Employment

Having a job and an income is a very good thing. While money isn't everything, it makes shopping easier. Without a job and without a stream of income, we have been extremely careful with expenditures. No going out to eat. No new clothing. No extras. Careful, careful, careful.

The job offer came through and the paper work arrived, was signed and faxed back to the sender. The job starts April 1, no joke. First he goes to Cleveland and then comes home to get his laundry done and then goes to Dallas.

There are places he will be visiting that I would find fun to visit as well. Instead, I have a dog. It would be more fun for him to have company on his travels and fun for me to see some new places. Instead, I will be tending to a moping dog.

When the kids were little and each trip was a major undertaking, like preparing for the storming of the beaches at Normandy, we had no pets. Then, when I was free, I got this stupid dog. Now I have the dog and would like to be able to pick up and go but can't because I would need advance planning. You know, like when they stormed the beaches at Normandy.

I don't really understand my motivation to get this dog. But I did. She was supposed to be a lap dog, but since she weighs more than fifty pounds, she is a little too much for my lap. She was a horrible puppy and destroyed two sofas, one loveseat, one dining room table, two dining room chairs, a deacon's bench, two rocking chairs, and ate the carpet. I don't know why she didn't end up dead with all that.

When she was a puppy, she was horribly ill and it cost a lot of money that we could have spent replacing furniture to cure her. And we did. She was one ice cube away from being even more expensive and admitted to doggie hospital. She recovered.

Then there are the myriad ear infections, another in progress right now. And allergies to grass, and surgery on her ear, and the cost of continual treats. I have saved all her vet papers and could add up the cost incurred, but that would just make me cry.

I am not sure why I still have a dog. She doesn't even come running to the door when I come home. She does that when anyone else comes to the house, but me … that's just too much trouble. She won't go outside unless I get my fat ass up out of the chair and walk to the back door so that someone else can open it up. But she won't just go out for someone else. Just me. Then, I'm special. Coming in the door? Not so much.

So, I have a dog that is neurotic, deathly afraid of wind and rain, lightening and thunder, and raised voices. I have a dog that ignores me unless it is meal time or she think she might get a treat from the top of the fridge. And because of this ideal pet, I can't travel the way I would like.

I'm not quite sure that this is a good trade off. I've heard that dogs, special among pets, are unconditional lovers. They adore their owners. They live for their owners. They worship at the altar of Owner. Not my dog. I wonder if she is doing something wrong, or if I am.