Less in 2025: May

It's the final Monday in May, Memorial Day here in the United States. So it's both a day off for my family and a day to reflect on my One Little Word. Thank you to Kat for hosting our monthly link-up this year!

Whereas Ruthie's arrival last month meant less of most things, in May things settled a bit into a new normal, and that's meant LESS of some of the not-so-great things of new pet ownership. For one thing,  this month I've noticed a lot LESS anxiety -- fewer moments of second-guessing whether adopting a pet was a good idea, less worry in general about doing the right thing with her, and generally less uncertainty. I think it goes without saying that the increase in confidence and comfort comes from time passing and experience. Just as Ruthie is getting more comfortable with us, we are all getting more used to her and what life is like with her. A huge help in this regard has been her ability to sleep through the night, which means that I'm back in my bedroom and have some time in my evenings back. And while there's still been the occasional inside accident, she's been doing great with her potty training.

Another big area of improvement has been LESS timidity on Ruthie's part. She's still very cautious around new people, but she's definitely been doing better, and I think a big help with that has been meeting other dogs (and their people) in the neighborhood. Remember Bagel the dog? His owner lives just down the street, and we've run into her with Bagel (and his 11-year-old deaf sister, Star) several times, and she invited us into her house one afternoon recently so the puppies could play for a while. That was a huge hit. Ruthie also regularly plays with several dogs on the next street over -- Dusty the mini Aussie (who's a month older than her) and Penny and Jake the Westies -- who we see most days on our walks. And of course she did a great job at my parents' last weekend and let both of my parents pet her a little this past Friday night, when they had us over for dinner. There's still a lot of work to do, but she's making progress. I think her puppy kindergarten class, which starts next weekend, will help her a lot.

On a more personal note, this month I marked one LESS blood donation toward my goal of six (the maximum possible in a year). I was worried about my hemoglobin being high enough because my iron was low when I had my recent bloodwork done, but I think it was likely because that was done not long after my last donation. My number was one of the highest I've recorded in my years of donating, so I needn't have worried. Another positive is that I noticed I needed LESS time to get back to my usual running after this donation; usually it takes me several weeks before I have my typical stamina back, but this time it took me only week before I was able to run a 5K (3.1 miles) without having to stop. 

What I don't think I anticipated when I picked LESS as my word this year is that there's an inherent reciprocal relationship with MORE. Less stress means more enjoyment, and that's certainly been very true this month. As I've had less worry and anxiety about having a dog, there's been more capacity for appreciating the fun and love that comes with having this new member of our family. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out the rest of the year.