It amazes me sometimes how quickly my to-do list piles up. It’s not that I lack things that need to be done at home. Trust me–there’s plenty o’ work. Okay, I do sometimes lack motivation and/or energy, but not work.
Now I have 2 dogs. I’ve been known to get away with ignoring the big one if I’m busy with something, unless she has an insanely desperate desire to go outside RIGHT NOW DANGIT!, in which case she is fixing me with a glare so intense that it could burn holes through my body and her nose is approximately half an inch from my face. The little dog has only lived with us since Saturday afternoon, but I can already tell that he will not be ignored. And he’s little enough that he can worm his way in between me and the computer. He will lay on my keyboard and roll on his back begging for a tummy rub. Of course, I immediately scootch him off the keyboard, because I don’t want dog hairs clogging up my lovely new laptop, but you get the point. And since I can hardly take the little dog for a walk without taking the big dog for a walk, I’ll either be manuevering two dogs at once or else taking two walks.
When Joe and I took them for a walk yesterday, I had the Scout on his leash and he had Molly. The deal was that he would clean up Molly’s poop and I’d clean up Scout’s poop. And yeah, Scout may be little, but trust me, he can poop like nobody’s business. Fortunately for me, he didn’t poop during the walk. He did, however, nearly propel me face-first into the street. The first time was when we first left the house. Joe and Molly were running up the street, and he wanted to run, too. We started running, and then he suddenly stopped dead. I managed to catch myself before falling over him, but it was close. After that he pretty much stayed by either my left foot or my right foot. The problem came when he switched quickly from my left to my right and I nearly stumbled.
I practiced taking both leashes, and it worked okay, so I’m very hopeful that one long walk will take care of me and both dogs. Otherwise they’ll each get their own private shorter walk, because yeah, it’s nice weather now, but I know what summer’s like here! 
And then there’s all the other things that one must do when one gets a new dog. Call the vet, take him in for a check-up and any other shots and things he needs. Oh, and please bring a fresh stool sample so they can check for intestinal parasites. Call the low-cost clinic that the adoption center referred us to so we can schedule the surgery to get him neutered. Call and arrange to start training classes with him. Oh, and better take the big dog as well, and get her into training too. And while we’re at it, Molly needs to go to the groomer and get her spring shave.
Plus we’re replacing our doors. Joe had bought a back door months ago, but never managed to get it installed. So we decided to just go to Lowe’s, buy a front door and a storm door with doggie door for the back, and get all 3 doors installed at once. Sounds easy, no? We picked out the new front door in minutes flat, and went to find someone to help us. Could he help? No, because first we have to have someone come out and measure the doors to make sure we get the right size door.
So my schedule this week involves leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. Tomorrow I have to take Scout to the vet immediately after work. Wednesday I have to leave for lunch at 10:30, pick up Molly and take her to the groomer, rush back home and wait for the guy from Lowe’s to come measure the doors, rush back to work, work as late as I need to make up for however longer than an hour the lunch errands take, and then go back to the groomer to pick up Molly. Then Joe and I have to go back to Lowe’s and pay for our doors and the installation. After that, someone will call me to schedule installation, and I will of course have to be home for that.
And sometime this week before Joe leaves for his next business trip, we’ve got to finish the bathroom!!!!!!!!! There’s not much to do–get the floor in, install the toilet, replace the backing board and tile on that one tiny bit of the tub, put up the wallpaper border, and buy new shower curtain/rug/towels.
Oh, and we also have to do his expense report for his last trip so he can pay his corporate credit card bill so he can pay for his next trip. And he, meantime, is in school this week so he’s going to need to study every evening. He also has to take a defensive driving course sometime this week.
Did I mention laundry? We need clean clothes. And food. Cooking, you know. That’s important. And I have an appointment tonight with J., art therapist extraordinaire, so I won’t even be home until 7:30 or 8, depending on how long we end up taking. And I have homework for art therapy, so I work on things throughout the week. Books to read and return to the library. Just, you know, stuff.
I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining, because I don’t feel complaine-y. I’m just writing everything down on my calendar, and seeing the tasks list and scheduled appointments getting larger and larger and larger. The problem lies in the fact that my available time does not get larger. Curiously enough, the more things I do, the less time I have available for other things.
And I’m dreading going home today because I just know I’m going to find tufts of stuffing from the sofa all over the floor. It’s old and ratty, and the cushions got rips in them. And my foot caught in one of the smallish rips yesterday and made a big rip. And we’re probably buying Sarah-Bear’s old living room furniture, but she’s going to need it until she moves into her new house, which probably won’t be any sooner than the 1st. On the positive side, though, her living room furniture is espresso-brown microfiber. We have two black dogs, one of whom sheds profusely. So microfiber is good, right? The hair just vacuums right up, right? Please tell me it does. Will mud come off it? Dog slobber? Dog barf? I’m hoping!!
