Feel Like Complaining

Winnie came last Monday morning. She's an adorable 9 year old Yorkie who loves laps (which means naps for me) and walks. Tony likes to walk her because he can go to the track and do a lap with his walker and she won't pull him.  I don't like to use potty pads at all but her owner places one in the bathroom at night so she doesn't have to get up to let her out. The first night I placed one in the hallway because our bathroom is so small. She peed on the bathroom rug and kitchen rug. Wash rugs. The next night I replaced rugs with old towels and put pads on top of them. She peed on the towel in bathroom. Wash towels. The next night and until the end, it was no towels and only pads. She didn't pee at all; go figure. She was a fun girl though and we'd have her back. After Orzo and Cous Cous were fixed, they got to come back for one more night. The Dr. elected not to do eye surgery on the one, so when Faith took them back to the clinic the next day, they were processe...

Sammy joined us last week, a 6 year old ball obsessed mixed breed dog. When he came to his meet and greet with a ball in his mouth, I silently said 'uh oh'. That's all he wants to do and isn't much into pets and cuddles; although by the end of his stay he did get better with being petted. He sleeps good but barks at every little sound during the day. Oh and he has nightmares and howls which is great way to be woken up. Faith was very excited to get her first kitten foster from the clinic. She had asked the vet a couple of months ago if there was a possibility of being hired there and the vet was very honest and said that she needs to do other things besides just the vaccine clinic. So she's still going just twice a week but staying all day and adding other things to her job list including post spay/neuter care. Every animal has to have sub Q fluids and she does them all as well as waking them up to put back in a cage. She got to see part of an amputation but then ha...

Other than still being hot all week (barely under 100), we've been keeping busy, especially the first part of the week. We had Mr. Chico with us who is so content to just sleep the day away.  Our younger brother arrived the morning of the 4th and we joined him at big bro's house for a BBQ. It was nice having all of us together. Deb's mom died last month and she's been having a real hard time. Now there are no Mama's left and I wish I could have helped her as much as she helped us. On Monday morning, the brothers and I drove to our hometown and placed some of Mom's ashes under our dad's memorial stone. His ashes were spread in Idaho but does have a little stone in the cemetery. We drove by the last house we all lived in and I cannot believe how much worse it looks than last time I saw it. Mom would not be happy. I wasn't looking forward to Mom's service on Tuesday; it just makes everything final and I guess I didn't want final, but it turned out b...

  To say it's been hot on the west coast has been an understatement. I start complaining when it hits 85. For part of it I was cat sitting and was told to turn the AC down as low as I wanted; so I did.  While I was gone, Faith kept the plants and back lawn alive the best she could. I've never seen things so droopy and burnt. Our AC really struggled to keep up but it never failed us. Our power company did some planned outages for a week, but thankfully we weren't affected.  Tuesday was the worst at 111 degrees. If I had to do something outside, I kept it at 5 minutes max. Tony's first test of Lidocaine shots in his back didn't help so they have abandoned the ablation plan and will move on to Cortisone shots in the bigger nerves. I don't know why it happened; maybe the Dr. just wasn't really listening to his symptoms or he didn't have a certain type of pain when she examined him but they will start on the 12th. The couple who had such a messy house actuall...

My Mom had all sorts of little boxes, some old and others she had decorated; but each had a purpose. This little basket was her mom's, used mostly as a sewing box. Look at this little cutie. It was also her mom's and Mom used it for straight pins, which are still there. All I know is that it was made in Mexico and I think it's adorable. This was her lunch box. Kids don't know what a great variety of containers they have to carry their lunch in these days. It still had her little ruler in it. It's all dented up and her last name was scratched in the top--no label makers in the 30's. Once a plain old recipe card holder, she could never resist decorating something. This sat on her kitchen counter and held tape and all sorts of odds and ends (like a mini junk drawer) and I've left it all as it was. Once just a plain cardboard box, she painted and decoupaged this. She even used a sort of star shaped cork for a lid handle. I don't remember what was in it but I...

Sometimes it's annoying when someone wants to book a dog for just one night. It's hard to get to know them and by the time they're comfortable here, it's time to go. Hank came for a night because his parents were having a party or something and sometimes you just don't want the kids around.  He's only 5 but looks and moves like a much older dog. He does have thyroid issues so maybe that's why he's a bit chonky. He whined off and on for several hours but slowly came around. He found a toy he liked outside but also went after the neighbor dogs through the fence. He finally learned that when they started barking, it was time to come in. He slept pretty good, just whining occasionally. By morning, as with most dogs, he acted like he'd been here for days. The next weekend I spent one night at his house. I arrived a little bit before his parents left so she showed me around. I've stayed in 2 young couples' homes in 4 years and the only word that co...

Last weekend we took some time and went to Lake Chelan for 3 nights. I may have been there as a kid but have no memories of it, so it was all new to me (us). It's a beautiful lake but other than boating or fishing, there's not a lot to do. We did find a nice paved walk that crossed over the bridge so you get to walk on both sides of the lake. After that, we walked through town and did a bit of shopping. We all had tired feet that night.  The motel had 2 pools (1 in, 1 out) and 2 outdoor hot tubs, but what do pools draw in? Kids. I have nothing against kids using facilities but the same group of pre teen boys were in the indoor pool for hours doing their usual thing; cannonballs. The pool had limits set on how many could be in there but no one ever checked. Then families would come in with all 8 of their kids and it was just too much for me. Tony was in one hot tub and Faith and I went in another. It was so darn cold and windy that when we jumped out we had to run for our lives ...