TOMORROW!

I am excited out of my mind. Kaline will be here tomorrow. Since I got home from walking my packs today, I've been doing cleanup and puppy prep. Mom and I washed down our whole back patio—this will be the first place he learns to eliminate—and then sprayed the whole thing with a weak bleach solution. I'm hoping that soon Kaline can learn to hold it between his crate and getting outside in the morning/after naps, and then I can take him out the front door and across the street, to a nice big patch of gravel. Much easier cleanup!

All Juno's stuffies, except her current favorite, Mr. Rhino, are either hidden away in the garage or up on a high counter in the little bar area off the living room—no stuffies for the wee one until I know he's not going to kill them. Mom did a last Pet Place run while I was out with the packs, and came home with a ton of goodies. A little stuffie bone for Kaline (yeah, we'll see how long that lasts!); a couple free packets of little treats; a smaller, softer Nylabone (I already have a big one for Powerful Chewers); and of course, an enormous container of Nature's Miracle. We've got spray bottles now ready, one full of the bleach solution for cleaning up on the back patio, and one full of Nature's Miracle for accidents.

I got a bunch of little stuff up off the floor throughout the house. Filled up the smaller black Kong with peanut butter and some pieces of puppy kibble, and popped it in the freezer. Moved the thick awesome bed out of the big crate and into the guest room (Kaline can have it when he's not gonna destroy it, and when the crate no longer needs to be partitioned) and lined the crate with a big towel and the adorable soft pad Mom got for him when she was at a craft fair. We have grand plans for that thing. It's vaguely bone shaped, very soft, light blue with puppies on one side and red with puppies on the other. We're gonna take a photo of Kaline on the pad tomorrow, and then every Monday thereafter for a couple months. (Who knows, given my tendency toward obsession/sticking to routines, it could be every Monday for a YEAR.) Why Monday? Cause he was born on a Monday, and then I can say things like, "This is Kaline at nine weeks."

Juno got a bath, mostly because she was sticky from training yesterday at the park. She was tethered on the lawn when not working ... there were plums ... thus stickiness. Also she'll be all super-pretty now for the arrival of her new brother. I even put more ointment on her pads—such a gorgeous girl!

I also got in touch with Air Canada Cargo. I got a Real Live Person™ on the first try! It was amazing. The Real Live Person™ helpfully told me the address of Air Canada Cargo—a completely separate place from San Francisco International Airport—and said to arrive there about an hour after Kaline's plane is due to give him time to get transported from the airport to cargo. Once I get him at cargo, I have to take his health certificate over to customs, and then we can go home. Not entirely sure if I have to leave him (and his undoubtedly full bladder) at cargo while I do this; hopefully I'll at least be allowed to take him for a pee break first!

Man, tomorrow is just going to be insane and momentous. Gotta at least try to get a decent night's sleep, since I won't even have the opportunity to do so for the foreseeable future. I've done the first-day-with-a-new-dog thing twice, but Kaline is my first puppy. And like most people, I've wanted a puppy since forever. I'm actually really glad that I had to wait this long. I feel like I'm finally ready for a puppy.

Let's see if I still feel that way by the end of tomorrow!