My Afflation

This is a guest post written by Nat Smith, Rover.com community member. Rover is the nation's largest network of 5-star pet sitters and dog walkers. Me and Zoe, my best girl for the last 11 years. She's a rescue mutt who saves me from bouts of depression, agoraphobia, and anxiety. Photo Credit: Halcyon's Serendipity Depression and anxiety persist by pulling you into downward spirals. Symptoms like fatigue, social withdrawal, and the inability to concentrate actually fuel the depressive episode that brought them on. This is why, in addition to medication and therapy, treatment often includes “disruptors.” These are relatively simple habit changes that can break the cycle. Of course, these changes aren’t easy to implement. When you’re at a low point or subsumed in panic, do you really want to stop and take a deep breath? The recovery process at its best is often described as “two steps forward, one step back.”

Well, Labor Day has come and gone. And the last week of summer has been exciting to say the least. Well, some parts of it were exciting. I got a good tip on a gymnastics studio in Huntington Beach and Joy did a free lesson. As you can see, she LOVED it. I bought her a leotard (which she lived in for 2 days) and signed her up for classes. Not sure when they start as she will be the 3rd girl in a brand new class. In a previous post I showed you how well she has come along in her skateboarding. At the beginning of summer she could barely scoot along. Then she was introduced to a cruiser. Now she can zig-zag, do hills (sort of, hops off if she goes too fast), and can confidently tackle the skatepark. That was a field trip with daycamp. I have the feeling that as soon as she can swim without floaties or a life-jacket she's going to ask for a surfboard. It's the next logical step. I'm a bit relieved that she wants a cruiser more than a regular skateboard. You can't ...

Ok, so he wasn't in a window. He was at the pound. Or as they are called today, the spcaLA . We looked at some Chihuahua mixes at the Seal Beach Animal Shelter , but they didn't like Josh. Well, the one that I liked and that got along with Zoe didn't like Josh. We visited Buddy a few times at the spcaLA shelter, first me and Josh, then Joy, Zoe, me and Josh. We kind of did it backwards, but not our fault! They were incredibly busy, short-staffed, and hence a little disorganized. But anyway! I wish I had taken pictures of Zoe and Buddy's first introduction. They played really well together, and for an old man, he certainly can keep up with the young pup. The staff seemed fairly impressed at how well everyone, kids included, got along. And so, we brought him home.  Josh was a little disappointed that we didn't get the terrier mix that he wanted , but I think he's adjusted to life with Buddy, a much quieter and cuddlier dog than Zoe.  So if you think Jensen th...

If it is, click here Enjoy =D

This is our newest family member. Sort of an impulse, but Tim and I did talk about getting her ... I just got her a lot sooner than the house (and Boots) were ready for her. Boots still watches her .... very carefully.