All Work and No Play

Susanne was hoping that her work day would fly by so that she could spend as much time as possible with her husband and son. Scott got up early to take care of Paxton so that Susanne could finish getting ready for work. She left him special instructions so that he would remember what Paxton would need at different times of the day. Scott's goal was to work on his dissertation during the times that Paxton was taking a nap. He made it easy on himself by transporting all of the equipment needed for his feedings downstairs along with Paxton's play gym and toys. Scott set up a one stop shop for all of Paxton's needs. He was able to feed him, play with him, change him, and do therapy sessions all in the same spot. Paxton also found it comfortable enough to take his multiple naps that he needed during the day.

Colleen decided to come over this morning to be a source of moral support and a cheerleader for Scott while he was working on the final phases of his dissertation. She had been in this situation not too long ago and easily remembered how difficult the whole process was. It was all so fresh in her memory how much patience and stamina was needed to make it through. Her presence alone made Scott's day that much more manageable. Paxton was so delighted to see his Aunt Leenie this morning. It was a nice surprise to see a familiar face. He had missed her the last couple of Thursdays.

Susanne had to take James into work woth her to recheck an ECG of his heart. He had a congenital heart defect just like Paxton, but for totally different reasons. James was on medication to help his heart have a more normal rate and rhythm. Susanne wanted to make sure that things looked stable enough for him to potentially go under anesthesia for a dental cleaning in the next few weeks. Susanne was anxious about bringing him in because he was usually a hyper ball of energy when she took him out in public. He was so easily overstimulated that it made it difficult for him to function and even more difficult for Susanne to handle him. Everything was exciting and he wanted to be involved in it all. Surprisingly, James was well behaved this time. He actually listened to Susanne despite being faced with so many new sources of stimulation. Susanne was beside herself with excitement because he was finally able to act somewhat normal in public. The only downside was that this might be a sign that he was getting older and more mature. She would take it either way. She just wished that people could see what a quiet, relaxed dog he was when he was at home with her. No one ever believed that he had that side to him.

Susanne was cruising through her day. She only had three appointments left when everything took a turn for the worse. The last few appointments were all very involved and somewhat challenging cases. She didn't mind this type of appointment, she just wished that she had seen them in the morning instead of at the end of her day. She definitely enjoyed veterinary medicine and the process of figuring out what was wrong with her patients. The one thing she did not like about her profession was the unpredictability of her schedule. Not even an hour before she would have been able to leave after her last appointment. Now she would be there well into the evening. She ended up hospitalizing one of the animals which was the best thing for the pet.

Susanne did not end up leaving work until almost five hours after her shift had ended. She still had to stop by Moppy's house to take care of her cat. Susanne was going to scoop the litter and refill Bailey's gravity feeders if need be. When Susanne opened the door to Moppy's house, she was caught off guard by how hot it was in the house. Moppy had been trying to deal with a broken air conditioning unit for well over a month and no one had been out to fix it yet. She kept getting the run around from the insurance company and the company that was supposed to fix the unit. No matter how many calls she had made, it never seemed to change the outcome. Luckily, Bailey was doing well. He seemed to be in good spirits despite the circumstances. After giving Bailey some well deserved attention, Susanne was back on the road.

Susanne had to make one last stop before going home. She needed to go to Petsmart to pick up some things for her own pets. She decided to load up on everything she could think of since it was difficult for her to get out with the baby. By the time all was said and done, she had a full cart. She always wondered what the employee's must think because she always had a variety of stuff for all sorts of animals. It was true....she had a small zoo.

Susanne finally got home around 10:00 pm. At the last minute, they decided to order out. This was the best decision they had made all day. Once the food got there, Susanne could hardly finish before she fell asleep on the couch. She was so bummed that she didn't get to spend much time at all with her husband. It really took a toll on her especially since he wasn't coming home every weekend anymore. She could not wait until August.