I'm happy to report that after a rocky start my day did get better.  

Tom was able to figure out some of the stuff for the embroidery software, although I admit I got somewhat cranky when he told me, "you just have to play around with it."  After 2 hours of 'playing around with it' before he woke up he was damn lucky I hadn't drop-kicked the computer!

And after all that stress I never did do any embroidering today; I was too busy making another bag (I had so much fun making the first one at class yesterday) for me. Did have to run over to Michael's for some black rick-rack before I could finish up (and would you believe that the staff there didn't know what rick rack is?) and then buzzed over to The Other Quilt Shop to show Sherri (the owner, who is also a Penguin Person) how cute the penguins were turning out. 

Linda and Rick dropped off Elmo this afternoon before they headed out of town. Despite her worries about him taking a few days to settle in, he's been eating and drinking just fine.  He even went for a ride in the car with me over to pick up Alex at the gym.  

(I'd called Alex with a question about the Clash of Clans game that will no longer load for me, and he said he'd use his break to come over and try to get it squared away.)

  Alex spent a LOT of time on it, and tried a whole bunch of stuff, but the bottom line is that it still won't work.  He even tried deleting it and reloading - with my permission - even though that meant I could possibly lose all my progress.  Guess I'll have to take it to an Apple store (after the holidays!) and see if they can help.

Estera and Ben and the kids stopped by to visit (and drop off some food goodies.)  The kids (Juliana turned 1 earlier this month, and Willie was 2 in August) were enthralled with Elmo; I seriously doubt the feeling was returned, although for a dog that isn't used to being around kids he did very well.  (Yes, I warned Estera, and yes, I kept a VERY close eye on everything.) 

So far haven't heard a single peep out of Elmo (Linda said it was months before she heard him bark, and wondered if he knew how) even when the doorbell rang.  And as predicted he's done a lot of sleeping.  I'll probably have to wake him up to take him out for his 'constitutional' before bedtime.  

Elmo's funny about the grass - their back yard in Sun City West is gravel, and he's just not used to grass.

Alex and I saw a beautiful coyote this afternoon as we were getting home; it was heading into Ben & Estera's yard, and was not the least bit concerned when I rolled down my window and yelled at it to leave.  It hopped into the irrigation ditch across the street from us, and then headed into the empty lot by the church across the street.  The coyotes are yet another reason why I'll be walking Elmo on a leash in the backyard (the first being I don't want him to fall into the pool!)