Day 740 - Christmas

Dot woke up this morning limping on her left front leg. I'm not sure what's wrong, since she seemed fine when she went to bed last night. I think she just over exerted herself at our gift wrapping event yesterday. It's easy to forget she's getting older now. She spent most of the afternoon standing, instead of sleeping like she usually does. Maybe it was too much for her.

The furnace didn't come on this morning either, but by the end of the day we had heat again and Dot seemed to be walking more normally. It was a simple, but satisfying Christmas. I often feel lonely on Christmas. I don't have a lot of friends and am more or less estranged from family. I probably don't show my appreciation often enough, but I'm very grateful to have Janet and the dogs. They keep life normal.

It didn't snow this Christmas, but it certainly felt like Winter. I couldn't walk the dogs together this evening because of Dot's limp, but as Dash and I tramped through the woods, it was easy to imagine a coating of snow on everything. We returned to the smell of holiday cooking and an hour or so later everyone sat down to enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner. We had ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and a spicy stuffing. There weren't a lot of presents under the tree, but we don't need much at this point in our lives. I'm content.

I even managed to complete a few watch articles today. The month long writing marathon is almost over and it's not going to seem the same in January. I'll have to admit that I've learned a few things about watches and about writing this month. If I could only be this disciplined about personal projects. If I could work at the same pace on personal projects, I could have easily completed a novel by now. Personal projects are tough though. There just isn't a strong enough sense of desire pushing me onward. Maybe that's what I should have asked Santa for this year: a stronger sense of desire.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day