Thought for the day

It's interesting how your perceptions and ideals change with life....especially when pets come into your life.  Now, we all know that i love my stuff.  My antiques, my music, my dishes, etc.  The older i get, the more i realize that it really is just that....stuff.  And if i don't use it, why bother.  Not having it won't erase any memories of it.  So, as i have mentioned before, i am making a concerted effort to use my stuff more.

Years ago, i would never have imagined letting a dog have free range of the house...sitting on whatever he wants.  Oh, how times change.  When we first got Squirt, we kept his bed out in the laundry room.  We thought this would be convenient because it's very cool in there in summer and very warm in winter.  But, he would whimper all night long so that didn't really last.  We moved his bed into the bedroom and that lasted all of a few nights.  We'd be drifting off to sleep when we'd hear the click of his paws pacing from one side of the foot of the bed to the other.  We started watching him.  He'd come down to my side of the bed, stare at me, then go over to Michael's side and stare at him.  This was cute for a few nights and then we realized that the only way to get him to stop was going to be putting him in the bed with us.  A happy dog, yes.  But, now i find myself contorting my body just so that i do not upset his sleep.  And it's totally true about this tiny dog taking up A LOT of space while i'm clinging to the edge of the bed.

Anyhow, i digress.  Squirt, being master of the house now, has staked his claim on everything in this house...that is, he has marked his territory.  And amazingly, it did not bother me really when he did that other than having to clean it up.  Good times.  And the older he gets, the more sensitive his stomach becomes.  He prefers eating table scraps and cat food over the food in his dish...luckily the mouse in the kitchen adores his food, so at least it's getting eaten.

Today, Squirt has not been feeling well.  Everytime i think he's telling me he needs to go out, i put him on his leash and he just sits down on the porch in the sun.  That doesn't last long either because, let's face it, it's pretty hot out there.  So, after a few minutes he's ready to come back inside.  And so he has not been to the bathroom since i've been home....and hasn't marked any furniture inside.  He gets very lethargic when he doesn't feel well.  About 20 minutes ago, i look over at him asleep on my antique Victorian sofa in our office....one of his favorite sleeping spots.  About 15 minutes ago, i hear the familiar noise and look over at him....projectile vomit...all over about half the sofa.  Point being, the old me would have never dreamed of letting an animal sleep on that sofa, much less throw up on it.  The new me could care less about the sofa.  It's all about the dog.

i cleaned up the sofa, emptied the trash after cleaning up.  i put Squirt out on the porch while the stain remover set in so he wouldn't try to lick it up.  He went down in the yard and went to the bathroom.  Now's he's happy as a lark.  And back to his secured position of guarding the house.

Cheers