Day 1836 - Christmas Day

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas. We slept in late and probably would have slept even later if the dogs hadn't insisted on their morning walk. The skies were clear for a change and the park was virtually empty. Even the joggers and cyclists were home this morning. There were plenty of ducks and squirrels though, so Dot and Dash had a great time. Dot seemed stronger and more active today, so maybe the Rimadyl is working.

We had a nice leisurely breakfast when we got home and then we the took the dogs to the dog park. This used to be a Christmas tradition, but for a variety of reasons we haven't been able to go for several years. Last year, Janet was out of town visiting relatives and the year before we had terrible weather. Today was beautiful though and both dogs were eager for an outing. I wish the traffic was always as light as it is on Christmas Day in Dallas. It seems to be the one day each year where most of the stores close. Merchants seem to ignore Thanksgiving and Easter now, but Christmas still seems to be a day of rest. Driving through the virtually empty streets, I realized that I would enjoy living in a big city a lot more if there weren't any people.

The dog park was fairly empty too. Only die hard dogs enthusiasts make going to a dog park a priority on Christmas morning. Dot and Dash enjoyed mingling with the eight or ten other dogs in the park until a guy arrived with a pit bull who was a bit too aggressive for our taste. I've got nothing against pit bulls or any other breed, but I'm always a bit wary of powerful, poorly trained dogs who aren't well supervised by their owners. Things can escalate quickly when the owner isn't in control. This guy wasn't paying attention to his dog at all and kept telling people to slap it on the butt if it was bothering them. The dog was way too interested in Dot and was getting aggressive, so we left early and went home. I wish there was a way to keep people from bringing unruly and aggressive dogs to public dogs parks, but for the most part, these place operate on the honor system. You take your chances and just hope that all the other people in the park with you are nice.

When we got home again, the house was quickly filled with delicious smells as Janet began to prepare Christmas dinner. The dogs both took a nap near the kitchen, so they would be nearby in case scraps of food fell on the floor. Since it was a nice day, I went up on the roof and removed several weeks of rain water and leaves. It's been windy lately, so most of the leaves are gone from the trees by now. From now through Spring the troublesome roof should be a bit easier to manage.

Dinner was a delicious feast. The dogs got a boiled chicken breast as a Christmas treat, while Janet and I enjoyed a crown roast of pork with traditional holiday side dishes of sweet potatoes, dressing, and noodle kugel. There was even a fresh pumpkin pie for dessert. Opening our gifts was almost an afterthought. We have everything we need these days, so the day is mostly about relaxing and enjoying some time with the dogs.

Tomorrow, it's back to work for both of us. Even though it was Christmas Day, I still remembered to take the trash out to the curb this evening. You never want to forget about trash day.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1617

Today wasn't bad at all. My photo shoot went well. I never really know what to expect when I'm photographing animals, but these guys had my back. The images were in focus, cute, and won't require a lot of work in Photoshop. I always consider my day a success when a re-shoot won't be required.

Dot had a fabulous physical therapy session. It's hard to believe that little more than a year ago, she was having terrible seizures and her rear legs were so weak that she was having trouble walking. She's still an old dog, but she's an old dog with a lot more energy and visibly less pain. I can't attribute Dot's remarkable transformation entirely to acupuncture and water therapy, but I know they have helped. The water therapy has dramatically slowed down the atrophy in her leg muscles and the acupuncture has reduced a lot of the tension in her back and leaves her feeling much more relaxed. Did the acupuncture have something to do with eliminating Dot's seizures?  I'll probably never know for sure. I do know that since we've added underwater treadmill workouts and acupuncture to Dot's regular routine, she has become a healthier and happier dog. That's enough to make me a believer.

When we were taking our evening walk, I noticed three helicopters hovering overhead, two fire department rescue boats on the water, several fire trucks, and an ambulance. I thought somebody's sailboat had capsized again, but when I got home and turned on the news to see what had happened, I discovered that a guy had jumped off a bridge and apparently drowned. It was weird that after two hours of searching, nobody could find the guy. The news anchor covering the story said that two people saw the guy jump and immediately tried to save him. One swimmer almost reached the guy before he disappeared from view. The lake isn't that big or that deep. You'd think the guy would be easy to find if the rescue folks already knew exactly where he hit the water. It's sad that events like this have become so commonplace. Years used to go by without any sort of mishap in the park. Now, these drowning incidents seems like an almost weekly occurrence.

I'm going to have to make going to the dentist a higher priority. One of my rear molars is starting to hurt and I'm starting to worry that I might need a root canal. As many of you probably already know, I have an irrational fear of going to the dentist. I don't even like to take the dogs to the dentist, although I know it is very important. I eventually do the right thing. Dash had his teeth cleaned earlier this year and Dot has her dental appointment scheduled for next week. Yes, I know. I should probably schedule my own dental appointment as well.

I'm scared of taking the dogs to the dentist because I had a friend once who had a dog who died after a routine dental exam. I trust my vet, but I still worry. My own worries are different. Every time I go to the dentist, they want to take out my wisdom teeth. I've seen how deep the roots are on x-rays. Removing these wisdom teeth seems like major surgery. I always tell the dentist that I've had these teeth my entire life and they don't bother me. My dentist always responds by telling me that the wisdom teeth are slowly pushing all my other teeth out of place and that if I do nothing, I'll regret it later. I'm sure the dentist is right, but this does absolutely nothing to alleviate my irrational fears.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. I've got a lot of projects in the development stages, but no looming deadlines at the moment. It's hard to get me motivated without a deadline.  I've never missed a deadline, but I don't finish many things early either. You'd think there would be a few things that I'd actually look forward to doing for the shear joy of it all. What would those magical activities be? I guess they'd be like sleeping, eating breakfast, or walking the dogs on a nice day. I do enjoy those three things.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day