It's A Dog's Life...

Lounging...

This is my derpy dog, Nobu...

He's an 11 year old Shiba Inu (soon to be 12 in February). Sadly, Nobu is starting to feel the effects of his age, now. I swear to god, my dog has dementia or something... 

About a year or two ago, he began exhibiting some odd behavior. It wasn't destructive, just annoying. He began running laps around my coffee table like he was in a NASCAR race... like as many laps as they make in an actual NASCAR race (which is, what, 100-200 laps?) once or twice a day. But, as time went on, it was becoming more of a constant. It got to the point where I had to barricade off both ends between the coffee table and sofa because I just couldn't stand watching this crazy nervous behavior. It was actually making me feel crazy nervous to watch him! Then it began getting worse... He started running up and down the stairs or running back and forth across the house. Sometimes he would come over to me while I was relaxing, watching TV, and just stare at me like he was trying to figure out who the fuck I was. At first, I thought it might be because he had the beginnings of cataracts, but then I realized he was still staring at me in the same way, even when I spoke to him. 

I took him to the vet, explained his behaviors, that I thought he may have dementia and that his nervous behavior was driving me crazy. Apparently, this happens in older dogs sometimes. She prescribed Xanax to help with his feelings of anxiousness. It helps, a little... though I'm still puzzled as to how my dog gets more Xanax than I do. What's up with that?! I think my doctor is short changing me... 

Sadly, Nobu's behavior is getting worse. One day, he chewed into a bag of potatoes and half ate three of them and chewed the lid off a bottle of natural supplements to calm dogs down (I still don't know if he ate any, but I had to make a few calls to the vet as well as the company that made the treats) and another time he literally destroyed an empty milk jug (I still can't find the cap, I think he ate it). 

I'm beginning to think I should open a nursing home for dogs... Look how many people drop their relatives off in homes when they start loosing their marbles simply because they can't deal with them! There may be a new business venture in creating nursing homes for demented dogs...

Not very far... Not... very... far...

Needless to say, life has been a bit chaotic... I've been having to watch my dog like a hawk to keep him out of trouble, make sure he doesn't attack my other dog and two cats... and to make sure he doesn't have accidents. Yeah, that's been a thing, too. Most times he whines when he needs to go, but not always. I feel like I'm caring for a toddler and I have to be on my toes all the time. 

Let me tell you... the ecard on the right...? I have an answer to that question. Not nearly far the fuck enough... I wish that was an understatement, but it's not. I've had a lot of stresses weighing me down lately. When it rains, it certainly does pour... I feel like I've been blindsided. Everything hit me all at once, and in the middle of all that, my dog decided it was a good time to completely lose his fucking marbles. Thanks, Nobu, I appreciate that... Really...

Some days there just isn't enough Calgon, Xanax or Margaritas in the world to take you even remotely far enough away...

Hahahaa...

Well, at least I can say that I seem to be overcoming my identity crisis. Sort of... Honestly, I think it's because I'm just so stressed out and focused on more important things that I just can't be bothered with figuring out who I am right now. But that's okay... Maybe getting through all this crazy shit will help me figure out who I am and what I'm about. 

I have learned one thing... I was definitely broken by some of these events. But, in the end, I picked up the pieces and super glued them back together. They're a bit askew, but they're together. Close enough...

Speaking of broken... I think I broke myself in a different fashion the other morning...

I haven't been sleeping well (what a shocker) and spend most of the night dreaming and waking up a lot. Now, I have no idea if I was having a violent dream, if I was just really restless or just too close to the edge, but I ended up getting rudely awoken at about 4:30AM because I rolled off the edge and landed on the floor. Hard... The worst part of this was that my left knee took the brunt of the hit. It would have been bad no matter which knee did, actually, because I need them both replaced. I did wake up enough to realize what was happening and put my hands out to brace myself, so my whole body took one hell of a jolt. I spent my entire day after that just laying around and aching everywhere. My knee still hurts, but thankfully the rest of me feels better. I'm beginning to think I need some safety rails or something...

Truer words, man...

But onto more interesting things...

I have a friend I made online who is a professional artist in her country (I won't say which). We met years ago and have becoming great friends in that time. She has been a huge inspiration for me when it comes to my art. She's inspired me to push boundaries and not be confined. 

Over the years, she and I occasionally send each other packages through the mail. I often send her certain art supplies, like washiest tape, that I know she can't get from the suppliers she buys from. Many times, I'm in a store, picking up my own supplies, and thinking she's love a certain roll of tape or some little oddity that I find, and I'll buy them for her and stock up. When I have enough to make it a worthwhile cost, I mail everything out to her with some little note. In return, she does the same for me. 

I recently sent her one of my care packages and received one back not long after. I was very inspired by all this, for some reason, so I began working again. And not just working, but doing traditional drawings! Lately, I've been so into using a drawing program on my computer that I've done little traditional drawing. I've also been doing more art journal entries. In fact, I made one dedicated to her after I received her last care package. She loved it so much, she asked if she could share it on her social media pages! I was so flattered! 

That's an impossibility...

So, in closing, my dear readers (of which I'm thinking I don't have any, but oh well..) I'll leave you with the message on the left...

Just remember, silencing the mind isn't always the easiest thing in the world to do. Especially if you're someone like me... 

I swear my mind gets bored when I sleep... The majority of my dreams are like movies and TV shows. Weird movies and TV shows... 

I really wish my brain had a "sleep" mode like my television does...