Some Days are Better than Others

Ain't that the truth?

Today kind of sucked all around. I woke up at 3 AM and couldn't fall back to sleep. I packed to house sit in northern MA, forgot five or six different things...and only remembered that little fact when I had gotten to work. Speaking of, work was batshit crazy, with insane customers and downed servers, which had me out of a computer most of the day, and the entire company dead in the water for about an hour. There's nothing like having work to do, WANTING to get it done, and not being able to! The end of the day brought many cheers of relief -- it's over, and only one day left before the weekend!

I was hoping that my barn time would make the day all better. Wrong. I'm not convinced it was entirely a coincidence, but Image was not himself either. He was unfocused and fidgety as I fitted him with his rope halter (though he responded to every single one of my commands, regardless of the fact that his mind was obviously elsewhere). I had a speedy bullet on the end of the lunge line, which completely blew my plan of just working on some simple yielding commands right out of the water. Now, even with his brain not in its usual place, he did listen to every command I gave him...it's just that "slow" was not in his vocabulary. Once I got a couple of laps at the walk out of him, I quit and brought him back in to pull a few more pounds of fur off of him. I wouldn't say he had relaxed, but his demeanor was less tense than it was when I arrived. However, I KNOW he's having an off day when I can't even go into the tack room (which is connected to the barn and I am visible the entire time) without him becoming nervous and unsettled.

Despite the fact that I had calmed down and was in a much better frame of mind by the time I stepped out of my car at the barn, I'm 100% positive that he picked up on whatever little bit of tension I had left over from my crazy day at work...which, in turn, amplified the fact that he was out of sorts, himself. So, in conclusion...sensitive critter is sensitive. Emotionally damaged beings have days that are good, days that are okay, and days that downright suck. Today...today wasn't a full on suck, but it wasn't great, either. So be it. I still wrapped my arms around his neck, rubbed his forehead, and kissed his nose multiple times. He still made me smile and filled my heart with joy. Bad days are no fun, but they certainly don't mean that I love him any less.

So. Bad days happen. Tomorrow's another day.

...

You know what I just realized? I forgot to stop and get wine.

Bah!