Happy Thanksgiving Weekend, or Black Friday, or just Happy Weekend!

I had such big, brave plans for major blogging about my move, but as it turns out I've been too busy living it to sit my ass down and document it. Busy, busy.

It's going very, very well. I am nearly entirely unpacked and mostly settled in (we shall not speak of the spare bedroom, which is still mostly in chaos). I have identified specific things I need here, in addition to the sorely lacking end tables, and am in the process of acquiring a coat rack (unheard of in Florida!) and a clock for the living room, and a couple of small whatevers that are lacking still. Otherwise, I'm here.

Thanksgiving was fun. I went with Boy and FDiL and of course Supergirl, to dinner at FDiL's aunt and uncle's house. A huge crowd of at least a couple dozen people, two turkeys and a ham and endless side dishes passed around a long table created of folding tables and chairs. Nice people, fun, energetic, great food - a very pleasant way to celebrate the day.

Supergirl was once again the belle of the ball in her ruffled polka-dotted skirt and ruffled cardigan and faux-Ugg baby boots. She's becoming so nicely self-confident and outgoing, she was playing in a nearby room under the supervision of a couple of younger female guests, while her parents could sit and chat in the living room.

The dogs (I am under no illusions, I know they are the stars of the blog) are adjusting nicely. I went out last night and stayed out for several hours and came home to calmly glad to see me dogs. Their initial Nervous Breakdown, OMG WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE??? WHERE IS OUR STUFF?? WHAT ARE ALL THESE BOXES?? WE ARE SMALL AND HAVE NO THUMBS! WE CAN'T UNPACK OUR STUFF!! ARE WE BEING ABANDONED HERE??? phase of the move appears to have ended. They have accepted this as home, and no longer panic if I go out for a few hours.

Sophie really enjoyed Thanksgiving - she watched the entire parade:



Followed by the National Dog Show:



So she was quite ready to relax while Mommy went out to dinner.

But unfortunately, I've concluded that lymphangiectasia definitely has a stress trigger - Murphy has been suffering Upsettedness for the last week. I've been very careful to keep his diet exactly the same, down to the same brand of boneless, skinless chicken breast boiled and mixed with his dry food. The excitement of it all has tipped his little system out of balance, but it's coming back.

I'm thanking whatever inner voice told me to get refills on his scripts while he was boarding at the vet the weekend of the wedding. I had the meds on hand and Dr. Mom knows the drill. He's back on Pred and antibiotic and seems to be stabilizing. He's bright-eyed and perky and fully of Murphy-ness, but so thin, so fast, oh damn. He's always thin now - any weight gain seems to melt off again in weeks, but this is extra thin. Right now he's a twig. A twig that is feeling the cold. My little "put a sweater on him and he'll run the Iditarod," guy actually shivered in the wind this afternoon, and I had to pick him up and cuddle him a bit. He needs extra bundling up.

Tonight we are getting down into the mid-20s - a temp Murphy has experienced a few times in his life, but rarely since his illness. Sophie, not at all. They are equipped with flannel-lined winter coats, and also Kureyon sweaters - in the last two weeks I turned out two small dog sweaters (necessity is the mother of buckling down and knitting). I'm thinking tomorrow morning's first walk of the wee hours may be a sweater plus coat morning.

I caved and visited Yarn Paradise on Wednesday. I felt I deserved a visit - I hadn't been in there since...last winter? Or before that? I can't remember. Anyway, I got to touch and admire and fall in love with a scarf. I bought the pattern (oh, so easy, I kicked myself for not thinking of it myself!) and some Koigu, and I have random Koigu in the stash that is screaming to become scarves as gifties. I'm working on one in blues with hints of purples and reds and golds, and can see a brighter green with deep blues in my future. It's an easy pattern, skill-wise, but does need concentration, at least for me, because my hands just want to make those slipped stitches into ribbing when I let my concentration lapse. Anyway, I love it - it's my kind of knitting and has great stash-eating potential!

So that's the update from the Relocated Bossy Doghouse. I'll try to do better going forward.