Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Had a low key day, but we did take a long drive in the countryside. Went out to our fave local restaurant, a German place which has been in business since 1935. Did I have the most decadent Black Forest cake ever created for dessert? Why yes I did.

I'm dogsitting at the beach in Maine this week, which is great, but the weather is going to be iffy the next few days, so I feel like I'd better get on the beach this morning, but I don't feel like it this minute. (I have already been to the beach with the dog.)

I just remembered there is a training I could/should do today for semi-work (a thing I do outside of my actual job), so I can stay sitting around! Phew.

Happy Birthday, Scrappy!

That was a long night.

Overnights are part of the landscape if you do work in theme parks since they are open seven days a week and you need to get the work done when the guests aren't there.

Now to get some sleep before I do it again tonight.

Did I have the most decadent Black Forest cake ever created for dessert? Why yes I did.

Excellent exercising of birthday prerogatives, Scrappy!

Matilda finished work last week, and has all of this week off and starts her junior year of high school a week from Wednesday.

Despite our best efforts, Pickles the new Guinea Pig is not working out. She's still viciously attacking Prubs anytime she gets the chance. Not just dominance displays but violent teeth and pulling hair. It's scary. And it's weird because Pickles is the most habituated to human touch I've ever seen for a Guinea Pig. And she likes chin scritches. But she wants to murder Prubs and we cannot dissuade her.

So we'll be surrendering her back to Animal Control where we got her, but it feels a failure. But sometimes it just doesn't work out. We'll try again with a young, bonded pair of sibling sister pigs, that Prubs can groom and tend to.

Aww sad pig news.

Scrappy that sounds great! And Jesse dogsitting on a beach in Maine also sounds great! ….mostly anything that is not “work 7 more hours today and then 4 more days this week” sounds great, though, tbh.

And Jesse dogsitting on a beach in Maine also sounds great

That does sound pretty great.

We just finished our two weeks dogsitting Cupid, and it was so sweet having her around the house.

Also, I learned an important lesson about dog ownership: little dogs have little poops to clean up.

Sorry abut Pickles David.

I spent the weekend on the sofa, binging Sandman and reading. I'd have been doing that a fair bit anyway, but I managed to roll my foot on a hickory nut in my apartment parking lot last Friday, and bruised/strained the foot enough that I was on crutches all weekend. I'm doing some around-the-apartment walking without them today, and things are tender but definitely healing. There are also impressive scrapes on my elbow and knee that have reached the itchy phase of healing.

At least Sandman was fun.

but I managed to roll my foot on a hickory nut

Who knew they were so hazardous?

There are also impressive scrapes on my elbow and knee that have reached the itchy phase of healing.

There should be a word in German for when the edge of your scab is healing and it's pleasurable to scratch the perimeter.

I mean, I know there is a German word that means "Pleasurable Irritation" but I want something more specific.