Tag Archives: dogs

March 18, 2022 · 8:25 PM

Happy Stuff

Welcome to the weekend!

Demon Dog and the Diva did a few zoomies in the basement last night, and then he actually ran about halfway up the basement stairs. He hasn’t run on the stairs in two weeks, so to say I was thrilled is an understatement.

Tomorrow night I’m going to crate the Diva and let Demon Dog sleep with me. I don’t want them both up there right now because they like to play King of the Mountain (with the bed as the mountain) and I don’t think he’s ready for that yet.

And I’m waiting until tomorrow because my roommate will be away. If I do it tonight he’s likely to jump down off the bed when she gets home and I want him to not overdo it.

So, that’s my happiest news of the week.

In Evil Day Job news, I picked up a bunch of Saturday shifts at a group home next month, which will nicely cover for my Wednesdays off from the bus run. Full pay checks and not sacrificing my mental health. What’s not to love about that?

So, all in all, life is pretty good, even if it is supposed to rain this weekend.

And spring is coming! We could still get some snow here and there, but my crocuses are blooming and that makes me happy. And all of the soft serve places are starting to open for the season.

And writing is still chugging along. My accountability partner (the one who is reading my hundred words a day) is full of theories about what’s happening in Song and Shadow, so that’s kind of fun. Tonight’s hundred words won’t be for that, though; they’ll be a continuation of the still unnamed FF vampire novel so I have a post for Rainbow Snippets tomorrow.

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February 22, 2021 · 9:29 PM

Plodding Along

And I have chapters!

And possibly a cold.

And probably bronchitis.

And how was your weekend?

I went to my mother’s on Saturday and took both dogs with me. I took my two out for a potty break and hers got out too and all three ran circles in the snow, chasing each other and having a great time and completely ignoring me when I tried to get them to come in.

I finally got the Demon Dog inside, but the Diva was having too much fun on her “girls’ day out” and I might as well have not existed.

Then mom’s dog (Hershey – yes, she’s a chocolate lab) took off around the front of the house with the Diva in hot pursuit and I lost sight of them.

By that time I was starting to panic, worried that something would happen to the Diva, and, in addition to my own guilt if something happened to her, my roommate would kill me.

So I trudged along after them, following their tracks in the snow, breaking through a crust of ice and floundering in snow halfway up to my knees.

Fortunately they hadn’t gone far and came when they saw me and I was able to grab the Diva’s leash. (And she walked very nicely beside me on the way back, which should have been my first warning.)

Got her inside with my feet soaking wet (sneakers are not the best shoes for breaking trail in the winter) and freezing cold and discovered that all four of her legs were covered with blood. (She’s white, so it was pretty noticeable.)

I cleaned her up and there were no big injuries, just some tiny scratches and scrapes from breaking through the crust on top of the snow and continuing to run like a maniac.

Through all of this it was probably 13 or 15 degrees Fahrenheit out there, so I spent yesterday feeling like death warmed over and left to congeal again.

Today I’ve only felt like death warmed over, so not quite as bad, although it still hurts to breathe. (We had a snow day today so at least I didn’t have to go to work.) Since I felt semi-alive today I got chapter breaks put into the book that didn’t have any. I’m pretty sure they’re temporary and will move a lot.

Anyhow, I’m back to work tomorrow (or so my checkbook hopes) and am finally back on track with getting the Academy of the Accord ready to print for editing and concordance-creating.

Here’s hoping the momentum continues.

 

 

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July 17, 2017 · 8:24 PM

Fake Post

It hasn’t been a good day in my world, so I’m just going to leave a few words here and come back stronger on Friday, okay?

No one panic. I’m not dying or anything, and neither is anyone close to me.

It just feels like it.

After two days – less than two days – my roommate decided that she had “tried” but she was “overwhelmed” by the new dogs (who couldn’t be sweeter and who were getting along great with our other two) and as I write this she is taking them to someone else.

And trust me, I’m recording all the emotions and their physical sensations – the writer in me can’t help it. They’ll end up in a novel someday. (Probably not a current one, but there’s always a plot bunny to be found.)

But right now I can’t quit crying (it’s hell to type through tears) and I hate crying. All crying does is give me a headache. And makes my face hurt.

So this isn’t really a blog post but you all can pretend, right?

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July 14, 2017 · 9:59 PM

So Much For Writing

On Tuesday I noticed that Riley (one of our boxers) was acting… not right. I decided to see how he was on Wednesday and the answer was “worse” so I called the vet and the got him that afternoon.

He has a slipped disc and is on prednisone. (Fortunately he’s really good about taking pills.)

He’s also now seeing a chiropractor.

He’s doing better. He’ll go down the steps to the yard now and he wouldn’t on Wednesday. He’s also starting to eat.

But meanwhile, I’ve been spending my time downstairs with him so he didn’t have to climb the steps to be in my room with me. (The dog is my shadow. Seriously. At the chiropractor’s this evening I got up to go to the restroom, leaving him with my roommate. As soon as I was out of sight he started barking, so I went back to get him and take him with me.

(Owning a boxer means you never pee alone.)

Anyhow, tomorrow I’ll be getting up early so we can get on the road to bring home two more wiggle butts (see Monday’s post). Helping them settle in will take up most of the rest of my time tomorrow and I’ll be home alone with the foursome on Monday, then Riley goes back to the chiropractor that evening, and the sisters (the new additions) have an appointment with the groomer on Thursday.

In short, the month is half over and I may never see my monitor again.

Okay, so that is kind of an exaggeration. I’m sure that it won’t be long before all four dogs follow me up to my room to hang out with me. (Riley and Jazzy already do.)

Now, with all this focus on the dogs (and considering how much I love animals) I have to ask myself one question:

Why have I never given my characters pets?

(Well, in Hedge House there is sort of a pet, although I’m sure she’d take exception to that term.)

Something to think about…

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July 10, 2017 · 5:07 PM

Increasing Count

I spent most of yesterday in a car getting lost on a road trip to Ohio.  (I don’t know what Google Maps was tripping on when it gave me directions but it sure wasn’t PA and OH roads, that’s for sure.)

So word count didn’t go up, but body count did.

No, I didn’t kill my roommate.

Nope.

We were taking the dogs to a pound in Ohio. (We live in Western Pennsylvania.)

And, no, we weren’t dropping our dogs off there. Jazzy and Riley came from a shelter and have a forever home with us.

Nope, we were going there to meet Laverne and Shirley.

They are 10 year old sisters that I learned about via a boxer rescue group on Face Book (Boxer Rescue of America).   They were surrendered by their elderly owner because she was no longer able to care for them. Laverne is the fawn (on the right) and Shirley is the brindle.

The meet and greet went very well. None of the dogs showed any sign of aggression – not one hackle was raised, no flattened ears, no growls or snarls or baring of teeth, not even a guarded look. A lot of sniffing and going about their business. No cowering in submission from anyone, either.

So, we’re going to back on Saturday (sans dogs) to bring them home with us. (Laverne and Shirley are getting some blood work done this week.)

That’s going to give us four wiggle butts.  Two humans = four hands. Four dogs = one for each hand.

(My roommate wasn’t too sure about adding to the family, but Shirley kissed up to her and now has her wrapped around her little cigar butt tail. Literally kissed up to her.  She did the “Boxer Lean” and slobbered big wet sloppy kisses all over her face and Sue said, “They have to come home.”)

Anyhow, since I’m about nine thousand words behind where I need to be today, and since I’m probably losing most if not all of Saturday (and the days that follow as I help the two new additions settle into their new home) I had really better get myself focused on increasing word count.

And I will.

Right after supper.

 

 

 

 

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December 19, 2016 · 2:12 AM

New Projects

Guess what I did!

I started putting together a new blog, because, you know, I’m kinda crazy.  It’s on Word Press (of course!) and it’s going to be about our Boxers, Jazzy and Riley.  (And any future wiggle butts that wiggle into our hearts and home.)

I say “going to be” because there’s no content there yet.  I need to get some written, for one thing (it’s started) and I need to get a good image for the banner. Hopefully by Friday I’ll have something up and running on it.  My roommate is going to be helping with content on it so it won’t be all on me.

While deciding on a template for it I found another that I really liked (but that isn’t appropriate for it) and I want to play around with it when I get some time (maybe this week) and see what I can do with it.  I won’t be changing this blog’s template – I like the format and think it’s easy to navigate (would love feedback on that, by the way – do you all think it’s an easy blog to find your way around on?) – but I will be maybe doing yet another side project because that template just looks like way too much fun not to use. It will (I think) be writing related – or maybe crafts.  I’ll keep you posted.

(See what happens when I don’t set myself any writing goals for the month?)

In other odd news, I wanted one of my traveler’s notebooks the other day and it wasn’t in the case I keep them in. Most of the rest were missing from it as well.  For some reason that I don’t remember I had taken them out of there and put them into one of my messenger bags. Apparently I was planning to take them somewhere for some reason? Maybe to work so I could set them up in my downtime? I have no idea but I think they’re going to go back to their case while I search for my mind that I seem to have lost.

(I also found the debit Visa that I use for online purchases. I thought I lost it while cleaning papers out of my computer hutch but apparently I put it in the back of my checkbook so I wouldn’t lose it.)

*sigh*

I’m hopeless, I’ll admit it.

 

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December 16, 2016 · 1:41 PM

Mid-December Status

We’re halfway through December and I would like to announce that I am conquering my writing goals for the month.  (Apparently I had set some – or else I just renamed the file of October’s goals.)

But first, a funny story unrelated to writing.

On Wednesday, my Boxer, Riley, got his stitches out from his tumor removal. We took Jazzy along for the ride and on the way back we stopped at my mom’s for a bit, then came home and went to the nursing home for a visit.  Both dogs were pretty worn out when we got home so the three of us dozed on the couch while my roommate went to get a new cell phone.

They were snoring and I got up and went to the bathroom (yes, writers do that too) and then threw a load of laundry in the washer. (Yes, we also do laundry.)

I came back up from the basement and was heading upstairs to get online when I heard three short sharp barks from the front room so I detoured to see what was wrong, thinking maybe Sue was coming home.

Nope.

Apparently Riley woke up and I wasn’t where he had left me.

He’s been my shadow pretty much since we brought the two of them home last month, but he’s now become velcro-dog. This morning he managed to open the bathroom door while I was in the tub, and, after some petting, he took up a position on the bathmat and dozed until I got out.

Anyhow.

As I said, I’d like to announce that I am conquering my writing goals for the month.

I’d like to announce that, but I can’t.

In fact, I’m announcing that we’re halfway through December and I haven’t even looked at the file that contains my writing goals for the month until last night when I happened to notice it on my desktop.

I have been thinking about them. I was going to work on Onyx Sun revisions last night at work but ended up not really having any downtime.

The goals were (are – I still might get to some of them):

Academy of the Accord:
enter changes to Book 5

Maybe:
edit Book 6 (first round paper edits)
try to get books 1 through 4 (maybe 5) in the concordance

Onyx Sun:
finish going through current print out
list additional scenes needed
write additional scenes
insert additional scenes
print it again

maybe:
third round paper edits
find a cover artist
write a blurb
format the novel
release it

Misc:
rough draft outlines for sequels to Song and Sword (and a prequel)
write at least 1000 words a week in an existing WiP
spend at least one hour a week on some other hobby/craft

So far I have, um… well… *sigh*

I do have outlines at least started for the Song and Sword sequels and prequel.  And one of the sequels was started last month.

On a brighter note I’ve so far managed not to add any more “important papers” to my computer hutch.

At any rate, I think I’m going to just agree to let December be a wash and work on setting goals for next month (and next year). (Although I am still going to try to work on Onyx Sun if I get a break at work.

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November 7, 2016 · 7:31 PM

One Week In

Already?  It’s already been November for a week?  Sheesh!  Where has time gone, and, more importantly, how did it get away from me to begin with?

I’m still behind on NaNoWriMo. Like, five days behind.  I need to write just under 2000 words per day to finish on time (1944 to be exact) and at my current rate I will finish on February 13, 2017.

So, it’s still doable.

I think.

(I hope.)

Unfortunately, a new hindrance has happened — and one not nearly as happy as going to get Jazzy and Riley. (“Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll have them tomorrow. They’re only a day away.”)

Ahem. Yes. Anyhow.

On Friday morning I stepped out of my car and into a whole mess of pain in my left hip.  I went to work that afternoon and was pretty much okay as long as I didn’t sit for long.  Saturday, not so much.  I made it through my shift but walking didn’t help the pain like it did on Friday.

Sunday I called off because I spent the night in so much pain I could have cried. Or screamed. Every time I moved my left leg I woke up whimpering.

Yeah, no way I could be a nurse feeling like that.

By that point I was pretty sure it was the sciatic nerve but of course it was Sunday so no chiropractors were in anywhere.

So, I spent the day trying not to want to take a shotgun and blow my left hip to smithereens and not being very productive. It didn’t help that I couldn’t sit for too long at a time. Or stand for too long at a time. Or move for too long at a time. Or…

Anyhow, I called for a chiropractic appointment as soon as I got up and they got me in within the hour.  I got poked and prodded and x-rayed and had my lower back stretched, some electricity applied to my muscles (e-stim, I’m in love), and a few minor manipulations and got sent home with an appointment to come back tomorrow to go over my x-rays, probably get some more treatment, and decide on a course of therapy.

So… writing…

Hasn’t been happening.  (See: not being able to sit for too long at a time.)

Between that and getting ready to bring our new family members home from the shelter tomorrow (one more sleep!) nothing much else has been getting done.

And then there was the time change.  I know a lot of people like the “fall back” thing but I’m not one of them.  My body has no idea what time it is now and it will take about two weeks before my internal clock gets completely reset.  (The same thing will happen in the spring.  Congress really needs to do something useful and abolish this nonsense.)

Anyhow, probably not much writing is going to get done tomorrow either, between voting, getting dogs (two and a half to three hour chunk of the day), chiro appointment, and getting the dogs used to their new digs.

But I can still do this.  I won’t quit now.

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November 4, 2016 · 4:00 AM

Jazzy and Riley

It’s the fourth day of NaNoWriMo and I’m just a hair over par.

For day two.

Yep.  Four days in and I’m two days behind.  And it’s not likely to get any better until next week.

If then.

It’s mostly for a happy reason, though.

On Monday my roommate and I went to meet a couple dogs at a shelter and put in an application to adopt them.  I said that I really hoped we’d be approved and the woman said that she was pretty sure we would be.

We had to stop at Wal Mart on the way home so I could get some stuff I needed for supper, and while we were there we picked up collars and leashes and dishes.  (And I can neither confirm nor deny the rumors that some toys and treats may or may not have ended up in my cart.)

Tuesday we got word that we had been approved, which triggered a mad rush to get the house dog proofed before we pick them up this coming Tuesday. (I’d love to get them sooner but

  1. a) the dog-proofing thing

and

  1. b) I’m off on Tuesday and Wednesday and my roommate is off on Thursday next week so there will be someone home with them for the first three days.

(I’m not sure how I’m going to get any writing done while getting the dogs settled in to a new home, but I’m going to try.)

Anyhow, Tuesday I had to go in to work for a mandatory in service (days off are a myth apparently — they seem to think they own my free time too) so I stopped at the courthouse on the way home and got their licenses.

And now I’m back at work through Monday, which limits my time.  And I’m meeting a friend for lunch at eleven o’clock today, then go to work. The weekend, of course, will be taken up with blog hopping.  (And I still need to do last Sunday’s blog hop before this week’s goes live.)

I might get some writing done on Monday.  (And I’m going to try to hand write stuff at work to be typed up when I get a chance.)

Then Tuesday it’s up early to vote and go get Jazzy and Riley. Sue has to go to work that afternoon and I’m supposed to go in for another in service but I don’t want to leave them alone so soon after bringing them home.  (This one’s not mandatory but we are encouraged to “make every effort” to attend one of the sessions that day.  I wonder if they’d mind if I brought the dogs along?)

Then next Tuesday (the 15th) the dogs have their first appointment with my vet.

And that Thursday I have to go in to work early to get my CPR re-certification.

And that takes me up to the release of the new Harry Potter movie.

Four days in to NaNoWriMo and I’m already not sure if I should laugh or cry.

But you know what?  I’m totally in love with the dogs, so it’s worth it.

Oh, here they are by the way: Jazzy is the female and Riley is the male.  They were “found” together.  They’re senior dogs (eleven and twelve) and were probably owned and used by a backyard breeder. (They’re boxers, by the way, and are total loves.)

Jazzy:
jazzy-shelter-2 jazzy-shelter-1

Riley:
riley-shelter-1 riley-shelter-2

(The pictures were taken by the shelter.)

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