Amy Zents with her mum in British Columbia in 2010
My mother was born on February 27th 1936. On February 27th, last month, she would have been 81 years old.
I have a lot of precious memories of my mother, sadly she got disabled in her sixties. She had the right-of-way walking through a green light when she was run down in the crosswalk by a truck driven by a drunk driver.
She was lucky to survive after she sustained a massive brain injury and lost her sight & hearing. This was a decade before she died. Her poor husband who is older than her had to take care of her and nurse her until he himself passed away. Then she was in the care of others and had to be put in Assisted Living.
After her husband passed away, and my mother was unable to walk the dogs or care for them, we adopted their two dogs.
My mother and her husband had adopted them as puppies and raised them for five years until my husband and I brought them to live in Minnesota.
The two dogs are named Cole and Pixie.
My husband James and our two furkids
After my husband Jim and I picked up the dogs from my mother’s house, we were shuttled to the airport by my mother’s friends.
The two dogs were checked in at the airport and we all had to take the Big Metal Bird from Seattle to Minnesota, first crossing over the Pacific from Victoria Island in a noisy boat, the Seattle Clipper.
The two frightened dogs had to hunker down in crates near a loud engine.
I went from being footloose and fancy-free to becoming a dog mom. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past seven and a half years.
The dogs have taken over my life. No matter what we do we have to always take the dogs into consideration. Especially since the Pomeranian as a diabetic.
Cole is 12Pixie is 13
But they are a memory of my mum. They are her legacy to me because she loved them so much. When she could no longer walk them because she was too disabled and her husband had passed away, then I agreed to rescue the two dogs and not separate them from each other.
They are very happy and contented living in our house. They are a lot happier given free rein of the place.
Back in British Columbia they barked so much the police were always being called because they were bored and depressed penned in a little entry area of the house.
My mother couldn’t take care of them the way they needed to be taken care of. The dogs were much younger then and were high-spirited. They needed a lot of exercise and attention. Actually, they still do.
Some of my happiest memories as a child was seeing my mother walk through the front door after she had been at work or grocery shopping. It makes my heart rejoice when the dogs get all excited when I walk in the front door. It’s fun to see them jumping up and down and glad to see me!
Everytime I look at my dogs I am reminded of my mother and how she loved animals. Although I grew up in the heart of urban Toronto, we always had animals as pets.
There were the white mice, Flinky and Twinkie, cute cuddly cats named Sammy and Susie and others, a tan chihuahua named Fritzie, a brindle Bull Terrier, a brown and white guinea pig named Joey, Myrtle the Turtle, a budgie bird, and many others over the years.
Having pets is a good thing. I think it taught me empathy more than anything. I’m very grateful to my mother for being an animal lover and for her two dogs who light up my life everyday.
Normally in November the weather is gray and yucky like this picture
I should be very happy. The weather today was not all gray and depressing as it normally is in November. In fact, it got up to 72 degrees, or 22.222 degrees Celsius.
Seeing a hearse outside Domino’s Pizza Parlor just makes me wonder about being overworked
But when you burn the candle at both ends, it doesn’t take a mighty straw to break the camel’s back.
I have so many balls in the air lately, sleep is just an interruption. When I really find myself fast asleep, then it’s time to get up and take care of the diabetic Pomeranian, and take the dogs out to wee.
Not only that, the two dogs have taken it upon themselves to be my alarm clock x 2. They bark their heads off when they want me to get out of bed on their timetable.
I have dyspraxia so it’s hard enough to finally go to sleep at night, and then to have to get up prematurely, it’s really awful.
One of the dogs loves to jump on the bed and jump on me. He tries to get me to get up by jumping up and down and barking on me. The other dog, who is visually challenged, just barks and barks to get me up.
The weird thing is that they go to bed when I go to bed, but they’re up before the dawn ready to go and run. So lately my life has just been so sleep-deprived. Tonight I’m going to try to go to bed a little sooner. Yet because of my projects and work, no housework has been done and yet it’s really piling up like crazy.
It’s awful when there’s no food in the fridge, dirty dishes in the sink and no one to do all the work except yourself.
I’m seriously considering hiring some help. But I hate it when people come over and see the mess, and also people seem to intrude in my life when I don’t want them here. I need to just develop some really good habits which I plan to do, so I can just do it all myself.
Everybody seems to be working very hard lately. It’s like when it rains it pours.
Then again there’s other people that just don’t want to have to work so they just don’t come in or they call in sick and then someone else has to carry the extra load.
You can be tired in many different ways, and usually all those ways at one time.
I’m trying to look at the bright side of things right now. There are good things coming. I know. I will just try to gather my strength, any way I can. I will try and get more sleep, not do anything tonight, except close my eyes and go to bed. If I can’t sleep, then I will get up and do some cleaning. But I think I know I’ll be able to sleep because sleeping is better and easier than having to face a sink full of dirty dishes. Nevertheless, my truck is full of groceries, I just got back from the store, now I have to put everything away and take care of my diabetic Pomeranian. The Merry-Go-Round doesn’t quit.
I will find the strength, now that I have unloaded on my blog. It’s better to be too busy than bored. I’m no longer bored, just tired.
This diabetic Pomeranian is very feisty in the early morning hours
We have two best friends, They are our exercise machines. They are our doorbells, and our private security guards.
They are like psychiatrists, that provide us with the invisible drug called, “puppy love.”
Yet, they are getting older too.
The 13 year old Pomeranian called Pixie has a laundry list of ailments that are chronic and incurable, such as blindness, diabetes and Cushing’s disease.
Yet, that does not lessen her lovability, or her love ability!
The lively, rambunctious 12 year old Poodle named Cole, is the joy of our existence as well.
However, like a diva, he is needy, codependent and a little bi-polar.
He shrieks when he wants his way.
But, since we spoil him, we love him anyway.
No, seriously, although they are aging, we owe them our gratitude for all the affection and exercise they add to our lives.
The old saying holds true “lf you want loyalty get a dog.”
I hate it when old dogs are mocked on TV for aging. Whilst their doggy bodies may start to crumble, in this stage of life’s cruel passage, a little love and care will brighten their existence.
They deserve our gratitude at any age for their
unconditional, and unconventional love.
OK. I admit it. My two dogs are not angels. Nevertheless, when they go for walks they are leashed!
We (my two dogs + I,) had two adrenaline spikes that nearly made us faint this week.
The first happened at the intersection of State and Fifth South (an unmarked intersection.)
An evil woman with a vacant head and a heavy foot in a dark Suburban drove towards the dogs and me as we attempted to cross State street. She accelerated and nearly ran us down. I wondered if she was blind or else had a perverse mind.The dogs and I had to race to get out of her path, to escape her idiotic driving.
The second adrenaline spike happened midweek, on a lovely Spring evening when I thought I’d walk the dogs on a different route.
We lazily sauntered up a sidewalk when 2 large barking dogs appeared without a leash aggressively attacking my two dogs.
The owner, a middle-aged neighbour came out of her house yelling at the dogs. They paid her no mind. The two big dogs saw their chance, and until they got yanked back to the house, they continued terrifying my two dogs + me!
Happily, no one was injured.
Speaking of injuries, I had to phone the police awhile back regarding someone’s cat. This tells you how much some people care. The cat lay dead on the road outside my door. I couldn’t bear to look at the sweet little thing. It’s owners let it out. It only has 1 life. So do you. So do I. So do our dogs.
Please follow the rules.
I live the life I love, and I love the life I live
It’s so easy to clog your day off with mundane tasks that really hold no priority. The best thing to do on your day off is to do exactly what you feel like doing!
Of course, this is not always feasible when you have to maintain a house. For me that means, still cooking and cleaning, still taking care of a diabetic dog’s needs, still putting in my proverbial 10,000 steps for the buzz on my Fitbit.
It also means following my healthy eating menu and checking my Facebook and social media for a perk, a bump, a lift, or a laugh.
Otherwise, all bets are off.
Today is my day!
When you do have a day off and you are forced to go to the dentist, or to the hair salon, or to fulfill some obligation that encroaches on your free time, it is such a nuisance. It is abhorrent!
When you know, starting tomorrow, you’re going to be working for a long stretch, then today is the day to be self-indulgent and relax and lie down and take it easy, if you can.
On my day off, I generally live online. It’s so much fun to see what the rest of the world is doing.
I think my only point of reference on how to relax on my day off, is to think about my two dogs.
They live like the kings and queens of yore, with no obligations whatsoever.
The divine right of dogs is to rule over and (maybe even pee over) all they survey, and sniff.
The most thrilling part of my dogs day is when they get to traverse over sidewalks and streets with me.
We have 10,000 steps to do now!
Wherever you are, when you do get a day off, I hope you can enjoy it thoroughly too!
Zents Music Studio 