Making Life Easier

 Last year I read a book that talked about how you can make things easier on yourself when you're feeling overwhelmed.  Things like telling yourself that you're deprioritizing something (say laundry) today.  Or having the one use toothbrushes (ready with toothpaste on them) on your bedside table if you were so exhausted you'd crawled into bed without brushing your teeth.  And dry shampoo.  Things like that.

One of the tips that I particularly liked was making your bed in what amounts to layers.  The idea is to have your bed made with several layers of sheets - flat and fitted - so that instead of having to do laundry all the time, you can just pull off a layer of bedsheets and be ready to go and not even have to make the bed again.

With that in mind, I ordered a mattress pad and some "travel" bedsheets to put in between each layer of bedsheets.  It's been working great!  I love it!

Well, then a few days ago, I went to strip the bed of a layer of bedsheets.  I pulled up the comforter and made the bed all nice and everything.  I was a happy camper!

Until I went to bed.  Long story short, in my zeal to strip the bed, I apparently took off the flat sheet of the next level because when I crawled into bed, there was no flat sheet - just the fitted sheet.  Another long story short, I've only been using the comforter to cover up in bed the last few days because I "deprioritized" pulling the flat sheet back out and putting it back on the bed.

Funny how that works, isn't it?  😜

Royal Dream

 Last night I dreamed that the royal family was visiting.  I take that back, it was the royal men visiting.  Kate had remained in England for the visit.  At least initially.

Next thing I know, Kate is in the states and coming to me trying to find William.  I start digging through my notes to see how he can be reached but I can't find them.  She's getting very anxious because she desperately needs to reach him - which is why she came to the states, after all.

I spend all this time trying to track him down and eventually we do and I overhear what she tells him.  I don't recall now what it was she said to him but I remember thinking it was something she could've waited until he got home to relay to him.  It didn't warrant traveling to another country to track him down to tell him.

Anyway, after she found him, she started making appearances herself - since she was here and all.  And she left their baby with me.  Yes, she'd just had a new baby a few months ago (at least in the dream).

So, I was doting on the baby.  I think the baby may have spit up on itself or something because I decided I needed to give the baby a bath.  I was doing so in the sink.  The baby had on a bracelet and was wearing earrings.  The bracelet came off and went down the drain.  Then both of the earrings did as well.  I was very upset and terrified how I was going to tell the princess.

I asked the advice of several people, who didn't want to be involved in anyway and let me on my own.

When the princess came back, feeling sick to my stomach, I managed to get out that the baby's bracelet had washed down the drain.  She looked confused because she wasn't aware of any bracelet the baby had on.  I mentioned that it resembled a string one might tie around their finger to remind them of something (even though the baby wasn't old enough to be able to need to remember anything).  She acknowledged that and seemed unconcerned.

I told her that there was more and then told her about the earrings.  She was also unconcerned about them as well, which was a great relief.

Then she went back to signing things for fans.  Someone came back to me and handed me a signed bookmark that she had signed for me (because she knew I love to read).  The person that brought it to me said it said something along the lines of she hated me and wanted nothing to do with me.  But in reality, it thanked me for helping her out in a time of stress and said she'd be forever grateful to me.

She walked over to me and I thanked her and she hugged me.

That's all I remember about it.  Weird dream but made her seem as kind and down to earth as she appears otherwise.  😀

A Call From the Doctor

So, a short while ago my phone rang.  It's earlier than I like to get calls in the morning but I didn't even notice that part of it when the call came in.  I just thought about how it was interrupting what I was doing - which was packing.

I see the caller ID and I suspect it's the doctor's office, but I answer it anyway.

They start the call by saying who they are and who they are with.  Then they say they are looking for me.  I let them know they reached me and then they did something that did not sit well with me - at all.  They asked me to prove it was me!

I said, "You called me!"  As I was hanging up the phone (I wasn't in the mood to deal with people who call me and expect me to prove it's me!), I heard them saying something which I assume was them explaining why I would have to prove my identity to someone that called me.  It was several minutes before they tried calling me again, and I chose that time to not pick up at all.  They haven't tried again.

Here's the thing though, anyone who would be at my house and picking up my phone would be able to answer the questions the caller would ask.  Not to mention, identifying what they're calling about before saying who they are calling, defeats the purpose of having the person prove who they are because the "privacy" issue has already been breached.  It's ridiculous.

Having said all that, I think they want to move a follow up appointment I have scheduled for a few weeks from now.  It's been on the calendar for six months and they called a few weeks ago to move it but only offered one date and time, which I couldn't do.  I mean, if the doctor has a conflict, that doesn't change, just because the patient can't move to a specific date and time - and my appointment hasn't changed.

Anyway, the whole thing annoyed me because who calls someone and then demands they prove they are who they say they are?  How do I know the caller is who they say they are?

I'm wondering, has anyone else ever experienced this before and, if so, how did you handle it? 

I Love My Dogs!

 Well, first of all, in 2024 I only posted on blog post in the whole year.  I was so proud of myself for upping my game last year but it would appear it's almost been ten months since my last post!  Guess I didn't keep up with that!  Anyway . . . 

So, in my living room I have a basket (I think it was intended as a magazine rack at one time) where I keep all the dogs' toys.  I will put them up and then all of a sudden the floor will be covered with them.  I'll even find some in my bed!  But I rarely see how that happens.  It's like they just appear out of nowhere.

Yesterday I pulled out a toy to play with Oreo with while Benji was sunning in the front yard (he wasn't interested in coming into the house - at all!).  Oreo was interested in the attention, but not the toy.  So I kind of tossed it aside, not putting it in the box.

Well, just a short while ago, Benji came into the living room and looked at the random toy that wasn't in the basket, turned his nose at it and then went to the basket.

He pulled out what looked like two toys at once and was sniffing them and seriously had a look on his face like they smelled and he wasn't interested in them.  That got my attention and when I looked over, he looked at me like he wanted to play before he went back over towards the toys he pulled out and the basket.

I heard him playing with a toy and realized it wasn't any of the toys that had already "escaped" the basket, meaning he had gone in for more.

I kind of laughed and he looked up at me again and next thing I knew, he had gone into the other room.

Meanwhile, the original toy that he disregarded is now on the other side of the room and I see several other toys out that weren't previously out and not the one he had been playing with.

I'm willing to bet that the next time I go into the bedroom that there will be a toy in there as well.

So, I have some toys to pick up but I'm smiling as I write that because I love my dogs and sometimes they're just so funny.  😁

What Day is it?

 It's not even 1:30 in the afternoon yet and I've already had to remind myself that today is Friday - NOT Saturday more than a few times.  I don't know why my brain is stuck on thinking it's Saturday but it's already driving me a little nuts.

I went to the grocery store around 9:00, which is later than I like to go because of the crowds (I'm not a big shopper and these days I usually do curbside for groceries but I decided to go in today and do my own shopping), but I figured it wouldn't be too bad - even on a Saturday.  Then I remembered it's NOT Saturday and figured it really wouldn't be bad at the store because most people would be working at 9:00 a.m. and not shopping, right?

Well, even though it's NOT Saturday, the store was packed!  I bought a lot of stuff I didn't need (another reason why curbside is such a good option!).  I made it out alive though so I take that as a win.

Anyway, I keep looking to see what's on TV and getting surprised that certain shows are on on a Saturday before I remember it's NOT Saturday!

Then I mentally made a list of things I need to do next week when things are open before I realize, I can do those things TODAY because today is Friday, NOT Saturday.

Seriously, I cannot believe I have such a brain freeze where today is concerned.  It makes me wonder what day I will think tomorrow is and what the holiday on Monday will do related to what day I think it is.

But for now, I just have to remember that today is NOT Saturday!

The Vet's Office

 I was just looking at my last couple of posts and realized they were about vet visits for my dogs.  The last one seemed like there was basically a happy ending to it but turns out that wasn't the case.

Two days after I started giving Oreo the antibiotic prescribed (that I rightfully predicted I would have to force feed him), I took the dogs to the park to walk them and as soon as we got out of the car, Oreo started throwing up.  Not a lot but in hindsight, I should've been concerned about the color of it, but that's beside the point now.

I called the vet's office when I got home from the park and told them Oreo had thrown up and they said it was likely because of the antibiotic he was on and told me to cut back his dosage (from twice a day to once a day).  We got up the next morning and before I could give him any medication, he threw up again.  I decided then that I wouldn't be giving him any more of the medication.  I meant to call the vet to let them know and see if there was something else I could give him but I never called them.

Two days after that, we were at the park again and about halfway through our walk (we were walking about an hour a day when we'd go there), Oreo stopped and didn't want to continue.  It was very unlike him.  When he did finally start moving again he stopped to poop - and it was diarrhea and it was bloody.  I got the dogs to the car as quickly as I could and took them straight to the vet's office.

I was told they didn't have any openings for that day but they suggested I could leave Oreo with them and the vet could examine him between visits, so I did that.

I got a call about an hour and a half later (way before I expected to hear from them) saying that Oreo would be spending the night with them.  They said he had hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.   He needed fluids, vitamins and who knows what all else.  They had to hook him up to an IV drip.  I got told that if he survived the first 24 hours, he should be okay.  My fear level - on a scale of 1-10 - was at about a thousand!  He had been throwing up on Monday and on Thursday he had bloody diarrhea!

Well, he survived the night and they let me bring him home.  I was told to discontinue our hour long walks until he "recovered" from this - and then they didn't say how long it would take to recover.

Two weeks later I took both dogs in for their annual check ups and shots.  I had them run full blood panels on both dogs, something I would've done whether or not Oreo had gone through this ordeal or not but I wasn't going to leave without the tests because of the ordeal!

Benji's results were perfect.  Oreo's looked almost identical to what they were when he had to spend a night at the vet's office.  Yet they said he was fine and we could continue our hour long walks again.  I pointed out the numbers on the lab tests and they said "oh that's just because of what he went through two weeks ago".  Um, didn't he spend the night there for that?  If the treatment didn't completely fix it to where two weeks later you can't tell he had anything done, what was the point of him staying overnight?  I don't know what to think at this point.

That all said, Oreo seems fine.   I still haven't resumed our hour long walks (we were doing 30 minutes when we were on the "break" and that's still what we're doing - usually multiple times a day, just not all at once, like before) and I've been watching him like a hawk.  I worry about my furbabies because they can't tell us what feels bad or hurts and they don't always show it until it's late in the case.  I feel I need to take him back for more lab work (possibly at another vet) just to see how he's doing.  Not to mention, if his labs weren't going to be any better two weeks later, I think they should've mentioned that before I had them run (probably would've anyway but at least it wouldn't be such a shock to see the results).

I did recently buy them some toys that have some funny stories attached to them (at least in my opinion) but I'll save those for another post.  😀

Another Vet Visit

I called my vet nearly three weeks ago to schedule an appointment for my dog, Benji.  I take him every two months to get shots for his allergies.  When I called I was told the vet was out for the week (I assume spring break) and it was scheduled for late the next week.

Well, that next week was the week all the storms were coming through.  We were in the area where severe storms and tornadoes were expected.  We were fortunate in that we ended up being on the bubble - just outside where all the tornadoes actually hit, but that wasn't a given and we were playing it by ear all week.  So, when my appointment date arrived, I called and asked to reschedule it.  I also added an appointment for Oreo because he had been licking his foot for a week at that point.  He tends to get grass seeds stuck between his toes and the vet has to fish them out and I wanted him to look at his foot to see if that was the issue - and if so, treat it as necessary.

Today was the first appointment they had available, so I took it.  By this morning though, Oreo had stopped licking his foot for at least a few days and I assumed it had resolved itself.  But, given the appointment time, I wasn't sure the receptionist had booked a time for both dogs.

When we got to the vet's office and were called back, the vet tech had Oreo get on the table and took his temperature.  I thought it was a little odd but didn't say anything.  The vet tech went to leave the room and stopped himself and said he probably should do a fecal test.  I asked why he was doing a fecal test and his response was "it's probably his anal glands".  I asked what he thought Oreo was there for (as he took the fecal matter) and he repeated that it was probably just his anal glands.

I responded that Oreo was there because of a hurt foot (not sure why I worded it that way, but it is what I said).  He said he'd have to go check the record to see what it said.

Turns out, when I told the receptionist that he was licking his foot again, she noted that he had a leaky butt!  I guess I can see how that mistake could be made and it all worked out in the end (no pun intended!).

The vet looked at his foot and he could see the place he had been licking and assumed the grass seed (which was the diagnosis) had already worked itself out but he had an abscess there that was ready to pop so he popped it, gave him a shot and sent me home with antibiotics that I will have to force feed Oreo.

Benji also got his shot and cried out in pain - worse than he has in the past and pulled away so not all of it went into him.  It looked like a good amount was left but the vet tech said it was a small amount and didn't matter.  So, hopefully it will be okay.  Benji immediately forgave the vet tech for hurting him but Oreo . . . he's not as forgiving.  😉