March 7th, 2006 - Why I live a simpler life
**Warning: This entry deals with throwing up.**
Another reason I’m glad I live more simply and with fewer activities and things to do: So that when I get up in the morning and find a message that a dog threw up all over the pillows in the den,* I can change my plans and spend 20 minutes cleaning it up. My plans were pretty simple otherwise (fold the laundry, watch TV, and do some excersizes). I still had time for the latters ones and the laundry will get folded tonight instead. Because we keep up on it, no one needed anything (except my sweater, which I’d already taken out and could have lived without anyway). Because I get up 100 minutes before I have to leave for work, I was not in a rush to leave. I had to vacuum afterwards and easily had the time to vac the entire living room and den, which I would have done tomorrow.
*Although as a child, I was unable to deal with people throwing up, we have found that as an adult I am able to deal with cleaning it up (at least from dogs and cats, Maggie hasn’t really thrown up yet). I heard somewhere that if you hum, you can’t throw up (it was an EMT who said so). I have found it to be true. It’s sometimes hard to hum when you want to gag, however, so it’s not a fool-proof solution. But I have found that I do pretty well humming, singing, or talking while cleaning up the grossest parts. Eric, on the other hand, usually ends up gagging and nearly throwing up himself. He tries to clean it up if I’m not around, but often it’s just too hard. Yet another reason we are good for each other! I’ve had a lot of practice lately, as our dog Jedi has been sick off and on for the last 8 months. Most recently, they think he might have hyperthyrodism (or is it hypo?). One clue is that he’s gained about 10 pounds even though he eats only 2 out of 3 meals and throws up at least once a week; one week he threw up daily.