This is not a New Thing nor is it an update about one of the goals I set for 2025…

It just falls under the category of documenting the year, I guess.

But I thought I should tell you about our visit to the vet.

Not the details of the visit itself - that’s all fine - the dog is in good health, we don’t have anything to worry about. It was just her annual checkup.

But it’s more about the buildup to the vet visit and how it makes me feel.

It wasn’t until we were back home from the vet and how I felt like a weight was off my shoulders that I realized, oh yeah, I’ve been carrying that for a while.

I told you in this week’s To-Do List that this was something I’d been dreading…it’s possible I’ve been thinking about it and letting it affect me for a couple of weeks.

I wish I wouldn’t…it just makes me anxious.

And I’ve been thinking about why that is - of course I have, I’ve been obsessing about it for a long time - and it’s really just the fact that it’s not something I can prepare for.

I like being prepared. I like knowing exactly how things are going to go and doing my best to make sure it goes smoothly.

With the vet visit, there’s just no way to ensure that.

There’s the unpredictability of the dog’s behavior, of course, but there’s also the question of how the vet will handle things.

I will say, it’s all gotten better.

They give her some medicine that she takes the night before and the morning of the appointment.

And the staff has been just great with her these past couple of years - they seem to have given us the right doctor and she knows exactly how to approach the visit.

But, still, I don’t like seeing the dog get all worked up.

(And she probably doesn’t like seeing me get all worked up.)

But we made it through the 2025 visit.

Now I don’t have to worry about it - or worry about worrying about it - for another full year.