Snippets: Losing My Mind Edition
☆ November 28, 2017
Last I knew anything, the books were en route to me on November 15 and I expected them to arrive a couple of days after that. They are still not here! Unbeknownst to me, they were put on a truck that was making other stops (I thought they were literally a day away from me and had no idea they’d be going on a road trip in a wayward semi). So then they were supposed to arrive the day before Thanksgiving. And they didn’t. And then Thanksgiving happened, and then the weekend, and yesterday, when I called to find out where in the world my books are and when I would be getting them, I learned that eighteen semi trucks had been blown over on a certain stretch of road in Wyoming, south of where I live. The road on which the semi truck carrying my books happened to be traveling. The truck with my books did not blow over. The driver decided to park and wait out the wind. So delivery is further delayed….. but the books are safe. And I have an entire room filled – floor to ceiling – with boxes built and ready to be loaded with books, and mailing labels all ready to be printed, and a pantry of coffee to fuel my packing marathon. I’m so excited for it! Fingers crossed I get to start tomorrow. {technical note: we are still on track for Christmas delivery worldwide}
• • •
Sage is such a good puppy…. with one aggravating habit: he takes *ages* to poop. We take him outside and he gets so distracted by everything – a chicken! A leaf! An elk toe bone! A bird in a tree! A blade of grass! And he runs around sniffing and exploring, overcome by wonderment – so overcome, that he will have (TMI warning) a very tiny bit of poop actually pushing out, but he won’t stop running around to poop. For like 30 to 45 minutes. Which is irritating/painful first thing in the morning before coffee or when its blowing freezing sideways wind or when I know the maniac FedEx driver is due to speed up the driveway. There are times that Mike and I have each gotten sick of waiting outside and bring Sage back in and then he immediately poops on the floor. So I had an idea. Incentive for fast pooping. I filled a tupperware with dog treats and put it in a basket in a tree in the yard. Then I waited waited waited the standard 40 minutes for Sage to get around to pooping outside and immediately gave him a treat from the tree stash. That night and the next morning, whoever was outside with him gave him a treat right after he pooped. And twenty-four hours later, Sage was pooping within the first five minutes of being outside. It’s been a few days now, and he poops immediately when we go outside (and still gets treats for it). Yay!
• • •
I’ve been using the time I have from not packaging books (arrghh!) to photograph some gorgeous new jewelry from my silversmith neighbor Fred. It’s in the shop, and you can find it HERE….
• • •
Thank you SO much for your patience and excitement re/books.
Your emails make my days!!!
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23 Responses to “Snippets: Losing My Mind Edition”
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November 28th, 2017 @ 8:30 am
What a scarey thought…our books scattered about to who knows where thank goodness one driver was smart enough to wait it out!!
No matter the circumstances…your book is well worth the wait; its truely a miracle book and will be a wonderful surprise when it finally arrives.
November 28th, 2017 @ 8:31 am
Nice to read your post again. The books will be when the books will be. It’s a joke of life — just like my cleaning house and cooking ahead for Thanksgiving and then having children and grandchildren, and the dogs, destroy my “perfection” before our out of town guests even arrive. Oh, I don’t want to overlook Cousin Kathy making sweet potato pie and, of course, charring the marshmallow topping again, setting off the music of the smoke alarm to everyone’s Holiday enjoyment. Life is a glorious mess, if we only step back to appreciate it. All the best to you, Shrieve. Hope your Holiday Season is filled with joy and love.
November 28th, 2017 @ 8:34 am
I wish I lived in WY so I could help with the shipping and packing. I hope you have lots of helpers.
November 28th, 2017 @ 9:05 am
Thanks for the update on the books and the wonderful laugh regarding Sage and the defecation saga!
What is, is. Its all good.
November 28th, 2017 @ 9:09 am
Oh my! The stories those books will be able to tell. In every way! Thanks for the update.
And loved the Sage story. I wonder if this would work for some people I know. ;-)
November 28th, 2017 @ 9:14 am
We just went through this with our black lab/hound puppy – taking ages and ages to potty outside. The first few weeks we had her I felt like I was spending hours and hours outside each day and I was! The beauty of crate training is that when you know she needs to go, but for whatever reason she won’t, you can bring her inside and put her in her crate and since she sleeps in there, she shouldn’t poop. After 30-60 minutes you can try again, and again if needed. If you aren’t crate training, you just have to keep him on a leash and watch him like a hawk and the moment he starts sniffing, out he goes. Apparently, some dogs pick up potty training in a week and other are “slower”. Our dog Betty was slow. It literally took her months and we did all the things we were supposed to do. She has finally gotten it and rarely has an accident inside at 6 months old. For us too, using “high value treats” (dehydrated cheese) was the key in progressing her potty training. These were special treats we only used when she went potty out. We don’t need to give them anymore.
Also, were laughing at the puppy distraction. That was/is Betty exactly. It can be so frustrating because you’re waiting and waiting and waiting outside and she finally starts sniffing around and you know she is going to go any second, but then, A LEAF!!! And then it take another forever for her to go. Can’t wait to get the book.
November 28th, 2017 @ 9:41 am
Holidays and weather join together to make the anticipation of your book even sweeter.
Sage pooping-`so funny and brilliant:)
Years ago we got a new puppy in November. He thought his name was “Hurry Up!”
November 28th, 2017 @ 10:13 am
Stimulus=response! Brilliantly done, Shreve.
Sorry you were out of the loop about where your books were, but it sounds like that driver made the right call.
November 28th, 2017 @ 10:38 am
Your post and all the comments are really too wonderful for words…but i just have to say funny, exciting, patience everlasting, gladness and love…sum it up in a tiny way.
November 28th, 2017 @ 2:21 pm
That’s exactly how my parents trained their dog to go in the yard. Not only quickly but at the exact same spot each time, to make clean up easier. Set up a bad precedent though. Now she expects treats for everything. And she has taken to “lying.” When they walk her, if she goes in the canyon, she’ll get a treat. But she’ll “pretend” she went just to get a treat. Then poop five minutes later so we know she was lying.
November 28th, 2017 @ 6:10 pm
i’m sure it must be mega stressful for you to be waiting for the books. but remember we are all blissfully ignorant of all the whens and shoulds of their delivery, and will be happy whenever they arrive.
and i just love having a dog who will poop on cue! definitely worth training — once he gets the hang of it, make sure you train in different locations, so you can get the results you want if you happen to be travelling with him.
November 28th, 2017 @ 6:15 pm
God bless the driver who had sense enough to get out of the weather! He’s earned his place in heaven for saving our books. Don’t worry about the delay ~ that’s just life being its usual messy self ~ and “delayed” is a world away from “destroyed.” They’ll get to you when they get to you. And they’ll get to us when they get to us. In the fullness of time….
Glad to hear Sage is getting the message re: pooping when you need him to instead of “in the fullness of time.”
November 29th, 2017 @ 5:39 am
So glad that the driver is safe. We will be all the more pleased with the books when they get to us, and grateful to you and all the critters human and otherwise. Sage is a lucky pup. Thinking of you all with the greatest of pleasure!
November 29th, 2017 @ 7:52 am
Shreve, here’s a training hint — When your pup is consistent with his 1-2 minute timing, put a command with the action and then treat as you have been. My family uses “Hurry.” Eventually, you can put the command in front of the action, and hopefully that will further lessen your time outside (thinking winter winds here).
Hang in there. It’ll happen.
November 29th, 2017 @ 9:11 am
Susie: “Life is a glorious mess” is going up on my wall! :-)
November 29th, 2017 @ 10:58 am
You’ve discovered the secret to training an Aussie puppy–work on it before you feed him in the morning. They learn so fast on an empty stomach.
November 29th, 2017 @ 11:00 am
Hi Shreve! I ordered your book and am now between addresses (just moved to CA and am in the process of selling house in OR). I sent you an email about shipping address for my order, to the orders-at-dailycoyote-dot-net. I don’t want to miss receiving the book!! Aaaaack! Hopefully you got my email and it’s not too late to change my shipping address! Thanks!
Also, great job training Sage to poop right away! It’s amazing what treats and consistency can do for a dog’s training!
November 29th, 2017 @ 6:58 pm
The puppy pooping story has me chuckling and don’t stress yourself out about the books. Happy Holidays to you and your wonderful farmily!
November 30th, 2017 @ 11:13 pm
I was starting to gasp when I read about the trucks blowing over, then felt a big relief to read that “our” truck with those precious books was safe! That truck driver deserves a big tip (and a tip of the hat) for saving your books for us all! Yay!
December 4th, 2017 @ 12:49 pm
I just got notice that my books have been shipped! Yippeee!!! Thanks, Shreve!!!
December 4th, 2017 @ 3:03 pm
The book it here, it’s stunning. I hold much gratitude in my heart for who you are, and how you show up in the world.
Blessings to you and your farmily.
Jamie
December 6th, 2017 @ 7:52 pm
Two weeks of fuel, mileage and time charges for a couple of tons of books is not going to be cheap.
Make sure you have a paper trail that shows the misdirection was not your fault.
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