Smarties and Hippies and Peepee Dogs

Hi. It's Wednesday. I did some stuff since my last post and it's all random and silly, so this post will be all over the place.

Wait, where you going?

Firstly, remember when I asked the question, "Does buying a smart car make you smarter?" Remember that from oh...three years ago?

Yeah. That answer is a hard no.


It probably makes sense for some people to buy a smart car (such as teenagers, those on a serious budget, those who don't want to give people rides anywhere, hippies, and I'm sure many others I've left out), but for a 6 foot 3 man who likes to nap in his car on his lunch break...not so much.

It's one of those things you find out after the fact. Fortunately though, not long after we bought that car, Fred's company closed their Vegas office and set up their employees to work from home, so now Fred has a commute of about 20 feet to get to work and can nap on his lunch break in his own bed.

We hung on to Smartie as a second car which was convenient, but with Fred working from home, really not necessary.

So last week we sold Smartie to our daughter, Sissa. She's a hippie, so it's perfect for her and she's been borrowing it anyway, so it just made sense. She's taking a road trip and staying away for a couple months for some work gigs.

Hippies and Smart Cars were meant to be.

Selling Smartie meant a trip to the DMV, which is always a delight. I went with her because I had to sign the title and I was paranoid I would sign it in the wrong spot because I did that once when we sold an RV.

The guy we sold it to was in the middle of saying, "You have to be careful where you sign on the title..." as I confidently signed where I thought I was supposed to.

"She already messed it up," he said, looking at me accusingly. I felt stupid and that whole fiasco meant I had to go to the DMV and request a new title or some special form or something. Anyway...it delayed the process.

Sissa didn't need delays since she was leaving for California within a few days, so I went with her to the DMV.

For those of you with grown kids...do you ever NOT give them advice and share your wisdom? Oh, I was sharing like a boss that day. When she bundled all the DMV papers up in a haphazard stack, I had to point out that some of them needed to stay in the car and some of them needed to be filed somewhere not in the car.

"I know, mom."

I momtrolled the heck out of her that day and I shouldn't have because she's been all over the world and managed just fine without my advice. But moms worry, so we advise because it's all we can do to feel like we have some control over their safety when they're grown and off on their own adventures.

Anyway...I also gave her a map. Remember those? I felt like in case she was somewhere that didn't have signal, she should have one. She looked at it like it was a newly unearthed ancient Roman artifact.

I showed her how to use the grid to find a city. She marvelled. At least it was one piece of wisdom I could share with her that day that she didn't already know. Mission accomplished.

She's leaving today and I'm going to miss her. She's been home from her travels for a year now and I knew she would take off again somewhere, sometime, but it's easy to get used to her being home.

In other news...we handed off one of our dogs, Gracie Lou, to my younger daughter, Rachael. During my blogging absence, she got married (Rachael, not Gracie) and Gracie Lou adores her husband and has always felt the same about Rachael.

Originally, Gracie was Sissa's dog. When Sissa was 16 or so, she worked at a vet and we adopted three dogs over the course of a few years, from that vet. They had all been abandoned there.

The thing about Gracie is that she's very stubborn and likes to sneak and pee in the house whenever she has the opportunity. If we stay on her about it and keep bedroom doors closed and block off certain areas, and force her to go outside regularly, we can control it somewhat. I love her dearly, but it's exhausting.

What also happens is that our other dogs, when they see a puddle of Gracie pee, think that's now the approved pee area and follow in her footsteps, like a peepee parade.

That's a fun thing to wake up to in the morning.

It seems she was most sneaky at night and there was no reason for it, because we have a doggie door so they can all go outside and peepee whenever they want.

I'm a light sleeper, so I would usually hear Gracie when she'd lumber off the bed in the middle of the night. I got in the habit of saying groggily, "Go peepee ousside, Gracie, peepee ousside," in hopes she'd realize I was aware of what she was doing.

Then Fred, who is a heavy sleeper, but somehow is able to wake up and immediately access what's happening in the room, would chime in too, "Peepee ousside, Gracie, peepee ousside!"

So Gracie suffered the indignity of our chorus of peepee reminders every single time she'd get off the bed in the middle of the night.

Needless to say, she seemed quite happy to move in with Rachael and her husband.

I am so fukken outta here.

She had already experienced several sleepovers at Rachael's house so she was used to life there.

Still though...when I brought her over there and was saying goodbye to her, she wrapped her little front paws around my arm in a farewell hug that almost made me want to bring her back home.

But I see her often and she seems happy, so it's all good. And the best part is, no more peepee parades.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you that Fred and I walked in the Lung Force walk here in Vegas. It's an event that brings awareness to lung disease. People who have a lung disease, or want to support those who do, or remember those who died from one, all go on a mile walk. Each person who walks is encouraged to raise funds for the American Lung Association as well.

It was a fun experience, in an atmosphere of love and support and I'm really glad we participated. Here's a collage with some highlights.

That's all I got today. My mom is coming tomorrow for a visit and our main objective is to make fairy gardens. Hopefully, I'll remember to tell you about it.

Now go peepee ousside.

Momtrollingly,
Lori

Altered gorilla pic courtesy of Pixabay.