On Tuesday Dixie Dog was sick and I spent the entire day taking her outside to pee and poop and throw up. I was running out of the napkins left from carryout food and was using up the box of Kleenex quickly. Thank goodness I remembered to bring litter bags.

I soon realized that if I didn’t want to starve, I better figure out how to use GrubHub food delivery services. Soup and salad from a local eatery cost me a fortune by the time fees, service charges, and tip was added. But at least I had food.

The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of grass mowers from the motel next door. As soon as that was done, motel maintenance knocked on the door wanting me to move the car so they could pressure wash the sidewalk. (They keep the sidewalks cleaner than the rooms.) So, I got to enjoy two additional hours of noise from the pressure washer.

Now that I knew how to order online, I decided to order breakfast. Cracker Barrel was miles away in Pigeon Forge, but they delivered — for a fee. I order the largest breakfast I could find as who knows when I will eat again. It was way overpriced, half for food and half for services charges. The only reason it wasn’t even more is I received a discount of $25 as a first-time customer of UberEats.

I wanted to take a shower, but when I turned on the shower, the water temperature went back and forth between freezing and scalding, probably water pressure changes from elsewhere in this fleabag motel. I finally managed to lean over the tub and wash my hair and bathe as best I could, the only time the entire week.

By Thursday Dixie was sick again. She asked to go out, but I wasn’t fast enough, so she went on the floor, and I got to clean that up. Next time she wanted out I ran to take her quickly. There was a small grassy dog area off the edge of the asphalt and down a small embankment. She could reach it if I let out the full length of the leash. So, she went down there then wound her leash around a light pole. I had no choice but to risk falling to climb down and get her unwound.

I thought I would order some snacks online from Walgreens as there didn’t seem to be a local grocery, only restaurants and gift shops. After I put a bunch of stuff in my cart, a notice came up that DealDash did not deliver to my area. Swell. I took Dixie for another walk and then tried ordering with Instacart. Hooray! It went through.

The good news in addition to having snacks is that I managed to tackle the maid cleaning next door and got some more coffee and trash bags. Life is good. They said on TV that the mountains are really pretty this time of year, and the wildflowers are blooming. I guess I will never know.

Mo is playing cards 12+ hours a day and I’m stuck in the motel room with a sick dog. I had forgotten how he goes wild when he goes somewhere and forgets about me. He called and said he was not coming back for dinner. I ate a cold leftover sandwich and kicked myself for thinking this would be fun. If he goes to Peddlers’ or Calhoun’s and eats a steak, I may have to kill him.

(To be continued… Stay tuned if you can stand it.)