Quinn, the Golden Retriever

A little background here, I innocently developed my mother’s clumsiness as a child. This has become more apparent after chemotherapy & some of the post-treatment medicines I take daily.

Fun times here as I suffered my first, second, & third ankle sprain all over the last 18 months. It is not that I have a “fragile” ankle that continues to give out. Rather, I have sprained both of my ankles, separately, in the last 6 months! Again, Thanks, Mom!

Today is day 319 since the World Health Organization reported COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. For over three hundred & nineteen days I have secluded Brian & myself from ALMOST ALL activities including any contact with other humans. Brian has finally convinced me of the fact, I have utterly zero control over the world around me, which scares me. So I “fake” that I have power here, in our “safe place”, Amanda’s world. We have both made tremendous sacrifices to maintain a safe and healthy house, as in we do not go places… almost EVER.

{Regardless of how we choose to respond to this pandemic, I do not begin to assume that I know what is right for anybody else’s household! In fact, I am pretty certain that my way is not the “right way”, but it is getting me through this time, for today anyway.}

For us, Brian has sacrificed over 50% of his earnings because I am in the “high risk” category. No longer comfortable serving tables, and possibly bringing the virus home, Brian has been here in this house with ME for 319 days!

Way too many months into this pandemic, we had an aha moment. We realized that we are uniquely capable of providing exceptional care to pets while their owners were away. So, now, here we are, the Jones’, asking others to trust us with their best four-legged companion while they take a vacation, work, or whatever.

Considering my struggles staying up on two feet, I am not sure why I believed dog walking would be a nice exercise, hobby, or job for me, but here we are in January of 2021, 319 days in, and that is what I am doing and loving daily. 🐾

This Thursday morning was windy, but still a very pleasant day. My first stroll was with Quinn. Quinn is truly delightful. He is a Golden 🐾 Retriever with big brown eyes. I feel like he sees directly through me to my heart! ♥️

There is a good amount of Quinn to love as he is on the wider side, but that is why we are walking… 🐾🐾🐾 No judgment coming from me, just more Quinn to cherish! 💕

I suppose among my mistakes was to think that the additional weight on Quinn indicated he was feeble and weak. As we wandered through the soccer fields, just the two of us on our daily walk & here came one gust of wind, another gust, and then another.

Here in Arizona, apparently, January is “fall” because with these gusts of wind come leaves galore flying by.

Other than this being January, all seems normal, right? Here is where I wish I could have been a fly on the wall or on a hidden camera because I had to resemble a Raggedy Anne puppet desperately attempting to keep a hold on his leash!

🍂🍂🍂 One Leaf, Two Leaves, Three leaves, and MORE! Quinn is OFF to catch them, and he wants them ALL, NOW! This is when I learn his power. My head bobbles on top of my shoulders, as my mind scrambles to attempt to retrieve his name “QUINN! NOOOOO!!!!”

🍂 🍂🍂

“Stay on your feet, Amanda”! “Don’t drop the leash”! “QQQQ QUINN STOP”!

{What am I going to do out here laying on this soccer field with a damaged foot, I asked myself in a panic, while he continues to leap up & down, here & there, then there again!}

I may be experiencing some kind of middle life crisis right now as well. At the time of our leaf hunting extravaganza… I had bright purple hair! I can imagine that we were very amusing to see.

Look! Over there! It’s a 40-year-old woman with vivid purple hair & an obese Golden Retriever going MAD & insane in the middle of the field! 🤦‍♀️🐕