life changes

Couldn't sleep last nite. Earlier in the day Jay and I had gone to my home in Eugene and found my little blind wiener dog, Pepper, looking very sad and with no food and water. The kids I asked to look after her apparently have too much on their plate and anyway I was feeling like an abusive "mom" for leaving her behind in the first place. Thought it would be better for her to be at the house and yard she knows instead of bumbling around on the boat with us as we get it repaired---realized that what she really needed is her "mom"...after all she is 16 and has been with me since she was 6 weeks old..... and now in her old age she doesn't need a yard and a "place"--she is like the rest of us...needs love and companionship and relationships above all.....

I woke Jay up and told him how I FELT and he said "Well, that settles it then. Let's go get her!" So he got out of bed and I have to tell you it took me a while to wake him up cause he had been asleep for HOURS while I was lying sleepless and worried about my doggy girl-----he got dressed at 2 a.m. and so did I and we drove BACK over to Eugene and dog napped her out of the house.  When I got her to the boat I gave her a bath, put her in her little bed in the salon under the table and she slept all day......she didn't pee or anything and I started worrying about her not even eating and drinking....I gave her some water and 1/2 can of SPAM and took her out into the cockpit with her little "potty patch" we got her for the house to "go" on and she peed gallons! Now she is happy, sitting on my lap seeming a lot happier...and boy her "mom" is happier, too.....guess I was wrong about her needing to be in a yard and a house she knows.....realized that even little dogs need love more than anything else........places may come and go in our travels in life but love and relationships are #1.  I'm glad I realized this about Pepper before it was too late for her.....at 16 she is a senior citizen in dog years and I KNOW I don't want to get left behind in life when I get old...yeah, maybe animals and people aren't so different after all.

Jay did a little more work on the stern rail and I did a load of laundry, but now we are exhausted after our nocturnal travels and plan on getting a lot of zzzzzzzzs tonight along with Pepper....That is if Boogie, our cat, doesn't keep pestering her...he keeps poking at her and she is ignoring him same old way they used to interact at the house. Now Boogie is acting like his nose is pushed out of joint now that he has to share the attention with Pepper....as soon as we get Boogie "toilet trained" on the toilet (we just bought a how to teach your cat to pee and poop in the toilet" DVD and book). Once trained we can get rid of the stinky, nasty cat box we have under the table and Pepper will have more room there for her bed and food and water.....

Our electrician, James, is back to finish the rest of the wiring...then we can get out and brush up our sailing and anchoring skills......more later.........Judy, Jay, Boogie and Pepper