Dog Days of Summer

The Sunday Post

I just finished my second book of the weekend. I finished The Correspondent yesterday and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires today. Two very different books, as I'm sure you can imagine. 

I'm writing this in my best friend's backyard, where I'm dog-sitting for a week. 

I'm writing on my phone, since I was determined to leave most of my tech at home this week. I could have written by hand, but I was feeling lazy because I'd have to dictate to my phone which feels weird to me. I usually dictate to my computer which just feels like I'm in a meeting. 

It's been hot, but today, there's been a little bit of cloud cover, so the A/C in the house hasn't had my attention so much!

Often, we have some sort of motocross thing happening in our town on the weekend, so the squeaks of the baby birds are drowned out a lot by the buzzing of motorcycles and loud announcements. 

Staying here is always a treat for me. It's very comfortable and these two pups are sweet to hang around with. They are always on alert, protecting me from noisy crows and noisier neighbor kids who dare go by the yard. My fierce little paw patrol. 

It's been nice being lazy these past couple of days. Hours reading and watching The Good Doctor has filled my cup after a week that felt like two.

Being here helps free me from those feelings of guilt from doing absolutely nothing. I have one job: hang out with the pups. I'm doing my best. 

I won't go into why the week felt like two. It's really not important. I am grateful for my job and the freedom it enables me to have. 

All the things I filled my days with, especially my job, used to define me. I always felt like I was behind. I felt like I had to fill my kids’ days with activities. I had to clean everything. I had to make sure they had time on the farm. Make sure they had camps. Make sure they weren't out late at a party. On constant alert of what could happen to them. 

I felt like I was alone carrying that burden. Those weren't Dog Days of Summer, that's for sure! 

Still, I find that I keep myself pretty busy most of the time. I worry about spending time with my kids, visiting my parents, making space for my friends. 

Sometimes, I forget that I need to do absolutely nothing. I shouldn't have to go on a vacation for some rest. It's completely ok to read for an entire morning, eat a salad kit for lunch, read and snooze all afternoon, have chips and dip for supper and then stay up until midnight binge watching a show.

 

I don't need permission to be like my furry friends and just slouch on the couch all day until something riles me up enough to get up. (Usually my stomach).

My phone is getting hot, the mama bird  is feeding those noisy babies, and Ollie wants me to throw his stuffy, so until next Sunday, I will leave you, my readers of The Sunday Post, with this question: 

When was the last time you enjoyed the Dog Days of Summer?