I Woke Up Looking Like This

The usual weekend routine is get up, feed the dogs, drink a cup of coffee . . . after I’m up for an hour or so, I throw on some clothes and walk the dogs . . . no make-up, don’t even comb my hair most of the time . . . no wonder I get funny looks when I run into people . . . but we’re normally out between 8 and 9 in the morning so we don’t see too many people.

Today was a little different in that we didn’t leave the house until after 10.  What can I say . . . I was moving slow this morning . . . no biggie . . . a few people out but nothing out of the ordinary . . . until we cross the school playground and I noticed a car that did a u-turn to come toward us . . . and then I realized it was my ex-husband and his new wife.  The dogs were excited to see him . . . and I was happy for that . . . and then I realized that I’m wearing an old and horribly wrinkled t-shirt, have on no make-up and I didn’t comb my hair before I left the house . . .

A little background . . . ex-hubby lives less than 5 miles from me but he is rarely in my neighborhood and I’m rarely in his . . . he was in the neighborhood at a yard sale and just happened to be driving by as I was out with the dogs . . . he didn’t recognize me but he did recognize the dogs . . .

I can only imagine the conversation that took place in that car as they drove away . . .

 

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I’m Not Ready . . .

This is about the dogs . . . no, there isn’t a health crisis or anything to worry about . . . they are fine . . . each of them got a clean bill of health at their annual check-up . . . and I heard the “as they get older . . .” speech from Lovely Vet . . . and in my mind I’m screaming “they’re just puppies!!!”

But they aren’t anymore . . . Rocky is 8 and Millie is 7 . . . according to Lovely Vet that classifies them as “senior citizens” in the dog world.  Rocky came to live with us in February 2009 – he was just shy of four months old.  Millie came to live with us in April 2010 – she was about 8 months old.  They were babies when they entered my life and, for some odd reason, I still think of them as puppies . . .

Millie has a touch of arthritis in her front legs and is getting some gray on her muzzle.  She has gray eyebrows and a lot of gray hair on her belly.  Other than that she’s still as active as a puppy.

Rocky is just generally slowing down.  Getting pickier about what he eats, slower to get up in the morning, sleeping a little more soundly and harder to wake up sometimes.  But let the dogs next door start barking, a cat cross his path, or a squirrel make a dash across the yard and he takes off like a puppy.

They were with me during the last months of my marriage to XH.  They were by my side when I was learning how to be a single woman for the first time ever in my life.  They happily embraced Prince Charming when he came to live with us.  They were the reason I got out of bed a lot of the time after Prince Charming died.  They have been the one constant in my life over the past 7 years . . . and I can’t imagine my life without them.

But . . . but . . . but . . . I know that day is going to come . . . and with them being so close in age and so attached to each other it’s entirely possible that I might lose them both at about the same time . . . something I can’t bear to think about . . . .

But today is not that day.  Today they are chasing the birds, meeting the new puppy that lives behind us, introducing themselves to the new kittens that live next door (long story involving Lovely Neighbor Mike and his feral cat).  But in the back of my mind I know that I need to think about this . . . and I do my Scarlett O’Hara impression . . .  I’ll think about that tomorrow, for tomorrow is another day . . .

Random Thoughts

I’m trying to get back into the blog posting thing . . . but I don’t really have enough for a post on a single topic . . . so we have random thoughts . . . .

I usually feel guilty when I walk the dogs early in the morning and we make all the neighborhood dogs bark.  Not this weekend though!  The neighbors have been setting off fireworks for the last few days and scaring the crap out of Rocky.  I figure that making the dogs bark before 9 am is suitable payback for the anxiety they are causing Rocky.

I really dislike fireworks – only because it upsets Rocky so much – so last night I hoped for rain to dampen the commotion in the neighborhood.  Only to have a thunderstorm with thunder and lightning.  Guess I better watch what I wish for, huh?

Millie pooped in the yard of the grumpy lady that complained about Rocky peeing on her dead flowers.  Considering how upset she got over a little pee, I figured she’d go ballistic over poop in her yard.  I don’t think I have ever cleaned up poop so fast in my life.

Apparently the parking lot of the elementary school at the end of my street is the “weekend party place” . . . I’m never surprised at the number of empty beer cans and liquor bottles I find on Saturday and Sunday morning.

I’ve been reading the articles about how you can tell when it’s too hot to walk the dogs, the damage that walking on hot concrete/asphalt can do to a dog’s paws.  One article said, if it’s too hot for your bare feet, then it’s too hot for the dogs.  I adjust our walking schedule accordingly so I don’t hurt Rocky’s and Millie’s feet and I’m patting myself on the back for being such a good dog mommy.  But Rocky loves to sun himself on the deck and sometimes that part of the deck is too hot for me to walk across barefoot.  Should I feel like a bad dog mommy for letting him sun himself like that?  He doesn’t stay out there very long before he decides he needs to come in for some AC.

Happy Saturday

 

Four Months

It’s been four months since I’ve posted anything . . . oh dear . . .

The website here has changed a bit since my last visit . . . that’s what I get for being gone so long, huh?

Life is good . . . dogs are good . . . summer hours started a few weeks ago . . . I’ve got a 5 day mini vacation coming up because of the wonderful July 4 holiday . . .

I might have to write an actual post during that time . . .

 

 

Adult Distraction Syndrome

Definition:  When you start one project but get distracted by another project . . . before you know it, you’ve spent the whole morning outside and didn’t accomplish your original project.

 

Original project – final measurements for the “buy the downspout” project.

 

What actually happened . . .

I step out onto the patio and discover the bird feeder is empty so I fill the bird feeder

After shutting the door to the garage and walking back to the house I decide to do “poop patrol” and pick up the poop that accumulated since yesterday.

But before I get the supplies I need for “poop patrol” I decide to do some weeding in the flower bed in front of the garage.  What do you know?  The ground is soft enough that the weeds come out easily.  I weed for a bit and realize I’m supposed to be doing something else.

I get the measurements I need and notice that there’s a lot of lint on the ground in front of the dryer vent.  I should probably check that out.  Prince Charming was a stickler for cleaning out the dryer vent at least once every year . . . I’m not as dedicated as he was . . . I have no idea the last time I cleaned the dryer vent.

Cleaning the dryer vent involves walking around the house because we only have one gate in the front of the house.  Walking around the house means walking past the flower bed that used to have the English Ivy in it.  One of my dear neighbors sprayed the English Ivy with weed killer for me last year and killed all the ivy.  I managed to get most of it out of the ground but there are still some stubborn pieces that need to come out.  I wondered if the ground was soft enough for that to come out easily too.  So I stopped and tugged on a few of the stubborn pieces.  Sure enough, they came right out!!  After a few minutes I realized I was supposed to be doing something else . . . and went to check the dryer vent.

The dryer vent was mostly clear and I picked up the a good bit of the lint that was on the ground.  It was about this time that I had the realization that the crap the birds have strung all over the yard was lint from the dryer vent.  Dang messy birds!!  And I realized that I needed to check the dryer tube thing that runs from the back of the dryer to the dryer vent to make sure it wasn’t clogged.  Which meant walking back around the house and going to the basement.

I go to the basement and take apart the dryer tube thing and clean it out as much as I can.  It doesn’t look too bad  I even check where the tube thing goes into the dryer and get that lint out too.  Prince Charming would be so proud of me.  It’s a little cramped in the space between the dryer and the washer and I’m kind of claustrophobic so I don’t dawdle too much with this task.

So I’ve got all this stuff done. . . none of them on my To Do list for today.  It’s now noon, I haven’t had a shower yet, and I will need lunch before I go shopping.  My plan was to be done with shopping at the hardware store by noon.  And I wonder why my days off are never very productive.

Conversations With Rocky & Millie

I’m a single girl.  I live alone with two large dogs.  Some of the conversations I have with them are pretty funny.

Yes I’ve actually said all of these things to them on a pretty regular basis.

What are you doing?

You aren’t helping.

I’m not going anywhere without you (when they follow me into the bathroom because they think I’ll sneak out and go walking without them.)

Come back here.

You need to move.

Do you have to poop on a hill?

What are you eating?

You can’t eat that!

Don’t eat that!

Don’t let him pee on you!

Don’t pee on your sister!

You have to wait.  Bubba has to poo

You have to wait.  Sissy has to poo

We aren’t going that way (when they smell something interesting in the area we just passed).

Watch your head (when they aren’t paying attention and about to run into something)

Wait, wait (when we are waiting to cross the street)

Wait, there’s a car (when Millie thinks we’ve waited long enough and she wants to go.)

Careful (when its slick and I need them to stay close to my side)

You have to wait for him to finish (once Rocky walks away from his food dish, anything he leaves is fair game for her.)

That belongs to him!

My finger is in there.

Do not make me put on my shoes and come out there! (Usually when they are out in the yard barking and they won’t come when I call their names.  Last time this happened was a couple of weeks ago . . . there was a possum in the alley playing possum.)

Make up your mind you’re letting out the hot (winter)/cold (summer).  (After Rocky scratches at the back door and wants in but hesitates when I actually open the door to let him in.)

And everyone worries that I’m lonely living here in The Little House all by myself . . .

 

Hachiko

Hachiko, was an Akita dog that belonged to a professor at the University of Tokyo. Every day he would meet his master at Shibuya Station until one day in 1925 when the professor never returned. Unbeknownst to Hachiko, his master had suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage and would never come home again.

Over the years, I’ve heard the story of Hachiko and thought it was wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time.  The poor dog never understood why his human never returned . . . and spent his life waiting for him . . .

After Prince Charming died, I saw a real life example of the devotion that Hachiko showed for his human . . . Rocky never understood why Prince Charming never came home.  He sat at the door that first night waiting for the car to pull up in front of the house and Prince Charming to come and “rassle” with him.  When I finally went to bed that night, Rocky sat at the top of the stairs sure that Prince Charming would be home shortly and he didn’t want to miss him.  It shattered my already broken my heart.

It went on for a many weeks after the funeral, Rocky would walk through the house wondering where Prince Charming could be.  He’d sit at the front door, or outside at the gate, waiting for the car to pull up in front of the house.  He’d sit at the top of the stairs every night and rush down them first thing in the morning expecting to find Prince Charming at his seat at the kitchen table.  Every time it happened it shattered my already broken heart.

After a while, Rocky’s vigils got fewer and farther between.  I would find him occasionally sitting at the gate or at the front door just looking at nothing in particular.  Or sitting at the top of the stairs when I would say good night to him and tell him I’m going to bed.  Each time it happened it shattered my broken but somewhat healing heart . . .

Fast forward to this weekend . . . for some reason Rocky has started his vigil again.  And it’s breaking my broken but somewhat healing heart.

I guess I’ve gotten used to the hole in my heart and my life from where Prince Charming should be.  It’s usually when someone else tells me how much they miss him and the big hole in their heart and life his death has left that I totally fall to pieces.  But when Prince Charming’s beloved Rock Lobster (his nickname for Rocky) shows me that he misses Prince Charming, too, it turns me into a puddle of snot.  And I can’t really do that because it upsets Millie to see me cry so much . . . it’s just a damn vicious circle.

I think the people who told me that this gets easier over time lied to me.  This shit never gets any easier because it jumps out of left field and strangles the shit out of you.