more progress

 Oh!  Our baby is getting bigger!  Jim periodically puts Arlo on his scale for packages at work.  Here, he even got a label...but he is not for sale! What a sweet baby!  He stands there so nice! Our "baby" is not so little anymore though.  At 30 pounds and almost 15 weeks, he has been growing quite a bit, and even graduated out of his puppy collar this week. He has the SIT and COME down really well...he can stay for 3-7 seconds, GIVE with some reminders, FETCH, and fights like he is being attacked by fire ants when I try to get him to LAY DOWN....we'll keep working on it.
Today we discovered a really nice, long walking trail just one mile from our house....this improves my whole outlook on life- it is just what I needed- and will be great for Cross Country skiing this winter. It is right along the river, so I can imagine the mosquitos in the summer, but for 8 months of the year, it will be great!

 Here is a more recent picture of our house!

 This was the inside about a month ago...since then, we have put up all the pine walls and added some furniture.  Our pellet stove is now working, which has been really nice! I can tell I will definitely need to buy some slippers though with our cement floor, it gets very chilly!! I am now sitting on the couch with my feet up on the couch trying to warm them.  Hmm...would be really nice to have my warm seal skin slippers from AK....but I won't dare risk that for about another YEAR.  Arlo just managed to pull off the wood plugs covering the screws on my new stool and ate them.  He doesn't like things that stick out apparently.   Overall, he has been pretty good, and he has learned what "No" means....but when he gets something in his head, he always tries to go back and get something when I turn my back. Puppies...just like my 4 year olds sometimes!

So I have been taking it a lot easier this week.  I am exhausted and burnt out.  We got our Occupancy Permit on Friday, and I guess I took that as an OK to crash.  Not that I've been lazy.....I managed to clean up a lot of stuff this week and move some things into the house, and actually get caught up on a few things at work and my life (such s bills). I spent 3 hours at a class I am taking on Tuesday night, bought groceries for our new fridge we bought (in celebration of our occupancy permit, and a Christmas present from Jim's Mom), did laundry and cleaned a bit, got caught up on weeks of work email I can't check usually because I have no internet there, and I THINK figured out some insurance stuff for the cabin.  So much fun....But, I kept falling asleep this week whenever I would sit down!
Today I got back to work on the house again- put some weather stripping on the door, spray foamed around the new window and one last wallspot, cleaned Arlo's stink box, and polyurathaned 2 wall sections 2 times.  One more coat and they should be done! I could poly for a week and not be done in this place though....wood everywhere.  I could wait on it...but everytime you hit a bug and it splatters, Arlo rubs against it, or whatever, your wall will look that way permanently unless you sand it.  So, I have incentive to get at least the first coat of poly on soon so I can at least wash my walls.

The toilet is now back in, as of yesterday morning....I mean, put in for the first time....since Wisconsin code says nobody but a certified plumber can put anything in until you get an occupancy permit.  I would never break the rules. We also have the parts bought for the shower, have a little bathroom sink my Dad gave me a long time ago and have a kitchen sink (though no cabinet to put it on yet).  We will see what we can get done this weekend.  A shower would really be nice, but the rest I am not too worried about, other than polying the walls.  We have a sink next door in the meantime, in Jim's house....and I NEED to relax a bit.  I have not been feeling like myself lately, and I know it is mostly because I am overtired and burnt out. With a good nights sleep, and an actual day off....not a day off work to spend more time on the house, will improve my mood in extremes...and I am not thinking just 2-3 hours this time.  I need a real, full day, sit around and be lazy, read a good book by the fire, then take the dog for a long walk and then cook an actual meal and maybe visit somebody while not feeling rushed for time, kind of day!
This week I had a parent come in and ask when her son's Sharing Day was,  saying that she thought she had missed it.  She said she was just so tired, and she couldn't keep anything straight anymore! She seemed exasperated, exhausted, and at her wits end.  I wanted to take her new baby for awhile and let her go soak in a tub and sleep....but I knew exactly how she felt.  I have been feeling that same way all week....and I'm not even sure why.  It's not like I have 3 kids at home like her, but I can't even get anything done because I have way too much to think about and can't even remember what I am headed off to do, as I am also thinking about the 10 other things I need to do, and what I all need to get them done.  My motto has always been "Plug away and things will get better". Truth is, there is always more to do, and you just end up half dead if you try to do it all. I know this...I've learned this lesson again and again the last 2 years...yet I still think I can do it all, and I try to...because I don't like the alternative of letting things fall apart a bit.  When you have some parts of you that like to fall apart no matter what you do, you try to be more in control of what you can.
All in all, I am happy- things are going great in all areas....but some things in my life need to start changing before I crash again. 
So, my thoughts are....
1.enjoy the new trail- take Arlo for more walks.  Spend more time with the puppy- getting exercise and training
2. get stove working and shower, walls done and then quit for awhile...take a real break.
3.take the time to read or do SOMETHING relaxing for half an hour each night.