Long Term Commitment

Inspirational song: The Year of the Cat (Al Stewart)

Poor Alfred had no idea what was in store for him today. Neither did my bank account. I was just planning on taking him in for his annual and vaccine boosters. Figured that would be it for another year. Nope. When I dropped him off, they tried really hard to sell me on their comprehensive coverage package. I resisted, saying thanks, Athena already used up the discretionary cat budget for the year. Then they came back out with cell phone pics of how bad two of his molars are. Suddenly the package that includes a dental cleaning and unlimited follow-up visits made sense. Fine, here, take my credit card. Big bunny boy gets to have his teeth shiny and clean, just like Athena. I just have to persuade him that he isn't being tortured when the carrier comes out again in a few weeks for the next appointment.

I fought it as hard as I could. I wanted my first deal back in business to close on time. But no, there was one hurdle that tripped us up. We had to delay closing by a day. And while we waited to send the extension contract to the seller, we had another panic. Buyer and I had been saying just last week that it was going too smoothly, and we were afraid of the other shoe to drop. Man, it dropped on both of us this past weekend. Can it roll off now, so we can close Wednesday?

This now means that I have to wait until the weekend to get the new puppy. I already let them know it will be Saturday. I am disappointed with the delay, but it means I can get one thing I failed to acquire: a bed for her in the living room. She will need a space to be near family when she isn't in training or in crate. If I get a good deal on them, I might get two, to prepare for the future when the crate goes away.

No Win

Inspirational song: I'm Tired (Blazing Saddles)

Yesterday I was tired. I was stressed and sore and I had had it. That feeling seems like a hazy, happy dream compared to how tired I am now. Grumpus lived up to her nickname. She was fussy and needy, and I had to work to give her all the attention she craved. Sitting with her on the floor did my old bones in. She fought her naps with the strength of a thousand oxen.

I imagined I would take a nap once she went home. I was wrong. I had only gotten started by that point. I had dinner to make, dishes to wash, stairs to climb, things to carry. And then, once I thought I was really worn out, I remembered that I needed to change the sheets on the bed. (I woke in the wee hours to the sound of Athena barfing next to my shoulder.) I spun the mattresses around, to keep them from spending too much time compressed in the same places. (I don't have enough experience with memory foam to know how often to do this, so I err on the side of more frequently.) 

So here I am, too tired and sore to sleep. Too tired and sore to stay awake. But at least a lot of deferred maintenance around here is done. I can comfort myself in that while I lie awake.

Babies and Puppies

Inspirational song: Mama Can You See Me Now (Sarah McGuinness)

Can't lie, this is one of those times when all day of babysitting wore me the heck out. My brain is mush, and my body isn't faring any better. At the end of a long day, I'm sitting on my daughter's couch, while she holds the sacked-out baby, and my husband plays Portal on the giant TV in front of us. There will be no clever wordplay tonight. 

I finally got brave enough to let the people at the ranch know about Saoirse's Twitter page, and I was immediately gifted with new puppy photos for it. Glad I spoke up. These pictures were some of her best work (and she immodestly said so when she tweeted them.)

Rabbit Holes

Inspirational song: Garden of Rememberance (Fish)

I'm trapped in YouTube, and I have no intention of crawling back out anytime soon. I saw a link to a new video by one of my sentimental favorite singers, who was the original lead singer to the band I use for my inspiration frequently (Fish and Marillion, respectively). He has announced his retirement, and is providing one last album as a farewell. I had seen one video for Weltschmerz, that was released about five months ago. Then Garden of Remembrance came out several weeks ago. An hour ago, the link I found was to This Party's Over. What an appropriate was to close out a career.

Then I got stuck on a "making of" video for GoR, and it was just amazing. The daughter of his illustrator (the artist who did every album and single cover for Fish's entire 40 year career) was one of the creators of the video, and I found myself fascinated by the interaction and mutual respect. 

I've had a super stressful day, pushing myself to do administrative tasks that are outside of my comfort zone. As predicted, my real estate deal was going too smoothly, and right at the last minute threw a spanner in the works. Nothing is actually wrong, unless the final underwriting goes pear-shaped. It shouldn't. Absolutely nothing has changed. They are just making us sweat for the sheer sadistic thrill of it. I needed a good distraction, and Fish's music has always had a magical calming effect on me, since I was an easily-stressed 17 year old. I intend to immerse myself in the music that heals me.

Final Approach

Inspirational song: My Eyes Adored You (Frankie Valli)

The matriarch of the alpaca ranch has been taking a lot of pictures of puppies. Most of the ones she has posted on the Tenacious Unicorn feed are of the pups who are staying on the ranch. But today she graced me with a couple of new ones of Saoirse. She is still pretty small, compared to her parents, visible in some of the pictures. I am so in love with how this baby looks, and I am being told that her personality is as cute as she is. 

Time is ticking down until I drive down to pick her up. I have almost everything ready to go, except making the hard plans for her training and the appointment for her second round of shots. I expect to call the vet tomorrow to get the ball rolling on one of those things. I'm weighing my options on which route to take for training (basic training at a chain pet store or private lessons for almost 3x the cost, and out of town drives). 

I went next door to watch the opening game of football season. Over the course of the evening, all three dogs took turns lying on the couch next to (or in Jasper's case, on) me. I wonder how the boys will react to a new neighbor. I think Barley and Jasper will be fine, but Hops can be a little weird. I want to be able to take Saoirse with me everywhere, but getting over my anxiety about introducing her to new dogs will take a little work. Heck, for that matter, I worry about how Elsa will react to a new kid in her space, and Elsa is not known for being grumpy. She's just getting a little forgetful as she is getting older.

I didn't download the pictures off the ranch page, but I did save the ones sent directly to me. Look at the fuzzy puppy!

Puzzles

Inspirational song: Help Me, Rhonda (The Beach Boys)

It's fixed now. The new dog's Twitter account is spelled correctly. I feel okay with letting people know what it is now. The account is named "Special Helper Saoirse" and the handle is @helpersaoirse. If you are on Twitter and want occasional dog pictures, starting next Wednesday when I get her, you can follow us. This will be just a dog account. All my personal stuff and political ranting is still on my own account.

I am absolutely wiped out today, and I can't say why. I didn't do anything obviously fatiguing, other than stand a little too long making dinner. Yet here I am, at the kids' house, watching the Mr play Portal for the first time while all the kids offer advice, and I am falling asleep in my chair. I hope he doesn't think I'm driving home. At this rate, I'm only half sure I'm going home.

I don't remember taking any pictures today. How about one from a couple of days ago, when I had pulled a jumble of masks and an apron out of the dryer, and Athena was so kind to help me untangle the strings.

Changing Seasons

Inspirational song: Let It Go (Frozen)

This year, ahead of the kickoff of annual "snow on patio furniture" season (which the local news anchor is obsessively disturbed by), we had "freak out and cover your garden" Monday. I'm hearing there was a run on tarps at the Home Depot. Me, I didn't go that far. I picked what I could yesterday, and declared gardening season concluded. We had a huge growing season compared to most, but I am content with letting it go. Dinner tonight included a lot of home-grown veggies, and if this snow means I'm nearing the end of zucchini dinners, I accept that. I can move on to frozen broccoli for a few months. Heck, I can do what I did today, and make a meal that is more than 60% fried okra. One dollar buys a frozen bag of it that is just right for me. (Bag says "serves 4." Giggle.)

I took a couple of comparison shots of my flowers in the rock bed that we half-built this year. (I hear professional landscapers are busy bees now, finishing pandemic projects like the one we abandoned in the heat of summer.) The flowers looked wild and lush on Saturday, before the forest fire in Larimer County expanded and covered everything in ash, and the arctic blast rolled in and coated the ash with ice and snow. I can't imagine what will be left by Thursday. Will the flowers bounce back, or turn to green slime? Will we have a regular autumn, with leaves turning pretty colors, or will they just shrivel and fall? I'm curious about these things, but patient. For now I am content to lean against the window sills and enjoy how the snow on the cars glows under the street lights.