Dog Stuff...and a bit more

Took the dogs down the mountain this morning, but before we'd even gotten to the bottom, the light rain went torrential.  As I waited at the stop light, I tried to convince the Dog Tyrants that we really shouldn't be doing this.  Of course, they disagreed.  Loudly and vehemently.  I rolled down the back windows, letting the rain splash all over them.  They ignored it, just shaking water everywhere.  I argued with them all the way to the baseball field parking lot.  Nope.  It was time for the morning walk and nothing was going to deter them.  Course, I'm the one who got soaked getting them into their coats (did I mention it was about 34*..??) while the rain pelted, ran down my neck, drenched the back of my jacket, turned my hair into something...other.

Trying to take control--I'm the human, right..??--I decided to just walk them around the fence line of the baseball diamond, about 1/5th the distance we usually walk.  The rain went from torrential to monsoonal (according to the dictionary that isn't a word...so sue me), before we'd gone less than halfway round.  Even with my umbrella, my pants were soaked from the knees down--like I'd been wading in the river--and Ozzy's hair around his face made him look worse than I did.  He looked so pitiful with the long wet strands dripping down his face.  After they had both done their...you know...business, I say, "Okay boys I think we've had enough.  Should we turn around now and head back to the car?"  Good thing they weren't leashed.  I would have had whiplash.

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On the way back up the mountain, I couldn't believe my eyes: it was snowing..!!  The further I climbed, less rain, more snowflakes.  It was cool, though unexpected, for sure.  The real snow is supposed to be in the Cascades, the Coast Range, and as always, in the Sierras.  I didn't think my mountain was going to be part of that equation.  The snow is gone now, the sun is trying to break through some very dense, dark clouds, and hey, as they say in places where the weather is unpredictable and weird: wait five minutes and it will change. 

Still.  First snowfall of the year.  This might not bode well for Thanksgiving with my Mom, though.











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My goal for NaNo today is to hit the 40K mark.  Not sure I will actually achieve that, but if I say it, post it here, it should help in making the effort to realize the goal--either that or make me look like a loser if I don't do it.  Humiliation is a great motivator. 

I have a lunch date with the neighbor women shortly, which will dent part of my afternoon time, though when you live alone, you can pretty much do what you want.  I can write all night long if I choose.  Besides, I like the nice roundness of 40,000.  Doesn't that look cool..??  And it would mean I only have 10K to go, and 11 days left to accomplish it.

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Speaking of living alone.  I woke up this morning with Alan heavy on my mind.  It's not an anniversary-type day, a memory day, or any other kind of day; I guess it's just a "miss my man" day.

Taking the dogs down the mountain I thought of him: he would have told the boys "no way" and we'd still be in the house watching the rain pour down while we had another cup of coffee.  At the park I could picture him so clearly in his red anorak, his NYC baseball cap, his smile.  Later I wanted to talk to him about the first snowfall.  Pulling into the garage I burst into tears.  It didn't last long.  I think (fervently hope) I'm past the sobbing for hours phase, though I still had a good cry for a couple minutes.  But then, all that's left to do really is blow the nose, get the dogs out of the car, and carry on. 

Doesn't change the fact I don't want to be Just One today...