Poor Scott

Feb. 7 - 16, 2014 (10 days)

David Crockett State Park - Lawrenceburg, TN

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CONTENTS
RV LIFE
HOUSE HUNTING
PETS
BROWSING THE WWW
BOOKS
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RV LIFE:

I am still amazed how location can have such an effect on me. It was 23° this morning. So what? BUT, if I were in the Southwest, I'd be miserable, even if it was a perfect 68°. 

This is beautiful to me.

And this is beautiful to me.

Since it's soooooo cold, I mainly stay inside. So why does it matter if I'm in Texas or in Tennessee? It does matter, that's all I know. I'm happy...and that's a very good thing!

We have had the campground to ourselves pretty much. Today, there are actually two other campers. Since there is no sewer hook up, we are all (all 3 of us) camped near the bath house. I went to take a shower the other day when the campground was empty except for us. When I walked into the Ladies' room, I heard the shower going. Huh? I walked outside to see if maybe it was a ranger cleaning. I saw a white car. Some park employees have a white car with a green State park emblem on the side. Yep, white car. Nope, no State park emblem. Ewwwww. Creeped me out. Who is this person in the shower. Now I'm going to be naked with this stranger? If the park was full, I wouldn't give it a second thought. I'm outta here. I'll take a shower in the RV. So Scott went over to the men's room. Yep, sure enough, someone is in a shower there also. Scott being the "manly-man" that he is, embraced his nakedness and did what his wife could not. He took a shower with a stranger (separate stall of course), who shouldn't be there since the campground is only occupied by us. This stranger ended up taking two full rolls of toilet paper, leaving two stalls without cleansing materials. Ya know, you may be on hard times and I understand using the showers. I even understand taking ONE roll of toilet paper but taking two is pushing it. 

Luckily, Scott returned without post traumatic stress syndrome.

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HOUSE HUNTING:

We were able to view the house we've been drooling over for 2 months. We will most likely put in a bid. But, we will most likely NOT get the house. The back up bid is very strong with a cash buyer.

Scott is absolutely in love with the house and property. I am ok with it. I'm sure I'd grow to love it. I think I am just getting cold feet. I like the finiteness of having all our "stuff" in the limited space of an RV. I don't want a 2 story house because I get overwhelmed with that separate space. I want everything "within reach" on one floor.

"Our" lake house has a nice open kitchen/living room floor plan. The laundry is on the same floor...NICE! There is a finished basement which I don't think about too much. It overwhelms me. I LIKE the basement because it would be a great place to have foster dogs that need separating and also for storage. There is a 2 car garage. The present owner has a lot of stuff in there. Not hoarding, but still makes me so aware of how easy it is to accumulate stuff because you have the room. Then there is a metal barn with more stuff! Yep, overwhelmed. I think I'll let Scott be the driving force in our house buying. I'm just looking for privacy, large yard for dogs, and open kitchen/living room. 

I feel VERY BAD for poor Scott. He will have to deal with my roller coaster emotions through all this. The first time I bought a house while single, I was a total witch to anyone who crossed my path. I burst into tears and a near panic attack, when I signed the mortgage agreement and saw how much money I would be dishing out over the 30 year loan.

I was bawling during our wedding ceremony. The mayor/officiant actually stopped the ceremony to ask if I was ok! The pressure of the marriage commitment was overwhelming. I did make it through my vows, but Scott did have serious and valid worries that I was going to back out.

When Scott proposed to me, I laughed and walked around the house for a good 10 minutes before giving him an answer. Scott is not a confident guy and this was probably the worst 10 minutes of his life. I was just scared and it took me a while to calm down and say yes.

So here we go again. Who knows how I will act and react during our house search and purchase.

Yep, I feel sorry for Scott.

We are planning on looking at one more house we are interested in. Then we'll decide which house to bid on. If neither work out, we'll just put our house hunting on hold until the Fall of this year. I would like to be in a house next Winter.

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PETS:

No word from Dina/Emma's adopter. I'll give her two weeks with Dina/E and then ask for an update. In my heart, I hope it doesn't work out. I really miss her.

I want to go out!

I decided to let Devin have some off leash time. But, I had to prepare. Devin does not have very good recall at all. I truly feel he is so stimulated by all the smells, critters, etc. that he does not even hear when I call. So knowing this, I had to prepare ahead of time.

Emotionally: I had to make sure I was in  "good place" in my mood. Calm, relaxed, happy. So when Devin didn't listen/obey me, I could be patient. Also when Devin went out of site, I wouldn't panic.

Environment: Not too cold in case he runs off and I have to go searching for him. With the woods here covered in snow, I figured his red fur against the white background would be seen somewhat easily. 

Equipment: I left his leash attached to his harness, not his collar. Devin sometimes comes close but not close enough to grab him, but I can step on his leash to catch him. I figured it he got caught on something with his leash, it wouldn't strangle him since it's on his harness. Also, if he's stuck, he'd bark for me to help. I also brought a whistle. But why bother, he doesn't listen to that either. I put a miniature cow bell on his collar. We used to use these for our current deaf English Setter Lyla. We were so afraid of her getting loose and she couldn't hear us, that she alway wore a loud bell. It was quite annoying at first, but we learned to ignore it. Just like Devin ignores our calls. I brought yummy cookies, because if he can hear me say cookie, he usually returns for that treat. And finally, I brought my cell phone, in case I need Scott's help, I can call him.

Well Devin had a blast!!!!! And I had a blast watching him have a blast. It is a truly beautiful sight to see a hunting dog running free. Unfortunately he did what I expected, but inwardly hoped he wouldn't do. He ran and ran and out of sight.                

 Still out of sight. 

Ah ha! There he is "cooooookieeeeeeee"? Wow, he came back, I made him sit, petted his head and then gave him a cookie. Is there hope for this wild child? I let him run off again. He returned for a cookie. Wow, not too bad. His recall isn't immediate and he goes out of sight for longer than I'd like, but there's hope. Again, I let him run off (3rd times a charm, right?) Why does he have to run so far out? Our previous off leash dogs would either stick close (Retriever) or run out and do a pass by back and run out and back (Irish Setter). But Devin just runs out with neither sight nor sound of where he could be. The cow bell worked a little, but it was too close to his collar and fur and was muffled. So I blow the whistle...

                    nothing.....

                                        

                                      I yell "cooooookieeeeeeee"?

                                                                                            nothing.....

                                                                 Still out of sight. 

Uh, oh, don't panic. Keep calm. He may be a wild child, but he is smart. His sense of smell is great. He'll find his way back. If he's stuck, I KNOW he'll bark for help. He'll be back. Damned dog! I head towards the RV to drop off Lyla so I can concentrate on searching for Devin. Hopefully, Scott won't realize what's going on. Like I said before, Scott is much more protective and worrisome with the dogs. I open the door to let Lyla in and I see Scott is getting ready to come out and help. I tell Scott I'm not worried (well, not too worried) and he'll probably come back to the RV. Just as I say that, look who shows up with a "smile" on his face, panting, wet and dried leaves stuck all in his fur. Yep, the prodigal son returned. Me worried? Nah! Good boy, Devin!

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BROWSING THE WWW:

I am a member of Goodreads, a site to list the books you've read, rate and write opinions. Also find out what others (friends) are reading, possible suggestions for a book to read in the future. I found out a "friend" just finished reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, and rated it 4 out of 5 stars. Being an introvert myself, I will probably also read this book. 

From reading the reviews, I was led to a personality typing website. I've already learned something about myself. I usually describe myself as shy, but yet when I NEED to, I can speak with people and socialize, etc. So already, I've learned that I am an introverted person, but not so much a shy person.

According to this personality test (not like a Ladies' magazine self test), I have an ISTJ personality.

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BOOKS: (not a review yet)

I am currently reading Descending Son on my Kindle paperwhite. As I got a third into this book, there was quite a twist I didn't see coming. I thought hubby would enjoy this book and was going to recommend it to him. Then Scott started telling me about a book he's currently reading and how it started. I immediately knew! Hey! I'm reading the same book and thought you'd like it. Very cool. It's fun to read the same book at the same time. Just one of the many benefits of reading on a Kindle.

I was well ahead of him and was anxiously waiting for him to catch up to where the twist started. Sure enough, he's caught up and will probably finish the book way before me.  Scott doesn't sleep very well, so he was up until 3:30 am reading. I was "only" up to 1 a.m. knitting. Some proficient knitters can knit and read at the same time. I am NOT one of them. I'll just stick with audio books while knitting.

Scott said, you'll soon find out about so n' so's past relationship. It's fun, the tag teaming while reading the same book.