Tranquila

The Ruster Buster is doing fine, gracias a Dios, sans his bolitas bolitas. The surgery went well earlier this week and on Tuesday my husband brought the two old mutts to rejoin me in the little apartment in the woods at the small college on the hill. It's been getting back to business as usual since then.

Rusty wasn't very enthusiastic about his walks yesterday but he took to them with a little bit of his usual glee today, tail wagging high in the air, a grin on his old, graying face, and a bit of a bounce on his step. He seems somewhat mellower and a little less cranky than he was before being neutered, but that may still be that he's recovering from having been completely doped up before and during the surgery.

Still, a friend was telling me today how her dog completely changed after he was snipped. That he became more affectionate and lost all his aggressiveness. I'm going to feel real stupid if this dog becomes more normal after he's been neutered since we could've (and should've) done this more than a decade ago. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I'm nearing the end of the second week of my blitzkrieg not-a-second-to-spare summer program and, while I'm having a lot of fun with the students and my team teacher (who turned a very young 40 yesterday), I'm always playing catch-up. I didn't much enjoy that part of it last year, and it's been no different this time around since it means that almost every minute of my day, from the moment I awake at 6:20 a.m. to the time the dogs and I retire around 11 p.m. is taken up with something that must get done. Don't get me wrong, there are lulls here and there (like right now), and in the end, the experience is totally worth it, of course. And I'm even a little ashamed of whining since that's the way many people (especially those with children) live their lives.

But I'm totally looking forward, after next week is over, to the break that July will bring. Then there will be not only no dissertation, but also no teaching and no doing much of anything important or relevant, except spending time with my husband, my kitties and my old mutts. And finally starting on the new translation of War and Peace! Time will stretch ahead of me, open and pliable, like it hasn't been since we moved here seven years ago.

Shortly before I left my office today, after another full day of teaching and office hours and planning and grading, I was told that a letter on college letterhead is on its way, confirming me as Assistant Professor of English. I almost feel like pinching myself because I worked so long and so hard for this, and when it's finally here it somehow doesn't feel real. Oh, but it is. And that's the funnest part of it all.

As this day comes to a close, the Ruster Buster is snoozing placidly on the living room rug, while Geni snores loudly in the kitchen. A storm has just moved through and the rumbles of thunder are distant and quiet enough that they don't disturb the dogs or me. The pat-pat-pat of the rain outside is soothing. All is tranquilo with my loved ones, human and furry ones alike, gracias a Dios. All is tranquilo in my little world tonight, thanks be to God.