Nice job, little girl.

My whole budget spreadsheet is mysteriously gone, so I am suddenly flying blind.

Fortunately, I'm so awesome that I was able to rebuild it almost entirely by memory, since I stare at it damn near daily.  And I got to reorganize it so it made more sense!  Oh, I love rearranging anything!

Ok, hang on a minute.

Whew.  Had to go change into some jammies.  I ate way too much for dinner.  Mmm, stuffed shells.  Blllarrrrggggghhhh.  Mini had Mariner's Catch Pate, and Riley had some Shredded Beef, Carrots, and Barley Entrée mixed in with her kibble.  I'm pausing my silly movie to tell you about why Riley got an extra special dinner tonight, and no, it's not in celebration of her weigh in at the vet today.  (She's down to 20 pounds!  Woo-hoo!)

When I took her out after I got home, she checked the dumpster while I checked the mail.  She started sniffing the grass, but then made a beeline towards a woman at the mailboxes.  I tried to call her off, because usually when she randomly does that, it's to bark purposelessly at whoever's there.  She was not to be deterred, though, and went right up to this woman and started wiggling her butt and sitting at her feet, like she was waiting for cookies.  The woman didn't mind, and reached down to pet Riley, who normally is not all that inviting to strangers.  Riley sat and accepted love, and the woman started telling me about her mail problem.  I got the sense that she needed to talk.  She said that she had been hoping to catch the mail lady, because one whole section of mailboxes has been deemed unacceptable for mail delivery.  Everyone who uses that section has to go to the post office to pick up their mail because it's apparently possible to pop the door off the whole section.  She said it's been about a MONTH now.  I was properly horrified.

We also talked about Riley, and she said she had been thinking about getting a dog.  She was hesitant because her granddaughter's dogs are very yappy, but I told her that the Humane Society could probably help her find a quiet dog suitable for apartment living.  Then I learned that she and her husband moved to Reno to be near their son, who died unexpectedly soon after.  If that's not enough, she sold her house in August and moved into these apartments to be closer to her husband's assisted living facility.  He had Alzheimer's, and the drive to visit him from Sparks had gotten to be too much to deal with.  He died three days after she moved in.  Good grief.  She said she had been thinking about getting a dog because this is the first time she's lived alone in 52 years, and the noises are unnerving her.  I know the noises are hard enough to get used to after living in a house, let alone the losses she's suffered.  I had already agreed that a dog might be a good idea, but now I was convinced.  You need a dog.

We talked a little longer about Riley and breeds, then we introduced ourselves, she patted Riley again, and we said goodbye.  I was immediately impressed with my little goat.  She is an old lady dog, but maybe in a different respect than we thought.  Now this nice old lady in my neighborhood has two new friends.  "Nice job, Riley," I told her, my heart beaming, and she made little whiny noises in response and scampered toward the car.  She sat in my lap on the way to Petsmart, where I bought her the Beef, Carrots, and Barley meal.  She sat in my lap on the way to her weigh in and whuffled my sleeve as I told her how much I loved her.  My good girl.