Natalie and Willy

There's been much talk around the Dixon abode lately of adding a dog to the mix. Not sure, think Natalie would enjoy one?


Natalie and Willy Woo

Likely we'll get a Shih Tzu, Dean grew up with them and loves them. And since he puts up with the lovely felineness of Ezzy, I guess it's only fair that he select the next pet. My only question is, how do you have a dog w/out a backyard fence? We don't have one, which has been a bit strange for me with this house, as everyone in CA has fences. It seems so public in your backyard to not have one.

But since it's summer and ridiculously hot, if I'm outside, I'm on the lanai in the safety of the cool pool and giant screened cage to keep the bugs out. So it hasn't really been an issue. But I can't imagine having a dog without a fence, you know? Not if we want to stay friends with our neighbors anyway. So I think we'll have another project to add to the house list soon. Now tell me, do you ever, as a homeowner go a good long stretch without having to spend money on the house?

Beware, Florida Living

Think you had a crazy morning?

I got up early with Natalie this morning, enjoyed some playtime and then settled her down to some Raisin Bran and Sesame Street so I could take a shower. I head into our guest bathroom for a quick break before showering and am "greeted" by something I never thought I'd see. As I open the toilet seat, something moves. Let me say that again... SOMETHING IS MOVING IN MY TOILET!!

WTH!!

I proceed to scream and generally freak out and am immobilized by shock as I see two eyes looking back at me, in my toilet. As the shock fades, I realize it's a goddamn FROG in my toilet. Not a tiny frog either, but a healthy-size one (for the toilet anyway) at 2-3 inches in diameter. And while I am standing there, I'm sure my mouth gaping, the frog is freaking out as well. Those eyes are wide and he (she?) is kicking and splashing spasmodically and I realize in horror that he might jump out. At which point I slam the seat down.

What to do now?

I open it again to make sure I'm not crazy and he's still looking at me!! Arrgh! So I run to grab Dean. Clearly, this is a man's job. He's still in bed and I tell him he has to come see something, right now. He gets a slightly worried look and is asking me what it is and I just say "no, you have to see this" and lead him into the bathroom. I tell him to open the toilet seat. He gives me that look that says "uh-oh", opens the lid and sees... nothing. The frog is gone. My lovely husband then asks me if I'm sure I saw a frog. I think my look answered that question.

Then, he starts looking around the bathroom, asking if it got out. I panic for a second and then realize no, while he appeared basketball size in my horror, I know he was too small to force open the lid. So I tell Dean to look in the basin. Still nothing. So, Dean flushes the toilet, nothing happens and that is it. I'm feeling slightly remorseful at this point, wondering if the flush killed the frog, but really, I'm more afraid he's still in the piping waiting to make another appearance.

Of course, this brings up memories of my childhood when I heard about a lady in Texas who got bitten while peeing when a snake came up the toilet. I had serious fears about this for months after... always checking for snakes in our toilet in California. Nice to have finally gotten over that only to be re-traumatized through finding a frog in my own toilet.

So let's just say, the lids on the toilets will remain closed in the house moving forward. I will likely not use the guest bathroom for awhile. I even had to flush first when using the other bathroom because in my freaked out state, I wondered if the pipes were connected. Oh, and all this is happening as we are on the brink of potty training Natalie. Nice.

So, when you come to visit, look before you pee and if you leave the seat up, I'm going to kick you out of my house.