We made it! Normally I would say Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 6 weeks since I last posted… But this time, I can believe it! I’ve barely had the chance to sit down, then once I did have the chance, I didn’t have a desk, or a chair, or even a kitchen table. :) After a bit of IKEA shopping, and pretty awful quarantine experience, the dogs are once again under my desk!

Those of you who have been active in the Facebook group (500+ members!) will know that I have a new pattern coming out tomorrow! This one is a bit different, as I’ll explain in the next post! I wrote it for One Thimble Magazine and it’s called the Outta Time Tote, which is appropriate since I finished it while packing, at the absolute last possible second. You can read all about that HERE, if you want to skip the travel story. :)

Lets just start by saying that January was packing + vet visits every 3 days to prep the dogs + writing the OT Tote. THEN, a simple trip to the Apple store to learn how to extract my iMessage history so I could do a clean install of the new OS turned into catastrophic hard drive failure. So mid-way through editing the pattern I had to wait for my backup hard drive to come in the mail, and I still haven’t had time to make sure all my files are there or reinstall my programs because I’m down to just my 11″ MacBook Air. THEN, I had a buyer for my Bernina 750, since it’s just too big and heavy to ever come to Sydney and I have a 230 that’s much easier for my parents to store while I’m here, but the knob broke the afternoon before she was coming to look at it. A LOT of scrambling happened, which is why I completely disappeared for a while there, even from Instagram. Eventually the backup hard drive came and the Bernina was repaired and has a new life making charity quilts, and then Bob arrived just in time to shovel snow… on AUSTRALIA DAY! :)

 Since the domestic airlines only allow one dog per person, I hadn’t figured out how to get the pups to LA. Bob had half-jokingly suggested he fly over and help, but my plane ticket was already so expensive that I knew we couldn’t afford two. Thankfully I checked anyway, because his ticket was half the price of mine! Apparently no one wants to fly from Sydney to Chicago this time of year. I wonder why?? :) (Plus the exchange rate is super awesome for me right now!)

We packed up the puppies in their cool new Sturdibags and headed to LA. Manhattan Beach, to be exact. (They did AMAZING on the plane! They just snoozed under the seats the whole time. Sam barked a couple times when Bob stopped petting her, but Sam would do that anyway.) So we had just 34 hours to cuddle puppies, enjoy the amazing California weather and get a glimpse of the ocean from the other side, and then we were back at the airport to load the doggies into their SkyKennels and all board QF12. Bob knew the only way I was putting the pups on a plane was to be on their flight, even if they were in the cargo hold for this one. Thankfully, it was the smoothest flight we’ve ever had.

 
 

Rather than sit in the corner and cry for the few hours we had between dropping the dogs off and getting on the plane ourselves, Bob insisted we go try to pre-order our hover boards from Mattel. We also confirmed that the Takeoff Tote works really well at the airport and on the plane! Woo!

 We walked in to some issues with the flat, so I spent a lot of unexpected time cleaning and waiting for maintenance people. We also went the first week without a car and then cycled through a random assortment of loaners, since someone smashed into Bob’s beloved Camry just before he left for America. (*sigh* OK Universe. You’ve tested us. We still like each other. Can you bug someone else please??) Since I barely had time to even unpack the kitchen last time, there was/is still a lot to sort out. I was thrilled to pick out some IKEA stuff, but not having a car made it interesting! (He wanted to buy the sofa that’s advertised to fit on the bus… um, no!) A few turquoise Kallax, two scratch-and-dent section bar chairs, a small dresser and a desk on clearance made the cut. Since the desk wouldn’t have fit in the Camry anyway, I just opted to have most of it delivered. Anything else will have to wait until I’m working again!

Besides building IKEA furniture and cleaning, all of our free time was spent keeping tabs on the dogs while in quarantine.

See, they don’t want you to have contact with the dogs. They claim it’s so they don’t get anxious when you leave, but I have my own opinions as to why. We got an automated email saying they had arrived, 10 hours after we got off the plane on Thursday. It took us until Friday afternoon to get ahold of someone who could give us an actual update. Saturday morning we finally got permission to drop off better quality food than what was provided by them. We were allowed to book a grooming appointment for the following Thursday, but no contact or updates until then.

We walked in on Thursday to two smelly, dirty, SKINNY dogs. We saw their food sitting there, with more than twice the amount they should have left. We still aren’t sure if they weren’t being fed enough at each meal, or if they were being fed half of their daily requirement but only once a day. They brought the dogs out to us to bathe – no time for cuddles, just a quick bath (15 minutes) and back in their cages. I was IN TEARS. Not because I had to give them back, but because they were in such poor condition. Loki was covered in poop – and this is the dog who hasn’t had an accident in the house since he was 6 months old, and he is 10. He’d never sit in his own mess voluntarily. Sammy’s eyes were so crusty she couldn’t close them. They claim otherwise, but her eyes hadn’t been cleaned the entire week. I know how much gunk comes out of her eyes, she’s my dog! Loki had a nasty, wheezy cough that they said was just throat irritation from barking. They were clearly terrified. We did as much as we could for them in 15 minutes and they were back in their cage. We rushed back over with a giant container of cooked rice for them to eat and Bob finally got one of the managers to go check on them, but at that point they only had one day left. Bob managed to organize a jailbreak for the crack of dawn the following morning, rather than wait for their 10am release time. They said most people just don’t care that much??

Knowing they would be released in less than 12 hours, we tried to enjoy the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, which we’ve had tickets to FOREVER and I was really excited about. Bob is good at distracting me from the panic. It was an amazing show and I got to meet a lot of his fandom friends!

Waking up at 5am, we rushed over to collect the pups! First stop ice cream!! We took them home and gave them a quick bath and took a nap and then headed back out to the vet. No A/C in the loaner car meant poor Loki was so hot, Bob brilliantly bought him a giant cup of ice from McDonalds that he proceeded to eat/drink/melt all over my lap. :) We found out Sam had lost about 20% of her body weight. Loki has a chest infection and an ear infection. Sammy is now on prescription eye drops. 4 days later and neither really has an appetite and they both just want to sleep. They are pretty traumatized from the whole experience. I’m hoping it’s only a few more days before their personalities start to come back. Loki keeps waking up just to make sure someone is still in the room and Sammy is so in love with her Bob that she’s crushed when he goes to work. Once they are healthier, we can spend more time getting the flat organized so people can come over and visit them. :)

They seem to be adjusting to the 9th floor, except that Sam thinks this box of grass is nonsense. Thankfully, she doesn’t need to go downstairs more often than any normal dog. Loki has diabetes insipidus, which makes water filter through him at about the same rate as a Brita pitcher. HE thinks this is the coolest thing ever – not asking to go outside, and being able to go when we’re sleeping or not home. We’re averaging about 4 short walks a day, plus a couple extra trips for Sam, which I’m really happy with. They think the elevator is a magic room since people appear when the door opens, and Sammy thinks the entire building is her fan club. A neighbor even asked to take her picture yesterday to show his wife, because she’s so stinking cute. (And stinking is right, her favorite place to sleep is Bob’s armpit or dirty clothes when he’s not home!)

   So obviously, I haven’t seen much of Sydney besides IKEA (both of them!), Bunnings (home improvement), Woolies (groceries), and every dog food store I could find. But we’ve managed two quick grocery shopping trips without the dogs, so we’ll soon be able to leave them alone so that I can finally go to the beach! And when we get the car back they can tag along. :)

Since the dogs and I have been stuck at home all week, we set up my sewing room. (As best as we could, without an actual sewing machine and only half of my fabric stash!) It will definitely be a work in progress for a while. I still don’t have photo lights or an iMac to use for editing photos and Illustrator, and we want to wedge a small sofa/chair/bed in there so we can use it as a guest room. Olympic Park has arenas and convention centers, so we’ve already been asked to host friends flying in for various events. Plus, I need a quiet space to sit and blog when Bob is watching TV.

There’s so much more to add but I still need to write about the Outta Time Tote before it launches in just a few hours. True to its name, I’m forever running out of time!

Puppy updates will continue over on Instagram!! And remember, you should be sewing… because I can’t! :P