I've had quite an exciting week.  I know there'll be a few more of these before we're packed up, moved and settled in Charleston, but this may stand out as both the most traumatic AND exciting of them.

On Monday (May 5), we closed on our new house in Charleston.  Hurray!  It's officially ours now.  You can see the pics on Matt's flickr site:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/drobnikm/.  That started the week's excitement.

Then, on Thursday,  I took Spike to New York.  He'll be vacationing with "Grandma Hinkey" until the Subaru arrives in Charleston, hopefully around mid-June.  The airlines won't fly pets in the summer months because of the temperatures, especially flying through Atlanta.  So, Matt drove Spike and me to Frankfurt and put us on a Delta flight to JFK.

Spike did great on the trip.  After the two-hour drive to the airport, he was ready for some walking and didn't mind the taxis, cars and buses around the airport.  Dr. Richters had bandaged up his tumor the day before, so all the Delta agents paid him lots of attention.  He ate up being the center of attention.  He wasn't too happy about being carted away when it was finally time to load him, but when I picked him up at the large baggage area at JFK he was none the worse for it.  He probably slept the whole way. 

Spike adapted quickly to life at Grandma's house.  He loved the cats, although they weren't too keen on him.  Meeko stayed in the closet for the first 3 days.  Cyrus followed Spike everywhere, harassing him, sneaking bites of his food, and intimidating him.   When Spike has had enough, he snaps at the cat and then Cyrus keeps his distance, growling and snarling, for at least a few minutes.  I think they'll work it out.   Spike is still fascinated by the bird, but after getting yelled at once for nibbling on Joby's tail (it was poking out through the cage) he's just lusting after the bird from afar.

The stairs I bought to help Spike get onto Grandma's bed are a bust.  He won't use them.  Cyrus likes them, though.  Cyrus also likes Spike's pillow and the cushion from the crate.  No wonder Spike snaps at him - he's taking over all Spike's spots!

Spike's next adventure was a trip to my brother's house in Liverpool.  Spike isn't used to THAT much excitement:  Four kids, two cats, a rabbit and a hamster provide lots.   He did surprisingly well!  I was concerned about Michael - don't know what Spike would do if he had a seizure or moved to quick.  The only 'scare' was when Michael discovered Spike's squeaky toy.  Michael loved it - carried it around squeezing it and gnawing on it (he knows what dog toys are for!)  Spike watched, teeth chattering, but didn't try to take it away.  But when he finally got it back and Michael reached into his mouth for it, Spike did growl.  So, we put that back in the car.  Once his toys were safe, Spike was great.  He settled on to the sofa, went for some long walks around the neighborhood and followed Tina around the house.  I guess he has good instincts for who does the cooking!

I left NY on Tuesday and arrived in Frankfurt on Wednesday morning, then took the train back to Stuttgart.  Leaving Spike for 5-6 weeks is the trauma.  The last time we were apart for that long was when I taught at UVI in the summer while living in PR.  He stayed with Mike for six weeks.  As much as I missed him then, it wasn't nearly as difficult.  He was young and healthy and loved being on the fish farm.  This time, he's 13, has cancer and I worry about how much longer he'll be around.   Much more difficult to leave him behind, even for a short time.

I arrived in Stuttgart at about 12:30, jet lagged and sleep deprived.  Matt picked me up at the Hauptbahnhof and we went to International Car Sales to pick up my new Mini-Cooper!  It's beautiful - British racing green with a dark green convertible top and white hood stripes.  I'd wanted a bright color, but Matt was opposed to looking like a taxi cab in a yellow car.  So, the green was our compromise color.  It's like Matt's old Chrysler, and the color I've always wanted for my Jag.  It's not a Jag, but it's British, so it'll do.  I was too jet lagged to dare drive it.  We'll have pictures up soon.  Any suggestions for names are welcome!

That was our exciting week.  We'll spend the next 10 days getting everything ready to ship.  They pack us out on the 26^th.  Then I'll have a few days to clean windows, floors and walls after all the furniture is out.  I'm not looking forward to the last week in a hotel - without Spike to walk three times every day, I'm afraid I'll be bored here and anxious to get to our new house!  Then we'll have a few more exciting weeks of painting, settling in, sleeping on an air mattress until our furniture arrives and another trip to NY to pick up Spike as soon as the Subaru gets to Charleston.  The fun just never ends!