Running. With *$!# Management.

~ Live & Learn

6:58 a.m.

First day of Winter. Temperature: 61° F. Repeat: 61° F, on December 21st. Paradoxical? Global Warming? Heti whispers: “Not everything has to be so heavy all the time.” Whoa Sheila, try walking with me in this Head for a few yards.

I step on the scale anticipating a bad outcome…and expectations are exceeded on the high side. Now Sheila, here’s some real Heavy.

Rain patters on the roof, bangin’ on the gutters. I flip open the Dark Sky app…it’s calling for heavy rain for the next two hours. 

“Severe weather alert: Coastal Flooding.”

Well, maybe that might work – a flash flood to drag me along the highway, scrubbing the cheese, gingerbread cookies and peppermint chocolate gelato off these bones, and cleanse me of this mood while it’s at it.

I pause as I put on my sneakers. Maybe it’s best to wait for the rain to let up, and run later. Who are you kidding? Get your a** out the door.

I’m out the door. I run. With Me (M), and me (m).

M: What’s with the mood?

m: I don’t want to get into it.

M: Blog title? Anger management? Angry about what? 

m: Hard of hearing? Pick a topic. I’ll find an angle.

M: Root cause?

m: Oh, I’m sure sleep is exacerbating it.  7 hour average drifting down to 4-5 hours a night.

M: Hmmmm. Work?

m: Nope. Off for the last 6 days.

M: How that’s meditation app workin’ for you?

m: Progressing nicely, actually. Don’t look so surprised. Hasn’t, though, curbed that Jekyll and Hyde thing.

M: So, back to the root cause. 

m: Puppy.

M: Puppy?

m: Puppy. She’s decided to get a puppy. Even put down a sizeable non-refundable deposit. She told her Mother, and conveniently left me out of the briefing meeting. 

M: Puppy, for you?

m: NO! 

m: I, of course, not so calmly (euphemism) laid out (shouted) a list of the reasons why she shouldn’t be saddled with the responsibility or the cost for the next 10-15 years. “Dad, I’ve factored all that in. Why can’t you ever be happy for me or support me? I’m 27 years old Dad, I’m not a child.”

M: That’s it? 

m: Of course not.

M: And?

m: Well…I doubled down with detail. Cost of dog, cost of vet, cost of pet food, cost of pet carrier, cost of kennel, soft costs of needing to be present…All the time.

M: And?

m: She shouldn’t look for Mom and Dad to be the Day Care Center.

M: And?

m: Hmmmmm.

M: And?

m: Edward Hyde.

M: And?

m: And clarified (via text) that after she tires of the responsibilities and tires of choking on the carrying costs, don’t look for Dad to rescue it from the Kill Shelter.

M: You said that?

m: No, I didn’t say that. I mostly shouted it. ‘Tis the season.

M: Hmmmmmm.

9,000 steps.

Nap time.

Notes: Photo (via youreyesblazeout)

64 thoughts on “Running. With *$!# Management.”

  1. That’s it—it is time for you to get yourself another dog. Just do it! (The introverted part of myself is feeling like I am being too forward here, but the bolder part of me is going to press the post button. But, why else would you care if your adult daughter gets a puppy?)

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  2. Oh boy! Jekyll and Hyde….sounds like you need the puppy more than her. Loosen up, Mr K, in the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take and there’s plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead!! 😊🌈

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  3. C’mon, David!! Where’s your holiday spirit? Can’t you just picture it? Adorable little pup underneath the tree complete with a red bow? Merry Christmas, David! 🙂

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  4. Question… is this the same child you are trying to get to move back home? And didn’t you say wifey said NO to a dog? Methinks you’re going about this all wrong… You might need to go with said daughter to choose the dog YOU will end up with 😉

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  5. Hmmm, methinks thee doth protest too much. If you’re not going to allow yourself to get another dog right now, pal, at least don’t harsh Rachel’s mellow. We ALL know you’re going to be volunteering to babysit weekends and “just seein’ if the pup might want to go for a run….”

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      1. Ok, Mr. Grinch!!!
        I don’t think you’ll be getting your dog anytime soon. This is not promising in your favor. And here I am thinking, “Oh, how sweet, he’s publicly but passively apologizing!”

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          3. You didn’t! Im in a good mood and no one is going to mess with that! You said, “Trump” to the wrong person, but im letting it go. You’re just JEALOUS she got a dog, and you don’t have the permission to get one yet.

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          9. You can’t. I can’t think of anything I can possibly share that would give you a chance to reciprocate (at me)!
            I won’t give you the satisfaction!

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          11. Will you just smile, and accept the little puppy?
            Esam has no room to talk. We’re planning his daughter’s wedding and a scenario very similar to your post takes place every day!

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  10. Yes, Acceptance…which will allow your heart to take the risk to Love, again…I know you will melt falling for Racheal’s new pride and joy…you’ll beam while watching her gain in this new loving relationship.

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  11. Brilliant – just brilliant – you probably bribed her to wish for a dog, so that you can get one ‘for yourself’ by the by….. Aaaah, the human mind! All those twists and turns – you’ll be alright buddy – so will the doggie, and so will Rachel. Who cares whose he/she is (the dog)?! It’s a DOG 😉

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      1. Sorry Dave, it was on FaceBook and I didn’t realize that they update the newsfeed based on activity. Cant find it. …. But the story goes like this.
        A person reaches out to others people who are hurting, and absorbs their pain. He begins to darken, while others become light and feel better. That same person starts to be dragged down by other people’s pain …getting darker and darker. He drags himself home. Where his dark doggie waits for him. When he opens the door, they hug each other and all the darkness goes away and they are both light once more.
        That is the power of a dog. 🤗

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  13. I heard a great story about towels a few nights ago. She said she HATED the way that her husband folded towels.
    And that she had Green, Yellow and Red days.
    On green days when she opened the cabinet for a towel she would just mutter under her breath
    On Yellow days when she opened the cabinet, she would pull one out and shake it.
    But on Red days, she would open the cabinet and see the towels and pull all of them out of the cabinet and leave them laying on the floor.
    The thing is, she said, the towels were all folded the same on those three days.
    It was her that was different.
    Merry Christmas David!.

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