Dog person

I did not grow up in a household with pets, unless you count the parakeet we had for a few years.  My parents felt that having a dog would be too much trouble, since we would have to arrange for someone to care for it during our frequent weekends spent at my grandparents' house.  The idea of getting a cat that can stay home alone for the weekend was never discussed.  I don't even remember wanting a dog or cat when I was a kid.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was bitten by 2 German Shepherds as a kid.  I was not attacked, just bitten.  And it was on 2 different occasions.  I always had a healthy fear of dogs after those incidents.

My 1st partner had a cat when I met him, and although not particularly affectionate, his cat was nice and low-key.  After we'd been living together for some time we decided to get a kitten together.  I found cats to be easy to care for, but not terribly interactive once they grow out of the kitten stage.

As an adult I learned that I was allergic to dogs, or at least most of them.  Touching dogs or furniture that dogs had been in contact with would cause my eyes to itch.  It felt as though I had an eyelash in my eye, so I would continue to try to get it out, further irritating my eyes.

After less than a year living with Spouse, we decided to get a dog.  I was very clear with him that I wanted no part in caring for the dog, and that I would not keep him from adopting one as long as the dog was trained to stay off the furniture.  Then came Jordan.  Spouse absolutely loved her and she him.  I grew to be fond of her and wound up sharing in her feeding, walking, and care.  But I never really connected with her.  I was definitely allergic to her, but we managed pretty well to keep her off the furniture so I had very few reactions.

Jordan lived with us for 14 years, and after she passed we went for about 8 months with no dog in the house.  I think Spouse needed some time to grieve and frankly I enjoyed the freedom.  Then Spouse began trolling the local SPCA website and made me go with him to see a little white Chihuahua named Marvin. 

Something in me changed.  I allowed Marvin to break the 'not on the furniture' rule.  

I believe I loved him from the instant Spouse brought him home.  He made me a "dog person".  I have pictures of him on my phone which I'm quick to share with anyone mildly interested.  I've even become much more friendly with other people's dogs, something I never did in the past.

I'm absolutely amazed at how having Marvin these past 2 years has changed me, and I think I'm the better for it.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

I saw this on facebook and am waiting for one of you kind readers to send me a t-shirt with this on it.

Work has been really busy lately.  This isn't surprising since I sell real estate in a beach resort area and its nearly July.  I never really have a day off.  Even when I'm not scheduled to work I get work-related calls on my cell phone and have to log into my work email to help clients.  But I'd rather be busy and making money than not.

A friend sent me this which gave me a good chuckle.

Marvin Parker has turned out to be a complete delight!  He's got so much personality and energy.  He loves going for walks and he's settling into a routine.  But he's very different than Jordan.  For instance, Jordan liked to eat first, then go for a walk and do her business.  Marvin prefers to go for a walk and do his business first, then eat.  So we are learning to adjust to his routine too.

Breaking the rules

I 1st discovered I was allergic to dogs after continuing to have itchy, watery eyes at my friend Charles' house.  His dog was allowed to roam freely and be on the furniture.  Eventually I found that sitting at Charles' kitchen table allowed me to stay longer before the symptoms started.

So when we got Jordan 1 of the conditions was that she not be permitted to get on the furniture or bed.  It took a little while for her to adjust to this since she had 'ultimate freedom' in her previous home, but she eventually got used it.  Every once in a while though she would sneak up on the sofa when we were out and I would get itchy, watery eyes.

And then came Marvin Parker.  The 1st day we got him we knew it was important for him to bond with us so we put an old sheet on part of the sofa so he could be 'with us'.  He was not content to stay on the sheet.  He was so happy to have a new home that he had to climb onto our laps and chests so he could be close to us.  As much as I wanted Marvin to obey the rules, I really felt we needed to allow him to be close to us.  So I braced myself for the symptoms to begin and tried to minimize them by washing my hands frequently.

What I found was a welcome surprise: I don't appear to be allergic to Marvin!  I guess different breeds of dogs have different dander.  Or, maybe all those years of being around Jordan helped me develop a tolerance.  Now I hold him, pet him, and love him like a 'normal' pet owner.

Marvin Parker is breaking the rules and I couldn't be happier about it.

Weekend highlights

Wow, what a weekend!

Spouse became nearly obsessed with Marvin, the 1-year old Chihuahua at the shelter, thinking someone was going to adopt him before we did, so he talked me into leaving work Sat morning for an hour or so to visit Marvin at the shelter.  Having read a little online about Chihuahuas I knew they were notorious for being yappy, unfriendly to strangers, and aggressive.  I surely didn't want a dog like that!  But nothing could be farther from the case with Marvin.  He didn't bark at all, was friendly with us and allowed us to pick him up and pet him.  Oddly enough, Spouse's enthusiasm seemed to plummet.  He seemed very uncertain, so we told the shelter volunteer that we'd think about it.  I think that in the back of his mind Spouse was expecting an instant love affair like he had with Jordan but it just didn't happen.  At least he really thought about it and didn't adopt Marvin on a whim.

I returned to work and Spouse went shopping at the outlets with Tristan and his friend while Jeni and her friend went for a walk to the beach.  I came home from work with 6 free tickets to a concert by The Four Freshmen purchased by my boss as a favor to a client who was organizing the fundraiser.  The 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed the concert and talked about it over dinner at Saketumi.

Sun morning Tristan and his friend made breakfast for us: scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, pop-overs, and mimosas.  What a nice treat!  Although I wasn't scheduled to work, I ended up needing to meet a client at a new home community and stayed with them as they wrote an offer on a house there.  When I returned home the kitchen and dining room had all been cleaned up and the dishwasher was running.  We sat around and visited for a while, then walked to the Italian deli and had sandwiches as an early dinner.  Afterward Jeni, Tristan, and their 2 friends packed up and headed back home to MD.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Last evening Jeni and her friend arrived a little after 5.  We sat on the screened porch and visited for a while, then came inside because it started to get chilly.  It was a great day for their 75 mile bike ride and they had a lot of fun.  Shortly before 8pm Tristan and his friend arrived with their luggage so Jeni and her friend could shower and change clothes.  Then we walked to Agave and enjoyed marvelous margaritas and great guacamole.  It was really fun!  Today Spouse & I went to work while our 4 visitors explored the local area, took naps, and walked to the beach and back.

Tonight I am singing a song in the Blue Moon Divas show in order to promote the Rehoboth Idol singing contest.  I'm singing "Its Too Late" by Carole King, one of the songs I sang in last year's competition.  Spouse is bringing our 4 visitors to the show to hear me sing.

I saw this on facebook and had to share it:

Spouse has been checking the local SPCA website a lot lately and telling me about dogs he's seen there.  This is making me feel like he's ready to consider adopting another dog.  Jordan went to heaven 6 months ago, we've enjoyed the 'freedom' of not having to be home at a certain time, but I think he misses the love and companionship of a dog.  A few weeks ago he suggested a bassett hound named Buster but I reminded him that bassetts are hard dogs to keep because they are prone to health issues.  This week he showed me an 8-year old female Chihuahua mix named Suzie.  Today he showed me a 1-year old male Chihuahua named Marvin.  I guess we'll see where this goes.

Here's wishing all of you a FUN and SAFE weekend!

Friday fragments: Preempted

Today's Friday fragments post is being preempted in order to pay tribute to our dog, Jordan. We got Jordan in Feb of 1998 from a beagle and basset hound rescue league. They said she was almost 2 years old, but when we took her to the vet for the 1st time, the vet suggested she was probably older; more likely closer to 4 years old.

Jordan has always been quite vocal, especially when excited. Every time we'd return home, and every time company would enter the house, Jordan would excitedly bark and bay. She really made us feel like she'd missed us, even if we'd only been gone a few hours. Even as Jordan aged she'd still greet us with several barks when we came in the door, although they didn't last as long as before.

Jordan was extremely friendly and docile. She was never ever aggressive toward other dogs or people she'd meet on her walks. I would laughingly tell other dog owners "She's never met a stranger." Even when we got Pouncer as a very young kitten a few months later, Jordan accepted him into the family and they became great pals. And although she could be difficult and frustrating at times and I've joked about her being an inconvenient dog, she was also a very loving dog.

About 2 years ago we noticed that Jordan was becoming hard-of-hearing, not uncommon for dogs her age, so we began to speak louder to her. Last summer it became obvious that Jordan's favorite 2-block walk was too much for her. She'd get so tired she could barely make it back home, so we reduced it to a 1-block walk. Spouse would occasionally carry her up the stairs at bedtime if she was sleeping while we watched TV.

About 6 months ago we noticed she just seemed to be slowing down. Her normal exuberance upon our return was tempered, and she was often contented with sniffing around the yard instead of going for a walk. This week we got the 1st indication that she really wasn't doing well when she didn't want to eat. Jordan was normally a furious eater who gobbled down her food in seconds. Her internal clock always alerted us to feeding time. This week her walking within the house seemed very slow, and we wondered if she was having pain from a disc in her back, as she did in 2004. We talked about it and decided to watch her closely for the next few days and then make a vet appointment next week if necessary.

But last night Jordan took a turn for the worse. She suddenly seemed to have trouble supporting her weight with her hind legs. She tried several times to get up during the night to get a drink of water. Each time she'd walk a few feet and then plop down onto her butt. Instead of coming back to bed after her drink, Jordan started to descend the steps to the main level. I jumped up and grabbed my robe and slippers, thinking she needed to go out to pee. When I got down the stairs I saw that she had peed in the house, which is highly unusual for her. I took her outside so she could finish, then I cleaned up the floor and carried her back upstairs. Throughout the night she seemed unable to get comfortable or settle herself, again highly unusual behavior for her. We were both so concerned over her unusual behavior we barely slept.

This morning I called the vet and explained our concerns that Jordan was not well and possibly in pain. After answering several questions the vet told us to bring Jordan in at 9:30. Spouse took the day off work and took her to the vet while I headed to the office.

An examination, blood tests, and x-rays revealed that Jordan had a very high fever and was in pain due to a fast-growing tumor near her liver and spleen. Surgery was an option, but due to her advanced age the vet said it would be very risky. The anesthesia alone is risky at her age. With Jordan in pain and no alternative treatment options, Spouse made the difficult decision to say goodbye and send her to heaven.

We found it a very strange coincidence that Jordan joined Pouncer in heaven exactly 1 year to the day, Nov 4, of Pouncer's arrival there.

Spouse elected not to stay for any of the procedure. And while some pet owners save their beloved pet's last collar or favorite toy, Spouse refused when the vet offered him Jordan's collar, ID tags, and even the laundry basket in which he carried her into the office. He said he just wanted to pet her, say goodbye, and get out of there. I guess we all grieve in our own way.

We've decided to wait at least until the new year to think about getting another dog. With weekend company next week, Spouse's family staying with us for Thanksgiving, holiday parties, and being gone for several days for Christmas, it just wasn't a good time to try and bond with and train a new pet.

So maybe we'll start the new year with a new pet.

A visit with the vet

This afternoon I took off work early to take Jordan to the vet. It had been a year and a 1/2 since her last exam and I also had some questions for the vet regarding some new behaviors and developments. She was very good during the exam - not restless like Pouncer always was.

We've had Jordan for 14 years. When we got her from the beagle/basset hound rescue league we were told she was 2 years old, but when we took her to the vet the 1st time the vet suggested she was likely older than 2. The vet explained that rescue leagues tend to under estimate dogs' ages because they think everyone wants a young dog. So at a MINIMUM Jordan is 16 years old, but is probably more like 17 or 18. That's 119 or 126 to you and me!

Overall the vet was impressed with Jordan's general health and condition considering her advanced age. However we left the office with 2 different kinds of antibiotics; 1 for a suspected infection around 1 of her back teeth, and another for a suspected infection at the base of her tail which the vet characterized as 'canine acne'. Additionally we were given a solution to flush out her ears (typical for beagles and basset hounds) and drops for the small, fleshy tumors around her eyes. The vet also expressed her anal glands and trimmed her nails.

I know it sounds like a lot but all of the treatments are only for a week; then they're all complete and she'll go back to not having any medication or treatment at all. Not bad for such an old girl!

The vet saw no reason why Jordan wouldn't be with us for several years to come.

Pesky pets

Our pets drove me crazy last night/early this morning.

It started last night with Pouncer the Wondercat. A few minutes after we'd gone to bed I heard his little pads on the hardwood floor as he entered our bedroom. (God forbid we close the bedroom door again or he'd sit outside it and meow for hours.) I felt him hop up onto the bed, which is fine, and assumed he'd settle at the foot of the bed as he often does.

But for some reason, he kept walking around all over the bed. Each time he'd walk close to me it would pull the sheet taut over me and keep me from being able to fall asleep. Then he came up next to me and started licking my arm. I slid my arm under the sheet and he started licking my shoulder. I pulled the sheet up to my chin, leaving nothing exposed but my head, so he started licking my hair. (Licking humans shows affection.)

I spoke to him as I've done before, telling him it was time to go to sleep and to go lay down. For some reason he didn't want to, and instead kept walking around on the bed. Finally he settled down and I dosed off.

I don't know how much time passed, but I was awakened by Pouncer standing next to my shoulder purring loudly. I got kind of mad at him for waking me up so I scooped him up with one hand and lowered him onto the floor. But before I could drift off to sleep again I felt him hop back up onto the bed. This time he settled at the foot of the bed and I returned to slumberland.

Sometime later Jordan (the dog) woke me up with her nails tapping on the floor. Apparently she had an itch and as she scratched it her nails kept tapping on the wood floor. Then she shook her head back and forth, causing her metal ID and inoculation tags to jingle like jingle bells. Eventually I drifted off again.

Sometime later Jordan woke me up again when she sneezed several times.

As is the pattern, before Spouse left for work in the morning he let Jordan outside to pee. I normally get up about 1/2 hour later. After being outside this morning, Jordan came back upstairs to the bedroom with her nails tick-tick-ticking on the wood floor. Normally she lays down and doses until I've had my shower and we go downstairs together, but this morning she just kept walking around.

Into the bathroom with her nails tick-tick-ticking on the tile floor. Back into the bedroom with her nails tick-tick-ticking on the wood floor. Out into the hallway with her nails tick-tick-ticking on the wood floor. Back into the bedroom, back into the bathroom, back into the bedroom. It was as if she knew she was keeping me from sleeping and enjoyed every second of it!

I finally got so mad at her for keeping me awake I yelled at her "Get in your bed!" She did and the house returned to quiet, but it was too late. I was awake. I looked at the clock and decided to get up even though I should have been able to sleep a few more minutes.

So today I decided to pay her back by coughing and slamming drawers loudly to wake her up whenever I see her sleeping. Ha ha... that'll teach that b*tch who's boss!

Crush du Jour: Stephan Weiler

Friday fragments

I had to turn on the word verification on comments, thanks to a repeated spammer. Hopefully this will be temporary, and a week of word verification will be enough to get my blog removed from their spam list. Then I'll turn it off again. Please bear with me on this.

Its official: "Project Runway" is finally coming back. Look for season 6 to start in June on Lifetime, the network for women and gay men. The legal feud is over and Lifetime won. More details can be found at David Dust, whose top-notch "Project Runway" recaps are sometimes better than the show itself! Despite the channel change I'm confident they'll 'make it work'.
But not to be left without a fashion-based reality show, Bravo will be replacing "Project Runway" with "The Fashion Show". They've already started running commercials for it, and the cast has already been chosen. They've probably already taped many of the episodes too, knowing the potential of losing PR.

Tim Gunn's role will be played by the far less elegant and often insane Isaac Mizrahi. Now, I like Ike, but if you think I'm being mean by calling him insane, just watch this video on "The Fashion Show" website. He says "...in my regular life I prefer to wear almost nothing, because I like to focus on what other people are wearing, you know? That's my job... my job." WTF??? I wonder what Ike's catchphrase is going to be. Maybe "I'd wear that." Picture it: Ike is milling around the workroom "mentoring" the designtestants. He looks at a mannequin dawned in a haute couture evening gown and exclaims "I'd wear that." Meanwhile, Heidi Klum's role will be played by Kelly Rowland. Record scratch. Huh? Isn't she the Destiny's Child whose mother is NOT a fashion designer? Obviously Kelly won't be able to say Heidi's famous "As you know in fashion, one day you're in, and the next day you're out" because its surely copywrited. So instead, maybe she'll say something like "As you know in fashion, one day you're a 'Survivor', and the next day its 'Game Over'. So 'Say My Name', bitches." Probably not.

And speaking of reality shows, did you notice that "Make Me a Supermodel" changed its formula this season?

In Season 1 the viewers' online and text votes determined who went home. In this season, the judges decide who goes home. Interesting... Also, last season each week's episode was taped within a few days of its airing because they didn't know who would be sent home. This year it is all taped in advance, like "Project Runway", "Survivor", etc.

But enough about TV. I do have a life, afterall.

Many bloggers I read have posted photos of their furry, 4-legged family members, which I always love to see. It occurred to me yesterday that I have never posted any photos of ours. Although I've written about ours, I've never posted any photos of them. I'm not one for taking lots of pictures, mostly because it seems I'm always having camera issues. So here you are:

Pouncer the Wondercat, whom I woke up from a nap with the flash of the camera. Pouncer is an 11-year old male who prefers me over Spouse, and loves to sit on my chest and stomach at night while we watch TV. Pouncer the Wondercat was named after Victoria's cat in the movie "Beaches". I loved the name Pouncer, loved the little song Victoria sang to him, and decided when I got a cat (some time in the future) I'd name him Pouncer the Wondercat.

Here is Jordan the dog, doing what she does best: relax and sleep. Jordan is a female lemon beagle, approximately 15 years old. We adopted her from a rescue league so we're not sure of her age. 12 years ago the rescue league folks said she was about 2, but the vet we took her to for an exam said she was older than 2. She prefers Spouse over me, despite the fact that I am the one who feeds and walks her most often. Bitch!

A reader called to my attention the comical timing of my Earth Hour post followed immediately by photos of Big Ella, my gas-guzzling, polluting, but absolutely gorgeous piece of drivable art. Honestly, it hadn't even dawned on me that these back-to-back posts might make me appear to be talking out of both sides of my mouth. But in my defense, I just want to say that Big Ella is not a daily driver. I do not drive her to work every day, so she is not guzzling gasoline or polluting the air on a consistent basis. She gets driven once a week, for about 10 miles. So I can still be an advocate for energy conservation, reduced need for fossil fuels, recycling, and increased availability of alternative fuels without being a hypocrite.

How many people have you heard lament over their ability to lose weight and inches, but not be able to get rid of excess tummy fat? Let's just say it has been heard around our house before. So this article caught my eye. It sounds like you can make your exercise more effective and drink your way to a slimmer stomach! Green tea, the magic elixir! You know I'm gonna try it.

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone.

Crush du Jour: Flavio Mendonca

An inconvenient dog

I've posted tidbits on here before about our dog, Jordan. She's a lemon beagle whom we got from a rescue league 11 years ago. Lemon beagles are beige and white, instead of the traditional black, white, and brown. When we got Jordan the lady at the rescue league said she was almost 2 years old, but the vet said she looked older than that to him. He said rescue leagues often under-estimate pets' ages because they think everyone wants a young pet. So we don't know Jordan's actual age. At a minimum she's 13 if we were to believe the lady at the rescue league. But she's probably 14 or 15.

Jordan is very gentle, loving and affectionate. Overall, a very sweet dog. Spouse could not love her more. But she is also an inconvenient dog. You might recall this.

When she gets excited (when we return from being out, when its time to be fed, when company comes over) she barks quite loudly. There's something about her bark that finds the tender spot inside my ear and sucker-punches it. I often have to tell her to settle down to keep from going deaf.

Most of her life is spent lounging and/or sleeping. Seriously, she must sleep 23 out of 24 hours a day. She always picks the most inconvenient spots to relax and snooze, like doorways. She will plop herself down in a doorway, forcing me to step over top of her to exit the room. When I'm sitting at my desk working she lays down right next to my chair, so that when I need to get up I have to turn my chair all the way around to find some unoccupied floor space in order to stand up, and then step over her.

Most dogs like routine so we feed and walk her around the same times each day. But occasionally she will get distracted by some irresistible smell or morsel she's found outside and forget to pee or poop while we're out. This, of course, means she has to 'go' later on, invariably when I'm busy on a deadline or participating in a conference call.

She didn't use to beg for human food because Spouse & I agreed when we got her that she would only eat dog food. Its better suited for her digestion, and it keeps her from begging. But little by little Spouse has taken to giving her little pieces of bread or a bagel, crackers, potato chips, or pretzels. The only thing we've found she won't eat are baby carrots. The 2 problems that have arisen since Spouse has begun feeding her people food is that she begs for some every time we eat, which is annoying as hell, and embarrassing when company is over, and it gives her gas. Rank, stinking, rotten, toxic gas, which is also annoying as hell, and embarrassing when company comes over.

Then there's the inconvenience of her hair all over the house. We really should vacuum every day to keep up with having a dog and a cat, but we don't. Not even close.

But despite the very real and true inconvenience of Jordan, we love her. I often make jokes to Spouse about how, when she's given me a particularly hard time, I'm going to drop her off miles away and hope she won't be able to find her way home. But of course I'd never do that. She'd find her way home, she's a hound!

Crush du Jour: Kraig Feldman

Scare

Our dog Jordan gave us a bit of a scare.

On Sun we noticed that her right eye seemed to be rolled up in her head. We could only see 1/2 of the colored area and a lot of white area below it. The other eye seemed normal.

My 1st thought was that her retina may have become detached. Dogs that shake their heads a lot can literally shake their retina loose. Our friends Kerry & Hugh's dog Chopper had to have emergency eye surgery to reattach his retina last year. Not only was it highly inconvenient for them to have to take off work and drive Chopper from VA to Chicago for the operation, it was extremely expensive. I knew retina issues have a definite 'shelf life'. You can't just put them off a little while like other surgeries.

Normally I'm the type of person who will 'give it a few days' to see if symptoms go away on their own. But because we thought there might be a problem with her retina, we felt time was of the essence, so we made the decision to call the vet 1st thing Mon morning.

Fortunately, Jordan's eye seemed better (less rolled up in her head) than the day before, but not back to normal yet. Although her eye appeared to be fixing itself, we took her to the vet anyway, just to be on the safe side.

Happily the vet's examination determined she did not have a detached retina or glaucoma or a scratched lens. The vet wasn't absolutely positive, but believed the eye got irritated by something, although there was no discharge or excess tearing. The vet also offered the possible explanation of an irritated nerve in her face that could also cause the eye to roll back.

We were given a small bottle of eye drops and instructions to give Jordan 1 drop 3 times a day. The vet felt confident it would soothe the irritation. Already her eye seems to be closer to normal than yesterday, so we're relieved.

The great thing is that there is no eye discharge, no excessive tearing, and she's not rubbing her eye area with her paw at all. In fact, she doesn't appear to have any idea there is/was a problem, which is the best!

Crush du Jour: Lior Ashkenazi

Christmas highlights

We arrived at Spouse's mom's house Tues at 9pm, and as usual her house was like an oven. Rather than heeding my advice, given to him in the car on our way to her house, that Spouse not argue with her about the thermostat but simply lower it when she wasn't looking, he argued with her. Fortunately, they don't hold grudges so 10 minutes after the argument they'd both all but forgotten it. (FYI - Spouse's mom keeps the door to our bedroom closed so the heat doesn't go in, and we close the heat vent and cover it with a large telephone book. This keeps our bedroom at a comfortable temperature.)

Wed evening, Christmas eve, we went to Spouse's sister's house to celebrate their mom's 79th birthday. Spouse's brothers Frank, Paul, and Louis were also there with their families. We had a very nice time eating and talking. We gave Spouse's mom a ring and earrings set that she loved. I had brought all the left over cookies, pies, and dessert squares from our party, so they were placed on the dining table with pies and cookies brought or given by others. We also had a birthday cake.

Thurs, Christmas day, I picked up my aunt Mary and brought her to Spouse's mom's house and we exchanged gifts with her. A little later we all went to Spouse's sister's house for Christmas dinner, which consisted of stuffed shells, gnocchi, meatballs, hot and sweet sausages in tomato sauce, salad, garlic bread, and orange sherbet/jello mold. For dessert we had more of the left over desserts I'd brought. After dinner we played 'Rock Band' on their Wii, which was a lot of fun.

Fri was supposed to be the day Spouse & I would visit my friend Lisa, with whom we stayed in NYC, followed by a visit with my cousin and her husband. Unfortunately both had to be cancelled because I woke up with a vagus nerve flare up. For some people overstimulation of the vagus nerve results in fainting. For me it results in extreme dizziness and vomiting. There is no "cure", and the only treatment that works for me is to lie down until it goes away. This usually takes 8-10 hours for me, which is why we had to cancel our visits. Bummer. I was finally able to sit upright at around 6pm so Spouse, his mom and I ate dinner and watched TV the rest of the night. Spouse's sister, brother-in-law, and their kids came over for a while, which was nice.

Sat morning Spouse, his mom, and I met his sister for breakfast at Silver Diner, then packed up the car and came home. It was a nice holiday, but I was quite happy to get home. As usual, our dog Jordan was a pain in the neck at Spouse's mom's house, spitting up and peeing several times in the house, which she rarely does at home. I swear, that dog gives us a fit when we take her to Spouse's mom's.

It was so warm yesterday that I went for a walk around town with no jacket. Someone said it was 70 degrees. Spouse & I tried a new Italian restaurant for dinner but didn't like it, then I went to the Purple Parrot to sing karaoke. My friend Tony was there so we sat together. I also saw Danny and Dougie, Russ, and Mark.

Today was another very warm day. We went for a walk on the boardwalk and saw people in shorts and flip flops - on December 28th! We also saw people driving with their convertible tops down. This must be what its like to spend Christmas in the FL or southern CA.

Crush du Jour: Bernardo Melo Berneto

Workin' my last nerve

Boy oh boy, Jordan was workin' my last nerve yesterday!

When I got up to shower, she was sleeping on her bed on the floor in our bedroom, as usual. When I finished showering and opened the curtain to grab a towel she was pacing around the bathroom, panting, and doing that little half-bark to get my attention. I perceived she needed to pee so I told her ‘okay, just a minute’ while I quickly dried off.

I opened the bedroom door to get my bathrobe from the guestroom closet so I could quickly take her out. I figured the robe would be quicker than getting dressed. As soon as I opened the door she bolted down the stairs. I told her again to ‘wait a minute, I’ll be right there’ while I quickly put on my robe and came down the stairs. I found her squatting and peeing on the doormat at the front door! I swatted her on the head and hollered ‘NO!’ while unlocking the door and letting her out to finish peeing in the yard.

How could she be asleep one minute, and then be absolutely incapable of holding her pee the next minute? I know the steroid injection she got last week makes her thirsty and she drinks more water, but I also think she just got impatient.

After she finished peeing in the yard she came back inside and I took the mat and hung it over the porch railing. Fortunately the mat is rubber-backed, so none of the pee got on the wood floor. Then she was pacing around again, like she wanted to poop, so I put her on the leash and took her outside. In my bathrobe. Apparently she didn't need to poop, she wanted to go for a walk. But I was in a thin, summertime bathrobe and nothing else, so I told her to 'go poop in the yard'. She wouldn’t do it. She just stood on the driveway while I got madder and madder at her. I walked her over into the grass and told her very sternly several times to poop. She just looked away from me and sat down in the grass. For an inkling, I could almost understand how someone could mistreat an animal that was as frustrating as she was at that moment. I entertained the idea of simply going inside and leaving her to roam the streets at will. Surely it wouldn't take long until she became roadkill.

Since she didn't need to poop and I was finished with my summertime bathrobe fashion show for the neighbors, I made her come back inside and back upstairs with me, so I could keep an eye on her while I brushed my teeth, put on deodorant, and got dressed.

Then I fed her and took her for a walk and she acted as if nothing unusual had happened a few minutes ago. She sniffed at everything and wagged her tail as we walked around the block. She finally decided to poop, in our neighbor Brenda’s front yard. The antibiotics have given her very soft, loose poops that are difficult to pick up completely. When I was trying to get as much of it as possible up out of Brenda's grass, I found the plastic poop-scoop bag had a tear in it and I accidentally got some poop on my hand! Yuck!!!

So I immediately brought her home, curtailing her desire to stop and smell everything, so I could wash my hand. I also washed the plastic part of the leash, since my poopy hand had gotten poop on the leash. It was so frustrating, but unfortunately it was not over.

As I washed up, Jordan slurped up a camel's-worth of water before we headed upstairs to my office. As is our routine, she follows me up the stairs and I give her a milk bone and verbal praise for her obedience. She ate it and then laid down to nap. All was well.

An hour or so later she roused herself from her nap and walked out of my office and down the hallway to the entrance of our bedroom. This wasn't alarming to me, since she sometimes migrates from the bare wood floor to an area rug. Since there's no area rug in my office, the one in the hallway seemed the closest, so I kept on working. Sometime later I needed to go to the bathroom so I walked down the hallway and found that Jordan had thrown up on floor next to the area rug. Again I entertained temporary fantasies of retaliation, such as pushing her out the 2nd story window, but instead I cleaned up the vomit and cursed her in my head. But there's more.

Around 3:00 I went downstairs for a drink and to get the mail. Since Jordan followed me downstairs I decided to suggest she go outside and pee, which she did. As a reward for peeing outdoors instead of indoors, I gave her lots of verbal praise and another milk bone. She ate it and slurped up another camel's-worth of water. I put the last few items in the dishwasher, added detergent, and turned it on. As I was walking from the kitchen passed the side door I saw Jordan had thrown up the water and milk bone on the side doormat! This time I considered dropping her off on the doorstep of the local animal shelter (and I wasn't thinking about the 'no-kill' one either), but instead I carefully picked up the rubber-backed mat and hung it over the porch railing, like the other one earlier in the day.

Then I looked at Jordan and said something that intentionally sounded like dialog from a Lifetime movie: "Why are you doing this to me? Why are you ruining my life? All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. Is this how you return that love?" But not feeling quite satisfied with that, I put on my 'street' voice and said "You're skatin' on thin ice, Sister. One more false step from you and its curtains. Curtains I tell ya!!!"

I think the 'street' voice was most effective, as she didn't give me anymore trouble the rest of the day.

Drag Queen name of the day: Jewel Reebox

Jordan

Jordan had another difficult night last night, and this morning we discovered she'd been biting a place near her tail to the point that it was very irritated and there was some blood.

So this morning Spouse called in sick, made an appointment at the vet, and took Jordan to get checked out. Turns out the poor girl has an infection and a rash, from an unknown source. They shaved the area she'd been biting and licking, exposing a very irritated, pink, swollen spot. The vet gave her a steroid shot, prescribed antibiotics, and gave Spouse some medicated powder to apply to the area when needed.

Jordan is obviously not feeling well. Her energy level is much lower than usual, but at least she's not scratching at herself like before. Hopefully the antibiotics will clear up the infection and she'll return to her normal self again.

When Spouse returned from the vet it was lunchtime. Again, the weather is absolutely unbelievable: sunny and 81 degrees, so we decided to put the top down on the convertible and 'treat' ourselves to lunch at our favorite lunch spot: Cafe Sole. We've been eating there for about 7-8 years, and almost always get the same thing. Spouse loves the Turkey Stuffer, which is basically Thanksgiving dinner on a roll. I am enamored by the Fried Oyster BLT with melted brie. Its heaven on a plate!

It is so gorgeous outside I was quite tempted to play hookie the rest of the afternoon. But I knew I had a conference call at 2:00 and figured I might was well finish out the day. So Spouse is taking a nap and I am back to work now.

I have my work out this evening at 5:00.

Drag Queen name of the day: Sheila Gree

Apple Scrapple

Apparently Father Fall won the fight against Mother Nature who seemed intent on keeping us spoiled by warm temperatures. The weather actually matches the calendar page now so there's no more denying the arrival of fall.

We didn't go for our regular Fri night dinner at the Miltonian. Rick & Nick were out of town, and Stephan & Wayne had invited us to their house for a happy hour. Wayne had made a bunch of holiday wreaths and floral centerpieces and had them out for folks to see and purchase if they felt so inclined. We enjoyed a drink and a nibble to eat, but only stayed for about an hour. We came home, ate pizza and Spouse flipped around between various crappy TV programs while I watched a Netflix DVD called 'Crutch', which I enjoyed.

Spouse made breakfast for us on Sat morning and then we putzed around the house until almost noon. Stephan & Wayne met us here at 12:30 and we headed to Bridgeville for the 14th annual Apple Scrapple Festival. It was wonderfully sunny, cool, and a little breezy; perfect festival weather. On our way to Bridgeville we stopped at a gas station where I accidentally backed into the gas pump, breaking the nozzle off the handle, and breaking the tail light on Spouse's CRV. How embarrassing. The owner of the station was not present but I talked to him on the phone. He called me back today to thank me for being honest about having broken the nozzle. Since the station was not open, I could very easily have gotten back in the car and driven away. The off-duty mechanic working on his own vehicle inside the garage did not see what happened. I had to interrupt his work to inquire about who to speak to about the pump. The owner said the nozzle will cost about $180. to replace. I told him to have it done and mail me the invoice, and I'd pay for it. He again expressed his gratitude for my honesty.

The Apple Scrapple Festival was a much bigger deal that we'd thought. Bridgeville is a very small town so we assumed the festival would be small and easily completed within an hour. Au contraire! Nearly the entire town was roped off for the festival, which consisted of live entertainment on a stage, lots of food vendors (including scrapple, of course), arts and crafts booths, products and services booths, booths selling apples, canned veggies and fruit, pickles, relish, and a rather impressive selection of classic and antique cars to peruse. We were shocked at home many people the festival attracted. Afterward we had an early dinner at Jimmy's Grill, where we ate quite possibly the best fried chicken in DE, if not the entire country.

We barely had time to feed and walk Jordan once we got home before we had to hop back in the car and go to Paul & Steve's for Movie Night. Paul & Steve converted their dining room (which they never used) into a full-fledged movie theatre, complete with a projection system, huge wall-sized screen, velvet drapes, authentic movie theatre candy counter and popcorn maker! These guys took the theme and really went with it, so watching movies with them is even better than going to the actual cinema. We watched "Victim", a 1960 British film about the blackmailing of gay men when simply being homosexual was against the law, based on a true story. It was really good.

Sun morning we slept in until 9:30, then watched "The Barefoot Contessa" and "Nigella Express" as we ate our sesame bagels and drank our blueberry flavored coffee. Unable to postpone it any longer, we started doing our 'serious' housecleaning. Spouse had suggested early in the week that we do a 'serious' housecleaning that coming weekend, and by Sun at noon we knew we'd have to get started. Surprisingly it didn't take as long as we thought, and Spouse abbreviated his portion a bit, deciding to mop the kitchen floor "another day".

Again it was bright and sunny, cool, and slightly breezy so we agreed to meet Rick & Nick at the beach at 2:30. We brought sweatshirts since its often cooler on the beach than at home, but the warmth of the sun kept us from needing to put them on. There was hardly anyone there, and the water was quite calm. Rick & Nick brought their new Sheltie puppy Zack with them. He really enjoyed the beach. We really enjoyed being able to just sit and talk with our friends on the beach for 2 hours, knowing there will very few if any more days like this until spring.

When we got home I showered and then made dinner. We had tacos and Mexican rice. Spouse watched '60 Minutes' and I watched a Netflix DVD called "Unconditional Love". Despite the star-studded cast which included Kathy Bates, the uber-yummy Rupert Everett, Vanessa Redgrave, Dan Akroyd, and Johnathan Pryce, the film was rather disappointing. The 1st half was good and engaging. I really felt for the lead character played by Kathy Bates, whose husband leaves her and whose favorite pop star dies. But the 2nd half just seemed to turn silly and insipid, falling short of even being campy. I really wanted to like this film but it just wasn't worth liking.

We both went to bed at 10:30, but were awakened several times throughout the night and early morning by our darling dog Jordan. We think she has allergies because there are times like last night where she will 'cough' for 15-20 seconds, loud enough to wake us up. Sometimes she does it during waking hours, which is far less irritating than last night when she woke us up no less than 6 times. Spouse took her into a guest bedroom and closed the door, but sometime later she began to whimper and scratch on the door, so he let her out of the guest room and back into our room. This happened 3 times. I don't fault Jordan for keeping us up all night, I fault Spouse. He should have made her stay in the guest bedroom after she'd woken us up twice. This morning when the alarm went off I felt as if I'd just taken a series of 15 minute cat naps.

Pet concern update: Pouncer and Jordan are both eating and pooping normally again. Just thought you'd want to know.

Now, I'm off to my work out.

Drag Queen name of the day: Lily Pewshun