I had a very low-key, but productive weekend. I did end up spending a bit - took $40 to a garage sale - I bought several items of clothing (4 tops, 3 dresses, 3 polos for SO), a pull-up bar and yoga mat, a bag of stuffed toys (for DDs to rip apart) and some kitchen utensils.
I also found another low-cost way to keeps DD2 busy. She's already a chewer and goes through the expensive pet store stuffed animals in a day or two...she loves bottles! Water bottles are too flimsy (she breaks through them in less than 5 minutes), but gatorade bottles keep her occupied for an hour or so. Since we drink Gatorade anyway (big packs from BJ's), we'll just store them for whenever she's teething.
Other than the yard sale, I took DD1 to the dog park and both DDs to the local town center for some socializing. DD2 is about 90% husky in personality and 10% german shepherd. Unfortunately, that 10% manifests itself as barking at certain strangers and all other dogs. While she's still pretty small, she already has a pretty big bark. People kept thinking it was DD1 that was barking. As soon as she knows you're not a threat, the husky in her takes over and she plops on her back for a belly rub 
I will continue to socialize her and work with her on the barking. She especially goes crazy towards other dogs, so I'm trying to anticipate that and focus her attention on me/the treat before she notices the dog.
The rest of the weekend was a mix of relaxing and house stuff - I got 4 loads of laundry folded, 2 loads of dishes taken care of, ate through the remainder of the barbecue leftovers (I've been eating potato salad sandwiches pretty much every meal), and did some general cleaning/organizing.
SO leaves this weekend for 3 weeks. That's the longest we've ever been apart. These past 4 days without him were tough, so 3 weeks will be really hard. I have a few projects I'd like to focus on that will hopefully keep me busy (dog training/socializing; entry closet decluttering/organizing; magazine decluttering; weight loss; 5k training) and are low-cost.
Weekend Recap
May 18th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
May 18th, 2015 at 12:24 pm 1431951889
May 18th, 2015 at 01:41 pm 1431956499
I've been apart from my husband for much longer than 3 weeks. It's all about your attitude, if you say it's hard it is. Now, of course, I always like being together better!
May 18th, 2015 at 02:36 pm 1431959810
CCF, I'm really against rawhide since it can sometimes swell in the dog's stomach. Especially because both of mine are large breeds and tend to just swallow large pieces whole. The bottles are more for the noise than for eating. I supervise and as soon as it starts breaking (usually after an hour of rough chewing), I take it and toss it. She does have a couple of teething bones that I'm waiting to give to her, but probably soon.
May 18th, 2015 at 04:37 pm 1431967052
This is a nice method for dealing with barking/lunging on lead:
http://www.clickertraining.com/reducing-leash-reactivity-the-engage-disengage-game
This is more for aggressive dogs -- I think at this point you're dealing more with a young dog with limited socialization, but the underlying theories are applicable in general:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2327
May 18th, 2015 at 07:38 pm 1431977920
I've never tried clicker training. I'll do more research into it. DD1 was so easy to train because he's naturally submissive. She's definitely alpha in personality, so I'm definitely open to suggestions as she will be able to pull me around if she wants to when she's grown. Technically, DD1 could too; he just accepts that I'm the boss