Absence Update...Finally!

I have been remiss in not updating everyone. Things got very hectic around here, with multiple cat maladies, ESM going through finals week at school, and on top of it all I got sick. Not been a barrel of laughs around here lately.

First off, Hubbard is doing pretty good. He is back on his insulin at a lower dosage and is tolerating it well. We discontinued the medication for the pancreatitus for a bit, and now he is back on it also at a lower dosage. He continues to be our little "tank," just rumblin' right along.

Treelo ended up getting smacked in the eye (by Rocky, we suspect) right after we got Hubbard back on track, so we've been dealing with that too. She is ok, but we had to do eye ointment for her for a bit. She is doing better and there seems to be no permanent damage. Just more vet bills...

ESM got through finals week without killing any of us, for which I was grateful. It was touch-and-go there for a bit towards the end, however we all survived with only a few chew-marks on us. She is getting a bit burned out on school and decided to take the summer off from classes. I know the break will do her good. She really enjoys what she is studying, but the grind of working part-time, going to school part-time, and taking care of us full-time does weigh heavy on her. I will be glad to have her out into the yard this summer getting some "dirt" therapy.

I'm also just getting over a spring cold. I hate being sick when the weather is nice...

Gonna take a drive to the wilds of New Mexico to see my folks here very soon. I was going to take my uncle along with me to share the drive, but he wimped out on me last week. Oh well, he is recovering from shoulder surgery and going through the agony of physical therapy, so I can understand. Just would have been nice to have some company. ESM has to stay behind to take care of Hubbard, and work...which I know bums her out.

However, this is my last opportunity to take some vacation time before a big project at work kicks into overdrive. There will be no time off for me from when I get back until probably Thanksgiving. I'll fill you all in on that project as I get closer to completion.

You can tell spring is in the air, when the boys start sticking their heads out the window! *grin*

Wishing Everyone a Safe and Warm Holiday!

The tree is decorated, the presents are wrapped, the food is laid in, and the family is on their way. It is Christmas Eve for certain!

Everyone is doing ok, and we'll be enjoying the company of family through the holiday as I hope all of you can do as well.

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to enjoy a "cheese and crackers" dinner, however it is more than just cheese and crackers. We always have sliced sausages, smoked kippers, wonderful fruit and many other finger-foods. It is much easier (to fix and clean up from) than trying to fix a full meal, and gives us time to sit around the tree and reminisce about Christmases gone by.

I will wish you all a very happy holiday, and a safe, prosperous and peaceful new year! Merry Christmas!

A Family Photo
(A first, all the kittehs in one photo!)

If It Isn't One Thing...

Got Treelo to the vet this morning...by myself. ESM apparently caught a bit of a bug and spent half the night last night "driving the porcelain bus," if you catch my drift. Not fun at all. She was in no shape/mood this morning to do anything, let alone take a trip to the vet. So, I got elected.

Unfortunately, I did something to my left foot on Thursday night and have been hobbling around ever since. So, here I am, gimpy, trying to haul the carrier to and from the car and the vet. Must have been a sight, for sure! Luckily, it is my left foot, and my car is an automatic, so I could at least drive. Otherwise, no vet visit...which I'm sure would have made Treelo happy! *grin*

Anyway, after her examination, the vet says it's probably Treelo's asthma acting up along with an allergy of some kind, made worse by the dry air. So, they gave me a prescription for an antihistamine with a bronchial dilator. Hopefully that will help her with her cough. She had two bouts with it today after we got back. Poor thing!

We're still running one humidifier...the other one apparently bit it. It leaked all over the carpet, and ESM had to dry up a pretty big puddle. I am planning on taking the broken one in the shower tomorrow and filling it up to see where the leak is. Maybe I can fix it.

I also need to check my furnace filter. I put a good allergen filter in about a week ago, and I've been meaning to go pull it and see how it's doing. Treelo and I have both been suffering, so my guess is we're both allergic to the same things. Like father, like daughter, eh?

BTW, Hubbard is doing well with his medication and insulin. No more accidental needle pokes into humans to report, so we must be getting better! *grin* His appetite is beginning to return, which is good news as well.

Hopefully, no one ELSE will get sick before Christmas! *knock wood*

--Sundown, Out

Pretty, Pretty Princess

When the cat has more prescriptions than I do...

Well, we had our vet visit for Hubbard today. He now officially takes more drugs than I do.

ESM and I got our training on how to give him his insulin shots, which went very well. We're both pretty confident we can take care of that without any problems. So, we now have a vial of insulin in the fridge, and a needle dispenser/disposal unit on top of the fridge.

We gave Hubbard his first shot tonight and he seems to be tolerating it ok. ESM was a little nervous at first, but she did just fine. We also started him on the steroid for the pancreatitis. We'll see how he does with that as well. The vet tells us it will increase his appetite, so we're going to feed him well for the next 30 days and see if we can put some of the two pounds he lost back on his bones!

Treelo is still having some trouble, but she has NEVER liked taking pills and trying to give her the Benadryl has been no exception. So, the vet suggested today that we start her on Lysine. Since we had a bottle of the powdered Lysine from when we were giving it to Hubbard, we put some in a little dish of tuna for her. We gave Hubbard some tuna as well before we gave him his insulin...and of course the rest of the Horde wanted some too! *grin* I can see our food bill being a bit crazy for a while!

We're basically prepared for the holiday. Almost all the shopping is done (most of it online) and the house is as decorated as it is going to get this year. For some reason we've been a little busy with other things. *grin* We have family coming for Christmas Eve and staying over for Christmas with us. That will be nice to have them here. And I'm looking forward to a few days off from work before my final big push on the one project I need to have done at the end of the year.

I'll post again after Treelo's vet visit on Saturday and give y'all an update on general kitteh health. Give all your loved ones a hug from us!

--Sundown, Out

Our Precious Boy, Hubbard

A Lot Has Happened...

First off, sorry about the delay. Things have been a little crazy, between kitteh health issues, the holidays, my job with two major projects due before the end of the year, ESM's school finals and a smattering of extended family drama thrown in for good measure.

Ok, first thing's first. Kitteh health issues. Everyone is still with us for now, so don't panic. But, we have had a bit of a set-back with Hubbard.

As you may recall, Hubbard is our senior citizen, being somewhere north of 14 years old. After everyone went home from Thanksgiving, the next weekend we had pretty much to ourselves and we sorta let the horde run loose. Well, several of them (including Treelo, who is not normally allowed upstairs) came up and spent time in the master bedroom, which is Hubbard's domain. He apparently didn't like all the attention, and proceeded to make a wet spot on the carpet next to his box...then again later in the bathroom on the rug. This is very out of character for our boy, so it got our attention.

We decided that it must have been him being upset that day, as he has not done it since. But, it did highlight another problem that had apparently been getting steadily worse. We noticed he was drinking a lot more water and using his box more. Not good. So, we quickly scheduled a vet visit.

They decided to run a "geriatric screen" of tests on him. They also recommended looking for pancreatitis as well. We agreed and they ran the tests. We got most of the results back the next day, and it confirmed one of our suspicions. Hubbard is diabetic. That explains the increased box use and increased water consumption. He also has pancreatitis. They are not sure if one causes the other, but they are likely related some way. He had also lost almost two pounds in the two and a half months since he had seen the vet last! That was the scariest thing to hear, for me.

So, he starts insulin shots on Thursday, after we get a little training on how to give them to him safely. I watched my mother and grandmother give her aging cat insulin many times, so the process doesn't worry me much. We'll be fine.

For the pancreatitis, they will start him on a low-dose steroid. This complicates the blood sugar equation a bit, but they tell us between getting the diabetes under control and the steroid, the pancreatitis should clear up just fine. Then all we have to worry about is getting the weight back on him! I'm sure his appetite will come back when he feels better.

Treelo is also having issues. She is either allergic to something in the new house, or her asthma is flaring up. She has been sneezing and coughing quite a bit lately. It's all clear liquid, so we didn't think is was a cold, nasal infection or something like that...and our vet didn't think so either. The vet told us to go buy straight, old Benadryl (with nothing included, just the diphenhydramine 25mg) and give her half a pill once a day. Was that an adventure!

We poked the half a pill down her, but typical of our princess, she wouldn't swallow. And, once she tasted that bitter pill, she began foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog! Holy cow, I didn't know one cat could emit that much foam from any orifice! We had to follow her around the house with a washcloth and a towel, cleaning up after her for 20 minutes! Unbelievable.

The vet suggested that we either coat the pill in butter, or get some empty gel-caps from the pharmacy and put the pill in one of them, then give it to her. We are going to try that this week sometime. We'll see how that goes.

They also suggested it might be aggravated by the dry air around here, so we started our two portable humidifiers on the main floor of the house as well. That did seem to help her, so we're hoping the Benadryl might also help. We're keeping a close eye on her too.

I promise to post more this week on the other dramas that are playing out, but for now just know that things are somewhat more under control and we're all ok. I'll keep you all up to date on Hubbard and Treelo's progress.

"Wait a minute. Huh? What?"

First Night Out

Well, "da boyz" (and Miss Treelo) survived their first night out in the house. No scratches, no blood and most importantly, nothing broken or knocked over! *grin* So, they have successfully transitioned into the main part of the house permanently. That's good, as we need our guest room back here soon! We have family coming for the Thanksgiving holiday.

So now that Leo and Rocky can stay out at night, we can go through and get the guest room clean. Not that they "messed it up" mind you, but with all the kitty hair, litter kicked out of boxes and that general "kitteh funk" generated when two cats share a small room for three weeks, it needs to be freshened up a bit. "A bit, yes, a bit..."

Treelo and Leo are beginning to work their relationship out. There is still some hissing once in a while, but they have touched noses without incident several times as well. So that seems to be going ok. Now, Treelo and Rocky? That's a different story. She still growls at him anytime he gets near her. We think it is because he is still a bit of a kitten, and tends to go wildly careening around the house at times. I think it worries her some. What to do, what to do?

Well, we decided it may be time to put the bells back on Rocky and Leo's collars. The collars we bought for them when they came to join our merry band had little bells on them. We took them off, as we know from experience that will cause Hubbard to run the other direction if he hears a kitteh bell coming. We wanted Hubbard to meet them a little more "up close and personal." But, now that they are downstairs more (except for the occasional jailbreak where Leo goes over the gate), Hubbard is not the big concern now. However, if they have their bells on, Treelo will know when they're coming and maybe they can't sneak up on her (which I've seen them do, repeatedly).

Does Hubbard get along with them ok? He tends to leave them alone, and they are beginning to understand he should be left alone. So, everyone is more often ignoring one another. Since that equals peace, quiet and no bloodshed, we're happy.

ESM snapped this pic earlier this week of Hubbard wondering who that is eating his kibble.

Finally, A New Update

Sorry about the delay folks. Two new kittehs is a little more work than I think we expected. Not that we're worrying about such things, and they certainly aren't going anywhere!

First, about their names. They came from the shelter with Leo and Rocky. But, we have expanded on those names, coming up with full names.

Leo is short for Leopold Gustav, in honor of another handsome orange kitteh who got a home through Hubble Space Paws recently. Head over to her blog (hubblespacepaws.blogspot.com) and search for Gus...you'll find him.

Rocky is short for Roquefort Rococo. Does he like French art and elegant room design? Don't know really. He is rather elegant and has a naturally flowing design...but Rococo came more from his name just rolling off the tongue as "Rocky Rococo." Roquefort? Does he like cheese? Not so much, but having a cat named after a cheese just seemed to fit. *grin*

Rocky also has many aliases. Rocky Ricardo (a favorite of my wife), The Rock, Rockstar, Rock and Roll, and Rocky Gibraltar (referenced in Looney Toons, I believe...can't find it on the intertubes though).

Rocky is the most "cat-like" cat we've had. He likes us, but only has to come see what we're doing occasionally. He can go off on his own and do his "thing" and he is happy as a clam. Leo, on the other hand, is like most large cats we've had in that he wants to be where you are. He has to be close by or he gets upset. And TALK! OMG, there are times when he just won't shut up! *grin*

Leo and Rocky are getting settled in nicely, though. They already got along where they came from, and that has not changed one bit being here. They have been good company for one another during their "unfortunate incarceration" in the guest room. I have seen them even wrestle several times with one another...never aggressively, obviously just playing. That is an oddity around here, you understand. We're not used to that kind of stuff!

Treelo is not happy about these new interlopers in her territory. But, with a liberal application of wet food and four bags of kitty treats, she is slowly adjusting. We can already see she is following them around, seemingly wondering, "WHAT are they up to NOW?!?" That was the way she was with Ziggy. And that is what helps keep her in shape, which is another reason we adopted da boyz.

They have both had recent FIV/FeLV tests which were negative, but we will be testing them again in 60 days, just to make sure. None of us wants a repeat of what happened to our poor Mr. Ziggy.

They both got a clean bill of health from the vet, other than Leo having conjunctivitis or "pink-eye." With the application of some eye ointment for five days and an antibiotic vaccination, he is recovering nicely thank-you-very-much!

They are both enjoying being out in the house most of the day, but we still return them to the guest room at night. We still don't trust Treelo yet. Maybe this weekend we'll let them stay loose one night and see how they get along.

What does Hubbard think of all this? He is typically grumpy, and there has been much paw-waving and hissing, when he thinks they are around. But, since he has trouble seeing, no blows have landed yet. He seems to be trying to tell these two whipper-snappers who's in charge...but not succeeding. Mostly, he just sleeps on the bed or in the window, trying to ignore them as much as possible.

Below is a collage of photos I put together for you guys. Enjoy and I will attempt to get more posts up soon!

-- Sundown, Out

New Kittehs Will Keep You Busy!

Boy, ever since the arrival of our two new fur-babies, we have been BUSY! I'm at work, so I'll give a quick update and get you more details and pictures tonight.

The two boys are doing well, although Leo had conjunctivitis in one eye we had to clear up. But even that is doing much better after the application of some eye ointment for a while. And no one else caught it, thank goodness.

The introductions are going about as well as we can expect given Treelo's known bad attitude towards interlopers in her space! The boys are spending days out and about in the house now, and only getting closed in their room at night. So far, so good. No bloodshed, yet.

Escape! Escape!

Well, there was a little excitement around here last night! Leo tried to introduce himself to Treelo a little earlier than planned!

I decided our two new kittehs had been cooped up long enough, so I hatched a plan to let them out so they could explore most of the upstairs area of the house. Given the configuration of the hallway I could block off the kitty gate at the top of the stairs and put Hubbard in the master bedroom and close the door. So, I set up a seven-foot tall "wall" of moving boxes to block off the hallway and figured that would be ok for their outing. Wrong-o, moose-breath!

It took Leo less than ten minutes to figure out how to circumvent the box blockade, and he then very quickly and quietly jumped over the 48-inch high gate without me seeing him. I was watching Rocky at the time, and the only thing that worked in my favor is I heard an ever-so-slight rattle from the gate as Leo cleared it. So, I hurriedly put Rocky back in the guest room, and went after Leo.

After getting downstairs, I could see neither Leo or Treelo. So, I started calling. I walked over and turned on the light in the living room, and here is Treelo under the coffee table, hunched down, ears back, and she starts growling. I followed her gaze and found Leo sitting in the dining room, next to the sliding glass door that goes out to our sunroom. Oh, joy.

So I quickly grabbed Leo and threw him over my shoulder. He immediately dug all his front claws into my skin and began hissing angrily. I then hot-footed it through the living room, avoiding stepping on Treelo, who is by now following me trying to get to Leo. I managed to make it up the stairs and through the gate with Leo clamped to my shoulder, hissing all the way.

As I opened the door to the guest room, Rocky makes a break for it. I threw Leo on the bed by the door and just managed to catch Rocky by the tail. After another short struggle, I had them both back in the guest room.

Then, it was time for damage control. Checked in on Hubbard...he's sleeping on the bed...good. Went downstairs and started looking for Treelo. After calling her a couple of times, she very cautiously looks around the corner of the couch in the family room, and on seeing me, comes trotting over wanting loves and reassurance. Ok, that could have been worse. So, I sit down with her on the couch for a while and pet her until she falls asleep. Then I head upstairs to see how the boys are fairing. They both are very happy to see me, and both want loves and skritches just like normal. Whew! Looks like I avoided a nasty "incident" this time.

So, I went downstairs and poured myself a double scotch. *grin*

I'm now working on a better way to block off the gate, so they can't get downstairs anymore until formal introductions are in order!

Moved in? Yes. Finished? No.

Wow, a week has gone by. I'm not sure where it went. Let's see...

I went back to work after two months off. Ok, to be fair, it only FELT like two months. It was, in reality, only five days. In going back to work, I had to start getting used to my new commute. The rental house was only seven minutes from where I worked, now I'm about thirty minutes away. I can hear you asking all the way from here...why did you move farther away?!? Well, where we were living was "too expensive." We could not afford any of the houses there, and still continue to get by on my salary. So, we had to move to a part of town that we could afford, and that meant a longer commute. But, as you know from things I have said, we got a bigger house out of the deal, and my wife has a somewhat shorter drive to school as well. So, I'll deal with the longer commute. In a weird way, the more time spent on the road gives me more time to decompress and "shift gears" from working-mode to husband-mode.

Speaking of school, my Everlasting SoulMate started back to school in earnest this week. She goes three days a week now, and is taking evening classes. I don't see her until after 9pm on school-nights. So, she's been spending her days working on unpacking and organizing the kitchen. She's about got it together, and we just finished painting the walls this weekend. It looks pretty good. When we get it mostly back together after our painting-party, I'll post some before and after shots.

I've been working on getting the technological side of the move taken care of. We got our satellite TV installed the day after we moved in, but I just got our Internet connection back on Wednesday. So, I have been busy getting the network, servers and our workstations back up and running. As you can see, I was successful, but not without a few interesting moments. I'll do a geek post in the near future about the network legerdemain I had to do.

The kittehs are pretty much settled in. Treelo generally hangs out close by when we're home, but I never know where I will find her when I come home. She has several spots she likes to sleep in. Hubbard is enjoying the upstairs. ESM posted a letter from Hubbard on her blog the other day, detailing his experiences in the new house. Definitely check it out here.

We have a new nickname for the house. You've all heard of "Happy Acres" I'm sure. Well, this is "Half-Vast Acres". Say it fast and without a pause on the hyphen, and you'll get the full meaning.

As we've been living here, we are slowly discovering all the crap that was done in a rather half-hearted fashion. Now, I'm certainly not the end-all and be-all of home renovation and maintenance, but I am pretty sure you should shim up and level kitchen cabinets as you put them in, and not try to fix anything that doesn't fit by filling the gaps with caulk, and certainly not use an interior door in an exterior door location. That's just a small sample of things we have found.

To be fair, this is not a huge slam on the gentleman who lived here before us. He was a pretty nice guy, but he had lived here a long time and was used to things being the way they were. A new set of eyes will generally see those things that have been ignored, and I'm going to try my best to fix most of them. They won't all get done tomorrow, certainly, but most will be fixed in time.

I just realized I had not posted any shots of the new house, so here's one of the front. And, now that all things tech are working again, I hope to post more often.

Later Days,

--Sundown , Out.

Still Not Done

Well, we're ALMOST out of the rental house! >:-P

After several major trips across town today, and packing both our cars to the rafters, only the tops of my earlobes are not hurting from all the packing and moving...and we're still not quite there. We brought the last load of the day over about two hours ago. I spent the rest of the time getting our fridge here clean so we could load in all the food we brought over. I also tried to get our washer and dryer hooked up, but the dryer hose I bought is too short by about two feet. Luckily, we both have enough clothes for tomorrow, so I can go rectify the dryer hose calamity on my way home tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, I have to go BACK to the rental house one last time to make sure the cleaning people did a good job, and to pick up the last few things we couldn't get today. I still need to bring over the lawnmower, Everlasting SoulMate's gardening tools and the propane tank for my BBQ. Once I do that, we should be all done and out. Finally. And if I EVER have to pack another moving box, it..will..be..too..soon!!!

The kittehs seem to have survived the day without incident, even without us being around much. Treelo seems much more calm today, although she is still a bit jumpy and gets startled easily. I'm sure she'll become more comfortable with each passing day. Tomorrow is a big day for her, as we plan to move her litter box, food and water out of my office upstairs and down into the main part of the house, and let Hubbard start to have the run of the second floor. We'll see how that works out. Also, I plan to move back into the master bedroom tomorrow night as well. I'm tired of sleeping apart from my ESM.

I'm sorry, I wish I had some pics to post, but we've been SO BUSY today that I did not get a chance to take any. Will get some up as soon as I have the energy to do so.

I'm off to peel my shoes from my feet (remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon anyone?), eat several Advil and hit the sack. Nighty-night.

One More Day...

Yesterday was our first "full day" in the new house. I was hoping it would begin to feel like home with all our stuff in it, even packed in boxes. But, not really. It still feels like I am somehow just passing through, before having to go back to the old house. It's hard to describe the feeling in words...it's somehow a mixture of sadness, trepidation and even a little lonliness. Almost like I'm homesick. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are also times when I am excited about getting to mold this house into what I want, and not what a landlord will let me do. But, the times I feel overwhelmed outnumber the excited ones by a large margin. I know that will begin to change at some point, I just hope it's soon!

The kittehs are adjusting to their new environment somewhat better than I am. Treelo let herself downstairs yesterday, a little ahead of schedule. She slipped past the gate as my Everlasting SoulMate was headed downstairs yesterday morning. Treelo seemed a bit overwhelmed as well by all the new space. She stayed very close to us, and was going back upstairs frequently to check that her stuff was still there. However, by evening, she was beginning to go off and explore on her own, and not cling to the area where my ESM and I were all the time. She really likes looking out the sliding glass door in the kitchen. It opens out onto a patio with a grape arbor over it, then out into the back yard. We had the door open yesterday, and just the screen closed, so she could sniff the air. She sat there for quite a while, watching the little white butterflies making their rounds amongst the flowers. It was fun to watch.

It does bring back memories of Ziggy though, for both of us. We have remarked to one another several times about something we've found in the new house that Ziggy would have liked. I think the space wouldn't feel quite so empty with him here. We both miss his calm and curious nature right now. I know it would help me ground my own displaced feelings a bit.

We are unpacking some more boxes this morning in anticipation of going to the old house, filling them up with the last stuff we left behind and getting out of the rental for good. I will be happy to finally be able to work here full-time, as it were, and be done with all the box-packing and car-loading. But, I know it will also be the last connection to the memories we made in that house. When we're done, all we'll have are those memories. And, unfortunately, the last few were not pleasant. I don't know how I will deal with those after the physical connection to the house is gone. No one does, I'm sure. But I know I will have to deal with them someday. I can safely say, with no reservation...I'm not looking forward to that day.

Wow...heavy. Didn't mean to bring the mood down, but my mood has been more down than up lately! I'll take some pictures today, and maybe I can get a few posted tonight of the kittehs amongst their new surroundings. That will cheer me up, and should bring some positive energy to my writing. Take care everyone.

Sorry for the Delay!

I just got my laptop back up and running, and got all your comments posted. Whew! They were starting to pile up!

We are officially "moved in" now, but we still have some things at the old house we need to go get this weekend to be officially out of the rental house. But for right now, everything is good.

The kittehs are here with us, finally. We have them sequestered upstairs for now, with Hubbard occupying the master suite and Treelo wandering around the other two bedrooms and my office. They are nervous and curious, simultaneously.

One of the closet doors in the guest room has a mirrored front on it, and Treelo discovered her reflection. She has not really been around mirrors much, so this other interloper was getting the "evil eye" earlier! *grin*

We'll keep them both up here for a few days, to get acclimated. Then Treelo will start to get the run of the house, as normal.

Well, it's time to order pizza and have dinner. We bought lunch for the movers (Mickey-D's), but that was seven hours ago and I'm hungry! So, I'll say TTFN and get a post up tomorrow sometime.

--Sundown, Out

Moving Day Approaches

Well, this is going to be a short post, since we've been working most of the weekend on packing our house and I'm ready to hit the hay.

We're getting pretty close to being ready for the movers on Friday. The house is looking more and more un-lived-in all the time. And the moving boxes are beginning to really pile up. Treelo has enjoyed trying to sit on top of all of them! *grin*

We got the final numbers on our loan and cash amount we need to bring to closing. All of them are lower than we were expecting, so that was good news. Wednesday at 11:30am MDT is the closing and posession. I guess I need to start practicing my penmanship to get my wrist and arm in shape to sign all the documents.

Ziggy is never far from our thoughts. Susan found a few new pictures today on our server that we forgot we had, which was kind of a nice surprise. It also made both of us cry again. We all still miss him terribly.

We have made arrangements for our vet to board Hubbard and Treelo for the day of moving. That should make things less stressful on us. And, to make the transition less stressful on them, we got our Feliway refills and some Rescue Remedy in the mail last Friday. We'll get all that going in the new house long before we bring them in. It certainly helped when we introduced Ziggy, so we figure it will work in this situation too.

I'm figuring to do a post after the closing, and another one after the move. I have my work laptop, which has a cellular modem in it, to use while we await the installation of our high-speed line. Gots to have teh Interwebs!