A Day Off

Wednesday, E decided to take the day off. He was supposed to be in Anaheim by 8am, an unpleasantly early call time,  in the middle of a 20+ day stretch of work and he seriously needed a break. He got someone to cover for him and we planned a boring but productive day that started with sleeping in.

The primary item on our agenda was supposed to be taking our cars in for repair. E's car is making an alarming squeaking noise from somewhere in the wheel well and my air conditioning, which I just had repaired not even a year ago, decided to stop working and then start up again. A car rental was supposed to cover E while his car was in the shop, but there was an unexpected issue with scheduling. Instead of spending the day dealing with the cars, we ended up with the entire day to ourselves.

So, what do you do on a gorgeous day off in Los Angeles? You go to the beach of course!

Although there are countless gorgeous beaches in the LA area, E and I decided to spend the day together as a family, and that meant finding a beach that was doggy friendly. There aren't many beaches that allow dogs in the water and on the sand, so we pointed our car towards Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach, CA.

Rosie's Dog Beach is basically an unfenced but roped off 4 acre section of the beach that is open to off leash dogs. It's not exclusively for dogs and there's no dogs allowed on the beach on either side of the roped in area, but that specific section is the perfect place to spend time with your furry friends.  Milou isn't a big fan of the water but had an absolutely fantastic time strolling along the beach, saying hi to all the people and dogs, and plucking up the courage to get her paws wet. She trotted along next to us, checking in every few seconds to make sure we were staying together, and sniffed sand, shells, and washed up kelp to her hearts content.

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Considering how many dogs visit the beach every day and thus use it as a bathroom, the beach is surprisingly clean. Owners are very careful to clean up after their charges and everyone is committed to keeping the beach nice. We didn't see any trash or poop and 90% of the dogs there were perfectly sweet and friendly. There was one little dog lacking in manners, but he was more interested in guarding his towel and yapping at passersby. A second dog who showed up later, a large pittie,  was also rude, so we ended up leaving after a couple hours when it became clear that his owners were going to be staying in our area. He was a little too exuberant and growled when he didn't get his way, definitely more the fault of his owners, but Milou wasn't a fan and we'd already been there a while.  The rest of the beach goers were wonderful, they all played together in the water and sand, chasing balls and romping in the waves. We will definitely be going back the first chance we get, though I'd suggest a week day when it's a little less busy.

After the beach, we dropped by The Yard House for some yummy lunch. They have a large patio that backs up against the pier so you can bring your dog and tie them up next to you. Luckily, we got a friendly manager who complimented us on our "service dog" with a wink and let us keep Milou under our table in the shade where she alternated between sleeping and sniffing the delicious, food scented, air.

We got home in the evening just in time to brush the sand off our feet and head to Milou's obedience class. Milou and I were both exhausted and yawned our way through class but she did very well anyway. It was such a nice distraction in the midst of E's crazy work schedule and all the difficult decisions we're trying to make. Infertility can be all consuming, even when you're not in the middle of a cycle. Considering that it's so embedded in my subconscious that I'm dreaming about egg harvesting, IVF, and embryo quality, a day at the beach was a really nice change. 

Today is day 4 of birth control so I have 10 more days of pills before my next ultrasound. I've got my fingers crossed that my ovaries are recovering nicely and absorbing all those old corpus luteum cysts like they're supposed to. Come on ovaries, I need you to get your act together so we can try again.