Time flies

Cliff and I talk often about how fast the time zooms past these days.  It shouldn't be a surprise to us, since we noticed years ago that the older we get, the faster time flies.  But really, now time seems to travel at the speed of light!  Even January and February, when the time used to drag, now zoom past until the days are a blur.  We fill our little weekly pillboxes up, blink once, and suddenly the week is gone and we're refilling them again. 

For some reason, my monitor wasn't working over the weekend.  There's a plug that gets bumped by a dog or a child and loosened sometimes, disconnecting the monitor.  But I checked them all, and later on Cliff did too.  For two days, the monitor didn't work, then one day I came in, checked it out, and it was working again.  I was going to do an entry Saturday, but all I had was the iPad.  Even with a keyboard connected, the iPad is not the best way to update a blog.  Sometimes I really wish I'd just gotten another laptop rather than a desktop two years ago; I'd use it more, because I wouldn't have to get out of my chair.  Out of curiosity, I looked at refurbished laptops on Ebay and found some really cheap ones from trusted sellers, with a 90-day warranty.  I'll remember that next time I'm in the market for a computer, but I'll probably chicken out because they're used.

Earlier I was sitting here trying to do this entry with a fifteen-pound Schnauzer on my lap, which doesn't work too well.  Gabe has outgrown my lap.  He's fine if I'm sitting in an easy chair with padded arms to contain us both, because he'll get partially on me with the rest of  his body in the chair beside me.  But when I'm sitting in a computer chair, there just isn't room.  Also, he sees my fingers moving on the keyboard and paws at them, typing a few letters of his own in the process.    

We had actually gone three weeks or more without seeing the little girl we babysit; the weather kept her dad from working, for one thing.  I told Cliff it's been good for us, because we won't always have her around and we need to be made aware of that.  I survived her absence better than he did, I think, because of Gabe, who is like having a toddler around: he keeps me active and alert whether I want to be or not.  Here are some shots of him in the last half-hour, trying to convince me to let him help me with my blog.

Begger!

"the look"

one ear down, one up

He even stands up trying to look me in the eye.  Little con man, he is.

But he's my buddy.  We've survived a lot, he and I.  For a couple of weeks there he was puking almost daily, but that no longer happens.  Then I thought he was hard to house-break until I finally realized I just needed to pay closer attention.  He stands quietly at the door staring at me, and if I miss that signal for too long a time, an accident happens.  I'm better tuned to him now and he hasn't had an accident for a long time.  I tried letting him sleep beside our bed on a dog bed for a few nights, loose in the house, but woke up to accidents one morning.  So now he's back in the pet taxi at night.  He really doesn't mind at all; he walks right in there when it's time for bed.  When we go somewhere without him, we fence him off in the kitchen with his bed to lie on and some toys, and he's fine after an initial outburst of crying when we walk out the door.  

Our tractor club is planning an overnight trip in March  to the Caterpillar plant in Peoria, Illinois.  They were going to go last fall, but couldn't get enough people.  Cliff was doing radiation at the time, so we couldn't have gone anyway.  Now we're ready to go, if enough folks sign up.  It will be a nice getaway. 

Enjoy your day.  All we are assured of is this minute, so take advantage of every second.  If all else fails, get a puppy.  That'll get your mind off the cares of the world.