Ewww.... worms.

This morning I had quite possibly one of the most disturbing experiences of my life. I took Gretchen out to go potty before I went to work, and out with her poo came a bazillion little white creepy-crawly flatworms. Mind you, I am fairly new to the realm of dog ownership (I won't go into the trauma of being deprived of pets as a child- ha), so all of these things are new to me. Accidents on the carpet: dealt with those. Having to mix in cottage cheese with her smelly dog food so she could digest it at first: got better after the first couple of times. The barking when she has to go in her crate: not as bad as I thought it would be. But flatworms in her feces?! That is one mental image I can't seem to cope with. Ugh. Just to think about all those nasty white bugs crawling around in her belly, eating up all her food... totally sick. I am of the opinion that the only living things that should be growing in one's body are fetuses. Not bug eggs. So needless to say, every day is an ever-more interesting step in the process of owning and caring for another living thing. 

I'm really glad that Jamie and I got to go on a mini-date tonight, just the two of us. It's so weird- and kinda scary- how quickly the married life can become ritualistic and mundane if not nurtured intentionally and lovingly. He's been working the 9-6 real world job, and by the time he gets home, I cook, we eat dinner, walk the dog, watch a little TV, and we're pooped (especially whenever I'm opening and having to get up at 4:30 am). Especially now that we have a dog, it seems so easy just to get caught up in chores and taking care of her and just doing what needs to be done. It's crazy that this whole week, even though we've been together at nights and whatnot, I've missed him. So it was refreshing to put her in the crate and have some peace and quiet. 

At dinner, we talked a lot about what we want to do in the next year or so (something we've been putting off for a long time, and we're starting to run out of excuses). It's really starting to be exciting, because I know that as scared and apprehensive as we both might be, what our hearts long for is adventure and risk and passionate pursuit of our dreams. Part of me wants to go to grad school, but another part of me wants to jump right into teaching. Part of me wants to be a freelance writer or a novelist or essayist, but part of me wants to pursue full-time professional photography. Ahhhhhh! It's so frustrating sometimes, because I want to use my gifts, but I don't know how to, and I don't know which ones to use, and I don't want others to go to waste. And then I worry that I'm not good enough or brave enough to go after what I really want to do, but I don't want to forever be planning and scheming and never acting. So anyway. That's where we stand for now. 

On to to watching Death at a Funeral... Yay for quirky British comedy!