Day 4256

It was a busy day. When we took our sunrise walk this morning, Dawn wanted to do her one mile loop in reverse. This was surprising because she hasn't done this before. I thought she was just going to poop in the little meadow behind our house and come back home, but she found the trail and continued her regular walk backwards. I always think that Dawn is set in her ways, but she's probably more flexible than I am. She certainly does surprise us from time to time. I wonder what's going on in her head.

I went to the gym today because it was really humid outside and I needed to run some errands anyway. The place was fairly empty this morning. I did a perfunctory two mile walk on the treadmill and then came home again. On the way home I stopped at Sprinkles to get cupcakes for Janet's birthday celebration and then at Central Market to get some champagne. They have little bottles that are perfect if all you want is a single glass each. I discovered that 3 PM was the perfect time to go shopping. All the other shoppers were waiting in long lines wrapping around every school zone to pick up their kids. I was the only person in Sprinkles and Central Market was surprisingly empty. There were a ton of parking places today which is almost unheard of.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant for a birthday dinner this evening. We've been going to this restaurant for many years and it is one of Janet's favorites. Even though they've moved to several different locations over time, the menu is still exactly the same. We were around 43 when we discovered this place. Now we are both 73. Time flies. When we were younger we used to go out a lot. Then we got Dalmatians. Life is different now, but I think it is much better. I can't imagine not having a dog anymore. We tried, but Dawn quickly reminded us that dogs rule.

We always have cupcakes and a glass of champagne on birthdays. I can't remember when we started this, but it seems like we've been celebrating like this forever. I'm surprised that I can even write the blog tonight. Wine with dinner and champagne with dessert is a little rich for me. We'll sleep in later tomorrow. Actually, we need to sleep in later because as soon as we wake up tomorrow, we've got to take Dawn straight to the vet with a full bladder. This will be interesting because the first thing Dawn does every morning is go outside and pee. Apparently, a full bladder makes it a lot easier to flush the bladder stones out. I hope this plan works. The back up plan for tomorrow is still surgery.

We got some rain today, but not as much as yesterday. It was purely accidental, but we planned our sunrise walk perfectly. Five minutes after we returned home, the skies opened up and we got our heaviest rain of the day. I'm glad the pumps on the roof are still working. I'm not looking forward to going up there at all. At some point I'll probably have to go clear away all the residual water. The pumps help, but there's still a ton of water on the roof after the pumps can't remove any more. I'm hoping that the standing water will just evaporate again. A few more hot days and it probably will.

Tomorrow I'll probably just worry about Dawn a lot. Whatever happens, she'll be at the vet for most of the day. Rain is out of the forecast for now and it is supposed to be hot tomorrow. I'll probably go to the gym unless something unexpected happens with Dawn. I'm hoping that it will just be another uneventful day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2449

Sunday is when we try to restore some sense of order the the shambles that has taken over our house. Janet took up all Dot's traction rugs and scrubbed the floors while I mowed the grass and later tried to remove all the spider webs and insect debris from the back windows. It's a never ending battle to get rid of the spiders and frankly I think they have the upper hand. I had to take an abrasive brush and a bucket of bleach to remove all their droppings from the window sills. The worst part of removing the spiders is that the spiders don't like it and they end up crawling all over you. I guess our efforts were worth it. The house does look and smell better now. It's a temporary victory though. Nature always wins in the long run.

Although I got plenty of exercise doing housework, I went to the gym anyway. Some things you have to do whether you like it or not. The first twenty minutes I'm at the gym, I'm always on the verge of quitting and going home early. When the initial aches and pains have subsided, I get into a rhythm and realize that it's not that big a deal to go ahead and complete my workout. The most enjoyable part of my routine is shooting baskets on the court. This activity probably doesn't burn up that many calories, but it breaks up the monotony. The last twenty minutes are always the easiest, but there is no sense of euphoria. I never decide to stay longer. An hour and fifteen minutes is long enough.

We felt a little guilty about not giving Dot a proper party yesterday, so I went out and got each dog a skinless, boneless chicken breast and some Pupcakes from Sprinkles. Dot's favorite activity is eating, so I think she enjoyed our little celebration. She eats so slowly now that for the first time ever she didn't devour her cupcake in a single bite. She actually seemed to savor the treat, taking several minutes to consume it.

I need to go renew the lease on my storage warehouse tomorrow. Maybe this will be the year when I finally start to do some serious downsizing. I could start a museum with the stuff in this warehouse. It wouldn't be a very good museum, but there are definitely things you don't see everyday. I also need to take Dot back to the vet to get her blood work done. This was supposed to be done last Friday at the cancer center, but since Dot's oncologist is gone until October, our schedule is completely messed up there now. I'll need to get the tests done at another vet. I think it's going to be a busy week, but it's hard to tell sometimes. The difference between staying busy and doing nothing at all is often arbitrary and a bit fuzzy.

Where did this Summer go? It's almost Labor Day already. It won't be long before I start wondering whether the furnace still works and spend hours clearing bushels of pecans off the roof. I"m looking forward to Fall. Too bad it only lasts about two weeks.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1356 - Dot's Birthday

We don't actually know when our dogs were born, or how old they are. We celebrate their birthday on the day we adopted them, or if that doesn't work out, on the first weekend after their adoption day. By this convoluted logic, Dot's birthday is today. I think we actually adopted Dot on August 27, but this was the first day where there was time for a party.

Since the only gift a dog really appreciates is food, we wrapped up an assortment of dog biscuits and got a couple more doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. The dog treats were greatly appreciated, but we could have skipped today's trip to the dog park. It was simply too hot. The dogs walked around the park once, sat under a tree for a while, drank some water, and then we came home again. It was 106 degrees today.

I spent longer waiting in line at Sprinkles for the cupcakes than I did at the dog park this morning, but that's the way it goes on a hot day in Dallas. I guess when there's nothing better to do, you eat cupcakes. When I was waiting in line, I noticed the store was selling frosting without the cupcake. Strange. People were ordering the little cups of frosting and consuming them like shots of Tequila.  I've decided that the Sprinkles store is God's gift to the dentists of Dallas.

I finally got tired of seeing the Low Coolant light come on every time I started the Evoque, so I decided to fix the problem myself. I downloaded an Evoque owner's manual off the Internet and located the coolant overflow tank. I topped up the tank with the distilled water I use in the coffeemaker and started the engine. The low coolant warning doesn't appear anymore. Problem solved.

When we were taking our evening walk, a group of kids approached us and asked if they could take their picture with Dot and Dash. They said their school was producing The 101 Dalmatians Musical as their class play and wanted to use Dot and Dash in their promotional pictures. Sure, why not. I didn't mention that Dot and Dash had actually met the cast of the Broadway production and even got to meet Rachel York when she was playing the Cruella DeVil role in the show. The dogs get around, but they're not name droppers.

Sp[ot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 621

On the way home from the dog park, we stopped by Sprinkles again to get some cupcakes for Dot's party. They make dog cupcakes there, but really it's just an excuse to get some for ourselves. Janet seems to think that Dot's birthday is really today anyway. Maybe she's right. I'm terrible with dates. I just looked on the blog from last year and we celebrated her birthday on the 27th then, so I assumed it would be the same this year. Dot's real birthday may be Feburary 4 for all I know. When you rescue a stray, you never really know how old they are or when they were actually born. Most people just make the day they adopt their dog the pet's birthday from that day forward. I don't think Dot or Dash particularly care when they were born. They just wanted a bit of the steak we had for dinner and of course, their special Sprinkles dog cupcake. I think the party was a success.

Earlier in the day we got a call from our vet about some stray puppies that had been found in the park. The pups had spots, so the people who found them thought they might be Dalmatians. The dogs were heartbreakingly thin and looked like they had the mange. The two puppies definitely weren't all Dalmatian, but they were adorable. We see situations like this all the time and it is terribly sad. Who would just dump little puppies like this? One way or another these pups will get healthy again and find good homes. Probably next week there will be another story just like it however. I'm sure there are hundreds of stories just like this all over the country today.

I finished the day by mowing the grass, which was probably a mistake. It was still well above 100 degrees today. It's weird listening to all the reports about the hurricane on the East Coast. You wonder why they get all that rain and we get none? Even though we continue to water, the grass in our back yard has given up the fight. The yard that looked so great in May looks terrible again. I went to Home Depot this afternoon and got some Fescue grass in hopes that I could reseed the dead spots. It's probably hopeless though. I bet I'll be putting in a brand new turf again next Spring. There is just too much shade in the back yard for grass to grow properly.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 426 - Valentine's Day

I got an assortment of pink muslin backdrops, support poles, tripods and sparkly cardboard hearts put back in the storage warehouse until we need them again for our next photo event. Since I was already out and about, I decided to stop by Sprinkles and pick up some cupcakes for Valentine's Day. The store would have been empty if it weren't for the hundreds of other men standing in line ahead of me, doing last minute Valentine's shopping just like I was. The line snaked halfway around the block and once you were inside the store, there was a whole new line of people waiting to get up to the counter to pick up their cupcakes. I picked out what I wanted when I got inside the store and by the time someone was ready to take my order, my cupcake picks were all gone. I don't know what the fascination is with these overpriced pastries, but I bet this store is making a huge profit. At any rate, I picked out some alternate flavors, including two little dog cupcakes for Dot and Dash and was on my way.

The mail was full of interesting surprises today. I got a little card swiping gizmo that lets me accept credit card payments with my iPhone. Does anyone actually want to use their credit card to pay me? Not that I know of. Hey, if anybody ever does get a strong desire to send me money with their credit card though, I'll be ready.

My latest website project passed another approval hurdle today. With any luck, we'll launch the site by the end of the week. This means it's about time to start looking for new business again. I've got to make a special effort to get out and mingle more this year. Just about everybody I know is a client now. That's not saying much though. I don't know that many people.

Dalmatian of the Day

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