It's after 10:30 and I really need to get to bed, but I just wanted to quickly write about two things that happened today - actually make that three things - that really stick out in my mind and that I don't want to forget.
Lost Dogs: Now this is a bit strange - but I encountered not one, but two dogs on the loose today as I went through my day. Whenever I see a loose dog I immediately want to stop and help it, thinking how I would feel if it were my dog running loose around the neighborhood. The first dog I encountered during my run this morning. I was nearing the end of my run when I suddenly saw a dog run across the street into a cul de sac. The dog did not appear to be with anyone, so I slowed down to see if I could check its collar to see if it lived on the street. Well, I smiled and spoke nicely to the dog, but it barked at me as if to say "This is MY cul-de-sac and you'd better not get any closer!!" I really didn't get a good feeling from the dog, so I went on my way, reassuring myself that the dog seemed comfortable with where he was and that he was protecting his turf, so he must live in one of the houses there. Then as I was driving to an appointment during my work day, I suddenly saw a flash of fur dart across four lanes of traffic on busy Burke Lake Rd. At first I thought it was a fox because it had orange fur, but as I got closer and looked in the direction the animal had gone, I saw that it was a fluffy little dog. I thought it was very bizarre at that point that I was encountering yet another dog that seemed to be on the loose, so I quickly made a u-turn to check out the situation (also thinking to myself that I was going to be very late to my appointment if I ended up trying to find this dog's owner). It turned out that the dog lived right there in the house that I pulled up in front of - I rolled down my window and asked the lady in front of the house if that was her dog and she said yes. I told her that her dog had just escaped certain death since he'd just dashed across the four lanes of traffic. She didn't seem too concerned and shooed the dog inside. Hmph, so much for my good deed. Still - I felt like seeing those dogs meant something - I just don't know what.
A nice compliment: I have a very nice patient that I'm seeing right now - he's in his 90's but sharp as a tack, retired psychologist, part Native-American with an interesting history and background. Our visits are always very nice - he works hard and we usually have nice conversations. He's always very grateful for everything that I show him or teach him and today he told me that I was the best physical therapist that he's ever had, and he's had several. Wow - that really made my day, especially since the first patient I worked with today was very difficult - both physically and mentally - and I'd been feeling a bit off ever since that visit.
Special dinner: My kids informed me this afternoon that they were going to make dinner for me and my husband. Now, that sounded very nice - however, since they are 7 and 10 years old and we basically had no food in the house I wasn't sure how that was going to turn out. It turns out that they are quite resourceful - my son immediately called my husband and instructed him to stop at Giant and buy chicken nuggets, stuff for a salad, and oh, "a pack of beer if you want"! Then they made us an appetizer of tortillas and melted cheese, Jack chopped the lettuce for the salad all by himself and we had a nice salad and chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce. They even cleared the table and did the dishes (sort of). For dessert they took out their Halloween candy and made a "ice cream sundae bar" with a display of different candies we could use as toppings and written instructions on how to put it all together. It was amazing - and it isn't even our anniversary or anything. They just came up with this out of the blue.
So it was a good day overall. Lots of little things happened and when I sat back and thought about it this evening I realized what a great day it actually turned out to be. Sometimes when you're in the middle of it you don't realize what's happening until you look back on it as a whole.
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