Bye Bye Summer

Wow....here it is the end of August! This was a quick one....I have actually been here in my new place 5 months already....and still don't have a parking space. It is okay tho', I usually can find a spot on the street in front of the building - although I did have to park by the park and hike a couple blocks one time. I guess I am either 2nd or 3rd on the waiting list but the people who either move out or die don't seem to have cars - thus no parking spaces empty...I will be patient!!

Fritz seems to be back to his old self....tho he is still coughing a little. But he's perky and bouncy and "bright eyed and bushy tailed" again. So I will call the vet and let him know and hopefully we won't need to go in for X-rays.....surely don't need that expense.

Tuesday I had my annual mammogram and all is well there!

Friday was Brooke's birthday and we had dinner at a pizza/grinder place in Kirkland. We then went out to the Snoqualmie Casino for a while. I only risked ten bucks which I figured was cheap entertainment for the evening.

Then yesterday was Isaac's birthday and Marcia and I traveled up to lake Stevens for that. He is now 6 years old and will enter school - maybe even today. It was a beautiful day and we were out in the back yard....the theme was pirates and pizza.....and there was lots of both. A fun time!! Then Marcia and I went to the Tulalip casino for a while where I didn't do so well .....She did tho', and shared - so the damage wasn't too bad. Fun, fun day.

Looks like a fairly empty week coming up.....talk to you later.

Results

This morning I took Fritz to the vet....of course he wasn't coughing like he did all day yesterday...but dear, sweet Dr Young gave him a good going over the the upshot is that he most likely has a respiratory infection....and he also has a small heart problem. He gave me a weeks worth of pills to give him and I am to call with whether or not he is better after all of those are gone. If not, then x-rays are in order - and they'll be able to tell the extent of the heart problem then as well. He does seem a lot better...still sleeping a lot...but he actually barked at a big dog this afternoon - and I cheered!

So then it was my turn at the eye doctor....the upshot of that is that I will have surgery in two weeks to pull my lower eye-lid back out. At first I thought they were just going to pluck the lower eyelashes out - but that didn't happen - fortunately...this surgery will be bad enough - but still not as bad as when they did the injection in the eyeball.

All this and it is only Monday!!

forgot about this...

As we were driving down I-5, we notice the car in front of us weaving in and out of the lane....very scary - so we decided to pass the car and guess what - the chick was TEXTING! So - Joce called 911 and reported her.....we pulled over first and let her pass so we could grab the license number. An Oregon driver! Gave the info to the 911 lady and lo and behold a call came in from WA State patrol confirming the info. We had to take the exit to the Narrows bridge in Tacoma so don't know what happened - but the patrolman assured her they would take care of the situation. It was very frightening....she swayed nearly half way into the next lane and then nearly half way into the shoulder. Joce was honking her horn at her like crazy - very dangerous!

Feelin' puny...

Poor old Fritz is feeling down-right puny these days! He went to the vet on Monday and got - among a jillion other shots - his rabies shot. Ever since then he has been unable to get up on my lap - or onto the bed - without help....so unlike him! The ladies down in the "social room" tell me that is fairly common when older dogs get rabies shots. He also has arthritis in his hind-quarters, which is certainly not helping. Now he has started coughing....so I will return to the vet tomorrow morning. Thursday morning when he didn't come when I called, I got down on my knees to see if he was under the bed - and actually alive - and yes to both concerns. I could reach him and stuck my hand under there and he growled and snapped at my hand. He still comes running - sorta- when I rattle my keys - and the tail still wags when that happens,. But he just stands there while I attach the leash as opposed to wriggling with excitement and peeing on the kitchen floor,. He actually sits down in the elevator instead of poking his nose at the door so he can get out of there.

Yesterday, Jocelyn and I took a trip to Port Orchard to visit Mort's brother, John. John turned 91 last month and has just come off stint of pneumonia. He was down for his afternoon nap when we got there so we didn't stay long. He knew who we were and asked about all of our family - including grand kids - most of whom he knew their names. Amazing. He even knew I had moved down to Renton and asked if I was still volunteering at the hospital. Needless to say he was delighted we were there - but told us we had better go before he started preaching at us....He has been worried about my soul as long as I have known him.... and conversation always gets around to that. It was a beautiful day for the trip, and we had lunch down by the water and then roamed around the farmers' market a bit, and drove home. All in all a very nice venture,.

Tomorrow I go back to the eye doctor....this eye business is mighty annoying. Evidently my lower eyelid has turned inward and the eyelashes are rubbing against the eyeball. Very strange!! Wonder what - if anything - be done about THAT??!! I'll keep you posted.

Tuesday is the annual mammogram and that about covers it for next week....and we are almost into September, already...can you believe it? Have a good week!!

I LOVE Julia!

Yesterday, Dian and I went to see Julie and Julia.....and loved, loved, loved it! Meryl Streep was magnificent as Julia Child....and both the stories were wonderful. What an undertaking to cook ones way through a cookbook in a year. and, for that matter, what an undertaking to actually write a cookbook - although it did take her longer than a year to do it. I realize these days the food network folks crank out a cookbook almost every year but I betcha none of them had to go through the hoops Julia Child did! Aside from the fact that my resolve is nothing like Julie's, I really doubt I could have cooked every single recipe in the book, back in the day. Now I let Stouffers do my cooking for me....

I took Fritz to the vet this morning. Every morning from 9 to 11 they have open hours where you can bring your pet without an appointment. The place was packed! Fritz has been chewing on a spot on his hind leg - and I wanted to get something to stop that...besides I knew he was behind on his shots. Dr. said that he probably had arthritis in his "knee" and that's why he was chewing.. Gave him some pain pills which I give to him for a week and he should be okay from now on. I surely never noticed he was having pain....still jumps up and down just fine. He got his shots and we were on our way. Lots of dogs there today, as well as cats. Soon as we got there he started trembling and sat on my lap the whole time we were waiting. Didn't even bark at the big dogs - which is so unlike him. He still weighs 9 pounds like he has for most of his life. I also took him for grooming on Saturday and once again he looks like a toy fox. So cute! Needless to say, I love my dog!! - and he needs to go out again....talk to you later.

It has beenn so long......

since I last wrote, I had to reset my password. Sorry about that!! Actually not a whole lot has happened since last post. Thankfully, the weather got cooler - that heat was way too much! Fritz pulled out of it okay, after all - as did I. Thankfully the air conditioner worked like a charm.

Oh yes - I almost forgot - I was a winner at the casino!! How could I forget that???!! Playing "50 Lions" I won $400 and playing something about "fairies" I won another 100.....shared 100 with Joce, played another 100 and came home with 300 - 200 of which I still have. How about that! Very cool!

Susie went home - with Maggie - and left Henry here for another week. Marcia took him home on Friday - and she will return day after tomorrow. It was so wonderful to have then all here - wish we could seen them oftener.

Tomorrow will be Dian's birthday....wow those years sure do fly by, don't they!! Week from yesterday will be Susie's birthday and the week after that - on the 28th - will be Brooke's.

Brooke now has a "due date" - March 4 - and we are all pretty stoked about that! I am pulling out my knitting needles and patterns once again. March seems a long way away but it will be here before we know it.

I read in the paper this morning, that my best childhood friend, Shirley Anne, passed away the other day....I hadn't seen her for several years. She and her husband and daughter ran a bed and breakfast in Everett for 8 years or so - Gaylord House. It was a nice one. She was six months or so older that me - and could never imagine having the energy to bake all those cookies and climb all those stairs - but she did it.

Went down to play pinochle this afternoon....and I actually CHEATED!!! I am embarrassed to say. I had three legs and my partner was in the process of melding 40 jacks when I said, without thinking, "why don't you pass me those jacks - since they are losers anyhow? " Of course that gave me 300 pinochle.......they actually let me get away with that - which I doubt would have happened down in Seaside,.....In the end, the other team won the match - by 3 points- so I guess justice was served after all!

Yesterday was my volunteer day and I had to go in early because so many folks are on vacation these days.....ended up working two shifts - and I was pooped by the end of the day. There were 12 surgeries to keep track of and tons of odd questions to answer. Fortuanately I had a great gal to work with - not the odd woman I have had the last couple of months. I am being sort of polite when I call her "ODD", believe me!

Well, I'd better get to gettin'......still have dishes to do from this morning AND yesterday....and it is nearly dinner time. I will try to post a bit oftener from now on......