So Quiet!

Bill is in Philadelphia this week, working as a First Engineer on the USNS Pollux again. At first I thought I would go up with him, then I remembered I have a job now and can't take off at the drop of a hat. Rats. I must be content to putter about my too-quiet house, cleaning up the Bill-just-left-detritus, and cooking things Bill doesn't like for myself. My salmon last night was delicious.

I surprised myself this morning by Googling "Malinois Rescue." I too am now convinced that Echo was a true Belgian Malinois, not just a "faux." When I read the descriptions of the breed's behaviors, I think "that's my dog!" Agility, car travel, prey chasing & digging, verbalization--it's all there. Am I ready for another high-maintenance dog? Not yet, I think. I still see Echo out of the corner of my eye, everywhere I go. I am planning on going to meet Bill in Singapore in January or February. And I know I'm not ready to take on another full-time project like a new member of the family this soon. I am giving myself time to heal and time to think about who the new dog might be in the future.

The news from Illinois continues to be bad. Bill's dad was told yesterday that the cancer is back (if it ever really went away, I have my doubts--more likely it was a bad read on the last CT scan), and the doctors are recommending that he go back into chemotherapy again. Dad will have to decide whether a few more months are worth the side effects that were so debilitating to him this summer. No one is talking about a cure--this is just a postponement. Bill will be going up there the week before Thanksgiving, and go to the next appointment with his Dad to talk to the medicos himself.

So we are "on hold" for the moment. Waiting for the next set of circumstances to determine our plans.