Belated gifts

Remember the Christmas gift I finally gave my sister this spring? Well tonight was Dad's Father's Day dinner (smoked pork chops, per his request), my parents' anniversary (which was July 27. BBS and I put together a photo album for when they travel) and Mom finally got these pillows for Mother's Day. I made the tan covers for Christmas and BBS and I got several different holiday decorations to pin to them, with the idea that I would make covers for each season for the upcoming holidays. These bright flowers were for Mother's Day and will be her Spring/Summer covers, then she'll get some Fall ones for her birthday in October...although, at this rate, she may not actually get them until January!

Disgusting

Why yes, that would be a huge bowl of dog hair I cleaned off the couches this morning. Gross.

The sponge is actually some special rubber that catches the hair and pulls it right off/out of the fabric on the couch. I vacuum the couches every week (sometimes more) but I hadn't sponged them in about a month. Guess I need to do that more often! Yuck :/

Sleep!

Last night was so much better.  I just started the night with the door closed and we both slept through the night.  When I first adopted Wolfey we lived in an apartment, so I slept with the door closed all the time to keep Wolfey from wandering around and barking at the cars coming and going.  Even after buying the house, it was just habit to sleep with the door closed, but when the kids came, I quickly learned that I needed to learn to sleep with the door open to hear the boy if he woke in the night (which happened A LOT) and know when the girl snuck out of the house (not that I could stop her, but at least I knew to stay awake so I knew if she came home safely).  It took a while for me to get used to hearing Wolfey wander the house at night, but it is now habit, and he seems to enjoy the freedom.  I googled how long it would take for the concrete to cure and we're looking at several more days of that caution tape being up, so I think for the next few days, at least, he may have to give that up so I can sleep.  I hate feeling like I'm penning him in, but at the same time, I need my sleep!  I just hope that him getting a good night's sleep will help with his anxiety so he stops chewing at himself so much!  I know I've already said it, but as happy as I am to have this new sidewalk, I am SO ready to be done with the chaos!

Please keep an old friend in your thoughts and prayers and she prepares to have her beloved dog put down. He is very ill and will be much more comfortable in doggy heaven.

Barktastic

It's no longer just the construction and weird schedule throwing Wolfey off.  Last night he was flipping. out. at the caution tape around the freshly poured cement.  Several times I had to get out of bed to calm him down.  Finally, around 2:00am I had had enough and just called him into the bedroom and shut the door.  Thankfully, we had a peaceful night from there on out.  As excited as I am to have the new sidewalk done, I'm sooo ready for this to be over so my poor pup can relax!

A call for help

With all the chaos we have had lately, the changes in my schedule with working a different store this week and the construction going on outside, Wolfey has really had a rough go of things.  He chews and licks himself when he is stressed and it's been pretty bad the past week or so.  After having fostered, I have several empty beds at my house, and Wolfey has claimed one of them as his own.  He constantly has the blankets all wadded up and full of hair, so I wash them as regularly as if a child were sleeping in them every night.  This morning I went in to check if they needed cleaned and found that there was a huge pile of fur where Wolfey had slept last night.  I laughed, remembering the line from Aladdin, where Iago is so upset he yells, "I'm molting!", but at the same time, I'm really worried about him being so stressed.  I gave him a bath this morning, which always helps to soothe his skin, but I know he'll continue to lick and chew just out of frustration with the situation.  Outside of spending more time at home, which I'm trying to do, but that's easier said than done, I'm not sure what to do.  I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to make this construction time and weird schedule easier on both of us!

Facelift

I'm getting a sidewalk!

I woke up to a knock at my door this morning. Alex, my neighbor who works for the town, was asking if I minded if they extended the sidewalk in front if my house. They will also pour an apron on the driveway going from the sidewalk to the road He asked if I was okay with that. Hmm...let me think...YES! I do feel bad that Wolfey has probably been flipping out all day, wondering why these guys are digging up his yard and Mommy's not home to take care of things, but at the same time, I'm super excited about the little boost it will give my curb appeal. This couldn't have come at a better time, with trying to perk my house up a bit for the appraisal. It's going to make the front yard look so much nicer. I can't wait to get home and see how it looks!

Real kisses

The monkeys know all they have to do to get what they want out of Aunt Karen is to say please and give me a kiss on the cheek.  Works every time.  Last night, Doll Baby wanted to play games on my phone.  I asked how he gets what he wants and he gave me a big smile, said please and mushed his slobbery lips against my cheek.  I have him my phone and he ran off to play.  Later in the evening, after he'd returned my phone, we'd played and I was preparing to leave, I asked him for a hug goodbye and as he leaned in, he whispered in my ear, "that wasn't a real kiss."  It took me a second to register what he said and I must have had a blank look on my face, so he said, "I got your phone.  I didn't kiss you."  Little stinker is only 3 and he's already a tease!  No worries, I smothered him in real kisses before I left :)

Lots

What a crazy couple of days! This is going to be a long one; bear with me. Monday evening I went to dinner with a friend of mine. After only one bite, my throat closed up and I couldn't swallow anything. It's not uncommon for me to have this happen, but usually I can take a few deep breathes, my throat will relax and I can go on with my meal. This time, it just wouldn't loosen up. My friend finished his meal and we parted ways, with me still not having eaten. By 9:30 I was starving, thirsty and exhausted. I still couldn't even swallow my own spit. I was afraid I would choke on my own saliva during the night so I called my mom to get her input and she told me to head to the ER. I arrived around 11:00 and had to wait to be seen until after 1am. By the time the doctor finally came in I was feeling better and thought I could just go home. He asked me to take a drink of water just to be sure I was good to go and no sooner than I set the cup down did it come back up. No going home for me; the doctor said I was being admitted and sent the nurse in to hook me up to an IV for fluids. I spent the night in the hospital and the whole time I was worrying about Wolfey being home alone all night. Poor guy! In the morning my dad came to visit and brought me clean clothes and the oh-so-wonderful BBS went out to the house to take care of Wolfey. I seriously don't know what I would do without her! The nurse had told me I would be going home that evening, so all I asked her to do was let him out to potty and put out his breakfast and I would take care of everything else in the evening, but she and the kids hated the idea of him being home alone until who knew when after being alone over night, so they took him back to their house and played with him all day. How sweet are those monkeys?!? I finally had a scope down my throat around 3:00 (I hadn't eaten in 24 hours at that point and was NOT a happy camper) and they found that my throat was still constricted and I had chicken from the night before lodged in my throat. They removed the chicken and stretched my throat a bit with the scope. I'm so thankful BBS took Wolfey back to her house, because I wasn't allowed to go home last night. After being sedated so late in the day, the nurse recommended that I not be alone last night, so I stayed at my parents' house and BBS dropped Wolfey off to me there. I'm on a clear liquids diet for 24 hours and then a soft food diet for a week but at least I'm not at the hospital! Dad is dropping me off to my car in a bit and I'm heading home to rest. I'm so lucky my family stepped in and took care of Wolfey and I when I couldn't!

Before and after

The first picture was taken on Wolfey's first day with me. Scared, underweight and nearly furless, my poor pup was a sad sight. Almost exactly a year later, he was happy, healthy and so furry I could just about make a spare dog just from what he sheds! I'm so lucky we've made such progress!

Paying with puppy

BBS and Buddy came over today to help get the house ready for my appraisal. I paid Miss Thing to stay home and watch the little ones, since I figured we'd get a lot more done without them under foot and paid Buddy to do some yard work here at the house (the fabulous BBS worked for free!). More than a few times during the day Buddy took a break to play with Wolfey and at one point he asked if I could pay him in Wolfey. The kids like Wolfey so much he was willing to give up his cash payment to get to take Wolfey home! And this was coming from the kid who, when I asked him if he wanted to come help, his first question was "how much will I get?" I think he loves Wolfey :)

Miscommunication

Clearly, I am not the dog whisperer.  Wolfey was definitely trying to tell me something last night but I just wasn't getting it.  I am preparing to refinance my house and have a few projects I'm working on to spruce the place up a little.  Last night I worked in the basement until around 11:00 (after working an eight hour day.  Talk about worn out!), showered and was snoring by the time my head hit the pillow.  Wolfey was a little fussy by the time I headed to bed, but I thought it was just because he was up too late (he's definitely a creature of habit and if I throw off his routine, he lets me know about it).  Around 2:00, he had me up, whining.  He didn't seem to need anything (he wasn't giving his "hungry" or "gotta potty" whine) but he definitely wasn't happy.  I got him settled down and went back to sleep.  Then around 4:00, he was up whining again.  Once again, based on the way he was whining, he didn't seem to need anything but that time I finally decided to try letting him out.  He peed for the longest time (and I felt really guilty) and came right back inside.  I was hopeful that I could sleep the rest of the night uninterrupted, but around 5:30 he started up again.  Still not his "hungry" or "gotta potty" whine, and at that point I'd had about enough, so I scolded him and went back to sleep...only to wake up to a poopy mess in my hall this morning.  Poor little guy had a tummy ache and I didn't even realize it.  The whole time I was cleaning up his mess he sat and watched me with his sad little eyes like he was trying to apologize for the accident.  I felt so bad for him!  I guess I need to get better at deciphering Wolfey's whines so I don't have to deal with that one again.  I just hope he gets to feeling better before tonight so I can get a decent night's sleep!

Every action bears a price tag. Some cost nothing more than a moment of your time but others can cost the trust and respect of a friend. What price are you willing to pay?

Woohoo!

Things are looking up!  Not only are my parents home (and I got to have dinner with them, hang out for a while and catch up on my hugs) but work has slowed down just a bit for my walking buddy and we were finally able to make our schedules match up.  We walked last night, then stood around talking until it was so dark we could barely see.  I really missed him!  Of course, my legs are all bitten up from the mosquitoes, but it was totally worth it.  It was so nice to catch up!

Sooo... I guess fruit flies like red wine. I walked away just for a few minutes and came back to this. At least I figured out how to get rid of the flies! For the record, they also like rotten potatoes. Eww :(

I must be blind

In preparing to refinance my house I'm going over every room with a fine tooth comb.  I found this hanging in the kitchen.

It's amazing what we don't even see when we get used to something being there!

**Ew, just noticed this picture makes my walls look lime green (see that little stripe off to the right?  Gross!) when really they're a nice butter yellow.  The pretty, golden wood has a bit of a green tint, too.  Not sure what's going on with my camera...I promise I have better taste than this!

I'm so thankful the weather has cooled to a much more comfortable 90 degrees!  I really prefer cold weather (as my friend Abby over at Square Zero would say, "I can always put more clothes on, but I can only take so much off before it becomes indecent!") but after 105, 107 and even one day of 110, I'll take 90 any day.  Poor Wolfey is happy about the weather change, too, since it means he's more likely to be taken on more (and longer) walks.  Now if only Mother Nature would make it Fall for me!

Welcome

My parents are home!!! I went to their house to welcome them home and help them unload the camper and couldn't get out of the house without Wolfey. I swear that dog knows where I'm going when I leave the house! I'm so lucky my parents love Wolfey and welcome him into their home.

Sometimes it all hits you at once.  My parents have been out of town for a couple weeks and I'm missing them terribly.  They'll be home soon, but it's really hitting me how long it's been since I've seen them.  And yes, I'm a momma's girl.  I'm missing my walking buddy, too.  He's been crazy busy with work and we haven't gotten together in over two weeks.  With as hot as it's been, I haven't been able to get myself motivated to walk too far without him pushing me.  So on top of missing out on quite a bit of my support system, I'm also missing my exercise, which is an awesome form of therapy for me.  All this when I'm on major foster overload.  I've gotten news about both my kids within the past couple days.  Some good, some bad, some hopeful, some unmitigable.  There's just so much going on for both my babies.  It's a bit much for me to take sometimes.  Right now, I'm just trying to focus on the good things - dinner with a good friend tonight, a bridal shower for my soon-to-be cousin tomorrow and hopefully a meeting with my girls from The Arc Monday.  Oh, and the little girl outside barking at the dog right now.  Too cute!  I'm so lucky to have so much happiness around me :)

Who knew?

Super rotten potatoes smell just like dog doo.  I mean, to the point that I've been coming home every day, yelling at Wolfey and searching the house for an accident.  Thank goodness I finally found the source, because that was disgusting!

Happy 5th of July!

As a mommy to a more-than-slightly-neurotic dog, you have no clue how happy I am that the 4th of July is over.  Last night, every time Wolfey decided the fireworks weren't so bad and settled down, the neighbors would switch to a new time of fireworks and he would go crazy all over again.  I'm sure, with the holiday being right in the middle of the week, that some people will be celebrating this coming weekend, but I'm really hoping to have a little break so we can both get some rest.  I understand that people enjoy fireworks, and I would never deny anyone the ability to set them off, but I am SO thankful that it's only for a week or so out of the year!

Happy 4th of July!

No real post today, I'm too busy basking in the glow of my TWO DAYS IN A ROW OFF WORK!!  Honestly, I'm still wiped out, but it's such a good kind of tired!  Back to the routine tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

I thought Wolfey was well behaved. I just saw the new Traveler's Insurance commercial - now that's a well trained dog!

Poor pup

I'm at my parents' house, helping with the garden. Of course I brought Wolfey. Poor baby was so disappointed when we got here and his Mema and Papa weren't here!

Notso nutso

I think BBS thinks I've finally completely lost it.  We were talking on the phone the other night while I was making a batch of dog food and I was commenting on the fact that I had a bunch of radishes left over that I won't eat.  She asked why I had bought the radishes and I explained that they're for Wolfey and I tried one but still don't like them; she reacted as if I'm nuts.  She claims I put more thought and work into cooking for my dog than she does in cooking for her kids.  I happen to know that she works hard to make sure her kids are properly cared for, it's just that she doesn't really enjoy cooking.  For me, it's not just that I enjoy cooking, both for myself and for my dog, but it's also that buying these weird (for me) fruits and vegetables lets me try things I wouldn't otherwise buy or eat.  For this particular batch of dog food, I bought all my usuals (lettuce, spinach, apples, carrots, broccoli, etc.) but I also branched out and bought the radishes, plums (they're okay, still not a huge fan), pears (love the taste, still can't get past the texture), peaches (still a big no, but Wolfey seems to like them) and fresh cilantro (still not a fan of the smell, but I do like it in salsa!).  So yes, it seems really silly that I bought radishes for my dog when I don't like them, but this has proven to be a good way for me to branch out, not only in what I feed the dog, but in what I eat, as well.  I'm so lucky to cook for my dog and get to experience new things through him!

Tummy time means something totally different at our house.