Follow Up Friday, Again....

Follow Up Friday, Again....
because yes, I have been lazy. Or busy. Depends on how you look at it.

Another week has flown by here at Green Acres/Redux and I'm just not sure how that happened.

I feel like I have accomplished nothing but in reality that  probably isn't totally true.

I have accomplished nothing on my list.  THAT is definitely true.

I took Carlos on a walk - we are prepping for the Salida K9 Cancer Walk that is coming up in a couple of weeks. (Feel free to donate here.)   He got a new leash so that he could have a little more freedom to explore up here. For some reason Carlos was petrified of this leash. He ran when he saw it- before he had even tried it. Anyway, he solved that problem in one fell swoop.

Here's the new, fancy - and SCARY- leash.

Here is Carlos with a small part of that leash still attached.

Carlos has VERY sharp teeth. 

We are going back to the 6 foot chain link leash like we were using before.

The girls and I went shopping- first in Colorado Springs, then at the outlet mall outside of Denver. Six hours of driving accomplished pretty much nothing. We are no longer in the land of shopping. A full on trip to Denver where we expect to find real stores stocked with lots of fun things is scheduled for Labor Day weekend. 

There was the first day of school.

No one cried.   

I consider it a success based on that sole fact. 

Belle and Bunny on their first day.

Suffice to say the first day was terrifying and enlightening. There were positives and some negatives but we are doing our best not to focus on those.

The highlights: 

There's a salad bar AND a fruit bar at lunch and the food is not only fresh but edible. This was considered an absolutely amazing turn of events.

This is a school lunch? Really? 

Belle, as a Senior, can leave campus for lunch and also during her off period. Mid day she has an hour to kill and can go out to the car and sleep, meet a friend at the park, whatever. That is an incredible freedom coming from her Texas school. 

Four day school week. Fridays are off. Enough said.

Belle has opted to try cheer leading. This is something she has NEVER done before. In Texas, girls are groomed from the womb to cheer lead and the only way you get to be a High School Cheer Leader is to have been doing gymnastics or competitive cheering from your toddler years. After one practice Belle is a "flyer" and says it is fun although not a sport. 

The dress code. Or lack of. Belle wore leggings today. (Not allowed at home.) Bunny wore shorts today. (Definitely not allowed at home.)

The (possible) downsides:

It's a small school. 

ALL the kids are new to my girls pretty much.  They all know the "Texans" but the "Texans" don't necessarily know everyone else. 

There might be some truth to the fact that Texas schools are more academically challenging. Although I think it might be more that the Colorado schools teach in a different way. In Texas there is an emphasis on testing and writing and testing. Here the girls were told to think outside the box, to draw examples rather than write them down, and informed of field trips to come that would back up what they were learning in class. Which way is better? That remains to be seen. 

The poor baby Hummer is still in the shop but is being worked on. Over $8000 worth of damage due to one little lightning strike to the antenna. Maybe we will see it again next week.

I did try to register the car in Colorado. I drove an hour to the county seat only to be told they didn't like the way the title was signed over and would not accept the power of attorney that came with it. O! And I need a VIN verification form, whatever that is. But they were VERY nice and the wait was minimal and someone even called me to clarify exactly what was needed. Fortunately I have another month on the temporary tags before I have to panic.

A generalized reenactment of what happened

 to the H3 we had owned for all of ten days.

And... our Green Acres moments.

Usage of the hair dryer along with all of the lights on upstairs resulted in the girls being plunged into darkness.   We may have to implement Lisa Douglas's numerical system in regards to which appliances can be used at one time without blowing fuses.

And...

Being an older cabin, we have older windows. The window screens are bent here and there. Because it is a cabin in Colorado we do not have Air Conditioning. Windows are left open at night upstairs. Lights are on. Bugs come in. Screams are heard. The Raid can needs replacing already.  These are on order:

Bug proofing for beds. 

Another week under my belt. 

No one has been eaten by anything. No one has been electrocuted.

We are all alive. 

Again, a win.