Laxie through the Looking Glass

[Claw75]

missed the post about Rocky first time round - sorry to hear that Dawn x

[Laxie]

The room clean started out well.  I'd made meself a cup of green tea.  No milk one sugar.  And had just surveyed the room.  Battle plan was laid out in my mind.  Surely it can't be THAT bad once I get started.  That's when Bridget landed in the door.  Helloooooooooooo Bridget!  Close swerve there!

She's a great friend really.  We know everything there is to know about the other.  Every deep dark secret as well as all the fun stuff.  We know when to give the other space and when we're badly needed.  We're both stubborn as all hell too when we get our minds stuck on something.  We've had some proper good arguments.  Serious fights, where horrible things are said.  The type when if people are watching us, they reckon 'Those two will never come back from this one.'  But we do.  Every time.  And usually within 24-48 hours max. 

We've not had a row in a goodly while.  Mainly because we've both had our fair share of other things going on and now's not the time for debates.  That said, she's not the most 'worldly' type.  Her innocence really makes me giggle sometimes. 

Today she said something along the lines of 'OMG!  I Would DIE!  I'd have to leave the country!  Go some place small nobody's ever heard of and live there forever.'

Didn't have the heart to point out that if nobody else has heard of said small country, chances are she'd be hard pressed to find it.  Especially since location of even well known countries is not one of her strong points.    

Really do adore her.  She puts a smile on my face even with the simplest of chats.

Now then.  Back to that room.  For real this time.  Honest.
 

[Laxie]

Got sidetracked yet again...as ya do.  Not to fear though.  The day wasn't a total waste.  I did a full on grooming job on the two dogs.  Washed and brushed the pair.  Wasn't part of the day's plan, but there ya go.    

Lily escaped earlier today.  She's good at that.  Luckily Cassie doesn't bother to follow her.  Cassie knows where her next meal is coming from if she stays put.  Not willing to take the risk if you ask me.  Lily is more worried about checking out her surroundings...beyond our yard.  She never goes far and always comes home.  However she always manages to roll in some mess or other while she's out.  

So when I went out back to let the pair in before officially tackling the girl's room (honest, that was my next job), I was only greeted by Cassie.  She was wagging her tail mad, jumping up to me and smiling like she wanted to tell me just how good she'd been.  No sign of Lily.  Sigh.  Checked her usual escape route and sure enough, she'd moved all the barriers.  And there's a fair few.  Took some serious effort on her part to be sure.  

Called her once or twice from the front yard and she sauntered over from whatever corner she was in.  She was covered in muck as usual.  Sigh.  Dragged her round to the back yard and started the routine.  She wasn't getting the bath tub this time!  Pail of warm soapy water and big car sponge, followed by leave in conditioner and brushing her down.  Lily hated every minute of it.  

While looking after Lily, Cassie kept barrelling into the mix worried she was being left out.  She ran straight over to me when I picked up the sponge and called her name.  Total opposite to Lily who runs for the hills.  I figured may as well.  Gave her a nice warm wash and brush down as well.  Unlike Lily, Cassie loved every minute of it.  

Now I had a dilemma.  They were clean, but they were also soaking wet.  Couldn't let the pair into the house but knew they'd be gutted if I left them out there on their own.  Sooooooo washed down the back yard, did some weeding and gave a general tidy round the place while we waited for them to dry off a bit.  Once it was nearly safe, spent the next half hour following them around the house with the mop.

All that messing about.  You'd swear I was trying to avoid something.  The girl's room will be done tomorrow.  Hopefully.



  

[Laxie]

PS  Lately Cassie has started shedding mad!  Would it be rude to use the hoover on her?  Lily never runs from the hoover.  Might test out the theory tomorrow.

Right after I do the girl's room.  Obv.

[EvilPie]

PS  Lately Cassie has started shedding mad!  Would it be rude to use the hoover on her?  Lily never runs from the hoover.  Might test out the theory tomorrow.

Right after I do the girl's room.  Obv.

Kong zoom groom all day long Dawn then hoover up afterwards.

Best dog brush available imo. Doesn't leave the coat looking as nice as some brushes but removes more dead hair than anything else.

[Laxie]

PS  Lately Cassie has started shedding mad!  Would it be rude to use the hoover on her?  Lily never runs from the hoover.  Might test out the theory tomorrow.

Right after I do the girl's room.  Obv.

Kong zoom groom all day long Dawn then hoover up afterwards.

Best dog brush available imo. Doesn't leave the coat looking as nice as some brushes but removes more dead hair than anything else.

Only had to read that about 3 times before I realised you were referring to an actual product. 

So that's a 'No' to hoovering the dogs then, yeah?   

Cheers Matt.  Will hunt down that gizmo and give it a go.  Looks to be the business.

[RED-DOG]

Try a rubber glove, or a hacksaw blade.

Note - Use hacksaw blade with side to side motion like a comb, not, repeat not backwards and forwards lengthwise.

[Geo the Sarge]

Ireland is a great country...if only you could roof it.

This line tickled me, some great writing Dawn.

Geo

[Laxie]

Sent a text to the kids yesterday requesting a Kong Zoom Groom brush and they've got it bought and packed for me.  Will have to keep them another while.  Good kids, so they are. 

They set off today around 5pm (our time) for their trip home.  The way the flights worked, we had no choice but to give them an 8 hour stop over in NYC.  At first you'd think, '3 kids stuck in JFK for 8 hours?!'  No fear though.  I've been on to their uncle who lives in Brooklyn.  He's collecting the kids when they land in NY and will take them back to his house.  They've a swimming pool in their back yard, so the kids have packed their suits in their carry on bags and they're good to go.  They'll have a great time hanging out with their New York cousins for the few hours and won't notice the time passing.  All going well they'll be wrecked after their day in the pool and they'll sleep on the flight home. 

I'm to collect them tomorrow morning.  From the airport we head straight to their Irish grandparent's for breakfast.  After that it's home time where they can finally throw down for themselves.  The house is in order...but not for long.  And I'm really ok with that.

[TheChipPrince]

Laxie, how did you come to move out to NY?

What was the reason for moving back to Ireland?

Would you ever move back?

[Laxie]

Last night I was sat chilling on me own, enjoying the peace when Bridget came barrelling in the door.  

"Venus!  It's in Italy innit?"

"Ummm, no pet.  Venus is a planet in space.  Why?"

"No it's not!  OK, maybe it's that too, but I know there's a Venus in Italy too.  Google it right now!  I know I'm right"

Sigh.  So I entertain her by googling it and that's when I realise what she MAY have meant.

"By any chance did you mean to say Venice?"

"Yeah, Venus...that's what I said"

"No pet.  Venus is a planet.  Venice is a place in Italy.  Totally different pronunciations which is why you had me confused."

"Oh right.  How do you say it again?  And how do you spell it?"

Welcome to my world.

[Claw75]

Men are from Mars........

[Laxie]

Laxie, how did you come to move out to NY?

What was the reason for moving back to Ireland?

Would you ever move back?

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar......well, not entirely true.  I was a bartender in a big Ft. Lauderdale night club.  Only worked the waitress shift on my nights off if they were stuck.  Pretty sure there's the makings of a song in there somewhere though.  

Had moved from Ohio down to Florida 'just because I could' once I turned 18.  While I was working down there I met a group of Lads who lived in New York.  I'd been to New York a good few times through high school, so knew the place well.  Hence we had great chats about many a common ground.  They were only in Florida for a couple of weeks, but invited me to come up to New York if I ever had a week-end off.  So I took them up on the offer.  Timothy was one of the group.  That was back in '89.  

Moved to New York right after my 19th birthday in Dec '89 and we were married in '91...the night before my 21st.  All happened pretty quick looking back on it now, but there ya go.

I had a couple of health issues while we were living in New York.  Cancer.  Twice in fact.  Got through it both times and still have regular checks to make sure I stay on the right side of it.  First round was right before I had Brian, and the second case was diagnosed while I was pregnant with Sinéad.  Meanwhile, Brian was diagnosed with a kidney disorder before he was a year old.  Scary times all around if truth be told, but we got through the lot.  

Only problem being the medical bills were abso trashing our life savings account.  Despite having the best insurance there is in America, we were losing everything we'd worked so hard to build up.  Timothy is Irish so we could move to Ireland and all be covered without killing ourselves paying high medical bills.  Hence the decision to move.  Granted, the move cost us another 10k so we were basically starting from scratch when we got here.

Am I glad I made the move?  Well, mostly yes.  Especially for the sake of the kids.  It's a much better life style for them in my opinion.  I think they've learned to appreciate things more by growing up here.  In America everyone is so consumer orientated and they take many things for granted.  My kids don't go without, but they're happy just having what they need too if it comes to it.  

For me personally?  Lots of things I love about Ireland and some things I find hard to stick at times.  I do miss certain friends and family in America, but we speak a lot so that helps.  I've made a couple of good friends here so really can't complain.  All in all, I'd never move back.  Mainly because this is my kid's home now and I wouldn't drag them away from it.  No matter what happens, they come first.  

[Laxie]

Phase one complete.  They're safely tucked away in Brooklyn until the late night flight home.  They'll get to hang out with their cousins for a bit in their pool, so I'm delighted about that. 

My Mom bought each of them ipods while they were in Ohio.  Sinéad's been keeping me updated via texts throughout their trip.  Turns out they can text for free from the ipods.  Been getting regular trip reports from Sinéad as a result.  She's well impressed.  lol  Really looking forward to having them home now.  Only 13 hours to go!

[Laxie]

Been missing ye gang......