I’ve written a fair amount of unfinished blog posts lately – and I have plenty of excuses: work, more work, books, summer, dogs, and life. The good news is work is easing up this week. So, I’ll be able to read more and write more blog posts I’m unhappy with that will end up unpublished.

The ebbs and flows of blogging still amaze me. Sometimes the posts come fast and furious day after day. And then there are the lulls and the long walks through the desert looking for anything to write about. I wonder if the see-saw nature is due to my OCD or just part of blogging. Or both?

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Cali lost her ovaries and uterus today. I watched spaying and neutering procedures on youtube so I would know exactly what happened. Once again the female of the species draws the short straw with a more complicated procedure. I could probably neuter a dog in a clutch if I had to – cut, squeeze, stretch, snip, repeat steps 2 -4, stitch. Looks pretty straightforward in the video. The spaying procedure? Not so easy. It’s more invasive and complicated. It’s no wonder my wife and daughter got down on the kitchen floor with Cali when we brought her home. Amazons unite and sympathize.

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The clock runs until it doesn't (Creative Commons)

We went to our friends’ house  for a 4th of July party. We’ve gone to the same party over the years since our daughter was light enough to hold for longer than a minute. Yesterday, she went with blue hair (washable dye) and it made me think of the different little girl she’s been at the same 4th of July party over the years. From baby to 9-year-old in a breath. And she’ll be 18 by by the time I breathe out. Each year she participates and interacts more in the conversations and holds her own. But I can’t help but feel sad that her childhood is so short and there is nothing I can do about it. Tick tock.

Stay young.