What Is Happening?

Saturday - May 14, 2011

What a very strange day! My partner was very sick this morning, and it took all my skills to work on her to make her feel better. Then she started pushing the buttons on this silver machine, saying she was looking for more new dens that we could live in that were close to our Mom. There were so many to choose from - but they were either too expensive or were trash.

Then she got all excited and happy again. She was jumping up and down. She had found something called an "apartment house". It was in a city called Antelope. She called the humans that control that den and made a date for us to see one on Wednesday. They said this den would go fast. So my partner called Mom and asked her to give up watching golf and go with us to see this den. Mom agreed. So we drove down and picked up Mom then went to the den called The Arbors.

We met a nice lady called Ashley. She showed us some places that we could use for free if we get this den. There is a swimming pool, but I'm not allowed in it. There is something called a gym with lots of strange machines including a "treadmill" that my partner threatened to put me on. There are 4 parks there, including one just for dogs! Other things that I've never heard of are a Clubhouse, Business Center, Theater, Hot Tub, Basketball Court, lots of open green areas and it's next to a huge City Park & Rec Center. There is guard shack at the gated entrance and security guard is on duty all the time. If you want to read about this denning area you can push this button to read about it.The den we applied for is called the Sycamore and it's located at 7848 Teton Way if you want to Google it.

Living room, with part of dining room to the left.

Ms Ashley said there was a "model home" of the Sycamore that we could look at, so we walked over there with her. This den was already filled with furniture and looked very nice; as though it was lived in - with clothes in the closets and shoes on the floor! The first thing my partner noticed was that there are NO carpets! There's the traditional linoleum in the 2 full bathrooms and kitchen, but the rest of the den is all beautiful hardwood floors. This den has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. It has a fireplace, a tiny fenced in patio, a small fenced back yard, a really big green area on one side of the den, so only 1 neighbor on the other side! The ceilings are really high up, the living room windows go from floor to ceiling, there are walk-in closets, and oh-so-many other neat things! 

Ms Ashley couldn't remember if there was a washer and dryer already in the den. If there is not, they would take $35 a month off my rent. She also doesn't know how many or the location of any ceiling fans. But she said it costs $200 per room to have them installed. All the exterior areas are maintained by them; we just have to handle the little back yard.

If we get chosen to have this den, it is available on May 21st, and Ms Ashley will hold it for us to move in on June 1st. Mom liked it and was willing to sign the application papers as our co-signers. That is so very generous of her. She says it is close enough to her. It is making my partner very nervous though because it is surrounded by "city" stuff that she isn't used to dealing with - so much traffic, and people and businesses.

My partner was very sick when we were in the office with Ms Ashley. She had her back to the door, which she hates very much. There was a birthday party in the Clubhouse which had spilled out into the foyer. A lot of children saw me and were calling to me. Several of them kept coming into the office because they wanted to pet me. My partner was hyper-vigilant, trying to understand Ms Ashley and trying to watch her back. I kept warning her, but she wouldn't leave. Finally we got to leave that office and go look at the den.

My partner turned very happy when she looked at the den! It was very open and airy. She really liked the wood floors, but I didn't - I think I will be slipping on them with the feathers I have on the bottom of my paws. She better keep them trimmed, that's all I have to say. It had things in the kitchen that made my partner laugh out loud cause she would never use them - garbage disposal, built in cutting board, dish washer, big oven - but she will use the big built in microwave. 

Then we returned to the office. My partner and Mom filled out a bunch of papers. My partner started to get really, really sick. There was still a bunch of children around that kept coming in. And she was having trouble understanding the papers. She did remember to bring papers from the last den. That had made Mom mad, but they came in handy today - she could copy the information into the application instead of taking it home and then having to drive back to deliver it. I kept telling her that she had to leave, but she just told me to lie down. I kept insisting. She refused. So I went to Mom and put my paw on her and whined. Mom petted and talked to me, which she never does when I have my vest on, but she didn't understand that I wanted her to make my partner leave. I tried so hard - I told her over and over, and I pulled hard on the leash, but she just wouldn't budge. Finally after making scribbles on a bunch of papers, my partner and Mom finally stood up and let me lead them out of there.

Floor to ceiling windows - leading to back yard.

I was so happy to get my partner out of there. I led her to the car as quickly as I could. She sat in the back seat with me for a while, which made Mom mad. Mom wanted to leave right away and didn't want to wait for my partner to just "cuddle" with me - she thought we were wasting time. So my partner cut our time together short and prepared to drive off. I kept sticking my head up by her shoulder where she could reach me and stroke my head and I know that helped. We had left our den at 11am and didn't get back till 6pm. It was a very long day for both of us. We shall see what happens with this potential den and will keep on keeping on. 

Kalifornia Kota