was craving normalcy. Several weeks shacking up with friends and family rather nomadically, followed by two days of non-stop driving left me seeking the comforts of home life and home cooked meals.

Andy got to work unpacking the kitchen and I set off to fill up the refrigerator and get other necessities. Speaking of which, I do believe that the flamingo shaped welcome sign, one that would fit perfectly on the front door of our bungalow and available at super walmart for only $9.99, is actually a necessity. I will have to remember this on my next visit. :-) more on my growing obsession with flamingos later...

Needless to say, I navigated this football stadium sized grocery store with ease. Glad to be alongside my new island neighbors and also extremely glad to find that shower curtains, pajama pants, Bicycles and a stouffers lasagna can all be bought in the same store!! you just never know when you might need to take a shower in your pajamas while riding your bike, now do you? Salute to you, Super Wal-Mart...its quite possible you will become a regular in my weekend repertoire.

Super Wal-Mart equals happiness

Well, we've made it! The great 100 days of separation are over and our united life in Galveston has officially begun as of Saturday November 29, 2009 at 1am. I mention the time as I do believe that is the most exhausting drive I have ever endeavored. Props to Andy who drove solo this past August - what a trek!

The good news is that we are here and safe with Dog and Cat in tow. We were unsure about the wisdom of toting Nellie and Harley along with us in the 24 hour car ride. These two are fair weather friends at best...Feline hissing is a common sound in our house as Harley attempts to show the 50 pound pit bull that she is, in fact, queen of the castle. We were pleasantly surprised to note that both pets are excellent travel companions with not a peep out of either until the last hour as Harley made sure to note that she was no longer enjoying her ride in her carrier. Can't blame her. We wanted to get out of our carrier too by that point :-).

Initial tears and anxieties that spawned as I realized "this is actually happening" have subsided quite a bit as I am starting to unpack boxes and set up the new place while Andy attends class during the day. I consider it a step in the right direction that I can now look at pictures of my nephew without welling up into tears. A funny happening that occurred from Saturday through Monday with incredible consistency.

The new place will work just fine. Pictures will be up soon. the place is actually quite cute and seems to fit our modest lifestyle. my motto : The less house you have the less you have to clean! so we'll stick to that until perhaps some day the world deems scientists and nonprofit managers worthy to be paid the big bucks. It will happen some day, I am sure.

OK, Texan lesson #1 - Texans love super-walmart and SO...DO...I!!! Sunday was our first full day in our new digs and I was craving normalcy. Several weeks shacking up with friends and family rather nomadically, followed by two days of non-stop driving left me seeking the comforts of home life, home cooked meals and a place that was not cluttered with my stuff in boxes. Thus, an afternoon trek to the store.

Andy got to work unpacking the kitchen and I set off to fill up the refrigerator and get other necessities. Speaking of which, I do believe that the flamingo shaped welcome sign, one that would fit perfectly on the front door of our bungalow and available at super walmart for only $9.99, is actually a necessity. I will have to remember this again on my next visit. My "food focus" temporarily distracted me from making this purchase and I regret that I was mistaken to not have taken this treasure home with me :-) more on my growing obsession with flamingos later at another time. Lets just say that I am more than excited that we are on an island where flamingos are even more a presence than back home in Hampden! (no Hon Bird yet though - there is still time!)

Needless to say, I navigated this football stadium-sized grocery store with ease. Glad to be alongside my new island neighbors and also extremely glad to find that shower curtains, pajama pants, Bicycles and a stouffers lasagna can all be bought in the same store!! you just never know when you might need to take a shower in your pajamas while riding your bike, now do you? Salute to you, Super Wal-Mart...its quite possible you will become a regular in my weekend repertoire.