Envision, if you will, our simple life and how we get through our days with smiles and appreciation.
For fun, let me start on a Sunday night!
SUNDAY NIGHT
11pm
My goal is to get into bed by 11pm each night. I may not always make it, but I make a good effort. On Sundays, I have just watched Mad Men, and Satchel, Luna & I talk about the episode.
Jason stays up later than the rest of us so he is on Satchel Watch.
By now, Satchel is usually relaxing a bit by lying down in either the office or the bedroom. He usually chooses his moving blanket area. He just loves a moving blanket...crazy Satchel.
Sweet Satchel getting sleepy...
I close the doors to our bedroom and office to contain Satchel's wanderings to a safe area and so that I can hear him as he tries to get up in the night.
Luna gets to "cuddle up." I like her to be on "my side," but she often chooses the roomier-for-the-moment area known as "Jason's side." He's very accommodating to her sleeping needs.
Spacious Jason's Side
Ready to snuggle up with Me!
The dogs and I find a good sitcom and put the TV on a 30-minute sleep timer.
12am
Luna and I are asleep. I hear Satchel get up some time between midnite and 1-ish am because he needs to go outside. Jason usually takes him at this time then "suits him up" for the nite.
Satchie has to wear a doggy diaper I create out of a human Depends with a cut in it for his tail. It is the most effective when combined with a diaper cover or Belly Band. He doesn't like it, but he has grown more used to it and doesn't seem bothered by the apparatus anymore.
Suited Up Satchel
2 - 4am
Somewhere in here Satchel wakes up with a start and a struggle and needs my help to get up and stand. He has to go outside to pee, but he is sometimes sleepwalking. Literally sleepwalking. About 30% of the time, he is still asleep until we get outside.
Satchel likes to walk the yard for several minutes. We have spent up to 30 minutes outside at this time of night admiring the stars and trying not to disturb the deer that sleep in our yard.
Traversing the yard at night...
Sometimes Satchie has pooped in his diaper. He's neat about it and a swipe with a baby wipe or Clorox wipe makes him perfect again. Maybe once a month he needs an extra shower due to this event.
We get back inside, put on a new diaper, Satchel drinks a ton of water, and we go back to the bedroom where Jason is usually snoring and Luna is usually sprawled and stretched out on her back - Totally Asleep.
"Why not limit his water?" some ask.
"Because it's good for his kidney function and digestion," I say.
On good nites, this process will take about 30 minutes. On rough nites, when Satchel's intestines are working slowly, it can be a 2 Hour Tour.
On a good nite, Satchel will lie down and go back to sleep. On a rough nite, after pacing and panting in the yard, he needs some snuggle time and massage. His upper back around his shoulders can get very fatigued. With a little bit of luck, and about 15 minutes of massage along his spine, upper back and tummy, Satchie might be relaxed for another couple of hours.
4 - 6am
Either Satchel & I are outside again, or I'm helping him walk around a bit to find a comfortable position.
Jason and Luna are deeply asleep.
On a good nite, this awakening may not even happen. On a rougher nite, Satchel is up for an hour or two.
Monday mornings I have a massage client 7-9am.
I'm stressed on Monday mornings because Jason leaves for a client's house at about 6:45am which means no one can attend to Satchel's needs. We have found he rests well and safely in the basement.
MONDAY
6am
Luna and I get up. Satchel sometimes wakes or is already awake.
I get dressed, and if Satchel is awake, Luna and I go outside with him first, then get him settled in either the bedroom or massage room before we go for a 30-minute walk in the neighborhood.
Luna has her Flasher on and we're ready for our walk in the dark
Doesn't it sound like the last 7 hours have been sooooo exciting!?!?
6:30-ish - 7 am
Luna and I have breakfast.
Luna gets her medicine.
Jason takes Satchel into the basement and gets him comfortable and settled while I try not to panic...
7-9am
Work.
9:10am
Shove client out the door so I can check on Satchel!
He is usually fine...on occasion I need to clean him up from some sort of mishap...
I'm still feeling stressed because every other week I have to leave by 9:20am to get to an appointment which means I have to pack 40 minutes worth of needs into 10.
Get Satchel upstairs - he walks the yard first of course!
Come ON Satchie! I've got to GO!
Hold Satchel up while he eats.
Helping Satchel eat
If there's enough time, give Satchel all his meds.
Suit Satchel up and leave.
Work really hard at not feeling panicky.
9:25am
Leave 5 minutes late.
9:35-ish am
Arrive at my friend's Korey's house.
She is a massage therapist too and we trade!
9:45-ish - 11:30 am
Work on Korey.
11:35-ish am
Leave Korey's house and head to dog walking client's house.
Talk to Jason on the way, confirming that he will be home by noon.
11:45-ish am - 12:30-ish pm
Walk my client's/friend's 3 miniature greyhounds.
So cute!
Honey, Tredder & Blaze
12:30-ish pm
Race home hoping I won't get a ticket.
12:40-ish pm
Arrive home.
Satchel is often just fine!
If I haven't had time to do it already and Jason forgets, I give Satchel his meds.
1pm
Feed myself some lunch!
I have until 3pm to be with my dogs and do household tasks.
2:30 - 3pm
Take the dogs out for a jaunt in the yard.
It is a project to get Satchel outside and then he hates to come back inside.
He seems to think he has a bit of Rudolph in him because he acts as if he's taking off to fly. He hippity hops down the ramp and attempts to jump off the end of it like it's a dock. It is very hard on my back, knees and wrists...
Helping Satchel get down his ramp
Continuing down The Ramp That Jason Built
And he's off...to wander the yard!
Once inside, I suit Satchel up because he has to be alone for about an hour and half.
I work at not being stressed about Satchel's safety and not being worried that I'm not meeting Luna's needs...
3-ish - 4pm
Drive to client's house and set up for 4pm massage.
Text with the kids in my life about their days. On average, I tell them I love them & miss them 100x/day.
2 of my favorite people in the Entire Universe
4 - 5pm
Work.
5-ish - 5:20pm
Pack up and head home to the puppies!
6-ish - 8pm
Arrive home. Feed puppies. Take them out.
Feed myself.
Try to work out in some way. Treadmill. Weights. Something. It's all downstairs.
Text with kids if they're not too busy.
Me trying to workout with the puppies nearby
Satchel will usually stay downstairs with Jason and his clients.
(Jason is a personal trainer and works from home some hours during the day.)
Maybe have a shower.
8-ish - 8:30pm
Set up massage room for 8:30 appointment.
Text kids that I miss them and love them.
8:30 - 9:30ish pm
Work.
9:30-ish - 10pm
Straighten massage room.
Laundry.
10 - 11pm
Go outside with the dogs.
Feel lucky that I have the time, energy and money to take care of my family like this.
Do dishes or fold laundry or something like that.
11pm
Try to be in bed!
Sometimes I take the laptop into bed with me to read emails and my favorite gossip sites!
Luna & I cuddled up
Luna had been cuddled up for over an hour when this picture was taken...I just hopped into bed for the picture and then needed to switch out some laundry...isn't that too often the way?! It would have been so nice to just stay there...
11pm - 6am
See Sunday night!
Snuggled up & getting sleepy with Jason in the office
The day has quite a bit of Satchel pooping and peeing and needing clean up, but I'll keep that detail sparse. What I will tell you is that just because a dog becomes incontinent does not mean his quality of life is poor. Satchel needs all kinds of support and I'm happy to give it all to him. He's a happy dog. Of course dogs don't want to poop or pee where they live and sleep. It goes against their instincts. But if Satchel was in the wild right now, his pack would have either killed him or abandoned him to die. He's not in the wild. I will not kill or abandon him. He's my domesticated pet who is an essential family member and I am honored to take care of every bit of him.
TUESDAY
Don't have to get up until 8am!
Sometimes Satchel will be up earlier, but sometimes he'll sleep even later than 8am.
Jason has clients that come to the house at 8am on Tuesdays so Luna and I are awake!
8am
Luna hears people in the basement. She waits for me to get up. She's so awesome in that she doesn't wake me up, but since Jason's alarm goes off at 7:30/7:45, I'm already up - we're usually talking about our day. Yeah. Luna & I. We talk!
8:05am
Luna and I, and sometimes Satchel, go outside.
Depending on whether Satchel is with us or not, it can be a quick yard jaunt or a lengthy one.
If Satchel is up, he will want to go see who is in the basement, and Luna and I can go for a walk and not worry about Satchel.
If Satchel is not up, Luna and I wait until he wakes up, then we take him outside, then into the basement, then Luna and I go for our walk.
Walking, feeding, and medicine can take 2 hours!
10am - 11:30am
Workout and shower.
12pm
Take puppies outside.
We walk around and around and around and around the yard.
The dogs lift their noses and discover many things from the air.
Luna finds fun things in the leaves. She sometimes does a crazy tear around all the yards which perks Satchel's ears up as he watches her insanity. It's fun!
I suit Satchel up and leave for client's house.
Work at not worrying...
Now why do I worry so much? Satchel seems fine every time, you say.
Wellllll, for several months, when I've returned from having to be away from him, I have found my Sweet Satchel in some stressful situations.
More than once, I have found him sprawled on the floor in an odd location as if he got stuck and couldn't get out and just fell from fatigue.
We have many light/dark sensitive night lights throughout the house to light our way when we're up at 2am. They are plugged into sockets near the floor. It's sad for me to see these nightlights twisted and sometimes unplugged as Satchel has fallen against walls when I'm not with him.
Even when I sequester him in what seems like a safer place with carpeted floors, I have found my lovey tangled in his poopy diaper, or worn out from trying to get up on his own.
I hate to think of him struggling or hurting or both and not having his magical humans protecting him. We make food appear and doors open and nature open up for him. We make getting up and walking around easier. We love and adore and need him, just as he does us.
So I worry about him, and I wake up with him, and I take care of him, and I smile at him, and I love the funny-ness of him, and I stay home with him every possible second that I can. And when I have to leave him, I envision him being more than fine when I return. It takes some work, but if I can be confident, I can leave my Satchel & my Luna with the energy that they are safe and secure and I will always come home to them.
1 - 2pm
Work.
2-ish pm
Pack up and head home to the puppies!
2:45-ish pm
Arrive home and see that my puppies are ok.
Take them outside.
Feed myself some lunch.
Pack up new massage stuff to prepare for next client.
Check email, dishes in the dishwasher, laundry in the dryer kind of stuff.
3:50pm
Take puppies outside one more time.
Leave for client's house.
Work at not worrying.
Text with the kids about their days if they're not at soccer practice.
Tell them I love them and miss them.
4:30 - 6ish pm
Work.
6:15-ish pm
Head home to the puppies!
If I have some errands to run, I do that now because Jason is home and has fed the dogs and is taking care of them.
I miss the dogs, but am thankful to have the time and money to buy groceries and other things we need.
7 - 9pm
Arrive home some time in this range.
If closer to 7pm, I'll get household tasks done after I reunite with the dogs and text with the kids.
If closer to 9pm, I do pretty much the same thing, just for not as long.
Sometimes there is an opportunity to do NOTHING!
9 - 11pm
Go outside with the dogs.
Maybe fold laundry, clean a bathroom, vacuum, work on the computer.
Sometimes there is an opportunity to do nothing and I get into bed to do more nothing!
And so it goes through the week, and I feel lucky every day, even though I'm tired.
There is a lot of love and a lot of life at Casa Curtin-Hess.
We've cultivated a lot of happiness here, and I thank God for it all!
A Happy Jason With A Happy Satchel
