Good morning, friends. I’m moving slowly today. It’s really cloudy and dreary outside at the moment.

Yesterday one of my blog friends sent me a message saying she had woken up to more terrible news from the states, and it’s really sad that I had to stop and think – what is she talking about? So many terrible things happening at the moment. Jacob Blake was shot seven times by the police several days ago, but a white man can murder two people, LEAVE THE SCENE OF THE CRIME unharmed, and drive all the way back to his home (IN ANOTHER STATE) before getting arrested. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE PROTESTING. This is why Black Lives Matter!

And now the CDC is updating their testing guidelines and no longer recommends testing for people without symptoms, even if they’ve been been in contact with people who had the virus? I CAN’T. I CAN’T.

::deep breath::

Work has been going pretty well for deadline week…you know have you have those, “Yes, but” situations? “Yesss, knocking out all my deadlines, staying on top of everything, generally CRUSHING IT.” Yes, but. Always the outlier to keep you up at night and bring you back down to reality.

My walks around the neighborhood have provided a little sanity, though I’ve been working later.

The dog has been very antsy, understandably, so I try and make sure he gets his exercise with me. Walking Apollo can be frustrating in the neighborhood. He loves trails so much that he fights to be first, but he tends to drag his paws when we’re in the neighborhood. Too many smells to keep him preoccupied. He’s also a dachshund at that, and admittedly not very well-trained (I tried! But apparently not hard enough). Yesterday he pulled out all the stops on his walk. First, he waited until at least 2 or 3 people were in their front yard to decide and poop on the grass. Fortunately I had a baggie with me, but he stained the sidewalk. (I got to be the crazy lady to return with paper towels and soap to remove the stain.) For some inexplicable reason, my neighborhood only has ONE AVAILABLE TRASH CAN on the other side of the neighborhood, so I had to haul the dog (since he refused to walk) and the smelly bag with me to the trash can.

Once we reached the trash can, he saw something that jarred him. Did he think it was a relative? Someone from his past life? I don’t know, but he refused to walk after that. Every time I set him down, he decided to run, full-speed, in the opposite direction. Even when walking nearly a block away, if I set him down, he either tried backing out of his harness or tugging me back to the trash can.

We were not friends by the end of the walk. And we especially weren’t friends when he almost ate my tacos last evening. But of course after some cuddles, my heart softened.

He woke up much earlier than he usually does. I think he wants to spend time with me.

Otherwise, my shawl is going well, though you probably can’t see too much progress.

Ok, I better go, it’s getting a little later over here. I hope you all are well!