Weighing myself is problematic. The scale at the gym is kind of unreliable; it doesn't reset to 0, for instance, so I have to step on and off and figure out if it's one or two pounds heavy, and I have a hard time seeing the itty bitty numbers between the large markings on every ten pounds unless I bend down, which of course changes the weight. It's an electronic one, so where you stand on it can make as much as five pounds difference. I don't like it.

I also don't like my own scale. I got on it last night after putting in a new battery and it said I weighed 223 pounds. I don't think so! But then it said a 14 pound plastic container of cat litter weighed 16 pounds, so it was obviously improperly calibrated. However, it's still way off. The last time I was on the doctor's scale, the weights and balances kind, it agreed with the gym scale to within 1 pound; I weighed myself before going. Maybe I'll have to sneak into one of the Palo Alto Medical Facility's offices and weigh myself. It's all very annoying.

None the less, according to that scale I'm two pounds less than last time. So I'm happy.

Dog update: we have achieved pet integration. They get along very well, so Jasper is now allowed to be anywhere he likes downstairs, and the cats wander around without a care. So much for two weeks of separation. Ha. It hasn't even been one. The only time we shut him up is when we go to work. He hates that, but there is no way I trust the animals to be home alone together yet.

Last night was the first night we didn't gate him into the kitchen for the evening. John, whose turn it was to sleep downstairs on the sofa to keep our boy company, said Jasper hung out next to the sofa while the light was on, but as soon as John turned it off the dog went into the kitchen and settled into his crate for the night with no whining or whimpering at all. It was the gating that upset him all along. He wants to be where we are or at least know he can get to us if he needs us. He's our dog, there's no question. Tonight we'll try sleeping upstairs and he can join us if he wants, or go to his crate. Could be a bit crowded if he does stay. But that's all right with me. I want him to feel like he's home.

It's so nice to have a dog around again. Five creatures in the house seems just right.

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