February 2016

Doug!  The snowman at the dog park comment!!  hahahah!!!!!  (I also caught the one earlier about your wife needing a run in the park!  HAHAHAH!)

My parents are perplexed why their dog likes snow so much.  I have to keep reminding them she was born December 27th, so, snow was likely her first outdoor experience.  They still haven't accepted this answer.

Being in NH, I cannot wait for the primary to be over tomorrow.  Because although the polling and political ads won't stop, they will back down some.  It was nice to visit my sister in PNW and not expect every other commercial to be one candidate or superpac commercial after another.

Hi Guys, sorry I haven't been around lately.  The winter cold I had in early January came back to bite me in the butt a few weeks ago.  First they said I had Pneumonia but having had that before it didn't seem the same.  Went  to an urgent care to get that info, they took a Chest XRay and gave me an antibiotic, said to follow up with our own Doc within a few days.  5 days went by I was good one day bad the next, etc.  Finally follow up day came on Jan. 28th, it was a really bad day and fortunately the Doc knows me well enough to know I was one sick puppy.   He sent me to the hospital for an Angiogram (with contrast) so Glenda I get that.   At 7:00 p.m. they sent me down the hall to emergency and did millions of other tests and I felt like a pin cushion.  They finally admitted me to the Heart floor and I sent Ron home at 3:00 a.m. on the 29th.  Now I want to say I am otherwise a very healthy person so I am usually sitting with Ron rather than he with me.  He was very nervous cause the Doc said the Chest Xray  he took indicated my heart had enlarged a great deal over the week since the last Xray.  His first concern was blood clot but that was ruled out by the Angio.  I was one of very few people who had a virus that got into the outer lining of my heart.  causing me to not be able to breathe, and pain in the neck and chest.  Lucky me :)  The official diagnosis was  Pericarditis, It was scary and the possible treatment was even scarier I really did get lucky because of my Doc being so insistant with the hospital staff to get me tested they caught it early.  I was released from the hospital on Jan 31 and ordered to stay home and behave....hard for me to do, but I did.  They wanted to try medications to shrink the fluid that was causing the problem and that worked so far.   Echocariogram showed initial issue was greatly improve over a 3 day period in the hospital.   I was allowed to come back to work yesterday so far so good.  Still have to take the meds, and get one more checkup on Friday but fortunately no surgery was necessary.  A side note...one other patient at my Docs clinic had same issue the month before so both Docs had recently compared the notes on symptoms, tests, medications  turns out it was identical in the other case which is why my Doc was so well informed.

Whew so that is what I have been up to, lol.   Ron has been so good, had to do the chores and shopping for a few weeks.  He has a whole new appreciation for what I do daily to keep our household going.  

Glenda I am so happy to hear that your sweet Pyr is showing "demon" signs too, I was so beginning to think Garth had a "dark" side, ha!   He is getting so big.  He is 10 months and I am not sure how  much he weighs but he is as tall as Hot Shot.  Not as filled out but wont be long he will be the bigger dog.   He is also getting some better but still has his "Taz" moments is what we call it.

Hope everyone is surviving the snow storms, keep warm and safe.  

Ginger, what a scary experience!  I'm so glad your doctor was so sharp and didn't delay getting to the bottom of your symptoms.  Years ago I had a coworker with Pericarditis, and he had a very rough time of it.  As you were describing it, I wondered if you were going to say that's what it was.  I hope you're feeling stronger every single day.  I'm sorry that Ron has had to wear a different hat as caretaker, but it's good he's been able to take care of things while you get the recovery time you need.  

Ugh, Paige, I can only imagine how tired you are of the high volume of political ads and everything going on in your area.  I feel like there's enough of it just with the regular news on the TV and radio, but you're right -- out here in the PNW, there is very little of what you're dealing with, mainly because Oregon just doesn't matter in national elections.  

Which state is your sister in?  I assume she's a good distance from where we are in the Willamette Valley, but if it's not too far, you'll have to let me know next time you're in the area in case we can connect for a coffee meet-up or something.

Kate, your non-SuperBowl-watching goodies sound pretty tasty!  We actually do watch the game very closely, but we had zero snacks.  DH's sister and her husband had been here for a few days, and they left on Sunday.  I was so glad to have the house to ourselves again that I didn't do anything except get a start on all the laundry before I parked myself in front of the TV.  We're not big fans of either team, but we were rooting for Peyton Manning.  As someone who is considered "old" by media's standards, I get so annoyed when I experience things that make me feel marginalized due to my age (so much focus on the millennials and all that).  So, I really wanted the "old" guy to beat the young, cocky guy.  If Peyton does retire now, he sure had a fairy tale ending.

How did you like the commercials, Glenda?  We thought most of them were pretty blah this year.  I like the ones with dogs in them -- like the Subaru one with the Golden driving with the "baby" asleep in the car seat, who woke up crying when they car pulled into the driveway, so the "parent" backs out to drive some more to get the baby back to sleep.  Very cute!

I hope all of you dealing with snow are staying safe and warm.  We're having unseasonably nice weather here -- total sunny skies, near 70 yesterday and again today.  All the crocus are in bloom in our neighborhood, and the daffodils are close.  Knock wood, we may get through winter without any more ice or snow.  It's a nightmare to deal with here since they don't have the budget to care for roads and such like other wintery areas do.

20F with a wind, but full sun.  Four of us guys at the dog park watching our dogs have a great time.  Coveralls, parkas, hood, pacs, mittens.  Lots of layers.  My comment was that we should accept that we are nuts.  Barkly, a 16 year old Keeshond with a hearing disability, got separated from Mom and the other 3 Keeshounds and spent about an hour wondering the woods by himself while Mom was calling and walking all over.  I called up Sky and we went looking for a bit, but Barkly showed up not realizing he had been lost.  Dogs don't seem to feel the cold much, but they tend to be running and sparring a lot, but I did after about an hour.  

I know the names of more dogs at the park than people.

Doug, that sounds way too cold.  We had windy and 16 this morning but it started warming up quickly after the sun came up.   It made me laugh when you said you know more of the the dogs names at the park.  Understandable they are much more friendly in some cases :)   I hope everyone is staying warm.  

Today is my Hubby's birthday so I will take him out to dinner tonight.   He is trying to decide where he wants to go.  We don't go out much so its a big deal.  

Have a great day all

oh my gosh Ginger! What a scary experience for you. Poor Ron must have been horribly upset too. Todd can't deal with my being anything less than 100% healthy.

TraceyI wasn't impressed with the super bowl spots this year. I really liked the Budweiser one with the Brit talking about drinking and driving. The Toyota ones were asinine and nothing else made any impression at all. Very disappointing. I do look forward to those.

Ginger if you contact the north Carolina pyr rescue I'm betting they'd put you in touch with Martha. She trained Dixie and I know without a doubt that I couldn't have done better myself and probably not as well. I'm betting she'd be more than willing to talk with you and offer some suggestions. Dixie too is still a pup and I shouldn't be surprised with some puppy naughtiness but I was because she so rarely does anything "bad".

Since she tore off her dew we hadn't been playing with her as much or as hard wanting her to give it a chance to heal. Twice in the past couple of days I've found her trying to get thekitties toi play. First she took her big rope ball up and kept dropping it to encourage them to play. Next time I found Scamper watching her a couple feet away while she did her play bow and her little fake chase me move. Scamp was looking at her like she was nuts. Yeah I'm gonna pass on chasing something your size!!!!! She seems pretty well healed. No limping no oozing so if she asks to play we do. Give the poor cats a break. Needless to say they aren't real sure about playing with a "pony"!

The kitchen appliances have banded together and decided to revolt. One day it was the garage disposal upchucking its contents all over the kitchen. ..and me....the next the food processor did the same projectile vomiting of beef kidneys. Blech. Have had way too many unplanned showers this week.

The temp here is approaching zero and headed down to -15 tonite. The wind chill will be minus40-50. Registering a protest hasn't help. Time to hybernate!

Ginger, what a scary ordeal! I know Ron and the pups must have been worried sick about you. I hope your follow-up check-up when well.

A torn dew claw does not sound fun. I hope she's all mended and can leave the kitties alone!

It is getting bone-chilling cold here, too--well below zero tonight with super-cold wind chills. Brrrrrr  

I decided I was going to "give" myself a day of sewing today. I started work on a new quilt--a geometric pattern that is supposed to remind one of butterflies. It was nice to get back to the sewing machine--it's been too long.

It was sunny this morning, so to the dog park.  Bunch of people there.  Felt good to get out in the sun.  An Airedale showed up today.  Get to meet some really neat dogs. Sky smelled a little funky when we got home, so he got another bath.  He's not too thrilled with the shower, but the towel part is all good.  

Supposed  to get chilly tonight, maybe snow tomorrow. Tried a WMA yesterday.  Sky had fun, but the snow gets too deep to move easily.  It's also on the tundra, so the wind can work you over pretty well.  Dog was fine, but I had problems.

Dogs learn so much accidentally.  Sky was rolling with a Pyrenees  and really getting into it, when I said "Sky, Treat".  He was right at my feet looking up.

You live close with a dog and you tend to see the flaws.  Go to the dog park and watch others handling their dogs.  Your will look so much better.

Happy Valentine Day!   I managed to work all week and other than wanting to take  a nap at 2 everyday I did good.   Dr is happy with my progress, will go back again next week  I hope he give me the all clear.

Glenda ,that is a cute story about the cats. I am sure they think  she is a horse .  

Hot and  Garth  are both enjoying a little blast of cool weather  today.   They are  lounging in the front yard one facing one direction one facing the other. they got all the bases covered ha!  

Have a good day all!

wow. Rough week. Broke mu wrist on Tuesday. Owie. Very painful. For now I'm just in a hard splint. The cast gpes on Monday. Poor Dixie cant figure out why mom won't play tug and chase me. I sure feel bad for her. She's so sweet and loving and very patient. Adore this girl. By the way....oxy totally kixks butt when it comes to pain.

OMG-Glenda! A broken wrist? That sounds really painful! How many bones are affected? Did you have to have surgery? Yikes! Healing vibes coming your way!

It's after 5 pm and it's still light outside--woohoo!

This weekend is supposed to be pretty nice--spring is coming, right? (Though we sure haven't had the snow we had last winter!) I am ready to garden, but I know I have to wait.

Glenda -- when you're      smacking yourself with the newspaper you aren't supposed to hit yourself THAT hard!!!  (nor are you supposed to go ice-skating on your own driveway or where ever!!!)  *gentle hugs*

Kate -- can I pretty please have some of your and Glenda's "garden genes" -- I ain't got none!

it is just one bone...the radius. When I went back to have the w rap around the hard splint loosened

on Wednesday the doc told me that its a ser break. Looked up my xrays on the patient portal and I don't know from breaks but it sure is jagged looking. I see the ortho on Monday. ..hopefully for just the cast and not for a pre op.

In looking today I realized that a tiny piece of the step has pulled away and that's likely why I fell. As soon as my landlord gets back from CA he WILL be replacing the steps. This isn't a small thing to deal withat my age. Who woulda thunk not having use of one body part would make it five times harder to do stuff? At least with the shoulder surgeries and issues i could use my right hand!

Callie I'm not sure I have any gardening genes to share. Its just something I love to do. I don't do beautiful flowers. Just yummy veggies. There is a huge satisfaction for me in digging in the dirt, nurtering the plants and finally harvesting them. Still have a lot of produce in the freezer from last years garden. I get a nice tingle every time it pull something out for a meal. To me thats great incentive.

Glenda, I'm so sorry to hear about your wrist!  I'm sure you already thought of this, but at least when you fell on the steps you only broke a wrist and not your hip or even worse.  Like you said, these things are big concerns when you get to be a certain age.  I've caught my foot/shoe on the stairs in my office building more than once, but thankfully I've not fallen -- but boy did my blood pressure go up when I stumbled.  I would not handle a fall well -- I'm not very flexible, and I do not bounce!  :-)

I don't know if Dixie is still nursing her torn dew claw, but if she's got some bandages, you guys can be twins now.  ;-)  Definitely sending healing vibes your way, and good luck improving those left-hand skills.  It figures it had to be your right hand!

Kate, if you could snap your fingers and appear at my house, you'd be able to do all the gardening you'd like.  Although it's rainy and grey most days, we've got reasonably comfortable temps (certainly compared to New England), and my neighbor has been gardening nearly everyday (including some tidying in our yard because he runs out of projects in HIS flower beds -- he's retired).   All the daffodils are blooming, his forsythia, our daphne shrub (amazing fragrance!), and all our hellebores.  The plum and cherry trees are starting to show signs of purple and pink; I've noticed several as I drive around town.  I say this every year, but the only good thing about the dreary winters here is that the spring comes very early, and the landscape and gardens are always green and alive.  You might get a little wet, but you could enjoy digging in the dirt and getting a bit of fresh spring air.  Our guest room is available!  :-)

Trying to stay on top of things at work and at home, and keeping an eye on DH, whose stress level is at its maximum.  My MIL is getting more frail and confused by the day.  We're going to start looking into full skilled nursing homes since it seems that's on the near horizon.  She's been "bed bound" by choice since last summer, and despite the staff's attempts to change her habits, she's practically "bed bound" by necessity now -- her muscles are almost gone.  We try to look for humor when we can -- yesterday she told DH that she thinks her neighbor is a prostitute because she heard her whispering with someone at 3am, their voices were coming through the electrical outlet in their shared wall.  He didn't contradict her, but we had to laugh at how she came up with that story!