Ugh, I haven't been fully paying attention to the meteorologists this week but whatever low pressure system or whatever it is that's lurking off the coast has made it quite miserable lately.

It constantly looks as though it's going to rain while simultaneously the humidity is UNBEARABLE! I haven't had the fortitude to go outside much with Matt. I sure hope the weather clears up for the weekend. I don't mind it sunny and hot, but I just cannot stand the extremely humid air. It's been mostly cloudy with a chance of rain every single day, and most times I can't tell whether it has rained or not because it's constantly moist and clouded over. Ugh.

The swimming pool hasn't been staying very hot because of the lack of sun, so we haven't swum since around 4th of July. Wah. :(

On the one afternoon where I did brave the stifling sauna that is SE Virginia weather currently, I filled up the 3-ring pool for Matt and tried to get him to play in it. It wasn't quite deep enough for him to swim, but he did get plenty wet. I was in the middle with his favorite toy (a ring made out of tennis-ball-esque material.. called uhh.. Air Dog or something like that?) and he'd run around the pool barking at me. I coaxed him in and he'd walk around a bit then hop back out.

Then I got out and moved further down the yard and would throw his tennis balls and ring into the wading pool over and over again and he'd either grab them from leaning waaaay over without getting in, or if it was too far, he'd jump in with my encouragement and then back out again to bring the toy back to me. He didn't seem to hate the water, he just looked sort of confused by being told to jump into a giant water dish over and over!

He got pretty muddy running around so after I got him to hop in the pool one last time, I had him hop back out onto the patio and dried him off. He smelled a little wet-dogish but not bad at all.

It's too bad our real pool is just 4ft deep everywhere, as I'm sure it'd be a bit easier to get him swimming with us if we had an in-ground with stairs and a shallower end. Or better yet, one of those walk-in type pools where it just has a ramp that slopes down into it. Oh well, maybe when we're insanely rich I'll have one custom made that way. :D

Oh, and before I go! Matt will be the only pet at home next week. Our cat Mulder has hyperthyroidism and is being treated with iodine-131 (radioactive!) on Monday. He has to stay at the animal hospital for a week or more until his radioactiveness drops below a certain level. Then we have to avoid handling him as much as possible for another 2 weeks, although there are no prohibitions about him being around other animals. It'll be weird not having Mulder around for a week, but there's a 95% chance he'll be completely cured of his wonky thyroid so it'll hopefully be worth it... and my husband wants to get another cat but we've been holding off until Mulder gets better.

It sure is going to be a busy next few weeks!