The old lab is in great shape for a dog that is 15 years eight months. He lost 10 pounds since last year (intentionally, I knew it would help his hips a bit; he's now down to his old "normal" weight) so loading him into the SUV wasn't as hard this time as last. There are a couple of ironic elements to the visit (of course!) - last week I tossed the contents of a 2-pound jar of brewer's yeast into the compost because it was about four years old and I hadn't used it much (to keep flies off - if they get it in their diets it helps repel pests). But it turns out he's a little anemic and the B vitamins would be beneficial, so I've ordered a new tub of it. And with all of this is the classic hit to the wallet - the refund check from the Home Warranty folks for fixing the dryer arrived today and it was $4 more than the vet bill.

Good luck with the steps, Charmion. I have an exercise app that I've set up to remind (nag) me every day that I should use it. I should probably set it to a different time, the one I've set so far hasn't been very effective because I'm usually in the middle of something when it goes off.