freckled crab

Late in the Covid game.

I’m gonna just post real quick. I think this is how it has to be. I don’t have the patience to carefully craft prose with perfect links and images, which gets kind of boring, don’t you think?

Anyway, anyone else getting Covid for the first time besides me and my husband?

I’m the culprit. My boss brought it into work and I got it and then it was a week until my husband got it. I’ve been testing positive for 7 days now and it’s annoying. However, I am lucky because it’s not that severe of a case. I’ve still walked my dogs twice a day (sometimes very short walks), and have been able to eat (a little).

It’s given me an opportunity to hang out with the dogs and kinda see life from their POV. I’ve learned that walks are great, but being in the house 90% of the time with the same companions can get boring AF.

The reason this is important is because our pack has doubled in size. We adopted a dog in August and got a puppy in October. More on this later.

Point is – I’ve got a heeler that is policing the new dogs and it’s causing issues. Her bossiness didn’t bother us before because it was fine with our lifestyle, so now we’ve changed the rules and want to curb some of her lifelong behaviors, but ideally do it in an organic way so that it’s not a punishing, stressful training. And also do it quickly.

Don’t laugh at me.

But for realz if you have experience with this type of situation let me know.

Anyone Got A Marker?

I live sandwiched between a two-lane highway and a national park. That kinda makes it sound cramped and compressed but it’s not. Hmm. It’s more of a relaxed, meatball sub instead of a smooshed grilled cheese. You know what I mean.

Anyway, there are deer and chipmunks and coyotes and EVIDENTLY A COUGAR.

Can you read that? The notice about how there is an apex predator in the neighborhood that someone wanted to warn us about by putting pencil to freaking yellow paper?

PENCIL!
YELLOW PAPER!

Seems like whoever wrote this isn’t going to be that sad that someone and/or their pet goes missing. Oh wait! What if this is the murderer’s preamble? Plausible deniability? Ooohhhhh. What if it’s for ME?!?!?

Also, those e’s kinda bother me. They look like part of the Michelin Man, all wayward and round.

So that’s my news.

My Countdown

I had a countdown going on for a minute there. It was for my vacation, in case you were curious. I had all kinds of plans for the blog countdown – a quick post daily, photos of the dogs every day so then I could make a cute video. Whole lotta nope.

I can think of two schools of thought to that – either I’m putting too much pressure on myself to do something that is a hobby, OR, stop being a lazy, procrastinating asshole. You can probably tell I agree more with the latter. Because I am a jerk. An undisciplined jerk.

Now that I’ve explained, I need a new countdown date. I have a bday with a zero in it coming up, so I could do that. No I will not say which decade I will be entering because you would be shocked, shocked and dismayed, by my immaturity. My emotional development stopped somewhere in the high teens but luckily I have other qualities that balance that out. Or that’s what I’m assuming because I do have friends that aren’t family and I am married so someone likes me.

Holy crap I just googled it’s less than 60 days until I am ?0.

Days 46-47

Did I tell you I grew up in a boarding school? Well, I grew up in a boarding school. One of the first things they did will drill in the importance of schedules. We all (twenty or so) would have to sit in the common room and draw our own schedule charts.

This is good when you are young and wild and unruly. Now, I think I would be considered in the more stringent term of “regimented”, which can make things a wee bit boring. This was kind of the point of this blog, to make me think about my days because you can pretty much set your clock by me.

I know my dogs do. Especially Mayhem. And she likes it. When I do something out of order or the timing of things are disrupted, she is fully aware.

However, for me, the human, it makes it hard for me to change things up. You know, thrill myself by vacuuming in the morning instead of the afternoon, pushing back snuggle time to work on a project. I will want to work out, or do some writing, but discover I’m 15 minutes past my target start time so I won’t do it, then start early on the next thing. Oooo an extra load of laundry. Goody. And so I get bored. Cage of my own making.

Anyhow, just thoughts, and me mixing up my evening by doing this blah blah post.

Happy, healthy pups are a beautiful thing.

Days 32-45

My developmental editor ghosted me. Is that a sign?

I’ve been working with her for two months, and have learned a lot. I’ve been trying (mostly thinking) about writing this book for over a decade. Just recently I got serious about it and decided I needed some real hand-holding. I was overthinking things and totally lost. So I found her off of a reputable resource.

Anyway, sent off my payment for February, did my assigned work, and on our zoom day, nothing. Two days later I still haven’t heard a word.

This made me question everything. I took it to the whole drama level-is this indicative of my future? Am I wasting my time? Should I just give up?

WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE I’M A FAILURE!!!

For a whole day I wallowed, I cried, I had a mini breakdown. I walked the dogs until they resented me. Truthfully, it was due.

But I woke up today better. I just dread the email I have to send her asking for my money back. I don’t know what’s with me being nice to people who aren’t nice to me. I think: how long should I give her? What if there is a real excuse? Should I wait for her to reach out?

I think I’ll wait until Monday afternoon…see if she reaches out. If not, I will, but I have to break it off. This is not cool. What could be a legit excuse? Death in the family? She’s in the hospital? Those are probably the only two. What the difference is in 24 hours I dunno.

Thanks for talking this out with me.