Advantages and Disadvantages of Not Working

The other day, a previous acquaintance-friend of mine contacted me to see if I wanted to get together to reconnect. The reason I say “acquaintance-friend” is because she lies somewhere on the spectrum between those two endpoints. Because I’ve always liked her, I quickly said yes. She coordinated with another acquaintance-friend, and the three of us quickly picked a Friday at 2:30 for a walk. Advantage.

(Nicole was horrified that a walk with a friend needed to be scheduled and muttered something about not wanting to get old.)

The night before the walk, Copper was having problems. She would not settle down, and because I don’t work, I got up with her. Disadvantage.

At first I used my standard maternalistic approach of telling her to knock it off and go to bed. That didn’t work. I then tried petting her. Sort of. That didn’t work either. It registered that something was wrong. Since I wanted to make sure she didn’t get worse or destroy something in the house, and because I don’t work, I stayed up with her.  Disadvantage.

By the time David was ready for work, Copper seemed to be settling down, so I went to bed. Until 11. Advantage.

Shortly before I was going to leave for the walk, I took a look at Copper and thought “That dog is still not right.” So I made an appointment with the vet for after the walk. Advantage because I could, disadvantage because I could.

The walk was glorious. (That might be the first time I have ever used that word.) We went walking along the Rail Trail in Pepperell, and I can’t believe it is the first time I have been there in 27 years of living here.

Advantage

Advantage

Advantage

The hour of walking went by all too quickly with the conversation never stopping. The focus of our conversation, of course, was each of the eight kids we had between us. I had fun.

After an hour, they continued on, but I had to get back to that dog, whom I am told I love, to bring her to the vet. Disadvantage.

$218.86

I had assumed she had gotten into something, but it turned out to be Lyme. So she is now on soft food, antibiotics, and pain killers.

Now, why am I intermingling the story of a vet visit and a walk? Because I want to distract Heather. You see the acquaintance-friend was the mother of Heather’s former boyfriend Cam. And the other acquaintance-friend was the mother of Cam’s best friend Derek. And we plan on walking again. Advantage.

Back to the dog. She is doing better.

The patient, resting comfortably, on her chair.