Sunday (Howzat fur Original Chat)

Wow.  Did not realize how long we were out with the dogs, but THREE hours???  Gosh, no wonder my legs are so tired!

Julie and Paige, I am soooo sorry to hear about your friends.  Will send good thots their way.

Barb, my Mom has the insurance that my Dad had through the fire department and doesn't have to pay a penny for it.  Honestly, her bills from the last year she lived in her house, with all the procedures, all the hospital stays, would have been in the hundreds of thousands had it not been for that supplemental insurance.  MC doesn't cover everything, and they want a certain time gap between admissions that isn't always possible, and a limit on the number of days inside which is also not always possible.  And some procedures they simply won't pay for that her doctors felt were absolutely needed.  Since she sees the doctor who has become the physician for the AL joint she lives in, and since he doesn't see paitence for emergencies, my sister started taking her to her own doctor.  The staff did not want to even give her an appointment because MC pays so little and so late.  The only reason that Mom was able to see Sis's doc, and become her patient, is that Sis has been with her for 25 or so years and the doc herself intervened with the staff.

So, do make sure that things will be covered in the case of major issues.

Off to start some laundry so I can hang it outside, then run a few quick errands before I start the dreadful job of cleaning the RV.......I don't wanna do that, but, have to get it done so I can winterize it....fast!

On the plus side...I have all my research done and at least the very first page of both papers. On the down side...still have...like 17 pages to go. =(

Gentle thoughts out to Paige and Julie's friends.

Amazon prime- love it! DH got a free year 'trial' for being a student at NPS, and we really like it!

Currently, DH and I are looking at wagon/minivans.  I have a Toyota Rav4. My beeeautiful limited leather everywhere all the toys :-D  makes me carsick :(   I've been trying really hard to ignore it for the 3 years we've had it.  Unless I drive, it is a dizzying, nauseating experience.

Rode in the neighbor's Honda Odyessy on Friday night for a girls' night out (which was SO much fun!!) sat in the middle row and not a twinge of carsickness. at. all.   I could look out the side windows and enjoy the views.  In my Rav, if I am a passenger (even in the front seat) I have to look straight ahead at the road and really concentrate on keeping the dizzy/nausea at bay.

STILL working on getting DD to stop whining/screaming/crying over everything.  She is really, really, really trying both DH and I.   Neighbor says it is her age (just turned 4) and I seem to remember DS was a total pain in the rear at age 4 as well.  This too shall pass!!  Parenting is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  Phew!

Enjoy the day, anyone have columbus day off?

CoBuHe

Are you ready for this:  As I was helping Mom with her bath this morning, I mentioned how big her bathroom is over there.  She said with great enthusiasm:  "I know...I'm getting excited about it all."  How cool is that!

Barb, I am so happy to hear that she liked the place and that she's starting to get excited about it.  You'll get the financial stuff figured out but your mom's good attitude is something money can't buy.  I know you must be so relieved.  Be prepared for some possible grouching and grumping  after she moves in to the assisted living place.  It's normal and understandable.  She's used to things a certain way at your house and it will be a bit hard until she gets used to the routine and makes some friends.   You might find out if kitty visits are allowed.  Many assisted living places allow pets from home to visit. You might start teaching her favorite kitty to walk in a harness and lead if he doesn't already. :)

Just spoke to my friend in TN and they're finally getting their fence installed.  They have six dogs and it's been a challenge at the new house with 10 acres and no fence.  Lots of ex pen time and walks on lead to potty.  She sounded happy but still a bit shell shocked to find herself in TN after living in Texas her whole life.

I hope Tina is having a good time.

Cathy, sorry you didn't get to go to the rescue.  Hope that gets corrected soon.  I've found that many places seem a bit disorganized about new volunteers and they lose many people because of it.  Hang in there and maybe once you get started it will go smoother.

Marty -- thanks.  The first year we used it when I arranged for it, it was $30, but David's renewed it on his login.  Even at $79 it saves us a TON of money.  Realizing that it costs me at least $2.00 every time I start the car and "go" somewhere (added to my own limitations) compared to the fact that most "shipping" STARTS at about $6.00 and goes to $15.00 it works. 

I know my situations is a tad unusual but it does work.  When I bought Papa a new Rollator for his birthday in August I noticed, particularly, how much "shipping" can vary between one company and another -- and often it wound up making what looked like a "deal" from one place NOT be a deal.  And because I was looking at vendors using Amazon Prime I really did well out of it.  But even for small local purchases -- like trying to go to Sears to buy a new food processor or something -- by the time we take the time out of the day to GO do it and the gas involved, I typically opt to have it shipped via Amazon Prime - zero time wasted and no shipping or hassle waiting.

You know -- it's really difficult trying to be zoomy and accomplish a whole lot with the pug SNORING on the futon behind me.  *sigh*  LOL -- I'm easily influenced I guess.

 Just noticed an almost blistery looking thing on Goose's abdomen. Ew.  Guessing maybe puppy pyoderma or she bumped it jumping into the tortoise enclosure or something (which all of the dogs say is the most fun thing ever...)..doesn't really look like a bug bite.  At any rate, apparently a trip to work with me is in order.

If this munchkin could go two weeks without requiring something being looked at, I'd fall over

 aw poor Goose!  I hope its nothing serious!

OK I am not perfect nor is my dog but gosh people are idiots.....................I let B out for a poop, he was out longer than expected so I go out to look for him.  There is the tiniest poodle running around next door - they don't have a dog, there are only 5 houses on the cul de sac - no one has a poodle that I know of nearby BUT one house on the cul-de-sac is having a party.  I see someone arriving and say will you find out if anyone is missing a tiny poodle.  At which point a young girl comes running out the front door and I say you know you should have tags on this little one - "um yea, that's how we found him, he was out without tags and no one claimed him" 

I once again sigh a huge relief that Bugsy is so good with dogs, regardless of size - this little one was not much bigger than a squirrel -  it could so easily could have ended badly.  But it didn't, beastie thought it was Christmas again and a new dog was coming to play.  After I came over the little poodle and B were gently sniffing each other and both fine. I rewarded him with a bully stick.  Seriously man that dog could have fit in his XXL kong! Stupid people - never mind the house they are visiting backs to a very busy road

Texans fans I'm sorry  I am fairly bummed that Washington pulled out the win

Chili for dinner tonight - I think its going to be too spicy for DH - oops!  I love things super spicy so I'm not the best gauge of these things.

Yesterday and his 2 hour play this morning have caught up to the beast - he's been chilling all day = awesome

glenmar

with all the procedures, all the hospital stays, would have been in the hundreds of thousands had it not been for that supplemental insurance.  MC doesn't cover everything, and they want a certain time gap between admissions that isn't always possible, and a limit on the number of days inside which is also not always possible.  And some procedures they simply won't pay for that her doctors felt were absolutely needed.

This is what makes me nervous about not having some kind of supplement to Medicare.  What if.  So, we'll have to look into this carefully.

Jackie, it sure will be a tough transition once the move is actually made, I'm prepared.  We do expect some initial withdrawals emotionally, but you are so right...this good attitude of hers helps tremendously.  Yesterday, I was passing her room and noticed that she had all the sheets from her informational packet she received all sprawled out on her bed.  She was knee deep in studying it all. 

Yesterday, we touched on the pet subject with the lady giving us the tour.  She said that dogs under 30 pounds and cats are welcome.  At that time we were talking about it, rolling down the hallway, she threw her hands up in the air immediately, and annouced..."I don't want any pets."    Then we started talking about having Shadow visit sometimes.  The lady was fine with that.  I didn't see a pet one yesterday.  Now, get this....today Mom started talking about perhaps getting a dog.  She read in her packet she got yesterday that there is a $750 deposit.  She said she would want a small one with long hair.  Its cool that its a consideration, but its something that wouldn't happen right away.  Her apartment has a porch with grass back there....so...I could see it happening...she would love the companionship.  I told her that when the time was right, maybe she gets an adult dog.  She said...."I think I'd rather raise her."     

Well, the Texans lost.  BUT, we are still tied for first place in the division. 

CoBuHe

 She said...."I think I'd rather raise her."     

Lol. we've discussed how puppies can seem to bring a new lease on life for elderly dogs.... perhaps the same applies for people?

Thanks for the good thoughts, all.  Today seems to be a better day - there are many HUGE things to look forward to for my friend, but in the heat of the crisis last night, everything ahead and immediately in front looked too overwhelming.  We have a network of support picking up pieces everywhere.  I'm at the disadvantage of living the furthest away and driving a borrowed car, but we're all doing something in shifts.  I know we're not "out of the woods" altogether, because the source of this distress is still an unresolved issue.  But I feel better knowing there's a network of support and not just 2 or 3 of us.

Happy Birthday Sarah and Rick!!  You get to celebrate for three days straight, when your birthday falls on a holiday weekend!

Got off the phone w/my mom a few mins ago.  This week they went to their storage unit and heard a dog barking.  They went to investigate and identified that it was coming from inside a unit, so they got the property managers to open it up.  Someone had placed their dog, a crate, some toys, and a bag of dog food (but no water) in their storage unit among their other furniture.  The dog had been barking and was unhappy in there - the weather has been cool enough with rain clouds blocking the sun from cooking the metal roof, but that's just luck!  The police and ACO were called (ACO was pissed, according to my mom), and the property managers called the renter who said she'd come get the dog, but never showed up.  Dog was taken off somewhere safe.  Man, ya gotta be desperate to put your dog in your storage unit.  Divorce, move, whatever...but you can't just think that's any kind of solution!!  I hope the dog is ok.

This morning a friend and I went to an AKC Tracking Test in Maine.  They were fantastic!!  All five entrants passed - which I'm told is something of an anomoly for Tracking trials.  Get this.... the fastest one was this young long-haired Chihuahua!  She just hopped right down the trail lickety split and made super sharp turns.  She was such a joy to watch!  The club members were very welcoming and nice people.  Turns out one member is someone I've known from Rally, who I'll be meeting w/this week regarding an all-breed club.  Small world of dogs.

 Grab, I feel the same about Lemon. I've had him since Aug. 20th and Aug. 26th was his first vet visit, fast forward to today 10.10, hes been 5x! Tootsie, in her entire 6 years has only been 3x. And he'll probably be going again this week cause when he sneezes brownish colored snot comes out. Also, his "man area" isn't big enough to be nuetered, have to wait 2 months.

Just got in from Topsfield. Apollo did so good- I'm so proud of him! He earned third place as a junior both jumps he was entered in. His 2 biggest jumpes were 14'5" and 13'11". I think he earned his junior title, but I'm not 100% sure on that yet. If he hasn't, he's close. We had a great time there. The was a HUGE crowd turnout, it was awesome. I saw a bunch of people I knew, which is always cool. And there some rare breeds; a Dutch Shepherd, a few Nova Scotia Duck Tollers, and a few Belgians, along with lots of Labs and Goldens and mixes. DH and I didn't get to walk around much because we had Apollo with us and because the fair was packed, but we might go tomorrow to watch the finals and walk around the fair.

Hey, does anyone have any suggestions on how to prevent Hap and Thatcher's runny nose from getting snot all over my blankets? Lol. Other than banning them from the bed. I don't want snot all over my carpet either. I think we're ALL dealing with allergies. Although Thatcher's and my eyes aren't crazy scary red like Hap's, they are definitely red.

Right now, when I notice it's running, I use a kleenex and kinda wipe their noses. I'm wondering if I start treating them and then wiping the noses, if we can work out some sort of signal so they immediately come to me for it, instead of me having to catch them at it.... suggestions? impossible? lol

 Yea Apollo & Stef!

Paige glad things are a bit better today.

So we're eating our dinner and see a different young girl running around our yard and then mini-poodle arrives on the deck and peers in  Guess he decided Bugsy was a good friend LOL

Of course then B was running around whining to go out

Off to watch Robin Hood!

Yay, Stephanie!  I was thinking I meant to ask how it went. 

Goose, I also forgot to say "please heal up quickly and don't try to repeat any more injuries, mkay?"