Dogs = LOVE

I'm not sure a day off has ever been so welcome.  Phoenix and I got a good 10 hours of sleep, got up, wandered around the house for awhile, then went back to sleep for like 3 more hours.  He seems to be feeling a whole lot better, although I am still really nervous that what we're doing now is just a temporary band-aid.  I really hope that whatever's wrong is not something too serious.  My parents have been watching him whenever I have something to do, and that is working pretty well.  I think my older sister is going to pick him up on Mondays after she drops little Z off at his preschool, since his preschool is really close to my house.  Then Tuesdays he will probably be at the house all day, and then Thursdays my mom will pick him up.  I've changed my showing schedule so that I am not showing apartments until late on Wednesday afternoons, so I have plenty of time to get him over to my parents house (or leave him here with some practice), and Fridays I show in the late morning so I can either drop him off or have him picked up.  I guess leaving him here is going to be something we have to work on gradually.  I think that my leaving him here right off the bat for 10 hours a day was just too much for him.  I feel really badly about it.

As for the other dogs, they love me, and I love it.  Nali spends all her time when Meredi's not home in my room with Phoenix and me, and Rainey is a goof, she tries to get involved in whatever Phoenix and Nali are doing, but she's just a bit too timid.  I am going to have to work with them on letting her play with them.  I feel bad for her, because she was just sort of lingering in my doorway today and Nali snapped at her for apparently no reason.  I wonder how the heck they communicate non-verbally, and what it is that Rainey says to them that upsets them both so.  Nali is certainly the alpha dog in this household, but with Phoenix being the only boy, he gets elevated status which means that Rainey is last in line for everything.  Also, I think that Linda doesn't feed Rainey enough.  I know dogs are supposed to be thinner towards the back end, and you're supposed to be able to see their ribs like when they run and stuff, but I can see Rainey's ribs all the time.  I've considered giving her an extra serving of food on the days that I'm home, but I don't want to mess with her feeding routine so that she starts expecting food at that time on the days I'm not home.  I want to just take her home with me and give her all the love and attention she deserves and so wants.  Linda locks her in her bedroom all day long while she's at work, and I don't think that's healthy, but I guess it's better than crating her all day.  She gets to sleep on her own dog bed and on Linda's bed, and she has a water bowl in there, so it's not horrible conditions, but I spoil dogs, and I want nothing more than to treat them better than I'd treat any human!  I must have been a dog in a past life or something.

So, last night our neighbor and Meredi's friend Braden came over, and he brought his great dane Bart along.  It was wonderful!  Bart makes Phoenix look tiny.  He's so huge!  He's a rescue dog, and he's pretty aggressive I guess, but he and Phoenix got along okay.  He even got playful with Phoenix but it just freaked Phoenix out because he's so big, and Phoenix doesn't like when other dogs get vocal with him.  He is only just figuring out that Duke wants to play with him when he growls and grunts and yips.  So hopefully Phoenix will get to spend some more time around Bart and get used to his size and get to play with him.  Braden is pretty cool, too.  He's a nice guy, and I really enjoy meeting new people and having roommates really accelerates that.  We decided that for now, Bart will be Phoenix's bouncer/bodyguard.  He's way more aggressive than Phoenix is, so it's perfect!  I sat with Meredi and Braden drinking wine and eating the delicious cookies Meredi made, and we watched the dogs interact and had a great time relaxing together.

I got all the errands done that I needed to get done today - picking up a new pair of contacts, and getting a couple bottles of champagne, and doing a bit of grocery shopping.  I had pizza with my parents, and we came home where I continued to get myself more settled and organized in the house.  I also called Comcast and they're sending another tech out tomorrow to take another look at my cable problem.  I talked to my dad about it a bit, and he asked if it's something he might be able to fix, and I realized that it is!  He's rewired that whole house so that cable is available in every single room.  He said he'd come over and take a look at it on Sunday depending on what the Comcast guy says.  If my dad decides he can do something about it, I'll have to wait a week, but I will be about 100 times more relaxed about the whole thing.

I've been emailing with another guy from the free dating site who I find to be classically handsome.  He's in his late 30's, but that really doesn't bother me too much aside from the stigma that's attached to it.  I really liked everything that he wrote in his profile, even though it's oddly specific and kind of jerky-sounding.  I would love to see something come out of it, but after the last few, I am not getting my hopes up too high.

And so here we are.  I've washed my sheets and remade my bed and it's glorious and squishy and soft and calling to me.  I am thrilled to be able to sleep in tomorrow, and right now my plan is to get some more deep-cleaning and organizing done, mostly in the kitchen.  I think I really like living here, aside from how hard it's been on my wonderful puppy.