Taking Care of Things

I spent time taking care of my home today, including nurturing a couple of plants. My basil plant surprised me this summer, by not only surviving but by actually thriving. I moved it out to the porch to get some sunshine, but I'll probably have to bring it back in tonight as nights have been cool. I also transplanted my Gerber daisy plant. (Last week when I went to visit Debbie, I was shocked to see that the Gerber daisy I gave her on Jake's Confirmation Day a few years back, was still alive and blooming. She might also have a green thumb and I'm pretty that sure I don't, but I figured it was worth a shot, anyway.) The bird cage was cleaned, bathrooms were scrubbed down, and animal hair was vacuumed up. Knowing that company will be coming into the house is a good incentive to clean! I also spent some time relaxing on the porch, enjoying the warm breezes and the sound of neighbors' sprinklers. And despite how dry this summer has been, the Fall colors have actually been decent!

Sounds Good To Me

Wordless Wednesday

New Week

Sorry I have been missing in action, but I haven't been feeling great. It's difficult to feel creative when a body is worn down and stressed. I have higher hopes for this week, though. Bruce's sister is coming for a visit soon. And, now that Grandma Gloria is all settled in her new place, we should be able to have a more calm and relaxing visit. I'm already starting to plan fun things to cook while she is here ... maybe some veggies on the grill with salmon, maybe another ice cream pie. Perhaps we can even sit on the patio in front of a fire one of those evenings.

A Sunday Afternoon

Just a couple more days until Bruce returns from his Annual Fall Male Bonding Fishing Trip. I've been keeping busy worrying about the dog, who by the way is better now. And with Katie's coming home for a visit. Yesterday I drove out to see my best friend and soul sister, Debbie. We made a Papa Murphy's Veggie D' Light pizza and some chocolate chip cookies and spent the afternoon talking and reading silly things on the internet. I won't go into any more details regarding that, though.

Good Day

It's been such a relief to see Jess moving better and seeming like her usual self. And being to be able to relax in that one little area, has made just about everything else feel fine and manageable. Katie came home last night for a quick visit, and tonight we made homemade margherita pizza with basil I've been growing in a pot on the patio. I used a Boboli ready made crust this time, so it didn't take hardly any time at all. Life is good!

Jessie Update

Jess didn't seem to be much better when we got up this morning and was still holding her head kind of stiff and downward. I put her breakfast kibble out before I left for work, and for the first time ever, she wouldn't eat more than a bite or two. I left, feeling kind of sick to my stomach, but then was relieved to see her food was gone when I returned home. She was still acting pretty wimpy, though, whining and walking hunched over. The vet had called and left a message saying that all of her labs had come back normal, which was good, but left me wondering what to do next. Maybe she'd strained her neck? She has a tendency to bolt after squirrels and literally looks like she's going to strangle herself on her line sometimes. I looked around on the internet for information about giving aspirin to dogs. I called the vet, but found out they were closed today and tomorrow while they moved into their new building. So, I left a message, asking for advice.

 

After four hours of waiting for the vet to call back, I decided to just try giving her some aspirin, and drove to Target to see what I could find. I looked in the pet section and found aspirin formulated for dogs, liver flavored chews. I put a dose with her supper, and this time she ate everything! We then both took a rest, and after about an hour, Jessie started to perk up a bit. She started holding her head up more and then she started to rub her face on the chair, something she will commonly do but hasn't been doing all week. Then she snuggled her head between my knees.

And the vet? Called back after I had given the doggie aspirin. She left another message as we had gone out to grab a bite to eat. She said NO ASPIRIN, but if I wanted, I could call her back and she'd phone in a prescription for me to use. I've decided that a dose of doggie aspirin probably wouldn't hurt once in awhile.

Wordless Wednesday

I know it's Wordless Wednesday, but it's been a hard day for Jess. She has not been herself lately, and today I couldn't stand it any longer and took her in to see the Vet. She's always been high strung, but now she will cower and yelp when we are greeting her, and we don't even have to be actually touching her. She's still eating, but she now plays this little game of walking up to her food, walking away, coming back to the food, walking away. She'll eventually eat after we leave the room. Still paces a lot, but she's always done that. Still going up and down the stairs, too. So, the Vet spent over an hour looking her over and couldn't find anything obviously wrong. I did agree to bloodwork, but when she suggested an EKG and possibility of seeing a dog cardiologist, I said we would wait on that. (She also said that the heart arrhythmia she heard was probably a separate issue, and might have no significant health concern.) They then trimmed her nails as they were still seriously long even after our attempts last week ... total for the bill ... $341.00. I'm hoping there won't be any serious concerns with the labwork, but then what? Could this be the start of some doggie dementia? Either way, I'm glad I brought her in. She's been such a good friend.

A Little Bit About the Weekend

Saturday was a little bit of a lost day as I had a migraine, but by Sunday morning it was gone and I was feeling pretty darn good. I don't know how to describe how wonderful it is when the pain of a bad headache is gone, but it sure feels amazing. I woke up rested, did some laundry, and put gas in my VW Bug, the two things I do to ready myself for the work week ahead. I read the Sunday paper, drank my coffee, and hung out with the family. Then we went to the James J. Hill Parade in Wayzata, where Grandma Gloria was doing her Queen of Meridian Manor duties. We stood by a little guy who was trying to be so polite and patient as he waited for candy to come his way.

Wordless Wednesday

More Summer Birthdays

We spent part of our Labor Day laboring, cleaning the house and doing laundry. But, all for a good cause because family came over to grill steaks and celebrate the rest of the summer birthdays, mine and Nick's. (Bruce went way beyond the call of duty, scrubbing down the showers and tub.) I made a couple of ice cream pies, and finally pulled out that bottle of pink champagne...

Poor Jess

We're not good about clipping the dog's nails. For one thing, she's a twit and it's usually a four man job, even at the vet. And since she only sees the vet once a year, her nails get really long. I don't know what got into us last night, but at some point in the late evening, after we got home from going out to eat at Champps with Katie and Codie, it was decided that we should try to clip them. She does try to be a good dog, but I couldn't believe it when she actually stayed sitting and let Bruce try to clip them. Silly us, trying to clip them on the beige living room carpet. Of course one quick got nipped and it started to bleed. I had read somewhere about using baking soda or corn starch to stop the bleeding, so we emptied a bunch in a bowel and tried to stuff her foot in it. It sort of worked for awhile, but she eventually would try to walk away and then there was blood all over the floors (and us). This went on for some time, and the bleeding finally stopped, but the whole thing was trauma. Poor Jess. They do sell a product at pet stores for this type of situation. Hmm, do you think we should pick some up?