I’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster for weeks now and I finally consulted a professional. I’m really bad at preventing my anxiety from chewing a gaping hole in my stomach. Nonetheless, I’m now working a clear path through the fog of fuckery.

Todd and I have been on vacation this week… guess where we went? Nowhere! Except to the college for a disk and Lowe’s on Friday night. I finally got sushi and pot stickers and it was awesome. What wasn’t awesome was what a late night it turned out to be, and thus late for the dogs and did we ever pay for that overnight.

Apparently, surprisingly, some dogs like routine. Huh.

Shuggie – the baby – decided to bark at midnight, 3:40 a.m., and again sometime around 5:30- 6:00. It was a fun game. For her. *

Nevertheless, we brought it on ourselves and – yesterday was properly spent on routine, attention, discipline, and love. They spent plenty of time outside, both with us and by themselves, got worn out, and we all finished the night with Netflix and chilling on the carpet. Left the TV on all night and guess what?? NO BARKING.

It’s like being new parents! The baby slept through the night and we were both so much less stabby this morning.

Sabra has fully integrated with them, though she still emits the low growls when one of them invades her personal space (when she’s not in the mood) or tries to insert themselves between her and me.

Shuggie likes to bite Bee’s ears and then bites her back leg and pulls on it. This is a common precursor to horseplay, but Bee will stand there unmoving for several minutes as her leg is being yanked behind her. Her tolerance is nothing short of, well… something to aspire to, I suppose.

V came home the day of the torrential storm that flooded and knocked out power all over the northeast. I waited for the rain to stop before I left. The ride up was uneventful, other than being followed by a large pink flamingo strapped to the roof of the car behind me, but everywhere else? OMG.

We tried to get to my mom’s. One road was completely flooded out. Had to turn around and go back out to the highway. Took another route and got pretty far until I couldn’t make a left turn because the bridge was out (due to construction, which I should’ve known). Took the right turn instead and followed to the next road, which took me to the next road that runs directly below mom’s… narrow country road and tree/power line completely blocking the road. That was a fun u-turn.

So, back the way we came, turned a different way and followed it to other roads I knew from childhood that lead (eventually) to her house. Get to her road, finally, and there are cones blocking it – but only to the right (we were going left). Phew!

The road back was paved with unexpected detours all the way home. You know when you get that gut feeling about something? Yeah, well, I didn’t listen to the one that said go back to the road that brought you north in the first place, even if it takes you out of your way. No, I took the alternative, with more detours than a Mario Kart course and by the time we finally made our way through an area that should’ve taken less than 5 minutes, I needed a drink.

Veruca learned some things she never knew about my mom – like her real name (birth name) and also about my aunt – who was previously married. Car rides are fun like that.

Silverfox came down to purchase some fancy recliner that was only available at the Costco near D.C. because everything for Silverfox is an odyssey no less epic than a Greek tragedy. And, because things also never work for him, his phone screen is broken and he can’t text or answer incoming calls. It’s been at least 10 days and it still isn’t replaced and I’m wondering how this is even possible in the 21^st century.

It isn’t my place to tell the story (but I’m doing it anyway)… he told me about their power outage and I swear to God people would pay to read his blog. They lost power and were told it would be three days to restore. So he’s going about his business in the house sweating his balls off and my stepmom is under the covers in bed reading a book, which he thinks is insane. He’s pissed off because he’s sweaty, dirty, and hot, and they’re using buckets of pool water to flush the toilets. The dogs refused to go out in the rain because, hurricane, so he was also cleaning up dog shit and now ya’ll know where I get it from.

Around midnight, Dad and Matt decide to go to the only place where they might be able to cool off… the pool. Which is dirty with debris from the storm but they don’t care. They’re cool and drinking beer on floaties. What could be better? Then POOF! The house lights up like a Christmas tree and they look at each other and say, do you see that?

Now if you’re like me, you’re wondering how a very smart man in his 70s does not have a generator. In 2020. (Especially in 2020.) I used more colorful language in my exchange with my brother, who pointed out that they’ve never lost power for more than six hours in his entire life. This would be 28 years.

Well, how’s that working for ya? I asked Matt. “Chinese,” he answered, and I wondered if he was high. But the mobile towers were also running poorly, because a moment later a picture – which was sent first – of white Chinese takeout containers followed.

My palms are itchy and peeling. There’s something about itchy palms and money… or is it hairy palms and boredom? I looked it up and if one hand in particular is itchy, you’re coming into money; if it’s the other hand, you’re going to lose money. I’m a bit dismayed since both of my mine are itching, but at least they’re not hairy. And that’s why it’s good when your husband works from home, even if he’s slow to pick up signals unless you’re carrying a club.

Today’s Stats:

Mental Health: In two days has gone from a 4 to a 7 to, currently, a 9.

Physical Health: 8. Treadmill several days a week, healthy diet, on the wagon.

Paper supplies: TP, excellent. There’s a steady supply in store. Paper towels, dwindling, and the store shelves are empty. I don’t know what this is about.

Alcohol: Abysmal. But – see above.

Puppy accidents: 3 since the last post. But none in the last two days.

And the return of …Today’s t-shirt: “Pup Daddy.”

Random tidbits: Today is…

National Rice Pudding Day. Rice pudding has been around for centuries and historians aren’t in agreement about whether it originated in China or India. In any case, nearly every country in the world has some version of it, including Spain, Indonesia, and Iran.

National Book Lover’s Day. Hug a booklover today. Deadlock by Catherine Coulter, #1 on the NYT bestseller list, is new this week. Coming in 3^rd is Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, which was excellent – as it should be after 99 weeks on the list.

 

*please note spelling of name. Apparently I was misspelling it and decided to correct it; however, I prefer “ie” to “y” so there you have it.