Jealousy Will Get You Nowhere

This is NOT my house, my house is a bleak, undecorated barren desert of despair. David has been asked repeatedly to get the decorations down - the attic door sticks something awful and I can just about dangle off the pull cord to no avail - and he has been doing the passive-aggressive thing. Saying he will get them down and then just simply not doing it. So Christmas is still in my attic even though both Halloween AND Thanksgiving have passed. The house in the picture is one on our road and I just about vomit with envy everytime I pass it - all we have for decoration is three stupid pumpkins which I threw in the woodpile yesterday in an effort to get Scrooge off his butt and up in the attic. In other news Adam has written and let us know he is most likely going to get leave after Christmas - but they're only allowing from Dec 30th to the 11th which is not enough time to do everything he wants. Right now the tentative game plan is him landing in Philly so he can see Aunt Janet and Aunt Diane and then here to WV for the rest of the time. We've been jiggering around with it, but I think in the end landing in NY and then attempting a 10 hour drive followed by a flight back to Japan might be too much. And we really want him to see our house and his old pets, especially Mr. Lee. But most of all I just want to see him.

My Fender Did Not Bender......

......but that didn't keep the yahoos in the car from hollering neck pain when I rear ended them .I got caught in stop and go traffic last night on the way home and unfortunately I Goed when I should've Stopped. I braked as hard as I could but bumped the car in front of me. I got out to make sure everyone was alright and the woman driving announced she was alright but her passenger was not. I called 911 right away for an ambulance and cop (they also sent a firetruck for some strange reason) - I was pretty shaken up. I had my head lights on her bumper and after I calmed down realized there wasn't even a dent, I couldn't have been going anymore than 15 miles an hour or so BEFORE I hit the brakes. The ambulance got there and both women refused EMS, then the fire truck came with about 4 or 5 firefighters (it's a small town). Then the two cops arrived and took all the information. They all stood around and gossiped for a few minutes with the EMS and then the ambulance and firetruck left.  The cop told me he had to include the injury on the report because they were both now complaining of neck pain, although he said since there was no visable damage he thought that was a crock. I didn't even get cited as there was no damage but I'm sure they'll get something. Everyone David has talked to sighs and says they will - even the insurance company wasn't surprised! And OF COURSE my camera was home sitting by the computer which is why there are only pictures of a fallen house which is pretty cool, isn't it? I had a bit of problem getting to it as it sits on the side of a highway with high steep ground. Getting up to it was less of a problem than leaving as it was steep downhill  so I had to be careful not to flop on the road on the way down.  I love these old falling down dilapidated houses, they're so interesting. I'm hoping to get out walking today - the temps are already warm (it's supposed to be up the 60's today) but it's also sort of cloudy and wet looking so Pearl-ine and I may be hanging out on the couch today

Is It Spring Already?

The weather this weekend has been amazing. And no one is visiting of course to see it. The sun is sunny and the temps yesterday were in the 60's with a warm breeze. I had one job to go to and then the dogs and I kicked back in the yard and relaxed. Charger has been back to stick chasing but we try not to over do it. Pearl of course over does everything without even thinking about it. We only went out to the grocery store for a bit and came back to a big mess, courtesy of Pearl The Destroyer. All the books say we need to be consistent with her, but I have to say she is NOT consistent with us. She doesn't always tear up the house, most of the time lately we come back to a good dog, but every once in awhile she goes crazy. We heard from Adam the day after Thanksgiving, he spent it with a friend of his - his ship is back by the way so playtime is over for him. He doesn't think he can come back for the holidays again this year, but we're used to that. I was kind of hoping he'd be able to though, it's been two years since we've seen him and I miss him a great deal. We have to start getting the decorations for Christmas down, our neighbors are way ahead of us - some even decorated the day after Halloween which I find a bit unsettling as the other neighbors still had jack-o-lanterns and witches out. I like one holiday at a time.

Did We All Have A Good Time?

As in tradition we made way too much food, ate way too much food and will continue eating leftovers until we never want to see them again. Even though there was just three of us we did the whole sha-bang - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, whipped sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, glazed carrots and gravy for David to drown it all. And last but not least the Cranberry Sauce, the kind that slides out of the can and maintains the can shape to the very end. Jackson had made some tiny noise about going over to Becky's but that didn't fly as it would've killed off a full third of the guest list. I also made him drink a little red wine even though he was announcing he only likes white and then we toasted to bad parenting....in the event you're wondering Jackson is allowed a little wine with company if he wants it and he usually passes. David built the first fire of the year which was nice but he had to let it die down in the afternoon as the sun came out and then the temps went up. I took Pearl for a 7 mile hike first thing in the morning (and yes we really did walk that much, the trail we use has markers) but she was still very excited by the whole turkey thing. Charger took it in stride and horsed down as much turkey as he could get quietly so Miss Thing wouldn't horn in on his action. So it was a pretty nice day for us. I have to go to work today, I hate holidays in the middle of the week because being off makes it feel like Friday and then going to work the next day is an unpleasant surprise. I'm on call this weekend and hope it doesn't get too hairy....

No Cats On The Table!

That's what I say when we have company and then I act surprised when they are prancing about on it - I pretend they never ever do that and I just can't believe it! Works for me. Anyhoo, we are eating IN for Thanksgiving this year, can you believe it?? David finally rebelled after all these years of chinese and japanese food (that's what's open on the holidays). When I mentioned which restaurant I wanted to go to he was like AARRGGHH!! and then had a little turkey related meltdown in which he declared he did NOT want a Thanksgiving dinner that involved soy sauce. So we went thanksgiving dinner food shopping where he indulged in all of his Fowl Fantasies - carrot glaze, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and CoolWhip. He was like a Holiday Whore getting two of everything and shopping like best of them. So we have too much food - of course - and he has his turkey defrosting in the oven. Charger is looking foward to it - he's doing so much better now that we have him on pain medication - who would've thought? He takes one in the morning ( we were giving him one at night too but it made him too sleepy) and he's good for the day. He's back to chasing any stick you toss and romping around the yard. He also secretly goes on Deer Poop Eating Missions at night when he thinks I don't know what he's doing, we just give him a biscuit to decrease the "bouquet" and ignore him as best we can

Deja Vu

Yes, I know you think you've seen this picture  before - eerie, isn't it? Oh alright, I just didn't get a chance to take any pictures this weekend, I kept leaving my camera where ever I wasn't. And when I did have it the weather was just too crappy, however  despite the fact that none of this was recorded for posterity, we did have a very good time. Saturday it rained off and on so Cooper's Rock or walking around town was out, so David took Kim to the gun range and I took Sue and Grace to the number one attraction, Gabriel Brothers. We went to the new one and they loved it so much I thought I would have to call security to have them removed. I turned my back on them for one minute and the next thing I knew we had a cart full. They both made out very well and that killed off most of the afternoon. I wouldn't let anyone eat, only tiny things because we were taking them out to the Golden Corral Buffet which is a good place for groups as you can get your own stuff and not have to wait. You can also feed six people for under $70 which is also attractive. We did the book store after and then home as they were planning on an early departure this morning. They were very stressing about directions, they made it to Sheetz before calling the house and getting back on thier way. They just got home a few minutes ago, they stopped at Cabela's in PA and then promptly got lost upon leaving. But they're home and we were glad they came to visit us finally.

A Full House

Well, I guess I was off on my timing - I didn't think they would get here until at least 4 pm but they made it here by 1. I was working so David gave them the short tour, they were pretty tired from thier long trip so no one was looking for anything to do. I had made dinner the day before - lasanga, garlic bread and apple pie for dessert so all David had to do was throw it all in the oven. I had an infusion yesterday afternoon so David was the host again, they had a great time - David drove them all over, they went to some of the shops and out to the Boston Beanery for a late lunch. I got home around 5:30 and no one was hungry so we all had tea and then out to the movies. We saw Borat which was way funnier than I had thought it would be - we laughed all the way home! That was good because Pearl was very angry at being left behind and made a HUGE mess in the living room. She's actually been pretty good lately, she was down to just taking one or two things and leaving it in the livingroom but last night! She found a 20 pound bag of potatoes and threw them all over the living room and foyer, she ripped a roll of paper towels up, found my knitting bag and chewed up a pair of $25 knitting needles (WHY DON'T YOU JUST RIP OUT MY HEART YOU LOUSY HOUND DOG) and chewed up the hat I'd started, arrgh! And all in front of the company! No one was amused and Pearl spent the rest of the night hiding under the dining room table. Today is supposed to be nice so David is taking Kim to the shooting range and Sue, Grace and I are heading off to the shops - Gabriel Brothers of course and I might take them to Cooper's Rock to take pictures if the day is clear.

Waiting

David's mother has decided not to come after all, he called her the other day and told her it was alright so to please stop picking fights with everyone (she'll say she's coming and then start a big fight and then announce she cannot possibly get in a car with that person). But the rest of the crew is on thier way as of 4 am - David said Grace seems to think they will be here by noon. Haha. I still have to work but I made up dinner ahead of time so David just has to throw the whole mess in the oven and we're set. We got a second bed for the second guest room so Jackson and Vincent can stay put (Vincent has decided he and Jackson are roommates). I took Charger to the vet yesterday, he was his usual self - he positions himself in front of all doors so someone will let him get back in the car. Dr. Kenny said he's got severe arthritis and that's probably why he can't go more than a few feet at a time because of the pain. She sat on the floor  to examine all of his tumors and Charger plopped his butt right in her lap as he assumed he was getting a back rub and a hug which he did get. While waiting for the blood tests Charger amused himself by sticking his nose in the crack of the door and snorting as loudly as possible the entire time. We are doing nothing for the tumors - aside from his age even if we did decide to have them biopsied or removed there's very little chance he would even survive the ansethisia. So he's on pain medication for now, she ran liver enzyme tests to start but that will be it - right now the goal is to simply keep him comfortable. I've got to work today and was going to ask for some personal time tomorrow but there's an infusion to be done tomorrow and no one else to do it so I didn't ask - Tammy's been very good about any time I've ever needed so I try not to make it hard for her.

Just Shoot Me

My boss gave me most of the day off today - it's my half day but I have David's family coming tomorrow night and Charger is pretty bad off today. So I only have to see one patient and then can use a few hours of sick time up - I'm fortunate to have a good boss as Charger has a vet's appt at 10:30 this morning and now I can take him. He's been getting progressively worse over the past couple of weeks, but the past few days he's had a rapid decline. We're hoping it's just muscular or something but last night when I touched his back to get him up to go out - he just started lurching around and screaming, it was awful. Touching him made it worse. We let him be for a few minutes and I gave him some dog pain medication I had from the last incident and this morning he's not great, but better. So we will see. In the meantime I have to cook, clean, do wash, shop, set up a guest room, etc....Thing have been overwhelming at times - work has been stressful as we have new people and I've had to do alot of things I normally don't do. But our census is down this week so it's given the whole office time to catch up and get things done. I also got on the computer and revamped one of our systems for the forms so that instead of typing the same thing over and over again we can just cut and paste it. Of course without thinking I set the whole thing up on my computer, not the one that needed it. But one of my co-workers suggested I email it to the computer and cut and paste it so it all worked out. But I have to admit I've been enjoying myself, it's fun to do other things and more fun when it's not really your job and you get to be a Helper Bee.

A Weekend Visitor

Unfortunately the weather decided to be rather icky, it rained (in sheets at times!) pretty much all day Saturday and then today was cold, grey and drizzled all day. So yesterday we took Janet shopping and out to dinner, avoiding town as the Big Game was being played and it was it's usual mayhem. Pearl was the Hostess Dog making sure Janet was  quite often greeted. She was greeted upon waking, after all trips to the bathroom, coming and going, getting a soda and of course just a few random Commando Style greetings. Janet suggested we start yelling "Incoming" when she started launching herself just to alert the guest. Janet also wisely stored all of her belongings in the closet and kept her door shut - she always was a fast learner. We had dinner at Garfield's - we went early due to the game and when we left around 6 pm there was big line. Janet left around noon today and will hopefully be home in time for dinner. In other news - I finished the blanket!! Never saw that one coming did you? It seems like I've been working on it forever and just a little while ago I put in the last binding stitch. And then threw it in the washer - it's been dragged around for a few months and even had a little mud on it so it needed a wash. How nerve wracking is that let me tell you - after all that time and effort I had visions of it unraveling in the washer and my opening it to a tub full of knots and string. So I shortened the wash cycle to ONE MINUTE while I listened for loose yarn noises and then yanked out a whole blanket thank goodness that's over. Now it's busy flopping around the dryer, since it's a baby blanket one of the requirments is it needs to be washable - there's nothing more useless than baby items knit in hand spun wool whatever, unless of course the baby is banned from touching it.

Hmmm

While watching early morning tv today we saw that commercial for Relecore that apparently is specifically targets Unsightly Belly Fat. It's annoying because a) they play it all the time b) the person in the commercial is very emphatic and strange and c) is there such a thing as Sightly Belly Fat? I do have to admit, I've picked up those diet pills in CVS and have been very tempted to short cut the whole deal but then the first thing that pops into mind is that woman in Stony brook that was a patient of mine. She'd been taking Stackers which was quite popular at the time (and still might be) and the good news was she'd lost 8 pounds in under 2 weeks. The bad news was she woke up one morning and couldn't move her left side which would be why she ended up in the stroke unit. That particular patient has never left me so every time I pick up one of those bottles it pretty much goes right back on the shelf as Unsightly Belly Fat probably isn't the end of the world.  I guess that would be it for the Unsightly Belly Fat Commentary this morning. In other news, Janet arrived here in good time last night about 7 pm - Pearl was strangely well behaved for a few minutes. We had sausage heroes and apple pie for dinner. Janet's room has been completely de-catted and she was warned to shut the door tightly to avoid any midnight visitors since the cats are not happy about someone not only being in their room but denying them access to it. I'm not sure what we're doing today, we have to stay out of town as the Mountaineers are playing Cincinnati and that of course is of Utmost Importance. So activities will either be out of town or at the movies. Pearl has barked at Janet's car everytime she's been out since it might be a Threat, she does need to stop

Walking On The Chain Gang

We took the advice of strangers - well, I did,Pearl would've preferred not to - and invested in a choker collar. We had great sucess with it, apparently having consequences to one's behavior improves it. Pearl did make some half hearted leaps but not like the other day. Yesterday was fairly overcast, but warm so we walked for about two hours. I was going to go home to clean the house, but it was so nice out and this time of year is precarious - the weather could change at any time so I took advantage. My paitent population is down this week so I'm getting stuff done in the office and like the weather that could also change at anytime so I'm taking advantage of that also. My sister is coming down for the weekend and then the week after David's relatives are coming. And no we haven't heard anything further from the loony person that owes David money, he's decided he's just going to go down to the courthouse in the next week or two, file for a hearing and let it go. I actually have all sorts of things I should be doing, cleaning, sorting, yada yada - unfortunately none of that holds much interest for me. Walking the dog and hiking, playing fetch, shopping - now that's interesting. That doesn't get much done around the house does it?

Screaming MeeMees

Sigh, David is STILL tangling with Maureen - if you recall from the 31st he was starting to wrangle with her and we got that charming phone call around 11 pm -

http://journals.aol.com/jlester961/YarnsandTallTails/entries/2006/10/31/happy-halloween/2490

Well, it goes on. Last week she said to come today at 3 pm. Jackson was off from school so David took him too just to be there. Maureen answered the door at 3 pm and announced it was her daughter's birthday. Hmm. David said he just had to put on one door knob and he was done. She then said she had to take a shower. He said it would only take 5 minutes and then she said no good, come back tomorrow. So he went home and called her and she announced that she had expected him to wait for her to CALL at some point on Tuesday and then come over - David pointed out she had said to come on Tuesday at 3 and then told her enough. He also informed her he was charging her for all the visits he's made - and then she started screaming into the phone for him to SHUT UP and he didn't LISTEN - David said he laid the phone down on the coffee table. He and Jackson sat and listened to this woman shrieking for about 5 minutes before she realized there was no one on the other end and then she hung up. So we will be taking her to court. I'm sure we've all been entertaining fantasies of kicking out her windows, keying her car - seeking revenge. But we will be letting the courts handle it - I'm sure we'll never see a dime of the money she owes and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe she has it at all, but it's gotten to the point it's simply not worth the stress of trying to collect it. But I still hope she catches it right in the teeth.

No pain, no gain

I have to admit that yesterday what I wanted to do was go home, make a cup of coffee and park it on the end of the couch. But what I did was wrestle Pearl into her halter, found a hat, scarf and gloves and off to the river we went for a 2 hour walk. When the weather first starts getting cold is the hardest time for me to get motivated - when it's really winter I still walk alot and spend a great  deal of time outdoors, but this weather - arrgh! - just makes me want to sit and watch tv. But given how hard it's been for me to lose this weight I don't want to start backsliding now so I make myself. Pearl of course is always up for it.  We aren't doing a whole lot this weekend, I have some paperwork to catch up and phone calls, I have one visit for tomorrow and I'm on call so I can't stray too far from the house. Adam called me yesterday morning, it was so nice to hear his voice. He's still on land at the moment - the Gary went out a few weeks ago and won't be back for a few more, so he's enjoying himself. He might be coming home in December which I would love - we haven't seen him for two years. But he's doing fine for now. And no - he still hasn't gotten any birthday gifts, he thinks thier probably on the ship.

Thursday Already

Not that it matters too much to me, I'm on call this weekend and lately we've been getting called alot. I've been busy discharging patients this week, my cases seem to run in cycles, I'll get a bunch and then discharge them all at once. Yesterday was my half day and I had planned on taking Pearl to the river but it decided to rain all day so that was out. Pearl was really bad yesterday too - everytime we went out she ran through the house destroying things and made a big mess all over. She's been pretty good lately - just taking items out and leaving them in the livingroom but yesterday even when we went out for an hour she went to town. David and I went to the supermarket to get a few things, I wanted to buy some brown sugar. Now, did you know that Splenda makes a substitute brown sugar? It said half the sugar, half the carbs, etc... So I compared the two. Regular has 15 calories per teaspoon, 4 grams of sugar. Splenda has 10 calories and 2 grams. Then I looked closer and it said per HALF a teaspoon. Which means the substitute not only has the same amount of sugar in it, it somehow manages to have more calories. Which goes to show you should always read the label. That's what gets me is how these "low calorie" products are just lower volume. Egg Beaters is 30 calories per serving, but thier serving is only a quarter of a cup. I'm sure if I measured an egg out it would come to more than that so how can that be a full serving?

How Many Days Until Christmas?

We got a total of 4 trick or treaters, 2 little ones and a somewhat drunken teenager and his rather mortified girlfriend but that was it. I put Pearl in Jackson's room but Charger got to stay out and "protect" me - poor old boy. He was growling a bit but looking off to the right of everyone, his vision is pretty poor and I think he gets upset because he can't really tell where - or who - anyone is. He has aged rapidly over the summer, now when we play fetch I wait til he's a respectable distance from me and toss the stick about 4 feet in front of him. We pretty much let him do what he wants these days and he gets his peanut butter dog cookies a few times a week. Work has been interesting lately, I find if you have anymore than two people in an office there's going to be trouble brewing somewhere! I like to sit back and watch it play out. David has gone back to his real customers - the nice ones and I guess he'll deal with the weasel girl when he gets to it. I've been walking more lately - yesterday the weather was very warm - in the 70's which I think is just odd this time of year. I don't enjoy it but it seems to be cooling back down again.