Some Vacation

Today I was awakened by the dulcet tones of Stephen Fry at 7:00 a.m. Keep in mind that I've not yet had a day to sleep in, and school's been out for a whole week now.

Anyway, I had to get up so I could let my aunt's dogs out while she was getting her hip replaced due to the complete disappearance of her cartilage. ("Was David Copperfield involved?" I asked.) I will try to remember to take pictures tomorrow, so you can see what I have to deal with. To pique your curiosity, I will tell you that my brother-in-law doesn't think they're dogs at all: "Those are polar bears," he insists.

Then I had to make a run to my parents' house to pick up their newspaper. Which was not there.

Finally, I headed over to Joon's house to take care of their dog. She was doing the wee-wee dance by then, but fortunately she managed to hold it until I got there.

I spent a pleasant hour or two reading before I went back to my aunt's for a midday conference with the dogs, then went home and took a proper nap, because it is hard work wrangling polar bears. And then I went straight back to my aunt's for the last time today, let the dogs out to play, fed them, and came over here, to Joon's, where I am keeping her dog company for the night, since she's never spent a night alone.

In the meantime, my own Lulu has to fend for herself while I am traipsing all over Random County taking care of other people's families. She won't mind, though; she finds me to be a mild inconvenience at the best of times, and a total pest who messes up her nap schedule at the worst. Here's an example:

Me: Lulu! Come here! Get the mousey, Lulu! Come on! Here's some catnip! You wanna a treat-treat? Come see Mummy, Lulu!" etc.
Lulu: [evil glare]

Actually, she can't even be bothered to open both eyes. She can pack two eyes' worth of annoyance into one half-closed eyelidded glacial sideways glance.

According to my calculations, I used up just as much gas running to other people's houses inside Random County as my family did in driving ten hours to the beach. And, at this rate, my vacation won't start for another month and a half.