Doggy In the Front Yard and the Barstow Crud

Lately Keith has been letting Millie come out in the front yard with him for a while on days when he is home. I'm incredibly nervous about her being out there off leash but she has done pretty well staying right in our yard, just kind of wandering about and sniffing at things. Yesterday she was out there for a few hours while Keith 'organized' some stuff in the garage. By organize I mean pull some things out and then put them back in again.

She did pretty well until our neighbor came down the sidewalk with his three little dogs on their leashes and Millie and one of the dogs took an instant dislike to each other and snarled and barked. One of his dogs, Punkie, is the cutest little thing, she (or is it a he?) goes off leash quite a bit, following Brian, her person, as he goes to the mailbox. She would always greet me with a wagging tail if I happened to be outside or at the mailbox myself and one day even saw us in our yard and came running down the street to visit us. One of the other little dogs, Lily, is a bit more timid but I've petted her a few times. The third dog is aggressive like Millie and barks like Millie and that is the one that got into the rumble with Millie.

So, bad girl and time to come back into the house.

There have also been a few incidents where Millie saw one of the many stray cats on our street, the stray cats that drive her crazy when she sees them out the window, and ZOOM, off down the street after them.

And now for what we call the Barstow Crud. Keith catches quite a few colds and such from staying in motel rooms on the road and has issues with allergies from the different terrains that the trains go through. He got really sick with whatever the latest bug is that is going around, sick enough to where I made him go to the urgent care. Lots of coughing and congestion and he felt terrible. He is also a man and we all know how men just don't do as well when they are feeling sick and become quite the big whiny babies. He got a couple of shots at the doctor's and some antibiotics and congestion medicine and is on the mend but in the meantime I've come down with whatever it is. As soon as I felt like something was up I started in on zinc in the form of an old box of Coldeeze that was in the cabinet, Coldeeze having no expiration date so the old box was still good, and I sucked on those for an entire day. They are kind of nasty, though, and leave a bad taste in your mouth, so I got some Zicam tablets the next day which are a lot less nasty, being a lozenge that dissolves on your tongue in just a few minutes. I swear by zinc when you are coming down with a cold, it really does help lessen the duration and symptoms. It also tells you on the Zicam box to keep taking it for as long as you have the cold. I haven't felt too bad at all except for the coughing and sore throat that woke me up about 6 this morning. I'm taking it easy today, having a good excuse for being extra lazy. It's also kind of gloomy outside with fog and a little chilly so recliner, blanket and TV here I come!