Little beings that the universe trusts us to raise

I love my puppy Zak. He is a Bichon who is currently 10.5 months old. He is at a kennel because Sweetie and I are going to Pittsburgh to see my family for Christmas.

Since getting Zak at 3 months old, he has not spend a night away from either Sweetie or me. It was very hard driving to the kennel to leave him there. We were going to take him, but he is still at a point that he does not like long car rides. We were going to take the 5 hour drive to Pittsburgh with Zak, but his whining, and motion sickness made us think twice. I came to the decision quicker than Sweetie, but once we inspected the kennel (on line) and I talked to people who have used it we decided to give it a go. He has 2 hours of play dates a day, he gets to eat his own raw food diet, and drink his own water. He is also sleeping in his own crate and has a few toys. I hope he is fine.

When we first got Zak I was a bit freaked out. Here was this adorable creature that is totally dependant on me for food, water and hygiene. I saw my carefree single woman days flying away from me. As a small puppy he ate 3 times a day and went out every 2 hours during the day and about every 5 to 6 at night. He had several accidents (not his fault) and I thought we would never be able to go out to dinner, or to the movies again. I actually had to stay home from work one day -- well I worked from home, because Sweetie had to go to NYC to take care of some family things. Had Zak not been so sweet and cuddly alone together I would have returned him. I kept threatning that if Sweetie was delayed in returning that when Sweetie got back Zak would be gone.

It took me about 2 weeks, and now I am to the point that I can not imagine what it was like without him. He is far cuter than he is cuddly (twice as cute as he is cuddly) but we deal with it. He will cuddle, but only on his own terms. Which I can respect.

When we were packing his food and toys and crate where he sleeps, I actually got a tummy ache as I realized that we were sending him away for the first time. How do people do that with their kids! Yikes.

I am glad that I don't want children, I don't think I could take it.

Sleep Health

I spent last night and the better part of today in a sleep clinic. I am exhausted. It is ironic because when you are at a sleep clinic the last thing you do is sleep. In addition the people who monitor your sleep have sleep issues them selves as they are working overnight.

There should be a better way to do this.

I have sleep apnea. Until I was diagnosed I had no idea how many people have it. When ever I meet someone and mention it, I am astonished at the number of people who have it and use a c-pap. They are the machines that you sleep with to prevent you from not breathing while you sleep.

Other than being exhausted all of the time from waking several times an hour, while you sleep-- I was about 50 time an hour-- you also can develop high blood pressure, weight problems, memory problems and a host of nasty diseases from being sleep deprived. Since I got my c-pap machine I have started to get REM sleep that I was not getting for probably decades. Insane.

I am definitely more rested, but I am still sleepy enough that it is draining to function each day. So in order to determine what other sleep disorders I have I had to go for a day time sleep test. This was extremely painful, mainly because the test consists of you sitting in a room, reading or watching TV and then only being able to sleep when they tell you. So about every 2 hours you can take a nap, of about 20 min. This goes on all day.. I am so tired that I could sleep for a week now. YAWN.

I am going to bed, it is around 9 pm and I am sure that I will sleep through the night. Thank goodness Zak also can sleep though the night, so I don't have to worry about him. Not that I do because Sweetie takes care of most of Zak's bathroom needs. I am very lucky to have such a great man in my life.