Animal with Home Value

  There’s a lot tangled together in this one, Nigel: exhaustion, a walk, frustration about work and time off, a rescued cucumber, and that feeling that writing can carry some of what you would otherwise carry around all day. I kept that slightly wandering, honest quality because it fits what you’re writing about rather than trying to polish all the rough edges away. The Cucumber in the Trash and Everything Else in My Head I got out walking with my mom today. That was probably one of the better things I could have done, because apparently ten hours of sleep doesn't necessarily mean ten hours of good sleep. My Garmin gave me a sleep score of 53 after 10 hours and 49 minutes. Somehow, my Body Battery still climbed all the way up to 79. So according to one number, I had a decent charge. According to another, my sleep wasn't particularly great. According to me? I was tired. Maybe that is the number that matters most sometimes. Still, I got up, got moving and went walking. Dixie cam...

  Anniversary Week, Windstorms, and the Little Things It is incredibly windy out today. I still managed to get Dixie out for a walk , although calling it windy almost feels like an understatement. Trees and branches have been coming down all over the city, so it certainly wasn't the most peaceful walk we've ever taken. We got it done, though, and I was pretty happy to get back inside afterward. It is also the end of our anniversary week. I've had a few more private gifts for Kim today, things I'm going to keep between the two of us. Kim can sometimes be hard for me to read when it comes to gifts, so instead of trying to find one perfect thing, I went with a few different kinds of gifts. Hopefully, somewhere in that mix, I got it right. The rest of the day has been much quieter. Friends and family are at church, while I'm at home doing a bit of sleeping, getting some laundry done and generally taking it easy. Sometimes that kind of day is exactly what you need. Last ...

  Pleasant Words, Coffee Money, and an Inside-Out Shirt I woke up this morning and got myself an egg, croissant, and sausage meal. Not a bad way to start the day. I saw a colleague going down the street and we got talking about missing pens. Pens have a funny way of disappearing. Maybe that's why I'm a pen guy. Some people buy jewelry. Some people collect other things. Me? Give me a good pen and I'm happy. Although today I'm on a bit of a jewelry high. It's our anniversary, and this week I bought my wife two pieces of jewelry. I don't do that very often, so there was something special about it. A little love spent on my wife, and money well spent if you ask me. My mom met me for coffee this morning. There was lots of money disappearing into that black void of coffee, but hey, I'm going to make myself some more money with the next Crocker kettle cup of tea. Then it was off to the dog park. Part of the park was closed, but the other end was open, so we got our...

  ❤️ Celebrating Our Anniversary, Three Hours of Sleep and All This week is our anniversary week. I say week  because with our work schedules, that’s pretty much how we have to celebrate it. Some days Kim and I are only crossing paths. Sometimes we get five or ten minutes together before one of us is heading somewhere else. So when we actually get some time together, we make it count. Today, somehow, we managed to have a really great day, even though I was running on almost no sleep. 💤 I didn’t fall asleep until around five in the morning and was back up shortly after eight. My Garmin recorded only  3 hours and 9 minutes of sleep,  gave me a sleep score of 43, and called the quality “ Poor ." Can't really argue with the watch on that one. 😂 I’d stayed up far too late, and caffeine certainly hadn't helped. By the time I finally fell asleep, morning had practically arrived. With so little sleep, I told Kim I was actually a little worried I might misspeak. When you’r...

  Dog walk

 The 5:50 AM Anniversary Surprise: 11 Years and Counting Anniversaries have a way of sneaking up on you, but this year, the anticipation was on a whole different level. If you know anything about my schedule and Kim’s schedule, you know our weeks are a bit of a ship-passing-in-the-night situation. I work the evening shift all week, and I didn't sleep a single minute all night. Meanwhile, Kim works the morning shift. Between our opposing work hours, we barely get time to see each other during the week. Except for Dixie, our dog, who is currently living her absolute best life. Because of our schedules overlapping just right, Dixie gets to spend practically the entire day with both of us. Speaking of Dixie, she usually has a strict routine, but today she got to go outside a little earlier than her usual 7:30 AM slot. She was thrilled. Of course, that early morning cuddle session resulted in Kim getting a few minor scratches from all the enthusiasm, but hey—hugs are worth it. Since I w...