Cinco de mayo

Lois closely watching me shovel pea gravel through the fence. She wouldn't play with the dogs if I wasn't inside with her - she was guarding me.

Today is the first day this week I didn't swim, and I must say it makes me feel weird. But I did go to Puptown, the dog park, at 8am and work my ass off shoveling, sweeping and hauling pea gravel in a wheelbarrow for about 2 hours. It was a cleanup day for members and it was great. There were donut holes and coffee, and nice people and their nice dogs for Lois to play with. And I got a serious workout.


Lois in the tub being admired. Notice her panicked expression? She hates baths.

Then we went to Soggy Paws, the do-it-yourself dog washing place, and Lois had a really thorough, really long bath, complete with face wash, condition, and multiple treats, because all the people in the store thought a) she was super cute (which she is) and b) that she has a great name (which she does). And ICK: I've never seen so much of her hair come off - I think about four cups full.

We came home and I cleaned the apartment a bit, then Gary the plumber came over and fixed my clogged bathroom sink and tub, and then I did my toenails, and then I had date #1 with a new guy from the site, S.

It was good. He treated me to a lovely lunch/brunch at Andies, my favorite restaurant in my old neighborhood (and his idea), and then we went to my favorite bar in that neighborhood, Simon's, and had a drink and kept talking for a bit. Now, I'm headed to the laundromat if I can get my sh** together in time (they close at 9 so I gotta rush) and then to meet Sheila at the Dirty Found reading at the Hideout.

"New guy" hasn't called or replied to my last email this whole week, so I emailed again today just to say hi and see if he got my last message through the dating site. Even if we don't have a love connection, it'd be nice of him to write back. I dunno, I guess I'm old fashioned that way.

I'm gonna take pilates tomorrow morning, then teach art classes (not sure if I'm teaching one or two, which is a little annoying), and then go swimming. At night is the cajun dance lesson and band, which I'd like to go to but can't decide...