Slept in...

 

One of the best things about being retired: no schedule.  Well, other than self-imposed timing.  But, generally, you can sleep in if you want.  I have been up early every day for the last week.  Things on my mind?  Probably.  There is always a lot to get done before you leave for a while.  Now that we are actually heading north, it is just that one thing to think about.

I woke up at 3:58 this morning.  About the same as the last couple of days.  I was determined to go back to sleep - there isn't a lot on our plate today.  Ever try to go back to sleep?  You play that "if I fell asleep right now, I'd get ____ hours of sleep before I have to get up" game.  Which, for me, keeps me from getting back to sleep.  But, sleep did eventually come back.

When Rufus gave me a soft nudge, I knew it must be time.  I gave him a couple neck rubs and rolled over.  And went back to sleep.  Then, it was time.  I looked at the clock: 7:45.  Later than I've slept in in months.  It didn't suck.

After getting his breakfast, Rufus generally goes back to bed to snuggle with Joan.  She was up, too.  The boy is adaptable - he had the bed to himself... until it was time to make the bed.  "This is Rufus's bed now"...

After yesterday's photo of sleepy Ruf, he finds this one more acceptable.  He's a good boy.  :-)

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Manly, yes, but I like it, too...

If you said, "From the Irish Spring soap commercial," you get 10 bonus points.

It is rare that we head out on an extended trip and don't find we forgot something... so far, that something is: Rufus's harness and leash.  Really, it was right there by the front door, I don't know how we missed it.  Rather than make him feel bad that we forgot something he enjoys, we told him, "We are going to get you some new stuff this morning!"  Presentation is everything.

After breakfast at Chick-fil-A, we went to PetCo.  Joan had looked online to find something similar to what Ruf is used to, and this store had some selection.  We had one picked out from the dog stuff... size and shape matters... Izzy was tall and slender, Rufus is "husky."  In dog harnesses, he wears a size small.  As we looked further around the store, they actually had harnesses and leashes in the cat section.  We found a similar style, but less stiff and bulky.  In cat sizes, he wears a large to extra large.  I can't say for certain that the cat shape harness is any different from the dog harnesses, but we got him a new black harness for cats.  It is pretty close to what he has... at home.

After some other shopping and a stop at Dairy Queen, we headed for home.  Rufus was ready to go outside... "Got to get your harness on first, buddy."  He was patient while put it on him, and I took him for a short walk.  Short because it is already 91º, but the humidity is around 40% - that is extremely low compared to what we're used to.  But, Ruf didn't care to stay out long in the heat.  We went back inside and made a couple adjustments to the harness sizing, and the furry boy is good to go...

This harness is in a manly black; very slimming (not that he needs it).  Might be hard to see with all that fur, but you can see the shiny leash rings between his shoulder blades.  Being a guy, he didn't make a fuss about the new outfit, just a "Thanks for thinking of me."

He's a good boy.  ;-)

In spite of the heat, we will make this a chill afternoon.  The plan for tomorrow is to get out reasonably early.