Next time I'll listen
6:33 p.m. - 2005-08-24
The new puppy has an eating disorder.
Little 'ol Rufus can pack away food like nothing I've ever seen before. I did a bunch of reading up on basset hounds after we got him, so I came into this fully aware that they tend toward obesity if you're not stringent in their feeding routine, but GodDAMN. He'd eat all day if we'd let him. At first I measured his food out with a cup, and told Alan that he'd better not overfeed him. That worked for about five minutes. Dear God, the howling. The barking. You'd think we were starving him to death.
So now we've increased his food, but it still doesn't seem to satisfy him. He polishes his off in about three minutes flat, and then scampers into the kitchen where Lily's food is. She's not a big eater, and a bowl will usually last her a couple days. I've been pretty good about only feeding her when he's outside, but every once in a while I'll forget. He chomps so loudly that I can hear him all through the house, though, so I usually make it before he's had a chance to devour all of it.
It's kind of funny, but also a little disturbing that he has such an enormous appetite. And he's so damn lazy that he eats lying down. I'm tempted to get a taller bowl just so that I'll know he's expending a little energy getting to the food. We've been leaving him outside most of the day (and some nights) so that he'll get at least a moderate amount of exercise, and also because he can't seem to grasp the housebreaking concept. I seem to have trouble when it comes to potty training my pets. It's compounded by the fact that we have carpet throughout the house, and I don't give a damn WHAT that odor neutralizer shit says, it doesn't get all the scent out. I've steam cleaned this carpet three or four times since we've lived here, and the stains always seem to come back. Guess I should have listened when the sales lady told me that light colored carpet is a bitch to take care of, huh? When the person who's trying to sell the product doesn't recommend it, you definitely need to heed their advice.
I got a call from the school board superintendent yesterday, asking me if I was planning to come back in January. I was kind of hesitant to answer truthfully, seeing as how I'm in a rather precarious position, but it didn't take her long to assure me that I'll be able to stay on sick leave with 65% of my pay until the baby is born regardless. I can then go on leave without pay (they're pretty much the same thing) for the rest of the year. We'll have to pay the full insurance premium ($700/month=No Fucking Way we can afford that shit) ourselves if we elect to keep it, but hopefully Alan will have a different job--one that offers insurance--by then. He had a second interview today, and they're supposed to be sending him another letter within the next couple of weeks to let him know if he made it through to the next round. After hearing all that, I decided that my best bet would be to go ahead and tell her that I'm not coming back this year, but I didn't want to sound like I had lied to her at the beginning of the call. She sensed my hesitancy, I guess, because she told me to think about it for the rest of the afternoon and call her back today with a decision. I think that she was trying to figure out whether or not she needed to hold a position for me this year, which would mean that some other (uncertified, most likely) teacher would be out of a job come January. I don't want that to happen, especially since I already know that I'm not going back to work. I called twice today to let her know, but missed her both times. She left a message on our machine around 2, but we weren't here. (Had to go pick up some prints we had framed for the baby's room.) Hopefully I can get in touch with her tomorrow and put a stop to the phone tag.
Not much else is going on. I'm enjoying the hell out of being at home. We're progressing with all the stuff we need to get done slowly but surely, and though I'd like it finished before the baby shower on the 17th, I'm glad that we'll still have a few weeks after that to tie up all the loose ends. People say that you don't need much to have a baby, but I'll feel a lot better about it if we're well organized and prepared.
Can't deny that I'm ready to put a little face to these rolls and kicks, though. Guess the 3D ultrasound on Wednesday should be enough to tide me over for the next couple of months.