there's a dog's life, then there's my life
August 17, 2005, 5:10 P.M.
Where did I ever get the notion that dogs are insanely grateful for the slightest crumb of attention? Raji gets a crumb, and wants to know��Where�s my slice, where�s my loaf, and why aren�t you, at this minute, driving me around in my own bread truck?
And yet I have this cultural meme stuck in my head, refuting everything I�ve learned in a lifetime of dog-ownership.
The fact is, Raji is a very spoiled dog. And has an undeniable air of entitlement about her. She will turn up her nose at a Snap, and expect a Sniffer. Dog Food is not consumed till all possibility of People Food has been eliminated. Walks should be the length, direction, and duration of her choice. If the behavior of her pets people meets with her disapproval, we are treated a view of to the broad expanse of her furry black back. If we�re lucky, that is. If she�s in a more vindictive mood, we get an unpleasant stain on the rug.
I love that infuriating beast, but you couldn�t call her grateful.
Urgh.I have a stress-induced tummy-ache, thanks to Spouse. He has stayed home from work the last two nights, allegedly because he pulled his groin when moving equipment around in the shed Sunday.
It sounds horribly mistrustful, but I�m disinclined to believe him. Either he really did hurt himself, but did it riding his motorcycle (which he�d never in a million years admit) or this is yet another repeat in his old, old, pattern. He�s fed up at work (again), and I�m afraid he may be doing what he always does.
I hope to high heaven that he really did pull something, because I just cannot cope with another round of his job-chucking and terminal irresponsibility. After more than 20 years, I still don�t have a clue how to deal with it.
Even though I was exhausted from my first day back, and my hands hurt like crazy, I tried to be productive last night when I got home. I gardened a bit, watering, weeding and deadheading the beds and planters. I took all the trash to the curb. Spouse said he didn�t want dinner last night, and I wasn�t going to argue. So I just had a bowl of cereal for dinner, and I think he did the same.
I did do the dirty dishes and clean up the messy kitchen he�d left me, including the bleaching the massive Koolaid stains on the counter and in the sink. Then I did my usual evening routine of getting my clothes laid out, the coffee pot set up, fruit washed, water bottles in freezer, walking the dog, and locking up. And then, I stole his bed. I had to get a decent night�s sleep; I was exhausted and didn�t really care that he was home. So I hijacked the good bed. It worked, and I felt like a new woman this morning. Got up early, bathed, dressed, and took Raj for a long walk, packed my cooler, had my coffee, made a pit stop, and hit the dusty trail.
Oh, yeah. I was one perky and together woman this AM. That�s why I was 16 miles down the road before I realized I forgot to change into my work shoes.
Damn, my dog-walking shoes really look like crap. Good thing I spend most of my day with my feet under the desk.
Reading: �Return to Peyton Place�, by Grace Metalious
Listening: XM �70s on 7�. Interesting musical juxtaposition of the day: �Uneasy Rider� by Charlie Daniels, followed by Shaun Cassidy warbling �That�s Rock-n-Roll�
Beading:Trying to re-work the peach and crystal bracelet.
One Year Ago, I was recapping North Dakota.