Settling in....

We've cleared through most of the boxes on our main living area....I'm still avoiding the basement and garage as much as possible because of the chaos that is still residing there....but it feels good to have a semi normal living space. We're working through it. Pat is / has been a major trooper working his butt off nearly every day tackling small and large projects. I feel so lucky to have him, yet so helpless while he's doing them.

We're also discovering the joys of living in a home that has a rather neglected yard. Not sure how long its been overgrowing (one year? two years? More??), but it has certainly attracted some attention of the pesky variety. We have a cute little bunny, or maybe more than one, that hangs out in the mornings in our backyard. He's kind of precious. There's actually quite a plethora of bunnies in the neighborhood. And they are all named Mr. Bun Bun.

There may or may not be some kind of chipmunk type thing living in the garage.....

Then there's the skunk. We discovered him a couple of days ago...and not by sight. Thankfully I couldn't smell much, but Pat was pretty sure he sprayed near the A/C which distributed the smell evenly throughout our abode. Yesterday I came home from Target to a husband sitting on the couch, swearing he was going to bring the American Flag inside, but decided against it when he saw a certain white striped critter scurry across our front porch path and beneath the bonzai bushes. Later he noted a nice hole under the concrete, and we've come to the conclusion that our stinky friend most likely resides there.

Last but not least, tonight a family of raccoons made their appearance in our backyard, shortly after we had come in for the night. It was a mama and two kiddos - so cute (until they claw your face off and give you rabies - as Pat noted). They traipsed from the overgrown bushes on the side of the garage, over to the tree in the middle of the yard, and then sashayed to the rear of the yard.... Not sure if they are visitors or permanent.

I've contacted a couple of pest control places (one of which is Smithereen - quite possibly the coolest named pest control business of all time) to get an inspection to see who else is living in our lot besides the O'Brien family, and what is the best way to take care of them. I told Pat I don't want to know about any killing of anything, because my little heart just can't handle that. I know that there are humane trapping type programs, but I'm not sure how effective or expensive that is. We shall see. I'd much rather think they'll be caught and removed from our place and find new homes in the forest.