I have a beautiful new dog. Her name is Coco, and she went to the groomers today for the first time…and she’s so pretty the Ho and I almost cried when we saw her. She’s, like, a full-on fancy beautiful Shih Tzu with the cutest round face and big eyes I think I’ve ever seen. And she’s soft, so soft. Almost as soft as Coops.

It’s a complete transformation. A jaw-dropping one. She looks like a real dog. An expensive dog. A pure-bred. And, you would never ever guess that she had been found on the street, matted with a dozen ticks, broken teeth, and a pretty bad infection. This is the reality of rescues, guys. Every one of them has a legitimately beautiful, sweet, loving dog behind all that scruff and rough-and-tumble. I am so, so very glad that we’ve added her to our family.

So yeah…we literally almost cried at the groomers. I was *milliseconds* away from that shit, but I held it together. Now, she’s a fancy pretty dog just like the Coops.

I had a day off today, which was very necessary. I feel a little better, more recharged. I could definitely use another day off, but alas, it’s not in the cards. Five more days to quitting time. I can power through. I really can. I just need to make sure that I go to bed on time. That’ll be the trick.

We went to a holiday party today at the King’s house. The family that the Ho has adopted as her own down here in LA. They have three young kids, and they’re just the best and the cutest. So, yeah, we did that while Coco was getting groomed. Coops came with us, and he had a day full of wishing that he was running around with the kids.

Earlier in the day, I got the rest of the Christmas shopping done that I needed to, and that was about it 😛 No time for anything else, really. We came home, at some food. Liz made old school pop corn, you know, like in a kettle with just oil and corn kernels. It was soooo good. And, we had some more of this stew that she’s been perfecting this fall. It was glorious.

I hadn’t done any writing yet for the day, so I just finished that, actually. Cranked out four easy pages in, like, 40 minutes. Love it when the writing flows out like that. I really hope that this book isn’t just a pile of shit, guys. I really do. I hope after all this is said and done, that I go back and read it, and enjoy what I’ve written. I don’t mean that it needs to be perfect, or even polished…I just mean entertaining. Like, that the adventure is fun. And, that the characters are engaging. That it just needs some editing and rewriting to make it worthy of someone else reading it. That’s what I hope as I near the end of this six month journey to get it out and I feel a little self-conscious and fearful. I do definitely fear other people not liking it…but it’s really ME that needs to love it. I can actually take other people not liking it…but I worry about me not liking it. That’s the truly scary thought.

We shall see. I’m pretty sure I will like it. I’ve definitely and truly had a blast writing it and living in the world. I think that’s the right place to be.

We shall see.

Night guys. Tomorrow is a work day and more writing.

I love my dogs (and my wife).