Took Hiker For a Hike today

I seem to be sleeping a lot better since I now have Hiker. I actually start getting sleepy around 9:30 or 10:00 and I fall asleep sooner now once I go to bed. Some nights I leave the TV on with the timer and some nights I don't and I usually stay asleep most of the night now. I get up just before 7:00 am and make Hiker go outside. Sometimes she does not want to go out so I have to coax her. When she comes back in, I feed her and then put her out again (just in case). Hiker doesn't sleep on the bed with me all night. She eventually gets down and go into her soft-sided crate and sleeps in there most of the night. She does get on the bed just before I get up because she knows it's almost time for her to be fed. Since Linda was coming over at 8:00 for she, Hiker and me to go for a hike, Hiker could not understand why I was not taking her for her normal morning walk around 7:15 am. That's one schedule she has down pat now...get up, go potty, eat, go for walk. She was bouncing off the walls before Linda got here for us to go. I don't know what Hiker will do tomorrow (Saturday). I won't be taking her on a walk since Linda and I have volunteered for “Santa Clarita Make A Difference Day” and we have to be over at the Hyatt Hotel to register at 8:00 am. I'll put Hiker in her crate in the garage and I'll be gone for about 3 to 5 hours. Hope she will be OK. The morning hike must have tired her out because she is asleep on the floor right now. I need to wake her up and work on some of her training. As it is, I don't think her trainer at PetSmart will be very pleased because Hiker doesn't want to listen to me a lot of the time. This afternoon I thought about how much I miss Ben. How much I miss sharing everything with him, talking with him. But I didn't cry.