What lies beneath

So the Big Dog has been obsessed with something under the deck for like, weeks. She's constantly sniffing between the boards and trying to dig along the edges a little. Whenever I look out, she's on guard. I have narrowed down the possibilities based on the available evidence: a turtle - there's a particular box turtle that's been haunting our yard for a year or two, found it once in the garage, once in the garden, and many times in the yard. It has a little tear on the shell so it's the same one. Maybe it's made its home under the deck; a little salamander/newt/gecko thing - I looked out the window the other day and saw this little 3 inch thing making its way through the dogs' yard by the deck and crawl up under the stone steps. So, I think that's what we're talking about here. Luckily, Big Dog is on the job protecting us from such.

Last night I went into town for a going-away party - couple of friends are moving out to Portland. In fact, it's my friend R who A and I used to go out for coffee with etc. Anyway, we set her up with a mutual friend the very day of our winter excursion and now they're together and headed off to new digs. Very happy for her. Party was nice and mellow and I got home early enough last night which is good. I've been keeping weird hours so getting back on schedule is a good thing.

Finally, The Agent is being a curmudgeon. So you know we're moving next month, but in the current little suburban subdivision we live in, they're having this Neighborhood Watch/Night Out ice cream social thing. No big, I think it's nice for ppl to know their neighbors. This year, however, they planned for it to occur basically right in front of our house. We're at the end of the street so it's a logical choice and I guess at the last meeting, they thought we'd already be gone. Because they set up tents and shit, cops and firefighters stop by etc etc., it can be quite a gathering. And there are more houses/ppl than there were last year. I don't really care, it's no big to me. So when The Agent finds out that it's going to be in front of our house, she's gets all curmudgeonly about it and wants them to move it. So I had to promise her that we'd simply park the car somewhere accessible and we'd go out to dinner and movie that night. She gets all weirded out about too many people mingling in her social space. I'm the opposite. I say, bring em on, the more the merrier! (Things must be pretty boring in DC right now because she's called me all week and twice already today professing to miss me - I sense a hook up when she gets back ;)

That's a wrap. Oh, and here's what the Big Dog is doing now that I brought her in: