Exhaustion at the Massie Household

With Tristan and my sister at Christmas.

Billy and Gilligan on the ride to Sugarloaf...notice Gilligan looks less then enthused about this outing

Climbing one of the hills on the trail at Sugarloaf Mountain (note: this is the route Tristan always uses on Sugarloaf...when I run, I use the blacktop surface)

With Billy at the top of Sugarloaf Moutain.

Gillligan and Puffle...don't they make a cute couple? It is a little unclear who is the #1 boy in puffles world because she rubs up against both Billy and Gilligan with regularity. She just loves big dogs!

Today starts day 3 with Billy, our houseguest. I think both Tristan and my spirit is broken....He is like the energizer bunny with no off switch. Although I guess last night we had a decent sleep. Well until this morning when we woke up and someone (dog) piddled on our floor. We have wall to wall carpeting so this was no fun! And even worse, this is the second day in the row that one of our pets had incontinence issues. Yesterday we woke up to cat pee in our bed. We suspect Puffie but with three cats who might be a bit angry about our houseguest dog it really is anyone's guess who peed in our bed (or was it Tristan??). This morning's pee again could not be specifically attributed to a single dog however, it was obvious by the size/quantity it was a dog.

Well after clean up on aisle 2, Tristan and I decided to take the dogs to Sugarloaf for some hillwork (hey it gets me tired, it should get Billy tired right?). Tristan dropped Billy and I off at the base of the mountain, went to Waffle house with Gilligan to get us some breakfast and returned after Billy and I had done 3 laps. Sadly I think Gilligan must have pulled something because he struggled to get out of the car then just laid down. Even bribing him with Nutter butters did not incite him to get up. We ended up having Tristan carry him back to the car, then took Billy on an abreviated hike at Sugarloaf. Gilligan just slept/chilled in our Jeep while we did this. I think he might have missed out on the pets and affection he demands from other hikers but he did not miss the hiking.

After returning from our hike (including one section in which I stayed at the top, Tristan went to the bottom and we called Billy up and down the mountain 7 times at high rates of speed. I used to use this strategy with Gilligan's predessor Snowball, but Gilligan has never needed us to use the tired card. When we returned to the car we put Billy in the trunk (it's an SUV jeep, so it's not that bad) then we drove home. Upon getting home we decided to walk to the Washingtonian Rio for potbellies for lunch (they really need to sponsor me or at least give me a star on their wall because I am a frequent buyer there). We decided to take Billy with us to ensure he sleeps all of tonight. After we returned home, Tristan realized he lost a good winter/mountaineering glove. So he is now back at Sugarloaf (with Billy) trying to find his glove. By the end of today, Billy should have run/walked/hiked at least 10-15 miles. But this does not compare to tommorrows hike. We definitely will be going to White Oak Canyon tommorrow with him. Gilligan is going to sit this one out because I think his paw or hip is bothering him (we feel bad about this but I don't think Gilligan ever liked hiking, he does it grudgingly at best--so his injury/limp gets him out of it).

I suspect Tristan will not find his glove but on occasion Tristan has found his gloves a few hours later at various hiking places. Although many times he does not find his gloves...luckily good sales should be coming soon! And of course his birthday is on Sunday. I could either give him a new set of good gloves so he doesn't get frostbite on his hands or else I could get him a "Spot On", the satellite rescue beacon. Whatever I get him, I suspect it has about a 50% chance of being lost, dropped or falling out of his pack anyway:-(