Took the Dog for a Massage and Ice Cream in the Same Night

My dog has been having issues with his knee.  It's been a long and grueling summer for him, health-wise, so the thought of a possible torn ACL is pretty heartbreaking.  He's been through two surgeries and ACL surgery is serious stuff - I should know.  I just had my own reconstructed just about 8 months ago.  It really shouldn't be his turn.

So, I had a massage appointment last night & was telling my therapist about Solomon's knee.  "Bring him in for a massage," she says.  I love my massage therapist.  She's a real character, very good at what she does, and game for all kinds of things to help out.  She also started learning dog massage a while back.  "Not sure if it'll help, but it can't hurt," she says.

So, tonight, I took my boy over.  I'm never quite sure how he's going to respond to new things.  I have to muzzle him most of the time at the vet.  But tonight, he was just cool as a cucumber and happy as a clam as he gazed out over her back yard and panted calmly in the gentle breeze.  She poked and prodded and he never flinched.  I was so happy!

After about 10-15 minutes, she says, "I'm getting pretty deep into here.  Just watch & let me know if he looks like he's going to bite me."  He acted like he was getting the rub-down of his life.  I'm so glad he actually enjoyed it!

She said she's only going to charge me if it actually helps him, and sent us on our way.  Did I mention I love my massage therapist?

So, we left there & I thought, "I'm gonna take him for ice cream.  He was a good boy, and I didn't take him when I mentioned it to him earlier this week."  Yes, he's spoiled.

We pulled into our favorite ice cream place and it wasn't busy.  Three customers at the window and you'd swear they never saw a dog when we walked up.  Yes, I took Solomon up to the window with me.  He was already halfway out of the car.

These guys all acted like they had no idea what to say.  Dood was sniffing the ground (that's what dogs do when there's good stuff spilled all over the ground, right?).  One man stated the obvious, "uh, he's really sniffing."  OK, should I pretend I didn't hear that?  The way the other two guys are pretending they don't see us?

We got our ice cream and turned toward a bench.  One new customer actually reached down, petted him, and said, "hey, Homer."  Dood really doesn't care what anybody calls him....as long as they call him.

We sat on the bench.  Dood acted like he had nothing wrong - climbed up on the bench, sat beside me, climbed down, climbed back up.  More customers, more people I know saw us, and pretended they didn't see a thing.  I started to worry that we'd somehow become invisible.

Ate the ice cream, took some pictures of him.  Gave him the last of it.  Back to the car, pulled the ramp out of the back.  Again, he acted like nothing wrong - had to convince him to use the ramp vs. jumping over it (I mean, really....what would these people think of the crazy lady with the dog at the ice cream place, pulling out a ramp the dog obviously didn't need?).  Of course, he sat there looking like this was a trick opportunity....ran back down the ramp, ran back up the ramp.

I finally got him back in the car, collapsed the ramp, got in & drove off.  People still acted like they never saw us.

People can think I'm the crazy lady with the pit bull at the ice cream place.  I really don't care.  We had a great time - very relaxing, great ice cream, and we just love to hang out together.  It's so simple.

I'll be watching to see how the massage worked for him.  So far, he's climbing onto the swing with me and limping when he gets down.  But I'm really starting to wonder if my boy is really playing me.....after all....would he ever get a doggy massage AND ice cream on a Tuesday summer evening?

Packing Lunch

I'm not what I consider a very prepared person...well, in some ways, definitely, but let's just say I'm not the person who lays my clothes out the night before, has lunch packed at night, etc.

I'm not really a morning person, either.  Although, once I'm up, I'm great.  My brain does its best work in the morning, and I do enjoy the still of the awakening world around me.

Packing lunch in the morning takes time.  Especially the lunch I just packed.

After a whole week of working in the office, where I'm basically at the mercy of the pricey cafeteria, I decided I had no choice but to pack lunch.  Yes, I'm thrilled about dragging yet another piece of luggage up that monstrous uphill parking lot, but it is what it is.

I made my grocery list on Sunday and planned for items that would allow me to either take salads to work or sandwiches.  I'm still not sure how to do the dressing, as I didn't see any single serving packets at Giant.  So I planned for a little of both.

Let me start out by saying that I am horrified that I am actually intending to make meals of bologna, cheese, and white bread.  I haven't bought a loaf of bread in at least a year.  Now, I'm going to make it a staple.  ugh.

I've come to the point where, although I do still love my pastries, my actual meals are mostly salads - with berries & nuts or lots of tomatoes and other veggies.  As I've said, bread normally isn't on the menu.  I limit my weekly pizza intake, which used to be almost daily.  I rarely eat red meat, and I don't even bother much with chicken if I have to make it myself.  Fish and steamed asparagus or broccoli are the most cooking I do - and a steamer isn't really cooking.

Anyway, I packed my lunch this morning.  Took the time to cut the fresh veggies - I've determined I won't be having salads with dressing.  Leave the lettuce for dinner, and just take the peppers, cucumbers, and grape tomatoes.  The lunch bag is full.  I'll be able to graze all day long.  But I still have the sandwich - after all, I still need a carb in there somewhere.

We've admitted that eating healthy costs much more than it does to eat crap.  It also takes more time to eat healthy - I know, I cut fresh strawberries for my salad every single time - which is most evenings in the summer.

The mornings start earlier each day.  Packing lunch will either be mornings or I may become organized enough to pack at night.  But "packing" is the key.  My lunch, alone, looks like I'm going camping somewhere.  And with all my other bags of goodies I drag in to work...I really could just stay for days....

What Really Matters

It's been a long, hot, busy week.  It's so easy to get caught up in the rat race, especially with a still fairly new job transition, summer social activities, and the incredible maintenance of a self-landscaped yard with incredibly fertile soil (the kind that make perennials spread like wildfire and weeds can attach to even the tiniest granule of dirt).

I want to do a good job on the job.  It's my bread & butter, after all.  I need it to do all the things I'm doing - the home improvements, the yard projects, and more recently, the vet bills.  It's very high on the priority list to continue to be successful in a changing environment.

The landscape...well, I really thought I was doing a great thing when I decided to remove most of the grass and replace it with beautiful perennial flower beds and a variety of hardscaped patio areas and walkways.  Some days, I toy with the idea of pulling up all the blocks, raking back the stones, and planting the grass again.  After loading up the backpack sprayer with Round Up at least every other week, needing gloves and pruners to hack down very ambitious roses after the first blooming, and having to drag multiple trash cans around the yard to fit all the weeds I'm pulling out....maybe dragging the mower to the front yard, and weed-whacking weren't all that bad, after all.  I'm sure this is much more work - not to mention, the hardscape work is still far from complete.

This year, I'm at a slight disadvantage - physically, still not quite up to par.  Post ACL surgery knee is great for walking and back to 100% flexibility, but the hands & knees gardening and laying pavers is harder work than it has been for the last 5 years.  I'm slow this season and it shows.  But I still can't seem to bring myself to spend every free moment working the yard.

The past year has been a very eye-opening experience.  From eye-openers in the workplace to the impact of knee surgery, something happens to the priorities.  I'm more careful about how much time and energy I put into things that don't personally fulfill me.  I have definitely learned to appreciate the simplest things - like being able to take my own dog for a walk.  (For months, I was at the mercy of others to come walk with me because it wasn't safe for me to hold the leash attached to a very active pit bull on icy suburban streets.)  I've also gained an even bigger appreciation for the people in my life who care about me - enough to help care FOR me.

Time is the most precious commodity.  I truly believe that.  And it's so fleeting....

This afternoon, I brought my best friend, my dog, home from the vet's office after another whole day of being sedated - this time for xrays.  It's heartbreaking to watch him teetering on the seat beside me as he struggles to keep his eyes open and avoid slipping off the seat.  He's limping when he walks, but at least he wasn't in pain on the trip home - at least not like a month ago when I brought him home after surgery - when he whimpered and couldn't sit down and kept pawing for me to keep touching him.

He's 9 years old.  He's been through a lot.  Two surgeries within two months this summer, and it looks like we're headed for another next month.  And even though the latest issue is limiting his mobility, he still wants to play, wants to go for walks, wants to climb up on the porch swing with me, and still maintains his exuberant spirit.

So, I brought him home, set the ramp up to the bed (which he jumped over), and curled up with him for a nap.  It's Friday.  Many people would head out to party after a long and grueling week.

But he wanted me near.  And I have realized.....time is all we have.....and I know what really matters....

We Wear Work Badges Like Dog Tags

Last week, I traveled part of the week to my company's other campus.  It's a bigger city, lots of hustle & bustle.  Everything is built up vs. out, so there are lots of elevators & escalators and ID-coded secured entrances on most floors and wings.

What I couldn't help noticing was that, with all that security, I didn't notice many badges displayed.  But they were in hand to scan when necessary.

At my site, we wear our ID badges like dog tags.  Most people have the exact same around-the-neck lanyard, featuring the company logo.  It takes ID to a whole different level.  I think it really could be an "identity."

Once in a while, I see someone with a fancy beaded lanyard - usually women, with colors and bling.  It's the only sign of non-conformity.

Of course, may people go for the waistband clip with the retractable cord.  Not quite as much of a label, but still, often worn visibly.

I'm not knocking this trend of wearing the badge.  I mean, I often find it helpful to casually glance down and see the name, so I can address the person directly. 

But, as I stand back and watch so many members of a tired-looking, sometimes aging, sometimes out-of-shape workforce, I imagine these tags with the weight of chains, appearing to make the wearers trudge and shuffle slowly along with their heads and eyes cast down.

I often forget to take mine off when I leave the building.  More times than I can count, I've been approached in stores during my after-work errands, mistaken for a helpful store employee.  "Sorry, I really don't work here, but what are you looking for?"

So, in addition to wondering where people keep their ID badges - out of sight, yet, at the ready....I have to wonder if they think I look like an idiot wearing mine, so I don't lose it! 

"Dweeb."  (rolling eyes)

Too Serious?

Over the years, I've been told that I take things too seriously...take myself too seriously...

Can someone tell me what that really means?  "Take yourself too seriously..."

Yes, I can admit that I am a pretty serious person, overall.  Life is serious.  The world is serious.  There are so many issues and people in pain.  It's serious.

But I'm also a person who LOVES to have fun!  I've come a long way over the years.

I used to marvel at the way my brother played with my toddler cousins, and how my aunt played with them (her children), complete with sound effects.  That was in my teenage years, and I admit, I needed to lighten up.  After all, they were kids.

Years later, a friend took me to a playground, invited me to the swings and the seesaw, and years later, invited me for a walk, took my hand & asked me to skip.  I was at least in my late 20s.  It felt good!  And thereafter, I found myself prone to skipping in large open areas - especially the big city post office at night (I had a post office box).

Over the years, I think I've progressed in the "fun" department very well.  Children enjoy my company and the way I meet them where they are with imagination games.  Pretend stuff.  Like jumping on the bed to pretend it's a raft in an alligator-infested swamp as we search for the "secret idol" - a ceramic fish  piggy bank hidden in a dresser drawer.  I'm FUN!

These days, I'm the only woman I know who will jump into 3 inches of water in a baby pool, hollering," WOOOHOOOO!!!" just because my dog LOVES rowdy, vocal play.  (And this is in the front yard, along a main street, where plenty of people might actually see me.)

I'm still serious about the state of the world, the work I do, and the condition of people.  But I really do find that I can have fun almost anywhere - I pride myself in being able to make the best of almost any situation.

So, can someone tell me what does it means to take yourself too seriously?

Work/Life Balance

I've been working from home at least one day a week, often more, for the majority of the past 12 years. It's been WONDERFUL!

I'm one of those people who loves the still and silence.  And even when my workplace office is fairly quiet, there's just something about having other people around that interferes with my own working vibe.  I basically write for a living and the first manager who allowed me to work from home "got me" - understood that solitude and flexibility allowed me to give her my very best.  I'm "one of those creative people" who marches to the beat of a different drummer.  And I'm also one of those people fortunate enough to be self-disciplined enough to actually WORK when I'm in the comfort of home and relaxed attire.  Many people tell me they could never do it.

The company went through a few years of relaxing into a variety of options that promote "work/life balance" - where many people have been able to choose a flexible work schedules and/or remote locations.  I, for one, know that I've gotten very spoiled with the flexibility.

A recent shift in position for me hasn't been the only indication that everyone hasn't embraced this concept of flexibility in the workplace.  As a matter of fact, I'm watching the signs all around me that indicate that we could be moving back into the direction of the 80's and 90's - before the days of casual dress codes, flexible schedules, and definitely before anyone talked about "work/life balance."

I'm really not sure what to think of it.  We have a fitness center, a bank, a small variety/convenience store, and now a health center and pharmacy on site.  Essentially, things are built in to where you rarely have to leave!  (We even had food/grocery ordering and delivery for a while.)  I appreciated that service for a while, until it became more than just fresh fruit & veggies, and I refused to have groceries delivered to my workplace when I'd have to load up like a pack mule or take multiple trips from my floor of the building to car - which involved very long stretches of stairs across large parking lots.  Unless they were willing to get carts....no thanks.

These days, I'm trying to acclimate to using the gym at work to replace what I have been doing in physical therapy for many post-operative months.  In theory, it sounds great!  I can get my strength & stability exercises in over lunch or at least all in one place.  But dragging an extra piece of luggage up the long uphill parking lot is less than appealing.  Not to mention the whole experience of changing clothes, working up a sweat, and then changing again to return to work.  It was so much easier dressing for the day in PT-friendly clothes and working from home.  But that's just me.

I could be just getting more resistant to change over time.  Or it could be that I'm just plain spoiled and I'm mad. 

But it's making me think about the bigger picture.

I'm questioning whether other businesses are moving backwards in the work/life balance theory in terms of flexible working arrangements.  (After all, we know that trends like outsourcing were huge, and some  companies are starting to back-pedal on that, as well.)  Or if offering more and more services in the workplace is tipping the balance in another direction. After all, more time in the building is less time at home. 

Just wondering what the trends really are, what really works, and where we're headed.....

Creating a Haven

I'm enjoying an average Saturday afternoon in July from the shaded protection of the gazebo on my patio - aka, The Cabana.  I'm in an average outskirt of a small city - neighbors are close, but the houses aren't connected.  That was my major stipulation when I went house-hunting 6 years ago - no duplex, townhouse, rowhome.

The house is only 720 square feet - I've had apartments bigger than this house!  You can literally stand in the center and see all four corners.  The house is centered on a little postage stamp of ground, accessible only from the front curb (no alley in back, not parking out back).  Basically, there's no way to pretend I'm not home and now way to slip out the back if someone comes a-knocking and I don't want to be home.

Even so, I've spent the last 5 years building my little hut into what I now sarcastically refer to as "The Mansion," complete with the "Estate Grounds" and the previously mentioned "Cabana," which tops off what I have recently started calling "The Resort."  Essentially, a visitor could come in through the entrance gates (yes, it's double-gated - more on that later), sit a spell on the porch swing, listen to the soothing water of the fountain, partake of a cocktail on the Cabana, slip into the back yard to tour a very colorful perimeter garden....you get the idea - it's become a very tranquil, beautiful, relaxing space. 

Building this haven has been a great journey - and understand that it's still under construction, so there are plenty of ongoing projects as I chase the dream of some totally zen space with great feng shui.....the journey to create my own private paradise.

Even though there's plenty more to be done, I realized the other day, as I wandered through the yard watering flowers before work, "I love home." 

I realize not everyone has the crazy ambition I have to tear up perfectly good grass and replace it with hardscape,  flowers and plants.  I know my contractor friend has probably spent hours shaking his head as I've sought his feedback on thousands of ideas to maximize the space in this tiny house.  Many people prefer to hire someone to do the work, where I'm an avid do-it-yourself person.  Many only buy brand new, where I'm a cheapskate bargain-hunter and re-purpose type person who spends hours surfing craigslist and pondering, "Now, what could I do with that?"

All that said....no matter what path you take, I encourage everyone to create a home that is a haven.  There's so much to do between career/job, entertainment/social, and the basic daily rat race......at the end of the day, I still agree with Dorothy.....There's no place like home!