The vet called this morning at 7:45. I was pulling on gray corduroy pants in the bedroom (I’m a late waker in the winter — not enough sun), and Dan answered.

They’d wanted to keep Bix overnight without performing surgery to see if he would respond to some treatment for an infection. Apparently this morning he was more energetic, tail wagging, trotting outside for his morning pee. But the Barium trace didn’t get all the way through, so into surgery it is today, so see what’s in there, blocking the way.

To distract ourselves we rented Superbad from the iTunes store on our new Apple TV and lolled on the couch cringing at bad teenage-boy jokes. We fell fitfully asleep at ten.

What sort of distraction will I be able to dig up today? Work seems unappealing; my instinct is to eat or clean or do something useful and homey and quiet. I’m listening to old Guided by Voices records that remind me of being young and driving in cars on wet afternoons. Yesterday, I ordered a bunch of painting supplies online with an old Pearl gift card that I thought I’d lost. The cool blue tones of the painting I’m planning in my head soothe me, sort of.