moving towards an empty nest (puppy-speaking)

Today the kids went back to Oasis Educational Center for the first time in over a week, now that their paternal grandparents have left and things are back to normal. Well, as normal as they can be with 4 puppies + Juana Mata Iguanas/Mata Pollos (Juana Iguana/Chicken Killer) in our custody, and Bill working every day, till all hours, on getting the W ready for its March 25th opening date. The puppies have been with us since Thursday, so that's 5 days now, and as expected, their cheerful, cuddly little souls have taken up residence in my formerly dog-apathetic little heart. For the past 4 nights I have awakened without an alarm clock at 2am and have taken them out to relieve themselves; the first 2 nights I took them out one-by-one, the last 2 nights two-by-two. I did it this way as I didn't want them to get it in their heads that 2am is Frolick on the Horse-Poop-fertilized lawn. Generally, they've been really good at then settling back down to sleep, in their cardboard box in the laundry room. They don't cry at night and I don't know if it's because of my calm, assertive energy (unlikely) or because of the fact they're all together (most likely).

So yes, it's been more work than I had before, of course, but honestly, I never thought caring for 4 puppies would be so easy. I have the almost ideal set up here, since I can be home most of the day, so the puppies are free to roam around the house (which is one story, and has no rugs) and the yard. The biggest hassle has been the fact our yard isn't fenced in, so not only do we have to make sure the puppies aren't eating the horse poop (horses mow our lawn on a daily basis), but we have to make sure they neither go too far, nor fall in the pool. Negrita fell in the pool on day 2, and Bill fortunately realized it immediately and went to her rescue; she could swim, but probably would not have been able to climb out. They have hardly had any accidents, and I'm thinking that they could almost be considered housebroken at this point. Stephanie, Bill's colleague who will be the Puppy Mule next week and take Feisty (now renamed Jess by her new owner, Lily, a 6 yr old girl in CT), was kind enough to bring flea collars for all the puppies, and I check them for ticks several times a day.

Today I decided to bring Daisy (the blonde dog with the cut on her face) into town, and after dropping off the kids at Oasis I would walk around town and hopefully find her a new master. I walked into Black Beard's, the local dive/bike shop, where they fixed my awful bike for $8. I figured that would be a great place to hook Daisy up with a gringo who would be an animal-lover, and would have enough discretionary income to take on an extra pet. As I was chatting with Glady's, the owner, about Vieques' first official triathlon (late June), a girl (late teens) came over and said something like "omigosh I want one like that" referring to Daisy. We chatted for a bit as I told her how I came upon the puppies, why I can't keep them, etc., and she said "I'll take them all." Turns out she's been her for a month now, moved here from Morristown, NJ ("you're kidding!!!!!" I exclaimed, "I graduated from Madison High School!!" - the adjacent town), and was hoping to get a puppy. She works at Black Beard's, which btw is very dog-friendly as the other employees bring their dogs to work. Anyway she and Daisy were soon fast friends, as Emily sat on the floor and Daisy fell asleep next to her. Emily assured me she has a fenced-in yard, and has grown up with dogs so knows what to do with them - and I told her she was welcome to keep her from that moment on. And that was that. I admit that while I was relieved I now only had 2 puppies to farm out, I was very sad. I loved Daisy for being a trouble maker and was sad to separate the 2 blonde sisters. Alas, she and Emily will be very happy.

I then went, empty-handed :( to the local grocery store, the one downtown. The parking situation there is difficult but I managed to score the spot right in front of the store. I saw a gringo in his 50s or so standing in front with a full shopping cart and a perplexed look on his face. So I went over and asked if he needed help getting his groceries to his car? I figured he hadn't realized that he wouldn't be able to take the cart to his car, thanks to the narrow sidewalk and lack of ramps. He told me he was parked 2 blocks away, hadn't planned on buying so much, and was going to leave his stuff while he got his car. I said BAD IDEA and told him to go get his car, I'd watch his stuff. He returned about 5 minutes later and then we chatted for a bit (he and his wife are visiting from Texas for a week). After I picked up some stuff, I went home and then got a call that Bill's colleague Jorge (Juana's owner) has a friend in San Juan, a chef, who wants to adopt Honey. So that leaves just Negrita, and sssshhhhhhh I have to admit I may want to keep her. She's the smallest, the most reserved, and just so freakin cute. I wonder what she would be like with Penny?

After doing some work, and making some calls, I went to get the kids from school. They are preparing for a show they're putting on on Thursday, about Puerto Rican history. I watched the last 15 minutes of their rehearsal, amused that Jackie and Willo were playing Spanish plantation owners, mistreating their slaves, while their classmates were either slaves or Taino Indians. After school we went straight to Blue Beach to meet up with 3 of our friends and their kids. It was beautiful and I couldn't help but think, this sure beats doing homework and then driving to Jackie's acting/singing lesson and running errands with an annoyed/annoying Willo for 1.5 hours.

OK, I've gotta get to bed. All of these photos are from the weekend (not today) - I'm too tired after yesterday's bout of dehydration, and must go to bed now. It's 9:40 pm and Bill just got home from work. Hasta pronto!