The Winds have Changed...

...finally.  I had a rough week.  Things finally settled down yesterday.  I have been a lazy slug this morning.  Other than getting up at 7:30 to take care of Lucy, the dog, plus a couple trips with her to the yard, I've done nothing but sit on the sofa and play Words With Friends, do the crossword and Sudoku, and peruse the Reader's Digest.  I subscribe to it for The Daddler, but every time I read it, I'm amazed by how chock full o' info it is.  I learned a great new word:  swivet.  It means a state of nervous excitement, haste, or anxiety.  I have a feeling I'll have plenty of opportunity to use it.  Since I'm constantly in one.

Lucy is making huge progress in the house training department.  I bought a crate and I've put her in it the last two nights.  At first, she hated it.  Howled and whined, for what seemed like hours, but was actually minutes.  It reminded me of the hardest part of parenting a child - putting them to bed.  Hardest in the early days, anyway.  I'm glad The D's bedroom is at the opposite end of the house.  Unfortunately, I heard her loud and clear.  Last night, she settled down much more quickly.  There are lots of advantages to crate training, so I hear.  She was already great about waiting to go outside in the morning before she, um, relieved herself.  I marvel at how dogs can pretty much go on command.  And what's with the way they eat and then poop immediately?  Surely it doesn't go through them that fast.  Does the new food just force the old one out?  Go figure.  I'm just glad it works.

Funny thing.  I bought her a cute little fleece coat.  Maybe I should call it a jacket, because with her long body, her booty doesn't come close to being covered.  This morning, she'd been fed and had pooped and peed, like a good girl.  We hung out in the living room together and she took a little nap.  Then she woke up, got kind of restless, and started chewing on her jacket.  I wondered if she was trying to tell me something, so I took her outside, and sure enough, she did a second number two.  I was really happy about that.  Unfortunately, though, I was barefoot and I stepped in a pile of the accumulated shadoobie.  Yuck. 

She got to visit with her buddy, Charlie, last night.  They get along famously.  They're so cute together.  She figured out how to use his doggie-door.  Turns out, Charlie has a german shepherd neighbor named Sally.  All we need now is a Linus.

Better run.  Lots to do, and I've wasted the entire morning.

Later...