One of the philosophies I try to infuse into my kids, friends, and somewhat less successfully, myself, is that hard times come and go. It's not always easy to keep that in mind, especially when sleep deprived, stressed about work, laying off people, global pandemics, keeping kids focused on remote school and picking up after themselves, and having your beloved pet suddenly unable to walk without falling over. It's been a really shitty and draining week. But I slept well last night, finally. Scottie was crated and in the early hours of the morning as he whimpered to be with us on the bed, it occurred to me that I could attach his harness and leash, lock the leash and wedge it into the space between the mattress and headboard so hat that there was no risk whatsoever of him jumping off but room for him to move a bit, and it worked wonderfully. I'd walked him around the block last night with Lauren thinking it would be good for him to do so as physical therapy and learning to walk again as I'd had to do. Then I read stuff afterwards that indicated that the best thing was 24x7 crating except food and bio breaks, making me worry I'd potentially done damage to the poor dog. We did manage to keep him crated most of the day except for time on the couch next to me and 'feathered', and time eating and going out front to pee. I'm thrilled to capture here that he's already seeming much much better. If I considered his worst moments as "0" and his usual abilities as "100"… I'd say he is easily exhibiting at least 60% improvement. It's very encouraging. We'll keep following the strict regime and there'll be no more couch or bed jumping again for sure, but he's doing much better and I hope it continues. I spent the day juggling demanding work situations as always, and felt compelled to press the team to 'lean forward, hold hands and fall together into the pool of the colo effort under way, vs continually punting it down the road and delaying the inevitable. Linda and I came to an agreement to switch to a 3/3 rotation as we ride out the 'shelter in place' mandates and their online schooling. It's hard being 4 days apart and hard in reverse in some ways too, for all, so this seems like a reasonable compromise. I need a shower and a shave, it's been a few days. For both. :-/.
Gratitude: Jennifer's patience. As I have gotten testy she's managed to stay calm and yet not just take it, but point it out and help me chill out. We work so well together.
Goal: Focus on real connections w/the kids tomorrow - wrap up work, have a meal together, maybe watch a movie, really get some quality times, before they're back at Pano at 10am Sat.
Anticipation: Possible Dish Hike tomorrow or Monday w/Eric G.
Watched "The King of Lions" on Netflix. Listened to The Happiness Project episode w/Dan Harris
Accomplishments: Meditation Parenting Cleanup
