The times, they are a changin'

We've had a big week.  Dave and I have been looking at houses for nine months now, and we finally found one that fit our criteria.  It's a nice split level house with 3 bedrooms, a newly redone kitchen and bathroom, and comfortable space.  Perhaps most important, it has a lovely big yard with a (only slightly trapazoidal) area for agility.  The location is excellent: the town over from where we've been living and where Dave works, great schools, a quiet residential street, and the house's property backs up to a nice little conservation area that's dog friendly.  We went to its open house on Sunday, knew pretty quickly that it was a good fit, and got right to work with next steps.

So...

Now we've gone back and forth and agreed on a price.  Friday we had the inspection, and it went pretty well.  Some things came up, but nothing especially serious and we're hopeful that we'll be able to negotiate them with the seller.  Crazy.  The closing date is the end of September.  It's all very exciting.

Right, so we're buying a house.

Also, I got a job.

I didn't think my second interview had gone that great, and I was bummed about it because I thought the job would be a great fit.  I hadn't heard from them in a few days, which I assumed was a bad sign, but then on our way home from agility class on Thursday I got a call and they offered me the job!  So, I start after Labor Day, which will be here before we know it.  I'm really happy about the job, as the search process is just a real time drain and bad for self-confidence.  I know I'll learn a lot in this position and I'm ready to be working.  Having paychecks when we have to pay mortgage payments will be nice too.  The only negative thing is that I'll have to leave the dogs during the day.  That's been the plan all along but we still have to figure out what our plan will be--dogwalker? daycare? Dave coming home at lunch?  dogs staying with my mom?  We haven't decided yet.

In other craziness, we have a college friend staying with us for a couple weeks while he's between apartments.  Jonah barks EVERY time he comes up the stairs or out of his room.  He's fine with Winston when we're all together, but it's a real hassle to have him barking so much.  I feel bad for Jonah since he's clearly upset, but at the same time I just wish he'd get over it.

This weekend we were at a frisbee tournament.  Nika came each day.  She learned how to jump out of her ex-pen, so she had to hang out in her crate while we were playing.  She was a little yappy at times but mostly settled and napped.  When we weren't playing she got to play with lots of kids and meet lots of other dogs.  She had lots of really great interactions with new dog friends, and was very playful.  The best thing of all was:  she actually met another English Shepherd!  So cool, and unusual.

So, sorry for the rambling, but that's a bit of the news from around here.  Never a dull moment :).