Sorry to everyone who still checks in with me. Life has interfered with my writing since I’ve been home. Let’s update:
BadLab: Losing weight, and not so happy about it. He’s turned into a picky eater.
GoodDobie: No seizures, and insulin is up to 20ccs twice daily. He’s lost his sight completely in the last week-10 days. He was adjusting well, and BadLab has been fantastic about watching over him and helping. Last Thursday, I couldn’t find GoodDobies eyeballs. He was scrunching his eyes shut, and when I pried them open, all I saw was red, yucky, and empty. (The third eyelid was up. duh.) The vet saw him Friday morning, and found his eyes. 
GoodDobie has severe conjunctivitis. The vet said it looked like he was pepper-sprayed. We think maybe he ran into some poison ivy in the backyard? He has bacitracin ointment, and amoxicillin. On the other hand, he’s back up to 84 pounds, and eating well.
Chef and Mrs. Chef: Chef has car insurance, so they have some independence. They’re getting better about not cleaning and organizing all.the.time. The kitchen table has some clutter. We convinced them we eat pizza in the living room. The doggy toys are all neatly lined up, and I can’t find a few things that I’m certain are ‘put away.’ Husband likes to tease Mrs. Chef. I brought back 2 weeks worth of hotel shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and soap to donate to a local women’s shelter. I emptied my bag on the bathroom table, and she had everything lined up within 10 minutes. I put my personal items away, and she re-lined up the travel sizes in order. Husband moves them around on the table or pulls a few out of line. They quickly return to formation. She’s a sweet girl, and they are trying so hard.
WryDad: Husband and WryDad are very close. Husband called WryDad a ‘fucktard.’ I spoke with WryDad one night about 10 days ago. He didn’t say anything, WryMom never called. Husband called WryDad from the hospital (next story) and WryDad said he was in the hospital for a few days, but ‘don’t worry.’ My parents took in a feral cat and her newborn litter around Easter. They were taking the kittens to get fixed, momma cat didn’t like that. She scratched and bit my father. His doctor started him immediately on antibiotics. The next morning his arms were bruised and swollen, with red streaks running from his fingers up his arms. He went to the doctor who called the hospital for a bed. WryDad was in the hospital for 3-4 days getting IV Cipro. He just finished oral antibiotics. I still haven’t asked about the cat.
WryMIL: Husband isn’t close to his family. He doesn’t see or speak with them. It used to be because of abuse and hurt feelings, but now it’s indifference. They will call Husband if they need money or something fixed. A sibling called to say WryMIL was being lifeflighted from a local hospital to one in the big city. We’re grateful she called. Husband has spend much time at the hospital these last 2 weeks. WryMIL had open heart surgery to implant tubes and wires for 2 mechanical pumps yesterday. Her heart is quite fragile, and she’ll be sedated for the next few days. It’s awkward. Family members are crying, and I sit there trying to be invisible. Husband sits a little apart from the family, but is cordial to them.
That’s my update.
Filed under: Culture, Depression, Home, hosting | Tags: chef, Dogs, Home, Husband
I am home. I love home. I missed Husband and the doggies. Husband missed me, GoodDobie looks great, but BadLab is a porker. I can’t feel his ribs, and he has a little pot belly. No more rice and hamburger for him. My baby Dell is here, with new innards. I’ve been adjusting and installing today.
The other big news? Chef and Mrs. Chef moved in with us. They arrived a few days after I left. Mrs. Chef had never been out of Chile before. Chef was last here in August, and they married in April. They’re looking for engineering jobs here. They have lots of free time. I thought it would be easier for Mrs. Chef to settle in without me around. I want her to be comfortable here. She’s adjusting well, and the dogs love her.
I returned home at 2:30am today. (GoodDobie jumped all the way up to kiss me. He hardly ever stood up even when he was healthy and strong.) I walked in, and the changes were staggering. The kitchen, and both living rooms. Our house is over 100 years old, and we have 2 living rooms. I assume one was once the parlor. The upstairs bathroom and third bedroom were rearranged, too. Anyone who knows me in real life knows I am oblivious to a lot. I don’t notice things. For me to be exhausted and notice all the changes was a surprise. I still haven’t been to the basement. Can’t take the shock.
Husband requested they not ‘clean’ his office, toolbench, our bedroom, and the third bedroom. I use the third bedroom to keep my clothing and ironing board. They haven’t touched the first three areas, but ‘my’ room is all rearranged. I had clothes in different piles on the headboard/bookcase to sell on eBay, donate, or be mended. They are all ironed, damp, and folded nicely on the bureau. The shelves were cleared off except for junk, my scarves moved, the ironing board moved, and everything rearranged. Apparently, she likes to iron. She irons everything, including washcloths.
The bathroom door was closed, shower curtain closed, handwash in the bathtub, 3 scatter rugs on the floor, tp hung backwards, and blinds slanted differently. I know it sounds petty, but we’ve lived in this house for 30 years, and Husband grew up in this house. It’s all different. I emptied out my travel cosmetic and bathroom bags onto the small table in the bathroom. She lined everything up in neat rows.
We’ll skip the kitchen and backyard, but my bookshelves. My bookshelves. Husband built a wall of bookshelves in our front room. I have them arranged just so, and they’re accented with photos and tchochkes picked up from our travels. I regularly purge books by moving them to the attic or donating. I’m anal enough about the books that they’re arranged down to Chile-travelogues, Chile-language, and Chile-history. I have Spanish dictionaries on one shelf, and all other languages on another. Half of the shelves are nonfiction reference and travel, and the other half is fiction and art books. The books are now arranged by size. “Diving in the Caribbean” is now next to a Diane Arbus photography book. I don’t see my little piece of the Berlin Wall anywhere. “Lamb” by Christopher Moore is next to “The Book of Nothing.” The photos, boxes, and decorations are all rearranged.
Most women would probably feel violated by someone going through their clothes or makeup, but the books are what killed me. I want to move it all back into place, but it would hurt her feelings. Thankfully I have an appointment with the wacko doctor on Monday.
Poor GoodDobie is whipped. He had a seizure yesterday morning and last night after his shots. With the vet’s blessing, we cut the insulin in half. This morning he had a seizure before the shot. It’s taking him longer to become himself each time. He sleeps long and hard after the seizures. We got Phenobarbital today for him, and he’s a happy, drunk little monkey. No seizure tonight, but we think his eyes are going.
We are not ready to have the ‘quality of life’ discussion, but we are both thinking of it. He has 20-22 good hours daily, and we’ll see how the Phenobarbital works. He’s been romping in the house, and running around chasing BadLab outside. He’s eating and drinking well.
BadLab has been a wonderful protector. He helps GoodDobie, and alerted Husband to this morning’s seizure. He goes out with GoodDobie, and stands watch in the backyard. He sleeps touching him.
The vet isn’t sure if the diabetes and seizures are related. He’s asking specialists. The strangest thing is after the insulin injections, GoodDobie starts humping BadLab. He’s not a humpy dog, it’s really out of character, and he’s not good at it. BadLab doesn’t care. He’s happy to play.
I haven’t written about our dogs for a while. GoodDobie and BadLab love that Spring is here, and regular walks have returned. We went for a long walk last week, and I wore them out. Too ambitious, too fast. BadLab will be nine in November, and GoodDobie is between 10 and 12 years old. GoodDobie is from a rescue group, so we don’t know his exact age.
GoodDobie went to the vet today, and goes back Tuesday. The poor guy started falling apart last week. A typical Doberman lifespan is 10 years old. Our dogs always get sick on Friday afternoons. I’m convinced they do it on purpose since it buys them a few days to see if they really need to see the doctor. GoodDobie has a hard lump under his eye. He let Husband look inside his mouth without flinching, and it’s not tender at all. He’s also been drinking tons of water, and wants to go out all the time. His body shape is changing, and he occasionally won’t life his leg or squat when he ‘goes.’
Part of it is arthritis, and we’ve started him on glucosumine and chondroiten. The vet said the drinking/peeing could be related to the arthritis. (I didn’t quite understand that, but really wasn’t paying attention after we discussed the lump.) The big thing is the sudden lump. He has antibiotics for the next week, and Tuesday he goes for blood tests, X-rays, and hopefully a pulled tooth under anesthesia. The vet is concerned the tooth isn’t abscessed since it doesn’t hurt, smell, seep, or anything.
Whatever happens, we know he is happy with us, and we’re thrilled we adopted him. He isn’t in pain, just a bit embarassed about peeing like a girl. It will be tough to leave him at the vet’s, we don’t want him to think we’re dumping him off like his previous owners, and BadLab will go nuts without his buddy even for a few hours. We can sit and wait in the parking lot.
I was sick yesterday, and didn’t get out of bed until 3:00pm. Husband and I were both run down from a stressful 4 day weekend training seminar. The weekend was a success. My portion of the seminar was hailed as the ‘best ever’ by several people. Husband was very pleased with his part of the meeting. I was called to the stage 3 times for recognition. I normally loathe being under spotlights, but a few people in the audience were stabbing their hate-filled eyes out with sporks, so it was fun.
Husband and I were invited to two graduation parties this weekend for family friends. One child graduated from college, and the baby graduated from high school. Husband had a swell time at Friday night’s party/polo game. We missed today’s polo, but arrived for the party. Square dancing had just started when we all noticed thick black smoke in the distance, about a mile away. People were joking about whose house was on fire. “Too far away to be ours.” “Too much to the right to be yours.” Husband thought it looked like burning tires. The fire chief quietly left the party. Someone was nosy enough to go investigate. He returned to the party yelling to his brother that it was his property. The party went silent. No one moved. He had to shout four times for anyone to respond. He’s kind of a jerk, so we were waiting for him to yell “Just kidding!” The spell was broken when we heard the fire trucks roar past.
Husband and I followed our friends to their home. Thankfully, their house wasn’t on fire. They have a one room Summer house by their lake. It burned to a crisp. The timbers were only a foot above the ground By the time we got there, and walked back the long drive, the fire was dying out. The firemen soaked a wide area of fields and woods. We walked to their home, and watched the firemen working down over the hill. The fire was down to the lake and over to woods. As it died down, the women joined the men. (Not being sexist, but we had flipflops on, the guys had real shoes.)
As we walked down the path, we noticed something really weird. The grass/weeds were green, but the ground was black. It looked like rich soil; we don’t have dirt like that around here. We guessed the grass was so wet it didn’t burn. The firemen told us the fire burned underground. It went through rabbit holes and ditches, and popped up in different places. It was much closer to the house than we thought. I never heard of fires going underground except those coal fires in Centralia, PA. The lake is an old stripper cut, so maybe?
We all returned to the original party to resume square dancing. The firemen said to check on the fire every half hour during the night.
It’s been a while since I gave a personal update.
- The tank is back on the road and good as ever.
- Another one of our cars was the victim of a hit & run. The rear passenger-side door was severely dented. Thank Goddess I wasn’t driving the car that night. Husband probably wouldn’t have believed that I had nothing to do with the damage!
- BadLab was attacked by a nasty little white poodle last week. Husband said I should’ve left the leash go. I pulled Badlab and GoodDobie away. BadLab was very polite and calm. The little bastard poodle came from behind 2 cars parked in a drive, and we didn’t see him until he lunged. He kept snapping and chasing until grandma tackled him.
- I was pleased to confirm I can pull two 100lb. dogs away from a predatorpoodle. We’re back to daily walks. I take a wooden spoon with me to smack other dogs if needed. It makes me feel better to have a weapon. lol.
- Chef broke his ankle playing basketball again. He did the same thing as an exchange student 10 years ago. His college is on strike so he doesn’t have to worry about walking much.
- P broke up with his gf, and moved back home. His family sold their house, so he moved to an uncle’s house. His parents new home should be ready to move into this week. He’s been living out of suitcases for 3 months now.
- WryExchange has been getting a lot of hits for people searching for chipmonkeys and cold flashes, but no new funny searches.
- I started a new blog, and I have six posts up. The blog has 2 hits. One each from Husband and P. It’s private in public. It’s even more esoteric than WryExchange. Let me know if you want the URL.
- We’re getting a new roof this month. Damn slate only lasted a hundred years, and needs replaced. ;) We can’t afford slate, we’re just getting regular shingles. We’d like to save it so someone else can use it for repairs/replacements.
- For those of you out of the states, cherries are $11.00 per kilo.
My husband gave my mother my salsa recipe several years ago. She used the recipe Sunday, but it “didn’t taste like yours, Wry.” Hmm, could it be she didn’t follow the super-easy recipe? Nah, she had it right there-showed me how she did it. She just made a few ‘small’ substitutions such as chopping by hand instead of using a food processor, and maybe adding a ‘little bit’ more onion. Oh, and the following:
|
Wry Recipe |
WryMom Recipe |
|
Fresh Tomatoes |
Canned Tomatoes |
|
Fresh Lime Juice |
ReaLemon Lime Juice |
|
A Few Jalapeños |
½ Tomatoes, ½ Jalapeños |
|
Cubanelle Peppers |
… |
|
Fresh Cilantro |
Brown Cilantro flakes |
Well, you cannot argue with your mother on Mother’s Day. I passed, but Husband and WryDad gamely tried some. Husband says it tastes like Jalapeño relish. WryDad is probably still coughing. I’ll make some and take it over to them in a week or so.
My Salsa Recipe
5 pounds Roma Tomatoes
3 or 4 large Tomatoes
3 or 4 jalapeño peppers
2 large cubanelle peppers
½ small onion
½ bunch fresh cilantro-about 2 cups
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup fresh lime juice or Nellie & Joe’s Lime Juice
¼ cup of sea salt-or a lot more salt than you think you’ll need.
Cut up tomatoes, peppers, onion, and cilantro into pieces small enough to fit into a food processor. Pulse and mix. I use 2 types of tomatoes so it’s not too juicy or dry. I use a little bit of Vidalia onion otherwise the onion overpowers everything. I seed the jalapeños after the first two. The measurements are ‘guesstimates’ as everyone’s taste differs. We’ve made this for years, and still taste, adjust, taste, adjust.
Husband and I had the pleasure of taking a small group of Brasilian adults out for the day last week. We went to our nearby big city, and took them on our Exchange Student Tour®. We were asked to take them because we are used to taking kids out, and this was the same, but with 30 year olds.
It was exactly like taking kids! They were so cute. They asked permission for everything. ‘Yes, you can ride in the other car.’ ‘Of course you can go to the restroom.’ ‘Yes, you can order whatever you wish to eat.’ ’Sure, play with the satellite radio, check out all the stations.’
Also just like taking exchange students on an outing? They moved so slowly, and in different directions. We call it ‘herding cats.’ They were enchanted by a dancing fountain, of all things. It took time to drag them away, and they had to buy BigCity souvenirs, and stop at the Hard Rock Café. People who didn’t go with us offered criticism that we didn’t do enough with the Brasilians. Well, there is only so much you can do in 8 11 hours. Of course we were late, we were on exchange time.
They only had a few days left to their 4-week trip. The only shopping they did was at Wal-Mart. Ick. We fixed that. We introduced them to Target, and Space bags. I love Space bags. They never heard of them, but were telling us of all the gifts people gave them. They bought all the bags that store had on display. Sweatshirts, T-shirts, hoodies, windbreakers, etc. They also scooped up gum, candy, and cosmetics.
We ended the day at the electronics store. 2+ hours. I was so bored I started playing Insaniquarium on a display laptop. I was up to level 8. One woman bought a hard drive that was 1 terabyte. That’s 1,000GB. I didn’t know they made them that big. Three of them bought laptops. They started playing with them in the car, just giggling away. Husband and I thought they were ‘giddy with happiness,’ and that’s a rare sight.
We had a great day.
If I was President of the United States, the following fantasies come true:
This post was this week’s topic on the women’s blog tour. I assigned the topic “If I was Queen of the world, President of the USA, or Silda Spitzer, I would…” Check out the other blogs in my blogroll.
