We have found a pet sitter at last. She was recommended to us by friends who have used her for a couple of years, so I can now look forward to taking longish trips again knowing our pets will have a responsible person coming by to take care of them twice daily. We haven't been able to take time off since we got here almost a year ago because we just hate putting the dog in a kennel for a week at a time. We're soft-hearted, but it's also not really great for her. She doesn't exercise herself, so letting her into a play yard once or twice a day won't do a thing for her, and she won't eliminate unless she's walked, and she's used to three walks a day. She also pines for her routine something terrible. I'd like to say she's missing us but I suspect she misses the quiet of her backyard all day just as much when she's forced to be around numerous dogs. Dixie doesn't like other dogs. I can relate. I don't like other people, myself.
So the pet sitter is engaged for the trip to Arizona, rah rah go team, but she's not cheap. I'm thrilled to get all three animals taken care of but it's definitely more expensive than a kennel. In fact, I seem to be spending a little more money than I'm taking in right now which is worrisome. Only a couple of months ago I was busy saving a nest egg. I know why, of course. For one thing, I'm spending $90 a week on chiropractic but that's soon going to drop to a third of that. (I certainly wish insurance covered it.) For another, I've bought books and groceries without worrying about the cost. Frugality is not in my nature, believe me. So I'm guessing I could shave that overspending (I'm talking about a big thirty bucks) by not buying books for a short while and making a list before I go to the grocery store. Note to self: avoid ever going to the store when I'm hungry. Right after work is a bad, bad idea. I come home with expensive delicacies instead of hearty fruits and vegetables.
I actually have to force myself to eat fruits and vegetables. If I could live on meat, cheese, and bread, I would. Fruit is the last, itty-bitty tier of my personal food pyramid. Fruit is usually too much work for the effort, which is why I incline towards apples and bananas. I like fruit if someone else peels it. I'm a little more likely to eat my greens. I will eat almost any fresh vegetable voluntarily but I have a lifelong aversion to most cooked vegetables. It's the texture, mainly. Cooked carrots are my particular bane. They turn up in absolutely everything, have you ever noticed? Mushy, ominously orange, reminiscent of baby food. Cuisines of the world, stop using cooked carrots as filler! Yuck! Ptoo!
Sorry, a moment of food angst. I'm better now.
Thank goodness the pets aren't fussy eaters. Far from it. Dixie will, being a dog, eat any old thing from expensive vet-issued chow to rancid, weeks-old human food to the occasional cat kibble. We have to be ever vigilant on walks because she'll snark up the most revolting things if we don't grab her snout and make her spit it back out. The cats adore all brands of cat food, wet or dry, and have a fondness for milk that cereal was in, cheese, fish, and pizza if they can steal a crust. They turn up their noses at fruits and vegetables, though, which only goes to show, doesn't it?
I guess I'll just have to think, "pet sitter fees," every time I go to the grocery store now, and turn away from the expensive delicacies. Maybe there's a special on apples and bananas this week.
