Thursday.... Vet Visit with J.

Our phone rang before 9:00 this morning. Our friend J was on the phone... his little dog was sick, and poor J was just totally beside himself. He couldn't find the phone number for his vet, so I found it for him and called the office to tell him he'd be on his way there with little Mandy.

Of all days, his vet was out of town till next week. Back on the phone I got, and called J to give him directions to our vet. J was so upset because his dog wasn't doing too well that he couldn't even grasp the directions I was trying to give him. I finally just told him to drive to my house and I'd get him and Mandy to the vet. (Our vet's office is closer to our house than to J's.)

And, of all days, there I was at 9:00, still in p-js and not a stitch of make-up on. Not exactly my thing to go out without make-up. Now.... could I get make-up on before J got from his house in League City to our house in Clear Lake? Ten miles.... ten minutes for make-up.... I've never brushed my teeth and got make-up on and gotten dressed so quickly unless we've had to catch a plane.

I knew that J would just pull into our driveway and honk the horn, so I was prepared for that. (No one honks their horns here.... that's such a NY thing to do, and J is also from NY, so I just knew he'd be doing that.) I had gotten AngelBoy in from the backyard and put him on the porch with ShadowBaby, so the cats were all set. Gracie was just watching me rushing around: locking doors, calling my husband to let him know where I'd be, grabbing my purse and shoes and keys.

J was just so upset.... his little dog is 13 years old and she was crying and holding her left front paw out straight and not able to move it. I wanted to drive, but J wouldn't get out from behind the wheel of his car. He was just too upset to move, and all he could do was talk to Mandy and the tears were just flowing to beat the band.

Off we went.... J driving and crying, Mandy whimpering and crying and looking at me as if I were an intruder in her car. J kept looking down at his dog and talking to her... I kept telling him to watch the road, and I'd watch the dog. And the tears kept falling.... made me wonder if we'd make it to the vet's office without driving through a tree first.

But we did.... and our friend and vet took care of Mandy... x-rays and pain-killers.... poor little thing has arthritis, and she must have hurt her leg this morning jumping down from J's bed. The vet told J to put a little footstool by the bed so Mandy wouldn't have so far to jump.... she's getting too old and too arthritic now for such high-jumps.

We were at the vet's for over an hour. In that time, J went through a box of tissues, and poor Mandy just couldn't stay close enough to J. They've been together for so long... J got her when she was 6 or 7 weeks old and they've been together ever since. And she's such a tiny little thing... just fourteen pounds.

I don't know what was worse this morning.... hearing that little dog whimpering or watching J cry because he didn't know what was wrong with Mandy and he was thinking the worst was about to happen.