Today has been a particularly nice and relaxing day. I was up this morning and did my usual routine with the pups. It is quite the routine actually. I layer on several layers including my warm house shoes, a few jackets, and a warm hat or hoodie as I never know how cold it it outside. Coming straight from my warm bed out into the cold morning air can be quite a shock if I’m not adequately dressed. Rhythm and Guinness must go out on leash while Patience, being the best behaved, is allowed to go out off lead. The boys must sit in order to have their Halti put on them. This is not always an easy feat for puppies who are excited about me finally getting up and about going outside. Once secured, we trek outside for a potty walk. They know the next step is breakfast, and they get right to business so we can head back inside. Once inside, I collect all three bowls and carry them in to the front room where I store their food. Sans the pups, I scoop out each pups breakfast rations for the day. Rhythm eats the slowest and thus gets his breakfast first. His food stand (an old square, plastic kitty litter bucket that has a lip on the lid which keeps the bowl from just sliding off the top) is in the living room. He sits and waits for me to put his bowl down and to see what else I might ask of him today. Sometimes I ask for a handshake or other trick and sometimes I just ask for a kiss. He gladly and eagerly “earns” his breakfast. I give him the okay and he dives his nose right into his bowl. He actually eats better when I make him wait and preform a task for his breakfast. He is such a silly boy! Next I walk into the bedroom with two pups following under foot. I head over to Guinness’s crate, and he now runs right in and turns and sits. He quickly caught on to this part of his new life. He waits while I put his bowl in the attachment ring on his crate door and close the door. I give him the okay and he dives in while I latch the door. Patience is so excited by this point. She goes to the spot in the kitchen where I ask her to sit and often sits before I ask. I ask her to preform a quick task and then allow her to dig into her bowl, also on a plastic bucket stand. Then I dump their water bowl, rinse out the dirt they deposited unknowingly with their noses and beards, and refill it with fresh, clean water. I usually grab myself a glass of water at this point to help rehydrate after the night. Even though Patience gets her food last which does not thrill her, she is always the first to finish. She then gets water and goes back to the bedroom door, where she has designated for herself to wait for Rhythm to finish his breakfast. She is so incredibly cute about it all. In the last apartment, where I asked her to wait was in the living room where the floor changed from carpet to laminate title going into the hallway. When we moved she designated a new spot for her to wait on her own. It is again where the carpet ends and the tile begins. She waits eagerly with her toes on the line, but not pasted. She is so smart. Once Rhythm finishes eating, signaled by him coming into the kitchen for a drink, I check his bowl. If he decided not to eat most or all of his breakfast, I pick up his bowl. If he ate well that morning, I give Patience the okay for her to finish his breakfast off or at least clean up the kibbles he dropped in variously places and wasn’t motivated enough to find.
At this point in the morning, I start taking care of my morning needs. It’s now my turn to go to the restroom and fix myself my morning milk and whey protein powder shake. I drink that down and rinse out my blender cup. Then I take my morning supplements which reminds me to give Rhythm his. He has again turned into an itchy mess and I’m trying to remember to give him antihistamines to help. At least I’ve figured out how to get them down him easily – wrap them in cheese! Next I’ll typically sit down on the computer and catch up on any new emails, on facebook happenings, and on any new blog comments. Depending on if I have plans that morning, I might work on a few projects as well. This morning, I knew I needed to be dressed and at the gym for 1030 to attend Zumba class. My body’s natural schedule tends toward staying up until 0100 or 0200 and waking up at 0900 or 1000, so it was time to immediately get ready for the gym. Once dressed, it was time to let the pups out again. I left them nap for around 20 minutes after eating before walking them again, but at this point they are ready to go again. Once walked, they returned inside where they received a small treat. Guinness got his in his crate again, as that’s where he stays while I am gone. He’s made huge improvements in the few weeks he has been here, but I’m not yet ready to trust him loose while I am away from the house. Luckily for him, and my guys as well, I am home a lot.
Today, I was just not thinking about what the day was. Sure, I knew it was Veteran’s Day and that also means it is Erica’s birthday, one of my closest friends from high school and college – HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERICA, I LOVE YOU! Still I drove down to the detoured Nash gate and was surprised to find it closed. After turning around, my phone rang and it was Jesse. He called just when I thought he might, on my way to class. I had forgot my “Jesse notebook” so I just stopped back at the house as it wasn’t far out of the way and I wanted to be sure to be able to make any notes if I needed. We talked about 10 minutes, but I knew he wouldn’t want me to miss class so I said good bye early. He had 30 minutes and said he would call some of his family, which I’m glad he was able to do especially at a time that I was feeling good and not in terrible need of hearing his voice or chatting. The days I don’t hear from him are usually the hardest. I always have so much I want to tell him and I want to know everything about his day. I was still feeling pretty content from talking twice yesterday and the mail he sent for me. Once I said good bye, I noticed the mail had not yet run and wondered why it was so late. I had a my flag up as I was sending a letter off to Jesse. I wondered if my mailman had just missed it because I had no mail to be delivered. I hoped not! Then I headed over to the gym through the Main gate, ready to get to work! I dashed in, as I was now barely making it there at 1030. I checked in at the front desk, grabbed a towel, and headed to the cardio room. I was again surprised to find it empty. Oh, silly me! On the way out, I ran into Josie who was also a bit late. I relayed the news that the cardio classes were canceled today and tomorrow. We stood outside and talked a bit. Hanna, who works on post, texted me about going to lunch. It was then that it finally hit me, today and tomorrow are DONSAs (Days of no significant activity)! Most things on post are closed on DONSAs, even the childcare centers where Hanna works. Growing up, we never got the day off for Veteran’s Day, but even the schools were out today here. We do live in a military community, after all. Once I got home, I also remembered that my mail didn’t get picked up because mail doesn’t run today – silly me, again!
I grabbed a quick shower and then dressed to head out with my girl friends. Hanna picked me and then Ali up and we went to Panera Bread for a nice lunch. It’s always a welcome break to get out of the house and be with other people, especially such good company! After lunch we stopped by a local children’s consignment shop for some browsing. Ali is a new mom to Ava who is almost 4 months old, and Hanna is 20 weeks along with her first. Hanna picked up a few items for herself and we all enjoyed browsing over the selection of toys and cute clothes. My favorite was a cool dinosaur that roared and chomped! 
The rest of my evening has been spent at home relaxing with my puppies. All and all, a good day.
A special thank you to all the Veterans and service members currently serving. Also to the families who support them. Veteran’s Day is great time to stop and remember those who helped give us the freedoms we enjoy. I’ve truly enjoyed reading the out pouring of support on facebook today.
