Arrival of dogs and places to drink, eat, and shop for everyday items

Alarm? What? No... go away. I told myself that I'd just close my eyes for a second. DING DONG! I jumped up and tried to focus on the clock. 3:58 AM. I stared at the clock trying to figure out why the alarm only went "ding dong" when I realized it was the doorbell and thought, "Oh my goodness! The dogs are here!" I pulled on my pajama pants and ran downstairs. I grabbed the door and realized that I didn't have my keys to unlock the door. My keys! Where are my keys? I found them on the kitchen table and opened the door just in time to see a bundled up man in the dark setting down a crate covered in tape and nametags and filled with newspaper under one very cute French Bulldog, Frog (no offense intended... they call the breed "frogdogs" so we thought it was a cute name). He turned to get the second crate from his truck. This one was Angel. It was cold, and they had been on a long journey! I wanted to get them inside as soon as possible. We each took a side of a crate and together carried one in at a time.

They man handed me a stack of papers to keep and one to sign. I signed the delivery paper and then turned to see two very NOT excited dogs staring at me. I think they were a bit jet lagged and confused, but as soon as I bent down saying, "Helloooo puppies," they jumped right up with wagging tails. I gave each a good pet, took them outside, and then gave them some toys to run and play. Their leashes and harnesses were taped to the tops of the crates. Thank goodness those made it too! They each had stickers on the crates that said, "Hello, my name is _____." I took their wet blankets (poor puppies) from bags on top of the crates and put them in the utility room. Then, I bagged up the shredded newspapers and carried one of the crates upstairs into my room. I put two bath towels inside. It was about 4:15 AM, and they still wanted to play. I couldn't lock them up yet. They had been in those crates for almost 24 hours off and on. I let them play until about 5 AM, then took them upstairs. They didn't seem to have a problem getting back in the crate to sleep.

At 7 AM I got up to take Steve to work. I drive him because I like the driving practice, and he doesn't want to learn to drive when all he can think about is everything he needs to do when he gets to work. At home I let the dogs play while I ate breakfast. Then, we all three climbed into bed and passed out until noon. Guess we were all exhausted!

When I woke up, I had people coming to fix things around the house, Steve e-mailing about getting the bank account set up, dogs to play with, and a different rental car to pick up later. I waited until about 5:30 PM on the rental car and then left to meet Steve and some of his coworkers at The Dutch Mill. I've mentioned this place before. Steve said he told his coworkers I'd probably want to get out of the house, and they understood, not minding if I crashed the happy hour. When they left, Steve and I stayed to have one more beer and chat with each other. We were drinking Tennents. I recommend it. I liked it.

Saturday, today, was a nice easy day. After breakfast we took the dogs to Victoria Park. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and it gave us some exercise and sunshine...although chilly.

For lunch we went to Prego. Steve had lentil soup and a prawn sandwich. I had coffee and a panini with mozzarella, roasted vegetables, and sun-dried tomatoes! The sandwiches came with couscous, a salad, and chips. It was all very good, and the total was about £17.

Later, we made our way to Sainsbury's (I guess it's like a Wal-Mart or Target) and Poundland (like the Dollar General). We needed items such as bath rugs, hangers, and some kitchen appliances, since the rented ones will eventually have to go.

My new kettle and toaster. I love that kettle. Got them at Sainsbury's.

Dinner came from the Co-operative (they have large stores and small markets throughout Aberdeen). We had baked potatoes! I'm not sure if it was the oven or the potatoes, but I baked those things for over an hour, and when I took them out they were hard as rocks! I got hungry so I decided to just boil the darn things. I talked to my aunt Lisa on Skype while waiting. We had a great chat; we always do. 45 minutes later those potatoes were finally ready to eat!