Potty Training Hell

We are currently in Potty Training Hell. Apparently, my worst fear is coming to fruition. I have this terrible concern that I will be unable to ever completely potty train my children. And Athena apparently believes it too.

But why do I even have this terrible paranoia? Oddly, it's my dog.

When I got Murphy, I asked the nice, pimply-faced pet store employee (yes, I bought her at a pet store, and yes, I feel guilty about that) how easy it was to housebreak a dog. I asked this because I had never had a dog and didn't have a clue about the best way to do it. He assured me, in no uncertain terms, that it was very easy. He explained crate training to me, I listened, and I obeyed.

Murphy, unfortunately, did not.

So I took her to a K-9 trainer in a sort of desperation. Murphy learned to sit, stay, lie down, and heel. She was brilliant! They recommended she enter advanced training for things like obstacle courses and frisbee catching. I said I'd enroll her as soon as she was housebroken.

What? Not housebroken? They seemed puzzled. So they offered something really special. They knew I was going to Europe for a couple of weeks that summer. So they offered to board her and housebreak her while I was gone. The cost was reasonable, and their work was guaranteed.

I went to Italy, Greece, and France, and dreamed of returning home to a really well-trained dog. And once again, Murphy crushed my dreams in her cute little paws.

I was told that despite their best efforts, they could not housebreak my dog. These were professionals. They train police dogs to sniff out drugs and take out bad guys. Yet my little princess would look them in the eyes and pee squarely in the middle of their kitchen floor.

They returned my dog to me, tore up my bill, and made me promise to never return.

I will say, this story does have more of a happy ending than you might think. When Murphy grew ill a few years ago, they began to medicate her for her liver issues. Suddenly, and without warning, Murphy ceased to have accidents in the house. She was 13. That's 91 in dog years.

Athena had three accidents at school today. She was doing beautifully last week. This week has simply fallen apart. I am at a loss. I don't have a K-9 school equivalent. And with my track record, it wouldn't matter if I did.

Let's just hope that it doesn't take medication and/or 87 more years for this to stick.

New Cat, New Season, New Round of Planning

You may have heard that we have a new cat. I'd love to post pictures, but honestly, we haven't taken any yet. And with my laptop still out of commission, I've been avoiding downloading any pictures (including our recent trip to the beach) because I'd really like to keep all photos together... blah blah blah.

Anyhoo, Hermione, our new cat, is a grey tabby with hints of orange in her. Athena has a little trouble remembering "Hermione" so she just calls her "the black cat." Of course, this is inaccurate as well, but I'll let YOU tell her that, k? The cat is about two years old and one of her previous owners had her declawed, which means she doesn't go outside, which means we are once again cleaning out a litter box. (Hector long ago determined that the great outdoors was a far better local for doing his business, which is really nice.)

Today is the first pre-season game for the Hurricanes. Hockey is back, and I'm pretty excited. Chris got his uber-boss' tickets (four tickets, center ice behind the penalty boxes) so the whole family can go. (We only buy two tickets for the season). Chris gave our tickets to someone else, who gave his to someone else... so eventually someone got totally free tickets, which would make me feel good except ALL the tickets were free today. The only advantage of being season ticket holders today was we didn't have to stand in line for ours.

Anyway, I'm going to try to sneak my camera in to capture all the fun. The game is at 3pm, which means we'll have to wake Marcus from his nap in order to get there in time, but hopefully he won't be too out of sorts. We're going to try to put him down a little early.

Finally, I've begun planning for the next two trips to Disney. I know I seem obsessed, but this is really sort of background stuff that can pass through my head at any moment. I don't spend a lot of time strictly planning Disney trips, really. I swear.

The only reason I'm planning two trips is the next one is in November, when Chris and I are using our final free ticket to take a little 8th wedding anniversary trip. We're only there for three days, and most of our plans involve EPCOT and MGM Studios, since those have a lot of attractions the kids aren't at all interested in. We're also going to try to hit a water park if the weather allows.

The second trip is the one in October 2008. It looks like Aiden and his family are going to stay with us this time. We are also being joined by another family we've never traveled with, although they will not be staying with us (THAT would be crowded) but may stay in the same resort. Regardless, it's always an adventure, traveling with people you have never traveled with before. I'm not too worried though. My biggest concern is planning something that Aiden's family (who hasn't been to Disney recently, and never with the kids) will enjoy without wearing them out. The third family (the one not staying with us) has been to Disney as often as me, so no worries there.

And just so no one worries that we never go anywhere but Disney World, I'm planning a couple of other trips too... pending our financial well-being. Stay tuned...