a support group for Partners of the Mule-Headed

This is relevant to my interests and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

My stubborn and overly nonchalant boyfriend just rode his bike.

Really? Self. Preservation. Dude. Get some!!

I love the bathtub like pancakes.

14 years in this apartment and I've JUST NOW worked out a way to watch movies in the tub. It involves a step stool and a Mary Kay makeup mirror.

Sure, the picture is tiny and reversed, but Lost in Austen...in the tub!

Triumph!

Speaking of minor triumphs, I took a tumble on the sidewalk this morning. That isn't the triumph part, obviously. I turned my ankle while stepping out of a tree box and had to make a decision. The voice in my head told me that trying to stay upright would make it worse, so I took what turned out to be a fairly controlled dive.

My knees are a bit bruised and my right shoulder is a bit sore, but otherwise, I'm okay. Yay team winter bundling!

The woman I was walking with said that it seemed like slowmo going down and coming up.

The great part is that I totally controlled my emotional experience. I didn't panic with the what ifs or go into a dramatic spiral over the pain. I did a logical assessment and responded accordingly.

I was afraid that Cagney would take off when I could not hold onto his leash. Instead, he sort of freaked out and hovered over my head licking me and fussing. I hate to say it, but that made me feel really good!

I was afraid that Cagney would take off when I could not hold onto his leash. Instead, he sort of freaked out and hovered over my head licking me and fussing. I hate to say it, but that made me feel really good!

Once, when I was walking Kato, he stopped all of a sudden to paw at his Halti and try to get it off (every once in a great while he does that) -- he stopped *so* suddenly that I tripped OVER him. Like, catapulted over him and sprawled on the sidewalk on my hands, knees, and stomach.

I was so stunned by the impact that I just laid there for a moment, and Kato, because he is what I can only describe as empathetic, just laid down on the sidewalk next to me, with an air of "Oh, so this is what we're doing now? Not walking? Just lying here? I can do that!"

So cute. And so scary!

I've come thisclose to pitching over Cagney a couple of times.

Did it hurt for long?

I was sore for several hours, and because it was summer (I actually think it was my birthday, IIRC) and I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I scraped the hell out of my elbow, but it recovered.

Usually if Kato stops short, he's not in front of me; he normally walks by my side, so even if I wasn't paying attention to him, if he stopped short, I would just realize the leash was taut and 70 pounds of dog wasn't moving. The flip over him was unusual (and not an act I think we'll be taking on the road any time soon).

So cute.

He's such a sweet boy. I am lying down in the bedroom because of a migraine and resulting wooziness from drugs. If I'm in one of the areas of the house where Kato doesn't have access, and too much time has passed for his liking, he starts patrolling the hall, and eventually wants to be let into the room. Tim brought him in the bedroom and he came over to the side of the bed...with his teddy bear in his mouth. Awwwww.

(Of course, he also does plenty of not-sweet things, like the times he suddenly gets up from his bed, casually walks over to where we're sitting and stands there for just a moment and then casually walks away, only for us to realize after about 10 seconds that he apparently walked over to us for the express purpose of farting at us. Devious!)

Awwwww.

Adorbs. Such a luvah.

Cagney routinely gets up in my office chair...taking up 3/4 of it, while I perch on the edge of the seat. If I don't continually rub his belly behind me, he thumps his chin on my shoulder...just in case I've forgotten he's there.

Otherwise, he puts his noggin' on the armrest and snores like a beast.

I'm so grateful for his cuddliness.

If I don't continually rub his belly behind me, he thumps his chin on my shoulder...just in case I've forgotten he's there.

"Hey, Two-Legs, it ain't gonna rub itself!" We could all take a lesson from the way pets don't hesitate to ask for what they need.

"Hey, Two-Legs, it ain't gonna rub itself!" We could all take a lesson from the way pets don't hesitate to ask for what they need.

SERIOUSLY. That is exactly what he would be saying if he spoke English. "It ain't gonna rub itself and it needs rubbin' as long as I'm conscious."

My stubborn and overly nonchalant boyfriend just rode his bike. Two weeks out from ankle surgery, still in a cast. I can't even.

He'll learn. Or he'll have no comeuppance, in which case your dire warnings will seem like overreaction. In any case, I doubt there's any way for you to impart any common sense that will work out well. He knows it's stupid; he's doing it anyway.

He just must feel so trapped and helpless and dependent, which will lead to Stupid Decision Time like nothing else.

I remember busting my ankle in high school (not near as bad a bust up as D had). It was right before finals week and I had a tap dance final. Somehow I hammered bottle caps into the plastic walking part of the cast and did my final anyway. I got an A on my final and a new cast to the huge disapproval and consternation of my mom.