Friday, November 1, 2013

September and October update

Happy Halloween, y'all!
*the pumpkin's original artwork is a sketch by the talented funaek, slightly edited, redrawn and painted by me*

My, it's been a long time since I've posted! We've been so busy lately, the main thing being WE MOVED! And you guys, I totally don't recommend this moving thing at ALL. It sucked. However, it looks like we'll be at our current apartment for about 16 months, then we'll move again. I'm already dreading it but! we love our new place!
We're no longer in a small studio apartment. We have things like DOORS and our own furniture! It's kind of amazing. (Live in only your living room for 3 years, 1 1/2 years with a guy and 2 dogs and you'll understand my amazement) Which brings me to my next point: y'all, I feel like an adult now. I've slept on a mattress on the floor for 3 years. My dad bought Mike and me an actual bed with nightstands, I sanded down an refinished a 40-50 year old dresser, and we have the world's biggest couch along with the world's coolest coffee table. (The thing is made of driftwood). We accomplished all of this in the month of September and moved on October 3. I spent the rest of October cleaning the old apartment (there were things in there that needed to be removed that weren't my property), working, and unpacking.
I really do think Ares and Luna love the new space although the new bed is so high that Luna can't get on the bed by herself anymore. She pops her head up and stares at me until I pick her up. She has me trained - she doesn't even bother going to Mike's side if I'm in bed. She also knows if she wants to bring a toy up there with her, all she has to do is hold it while she's staring at me then drop it, I'll pick it up and put it on the bed before putting her on the bed. I'm wrapped around that curly little tail of hers but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Ares was very apprehensive during the packing and unpacking process. I think it was just a lot of confusion and mess for him and he had a hard time figuring out where he belonged/what was going on. He got a lot of cuddles from Mike, Luna, and me.
The actual moving day, since we only moved about 30 minutes from our old apartment, we chose to put them in daycare all day. They were there for about 11 hours and completely approved of that decision. Unfortunately, we are now far enough away that the daycare they went to (which is also where they go to get their nails trimmed) and their dog park isn't really a logical option for regular visits. I've already found an awesome new place for them to go to get their nails trimmed and teeth brushed for less than $20/month and I'm working on the dog park dilemma. I know of one pretty close by which they've been to in the past but it's always empty. We tried a new one on Wednesday which I really liked but I've heard conflicting reports on how easy it is to pay to get in (it's in a neighboring city and while their signs and website say they just have to have a city tag for where they live, I've heard from people that they have to have a tag for the city where the park is located but somehow it's possible to get one? I really have no clue but I suspect that it's going to be a major headache). The other dog parks in our city aren't really anywhere near us so there's that. It's upsetting to me only because, as much as I love where I live, it was my second choice. It was Mike's first choice and he absolutely HATED my first choice so I gave in. The best thing about my first choice was that the complex had its own little dog park. The complex we're in now doesn't have anywhere where the dogs can be off leash so while there's more room inside for everyone to move around, they don't get the exercise they need outside. And I have to pick up poop. I haaaate picking up poop.

But that's why I've been MIA. I hope to have my October BarkBox review up in the next few days. We got it nice and early in October but I didn't give them anything from it for a few days and didn't take any pictures until a few days after that! We got September's BarkBox but with moving and all of that, I didn't even bother trying to do anything with that aside from giving them their treats and toy.

And as for Pawalla: In case you missed it on my instagram, Pawalla went out of business at the end of August (hence my lack of Pawalla review since July). They did a very classy thing and decided that everyone who still had a subscription left wouldn't get their money back but instead would get all of their boxes at once. I got 6 boxes in less than 2 weeks. It was leftover inventory from past boxes I had received. There were only 2 or 3 new items and one of the new items was a spray shampoo that leaked all over the box. Like, the post office gave it to me and it was wet and smelling like blueberries. That was fun. Anyway, I'm really sorry for anyone who purchased from Pawalla based off of my reviews and ran across the same problem that I did. I'm still completely bummed about their stunt and will never endorse nor purchase from them again (if they ever get up and running again).
As for our BarkBox subscription, it is getting renewed in 2 days and I can't wait to continue getting more boxes. I did make a slight change on it and I'm going to try getting the small boxes for the next few months instead of the medium boxes to see if I like one size better than the other (I've been mostly happy with the medium treats and toys but sometimes, they get toys which are completely out of Ares' and Luna's size range).
Stick with me, y'all and I'll be posting regularly again soon!