My good day killed the thread.

And my paper still isn't done. This is supposed to be a short one, but there is no way to cover all the points in 2-3 pages. Accckkk.

Edit, chop, chop, chop. My issue is always the opposite. I am way concise.

Yay for good days! It is good to read that things are nice, comfortable, and relaxed with the kids.

I'm about to leave for work.

Checked the fire news...one of the South Carolina fires has made it to North Carolina and is only 9 miles from here. So that is a new anxiety. No evacuations that I know of but theven fire spread because it jumped a fire break.

We need rain so bad. It's been alost a month since we've had anythingone more than a brief sprinkle of rain.

Yikes, askye! We're smelling smoke from the fire over here in the Triangle. I hope you get rain soon.

Fire bad. Stay safe and I am hoping for rain soon!

The maids are coming today and it is too cold to sit on the back porch with Jack. The current plan is to keep him calm downstairs while they work upstairs and then go run some errands with him when they come downstairs.

Jack is doing a lot better with people - a new to him friend came over yesterday and while Jack did the initial aggressive show as he sniffed Marc, by the time Marc left he was able to give Jack under the chin scritches. Totally blowing the old 3-visit rule out of the water. Which we hope is a great sign. Kelly's bf C's daughter, H, is flying in tomorrow night for the long Thanksgiving weekend. My job when they get back from the airport is to help introduce H to Jack. She will be here through Sunday, so we REALLY need Jack to accept H in the house.

Maids are here and I have been able to get Jack to sit on the couch with me and stay 95% calm. He certainly isn't sure about all the bumping and thumping and that darned vacuum cleaner. But I have been petting him and reassuring him that I'm ok with what they are doing. Once they come down to clean the living room, we are going to get Jack a pedicure.

Good luck, Suzi.

ltc will only take one nap. No matter how tired she is. It's a long nap, which is good, but the question for me becomes, do I want her to take a morning nap and deal with a cranky baby from 4-6 or have her take an afternoon nap and deal with a cranky baby from 11-1.

Good job Jack! It's hard to be calm in this world, and you are learning. I hope you enjoy the attention of the pedicure. Suzi, I'm glad he is making progress.

sj, that's a tough one. I say this as someone whose struggles with naptime continued long enough that I actually remember being told I needed to nap. Now of course, I view napping as a delight.

askye, that fire is a worry. I hope your work day goes ok.

Work was good. Frustrating because everything took longer than I thought it would. AND I only took my lunch break. I need to remember to take my 15 minute break(s) and drink water.

I kept my phone on me and walked 13000 steps. This was the slowest physical day.

I got to help customers, ring someone up, and do stocking. I like that combination.

Naps are good ltc take them!!

Well, today was a mixed bag and we are only half way through. Jack was fantastic with the maids. Great when we did the drive up pharmacy thing to drop off a prescription, absolutely fabulous with the groomer.

His usual groomer is closed today so I took him to a pet chain store. As I walked through the store to the salon, I stopped and asked an employee if the salon was open. As she swung her hand to point to the salon, her hand got very close to his face. He bark snapped at her and then sat perfectly next to me. I apologized and she just said she would have to report the interaction to her boss and that the groomer might not take him. I said I understood and headed back to the groomer. I explained to the groomer that he has stranger danger and I just need his nails clipped. Could I go in the grooming area and keep his attention on me with a hand on his e-collar remote. And as I said, he was excellent. At the end he let her scritch him. That could not have gone any better.

So now I'm back in the store, headed to the cashier to pay for the grooming. The employee from earlier calls me over and asks about his rabies status. It is up to date, the groomer had called to verify with his vet. I then notice she has a wound on her arm that looks fresh and angry. I finally connected the dots. He had bit her when he bark snapped at her. OMG. She hadn't reacted or flinched or anything. No wonder she had to report it to her boss. She said she didn't want to go directly to the doctor because that would start an animal control investigation. But, seriously, I think she should go. She said she would wait a couple of days to make sure it wasn't infected and we exchanged phone numbers. I was crying through most of this. Just shocked. I'm still shocked. Oh, and this employee...is the dog trainer for the store. Part of me is all "why are you swinging your arm in front of the face of a dog you don't know"? And the other part (the majority) of me is just mortified.

I am waiting to tell Kel until she gets home from work. If I tell her at work, she will be a mess for the rest of the day. The added complexity is that C's daughter flies in tomorrow night and will be staying with us through Sunday.

I'm so devastated. I'm talking to my insurance agent to see what I'm covered for (she is also a friend). Aggghhhh.