A big day all around

Andrew and I went to Augusta and met Carol to pick up Nettie to bring her home... As you can see, Nettie is settling in quite nicely!

She is doing much, much better at not fussing in the crate, which was a big issue for her when we were babysitting her. I crated her in the car, given that I had Andrew along and it was extremely windy, so I didn't feel like I needed another distraction. She gave one tiny whimper about halfway home, but didn't pursue it.
I then crated her while I was trying to get Andrew's lunch ready/him dressed for the bus. She barked for less than a minute -- and then hushed. And best of all, the crate wasn't even covered! We used to have to cover her like a canary. Carol's really worked wonders with her in the past month.
She has Bob wrapped around her paw. He says she's so quiet and mellow in his office that a couple times he almost forgot she was there.
Anyway, after Andrew left for school, I took Nettie out to play in the snow ... in places it had drifted deep enough to come up to her tummy -- not that that stopped her much!

Then, when I went to work, my boss told me that I'm getting a job I applied for five months ago: I'm switching to be features editor, instead of running the night desk. It's a lateral move, but a chance to get experience in an area I haven't done, and it will mean working days.
Bob joked that getting Nettie clearly sealed the deal for this switch, and it does mean that we're going to have to figure out a new routine and I'll have to work to figure out the training/socialization time. It was easy when I worked nights -- dog time was when Andrew was in school. In the short term, it's actually a tiny bummer to switch to days. I was enjoying being a full-time mom in the mornings, and I'll have to stop volunteering in Andrew's class every Monday.
But, comparable jobs at my level don't come open often, and I knew I wanted off nights before Andrew went to first grade -- otherwise, I would have only seen him for about an hour every morning, from the time he woke up until he got on the bus. And I did not want that. It's hard to believe, but first grade for Andrew is only 6 1/2 months off, so I had to take this opportunity while it came.
We'll figure it out! And I think Nettie will be an easier pup than a certain stubborn black Lab we love!