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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Packing Up

Well, with the storm coming, we are packing up. The plan is that I will take Conor (my boy), my mom and my elderly cousin Rodney to my uncles place in Arkansas. We are not sure what Pat's company will do yet. I will take the cats to Pat's parents tomorrow and then leave with my humans, Endy, Geico and the aquatics very early Tuesday morning. I have rented a trailer for mom's medical equipment so I feel in pretty good shape. Even without a direct hit, the chance of losing power is very high and my mother is fully dependent on oxygen at this point. I also can't worry about a medical emergency in the middle of this and not being able to get to a hospital if my mom has an issue.

Since 2002, I have evacuated 4 times: Lilli, Ivan, Katrina, and Gustov. I still get the same feeling when I try to figure out what to bring and what to leave. I know we will probably be back but I learned after Katrina not to expect to be back. It is a very strange feeling, and you figure out very quickly when you are running out of space. It is very strange.

So that is it for now. I will be up to my eyeballs running around until this is done. Just know that my family, including furry, reptilian and aquatic beasties will remain safe. Safe driving everyone. Dawn.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Too Many Apps



I wonder if they are computer hacking Apps?

Hey http://fernvalley01.blogspot.com/, what do YOU think?

(Found the source of this giggle of the day: http://www.cafepress.com/jlwdesigns/7184272 and she has awesome merchandise for sale!!!)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Endy is out of Recovery

Quick note: Endy is out of recovery and he did really well. The vet was very optimistic about the things and we should know in a couple of weeks if they are benign.

We had a good talk about the inability to hold his bladder problem (I love this vet - he deals with my thousands of questions with grace). Since the blood work came up good and there were not crystals present, the vet gently told me that Endy is getting older and sometimes they just have to go more. That made me feel better though I am still worried about his losing 12 pounds (move than 10% of his body weight) and decreased appetite.

One thing at a time; I will pick up my baby in 3 hours, 51 minutes (yes, counting minutes) and get him home where he belongs. I am going to pick up new clippers from the pet store tonight so I can fully shave him since right now I just clipped him with scissors around the affected areas - or basically his whole back end. My focus will be keeping him comfortable and then we can see how he does.

So drama mama needs to get back to work - just so happy we have a vet who knows me well enough not to hang up on me!

Monday, August 13, 2012

The Endy Dilema




I love this dog. So very much. His vet visit Saturday did not sit well. There were some things that have cropped up with him the last few months and we addressed them directly:
  1. He has started obsessively licking, not just himself but the carpet, sofa, us, anything within reach.
  2. His skin is red and irritated - I even clipped all the hair from his waist down to try to help
  3. He can only go 5 hourse without a potty break. This means that around 3 am, myself or hubby get up to let him out - we are fighting sleep deprivation since we can't get back to sleep.
  4. He has a "thing" on his side that in the last couple of weeks has suddenly is irritating him and has started to bleed.
  5. I have noticed that he doesn't always finish his food.
  6. He has lost 12 pounds, I think most of it in the last 3 months, and we have not been trying to get him to lose weight
We decided to tackle the obvious things first. Blood work to hopefully identify a bladder infection and schedule surgery on Tuesday to remove the thing. The thing will be biopsied to see what it is and why it changed so suddenly. He will be on antibiotics from the surgery which will actually help his skin - turns out what I thought was allergies is a skin infection.

The nurse called me today and the first part of the blood work is back: no bladder infection. Crap. That would have been the easiest thing to deal with and would have potentially explained 3, 5 and 6. Several years ago he had an issue with his kidneys and crystals - I am afraid that might be rearing it's ugly head again. More extensive blood work will happen during the surgery so I am trying to take one thing at a time.

I just have this feeling in my gut that he is not comfortable. We will see what happens after tomorrow, he will let me know. I just love the big, dumb dog!
     

Friday, August 10, 2012

Athos, Porthos and Aramis

These are my additional office buddies with A2, the Beta.

Yes they are Ghost Shrimp! They live in their own little aquarium and hopefully with thrive like A2.

It is very relaxing to take little breaks and look at my aquatics in my office - remember I get lonely in here with no one to socialize with.

Back to work!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

A nice night

Every Tuesday night, Conor's father's side of the family gets together and has dinner. I am always invited and usually try to go once a month. Last night, Conor's sister was there (she just moved back to New Orleans), his brother was there and many of his adult cousins. I am only 6 years older than my step-daughter and 15 years older than my step-son so it is really like having friends than a parent-child type relationship.

I digress. In the middle of dinner, I looked at the head of the table and see Nanny and Paw sitting there, smiling very contently. I realized the full table, many jokes and teasing was filling their hearts. Paw has been very quiet about Mark's (Conor's father) death while Nanny will talk with me from time to time - I know her heart really hurts. But last night, in the midst of the chaos and I did not see the hurt in either of them...I just saw the peace that happens when surrounded by loved ones. Nanny and Paw are in their 90's so to see that look now is a blessing.

Now, a part of the teasing was to Conor: he got braces yesterday! Say CHEESE!


(he's so not happy about this!)

Monday, August 6, 2012

The other shoe...

might be waiting to fall. Still working on my pictures but kind of down at the moment. My uncle, who comes from AK to help me with my mom, received news Saturday that it looks like he might have kidney cancer. He was in town and had to leave early to go for the final tests yesterday. I am old enough to know we do not have enough information yet but my poor mother is so beside herself I can't console her. There is alot of family drama surrounding this relationship - I have managed to stay above it but it is tiring at the moment.

This uncle is the grandfather to my precious cousin's baby girl (remember the toes?).
The really strange thing was Friday I was frantic wanting to see my cousin and her baby and give them a hug. Then the news came Saturday about the diagnosis - she hasn't called me back and I am frantic missing her again. I left a message - my precious cousin, she is my sister and I hope she is doing OK.

Just venting - wanting my heart to catch up to my head...I will just feel better when I hear back from my cousin.

Bath

The trip. The first day was a loss due to a missed flight at Houston so we actually lost a day. I have decided to post day by day sooo: Bath, UK.

 Walking the city


 The architecture was beautiful






As were the gardens

 The cathedral next to the Roman Baths



Bathing anyone?


 I went crazy with the pictures so if you are interested, the full album is here:


 Bath Album on Facebook

Friday, August 3, 2012

Extra Pickles Please!

Just read an amazing post from one of the bloggers I love to follow:

http://fernvalley01.blogspot.com/2012/08/extra-pickles-pleaseor-ask-for-what-you.html

So my challenge for today is follow this sage advice: Extra Pickles Please!

(Thanks FernValley Appaloosas!)

Oh, and England pictures should be posted by the end of this week-end :)