I'll be taking in a webinar at 11, then driving out to Eatonville (much later this afternoon, after Jackie gets home) to stay the night with a friend whose husband is having surgery tomorrow morning here in town. I'll bring her into Tacoma for the surgery vigil and probably come home during that time (or on the way back out to Eatonville, depending on how long the surgery takes and how in need of companionship she is) to let Jackie's dogs out (more on this in a moment) to poop and pee. After the surgery, I'll be back out to Eatonville overnight (Jackie will be back home for the critters by then) in case my friend gets a late night emergency call from the hospital. She's nearly blind and can't get herself to and fro, and the surgery will be a little dicey because of her husband's underlying health issues...
Please keep them in your prayers. It isn't normally a risky surgery, and is relatively easy these days (he's scheduled to come home Friday), so pray for the optimal outcome, please.
This is the same couple whose critters (three horses, three big dogs and three small ones) and home/property I oversee when they take a trip or a vacation. I'll probably be there again close to Christmas for a few days... but can work from there, so won't miss any work.
Oh, "the dogs." Yes, Jackie got another puppy! She hasn't named her yet because she's having a contest at work for a name, but the puppy is just a handful in size; ten weeks old, a combo of Peke, shih-tzu, poodle and ??? Jackie's other dog (full-grown, under 3 pounds, same mixed breed) is this puppy's "auntie." Auntie is black; the new one is tri-color right now but will probably be mostly blond by the time she's grown. I'm taking both of them outside about every 2-3 hours to show the new pup that her opportunities to play and pee/poop outside are plentiful, so she learns to wait for outdoor opportunities to relieve herself. She has been here three days and has only had a minor accident (a "wee" one), so she's on the right track. And she's cuter'n a button, with a personality to match!
Next week for several days I'll be staying nights at another friend's home watching her two knee-high dogs while she and her husband take a few days off to spend Thanksgiving Day at his parents' home in Spokane. I'll be home in plenty of time every morning for the day's Elance projects, and I'll be available for Thanksgiving dinner, too. I just have to be there first thing in the morning, evenings and overnight to be sure their critters have a human companion who feeds and loves on them frequently. (They've never been alone at night before.) So I'll even be here to resume my "puppy runs" outside by the time Jackie goes off to work every morning. The home I'll be pet-sitting at is less than four miles away.
This seems to be "critter season" for me, after a long, dry spell (except for Jackie's and my own). I love taking care of critters. For some strange reason, I had a dream about a four- or five-foot long iguana this past week. I was supposed to be taking care of it, but it didn't look any too pleased with the prospect. (Iguanas never do seem any too pleased, even when they may be... they're inscrutable-looking.) I've never taken care of one, except for the time I helped a vet at UC Davis move one and give it a shot. I was there because that was the week Deaken's (my serval "son") rear leg had to be amputated. It happened on a long weekend when the students were all out of town, so when I stopped by to fetch Deaken, the vet was enormously busy doing everything himself. Since I had worked for a vet for two years in the past, I offered to give him a hand which he gladly accepted. He was Davis's exotic pet/zoo vet. So I helped with an owl, another raptor, a coyote pup or two, and this iguana. It was pretty cool. I loved it.
I failed to put this story into my book LET NO DAY DAWN THAT THE ANIMALS CANNOT SHARE, but there are other great stories in there, as well...
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