Diaries I Read:
Over the last few days, including twice today, people have asked me if everything�s okay. The comment recently has been �You�re so quiet today.� Someone also asked today, �Are you sick?� That�s always nice to hear when you�re feeling just fine, thank you very much.
But I guess I shouldn�t get that bent out of shape about it because the truth is that I HAVE been quiet. I don�t know why. Nothing�s wrong. Maybe I�m a little tired, but that�s nothing new. Last week I know I was still recovering from the whole ordeal in New York (that I still haven�t finished telling you about), but I don�t think that excuse applies anymore since I got plenty of sleep this weekend and I think I�m fully recovered. I�m not feeling especially sad or anxious or angry about anything in particular. Everything�s pretty much status quo.
Maybe that�s just it, though. It�s just status quo. There�s nothing very exciting coming up in the near future. So I�m just here. At work. Working. And that�s where people keep asking if everything�s okay. I�m just sitting here in front of my computer, doing my job. I am being quiet, but I guess I don�t know what else to be. Should I do a little cheer every time I get an e-mail or something?
But really, I think I have been sort of ho-hum lately. I can�t put my finger on it. Maybe it�s this diet � it�s sucking all the joy out of life. No, not really, the diet�s going just fine. And if I�ve lost a few more pounds when I weigh in tomorrow, maybe I will do a few little cheers in front of my computer.
I think maybe it�s just that I�d rather be almost anywhere but here. Not because I dislike my job. Not because I dislike the people around me. Just because I can think of about a million other things I�d rather be doing. I think it�s about time for another attitude adjustment.
So, for a somewhat entertaining story, I�ll give you an update on Dixie�s obedience training. The class is pretty good, and I like the instructor a lot. Dixie�s classmates include three golden retrievers, two German shepherds, a collie, and a beagle. As you can imagine, my little 15-pound baby is the tiniest one in the class. (She�s also the only one who�s come to each class wearing a different bandana � one being a Valentine�s theme � around her neck. Hee!) She looks so small and so cute out there sitting by B�s side among all the other giant dogs.
Anyway, she�s doing REALLY well! By the end of the first class, she was sitting like a good little girl and didn�t even get up when the other dogs came right up to her. I was very impressed. The only strange thing was that her �sit� wasn�t quite a sit but more of a squat, a fake-sit. She�d bend her back legs up underneath her, but she wasn�t truly sitting on her butt. Oh well.
Then last week, she learned how to stay. Again, she surprised me by being a very good girl, especially considering we were gone almost the entire week following her first class and had had no chance to practice with her.
So last night I decided to practice with her for a while. It was cold and wet outside, so I just did it inside the house. I put her little training collar on her and started practicing the heel, sit, and stay. I had set the oven timer for 15 minutes so we�d get a good session in. We walked all around the house, telling her to sit every once in a while. Then I�d tell her to stay and back away from her. She was being so good, I even let go of the leash and walked around the room, and she just sat there waiting for me to come back and tell her to heel. I even tried to distract her with toys and by doing little dances in front of her. She just sat there looking at me.
I noticed that she was actually sitting on her butt this time, like a real dog would sit. But then, when we walked through the kitchen and I stopped and told her to sit, she did the squatting thing again. I just shrugged and kept on going. But then I started to notice that every time we were in the kitchen she�d squat, whereas anywhere else she sat.
Then I finally figured it out � the kitchen has tile floor while the rest of the house is carpeted. The tile was too cold (or hard?) for her dainty little butt! That�s why she fake-sat when we were at class, outside in the parking lot. What a delicate little dog I have! Puh-lease!
About 10 minutes into our practice session, when I�d tell her to sit, she�d just lie down. She�d flop herself down and look up at me like, �Do we HAVE to keep doing this? I�ve GOT it already!� She still stayed when I told her to; she was just tired of sitting, I guess. When we had about two minutes to go, I asked her to sit, she lay down and got the leash stuck underneath her, and when I tried to untangle it she flipped over on her back for a belly rub. I figured 13 minutes of heeling, sitting/squatting/lying, and staying was enough and deserved a belly rub. And a treat. My dog is a star.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004