Success!!!

I ought to have posted about this sooner, but in my excitement (and in a bustle of out-of-the-house activity) I completely forgot.

PANDA IS CURED!!!

Well, kind of. (You knew that was coming.) 

As of about two weeks ago, Panda is now capable of calmly enduring time at home by herself. The longest she's gone so far is almost 6 hours; we try to make sure she spends at least 2 hours a day alone. 

The breakthrough came when Maggie put somme of our dirty clothes on the other side of the front door. When we left, Panda could still smell us (as if we were right there in the stairwell), and was comfortable enough to pass out in front of the door. Since then, she's taken to sleeping on the futon - around the corner from the door. 

When we leave the clothes, she still whines and paces for a few minutes before she calms down. When we don't leave the clothes, she's just as anxious as she ever was - barking, howling, scratching at the door. We try to always leave the clothes.

Life is completely different now that Panda can be home alone. We can take leisurely trips to the supermarket; we can go out for dinner; I can check out books from various libraries on campus without having to make sure someone can watch Panda. FREEDOM!!! 

As much as I give Maggie credit for the clothes-at-door innovation, we both realize that Panda's anti-anxiety medication (doggie Prozac) had a lot to do with it. We'll keep her on the Prozac for at least a few more months until we're absolutely sure that she'll be calm without it - until we can leave, without clothes at the door, and elicit no more than a yawn from a contented, anxiety-free Panda.

Home Care

As you might know, dad could be a little . . . irrational . . . about certain things, like travel and personal hygiene. While I entertain none of the same anxiety about these aspects of life, I have adopted my dad's home care fixation. Every time someone drags a piece of furniture across my hardwood floors, I cringe - even though I've preempted such negligence by attaching felt to the bottom of every chair, couch, futon, table, and nightstand leg. Every time I look at the inside of the bathroom door, my stomach drops a little. (At the height of her separation anxiety, we misguidedly left Panda in the bathroom, thinking she could do little damage. She tried her hardest to get to us, making toothpicks out of that door. Sigh.) And even though I've tried to accept the necessity of putting holes in the wall to hang pictures and kitchen utensil-holding peg boards, it still pains me to do it.

So it is with my dad's (and now my) neurosis in mind that I proudly post the following pictures of the condo, which I think we've kept in pretty good shape. Thanks, dad, for teaching me the value of proper (better than proper: near-obsessive) home care.

(The pictures are intended to entice a subletter for next year, when we'll be in Paris. If you know anyone who needs a place for next academic year, let me know!!)

Garden

We've been hard at work on the front yard the last few weekends, and I'm happy to announce that the 17 Conwell St. Community Garden Project is underway! Here's a list of the veggies we've planted:

Tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak)

Peppers

Squash

Zucchini

Broccoli

Lettuce

Peas

And we have lots of flowers and herbs and a few perennials, too! Check in every once in a while for updated pictures as the garden grows, and grows, and grows . . .