update

• My long weekend in Vegas with Vic and Mike was a lot of fun. It was also difficult at times since that place holds a lot of memories of D. Nonetheless, much fun was had and much food was consumed. We saw KÀ the first night because the tickets were free with the travel package we booked. I didn't like it as much as other Cirque shows, but there were a few parts that were truly amazing. We ate at Lotus of Siam for lunch one day. It was a.ma.zing. We partook of a 24 hour buffet pass ... not a good idea. We were all stuffed to the brim for 24 hours. My flight out on Monday night was really late and I went to the airport with V & M, so I had a long wait. TV to the rescue. I can watch Showtime on my iPad so the time just flew by. 
• Avery is riding her bike a lot. She is still too hesitant to even think about trying without training wheels. It's awesome to be able to have her ride her bike when we walk longer distances. Such a change from living in the hills. 
• Abbie will let Avery walk her around the neighborhood and walks so nicely. I take the leash if we see another dog, but she's getting better with that, as well. She only barks at dogs who bark at her first, which is an improvement over her being the first barker. It's still hit or miss as to whether she'll sit nicely at an outdoor table. She gets excited and starts to whine. But sometimes she settles down just fine. 
• I've started feeding Abbie ground beef in the morning and at night. I mix it with dog food. I will probably try adding some brown rice soon. Why? Because for the first time since she came home, she has firm poos. So I buy ground beef in bulk from Costco and just cook up a batch every few days. I officially do more cooking for the dog than for myself. 
• On Friday, Avery leaves, with D, for a 10 day trip to England. I'm going to miss her, but it makes me warm and fuzzy inside thinking about her playing with Olly. They have such an immediate connection with each other. Avery's very excited for the trip. She says she wishes I could go too, but is over it very quickly. 
• After an epic 7-hour standoff trying to get Avery to clean her room (it's not like we were fighting that whole time, but I said we weren't doing anything else until her room was cleaned), we have now established a no-fit routine wherein she cleans her room as part of her bedtime routine. Each time she does it without me asking, she gets to pick three toys from the bag of toys I've confiscated for various reasons. If I have to ask her to clean her room, then she gets to pick one. If I have to nag her, then no toys. She's been awesome at it so far. 
• Avery's at soccer camp right now. She gets to do it on Jeld-Wen field. I bought her regular sneakers when I was supposed to send her in cleats. For some reason, I was thinking they were metal spiked cleats and clearly little kids wouldn't be in those, so I assumed it was for the older players. I forgot they make rubbery cleats. (Thinking about it, maybe metal cleats are only used in baseball? or football? whatever. I was confused is the point.) I didn't see any other kids without cleats, so we might have to go buy a pair tonight. I told her to let me know how she did. 
• I'm all signed up for training next week while Avery is away. And I got a 50% discount on it (saving me a whopping $1875!) The discount came because I'm currently volunteering for a nonprofit that uses the software. Sweet! Works out great to get 50% off, and it works out great that the 9-3 daily training is online and can be done while Avery is away. 
• Avery has new glasses. I went to Costco this time around. It was much cheaper and better than LensCrafters. They let you, gasp!, reuse old frames. It is always cheaper at LensCrafters to buy new frames which drives me crazy. Why use up more resources when her old frames work perfectly well!? She still has bifocals. 
• I don't know what level a kid has to be at to be officially considered reading, but I categorize what she's doing as reading. She has to sound out most of the words, but can typically figure most of them out. She can write out a note all on her own. I find it interesting that the writing of the notes came before reading. I guess sounding out a word you already have in your head is easier than trying to figure out a word you don't know by sounding it out? 
• Still loving my new place. Still have no annoyance with lack of dishwasher, microwave, or water from the fridge. Still have no annoyance with street parking. Still have no annoyance with taking Abbie out for walks every morning and night. My biggest annoyance is the upstairs bathroom. It was charming the way the former owner had it set up, but it was also completely lacking functionality. I've made it more functional for Avery and me, but now it looks cluttered and sloppy. It's really a bathroom that should have been made into a modern design to maximize spaces, but instead there's a claw foot tub which is an inefficient use of space.
• I have plans set up with friends to keep me OK on our anniversary. D and A will still be in England. I will have brunch and shopping in the morning; a midday nap (yep, I "scheduled" that sucker); then a nice dinner and dessert in the evening. I'm not dreading it as of now, but I think it will be a difficult day for me.