Day 4497 - Easter

We had a very pleasant Easter. It was so peaceful and quiet when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. There was no traffic noise, no planes overhead, and no police or fire sirens. There were very few people in the park and it felt like I remembered it years ago. Of course that would change dramatically later in the day, but for a brief moment in time all was good.

We had a hearty weekend breakfast after we walked Dawn and afterwards since the weather was cool and traffic was light on our street, I thought I'd try to mow the lawn. It's still a loathsome job, but I did it. It actually didn't seem any harder than it did the previous year, so that was encouraging. I'm glad I mowed when I did. The grass was starting to get thick. On most days I hate mowing where our yard meets the street. The traffic has gotten much, much worse during the thirty odd years we've lived here. People don't even slow down when they pass me mowing along the edge of the yard. They barrel by at 40 to 50 miles an hour. I miss the days when our street was relatively quiet.

After I finished mowing and rested a bit, it was time for Dawn's Sunday outing. The weather was still cool and cloudy, so we had a nice walk. The parks weren't quite so empty this time. Families were starting to arrive for Easter picnics and barbecues. A few children were having an egg hunt. We encountered some people on horseback during our walk. Dawn doesn't react to horses the way some of our other dogs have. She pretty much ignores them. After walking about a mile and a half, we went looking for ice cream. I really expected the ice cream place to be closed for Easter, but we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the place was open. They raised their prices again. The cones weren't any bigger though. So it goes. Absolutely everything is getting more expensive these days.

I don't know why I still felt like taking a long walk later in the afternoon. Probably because I couldn't think of anything better to do. This time the park was a zoo. The place was completely filled with families having large picnics. Many groups brought tables and chairs with them. Some set up tents as well. I was surprised at how many families brought their own barbecue grills since there are already lots of permanent grills in the park. There were lots of games for children. One group even set up an elaborate zip line between two trees for their kids to ride. It looked like everyone was having fun. I'm not a fan of crowds in the park, but it was hard to find fault with any of this. In today's increasingly weird world, it was nice to see families acting like regular normal families.

When I finished my third walk of the day I'll have to admit that I was tired. Hey, I got 22,000 steps though and I mowed the yard. Not bad for an old guy with bad feet. I doubt that I'll walk nearly as far tomorrow. The highlight of our day was Easter dinner. A smoked ham has become a tradition on Easter Sunday. You've got to have candied yams and a green bean casserole too. We finished our meal with a delicious carrot cake. I ate too much, but that's what holiday meals are for. It looks like we'll have plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow it's time to visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I hope potential adopters are looking at these dogs. They're all great and it's time for each of them to find their forever homes.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2201 - Christmas Day

We had a pleasant day. It was unusually warm for Christmas Day, but that's Texas for you. The warm weather was fine by me, because it made it much easier to walk the dogs. As far as Christmas activities go, that's about all we did. Dot and Dash got two nice walks and then slept for the rest of the day while Janet cooked a Christmas dinner and I cleaned up around the house. With eggs and bacon for breakfast and a big traditional Christmas dinner, I feel like I've had a week's worth of food in a single day.

Dot and Dash have always enjoyed unwrapping presents. They are convinced that every package is for them and seem genuinely disappointed if it doesn't contain something they can eat. We give them a taste of each of their food gifts and then put them away. If they had their way, they would eat everything at once and make themselves sick. It's fun to watch them get so excited over a simple bag of dog treats or a piece of cheese. Dash got a little too excited. Once he started barking, it took him about thirty minutes to calm down.

I was surprised at how many people were out in the park today. Maybe taking a walk after your Christmas meal is a thing to do now. At any rate, there were entire families walking on the trails and plenty of other dogs. One dog got loose and came running over to Dash. Luckily, it was a friendly dog and no harm was done. I do wish people would keep better control of their pets, however. This happens far too often.

I couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to get on the Internet to write the blog tonight. Nothing was wrong as far as I could tell, but everything was impossible slow. It finally dawned on me that the fancy U-verse connection just didn't have enough bandwidth. Janet was talking to her niece on the phone. I was taping the Dr. Who Christmas Special on one TV while a Hallmark movie was playing on another TV in the kitchen. There just wasn't enough bandwidth left over for me.  I wasn't going to let this stop me however. I fired up the little T-Mobile WiFi hotspot and kept on writing.

Our holidays have become very quiet and stress free. It's surprising how enjoyable doing nothing can be. We didn't go to a Christmas movie. We didn't visit family. We didn't do much of anything. Janet cooked and went to the gym. I cleaned and fiddled around with the dehumidifier. I thought the thing was broken for a while, but apparently cooking a big meal raises the humidity a lot. Now, everything is back to normal again. My favorite Christmas gift was a pair of soft grey fleece running pants with Dalmatians printed on the fabric. These pants will make your average ugly Christmas sweater look tame by comparison. To each his own. Hey, the pants are very comfortable and will probably become my new around the house uniform.

We slept in until after 7 AM this morning. Janet, Dash and I could have slept longer, but Dot couldn't. We all had to get up when she pooped in her bed. She had another accident in the kitchen while Janet was cooking Christmas dinner. We didn't let this slow us down a bit. I took the big rug outside and hosed it down. The little rug went in the washing machine. This is life with a very old dog. We are just happy that she is still here to share this special day with us. Getting to spend another Christmas with both dogs was the best Christmas gift of all.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2018

Today went well. We managed to get up early enough to give the dogs a nice walk just before sunrise when the air was still cool. Dot was surprisingly strong, so we let her go the full distance, even though it was her physical therapy day. There was time for a leisurely breakfast and I was still able to get all my work done before Dot and I headed downtown for her regular Thursday vet appointment.

Dot surprised me again in the underwater treadmill.  She went the full fifteen minutes today, and didn't falter or stumble at all. Everyone was amazed at her continued strength and resilience. She did poop in the vet's lobby, but we'll overlook that. Whenever Dot barks these days, something comes out the other end. I need to get one of those "Shit Happens" bumper stickers you used to see all the time in the 60's and 70's. It pretty well sums up my life these days.

I'm going to have to start watering the lawn again. The ground is drying out surprisingly fast, considering all the rain we've had recently. In less than a week the park has gone from a boggy marsh to a dry prairie. It could always rain again tomorrow, but I have a feeling that Summer is here for good. There's something about the weather in Texas that make me always wish it was a different season. In the Winter I wish it was Summer and in the Summer I wish it was Winter. Maybe it's just me. When it comes to weather, I'm very hard to please.

I'm going to try to get the screen door fixed tomorrow. It's just about dry enough to spray the yard with the pet friendly mosquito retardant we got recently too. This stuff probably won't work, but it's worth a try. With any luck, I'll have time to do both. I'm pretty well caught up with work again. The only important event on tomorrow's schedule is taking Dot to the cancer center for blood work. She's only been taking the Palladia pills for a week now, but it's important to determine whether the drug is adversely affecting her liver or red blood cell count. So far, I haven't noticed any obvious side effects, so I'm really hoping that tomorrow's tests will show she is able to tolerate the drug. Since surgery isn't an option, Palladia is probably the only thing we've got left that has a reasonable chance of shrinking the tumor or slowing down the cancer's advance.

This week went quickly. I've already taken the trash out to the curb for the noisy early morning garbage trucks to pick up and I'm looking forward to going out for breakfast again. Even though my favorite restaurant raised their prices recently, my special Friday breakfasts are still one of the few things left that I consider a bargain.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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