Day 1922

Weekends were always busy. Now, they're becoming impossible. When you try to add a week's worth of postponed activities to your normal weekend errand list, not everything gets done. Janet and I both had lots to do today and neither of us got everything finished. I guess this is the new normal, just like the mismatched rugs covering the floors, the dog beds in every room, and the metal playpen in the living room.

Dot is sleeping much better now. Since we've discontinued the prednisolone, she doesn't have to go outside to pee in the middle of the night anymore. I need to help her when she wakes up and wants to circle around and change positions, but I can almost do this in my sleep. I still had to get up early, so I could walk Dash, mail some bills and go to the bank before Janet had to take her car in for service, but all-in-all, I think everyone got a good night's sleep.

The pet store was nice enough to let us return the crate we got for Dot immediately after surgery. As soon as she got strong enough to protest, she refused to sleep in it. It was a nice, sturdy crate, but if Dot refuses to use it, it is just something else to trip over in the bedroom. Now that we have the circular pen in the living room, we probably don't need a crate anyway. Janet bought some sort of a hammock thing while she was out today that she says is a safe way to transport Dot in the car. I'll read the instructions and install it tomorrow and see if it works. About half the things we get for Dot's rehabilitation work and the other half don't. At least the pet stores have been pretty good about taking back the things that didn't work.

I don't know how much more of this rain I can take. It rained again today. Our yard is as soggy as a wet sponge. The park is a mud pit. And if you don't pick up the dog poop immediately, you can never find it the next day. I got a new pair of waterproof boots, but I continue to wear the old leaky pair and throw my wet socks in the wash as soon as I get home. This doesn't make any logical sense, but I hate to ruin a new pair of shoes before I even get them broken in. At least Dot's incision has healed nicely and I don't need to worry about it getting wet in the rain anymore.

Maybe I'll get more done tomorrow. I certainly hope so. There is still some shopping that needs to get finished, there is lots of water on the roof, I never made it to the post office, and I haven't been to the gym in a long time. I've noticed that the grass is starting to grow in the front yard too. This means that mowing the grass will soon be on my weekend chore list as well. I wonder if the lawn mower battery survived the Winter? Maybe next week I'll find out.

As you can probably tell, I'm totally burned out. Dot's amazing ability to bounce back makes it all worthwhile though. After all she's been through this year, I never would have dreamed that she would have responded so well to the risky surgery. Nobody, not even her surgeon and neurologist, can believe Dot is fourteen years old. She is definitely the Energizer Bunny of Dalmatians. I wish I had Dot's energy. Unfortunately, everybody can believe I'm in my mid-sixties. I might as well wear a sign that says "Grumpy Old Man."

Big Boy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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