Holiday Cheer

We ran out to pick up a couple of things for the condo on Saturday. Those last few things to aid you in organizing and unpacking the final tower of the boxes.

I normally would not have ventured out on a Saturday so close to Christmas, but we had company coming and I was desperate to finish unpacking.

Between the volume of traffic, cars blocking intersections, parking space thieves and people just plain cranky, our one hour trip turned into three.

At the start of our adventure I was smiling and cheery. Near the end, my smile turned upside-down, and my cheer soured as I guarded the cart, wondering when a shopping hawk would swoop in and snatch something from it.

The decline in holiday cheer has me contemplating what the Holiday season is about and why Santa does not deliver more coal Christmas morning.

A String of Responsibility

Pet ownership has so many responsibilities.

There are the everyday items:

• Food
• Water
• Walking
• Poop removal
• Play time
• Lots of love

Then the every-so-often list:

• Vet visits
• Boarding (someone has to fill in while we sneak away)

I would never have thought my responsibilities were going to extend much beyond the basics and the every-so-often items, till tonight. Any type of rain brings with it a list of animal challenges ranging from muddy paw prints to wet dog smell.

LongJohn and Buster dislike the rain and will do their best to remain under cover of the porch. After some gentle persuasion, Buster followed me to the lawn for his bedtime constitution. He sniffed a bit, found the perfect spot and struck a pose. I shifted my attention to LongJohn; everyone deserves a bit of privacy while squatting.

After a few moments, I turned to find Buster still squatting. I wondered if he found some good reading material and was just relaxing.

Then I realized he was in the middle of a poop crises; things were hanging on. His poop seemed to be stuck in, well, mid-poop. "Bloody hell", I mumbled, realizing Buster needed some type of assistance.

I grabbed a nearby leaf and gave a gentle tug. I won't string you along ... let's just say it wasn't pretty.

I am currently pondering the benefits of rope tug toys while thanking the "Poop Gods" Buster's situation did not require an emergency visit to the vet.

Question of the Day

A friend of a friend just lost her job. (Yeah, I know that sounds like the rest of the post will be full of crap. I have meet this "friend of a friend" a couple of times and her dilemma doesn't surprise me.) A couple of months ago, she had scheduled breast augmentation surgery and made a non-refundable deposit.

The question of the day ... After loosing your job, do you cancel the boob job and forfeit the deposit so you can eat or skip the food and get a new rack?

I vote for the new boobs ... if you eat less, the new boobs will look even bigger. More boob for the buck.

She was in agreement and went ahead with the surgery. Along with her inquiry to friends about possible job openings, she sent a picture of her new boobs and an update on the healing.