The Study Breaker

Today I got a great idea for a job for Abby. I decided that I’m going to advertise at the surrounding colleges and universities for her to provide the service of “Study Breaker”. See, I figure that as the college students are studying, they need to take periodic breaks, just to let their minds rest, but instead of going out for pizza and beer (which we all know adds to “the freshmen 15”), they could simply call on Abby. What fun they all would have dancing, singing, making up funny stories, and playing hide-and-seek. Honestly, I think it’s genius.

The best part of it is that Abby would have a constant stream of entertainment. When one student needed to get back to her studies, another one would be there, waiting to take her place.

This idea came to me today as I parked myself in front of my computer to catch up on a week’s worth of grad school assignments. With the start of school, I’d let things slide and ended up arriving at the due date (today) with virtually nothing done. I got right to it, but before long Abby was at my elbow asking for something. It seemed that I would write a sentence and then once again be interrupted to make some popcorn, or change a channel, or even to accept some mail from Postman Abby. I know that these days when I have homework to work are are especially hard on Abby. She just wants to spend time with me and have fun, so round about the 10th time I was pulled away from my work I finally gave up. Jason was at the hospital getting one of his daily IV treatments and so I trusted that by the time he got back Abby would get to spend some time with him and I could get to work. 

I left my computer and gave all my attention to Abby, and you know, we had a great time. We ended up writing a pretty sweet little story about Princess Abigail and then found an app that allowed us to draw and record our story (My Story), then save it to iBook. By the time we’d published our little masterpiece it was time for some lunch, and Jason was home. 

Being the stellar dad that he is, he’d swung by the toy store on his way home and picked up a new costume for Abby. Abby ripped into that paper and found her new vet outfit. Once we got everything out of the packaging she put it on and got to work. The costume came with a small stuffed puppy, but she quickly discarded that - she had Bruiser after all. I heard Jason mutter, “That dog’s a saint,” as Abby poked, prodded and told him to “hold still, Bruiser!” I have to say it was rather entertaining when she told him, “This is going to hurt - a lot,” before she gave him a “shot” in his paw. I’m sure he was grateful for the warning, as well as the, “Good job, Bruiser!” he got when it was finished. If I didn’t already love that dog, I would have after watching him with Abby. He just laid there and let her examine him - he is a saint.

I was able to get some work done as Vet Abby went upstairs with Dada for a bit. It wasn’t long though before I needed another break from all the heavy thinking I was doing, and from the sound of things Abby and Dada had run out of entertaining ideas as well. So, I got another break which involved a giggly kid that was fresh from the tub and a yummy popsicle treat.

This was how the day went, work-Abby-work-Abby, and so on, until before I knew it, it was 5 o’clock. As hard as it was to do so much homework in one day, it did help to have those periodic Abby study breaks. That’s why I think Abby would be such a hit with those other college students. I know they would get a kick out of her, and she would love to play all day. It’s a win-win. 

Sure, she's a bit off on the whole "listening to his heart" thing,
but he didn't seem to mind.

He looks a bit worried, don't you think?

Checking his temperature - in the ear - an excellent choice.

After dinner Mom needed a coffee, so we set out. It took us
a bit to leave though, because Dr. Abby needed to do some
tap dancing on the way to the car.