And I fully intend to work outside the house. Even when I get my own business started, I’m going to have an office away from the house. Working at home is awesome and all but it is exceedingly easy to get distracted. Plus I’ve heard many people who work way too much at home because they do not set “office hours”. With a real office there is none of that. I work from when I get there to when I leave and if I need to do some extra time, I stay late or go in early. Not to mention, I’ll be meeting with clients face-to-face and it’s nice to have a guaranteed space to do so in peace and quiet (as opposed to meeting out at a coffee bar or something).

Anyhow… This morning started with getting up at 7a.m. to let out and feed all the animals. Spent an hour checking some things online and then crawled back into bed to lie there for an hour till it was time to go for our walk. We took the dogs with us which… I’m not doing again for a long time. We got these “no-pull” harnesses at Petco the other day and yeah right, no-pull my ass. I knew we should have gotten the head halter ones, which yank their head back when they pull, causing them to slow down. The harnesses tighten around the ribs when they pull and that does not stop them, at all. They just pant and pull harder than before. By the time we got to the turn-around point they were drolling foamy nastiness… AND STILL FREAKING PULLING MY ARM OFF!!

So the solution is: I will walk all three dogs individually at dusk when it’s cooled off. This will keep them from spazing out and allow me to train them when to stop, sit, etc. No offense to my husband but he’s never actually trained a dog. I had a lot of good advice when my family hired a trainer for Kayla (our rottweiler) and I’ve retained it. Ashamed to say I haven’t implemented it on my dogs to the full extent. Ada and Ash are pretty good with sit, out, cage, upstairs, downstairs and Ada understands lay but neither get stay (Ada used to but doesn’t listen to it anymore). However, the puppy – Lani understands… sit, stay, down, couch, out, cage, room, bed, lay, and kangaroo (among many others). “Kangaroo?” you ask. Heh, yes, kangaroo. Kangaroo means to stand on her hind legs and then sit on them, so she looks like a kangaroo! She also knows what treat means and she goes f’ing a-wall when you say it.

But Lani understands all these commands because she’s actually been trained. Nathan (my big brother) did some before he brought her to me and then I continued it. I can add on to her command list very easily because she’s really very smart (despite acting like a retard sometimes). She learned how to play fetch in all of 10 minutes and now understands “get it” and “drop it” from playing. I did some training when Ada and Ash were puppies (this is why they know how to sit) but I didn’t do it enough to make it really stick, or for them to understand – oh mommy wants my attention. In combination with that they’ve learned some not so cool tricks from my husband, like jumping up and putting their paws on his shoulders – which they still try to do to me every now and then.

But this will all change in time. It may take a while but they’ll get it eventually. Let’s just hope it all sticks this time!

So back to what I’ve done today… After the walk, Joshua and I did our stay/yoga ball routine (30min dvd) and messed around till he went to work (he was making food n I was gaming mostly). After he was off I washed all three dogs, took a short break to catch my breath, and then vacuumed the house, cleaned the cat boxes, and gathered up the dishes & trash. I’m about to go do the dishes, which are (as ever) endless, after which I will shower and then fold & put away the laundry.

And my day doesn’t end there! Tonight at 7pm there is a meetup for the Hampton Roads Web Developer’s Brigade. I’ll be biking down to the mall around 6pm to meet with them. (I need 30 minutes between arriving and the meeting to cool down and change. Nobody wants to meet me when I’m all sweaty & gross heh) I’ve been looking forward to this meetup for a while so I’m glad a lot of people RSVP’d in the last few days and that it will be a good sized group. I’m hoping to make some lasting connections and network my ass off. Wish me luck!

Craziest thing is… I went to bed well past midnight. It was probably closing in on 130 or 2 o’clock by the time I actually fell asleep. And here I am… been awake since 6:30! Completely wonky and I’m still sore as hell. But nowhere near as sore as I’m about to be…

Why? Because I’m about to go wrestle with two Great Danes. Two dogs who stink to all high heaven and back. I’m probably going to have to wash them for at least 10 to 15 minutes each. Which by the end of that I will be soaked and my back will be killing me due to having to bend down a lot. BUT! One huge upside is that I have a kitchen door now, HAHAHA!! Trapped! My dogs used to run in and not want to go in the bathroom, now they have no choice. They’ll come in from outside and be stuck in the kitchen – which leads to the bathroom. No more chasing Ada all over the house and having her pee on the floor thinking she’s in trouble (yeah, I’ve never been able to break her of that and I never will it seems. She does it at the oddest times too, meh).

What’s funny is once she gets IN the tub she’s perfect. She puts her nose in the corner of the shower and stands there till I tell her to do otherwise. Whereas Ash wants to eat the soap and drink the dirty water…. Yeah he’s my husband’s dog. (No I’m not insinuating that my husband is retarded, not me… *innocent*)

After the bath I’m sending them upstairs to lay on the nice, clean, flea free carpet so that I can work downstairs. I have to vacuum and steam clean all the carpet downstairs, including the staircase if I can manage it (going to be tricky cause the floor cleaner is kinda big to sit on a stair while I use the attachment).

And the kicker? That’s just TODAY… Tomorrow I have to vacuum and steam clean the bedroom, straighten it up, wash the bedding, clean the bathrooms, and clean the kitchen. And this is why I informed my husband that he owes me a back massage when he gets home Friday afternoon/evening. A very long back massage at that. And if he doesn’t, he’s sleeping on the couch for a week.

In addition to cleaning the floors I wiped down the fans and walls/floorboards, and cleaned the inside and outside of the windows. Luckily my lovely windows are able to come inwards so I can clean them very easily. I don’t even need a ladder! I just pull down the bottom pane then the top and they lay on top of one another. It’s amazing how much of a different clean windows makes in a room lol.

Tonight is Joshua’s office. He’s thankfully taken apart the Bowflex for me so it’s out of my way, but I still have to take apart all the computer stuff and the desk, move it all into the spare room (soon to be my new office), and then start cleaning! Gotta clean the walls ‘n’ floorboards ‘n’ windows (and the fan) and then get to work on the floor. Shouldn’t take as long as the living room took last night considering his office is much smaller than the other room. I may even get to my office tonight.. hmmm….

I’m not looking forward to tomorrow’s homework though…