Report from Camp Mimi (Day 4)

I'm enjoying some free time while Starman walks Mimi for an hour or so. Things are going well. I think.

We made getting her spayed a top priority, so I phoned around yesterday for a vet. Really lucked out there -- We ended up with Dr. Margie (hard G, btw), aka Dr. Margaret Stinavage-Kipps. Now, how cool is this: her vet offices are on the property where they raise, and sell, bison for meat. Only in the country! I liked Dr. Margie a lot -- she's a fellow Penn grad (albeit long gone from the vet school by the time I matriculated at the law school), and she started as a large animal vet (horses, cattle, bison, etc.) while seeing small animals in her living room. The small animal business has grown, which is how we found her. (I used to drive past her office/bison ranch on my way to do literacy training in Forest City.)

[As we arrived, Toby, the "office manager," jumped onto the counter to greet Mimi. Mimi was totally good, but when she put her paws up on the counter -- a behavior we're working on stopping -- Toby swatted her. Great cat. Then, as we were leaving, another patient was waiting to see Dr. Margie -- a Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog named "Krypto." The owner assured us that he was still only a puppy, but it was the biggest dog I've ever seen. And very shaggy, and pristine white. Think Shetland pony, only beefier. Mimi was awesome, friendly and appropriate when meeting another dog. This is a wonderful vet!]

So Mimi has been vaccinated against rabies, and goes in tomorrow to be spayed. Ordinarily, they would have us pick her up about 12 hours later, but we're due for the last round robin bridge thing, so Dr. M. kindly offered to board her overnight for free (as a courtesy, she said) and we'll pick Mimi up first thing Thursday morning.

This is good for all the myriad reasons that spaying your pet is good, and also because it gives us a day off from dog care. We're going to make a real day of it: leave after lunch, run some errands, then see a movie before dinner out and the bridge.

Okay, so I sort of put my foot in it with Coffee Jones yesterday (she called to congratulate us on getting Mimi) when I said that we were struggling to work out all the time constraints of having a dog. "Been there," was the sardonic comment. Duh. Silly me -- any parent knows more about this than we ever will. We can (and do) crate Mimi for a few hours during the day just so we can get on with stuff. It's not like you can do that with kids. I have such new respect for working parents, stay-at-home parents, and parents who work from home. I know we'll all find a rhythm for the daily routine, and it will happen a lot sooner than it does with newborns.

But in the meantime, I just want a nap...