Category Archives: puppy

It’s All Good

Posted on by
13
Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy.

Psalm 28:6

As some of you so graciously pointed out to me, it is now Saturday. Life is mostly good with a little of the not so great thrown in to keep things interesting.

When last we met I told you I had nothing going on after I picked the kids up from play practice at 5:30. Wednesday night I should have been using my time to clean the kitchen, put the stuff back under the sink, catch up on laundry, go through the junk pile (really “pile” should be plural, maybe even the plural of plural, but I don’t want you all to know what an incredible slob I am) on the counter and that sort of thing. Instead I was curled up in the big green chair trying not to move for fear my head would explode (a common happening for migraine sufferers) and ended up going to bed between 9:30 and 10:00.

Whilst I happily snoozed and dreamed of a clean kitchen, healthy puppies and chocolate that makes you lose weight the phone rang. Looking at the clock as I picked up the receiver, I was not pleased to see it was 4:00. It was Todd. He had left Princeton at 2-ish because he felt so horrible and didn’t want me to freak out when I heard the garage door open in the next 15 minutes or so. “Just go back to sleep and I’ll see you when you come down. I’m going to hang downstairs with Sookie and probably snooze on the couch.”

So I rolled over to go back to sleep, but all I could think about was all the stuff in the middle of the kitchen floor and the nasty dishes and the junk piles (we’ve already established the extent of this). I thought I’d had until Friday to get the house back into some semblance of order! Todd is not a demanding man and I thank God daily for that, but seriously the kitchen looked condemnable.

Finally I dozed off for another 30 minutes or so until my alarm went off and I came downstairs to the man and the dog curled up on the couch, blissfully asleep. I hated that he had to come home because he was sick, but it made going to work on Thursday so much easier on me for worrying about Sookie.

Todd went to the doctor that day and he was diagnosed with a severe case of bronchitis – which we already knew. He had a horrible case of pneumonia several years ago and ever since then he’s been terribly susceptible to bronchitis. Sookie wasn’t eating, drinking or taking her medicine so he took her to the vet and had her admitted for IV fluids and antibiotics.

Thursday night was another one of those nights – work late; pick up Katie and Shelby at 4:00; get home close to 4:30; leave at 5:30 to get Taylor to play practice and Katie to voice lessons by 6:00 (I like taking Katie to voice, though, because I sit and read for 30 minutes); go from voice lessons to the church for band practice because Katie is singing Sunday night; leave band practice and pick up Taylor at 9:00.

Friday mornings are when I get to hang out with my Homies. I always come away revived and had really been looking forward to my weekly refreshing. BUT… I hadn’t been able to do my laundry or clean or anything so I skipped the Homies and tried to catch up on laundry. I didn’t finish, but I did make a significant dent.

Todd was home with bronchitis; Katie ended up staying home from school with a sore, scratchy throat and major head congestion; Taylor texted me from school (bad Taylor!) asking if I could come pick him up because he felt horrible, but he decided it was allergies and he thought he could probably make it the rest of the day; Sookie was at the animal hospital. It was like the plague or something! Happily, though, I picked up the Sookster and she is back to her normal, hyper self. She’s eating, drinking, jumping, playing – all that stuff and her nose is wet! She is on a ton of medicine and they’re still not sure what caused the fever, but I’m happy she’s doing so much better.

Which brings us to today. Sookie is good. Katie is good. Taylor is good. My kitchen is CLEAN. No junk piles and no dirty dishes. The laundry still isn’t caught up because Taylor did his laundry all day and it’s too late for me to start now. Wine club is in an hour.

The only bad thing in the mix is Todd. Well, HE’S not bad, but he is bad sick. Now I’ve mentioned this several times before and I’ll say it again. Compassion is not my thing. It doesn’t matter how many times I take a spiritual gifts inventory, compassion is always looooooow. (That means really, really low.) But even I feel bad for him. His fever will hardly break and he says he feels like an elephant is sitting on his chest. He was really looking forward to getting together with the neighbors this evening, too. I guess I’ll just have to have a good enough time for both of us!

So life is much better today, just as I prayed it would be. Todd shouldn’t have to travel for a few weeks and hopefully he’ll start to feel better ASAP. I sure am glad God is more merciful than I am!!

Here’s an aside. Taylor loves shock value. Really a lot. He was waiting for Kristen to come over this afternoon and she was bringing a sack of sugar that she’s going to have to take care of for a class she has at school. He said they were going to decorate it together. “What?” I asked. And he said, “When Kristen gets here we’re going to make a baby together.” Oh yes he did!! Those exact words!! Not something a mother wants to hear her 16-year-old say! I have no idea where he gets that sort of behavior.

The Family & AVADIJ Thursday, 6/12/08

Posted on by
16

From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:16

…one blessing after another. Let’s see…

TODD


Saturday night Todd and I went out for an anniversary dinner. I say “an” and not “our” because there will be another, maybe two. (Yes, Todd. You read that right.) Anyway, we started at one restaurant, but the wait was wicked long. So we went to another restaurant, but their air conditioner wasn’t working and we were heading into the nasty heatwave you’ve been reading about. We finally ended up at our usual pizza joint – the place we pick up the best pizza around from. We’d never eaten there, but it was so pleasant. No wait, cool air, a booth for two, a glass of wine, a delicious meal, even a little hand holding over the table. Niiiice.

When we returned home Todd went upstairs to pack for the business trip he was leaving for the next morning. Remembering I was supposed to iron a pair of slacks for him, I headed up to do just that. But he said he decided to just take the pants the way they were. The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: I actually thought I’d wait until the morning when it was a little cooler up here. You can put them in your suitcase at that time, can’t you?

Todd: Yeah, but that’s okay. I’ll just set the room air on North Pole cold and iron them there. I get in fairly early in the day and won’t have much else to do.

Me: You don’t want to iron while you’re gone. Seriously, I’ll iron them right now for you. (I was feeling kind of guilty because I’d said I would do it.)

Todd: No, really. It’s no big deal. I’ll just iron them tomorrow at the hotel.

Me: You’re sure??

Todd: Yeah. Don’t worry about it.

Me: Okay. (kiss) Um, since the room is going to be so cold and you’re going to have all day, why don’t I just give you the rest of the ironing??

Not surprisingly, he declined.

TAYLOR

I had to drive Taylor to work one day. He works for a lawn care service and I had to take him to Stewart Road. For being a smart boy he doesn’t pay much attention to directions. He knew the neighborhood, but it’s a humongous development and he had no idea where Stewart was. So we drove around and when I saw Tudor Road I knew we were close. He was totally amazed at my knowledge and when I explained the connection he said, “Who knew such useless information would come in handy.”

Fast forward a week or so. He and Kristen were at the mall and as he was getting ready to check out of the bookstore he saw this great book and thought of me. So he bought it for me. With his very own money.

Here’s an example of one of the stories inside:

The infamous battle of Waterloo wasn’t fought in Waterloo. Napoleon’s defeat occurred outside the village of Pancenoit, which was over four miles away.

Who cares? My inner geek does!! I love this kind of stuff!

KATIE

After months, if not a year, of being pestered by Ben and Taylor and some nudges from mom and dad, Katie finally tried out as a singer for the youth band at church. I didn’t go to the tryouts, but Todd and Taylor did. According to Todd, “she was perfect.” According to Taylor, “She totally rocked!” Todd’s pretty biased so I figured “perfect” could be exaggerated. But Taylor’s the brother and has no compunction about telling it like it is. So if he said she rocked then she rocked. Which I had no trouble believing anyway. And, of course, she made the band.

Other than the singing, she’s turning into me. She has a book with her nearly everywhere she goes and is always reading. I love that about her. Especially because she was diagnosed with Phonological Awareness Syndrome, a type of dyslexia, when she was in the 3rd grade. She worked with the school’s speech pathologist throughout 3rd, 4th and half of 5th grade. She could barely read on a 1st grade level when she was diagnosed. Now she’s reading young adult novels that are 500 pages long. That makes me smile.

SOOKIE

A week or so ago I was reading something in preparation for the Mothers with Cancer website. The memory of one of my lowest moments as a parent with cancer assaulted me and I started to weep. Not out and out crying, just sniffling a bit and, well, you know. Sookie looked up from where she was and came over to me. She jumped up on the love seat, sniffed my face while she stared into my eyes, licked my cheek and then snuggled down next to me. What a balm to my heart!

We had her spayed on Tuesday and now she has to wear the cone until the 24th. She hates it, but we can’t help but laugh at her. Just see for yourself:


That was some kind of party last night. Hey! Why is there a lampshade on my head?

Not only is she very loving and sensitive to my emotions, but she also likes to help me plant flowers:

Yup. I’d say that’s one blessing after another after another after another…

Puppy Poop Ponderings

Posted on by
15
Or
Sookie Dookie

I never thought I’d write a post about poop. It does seem to be almost fashionable in some circles, but I thought I was above that type of potty humor. Au contraire, mon frere.

When I took Sookie out the other morning to do her business it was about 31 degrees out. I was fascinated when I saw the steam coming off the gift she left for me. It was a steaming pile of poop!! Seriously. I mean, I’ve heard derogatory remarks like, “You steaming pile of poop!”, but I’d never actually seen one.

That same afternoon I was telling my neighbor, Laura, about it. Laura is Brady’s mom and she said she’d noticed the same thing. It just goes to show that you can reach the ripe old age of 30 or 40-something and still learn something new.

Another thing I should really just keep to myself but won’t is that I’m always put in mind of a Play-Doh press. You know the little toy you put the play-doh into, push down the lever and it comes out looking like a log? Her tail sticks straight out while she’s working and she even pumps it a couple times at the end.

Some of you are probably cringing, wondering why in the world I would write about excriment. I have no idea. Others of you – I won’t name names (Matt, Ben, Taylor) – are probably thinking, Finally! A worthy post!

Just a Quickie

Posted on by
14

For those of you who prefer a quickie as opposed to a longie (Katybug) – I’M TALKING ABOUT POSTS, PEOPLE! Just a few things.

1. I called my endocrinologist Friday to see what the results of my thyroid biopsy was. She felt horrible because they hadn’t come in yet. She called the hospital but never heard from anyone. I told her I really didn’t care but everyone else did. She doesn’t work on Mondays so she called me today to say the results were fine. So there’s that.

2. Taylor has an interview with the local grocery store tomorrow. He even got a hair cut yesterday so as to make a decent impression. I will be very surprised if he doesn’t get hired because they are desparate for employees. Still, a prayer or two wouldn’t go unappreciated…

3. Sookie is still cute. She met our neighbor’s puppy, Brady, yesterday. We got them both from the same rescue shelter and the owner thinks they may have been at the same foster home. Whatever the case, they were hysterical. They thoroughly enjoyed playing with each other. Brady’s mom, Laura, and I will be planning more play dates.

4. I have a few serious things to blog about – not serious, but you know. Serious. As in not frivolous. I just have to actually take the time to get my thoughts from my head to my computer. Don’t hold your breath.

5. That’s all folks!

What Day Is It??

Posted on by
18

Sookie has turned our world upside down. What a big surprise. She’s a very good puppy, though! The vet figures her at somewhere between three and four months so we’ve decided to make her birthday December 15. Todd thinks we should make her birthday December 11th since that’s my mom’s birthday. I suppose I should talk to mom about that. She might be offended. Then again, she might like sharing her birthday with her youngest granddaughter.

She does have a parasite – very common with shelter dogs. The problem is we can’t get her to take her medicine. She’s too smart. BLAST! I’d much rather have a dumb dog. Kind of like I think dumb kids are easier to raise. We didn’t do well in that department, either.

She does go to the back door when she has to “eliminate”. We had some accidents at first, but she’s already got the hang of it pretty well. I think she’s needier than either Taylor or Katie ever were. If I’m trying to clean the kitchen (HA!! ME!! Trying to clean the kitchen. That’s funny!!) she comes in and flops on the floor with a huff and then whines because I’m not paying attention to her. She will have to get over that very quick. But she’s just so stinkin’ cute I end up giving in. AND I DIDN’T WANT A DOG!!

For being so fuzzy she doesn’t hardly shed. I hope that’s the way of it forever and ever.

On a completely different note, I was listening to the radio on my way to pick up Katie. It was on a station that plays a little bit of everything and “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” came on. I was very excited because I had that 45 when I was a kid. Such a catchy, fun sounding song. Except as I started singing with it I burst into tears. What a sad, sad song. I mean, I knew it was sad when I was a kid but it didn’t affect me like it did yesterday. Because I was just a kid.

The baby is sleeping right now (next to me) and I wonder if I can sneak away to wash my face, brush my teeth and get dressed. I would really like to take her outside in something other than my jammies.

OH!! Do you remember this post from last year? It’s that time again. Yesterday morning I got up early and made a delicious and nutritious breakfast for the kids. I haven’t brought up the subject of Taylor moving out yet, but he may be getting an actual job so I see it as a definite possibility eventually!!

Okay. I see my window of opportunity to do something other than sit by the baby swiftly closing. I’m off to throw on some clothes.

LATER!

Ah…. Sookie

Posted on by
32

Here’s our new beautiful girl. We agreed on Sookie (a character from Gilmore Girls and also a line in an old Dwight Yokum song). She’s very slowly warming up to us and has yet to venture past the family room and breakfast nook. She seems particularly fond of being under the table. Could be the crumbs, I suppose…



And this would be Taylor in his new room:

Catching Up

Posted on by
12

Okay. I’ve only got a little time to tell you what’s been going on. I’ll start with Wednesday. That was my trip in to Philly to have my tattoos touched up and the hair under my arms zapped into oblivion. The ride into the city was pleasant and uneventful. I’m telling you, give me some good tunes and a minimum of stupid drivers and I am one happy woman.

Ylena did the tattoo touch ups first. I asked her if she ever had any strange requests for smiley faces or Celtic knots or anything and she said no. Which is a good thing because all she knows how to do are circles. But she does that really well. I am a bit surprised at how real things are starting to look. It’s the first time in nearly three years that I think I look “normal”. Oh, I still have funky scars and will for some time, but I look less like a doll and more like a real person. AND there is no more yak belly hair.

Which leads me to the laser hair removal. Ayechiwawa that hurt!! Not the breast part because there’s not really any feeling there. But the underarms! Cripes!! Though not all of it. I would think, “this isn’t so bad” and then ZAP! I could actually hear the hair frying! And oy, the smell! Burning hair has quite the nasty odor. She did the left armpit first and just when I didn’t think I could take anymore she put an ice pack under there and moved to the right side. That side didn’t seem to be as bad and I think it’s because of some strange nerve sensations since having lymph nodes removed from the left a few years ago.

I go back the first week in May for my second session. I may be less than thrilled at the thought of more sizzling pain, but the end results are well worth it. No more shaving or Veeting for me!!

The drive home from Philadelphia wasn’t too bad except I was behind some bonehead who had to be drunk or high or something. Nobody drives that bad. Seriously. He nearly hit the center divider a number of times until he moved into the right lane. Then he kept driving on the shoulder, swerving back into his lane and over compensating by veering into the left lane. I was relieved when he took an exit, but then felt guilty I hadn’t called 911 because he was dangerous.

Thursday was my thyroid biopsy. Radioactive Girl had given me good advice and an idea of what to expect and I was thankful for that. The unknown and speculation is always much worse than reality.

I laid on a table with my head back as far as it would go, the ultrasound technician on the right and the radiologist on the left. She pressed the wand onto my neck while the doctor poked around with his finger to figure out where he wanted to go in. He had me turn my head as far to the right as I could and then he sprayed the area with a freezing agent. So freezing that it kind of burned. Then the real fun began.

I didn’t feel the needle going in, but I could feel it inside, fishing around for the right spot to extract the questionable cells. The ultrasound tech told me not to swallow or talk. Don’t you know after that I had an insane urge to swallow. The doctor took two samples from one nodule and two samples from another nodule. In between samples the tech would say, “Now swallow as much as you can!” Which was funny because it’s really hard to swallow on command and that’s why she was saying it.

The doctor kept saying, “This just doesn’t look like anything to worry about. I really think these are complex cysts.” There was a pathologist in the room as well to make sure he was getting enough cells for the samples, but she couldn’t say yay or nay. I’ll get the final word near the end of next week, but I’m not concerned at all. I’ve had these things for ten years and they’ve hardly changed a bit. Which makes me wonder why I went through the pain and hassle in the first place. But I just figure it’s my little jab to the insurance company. (Hope they don’t read this!)

Afterwards my neck was a little sore and I’m kind of bruised, but nothing terrible. It’s uncomfortable to yawn and, just like the swallowing thing, makes me want to yawn all the time. But it’s over with and I hope to never have this done ever again. I did get that Venti Decaf White Chocolate Mocha with Whip, though!

Now for the really big news! I have succumbed. We’re picking up our new puppy in about an hour. A Norwegian Elkhound mix from a rescue shelter. She’s a very cute and fluffy little thing. I have to admit I’m getting a bit excited. If for no other reason than I’ll have cute pictures and fun stories for my blog. Hopefully fun for me as well as you. Now if we all can only agree on a name.