Monday, January 9, 2023, MN

I ended up cleaning Ben and Jill’s house on Friday last week (usually on Thursday) as we had a bit of a miscommunication on days and it worked out just fine. Thursday was super cold and I was glad that I didn’t have to leave home and one more day of recovery from the shoveling I did was just fine.  Joey hasn’t been getting much exercise, so I’ve been playing ball with him in the stairway where he is closed in by doors and gets a good run up and down the stairs. I get a few flights in myself. It would probably be ok to play with him in the hallway but I worry that a resident will come out of their apartment and trip over him or be pestered with his jumping and playfulness.

I made vegetable beef soup again on Saturday and invited Leslie to join me. We had a really nice chat and it feels so good to share a meal and have some conversation with it. She appreciated the invite too. I now have lots of servings of Soup in my freezer.

Joey got a bath on Saturday and a haircut on Sunday. I clipped him a little shorter this time but I’m not sure that I like it.  He got to the point of being impatient so I was wrapping up when I grabbed a little tuft of hair on his hind foot and cut right into the pad. Blood was splattering everywhere - on the mat, on my floor, on my couch, as he was impatient and scurrying around licking the wound.  I took him outside, thinking the cold snow might stop the bleeding and Ben arrived for a short visit while we were out.  Ben helped me to get a bandage on it and Joey kept it on until evening when the bleeding had stopped.  What a mess! I did learn that peroxide followed by a cold water rinse dissolves the blood and removes the stain. It worked really well - I could actually see the bubbling peroxide turn pink as it lifted the stain out of the fabric. Magical! And now I have to regain his confidence so I can finish the haircut that I started yesterday (face, legs and feet and tummy).

We went to the dog park today, as the temps have risen to almost 30°. It was nice - I walked the circle around the large dog park, he ran in front of me, coming back to check on me every now and then, and he played and played with some other dogs that were there - a whole variety of breeds. He is so much calmer after he gets a chance to run and play.