Day 2739

It rained all night. For once, I was glad to see the rain because it cooled down the oppressively high temperatures a bit. Dash didn't approve though. The thunder scared him during the night and he refused to go out and pee the next morning. Eventually, he gave up and got wet, but he is a very stubborn dog. I certainly couldn't have waited that long to pee.

The home nurse came earlier today. She is a retired RN who either wanted to keep working to have something to do, or maybe she needs the money. I am always pleased to see older people who have managed to carve out a niche for themselves. The nurse is very reassuring not only because she is nice, but because she has seen almost everything in her long career. So far, the prognosis looks good. The daily ritual of changing bandages and draining fluid tubes is starting to seem familiar. It's definitely not normal, but it's not as scary anymore either.

I ate a late breakfast after the nurse left and then got started on a long day full of errands. Janet and I have always tried to split the errands and chores as equally as possible. It's only when you become responsible for both sides of the equation that you realize that our life isn't quite as simple as it seems. Normally Janet buys the fresh stuff and I get the things you can buy in bulk. I don't know how two people and one dog manage to eat so much food. I need to remember that I don't really have to go to Central Market on Saturday afternoon. What a zoo. My schedule has always been pretty flexible. I think I'll start buying all the produce at 10:30 on Tuesday morning or something. It's much easier to shop when everybody else is at work.

The weather cleared up by mid-afternoon, so I was able to get Dash outside for a little exercise. He seems to know that Janet is sick and has become very protective. Most of the day, he just sits on the bed with her. He hasn't lost interest in eating though. If I rattle the container where we keep his food, he always comes running to the kitchen.

The spiders have already started returning and are in the process of building new webs to capture insects flying toward our living room windows. I was at Home Depot this afternoon, but completely forgot to look for some kind of spray to keep them away. We must have thousands of small spiders in our yard. I don't know where they come from, but they seem to love our windows.

I've still got one more website to update, but if things go smoothly tomorrow I'll probably have time to go to the gym. I'm not wild about exercise, but I need something to replace the marathon walks I used to take when Dot and Dash were healthy. I really miss those days. We keep getting cards from all the vets who treated Dot during her long life. It means a lot to know that she touched so many lives. Janet and I can't bring Dot back, but we can remember what she taught us about dealing with adversity.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day