Weekly chat 8-18-14

Jackie, this is the wife.  She had bypass surgery several weeks ago and has struggled to recover.  It's complicated by pretty severe diabetes and a number of other conditions that I'm not privy to.  They've put here back in the hospital twice with breathing problems.  On Friday (and details are VERY sketchy) she stopped breathing and was without oxygen for up to 30 minutes.  She was rushed to the hospital and either went into or was placed in a coma.  She's not come out of it, and can't breath at all on her own.

Tracy, perhaps DH could try side sleeping?  I notice Todd snores only on his back. When he has a cold or is congested I make him use the breathe right strips or he wakes himself up a lot in the night.  Might help.  I agree about sleeping well and aging.  When I was getting 2 1/2-3 hours of sleep at night, before the magic meds, I started looking incredibly old.  Not that at 60 I'm a spring chicken, but I'm usually guessed at mid-40's.  I looked more than my age without enough sleep.

Tanglewood is a totally cool place.  There are concert halls, etc, but the big venue is the outside stage.  Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and just a gorgeous place.  There were a lot of beach balls around, and a gigantic one that some little ones were rolling around on.  For a bunch of old farts, they sure did make pretty music!!

why do mosquitoes exist?????????????????? 
there was an article in the paper the other day that the mosquito problem is huge this year due to all the water. whodathunkit? Well anyone that goes outside for more than 10 seconds!

Oh Tina thank you and dang why did you tell me about the pup! All puppies are cute, an internet friend is currently fostering 3 pittie pups whose mom died in childbirth, they had their first real food today at 3 wks old. Their bellies are beyond cute - I'll try to post the pic

LINK

OK hopefully that works - you do not need an FB account to view - if you do I will put the actual photos here

so what else..........well I should be reading some powerpoint slides and trying to decide how long it will take to go through them all. It is the highest pressure time of the year at work - we will train 3500+ people between next week and 12/31

Tanglewood is fabulous

Jackie I am pleased that Mr Jackie knows to go elsewhere when he is sleepless, although I am sorry he is sleepless

Tracy that is no lie - I have aged a ton in the last year due to my schedule - I am happy though I just look a lot older :) For me I think it is the lack of exercise that is the biggest issue. I am poor sleeper no matter what

Doug I know you are enjoying the pup, very happy for you and for Mrs Doug

I took Bugsy swimming this afternoon - he is really wired incorrectly. It was hot and very humid. He still gets so amped up to go swimming and then when he sees or smells birds that he was very close to overheating, happy, but overheated. I have never seen his tongue hanging so far out of his mouth. One would think he was tired but he had multiple rounds of zoomies this evening. I love his energy and joy. A gift 

OK work really is waiting and I need to review a few tonight

Knowing you have sleep apnea is one thing doing something about it is another though! My grandma had one of those sleep masks and absolutely hated it and refused to use it.

Sorry to hear about the life support issue. That is so sad. And it is a good reminder that we need to have that stuff in writing legally!

I hope Belle gets to feeling better soon.

The leaves are changing and the ferns are dying. I have seen it with my own eyes this week. Fall is just about here! I had the heat on last night believe it or not. Yuck.

Julie, you had the heat on?!  That's just not right. :(

Glenda, I misinterpreted your earlier post when you said "wife and mother". I get it now. So sad.

Karen, nothing wrong with Bugsy's wiring. He's a hunting dog. :)

Belle was fine yesterday and this morning. We had a pretty decent nose work class. I find it a little boring though. The BC continues to excel and I wanted to suggest the trainer let the dog run the class. lol  

@kpwlee

Oh Tina thank you and dang why did you tell me about the pup!

I'm pretty sure you asked in your earlier post.

I'm glad Belle is feeling better. Boo to boring nose work class though.

Even I can't believe you turned on your heat, Julie!

Missy continues to let Oscar know she is the queen of the house. Last night he was walking through the living room; Missy was coming the other way. Oscar decided to change course and went behind the recliner to avoid her. What did Missy do? Decided to change her travel path and follow Oscar behind the recliner. He ran out from behind it and was standing in front of it, looking around to see if the coast was clear when Missy snuck up behind him and hissed at him, startling the poor cat. I then stepped in and Missy ran off. I'm almost positive she was laughing the whole time.

Sleep is restorative, for you and your partner.  I have sleep apnea and a CPAP.  Love my CPAP.  Now, I feel rested after 8 hours, my wife does not complain about snoring, and the dogs had been known to leave the room I was sleeping in pre CPAP.

Sleep disorders screw up more than rest.  Work suffers as the mind doesn't rest, weight can increase because the endocrine system gets screwed up, wives go insane, beat up husbands , and go to jail.  Falling asleep while driving becomes predictable, and business meetings are dangerous.

LOL, Doug. wives go insane....  My Hubby also has a CPAP.  He has had it for several years.  At first he had some trouble getting used to it but now..he has trouble going to sleep with out it.  He has become quite dependant on it.  It has made a big difference in his sleep cycle.

Poor Oscar!  Hopefully in time Missy will chill out and he won't have to be looking around every corner for her!

Doug, I had to laugh at your "wives go insane" comment, too.  When DH's snoring is really bad, I tug his pillow to cause it to shift his head, which often stops the snoring. The other night, between his bad head cold and Nyquil, he was totally zonked out, and I tugged the pillow so many times that it eventually was completely out from underneath his head.  The thought briefly crossed my mind to put it OVER his head to muffle the sound, but I was afraid I'd accidentally suffocate him!  

I know so many people who use CPAP machines.  My mother just found out she needs one.  For YEARS, my sister and I have told her she snores way too much, but she thought we were just making fun of her.  Her doctor pooh-poohed it, too.  But he retired and her new doctor made her get a sleep test (thank doG, she mentioned it to the new doc).  Lo and behold, she needs the machine.  And the sleep doc told her that her years of uncontrollable high blood pressure and acid reflux were likely exacerbated by the apnea.  So, they expect those conditions to stabilize now.  She does not want to wear the machine (she just got it this week), but she said it has a chip in it that will track how much she wears it, so the doctor will no if she lies.  Technology!  Anyway, I think she'll feel much better.  Everyone I know who wears one says they feel so much more rested.  And partners find the sound of the machine more tolerable than the snoring was!

I noticed some leaves changing on a couple trees on my drive to work the other day.  Odd, when we've had it so hot, but I guess the dryness affects the foliage, too.  I love fall, but I don't like that it means the gloomy winter is on its way!

I saw a terrible car accident at lunch. I was sitting at a red light and it happened right in front of me in the intersection. I don't think whoever was driving the small car is going to be ok. The other driver was clearly at fault. It really shook me up. I can't stop picturing that horrific impact and the sight of that little car. The police station and fire station are very close to where this happened and they arrived by the time I got around the accident.

Oh, forgot to say I'm glad Belle is feeling better and that the nose work class was OK.

The canine body language class last night was really fun.  The trainer did a lot of talking, but she illustrated her points with photos and videos from dogs who have been in the shelter, having behavior assessments, in play-groups, etc.  You don't realize how much you can "hear" in the body language shown in those videos until she put them in slow motion and pointed out all the stuff dogs were "saying."  The hard part is being able to spot it in "real time" when it's right in front of you and a lot is going on so quickly.

There was one photo of Ruby in playgroup right after we adopted her.  She was in a kiddie pool with another female pittie named Gracie.  I'd forgotten about her.  They were buddies for 2 or 3 weeks.  They were both in the pool, bodies nicely curved and sharing the space, very relaxed, etc.  I was reminded that there was a time when female dogs didn't make her nuts.  My theory is that she wasn't as bonded to us (or to DH) yet, so she didn't get stressed if she was in the play-group area with us outside the fencing, but maybe I'm wrong.

It made me sad to see so many of the photos and videos illustrating the negative or rude messages she often gives off to other dogs (freezing, putting her head or paws on or above their shoulders, staring, closing her mouth).  But as the trainer said, it's okay if your dog can't have regular play interactions with other dogs.  They can live happy, comfortable lives with their humans, even if they never go to a dog park, so we shouldn't feel like we're depriving her of something.  It's more about us feeling deprived of activities we see other dogs enjoying so much, and thinking we (and Ruby) need that, too.  We just have to accept her as she is and manage her life accordingly.  For now, that means the rare playdate with one of 2 male dogs we know who tolerate her.

Jackie, I was typing when you posted.  How terrible --- I hope the other driver isn't critically injured.  I've seen accidents and know just what you mean about it replaying in your head.  Sending calming thoughts to you and good vibes to the people in the autos.

Jackie, how awful.  Sending good thots for the drivers.

Oscar, you need to learn to stand up for your rights, buddy!

Glad that Belle is feeling better.

I actually have some slightly hopeful news on Todd's bosses wife.  The Nuero said that she has FULL brain function and he doesn't think that there will be any long term damage, but they won't know until she wakes up.  There is concern that she can't breathe without the vent because those brain functions are also intact.  My heart just aches for this poor family and what they are going through.

Just a quick note to Tina...you mentioned Corgi pup and one just came to visit us at the office.  I think I am in love :)  She was so cute, her name was Penelope Paisly.....Penny for short.

@JackieG

Karen, nothing wrong with Bugsy's wiring. He's a hunting dog. :)

if that means he's prone to getting completely loopy and not being able to focus on anything, yup you are right.

ah yes Tina slap me with the facts LOL

Yikes Jackie! I had the pleasure of witnessing two accidents today although neither was as bad as what you described but both were worse than fender benders. I actually got home and said thank you Lord out loud because I haven't seen such road carnage on a single journey at any time in my life. The Interstate was littered with accidents. I was already thinking that the planets were arranged wrong or something and then I read what you saw. Today take a moment to be thankful you arrived at your destinations safely

Tracy I am glad that the trainer said that about it bothering us more than them. You know I like taking B to places and he enjoys them. On Sunday I took him to a brewery and it was busy and loud as they had live music. Too loud and too busy for me. Bugsy was thrilled, however several other dogs were clearly super unhappy and stressed. The owners seemed oblivious to it. There are times when I want B to do something or be something he isn't and it is clear it stresses him. Somewhere along the line I realized that it is good to read their body language and make your decisions based on that

I don't know what the deal is with the mosquitoes this year but I have never gotten such welts from their bites. Every one gets about 3.5-4" in diameter before they subside. I am sitting here trying not to scratch 3 of those welts currently

Tracy that is cool you got to see photos of ruby's signaling behavior. Abbie does all those rude things too although she is getting much better. What I have seen is if you get the dog doing something it really really enjoys when there are other controlled dogs around it really helps. Abbie is OK with dogs on our team because she loves sar so much. She has a positive association with the dogs that are around her when she's searching.

Today is a super long day. Yesterday was too. We drove from ironwood (farthest spot West in the UP  to gaylord after already putting in 8 hrs of work. Today we go from gaylord to Oscoda(lLake Huron area) over to Houghton Lake (middle of state)  then back to Lansing with meetings and site visits along the way. I am road warriored out! Can't wait to get home but it will be late.

Missing my dogs. I wonder how they're doing