Some days, work is hard. Every pet might be sick on a given day. For some of those pets, there is nothing you can do except to help them move on (or provide the guidance their family needs to say, “good-bye,” with someone else’s help); the world doesn’t care how special the pet is to you. Sometimes, technology works against you to get a timely diagnosis and treatment plan together, adding extra stress to your day. Other days, every staff member would rather be somewhere else or is just plain tired. There are still more draining days, when every client wants to argue about anything they possibly can- the cost of a test, whether a legally required vaccine is really needed, that they have been waiting for 2 minutes past the start of their scheduled appointment time, the list goes on. At the end of these kinds of days, you’re left with nothing in the tank.
Friday was that kind of day for me. By the time I got home, if I lived alone, a 6 o’clock bedtime would have definitely been on the table. I think Rook and Magic would have been OK with that too, as long as I got them dinner first. Thankfully, there are good people in my life and some lovely clients to help keep me afloat.
Despite experiencing technology delays, multiple messages for quality of life conversations, perhaps one fully awake brain between my technician and myself to start the day and clients giving us a hard time at the end of the day, I made it through to 5 p.m. Two clients told me how much they appreciated my care for their pets, my guidance to them and my support of their decisions for their furry family members. It always feels good to receive such compliments, especially from clients that I also really enjoy seeing (or just talking to these days, since I don’t actually see any of them right now).
I called Justin as I usually do when I was leaving work. I expressed that it had been a long day. Instead of just ordering pizza, like he had been planning, he went to the grocery store and picked up supplies to grill some hamburgers. As he said, there are two things food-wise that will ALWAYS make me happy: hamburgers and cheesecake. It’s 100% accurate. Thank goodness for him because otherwise, I would literally have fed the dogs, put on my p.j.’s and crawled into bed.
Saturday morning, we slept in and explored some new trails. We’ve been meaning to stop at the Wawa Preserve for a while. Although we expected it to be small, it is either REALLY small, or I need to look at a map and figure out what we missed there. It was quiet and quite pretty though. We ended up crossing the creek where the Rocky Run Trail seemed to end and found the Darlington Trail, which neither of us had ever heard of before. I think we’re so used to Upper Darby just being covered in trash and everyone constantly on top of each other that we didn’t consider that a nearby township would have such nicely preserved open space. It wasn’t nearly as long as some walks we take, but we learned about a new place and had a very pleasant stroll in the woods with Rook and Magic.
In the afternoon, we brought the dogs to a training class. After the Easter Sunday fiasco, my friend and former coworker informed me that she had a Basic Obedience II class starting this weekend. Rook has taken several classes with her before, and I always wanted to get him into Basic II. The class didn’t have the interest back then for her to offer it. Rook was a little rusty during this first session, but we were both proud of Magic’s showing. She did MUCH better than either of us expected. Between the hike and class, I had two very tired pups on my hands yesterday evening.
In short, this weekend, I am counting my blessings after ending the week just wanting to take a week-long nap. I have someone at home that loves me enough to go out of his way and make me dinner when he’s also had an exhausting week at work, two dogs with some promise, clients that do appreciate everything I do (sometimes, it’s hard to remember that they exist), support staff that shows up (even if they’re anxious/depressed/tired/dealing with kids with COVID/etc.) to field phone calls, make and explain estimates, figure out technology and stand firm that, yes, all indoor cats in the state of PA really do need rabies vaccines, friends to help me train my dogs and beautiful places right nearby to get some fresh air and peace. Cheers to all of that plus the vaccines that Justin and both of my sisters were able to get within the past week, the anticipation of taking a much-needed vacation and seeing friends that have only been long-distance friends in recent memory, as well as some semblance of the life I used to live before last March.
“We can choose to wake up and grumble all day and be bitter and angry and judge others and find satisfaction in others doing bad instead of good. Or we can we wake up with optimism and love and say, ‘Just what is this beautiful day going to bring me?'” ~ Margaret Trudeau
