Hair of the Dog

I meant it when I said that Barry flipped our lives upside down. We aren't the same anymore, and I imagine we'll stay not the same from now on. Even after Barry's long gone we'll have been changed by him. I'm not keen on talking about after Barry. It's a reality that most pet parents face at some point, though. Watching your beloved pet get sick or pass on. Husband and I have already both experienced this separately. I can hardly imagine what it must be like for us when it's Barry, though. I am thinking about it because we recently watched an episode of Derek on Netflix where Derek's favorite dog had to be put to sleep because of cancer. I cried. It is more personal now that we have our own dog. Before Barry I would always get upset when animals were hurt or died on T.V. but it's different when you have your dog sitting right next to you.

Moving on from that. He's young and healthy right now so we have many good years ahead of us. Happy thoughts!

Before Barry we had a very tidy and clean condo. Sometimes we'd skip sweeping or cleaning the bathroom but it was never a big deal because we'd always get to it. We could leave to go anywhere at any time without worrying about anything. We could leave a pair of pants on the floor, put our shoes next to the door in the hallway, and even leave our couch cushions on the couch! I'm not saying our condo isn't tidy, but I'm not saying it IS tidy either. It's just different now. Vacuuming the couch and rugs doesn't get all the hair out. Sweeping every couple of days doesn't really cut it anymore. Walking out the front door wearing anything black is no longer a mindless task. I feel like the time I have to clean is taken up by the walks we take Barry on, preparing his meals, getting his KONG ready for the next morning, putting items away so that Barry can't get to them when we leave, loving on, paying attention to, and playing with Barry. There is no longer such as a thing as just leaving either. Not in the sense that I can grab my purse and walk out the door. It's a process now. I have to make sure a KONG is prepared. Put on some classical music. Get the calming aromatherapy diffuser on. Everything's put away and then I give Barry his KONG. I have to wait a minute just to make sure he's into it and not watching me as I leave. Then I quietly leave and lock the deadbolt so that Barry doesn't escape.

I think I still need to find the good groove to get into. I have become pretty good at all the Barry stuff but now I need to begin incorporating all the other life stuff as well. The biggest issue is making the time for it. I also need time to sit and relax. I haven't found the perfect balance of cleaning, taking care of Barry, making dinner, and relaxing yet. It's been over 7 months and I still haven't gotten it yet. I think I will eventually but I'm not there yet. My priorities lean towards Barry and dinner during the evenings. Then I have time to sit a bit before it's time to take Barry on his last evening walk and then getting ready for bed. That leaves cleaning on the back burner all the time.

As bad as all that sounds it really isn't. The cleaning gets done eventually. I enjoy doting on Barry. I love getting home to our semi clean condo and having Barry wiggle his butt and follow me everywhere because he's so happy to see me and have my husband there to greet me with a kiss. I love the life I live. I know not everything is perfect in life all the time (or ever really). Right now our life is a little bit more hairy than we'd prefer but what is the alternative? No hair anywhere? It's just not possible as long as we have Barry and I'd rather keep Barry around for as long as he lives. So hair it is. Barry is worth it.