Lily left us Sunday morning in the wee hours. Not the way we always thought she would, hit by car on a dark, rainy night...no, she did it the right way....asleep in her bed.

We came home from a great afternoon at Deanna's birthday party. We got home a bit late..8pm and Sandy and I had already discussed that she would feed Lily the wet food, not kibble...since she would probably have been in a tizz about us being gone. She took the dogs out to potty and then had Lil walk around and calm down before she fed her. She didn't let her drink alot of water and then she fed her.

The thing is...Lily still got bloated. Her tummy puffed up and was hard. She had dry heaves...something new. She huffed and puffed. She lay on the floor. Sandy walked her around in the yard and then she came back in, more dry heaves, more huffing and puffing and then she relaxed, laid down on the floor and fell asleep.

Sandy told me that she didn't think Lil looked good. Her gums weren't white, so she wasn't bleeding internally; she had bowel sounds, so it didn't seem like she had bloat in the bad sense--we doubted her stomach had flipped, she wasn't in obvious pain and if she had a torsion she would be in wicked bad pain.

Sandy made the statement, "I wouldn't be surprised if Lily didn't make it through the night." I panicked...and wanted to take her to Ocean State. Sandy asked why? What will we do? If they want to operate are we going to put her through that? I had to answer "no." Then I realized that we had already had this discussion some time ago. And we had decided that we would not take her to the vets unnecessarily--she hated the vets...it made her so anxious. We wouldn't subject her to surgery for the same reason and because she was so old.

Sandy carried her up to bed--how the hell she did it I don't know and neither does she. We all went to bed a bit after 11...Lil was laying on her bed, no dry heaves, no huffing and puffing.

I went over and hugged her, kissed her on the head and told her that everything was okay...she could let go.

A couple of hours later Lily got up and was walking around by my side of the bed. Sandy got up and took her downstairs. I noted that her hind leg on the right was sliding out from under her. Sandy said that Lil didn't poop or pee outside, she walked around and tried to get under the bushes. Sandy told her, "oh no you don't, you are not going to die under a bush, you will die in your own bed."

Sandy carried her back up the stairs. A while later we heard her making another dry heave sound, only it was weirder. We turned on the lights and sat up and looked at her. She sat up too and looked at us. We told her she was all right and urged her to sleep. She laid back down.

In the morning Sandy woke up, looked over and said, "Lily passed away last night."

Yes she did.

We had the Russells come and see for themselves. They needed to know. Truman sniffed her body and walked away, then came back...a couple of times. He had known her the longest...she was his Mommy for a long time. Then Bubbles sniffed Lil's head and her ears dropped, her tail wagged nervously and she immediately went over to Truman and kissed his ear. Rocky took his time sniffing her body from head to tail and then he blissfully cantered off and got a toy.

We kissed her, wrapped her up. Sandy carried her downstairs and then couldn't lift her without help, so I took ahold and helped get her into the back of Sandy's car.

I had called the Emergency Vet to see if they could help us with the cremation arrangements. They were happy to do so.

We have almost all of our deceased pets cremains. The only ones we don't have is Angel who ran off to the woods when she knew she was dying and we never found her body and Jasmine who ran off in Massachusettes (probably because her cancer was back) and we never found her. Otherwise we have them all in jars or cans....waiting to be joined with our ashes when we die. Then we all go on the compost heap somewhere, so we can help grow flowers or some vegetable garden.

We will miss Lily but I would be lying if I said that we aren't relieved. Relieved that she went peacefully as she did. Relieved that we were able to keep her safe and secure, despite all her anxieties. Relieved that we no longer have to constantly work around her needs whenever we wanted/needed to leave the house.

Lily had a great time last week. She went to the agility trial in Wrentham and had fun...she was so relaxed..the most we've ever seen her relax at a trial. She and I went for short walks a few times at the trial. She came with me to see Bob and Wini on Tuesday, with me to Colchester Toyota on Wednesday, to Jean's on Friday to see Taylor and Ryan and Nami. In between we had fun on the deck, relaxing. Walking around the yard, visiting with Taylor and Lynne who came over on Wednesday. A great week.

I was beside myself trying to figure out what I was going to do with her this week. I had a MD appointment in New Britain today, my physical exam and then work in Farmington tomorrow; car appointment on Wednesday; work again on Thursday.

We won't have to worry about that stuff any more. It just makes me so angry thinking about the damage that was done by whoever her first family was...the ones who let her go from their lives. She was never right after being in the pound...she was always so anxious about being left. People need to think about how harmful it can be to their pet when they give them up. People are so selfish.

When I came downstairs this morning, I expected to see her on her bed at the foot of the stairs. When I came home today I expected to hear her tail thumping in the kennel when I came through the door.

It's going to take time....I have twelve years of Lily habit built into my routine.

She was so in love with me which is strange because Sandy was the one who took her from the pound. Sandy was the one who was so patient with her while I was the one who would get irritated and frustrated with her. But Lily worshipped me. I didn't deserve her adoration. I am going to work harder to be more patient with the others now...that's how I'm going to honor Lil.

Hug your doggies and kitties...give them lots of love.

Nighty night.

Well...I read an article today that described the latest Ovarian Cancer research. The new study revealed that women who started taking chemo again as soon as their CA125 went over the limit fared no better than women who waited until they had symptoms to show that they had relapsed.

This gives me an answer. If the cancer comes back within the next year, according to the CA 125, I think I will defer treatment until I have symptoms. This may give me time to recuperate from the last wave of chemo. I'm still having troubles with being tired and I know I couldn't take it if I had to undergo chemo again in the beginning of the new year. Or even if it started in the spring. I need more time to come back.

That said, I'm not planning on having a relapse...just keeping this option in the back of my mind...I am a Girl Scout after all, Be Prepared.

I have just about finished my project of cleaning the grout in the kitchen tile floor. I don't think anyone every cleaned that floor the way it should be cleaned, judging from the color of the grout when I started and what it looks like now.

I had looked up on the internet what to use that would be the easiest for me and found out about the magic of Oxi-clean. I did one treatment on half the floor (the worst half) a week or so ago and I finished it up with scrubbing on hands and knees today. It looks great! Now I have done the first treatment on the second half of the floor and will finish that next week, I guess. It won't be as bad as the first half of the floor, I bet I won't have to scrub.

While I was letting the floor soak the stuff up, I took a break and went online to the Apple store and picked out a new MacbookPro....and then, in another break I chose the options I wanted....photo and video programs, etc. Then on my last break, I went ahead and ordered it! YAY!

I am SO SICK of PCs. This laptop that I'm using now is getting stuck again, taking forever to load, I can only hear sound if I plug in headphones (who knows why?!) and I'm just sick sick sick of it.

Now I can't wait until it gets here.

Joycie (Migneault) Kuusela is featured in today's Norwich Bulletin...the story about her breast cancer battle. They have a great picture of her on the website, I hope it's in the paper too. I have Sandy picking up a copy for me and I posted the online story to my Facebook page.

Joyce and I have been friends since high school. We "lost" each other and then a few years back, found out we lived really close to each other. She lives in Lisbon. We have gotten back together again and she and Bill and Sandy and I have enjoyed each other's company.

Joyce and I say: we went thru high school together and now we are going thru cancer together...and we are. And quite successfully too, I might add!

Right now I'm hoping to hear from Mark Russell...another old school chum. Hoping we can get together this weekend, when he comes up for the Marianpolis Bd of Directors meeting. Haven't seen him in ages.

Next week I'm going to see some other old chums...Janine is coming down from New Hampshire and the old office gang, Maureen, Russ, Richard, Tina and I (and who knows who else?) are getting together at Chuck's in Storrs.

It's old chum time! Wonderful! I wonder what other old chums I'll hear from?

Oh, I got an email from Barb at work, checking on dates in Jan and Feb for the phyical exam series for the Yale 2nd year students. I checked off that I was available for every date but one and sent it back to her IMMEDIATELY! I can't wait to get back to work on a regular basis.

I'm paying for endulging in the "luxury" of leaving the deck door open so I wouldn't have to let the Russells in and out a billion times a day. I did that two mornings this week. Well, now the flies are in the house, and Sandy can't understand where they are coming from...shhhhhhh....don't tell her.

I ask the dogs to catch the flies and one would think this was right up their alley...jobwise, but they aren't too interested. Oh, Rocky has mild interest, but it passes quickly. I have dragged the fly swatters out and got one a few minutes ago, but there are more...I know there are.

Off to feed the pups and then take a shower. Jean's house for dinner tonight, with Taylor and Andrew in attendance.

Later!

Been watching that new show, "The Big C" on SHO...it's pretty good. The woman has cancer and hasn't told her family. She has only told the old lady across the street. I can't imagine.

She's going nuts with this stuff....cashing in her 401K and spending it on stuff. Having an affair with a guy at her school, etc. WHAT???!!!

Oh well...everyone is different...it's what makes the world go round.

Sandy's vacation was wonderful...made us wish that she could retire soon, so we can always be "off" together.

We did go golfing at Chanticleer. It was a perfect day for golfing...sunny but not too hot. And not too many leaves either! I golfed the best nine holes I've ever golfed, which isn't saying much.... We had a great time. Just as we left the course and headed to Harry's for lunch the car place called and said Sandy's car was ready. What great timing!

Friday I went over to Lynne's to make good on our birthday present to her....an agility lesson for her and Franklin. I brought two jumps, a tunnel and two weave poles. I showed her how to get him to do these things and they practiced a bit. Franklin caught on quickly...he will "work for food." I think if Lynne keeps up working with him and going to classes, they will have a lot of fun and will do well.

Sandy took Bubbles out in the kayak to see how she would do. She did great! She was able to balance on the very tip of the kayak without falling in....something Truman and Rocky can't manage to do. So, when we go out together, she can ride with me...the soaking wet boys can ride with Sandy.

On Saturday AM I went and got my hair cut for the first time since last October...well, except for the two times that Sandy shaved my head...that doesn't count. Kelly trimmed me up nicely and it looks good.

When I got home from Kelly's Sandy was packing her car for the agility trial on Sunday....I pulled part way into the garage to see that she had stuff piled up, blocking my way...so I started backing out of the garage. Suddenly I hear an awful scraping sound. Sandy went behind the car and directed me to keep backing out...so I did...and my side view mirror got whacked! So much for her skill at guiding me!

I was so pissed...way out of proportion to what happened. I was slamming the steering wheel and swearing...a lot. Then I got over it. Nothing that duct tape couldn't fix.


In the afternoon I went up to Woodstock to a party for Jim Donovan. Jim and Carol came up from Tennessee and a bunch of folks got together to see them. I hadn't seen Jim in almost 40 years! And I had never met Carol before, but we hit it off like we've always known each other.

I have been following Jim's journey with cancer on the internet and he has been following mine. It's like we are cancer buddies. I understand most of what he is going through, but he has had greater obstacles than I have. Carol and I hand out advice to each other and it really helps to know that there is someone out there who is sharing the experience.

Saturday night I had lots o' trouble sleeping. I think it was the full moon. I love it, but it makes me kind of crazy in my chest...keeps me awake.

We had to get up early Sunday AM, to head off to Wrentham for the agility trial. We took all the dogs. Lily was so relaxed in the tent....it was great seeing her like that. I got to see Rocky run a few events...he was the only one of the three to come home with a ribbon...he qualified and took first place in tunnelers! Truman made up his own courses out there so he didn't get anything. Bubbles ran all the courses perfectly (except for the weave poles) but she took her damned sweet time so she was way over time.

Sandy and I think Bubbles is going to retire from agility. She gets slower and slower every year. She likes doing it in the yard and she may take some classes every once in awhile...but as far as competing....not so much.

Sandy is back at work now and I've had a burst of energy in the kitchen....cooking dinner the last two nights. Last night I found a Rachel Ray chicken thigh recipe that made some sense and I cooked that up...just threw in garlic powder as it was kind of bland...it was good. Tonight I served up a eye round roast, with gravy, mashed potatoes and spinach...yum. First time I've ever made a roast...and I did this one in the crock pot.

I'm going to work hard to make more meals...and more importantly, to plan them ahead of time. We end up getting food to go way too often. Sandy is gaining weight and I struggle to maintain. So, I am going to plan menus like I should have been doing all along.

Of course, I don't know how to cook for just two. So we have a huge amount of roast, potatoes, gravy and spinach from tonight. I will have to learn to reduce.

Lately I've been having problems maintaining the ban on milk that the doctor ordered. I broke down and had a glass of chocolate milk the other night when I was desparate to fall asleep. For some reason the milk works like magic for me. I fell asleep before I finished the glass.

I don't think the milk is what was causing my bathroom problems. I think it may have irritated my stomach, but it wasn't the sole cause. I'm hoping I can go back to milk when all is said and done. I just love milk and cheese too much!

Oh, and people said how they loved coconut milk?? YUCK! I like the almond milk though...that's pretty good stuff. Can't kiss Sandy after I drink it though, she's deathly allergic to nuts! Go figure!

Anyway, I see the gastroenterologist next week. Maybe I'll get some answers from the tests she ordered. In the meantime...I'll try real hard to not have milk and hope for the best.

Oh and I went to see Bob Miller today. I went to the local Chinese restaurant and tried to get them some different things to try. I did order Bob's usual "chicken chop suey"...which he always gets. I also ordered sweet and sour shrimp for he and Wini to try. And egg drop soup, wonton soup, crab rangoon, steamed dumplings. Well, they really screwed up the order....even though I circled the items I wanted on the menu to help the new girl out. They forgot the sweet and sour part of the shrimp...just gave me a big box of fried shrimp; they gave me chicken and broccoli instead of chop suey (but Bob ate it anyway); they threw in barbecue beef sticks which I didn't order and they put the wonton soup on top of the bag...it fell over and all the liquid poured out into the bottom of the bag, making the crab rangoon and the fried wontons very soggy. YIKES!!!

They did like the egg drop and shrimp and chicken and all the rest of what I could salvage....so I left them with plenty of left-overs and the knowledge that they had tried something new and had lived to tell the tale.

Tomorrow Lynne is coming for lunch...she's bringing grinders. Taylor will be coming too...she comes up on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 to 1 (in between classes). In the afternoon I'll load all the dogs into Sandy's car and drive up to Colchester to order the replacement mirror for my car. For some reason they won't take a credit card number over the phone....weird. Sandy has to go to classes in Massachusettes tomorrow and Thursday so she will take my car.

This weekend I hope to be able to see my "old flame" Mark Russell. I found him on the internet finally after having lost contact with him some years back. He is coming up to CT for a Marianapolis Board of Director's meeting and we hope to be able to arrange a time for us to get together. It will be great to see him again and catch up on old times.

Well...enough now. I have to make an effort to write in this thing more often...so the entries aren't so long.

Nighty night!

Sunday was a quiet day, Carol came over for breakfast, I made cheesy grits and eggs and we ate out on the deck. Weather was perfect. In the afternoon Barry and Janet came over and we watched the Patriots lose to the Jets...dammit!

Monday Sandy and Jean worked on the garden...ripping it out and the pool--taking it apart. I ripped out my potted plants on the deck, the tomatoes and peppers, etc. It looks a lot neater out there, but it doesn't smell as good--the basil really made it smell nice.

Monday night we went to the Big E, with Jess and Janet. We had a great time. Sandy got a leather cowboy hat to wear at agility trials when it's raining.

I got a beautiful pashmina shawl, now I have to figure out all the different ways to wear it. I also found my guy who sells the raw shea butter and I got a big container of it from him.

Sandy bought an order of deep fried oreos and I took a couple of bites. It was tasty but too sweet for me. Janet had me try deep fried cheese curd which was delicious...salty, but delicious. I could only have one little piece though.

Tuesday the weather was great again. Jean came up again and helped Sandy in the yard, trimming bushes etc. I worked inside. Then it was time for me to go to the allergist...but first I was praying that I would take a dump...so I could finally get my stool specimens down to the lab. Just when I thought it wouldn't happen....VOILA!

I've never done a stool specimen before and I had to prepare THREE of them. Two of them had directions...the third one...just an empty bottle, no directions. So I just dumped poop in it and hoped for the best.

I ran those over to Quest and then hurried down to E. Lyme to Dr. Ber's...the allergist. Well...knock me over! He tells me that he doubts that I have allergies, he thinks that what I have is non-allergic rhinitis. And he questions if I have asthma. So, I come home with two nasal sprays and two inhalers to use for a month and then I go back.

I told him that in the past I've been told that I am severely allergic to dust mites, cats, oak trees, maple trees, grasses and I don't remember what else. I've taken allergy meds every day for years! He said maybe I was allergic then, but my blood test shows that I'm not allergic now.

He checked my nose, ears and lungs. My nose and ears were filled up..as usual... and my lungs were clear...as usual.

I'm hoping he's right about the allergies and that the nose sprays help. I hope he's wrong about the asthma...but my breathing test showed it's likely, or I have vocal cord dysfunction...which is also possible...I do clear my throat in a very annoying, constant way and I do get hoarse easily....although that's also symptoms of reflux...which I also may have.

Today Sandy took Bubbles out in the kayak to see how she would do. She did great. She didn't fall off and she didn't jump into the water. Maybe if she was out there with the other two, she would go in the water like them. We'll have to try that next.

Lynne came by today, in between jobs. Haven't seen her in so long. It was so good to spend time with her. We got lunch from Panera Bread....Taylor came up from school and the four of us ate on the deck. It was so nice out there.

I was supposed to go for a hike with Pam and I was going to take Lily with me, but last night I spent in the bathroom...like about 18 times. I got little sleep....there was no way I could have made it on a hike. Dammit!

Wini called this AM and we made plans for Bob's 90th birthday. She and I are going to take him to Miller Park for a picnic. It's too much for him to be around big crowds now.

He went to the geriatric doctor today and took THE test...the one that determines if he can still drive or not. He does well on the test generally, but he's losing more and more of his memory every day. He sees it and Wini sees it (and accepts it). Wini told me that she wants him to stay as long "as you will let me keep him."

We are so lucky to have her taking care of him. She really loves him and he loves her. He loves living in that environment. He loves the yard, the trees, the moon. Wini said he knows more about the outside than he does about the inside.

So, he hits a milestone and it's going to be a bittersweet birthday, for all of us. It bothers me that he gets upset about his memory. I try to reassure him that it's okay, but how the hell would I feel if it was happening to me?

So, I'm happy and relieved to also know that he is happy with Wini. It means so much.

Tomorrow I'll call Wini and see if she can give me the news...if Bob isn't around to hear the conversation.

Also tomorrow we're taking Sandy's car to get a big tune-up and we have a noon tee time at Chanticleer. We are going GOLFING! YAY!!!

Nighty night!

Oh, and stick a fork in the Sox...they're done...you heard it here first folks! :)

Dopey me...

I had written a blog entry and never posted it. Pam emailed me to chastise me for not updating and I realized that it was saved in "draft." So it was posted a little out of date, but it was posted!

Been busy cleaning house, which has worn me out. I'm hoping it's the hay fever that is making me tired, or the fact that I'm still spending most of my night getting up and going to the bathroom and not that the gremlins are coming back.

Janet, Jess, Jeremy and Barry came over last night. Frannie Johnson joined us too. We got take out..pizza and salads and then retired to the living room, where I showed some Sweden pictures. I still haven't finished editing the slide show, so they were subjected to the multiple shots of several scenes, ones I hadn't deleted from the camera before getting the files downloaded. I must say, I do have some good shots in there.

I have been doing the non-dairy diet for awhile now and it seems to be doing something...or maybe it's a coincidence. Actually, lately I have been having reflux...which is making me think that maybe that is what has been causing the problems all along.

I used to have to take medication daily for reflux when I was morbidly obese. Since my gastric bypass, I haven't had to take it that often, just situationally.

I have never had the "classic symptoms" of reflux. Like heartburn...I had heartburn for the first time in my life the other night, in the middle of the night, and I thought I was having a heart attack at first. I took a pepcid and it cleared right up.

When I had reflux I used to choke a lot when I ate. Sandy always said it was because I breathed through my mouth (old habit from years of not being able to breathe through my nose) when I ate...or from talking when I was eating. She was wrong...(first time)...it was from reflux. That was my only symptom.

Now I'm having gastric disturbance, nausea and heartburn. And I'm wondering if the diarrhea is associated with reflux. Guess I'll be taking pepcid daily for awhile.

I get to see Dr. Ber on Tuesday. He's the allergist who we like so much. When I called, the receptionist, (a wonderful person) found out that I had ovarian cancer and told me her mother-in-law had it and is very involved in the National Ovarian Cancer organization. She is going to get me information about the group.

I went on their web site, but I don't think I'll be going back for awhile. Too much info about mortality rates/survival rates...and it's not positive news. I need to keep positive. Can't afford to spend much time reading that stuff.

I've been reading more lately, thanks to the Kindle. Am reading a book about the Marines fighting in the Pacific during WWII...chilling stuff. I have another war book downloaded, about the war in Afghanistan.

I also downloaded Stephen Hawkings latest book on the Universe. I've been reading a bit about this book and am intrigued.

Sandy is off this week and will be getting things done in the yard. I will be doing stuff in the house and yard, getting ready for winter. Probably will clean out the pond a bit, trim bushes and get plants protected.

The chimney guy's wife is sick and he isn't able to get to us for awhile. I was hoping we'd have the gas fireplace all installed this winter, maybe it won't happen. We'll see.

Well...I'm watching UConn football while I'm typing this. It's almost halftime and I should get up, change clothes and get some work done before the second half starts up.

Later.

Maniacs

The beautiful weekend in Maine is over. We left on Friday and got to Ogunquit in time to sit on the beach for an hour and a half before dinner. We found a place that is a combo take-out/eat-in and it was very good. I had fried clams, which tasted great going down but messed with me later. Jean and Sandy loved their meals and wanted to eat every meal there for the rest of the weekend.

Cooler heads prevailed however, and I convinced them to go to the Maine Diner for breakfast Saturday AM. We had to wait about a half an hour but it was well worth it. I had the Aces High...one egg; one piece of bacon; one sausage and one blueberry pancake. I had been wanting to have the blueberry pancakes as i heard that they were fabulous, but I didn't want a full order...too much pancake.

Well, the pancake was awesome! I can't believe how many blueberries were in it...I'm not a huge blueberry fan but this was great.

We headed down the road to Sanford to find a store that Jean and Sandy had gone to a few years back...we found it...it's called Mardens. It's like an Ocean State Job Lot and Railroad Salvage all rolled into one. We found Hush Puppy shoes for $24!

Then we stopped at a moccasin shop and I bought my first pair of moccasins. They make moccasins there, and Sandy bought a pair of them. Mine are Minnetonkas. They had a leather boot there that was made by the woman's grandfather. The owner is in his 80s and he just brought the boots back to them. He had worn them for 57 years. He even brought a picture of him wearing the boots, out tapping maple trees for sap, in the snow. The boots looked worn, but not worn out. It was awesome.

I'm wearing the moccasins now and they are so comfy. My mother used to wear moccasins, but she had to get men's moccasins because she had size 13 feet and it was tough to find shoes that fit. Unbelieveable.

After those great finds, we went to our usual...Reny's and the Wells Clothing Outlet. Found some good buys there too. Fun.

Saturday night we sat out on the beach again. There was a wedding party down by the water, getting their pictures taken. The ring bearer and flower girl and some other girl in a gown were playing...IN THE WATER! I got pictures of them.

Sunday we hit the Kittery outlets...Coldwater Creek and Liz Claiburne (which is going out of business, at least up there)...got some nice capris at the Creek and a top; hoodie and purse at Claiburne's.

We got home around 2pm...in time for me to catch the second half of the Patriot's game.

We had a very good time. The Meadowmere was great, as usual. I went in the hot tub and Sandy and I took a dip in the pool. Jean didn't bring her suit. We sat out and had wine, crackers and cheese. Later they had a fire outside, but we were tired and headed in to bed.

Charmine and I went to our semi-annual training session at UConn today. It was pretty cool...one of the things they did was show us "Sim Man"...the automated dummy that has a pulse, breathes and can simulate loads of physical conditions. You can even shock him to change his heart beat. So cool.

Tomorrow I work in the afternoon and again on Thursday.

Oh, I got my blood work done last week and they took 12 vials of blood. Did I already write about this? 12 VIALS....jeez that's almost a pint! I have never had that much drawn at once before. It was because it was a combo of blood tests requested by Dr. Valin and Dr. Sansone. I was sent home with three containers for stool specimens too...another first for me.

Such fun I'm having! Actually, I AM having fun, stool specimens aside.

I'm doing okay on the milk-free diet, although it's hard when you are traveling to do what you are supposed to do. I had to use creamer in my coffee and some cheese snuck into my breakfasts..but to be honest, I don't think the milk is the reason my stomach goes nuts...I think it's more greasy things. Or not...I don't have fried stuff that often.

Things do seem to be settling down a bit in the nighttime bathroom scene. I have been getting up only about five times a night...big drop from the incidents that were up in the "teens" in number before.

Hopefully things will continue to settle down to a dull roar in that department. I'm so sick of it already.

We have a skunk...actually, two skunks, setting up residence in our yard. Sandy tracked them to the ramp by the cellar door. The opening under the ramp is so tiny and yet they fit in there...it's a losing battle to think that we can keep them out of the yard. If they can fit there, they can squeeze into any little hole in the fence. All we can hope for is that they decide to hibernate soon.

Sandy is off from work next week so we are going to plan some work projects and some fun stuff too. Can't wait. I do have an appt with the allergist but that's something I've been wanting to do so that's not an intrusion.

Sheila Dolan died and we'll be going to her wake and service Wednesday. We didn't know Sheila that well...we know Pete better, but we knew her well enough to know that her death is a real loss for Aussies and the agility world. She raised some awesome dogs and was a very talented writer. She will be missed.

Nighty night.

Labor Weekend over...sniff sniff....

The Labor Day weekend is over and what the hell did I do in this absolutely gorgeous weather?

Well, Saturday I was feeling sick and very worn down. Sunday I cleaned the house, both floors and dragged Sandy out to kayak and today I slept until after noon, washed my car and then collapsed.

Oh well...I did get that kayak trip in.

Of course, when Sandy and I go kayaking, or canoeing, or anything that involves paddling on the water, we have to have a tremendous spat. It's a requirement I think.

It started when she was tired and hinting that she didn't want to go kayaking. I told her it would be quiet and peaceful and rejuvenate her. She had slept late both Saturday and Sunday after all...I had hauled my ass out of bed to feed the pets and get things going both days. I was a little miffed that she was "tired."

Then things got worse when it came to putting the kayaks on the top of her car. Of course I'm not as strong as I used to be and I've never been as tall as I need to be to reach the top of her car (which is why I want to buy a trailer to haul things), so there's your basic recipe for disaster.

Of course I couldn't hold up the end of the kayak the way she would want me to, of course she had to do most of the work. And of course, I couldn't help too much in getting the kayak tie-downs secured.

And when we got to the put-in point on the Pachaug River it got worse. I still wasn't tall enough or strong enough to help much when it came to haul the kayaks off the car. She kept asking me if the path to the water was steep...I kept telling her to go check it out and see for herself.

It ended with me cursing and saying "I don't know what's wrong with you, I go kayaking with Roxie, Dori, Deanna and Lorraine and Charmine and Pat and I don't have problems....!" And, "this is the last damned time I'll go kayaking with you. I'll go by myself from now on, that's preferable to this bullshit!" Etc, etc.

Rocky and I got into my kayak and paddled off. I really thought she was going to head the other way and that was fine by me, but she and Truman caught up with us and she admitted that it was peaceful out there and very nice. She stopped yawning all the time and had a good time. AND, she had the good sense not to mention my tantrum on the shore, until much later, when we could laugh about it.

Rocky loved the kayak. He immediately headed out for the nose and promptly fell off. I put out a piece of rubber pond liner that we each brought for the dogs to stand on. He stood on that and was very happy to be there. He would venture further out on the nose and would slide/jump off. He liked paddling around next to the kayak. I got soaking, sopping wet.

At one point I let him pull me along with him swimming ahead. We had a life jacket and a rope on each of the dogs. I hung onto the rope and he towed me. It was good exercise for him....and fun for me.

When we got home I showered, ordered food from Milanos and went and picked it up. We ate supper and then planned to have a fire in the chiminea. We called Carol and Mark to see if they wanted to come over but they were planning to do the same thing in their yard. So, we went over there. We sat out by the fire (bundled up...it was very cool out there), made "somemores" and chatted. It was fun.

They are big "Jersey Housewives" fans like we are and we had a lot to talk about what with the riotous "reunion show" that was on last week, to be continued tonight. We are of one mind about who are the heroes and who are the villians on this show. I told Carol that I think Danielle is like Cruella deVille....she agrees.

Now they have a new "Housewives" show...the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"...I cant' wait to see this one. I can just imagine how much $$ they will be spending and how they will be behaving. I watch the DC Housewives (Sandy doesn't) and they are unbelieveable. The only one I like is the African American woman and her husband. The rest of them (well, except for the one who is Arthur Godfrey's granddaughter) are crazy rude.

I know these shows are stupid, but I can't help myself...I'm stupid.

Did I say that I got tickets for us to see Kathy Griffin in November at Foxwoods? Can't wait! I'm going to go online and see I can win a chance to meet her before the show. I truly love her. She reminds me of me in a lot of ways.

Oh...I am totally in love with Louis C.K. I had just heard his name before, had never heard his comedy. Then I saw that he has a show on FX and I started taping it and watching it. I totally "get" him....I'll have to go see him in person too. I hear he's coming to the Sun later this month...going to check that out.

Okay, Carol made apple crisp and there's a bowl of it waiting for me at her house. Have to run over there and get it.

And, my car looks lovely after I scrubbed it today. All set for me to drive to work tomorrow.....YES!!! I'm back to work, baby! Brain tumor coming up! Not in real life, dummy, brain tumor is the scenario I have to play tomorrow at work.

Nighty night!