Housewife, 54

 At last, the search has ended. We -or rather I- had given up.  We even went to the local shelter to see if we could find a suitable companion for us and for Archie, but (fortunately), no dice. And then I got a message from a friend.  They were at the Afghan Hound Club of America National Specialty.  I had jokingly sent them a message the week before to have a good time - and "find me a dog", never imagining that it would happen.  You don't go to a dog show to get a dog.  No one there wants to place out their dog.... or so I thought.  They sent me a message that said "we found the perfect dog for you!" It has taken a month, lots of messages back and forth, a major transportation hurdle, but he is here! Meet CHINO Chino, age 'not yet 3 years'.  Just as promised, he is delightful.  Sweet, calm, friendly.... everything we wanted.  He gets along fine with Archie, even if they are not quite ready to cuddle up together. sharing the sofa and snuffling about in

 September has been a season of adjustments.  Adjusting to a new school year, and with that, the adjustment of managing grandchildren after school.  This year both of the 2 youngest kids have new "schools". Grandson #2 has moved to public school kindergarten, and that left Baby Girl the only one at the day care that was 5.5 miles from my house.... so my DiL was able to get her into their church's preschool/daycare program, which is located very close to the boy's school - both of which are geographically half-way between their home and ours.  PERFECT!  I can leave baby girl (who is no longer a baby, but almost 4) at her school until 6, but I don't.  Why make an extra trip? So I have all 3 for about 3 hours every afternoon. In addition to after school care, the boys have "activities" that necessitate either a large snack or supper before 5:30pm, so some weeks I feed them dinner 3 nights.  Not a big deal, but it does require planning.  Children do not like

 Summer has been.... summery.  We have had HOT dry weather in May and June, and then in July we started getting the occasional rain shower and some cooler weather ... mixed in with the hot and dry.  I was able to turn off the sprinklers and only set them to go manually on a few occasions... good thing as the water bill for June was double what we usually have to pay!  But while it did not flourish, the City water did keep the garden alive so when the rains came, it took off! I believe this was our first good rain, on July 4, of all days! Rain to celebrate the 4th Jim got to work on his garage project, starting with using all the insulation that he stockpiled two years ago! Hanging insulation. After the rain, it's starting to look like a garden, finally! In July, Archie had a bout of Pancreatitis, and while he had a rough time, he is recovered at last! This was a pretty sick doggie! But he took time off from rabbit chasing to recover... for a bit.  Then he was tempted to chase a bun