Rick's Wednesday Picture and My Morning Schedule

In the last post I wondered what Katie was going to do once Eric was gone. I ask the same question of myself.

My typical morning starts at 7:30 am. Katie usually wakes me up via the baby monitor. I get her out of her bed and get her in day clothes. Then I go into the kitchen to examine the mess. Eric will sit up and I slip the towel around his waist. The two of us will slowly make our way from the back of the house to the front door. Navigating the ramp is tricky since both of us don't fit on the ramp at the same time, so I end up going down the stairs while trying to keep Eric on all four of his feet. Once he is outside I clean up any accidents that Eric had in the kitchen overnight and then scrub the entire kitchen floor with Lysol. Next up is Katie's breakfast, which is easy to fix. She typically likes a piece of toast and/or some fruit. Some days she fancies a scrambled egg. After she is fed, it's time to get Eric's food ready and feed the cat. After the train deposits Eric's food and water next to him outside I finally attempt to run a comb through my hair. A ponytail has been my favorite morning hairdo for a while now. When Eric finishes eating, I search the house for a pair of shoes for Katie so she can go outside with me to bath Eric. I get my rubber gloves and use the garden hose and shampoo for white dogs. After he is washed I dry him off with a towel, brush him and apply ointment to his ears so the flies won't bite them I leave him outside to sun-dry.

Without fail when I come into the house the clock says 10:00 am. When he is gone my whole morning schedule will be uprooted and I will be wandering around here like a lost dog, or more aptly put, like a person who lost their dog. I will have roughly 2 1/2 hours int the morning with no schedule or duties; I will have "free time." But you know, I'd gladly decline that "free time" if I knew keeping Eric around was in his best interest. But the reality is that it no longer is.

On to cheerier subjects. Here is Rick's Wednesday Picture. Nothing earth shattering or slightly amusing. Matter of fact it looks like a few other pictures that I have taken in the last few weeks. It's Katie drinking some milk while watching her new favorite show "Max and Ruby." Katie has been quite the drama queen this morning and she reacts to every little thing as if the sky is falling. We need you here, Hon. Only 2 1/2 more days of being a single parent and Katie's single source of entertainment. I know she feeling insecure about you being gone because yesterday as I was walking toward the office, Katie wrapped her arms around my legs and said, "Momma don't go. Stay here." My first response was the breaking of my heart. Then I knelt down, hugged her back and played with her. Emails, phone calls and bank balancing could wait.