Monday, April 27, 2009

A Better Day - or two!

This has been a GOOD weekend! My husband is home for a visit (which sounds wierd, I know!) but that's how it is. Anyway, it's awesome to have him here! ' Cause he changed the light bulbs way up high in the kitchen ceiling where I can't reach. And helped me get the big ol' 100lb. dog to the vet (well, wait - she's only 97lbs. now...doing good!) It is also our 25 year wedding anniversary, so YAY US!! Anyhow, it's been a sweet time.



Another good thing is, the house is going to be put on the market this week! I got it all 'tidied', and I have housecleaners coming in the morning to get it sparkling. (I decided I was sick to death of the household chores, so I'm paying someone else to do it this time around - it'll be so totally faster than if I did it myself, not to mention - I don't wanna!!)



The next good news is that we took Merry to the vet, because I was freaking out, again, about the leg. She's got this funky bump just on the outside of her leg, and her suture site is looking a bit red and puffy... since she fell last week, I was all stressed out. Well, the bump is where she is building up a callous on the inside from where the permanent sutures are tied in a knot and aparently irritating her skin in there, and a little seroma has built up. That should clear up on it's own, but if not the vet can drain it. The problem with the suture site is that instead of absorbing the 'absorbable' sutures, my dog's body is, instead, trying to reject them. So, it's built up a little 'wall' around it, and getting red and possibly a little pus - trying to shove those sutures out of the skin, the way you would a splinter. So, while not "ideal", not a huge problem. Just gotta keep an eye on it. Oh, but I said this was good news, didn't I? Yeah, because the surgery itself seems to be doing well.... the vet tried to push the knee to do the 'drawer' thingie, and he said there isn't even "micro-movement", which means the knee is good and tight and the permanent sutures are holding like they should, and she's building back the muscle tone, so - so far, so good. We still have a long way to go before we can say we've really made it, but it's good news at this point. And! She's lost 3 pounds, which is a good start. She probably ought to get down about 15 lbs....

Well, that's my GOOD weekend! Hope you all had some of that, yourself.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

M I A

Wow, I have totally been missing in action around here! I really do want to post every day, but life is just - well, not like that right now. But, here's what's up:

The dog is doing okay. I worry about her alot. Today she is walking pretty good (not perfect by any means) but she has this little lump on her leg, in the knee area. And she seems, I don't know, not quite herself tonight. I am just not loving this whole cruciate - surgery - recuperation business, at all. Far too iffy, in my opinion. Scooter is coming home for a visit this weekend (YAY!!) so one of the 'fun' activities I have planned is a check-up trip to the vet. Oh, yeah, I know how to show a guy a good time!

The house is ALMOST done!!! Unbelieveable. Just a couple more things to pick up and put - somewhere - but I have a maid service coming Monday to do a serious cleaning, then the realtor will be out later in the week. Finally! I'm trying not to think about the garage, then the packing, the actual move.... and of course, now that spring is here, I've had to add watering, mowing, and weeding to my already-too-long list of things to do. Sheesh.

I am having someone else do homeschooling with Kiwi for a few days - weeks - whatever. I need the time to get my poop-in-a-group. Thank the Lord for good friends!

Well, that's about all the news from here. Except that YAY!!!! my husband will be here for 4 whole days!!! I have been missing him, way too much.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Oh, and I just have to say....

...today, at work, was the weirdest. I was exhausted beyond belief. I could barely stand up. Seriously. Now, I'm always exhausted in the mornings; I am sooo not a morning person. But this was beyond. Like a fog was on me or something. So, I'm having trouble pulling the espresso shots - that is to say, they just weren't tasting good. Quite bitter. I'd done all the typical adjustments, to no avail. So it might have just been....me. I dunno. So I make this drink for a gal, and I'm like "if those shots are bitter, I will re-make it for you; I'm just having trouble this morning. She tastes it, and says "Well, the shots taste fine, but the milk is kind of cold." Which is weird, because I always steam to 160 degrees because I despise room temp lattes, so I look at the thermometer in the pitcher.... then I pick the pitcher up.... then I lay my hand against the pitcher.... it's not just kind of cold, it's absolutely chilly! I hadn't even steamed it, at all! I'd made her drink using the milk straight out of the fridge! Holey criminy.... I need to sleep, for at least 3 days straight......

Update on Doggie Surgery

Here she is enjoying a nice chew!














Her hair still hasn't grown back in....


Her incision site sure looks tons better!


I thought I'd post a couple recent pics of my dog since the surgery. Things are going well; we are taking little walks now, and I am freaking out less often - so it's all good. Now I have more time to freak out about the fact I am supposed to list this house to sell and it's a ginormous clutter-bin. sigh.... When Scooter comes for a visit next weekend, he may kill me... or stick to his claim of renting a dumpster and a back hoe...... Well, that'd save me from packing, wouldn't it??!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

And for today....

Happy Easter, Everyone!!! Have a blessed day!!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

I'm sooo tired

That's all. I'm tired.

Monday, April 6, 2009

A new week begins - and ITBS, yee-haw!!

I hate waking up in the morning and dreading getting out of bed. Which is, pretty much every morning. Like there is nothing to look forward to, just another day of stuff I have to get done but don't want to do. I'm just having a pity party, I know - things really aren't that bad. It just feels like they are! We had to do banking and hit the post office this morning, so we got a really late start on school - I mean, really late, since we didn't even get out of bed 'til nearly 10am. So now it's almost 5pm and we're about midway through our lesson plan for the day. I really, really want to just be done with school... I can't see how it matters at this point, to have to finish up. It's just 5th grade, and she's ahead of the curve anyway.... Scooter thinks she needs to have "closure"; to finish up with the other kids in the co-op and all that hooey. To which I say "phooey". But then I still have to go to work on Tues. & Thurs. which are her co-op days, and it's right there at church, just like school is... I guess I just really want to be done with our M-W-F home days..... or, I could just quit work!! Yeah, right. I really need that money right now, pittance though it is. Pooh.

This week is ITBS.... which is Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.... why Iowa, I don't know.... I guess that state sets the Gold Standard, eh?! This is the test they give nearly all public school kids, as well as most private school students.... and we test our homeschoolers to show that they are doing as well - if not better than - publically schooled children. Last year Kiwi rocked these - at 4th grade, she tested at 7th - 9th grade levels in all subjects. She was in the 95th percentile of children. So, is she brilliant, or is the average public school kid waaay below the standard they ought to be?? Makes you wonder...... This year, she's struggling a bit, and I think it's the stress caused by daddy being gone. This quarter was the first she has ever gotten anything other than straight "A's" on a report card.... she got a B and a B+. Not like that's bad; it's just not typical of her. So I tried to warn her that the ITBS points might not be as high this year and not to freak out over it (she's waaay harder on herself than I am on her! I know she's bright; I don't need "percentages" to tell me that!

Well, I guess I need to go make sure she's on track.... I smell felt pens, lol.....

Thursday, April 2, 2009

What a week! Flu and post cruciate surgery on dog (ACL)

I got the flu and was miserably sick since Sunday. Now I'm just exhausted. It's no fun taking your dog out on a leash to potty when you're sick. And it's raining. Yeah. Good times.

I am calling the vet tomorrow to see if I should leave the dog in the crate all the time. Supposedly, it's okay to have them loose in the house when you are there, but then they also tell you no trotting, running, or sudden movements. Well, I'm sorry - but when someone knocks on my door, the dog pops up, runs to the door... and how am I supposed to avoid that other than keep her crated 24/7?? She's also been hyper-skittish (she's always has paranoid tendencies, like that Kiwi's backpack is going to eat her when she's not looking) but it's worse now - even a piece of paper flitting down from the table will send her running. So of course I'm paranoid she's already messed up the knee that was just fixed! sigh. It's gonna be a long 8 weeks.....