Puppies si, TYG no: a week as solo puppy parent (#SFWApro)

So last Saturday, TYG headed off on a trip, getting back this weekend, and leaving me as sole puppy caregiver. Much as I love them, it was a little exhausting.

Part of that was that to be free to pick TYG up at the airport today and just relax with her afterwards, I decided to make Sunday a work day and take Friday off. My brain, used to two-day weekends, was not down with this solution. Seriously, the whole day felt like I was pushing uphill. Monday, by contrast, was much easier.

Having the dogs constantly there with me played a big part too (they’ve got enough separation anxiety that shutting the door on them isn’t a good solution). Sure, they look easy to care for in the photo, but I’m used to about 90 minutes of solitude when I get up, while they stay snuggling with TYG. This week, they followed me down, and when I did my stretching or yoga exercises, they’d sit about a foot away and stare at me (“Daddy, you’re not feeding us, or petting us, or sitting with us. We don’t understand.”). This is very disconcerting (if you don’t have dogs, trust me on this). And by the end of the week, Trixie had decided stretching was a sign she should jump up on me, which really made things impractical.

(We’re letting Plushie’s fur grow out until summer. As you can see, it’s getting pretty darn plush).

Plus I had to do quite a bit of evening work, so that I made up the time I spent on extra walkies.

I’d figured taking them on good long walks this week would be the best way to get my exercise (exercise draws doggie attention even more than stretching) but Plushie very firmly decided he wanted short walks. I don’t mind tugging him a little but if he’s really set, I’m not going to keep fighting. It is, after all, his walk—though that’s a little rough on Trixie, who has way more energy.

Despite all that, I did get everything wrapped up yesterday. It was all working on the text of the book and watching stuff, of course. Everything is proceeding smoothly, but I’m itching to get it wrapped up. Well, smoothly except when I saw the TV had broken—but happily it was just the remote. Inconvenient, but not a disaster.

I did get out to my writer’s group, though I didn’t go out after. And yesterday I hit the library and donated blood. Due to the cold it was really poorly attended (good for getting in and out fast) but my nurse was a newbie which slowed things down. And I was depressed to learn I’ve reached the age where “So, are you retired?” and “I don’t have much strength in my hands any more, I guess you know what that’s like.” are considered reasonable things to say to me.

This morning I hoped to catch up on various odds and ends, but was hamstrung by Plushie sitting in my lap. He’s so soft and cuddly I just couldn’t bring myself to push him off, at least until it was time to go pick up TYG. The weather services were predicting a good chance of snow, but no, it was a smooth pick-up. By the time a light snow started falling (and I think it’s already stopped), we were home.

It’s good to have my angel back.