**sigh**

Had to come home and clean up a bunch of dog poop (really nasty smelly mushy semi-solid dog poop) yet again. It is not the dog's fault - he is very old and incontinent. It is not the fault of Dan or the children, as he sometimes pees or poops all over the floor less than an hour after you let him outside.

This is why we will probably be canceling our vacation. he is just too old and infirm to take with us, or to leave at the kennel. And most pet sitters drop by your house twice a day - it is bad enough now - I do not even want to know how bad it would be if he only got let out twice a day.

It sounds like Dan's stepbrother is not doing any better. I will probably try to talk Dan into flying out to Minnesota for a couple of days of our vacation week (hopefully the brother will be doing well enough for Dan to visit him in two weeks).