{Catch Up}

 Jumbled thoughts in no particular order:
1. I'm cold. I really do alright with winter. considerably more so than with the summer heat, ESPECIALLY better than the summer we spent in Suzhou. I don't know, something about this lingering cold weather has just seemed to affect my mood, my behavior and my motivation to get up and do. There have been a couple of spectacularly mild days sprinkled in and I have taken full advantage of the vitamin D and serotonin boosts that the sun has to offer.  Maybe that's it, I'm just not getting enough sun.

2. Jeff's gone... a lot. Every time I get a twinge of frustration about it I remind myself that it was MY brilliant idea to encourage him to take up this job, and that it is benefiting us. I do get to keep regular contact with him, and I'm doing fine, but it has been a decided adjustment. After two years of nearly constant companionship with the same person, I'm almost having to re-learn what it's like to be independent again. Not to say that I was too co-dependent - but there is definitely a change to how you live and behave when you're in a partnership as opposed to living wholly on your own 3 1/2 weeks out of the month.

3. Cooper has a case of the clingy. Even the trainer that we work with made a comment the other day that she found it remarkable the bond he's been forming with me as the weeks progress. He's very particular, although friendly with everyone. He really does have a hard time listening to others, and if someone gives him instruction, he always looks to me for approval first. It's made training both easier, and much more difficult all at the same time. He is generally eager to please, but some aspects of training, like staying as I walk away to a good distance, is a continuing struggle and forces him out of his comfort zone.

4. SO.MUCH.MOVING. At the end of February as Jeff left to start his job, I moved back into my parents home and out of our town house, and moved all of our things into a storage unit. My dad bought a farm in Monticello, and was supposed to move out a month ago , but due to an oversight didn't move until this weekend. Poor Jeff was home for three days and each of those days was spent helping load, unload, load some more and unload, and set up right up until he had to leave again. He's a good sport. We managed to get the majority of Dad's belongings to the farm, as well as get everything of ours out of storage and into the house. It was a long, tiring weekend for everyone and left us all more tired than when it began. Over the next couple of weeks I'll finish purging, unpacking, arranging, and returning the house to a state of normalcy.

5. WE got a new bed. I'm positive this isn't half as interesting to anyone else as it is to me, but I'm elated. After spending a year as two fat people in China, Jeff and I have developed a deep respect for well made mattresses. They certainly weren't built in China to handle our size... and with Jeff's dilapidated back, it was a long year of mediocre to restless sleep. It has been a markable difference to have a solid, supportive, and comfortable bed that makes for substantial and restful nights sleep.

- Ashley