In which I solve a problem and create a problem

Ooookay, SO... as I have mentioned, I have been experiencing some difficulty in keeping Kobi in the back yard. In fact, she was barely staying in the yard for more than a few minute before she was over the fence and trotting gleefully down the street. There are a few obvious problems with this: one, she could get hit by a car, which she nearly did last weekend. Two, she could get scooped up by someone a block over and adopted as their own and we'd never see her again. Three, my neighbors could firebomb my house.

Kobi is a perfectly friendly and sweet, non-aggressive little dog in almost any social setting. When visitors come, she might give a couple of warning barks, but then she warms right up. Out in the world, on a leash, she is friendly and approachable by even the grabbiest of small children. But off a leash, and loose in the neighborhood, she is a holy terror. For three mornings in a row, she burst out of the backyard and threw herself, hackles up, barking madly, at a mom walking with her two young boys and a baby stroller past our house. No amount of calling, clapping, shouting or pleading would get her to stop. I apologized and apologized, and the lady was very nice about it, but I know how I would feel if someone's annoying, yippy little dog had come running after me.

Then there's this: Sunday afternoon, Grayson and I were on our way out the door when Kobi jumped the fence and ran across the street to bark at the couple getting out of their car in front of their house. The woman is the mom of one of Grayson's friends. The man, I understand, is the friend's stepdad, and he's a real gem. He turned around and started cursing at Kobi and trying to kick her. "Get out of my damn yard, you!" Like he's somehow threatened by 16 pounds of barking Chihuahua. Grayson and I are standing right there, clearly attempting to call her away and get her to stop. This lovely gentleman didn't even acknowledge our presence, just kept trying to kick our dog. Nice. The world is so full of delightful people.

Actually, had his ill-omened boot made contact, I shudder to think what my reaction would have been. I don't think I would have been a model of self restraint or polite conflict-management. I think I would have gone over there and gob-smacked him.

ANYWAY... this charming person is just another very good reason to keep our dog in the yard. Ironically, on the occasion when he was attempting to kick her, we had been on our way out to the car to go buy an electric fence.

I installed the fence yesterday afternoon. I don't think it's too jerry-rigged. I was supposed to sink a copper grounding rod six feet into the ground. I bought four feet of steel rebar and managed to get about six inches of it driven into the hard soil around the back door. Best I could do. It also recommends that I set up some sort of lightning avoidance somethingorother... Um... no. I just set it up, ran the wire, and plugged it in. Then Grayson and I put the dogs out and went to the park. I didn't want to be around when they discovered the wire.

Well, the good news is that it worked just great for Kobi. We got home and Kobi was still in the yard. This morning I put the dogs out to pee and when I opened the door to let them in... Kobi was in the yard. The neighbor family with the baby stroller walked unmolested past our house.

The bad news is... well, of course the other dogs were sure to experience the wire, as well. I would have spared Flower if I could, but I'm afraid it was inevitable. I don't know when or how it happened, but it clearly made an impression. Poor Flower is now afraid to go in the back yard. I had to literally take her by the collar and herd her out the back door this morning, and she tried energetically to dodge past my legs and get back in the house. I'm sure it's because of the wire.

I feel terrible, but what can I do? Got to keep Kobi in the yard, so everybody suffers the consequences.

On a lighter note... I took Grayson to see "How to Train Your Dragon" on Saturday afternoon and it was AWESOME. Best. Movie. Ever. Made me laugh, cry, cling to my seat... it had everything. But mostly it had this fantastic dragon, Toothless. What a great character! And he never spoke a line. Perfect blend of real animal behavior and digital animation anthropomorphism. Loved it. Can't wait to see it again. I tried to post some pics, but Blogger is not cooperating with me on graphics today... so you should visit the site.

Monday's arrival

Monday landed with a thud. Groaned pitiably and crawled away.

That's my story about Monday. Seriously, if I can't shake these blues, I'm going to have to take drastic measures. What those might be, I have no idea.

It was good to get my boy back yesterday afternoon. We spent an hour or so having Sculpey battles. This entails rolling up a ball of Sculpey and then reshaping it each "turn" to have a different "attack" on your opponent. It taxes my powers of imagination, and frankly I find it a bit tedious, but Grayson really enjoys it, and I remember pretty vividly doing something similar with clay on the dining room table at my house when I was about his age.

Otherwise, all weekend I just lay around being lethargic, inert and semi-depressed. I spent two twenty-minute sessions sitting on the bathroom floor watching Mambo float in his bath. He's been lethargic lately, as well, and the web sites warned of lethargy brought on by dehydration if he didn't get regular baths... which he hasn't. So into the tub he went and he stood there looking at nothing and I sat there looking at him. What a wild pair.

Lately the lizard will eat only mealworms fed to him by hand. Okay, I realize I probably brought this on myself, but this is an animal that used to run to his dish every time I put in fresh worms and gobble up 15 or 20 at a time. Now he never seems to approach his dish of salad, whether or not there are mealworms in it, and only eats when I hand them to him, though when I do so he does seem to eat with relish. I dunno. This little 16-inch lizard is a constant source of worry and anxiety. I'm always afraid I'm doing something wrong that will result in his demise. He does seem a bit perkier since his baths over the weekend, at least.

Also, the spring weather seems to have returned, and my garden seems none the worse for having been buried in snow for two days. This morning flocks of starlings descended onto the seed I had scattered in the lawn. It's funny, they were nowhere to be found over the weekend when it was so snowy. Just sparrows and wrens and a couple of cardinals. I suppose that's a good thing, since the starlings would have just scared everyone else off. I was fun to watch them pig out this morning, though.

Tonight: the gym. Maybe some exercise will cheer me up.

First Day of Spring. Ha.

Okay, first day of spring. 32 degrees, snow and 40 mph wind gusts. My poor crocuses, that just put their heads up last week, are frozen solid, as is my poor garden. Well, radishes and lettuce are "cold weather" plants, anyway, right? Hopefully they'll weather the weather.

I just came in from tossing a few handfuls of sunflower seeds and millet around for the rather disgruntled-looking birds. Poor things, they're more in shock than I am. Looks like the rest of the day is probably a round of reading books, drinking coffee and staring out the window. Not that I had any involved plans otherwise, of course. Grayson is back at his dad's as of last night.

I'm in the doghouse a bit at work. The museum closed for weather today, which I find astonishing. The roads are clear and dry, and there is no precipitation whatsoever. But apparently at 8:30 this morning it didn't look so good, so the associate director made the call to close for the day. Unfortunately, my phone was turned off and I didn't get the message to let the media know, so there were several people inconvenienced by my unavailability, and ultimately my supervisor was obliged to call the tv stations herself and get the closing posted. My assistant was also unavailable (i.e. ASLEEP. It was 8:30 on a Saturday, after all), so the phones were ringing all over town. Sigh. I hate it when something like that happens and it looks like I'm not doing my job. (partly because... I wasn't) No doubt I'll hear about it on Monday and there will be a major discussion about the "break-down of communication." Wish I'd just turned my dern phone back on.

So I'm a bit out of sorts, myself today. No way to make it up to anyone. So I'm just stewing.

I can take comfort in the likelihood that this is the last time this season for the museum to close on account of weather. Surely this is the last freeze and the last snow and it's all spring spring spring from here on.

On Thursday it was sunny and warm and Grayson and I went to the zoo. So did everyone else in Central Oklahoma, unfortunately. I've never seen the place more packed. It was a nerve-wracking experience. There was a slow-moving, stroller-clogged line for everything. Grouchy moms and whiny kids waiting at every exhibit. But we dutifully made our way through the main areas and then headed home to sit in the sun. It was even warm enough to take Mambo out to catch some rays. We measured him, too. He is 16 inches long, nose to tail.

I have spent two afternoons this week with a glass of wine and a book in a lawn chair in the back yard, just soaking in the warmth and light. So I can't complain too much about this cold, cruddy weekend.

Yesterday Grayson and I headed to the park. We had no intention of taking Kobi with us, but she climbed the fence as we were driving away and was very nearly hit by a car in front of our house, so we gathered her up and brought her with us to keep her out of danger. I don't know how I'm going to keep her in the yard. Once she has figured out how to climb the fence, she can do it anytime she wants. I put some wire up over the corner where she initially began getting out, but she only started climbing over at a different spot. Looks like I may be investing in an electric wire. Cause, you know, I'm made of money.

Anyway, we ended up taking Kobi to the park with us, where she was a big hit with all the little kids. Everyone came over to pet her and talk to her. She did very well, considering the numbers of little people rushing toward her with their hands out. I was proud of her. I know these damn dogs are a huge pain in the ass sometimes, but I wouldn't trade them in for anything. They have been my true blue family, through thick and thin. And I count on that unconditional love greeting me at the door every evening and curling up behind my knees as I fall asleep every night.

Grayson had a nice afternoon. I sat on a bench with Kobi and a book and watched him play. For a while he played by himself, drifting around the playground, clearly engaged with some fantasy going on in his head. Then he took up with this little girl. She was only about 4 or 5. He brought her over and introduced her to me as J.C. Then she grabbed him by the hand and said "let's go play!" And off they went again. He seemed perfectly content to play with this little girl who was at least 4 years younger than him. It's tough for him sometimes because he doesn't like to play the type of rough and tumble games so many boys his age play. Earlier this week he went out to play with some boys in the neighborhood and he was back in 15 minutes. I think they just played too rough for him.

But after we got home from the park yesterday, a boy from across the street, Jacob, came over and they went to Jacob's house to play and were gone for a good hour. They probably would have played into the evening together except I had to gather Grayson up to take him to his dad. I was so glad that he has finally made friends in the neighborhood. As the weather warms up, he can spend his afternoons with other kids, not just holed up in the house watching TV or YouTube.

I hope he's out playing with friends in OKC today.