HAD TO RUSH HAPPI TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM

Today I was very productive.  I fixed the pond pump issue.  Turns out the hose that ran from the pump to the filter was clogged with gunk (technical term) so I had to replace the hose.  Not as easy as I imaged.  I had to get a neighbor to assist.  The hose has clean water running now and the fish are so happy.

After I fed Happi her dinner she got very agitated.  She went outside and ate a ton of leaves and grass.  Then she vomited.  She started crying and whining.  She started clinging to me.  I rushed her to the ER.  They wanted to do all these tests on her for $1,000.  I decided to go the conservative route and had them give her some pepcid, tramadol and anti-nausea meds.  Then some IV fluids.  She went home and went to sleep.  We are to only give her chicken and rice for 3 days. Crazy day!

Until tomorrow...

COMEDY SHOW WITH TWO COMICS

Tonight we went to a comedy show with our friends N and S.  It was supposed to be N and K but K got sick and could not go.  They were the same friends who we went to the Jewish Chinese Dinner Comedy show.  The first comic was hysterical.  I laughed so hard.  The second comic who was the headliner was not so funny.  I thought she mumbled and I had a hard time understanding her.  I also didn't understand all her jokes.  She started to do some jokes about suicide and I tuned out.

We had a good time with N and S.

Until tomorrow...

LUCKY'S BEHAVIOR APPOINTMENT #2

Today was Lucky's behavior appointment #2.  She was much more calm.  No shaking and pacing.  She even laid down.  The behaviorist was impressed.

She saw signs of improvement.  We have new steps to work on.  I see small steps of improvement even if Brenda doesn't.  Lucky is able to sleep during the evenings in the living room without me.  That is a big step. Normally she is attached to my heels.  Getting her to realize that she is okay without me is key.

I was proud of her.

Until tomorrow...

DOCTOR VISIT - MEASLES INFORMATION

I went to see my primary today.  I needed to get my stitches checked out.  They stopped bleeding two weeks ago finally.

We talked about the measles outbreak and if I can be infected.  He told me I can get a test to find out if I am immune.  If I am immune I can't get it.  If I am not, I can catch the disease.  I didn't get the test but now I am thinking maybe I should have.  The disease is spreading in the West.

We also talked about my ankle.  He is not happy that I have to have more surgery.  He thinks my ankles and knees will be the first to go.  I have been having such problems with them, he thinks my joints are going to rot away quickly.  So I have to be very conservative until someone comes up with ankle replacements.

Until tomorrow...

POLICE COMMUNITY MEETING

Tonight I went to the police community meeting for my neighborhood.  I like to hear about what is going on in my area.  I found out that a traffic cop will soon be coming back to our intersection.  We used to have a motorcycle cop who gave out tons of tickets to all the stop sign runners at the end of our block.  He got promoted and we have not had any enforcement for over a year.

I found out they will be putting a new cop at our stop sign soon.  I am happy to hear this.  I fear someone will be run over.

Until tomorrow...

COFFEE SHOPS

I find coffee shops to be odd places.  I don't frequent them often because I don't drink coffee.  I have an office in my home so I don't really need to sit in a coffee shop when I can sit on my own couch.  In my pajamas.  With my slippers on and my feet up. 

It is fun to watch people in coffee shops.  There are some folks who bring their work and drink coffee.  Then those that are meeting friends.  Others are having business meetings.

There is this one coffee shop that I used to meet my thesis mentor to work on my writing.  It used to be a fun place to meet.  I hear it is now a weird coffee shop where everyone has a laptop and no one talks.  If you talk, like have a conversation, everyone glares at you.  Ugh!

I was thinking about coffee shops because I had to kill some time today in a really busy coffee shop today.  I actually got some work done.

Until tomorrow...

BOUGHT SOME SHEETS

I finally decided to return the sheets I bought from Amazon.  The color of one set was a weird lime green and both sets were not very soft.  I decided that buying sheets online is probably not a good idea.  I think there are some items that can't be bought online.  Sheets are one of them.  You need to feel the softness of the sheets and see the actual color.  Plus, online sheets don't always sell extra pillow cases and I have four pillows.

I am very happy with my new sheets so far.  They are environmentally friendly and made out of Tencel.  I tried to buy bamboo sheets but I had a hard time finding some.  We had bamboo sheets before and loved them.  They are so soft.  I hope the tencel sheets are just as soft.

I can't wait to put them on the bed!

Until tomorrow...

WISHING FOR RAIN

So far this has been the driest January on record in a long time in the West.  I can't believe how much I miss rain.  How much sidewalks smell when it doesn't rain.  How fast water evaporates when it doesn't rain.  How dirty my car gets without rain.

I  Miss Rain.

Until tomorrow...

BOUGHT SOME CLOTHES THAT FIT

Today I went to Target and Kohl's and bought some clothes that fit.  I am tired of having all my clothes fall off my body and having to use a belt to cinch my pants around my waist.  I know it is a good problem to have!  I just don't want to buy very many clothes because I don't plan to stay this weight and I don't want to buy clothes that I grow out of in a few months.

I bought three pairs of pajamas.  I won't be growing out of those.  Even if I lose more weight, I can't possibly fit in a smaller size because the pants will be too small.  My current pajamas are so huge that if I don't tie the waist, they fall right off my body.  The top looks like I could fit another person in with me.

I also bought one pair of jeans, a cute shirt, and a shirt to replace a Christmas present that someone gave me that was way too big. 

Until tomorrow...

NUTRITIONIST APPOINTMENT

I met with my nutritionist today and he was so happy to see that I lost 24 pounds.  We talked about the possibility of me losing 8 more pounds in the next  three months.  It took me six months to lose the 24 pounds and he thinks I could possibly lose the 8 pounds by the end of April if I exercise more.  He said the more I lose, the harder it will be to lose more because I will have less to lose.  Less fat to burn so it makes it harder to lose weight.

I still feel like I have weight to lose so I am staying positive.  Each pound is like a weight coming off.  I now know how they feel on Biggest Loser!

Until tomorrow...

UPDATE POST

This is an update post:

Lucky:
I have taken her off all medication and she seems better.  The behavior doc wants to put her back on the meds but I don't think this is a good idea.  I wish the meds had worked but they made her worse.  All the shaking made me stressed out.

Stitches:
My stitches are out and the incision is almost healed all the way.  Some of you are nervous that the incision was still bleeding.  The Doc wanted me to keep it covered in order to keep the cut from scabbing over.  A scab could mean cracking and infection.  That was the thing we didn't want.  By keeping it covered at all times the incision would not scab up. It has finally stopped bleeding. 

Health:
I have been feeling very good.  I am nervous saying this.  It has been two months since an accident or illness.  I am waiting for something to happen. Is that bad?  It is that time of the year and with this crazy weather and everyone being sick or just getting over being sick or about to be sick, I guess I am due.

I get my second flu shot this week.  I know it isn't very effective this year but I don't take any chances.  I think any think is better than nothing. 

Until tomorrow...

DISSENSION

I was with a group of people today that could not come to a decision.  It was frustrating to see it happen but at the same time I could understand.  It was just hard to see it all take place.  Adults acting like school children.  "Do what I say or I am taking my toys and going home!"

Underneath it all, we are all children at heart and some times act like it.  It is just sad that others get caught in the crossfire.

Until tomorrow...

COST OF GASOLINE

I can not believe I paid $2.36 for a gallon of gasoline today.  To fill my little car it took $20.27.  I filled my car for less than $30.00.  Can you believe a gallon of gas costs less than a Starbucks coffee?  Has the world gone mad?  Has the world balance been tilted?  Next thing you know you will be telling me that climate change is just a figment of my imagination.  I feel like I am in a fairy tale. 

I wish I could stock up on gasoline.  If only it wasn't  flammable.  Two things I would like to stock up on: rain water and gasoline.  Does that say something?  I feel like that says something.  A need for natural resources. 

I wonder how long cheap gasoline will be around? 

Until tomorrow...

BANDAGES

I have been wearing bandages for almost two months.  I hurt my leg the day before Thanksgiving when I banged it on the ottoman.  I required 8 stitches.  I have had to use one to two bandages every day.  If you can do the math, you will see I went through quite a few bandages.

It is shocking to me how much a box like this costs. Five rolls of gauze costs $7.99 at the pharmacy. At the supermarket it costs $11.99.  I'll bet this box of gauze costs $1.00 to make. This is what I call an emergency purchase. They know you are over a barrel and have to buy the bandages so they can charge whatever they want.  

I finally switched to large band aids because I couldn't see spending the money anymore for such a small cut. My cut is still bleeding (yes, almost two months later) so I have to keep it covered.

Until tomorrow...

LIME GREEN SHEETS

Earlier this week we ordered some sheets on Amazon.  We had a couple of gift cards which brought the cost down and made it possible to purchase two sets.  I decided to buy a dark tan set and a light olive/seafoam color set.

Today they arrived. The tan set was lighter than advertised but I still liked it. It will fit in with the color scheme of the bedroom. The second set was shocking. It was fluorescent lime green. It was nowhere near the advertised color. There is no way I could sleep peacefully on lime green sheet. They look like a giant post it.

I will be returning the lime green set and purchasing another color.

Until tomorrow...

NEIGHBOR WATERING LAWN

My neighbor has started water his lawn on an automatic sprinkler again.  It comes on each morning at 8:45am and goes for at least one hour.  I guess this person thinks the drought is over. I guess this person is unaware that just because we got a few inches of water a month ago, that doesn't mean they need to stop conserving.

This time we had it. Last time we didn't complain when the excess water drained out into the street for 40 minutes. I guess at some point somebody complained because the watering stopped. This time we were fed up after four continuous days of watering. I made an anonymous complaint to the water company. Call me a snitch. I don't care when I am saving my shower water for my pond and you are watering your lawn.

I hope in a few days the watering will cease.

Until tomorrow...

BEYONCÉ AND PEPSI

Recently these signs have been popping up all over.  If you can't read it it says "Beyoncé: If you love us, tell Pepsi to put a GMO label on it"

This group is trying to get Beyoncé to pressure Pepsi to  go GMO (genetically modified foods) free.  It is an interesting tactic.  Not sure it is going to work but it is fun to see the signs around.

Until tomorrow...

PRIMADONNA

Today I had to deal with two primadonna's.  It is interesting to have to deal with folks who feel that the world revolves around them.  That the smallest mistake is a giant slight against them. 

The amount of time spent calming hysterical people down and making them understand that no one had any malicious intent was exhausting.  What causes a person to react this way over a simple thing?

I know we all get upset over little things.  The guy who cuts you off on the freeway or the woman who drops trash on the ground and doesn't pick it up.  Those things upset us and make us rant.  But most of us don't go on for 1.5 hours about an email that was accidentally not sent to them.  Or an email that was not responded to.  Most of us are too busy with our day to spend that kind of time going on about such trivial things.

I think I need a zen moment.  Breathe in, Breathe out.

Until tomorrow...

MARKED IMPROVEMENT

Lucky had a good night.  She slept.  I slept.  We all slept.  It was a better night.  Which meant a better day. 

She is still shaking and shivering but we are going to wait and see if that declines now that she is off the doggy prozac.  She is eating again, although she is really picky.  So it is a slow detox from the prozac. 

I am trying to walk her more often and let her lay on the dog bed by herself in the living room.  Let her recover.  Poor baby had a rough time.  She seems okay now so it is almost time to get back to work.

Until tomorrow...

POOR LITTLE LUCKY

Lucky had a horrible night.  That means I had a horrible night.  That means the whole house had a horrible night. 

Lucky is on a new medication and it is not agreeing with her.  I don't know if the medication is giving her constipation or some sort of other problem but it kept her up all night.  Every hour on the hour she woke up crying. She wanted to go outside but she didn't want to go downstairs.  She didn't have to pee or poo, she just wanted to get out of her bed. 

In reality she wanted to get in bed with me and have me hold her but we have a "no dogs in bed" policy. 

First thing this morning I called the doctor and we agreed to take her off the doggy Prozac.  We think she is having a bad reaction to the SSRI.  We are keeping her on the Xanax for now. 

She also had not eaten since Saturday morning.  She keeps turning her nose up to her food.  Well, any food.  After 24 hours off the Prozac, she happily gulped down her dinner today.  She also went on a walk around the block. 

Let's hope she sleeps through the night.  We all sleep through the night.

Until tomorrow...

SORE THROAT?

Last night I had a coughing fit.  I coughed for about 3 minutes. 

Later that night I started to get a sore throat.  I thought Oh No!  I am starting to get sick.  NO!  I went to sleep early and sucked on a zinc lozenge (yuck). 

I woke up this morning and I was fine.  No sore throat.  No cough.  I have my fingers crossed that it was some fluke.  I do not want to get sick.  Maybe I should suck on another zinc lozenge. 

Oh, tonight I make this great Mustard encrusted Tofu with Kale and sweet potatoes.  It was SO good I can't wait until tomorrow night to eat more.  I am so happy I bought enough to make a second serving later this week.  Yay!

Until tomorrow...

GOOD NEWS ABOUT WORK

I got some good news about my clients.  Two of my contracts have been extended.  This is good news!  Brenda and I celebrated with barbecue for her and grilled tofu for me. The restaurant has vegan greens and biscuits.  And they deliver!  Yum! 

Until tomorrow...

TRIP TO THE MUSEUM

Today Brenda and I went to the museum.  We bought tickets a few months ago to see a special exhibit and today was the day.  It was a smaller exhibit than I expected.  When we were done we decided to go out for lunch.  It was early since the exhibit took such a short time.  We went to a cafe that overlooked a pleasant site.

It was nice to play hooky in the middle of the day. 

Until tomorrow...

MANSPREADING

Okay, I need to talk about "manspreading."  If you have not heard about it, it is men who spread their legs wide, into a sort of V-shaped slouch, effectively occupying two, sometimes even three, seats on mass transit.  It has become such a phenomenon in NYC that the city is doing a whole campaign targeting men.

As a woman, I hate it when men sit with their legs apart because I don't like having a man's leg against mine.  I don't know you and I don't want to be that intimate with you.  I have noticed this "spreading" for years.  Like men need to air things out or something.  I find it so rude.

I hear other cities are doing things to stop the spread of the "manspread". 

Until tomorrow...

HARD TO POST

I have been having a hard time posting.  Since my friend died, it has been hard to think about things and post them on a blog.  I would have thought it would be easier but I don't seem to have the desire to do much.  Life just seems to be in black and white these days.

I know it will get better with time.

Until tomorrow...

BRENDA'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT ARRIVED

Well Brenda's Christmas present arrived.  Just in time for MLK Day!  I ordered an umbrella for Brenda for Christmas from Target.  I wanted to pick it up in the store.  I got an email back the next day saying it was unavailable.  I panicked and ordered another umbrella from Target and they said it would arrive on 12/26. Okay, the day after Christmas.  No big deal. 

The next day I went to the same Target and the original umbrella I ordered was sitting right there on the shelf.  Sure, Target, it was unavailable!  I bought it.  Now Brenda would have something under the tree! 

Now the other umbrella arrived very late.  Brenda opened it and it has a little hole in it and one of the spoke ends came off.  Even if she wanted it, it has to get returned. 

The downside to internet shopping.

Until tomorrow...

GOT LUCKY SOME HELP

Tonight I took Lucky to her behavior appointment.  Adopting Lucky has been a challenge.  She is a sweet dog who has obviously been abused.  If you were ever to meet her you would think she is the most sweet and adorable dog.  She acts like a puppy (people ask me all the time if she is a puppy) and she has enough energy for three dogs. 

Unfortunately soon after bringing her home it was evident that Lucky had many issues that we were unprepared to handle.  The agency that adopted her out was unable to help us at first so we were left hanging in the wind.  When we finally got some help, it took many weeks for us to get some control of the situation.  The biggest problem at that time was Lucky being aggressive about food.  If you met her now you would be surprised that she ever had a problem with food.

Over the last two and one half years Lucky has started to resource guard me.  That means she thinks I am a resource that is more important than anything else and she needs to protect it.  She protects me from Brenda and Happi.  It has been a very unhappy house with growling and barking.

At the behavior appointment tonight I had to explain all of her behaviors.  I had a short video of her growling at Happi for the doctor to see.  Then she told me how to deal with the behaviors. 

The first thing we are doing is putting Lucky on doggy prozac.  I resisted this when we first got her but now I don't think we can continue living with her with all this anxiety and stress she has.  She was a nervous wreck at the appointment.  I have never seen her this way. Shaking and not sitting still.  The doctor seemed concerned.  We have also put her on doggy zanax.  This may be temporary until the prozac kicks in.  It takes Prozac at least two weeks to take effect.  They also suggested using a Dap collar again but we decided to hold off for right now.  We don't want to do too much at once.

We are also doing some behavior modifications.  I have to walk her more often, keep her on a leash in the house, play work games with her and use nothing for free.  She has a new life ahead of her.  I need to buy a work toy.  It is a toy that you put treats in it and the dog has to work to find the treat. 

We start tomorrow!  We need to fix this problem.  The doctor says this situation is fixable.  Yay!

Until tomorrow...

HAVING A HARD TIME

I am having a harder time than I thought I would with my friend's death.  I have found myself crying at the weirdest times.  Driving in my car, in the shower, in my sleep. 

Part of what I could not write about previously is that my friend Natalie didn't just pass away; she committed suicide.  This loss has been very hard for me to process. 

When someone dies of a long illness, if you are lucky you have a chance to say goodbye and process their passing.  When someone is very old you know it is inevitable that they will pass away some day.  But when someone dies suddenly there is no way to get ready for that news.  When someone commits suicide there is so much stuff that goes along with it: anger, guilt, sadness, the feeling like you could have done something, a feeling that you didn't do enough. 

Last night I had a dream with Natalie in it where we were sitting around talking, then she was gone and I was crying.  I wasn't sure if I was asleep or awake but when I opened my eyes they were wet.  The dream was so real.  I would have sworn it was real.  It didn't make me feel better; it made me sad.  

Intellectually I know time will make it better but right now it hurts and I am sad.

Until tomorrow...

WENT TO SEE THE HOBBIT #3

Today I took my neighbor's kid to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.  It is the third movie in the trilogy.  It was exciting but much more violent than the other three.  It was funny to go to a movie with a 13 year old.  Most of the time I have spent with him was at our home watching sports.  He is usually with Brenda and not too much with me.

I tried very hard to get him to talk.  I asked him questions about school and movies and music.  If you have spent much time around teenagers you know what I got.  Uh, sure, yup, no, nope.  It was hard to get him to actually talk about something.  I think he was being shy which was weird since I have known him since he was like 3 years old.  He talks a blue streak with Brenda.

Anyway, I finally got him talking about music and movies a bit.  I just kept talking and asking questions. We both liked the movie a lot.

Until tomorrow...

MISTAKES HAPPEN

I don't usually talk about my work but today is an exception.  Today I made a mistake.  It was a mistake because someone didn't do what they said they were going to do and I didn't double check.  It was totally my fault.

I made my mistake and that caused a torrent of other mistakes.

I made my mistake we will call X.  X happened and I called company ABC to correct it.  It should have taken ABC about 5 minutes to fix it.  The guy at ABC fixed it and the ABC's computer made a mistake.  Instead of correcting the mistake in year 2015, ABC computer "corrected" the mistake in 2014.  There was no mistake in 2014.  The guy at ABC company now had to contact the tech support guys at ABC to find out why the computer "corrected" a mistake in 2014 that never happened but didn't correct a mistake in 2015 that did.  After fixing that, while correcting the 2014 mistake, the ABC guy made another mistake causing more chaos. 

Hours later the whole mess was corrected and my original mistake X was corrected correctly.  It was interesting to the cycle of events when one mistake happens.  I just wish I wasn't so anxiety-ridden about my client's work being messed up, I probably would have laughed about the whole thing.

Until tomorrow...

FOUND A WAY TO TAKE A BATH

I found a way to take a bath.  I have wanted to take a bath for days.  Partially because I have been sad and when I am sad I want to take a bath.  But also because it has been unseasonably cold.  I was so cold yesterday that I took a second shower.  Something that is so bad considering we have a water shortage.  I just needed to get warm and a hot shower seemed like the only way.

I filled the bathtub with hot but not too hot water.  I didn't put any bubbles or bath salts in the water.  I got in and immediately put my bad leg with the cut up out of the water.  I took the whole bath with my leg out of the water except the few minutes when I washed the cut.  I got out and put my bandage back on.  I can't wait to stop having to wear this bandage all the time.  It is keeping my cut clean and uninfected but it is annoying and time consuming to take on and off.  At least I don't have to do it twice a day anymore.

I enjoyed my bath very much.  It warmed my bones and my soul.

Until tomorrow...