Happy Easter 2008

Happy Easter everyone!!!! I believe this is the last major holiday I will be separated from my family, hooray!!! I would be lying if I said today was one of those easy days because it is not. I don’t like the fact my family is 3,000 miles away but I do understand that this situation is only temporary. I have been separated from them because of what I have done and I have come to terms with this. I will not beat myself up of this fact and actually knowing I will be with my family come this summer is such a comforting thought.

I miss them so much but I was able to speak with them on two different occasions today. They were having a great time at my wife’s sister’s house and later on today they went over my mother’s house. My family is surrounded and a better depiction would be ensconced in love. The children had their cousins to play with and my wife had her family all in one place. My family had been well taken care of in this time and I certainly can’t wait to be a daily physical and emotional part of their lives very soon.

It does appear July will be the month that we are all together and that may seem like a long ways away. However; I have learned that time moves so quickly and that three months will pass by. The summer will be upon us and we will be a family all in one place once again. I love that fact and I love them so much.

I didn’t have much planned today and I really didn’t do much. Last night I went over a dear friend’s house and I even brought Rudolph (the dog I am sitting for). My dear friend also has a dog and he has a female Labrador that is so much smaller then Rudolph. My friend had a neighbor’s dog at his house as well who was also a smallish Labrador and female. Rudy was the big dog on campus and the three of them played very nicely.

I was a bit concerned with the gender issue but that didn’t seem to matter. The three dogs were running, jumping and having a grand time. I was with my friend and we too had a grand time. It was just like old times as we had a little dinner and watched the boxing matches on television. Things do change but for the most part things do stay the same and I was grateful for the sameness last night.

I departed my friend’s house with Rudy in tow and we headed back to my other dear friends’ house. I don’t seem to know where the time goes but before I realized it was much later than I thought. I went to sleep and during the night I heard Rudy stirring. I didn’t want any more presents so I let him outside. The hour was early (or late depending on your point of view) so I kept him outside which I thought was the best course of action. He was great as I didn’t hear him make a sound.

I was a bit lazy this morning and slept a little longer than usual. I had nothing on the agenda other then the Sunday GA meeting late this afternoon so I really relaxed this morning. I made my telephone calls, had breakfast then I decided to take Rudy for a walk. It really wasn’t much of a walk because after 10 minutes I decided to jog. Rudy seemed to enjoy this and so did I.

We jogged for awhile and when we first started Rudy was out in front of me as I held the leash. Then he was by my side and finally he was behind me. Rudy was getting tired and I sensed this so I headed back to the house. About a half mile from the house Rudy had had enough and just sat down. He is a rather large dog so the option to pick him up did not exist. He was obviously tired and wanted shade very badly. We found some shade and he rested. After a few minutes I tried to get him to walk home but this was very difficult. The last half a mile took 35 minutes as he just didn’t want to walk anymore.

The poor dog was beat and when I finally got him home he just sat outside next to his water bowl which I had to fill five times. The poor thing just sat outside (in the shade) and didn’t have enough energy to come into the house. I did get him in the house but he slowly went back to his water bowl.

It came time for me to go to the GA meeting so I needed to put him in the backyard. Rudy probably thought I was going to take him on another walk so he wanted no part of this, he just sat down. I had to carry the large dog into the backyard and once there he found a shady spot where he laid down. I think I did a little too much with him and hopefully he will recover. I doubt he will want to do any more walks with me in the near future!!! In spite of being separated from my family it was a great day, Happy Easter!!!