The Week From Heck

That's what this has been.

It started off with Monday, and just being Monday is bad enough. Tuesday is when Cody woke up with the flu. Between taking care of him, and a puppy, too had just about worn me out.

Still, by Friday, Cody had improved enough that he was ready to have a little birthday party, just family. I was so tired that I broke down and bought him a cake, even though I wouldn't be able to eat any of it myself.

We were going to forgo the candles because of the risk of spreading the virus, but I said that I probably was going to get the flu anyway.

We knew he still wasn't feeling well because it took four blows to get all the candles out. We knew he still wasn't feeling well when he just kind of faded in the middle of the party. I sent him back home to lay down, and I wasn't far behind him.

As if a child with the flu and a hyperactive puppy wasn't bad enough, Rylea got herself hit again.

Normally, she stays out of the street, but the one vice I've never been able to break her of is that she likes to follow me down the road whenever I go anywhere. When we go into town, it isn't so bad because she stays well off the road. However, when I go to work, she likes to run on the same side of the road I drive on, so she has to cross the street. Thursday morning, as I was leaving for work, she had crossed the street and turned around to see if I was coming. When she did, she stepped right in front of an oncoming car. The car had slowed down, and really just bumped her good, but she re injured the leg she had hurt when she was a puppy.

I think if the leg had been healthy in the first place, she likely wouldn't have been hurt at all. When I went to pick her up today, I saw that the veterinary assistants had had a little fun with her cast.

You know, I live outside of town so that my dogs will have room to roam. There are cow pastures, and cotton fields, and woods, and ponds. I hate the idea of putting a dog in prison, but I think Rye has just sentenced herself to a life of incarceration.

You know what else, I hate those people who think that just because they're driving on a "country" road, they can drive as fast as they want to, with no thought to who they may be putting in danger. Yeah, we don't live in town, but there are dogs on this road, and more importantly, there are kids on this road. It's not all about you, you know.

At least I had football to look forward to this weekend, or so I thought. About Thursday, I realized that the Cowboys, the Colts, and LSU all had bye weeks this week. The only redeeming game was the annual Red River Rivalry between Texas and OU. It was a low scoring, defensive game, but Texas won 16-13. It probably won't matter that OU has a good defense. It probably won't matter that Texas won on a neutral field. (It didn't last year.) It certainly won't matter that Colt McCoy had been sick all week, and had an injured thumb. In college ball, if you don't win by an absolute blowout, you might as well lose the game. That's why, except for the required division/conference games, most of these top teams play smaller schools that don't have as good of a football program--so they can rack up those 53 point games. So they can rack up the style points.

Hmmm, Florida struggled against Arkansas, and only won on a last second field goal. I wonder if they will slip in the polls, too. Did they get enough style points? That's why I prefer pro football, where a win is a win, and that's all that matters.

Nevertheless, here is your Gratuitous Colt McCoy photo.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

And here is something I haven't posted in a while, a Saturday Sky:

It started off clear this morning, but as the day went on, clouds began rolling back in. A strong North wind has been blowing, and it's been chilly enough for my heater to come on. This weather has made me want to put on some Christmas music and make cookies.

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