Day 3257

I was in a pretty good mood today until I went on the roof. What a mess. I haven't been up on the roof for over a month. It was covered with wet, soggy leaves. The leaves sopped up some of the standing water from recent rains, but this didn't help matters much. Wet leaves are much heavier than dry leaves and are difficult to remove. I've been avoiding this task because it is so pointless at this time of year. Many leaves have already dropped from the Oak and Elm trees in the back yard, but many more are still on the trees. All it will take is one windy day to put me right back where I started.

After I cleared the leaves and standing water from the roof, I looked for the source of the leak. I couldn't find anything. The repairs the roofers made this Summer still looked pretty good. The water is coming from somewhere though. I wonder how long it will take me to get the roofers back again? I'm probably not their favorite person right now.

With the grass mowed and the leaves off the roof, I hope I can forget about outdoor chores for a while. I just don't have the energy for this stuff anymore. Just climbing up on the roof is a chore. I don't use a ladder, since there are decorative indentations in the brick walls. It's kind of like rock climbing to get up there, but it's hard on the shoulders these days. I need to remember that I injured myself rock climbing back in college. It's a tiny climb to reach the roof, but it would still be a nasty fall if I slipped.

Dash was in good spirits this morning and wanted to walk down by the shoreline again. I'm amazed at how much energy he has sometimes. These longer walks are murder on his protective boots, but that's OK. We've ordered more. I still have no idea why some days are better than others with Dash. He slept well last night and managed to make it outside to poop. Knock on wood, but so far today there has been no poop in the house at all.

My grocery list was small this week. I kept thinking I was forgetting something, but all I came home with was fresh fruit for my breakfast smoothie. It seems weird that I'm gaining weight because I'm really not eating that much. I should probably eat less, since dog walks can no longer be considered exercise. Dash walks so slowly now that the walk sometimes doesn't even show up as activity on my Fitbit.

I'd be out in California now if NASA had selected me to write about the Mars landing. It's just as well that things worked out as they did. Even though Janet has retired, I don't feel comfortable about leaving Dash for several days. The trip would have been expensive and with a monster snow storm brewing in other parts of the country there is a good chance that flights could be disrupted early next week. OK. I know I'm just making excuses. Some day, I'll resume participating in these NASA social   media opportunities. For the time being, I can still watch the Insight landing on my computer.

I definitely need to go to the gym tomorrow. It will probably take more than one trip to completely erase Thanksgiving dinner, but I've got to start somewhere. Dinner was delicious, but I've felt sluggish all day. I thought removing the leaves from the roof would provide all the exercise I needed. I guess I was wrong.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2543

I was a little better organized today. I tried to get as much done as I could while the dogs were asleep. Once they woke up, I knew it was going to be a lost cause. It was a nice day, so I got up on the roof and removed all the standing water. This is the worst time of year for keeping the roof dry. The large Oak, Elm, and Pecan trees in the yard are all shedding leaves. Wet leaves are heavy and a lot more trouble to move than dry leaves. The roof was covered with water and wet, soggy leaves, but unfortunately there are still a lot of leaves left on the trees. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to do this again.

Since the dogs were still sleeping when I returned to the house, so I moved on to my next task. I needed to replace a lot of pictures on a website, but since the client had already resized them for me, the job went quickly. I was done before noon. I checked on the dogs again and Dot was still sleeping soundly, so I took a shower. Dot often poops in her bed while I take a shower, and today was no exception. Luckily, she was still asleep and laying on a disposable pad, so I was able to clean things up easily. This is when my luck ran out.

Dash woke up while I was cleaning Dot up and immediately ran to the kitchen and started barking for his lunch. I lifted Dot up so she could join him, but I forgot to immediately take her outside to pee. Both dogs have a rice cake for lunch. It's not really a meal like breakfast or dinner, but it keeps them from getting bored. While Dot was eating her rice cake, she started to pee on a rug. Damn. I should have remembered the correct sequence of things. Everything is so complicated now. I have to cut the rice cake into tiny pieces because Dot has trouble chewing now and almost choked on a larger bite of rice cake recently.

After the dogs finish their lunch, I take them outside and then they typically used to go back to sleep again. Not anymore. Dot is restless in the afternoons now. She paces around and wants me to take her outside every ten minutes. If I ignore her, she barks. I can't ignore her for very long. Even if she manages to get out of her bed on her own, she quickly falls or manages to get stuck in a corner.

When I could tell Dot was getting tired, I penned her in an area where she couldn't hurt herself and went to the vegan take out place to pick up something for dinner. I was looking forward to the meal they had featured on their website, but it was all gone when I got there, so I had to choose something else. I've discovered that I don't like all vegetarian meals. Some are definitely better than others. I picked out something new that looked interesting and returned home, hoping that Dot hadn't pooped again.

Dot's bed was clean when I returned home, but the day wasn't over yet. She ended up pooping and falling in the mess while I was getting Dash ready for his evening walk. I was hoping for a relaxing walk after I got Dot cleaned up and started washing another load of dog blankets, but Dash wasn't being cooperative. We were almost home when he froze and refused to move forward. Nothing I could do would convince him to walk up the final hill that completed out journey. Finally, I gave up and we backtracked and returned home the way we came. This behavior seemed insane, but I'll give Dash the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he could smell coyotes. There are coyotes in the neighborhood again. One more thing to worry about.

By the time Janet returned from work, both dogs were exhausted and were sleeping peacefully. This is what usually happens. Janet never believes the trials and tribulations I deal with during the day.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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