This week disappeared. The baby and the dog certainly had something to do with it, but I also have to take at least some responsibility for letting it slip away. It's easy to feel guilty about it after the fact, but it's much harder to try not to do it again when the situation arises again.

To that end, I'm not sure what to do. I've tried reminding myself of how I'll feel when I realize I've lost another day/week/whatever, but I think that shame is a lousy motivator. A while ago, I was reading a book on why people procrastinate, and how to beat it, and I was doing well at applying those lessons to my life, but old habits die hard. I know I should probably pick the book up again (never did finish it) but... I keep putting it off.

Who just played that rimshot?

Anyway, the dog is back with his family at his proper home, so now I have no excuse, or at least less than I did when he was here. I spent the latter half of today with his family after they returned from the hospital, shopping and hanging out. You couldn't ask for a more pleasant baby than little Zadie. I know it's still early, but her general disposition seems to be fairly even-tempered so far. Not fussy at all. And Royal (the dog) is friendly but indifferent to her, which is nice. I suppose as long as he still gets some attention and has his needs taken care of, he's not going to notice much of a change.

It was both fun and frustrating having the dog here for those few days. On the one hand, he was mostly good company and well-behaved, and he provided a nice bit of responsibility that wasn't centered on myself. On the other hand, he isn't my dog and he had his own rhythms that had little or nothing to do with me. And though I know him pretty well, it was impossible to know everything, like how he would react to other animals, or what his patterns were. Zadie's birth was so unexpected that I didn't even have time for a crash course in when or how much he eats.

Regardless, that's in the past. In other news, today, my Onion Magnet Kit arrived in the mail, and I've had endless amounts of fun coming up with headlines. So far, my favorite is: "President Bush Caught In Inner City Homosexual Crack House With Islamic CEO & TV's The Golden Girls." It paints such a vivid picture.

I wish I had more to report, but right now I'm in the throes of indigestion from a late-night sandwich indulgence. Bed is beckoning...