Friday Dog Blogging

Gertie, a photo by KenCalvino on Flickr.

It's been a long week for Gertie. She's tired of my constant watch over her - and thankfully she's not had another seizure. A trend I hope continues.

One of her favorite places to hang out is on the ramp. Often times when she wants to go out - it's just to stand on the ramp and watch traffic and people go by. I took her out a bit ago and I had just grabbed my new camera to take some pictures when she saw a squirrel - which meant she had to come back inside! She must think that running away is lulling them into a false sense of security so they'll come even closer and she'll be able to catch one - or she's a big scaredy-cat!

A Scary 24 Hours

Thursday night I was watching the late, late show and thinking about heading off to bed. Gertie was nestled in my lap sound asleep, putting off heat like a blast furnace as usual. All of the sudden Gertie got up and looked as if she wanted to turn over but he head was shaking like mad, eyes rolling in her head, and her legs went stiff as a board. For the next two and half minutes My emotions swung back and forth like an annoying kid with a light switch. I went from being scared out of my wits for what was happening to Gertie to wanting to burst out in tears for the thought I was losing her. The whole time trying to stay calm and reassure her that she was going to be alright. Gertie was having a seizure. When it was over she collapsed in my arms and for the next hour or so she just slept. If I tried to wake her up her eyelids opened but immediately closed - as if to say don't bother me right now.

The vet tells me there are usually two reasons a dog has a seizure out of the blue like that - and while he tried to reassure me - I knew I wasn't going to like either one. It's strange that you hope your dog has epilepsy. But that's what I'm hoping. Because the alternative is a brain tumor - and I think we all know where that one will end up. So Gertie was on a 24 hour watch - another seizure would have been grave news I was told. Thankfully she has been her usual self since, wanting to play and generally seeing how many times she could crawl into my lap - and yesterday it was as much as she wanted. The vet says that sometimes a dog will have one seizure and never have another - that's my prayer. If she does have epilepsy there are medications for it - albeit with lots of side effects. That's a bridge we'll cross when and if the time comes.

Frog of the Day

Frog Reading Sculpture, a photo by KenCalvino on Flickr.

I finally got the battery in my camera and figured out how to turn it on! I've spent all morning but I got a picture - lol. Today the temperatures dropped into the 40's and so I sat here at my desk with Gertie curled up on my feet. I've got warm toes!

This frog collectible is a Frog Reading Sculpture and was made in India. It is made out metal, but quite light. It is 10 1/2 inches long and 3 inches high. I received this December 2010/January 2011.

Falling Apart

I turned 50 last week and falling apart this week! LOL Yesterday I went to stand up, just stand up, and pulled the tendon in my lower left leg. Ugh! Extremely painful! Last night I had to hobble to the curb to set out trash. I might have let it go a week but there was quite a bit - a giant box filled with 3 or 4 other boxes (that had smaller boxes in them - I get way too much stuff delivered at this house! lol) plus a big bag. So about halfway down the drive to the curb I'm hobbling along when my back gave out. And as Dave Letterman often shouts - And down goes Frasier! I honestly don't know how I made it on down the drive and back into the house - sheer will I guess. I collapsed in the chair and waited for the pain to subside a bit. I was just about feeling like I could breathe again when Gertie decided that she had to jump on me with one of her favorite toys ready to play. When I regained consciousness I decided to give up and go to bed!

Shopping

With my knees as bad as they are, it's tough to get out to go grocery shopping - so I end up buying whatever I can on-line. Recently I found Schwans for really good quality frozen food delivery. I went searching this morning for a site that sold the ancillary stuff - toilet paper, toothpaste, dog food, etc. I came across the site called Alice.com and I highly recommend it to anyone. Like many sites it takes a bit to get it all set up with your favorites but oh, how wonderful when it's all set up. The prices are almost the same as if you went to the grocery store - and for several of the products I purchased - IT WAS CHEAPER!! And manufacturer coupons are built right in. And wait for it - FREE SHIPPING. It arrives in 1 to 2 days directly to your door. I'm in heaven. I purchased all the non-food items on my grocery list, paid 38 dollars and it will arrive right to my door free of charge in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Hope you had a good weekend. Gertie and I spent as much time outdoors as possible because it will probably be the last nice warm weekend - almost 90 degrees here yesterday! Today we're going to be in the 60's and dropping into the 50's after that for the rest of the week - with overnight lows in the 30's. Now that's cold!

I finally got my new camera and am currently trying to figure out how to put the giant battery into this tiny little camera - lol. I'm gong to take some test shots today and then we should be ready, set, go!

Half a century, Columbus Day, and News

Columbus Day used to fall on October 12th. Always. No matter what day of the week it landed on. That made my birthday special - I was born on Columbus Day and every year parades were thrown all over the country in my honor (at least that's what I told myself - I wonder what kids who are born on Christmas tell themselves! - Some guy gives out presents to the whole world in honor of me! LOL) Anyway, the holiday was changed to land on a Monday. And Columbus is controversial. So I no longer say I was born on Columbus Day.

Half a century, the big 5-0. Or as I call it - just another day. The big traumatic birthday for me was 29 - I was on my way to 30 and life as I new it was over. Then I hit 30 and it was o.k. Now each year comes and goes and I'm happy with each and every one and each day inbetween. Cranky as hell - often. A total curmudgeon - guilty. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

So if you've been missing the frogs - don't despair. As you may remember my camera broke. I decided to buy a new one for my birthday and it will be here soon. A Panasonic 14.something mega-something something something. Sounds fancy and I'm sure I'll need a day or two to figure out all the bells and whistles - but I'm hoping for better pictures with the higher MP's. Then the box of frogs I have sitting here can be put up - who knows. If the pictures are great I might have to start re-shooting some of the earlier ones - we'll see.

A lot of time has been devoted to the book this last week. I've gotten lots of new information to put in it. This thing's never going to press! Hopefully another year - maybe two. Time to get this day started.....

Paper Problems Post Script

Did I get a paper Thursday - Yes, but only because I called at 4 p.m. just to be sure that I was going to get one. I wasn't. They told me I hadn't paid my bill. Which was a lie. I told them the date the check was given to them and the date (almost an entire month earlier) that they cashed it and it was posted on my account as paid. After a brief time on hold they came back and said that they had just my first name and not my last so they didn't know who the payment belonged to. I called them on the bullshit and said I better have a paper or my money. About 10 minutes later a knock on my door and it was a delivery person with my newspaper. The drama is over - thank goodness.

I started laughing hysterically when I opened the door to let out Gertie Friday morning. There in the little metal hoops underneath my mailbox was another copy of the newspaper from the regular delivery person. Oh well - and there was no news in the paper worth relaying.

Paper Problems

Last Thursday I didn't get a newspaper. Of course, you can't call and complain that you didn't get a newspaper until after 5 o'clock. They told me that was to be sure that the carrier had time to get around. Unfortunately what they neglect to say is that after 5 o'clock the office is closed and so it does absolutely no good at all to call at 5 o'clock. And I can tell you it does no good to call at 4:55 either. They may be there but they aren't picking up the phone! So yesterday again, no paper. We only get a paper twice a week - missing a day is missing half a week's news! So now I'm a bit hot under the collar. I took my blood pressure medicine and had all my facts and figures laid out in front of me and dialed the number of the office.

Now the person who takes care of such matters is the circulation office. And from what I've been able to glean from the number of phone calls to the office - only one person works in the circulation office and is on a permanent break. No matter what time you call to talk with the circulation office - a message has to be taken and they'll get back to you. Which they never do.

And that was what happened again today. I spoke with a gentleman who I'm convinced has smelled way too much printer's ink. After about five minutes he had my name and phone number and my complaint. Then he offers to bring out the two papers that I have missed. Jokingly I said who wants to read yesterday's news? To which he hung up. I hope I get a newspaper tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath...

A Cool Weekend

The temperatures here at Frog Central have turned much cooler - into the 30's and 40's overnight. Brrr! Over the weekend I wasn't feeling the greatest and all I wanted to do was stay in bed with the covers pulled up under my chin. Gertie did not appreciate that sentiment at all. Yesterday was the St. Stephens annual barbeque. I'm not catholic but they have the best chicken barbeque fundraiser and I look forward to it every year. You don't even get out of your car - just drive by and pick it up. Usually there is a line of cars waiting for two blocks. This year it was empty. The number on my ticket was 633 - I'm not sure if that's how many dinners they sold or not. And no dessert this year. Too bad. All the good events seem to be going down hill lately. Something else to blame on the economy I guess.

I drove by the ice cream place on the way home and picked up some nachos to have with my chicken. Yes, this town is very weird - the ice cream place sells nachos. Just like our bakery sells everything but baked goods. The ice cream place on the other end of town - all of a one minute drive in heavy traffic - sells great BBQ beef sandwiches and hot dogs. As I said, this town is a bit weird.

The big news for October other than my birthday is the town Halloween parade. It's the largest event and the whole town turns out. The theme this year is super heroes. I can only imagine what type of floats they'll come up with. Late summer and early Fall is parade time here. We've already had the Senior's parade, Homecoming parade, Senior's parade, Children's parade, and about a dozen others. Every time I have to drive through town it seems the one street is blocked off for another parade. And yes we have one main street that runs through town. Something my grandmother would have called a one-horse town. lol

The book has been going great - 4 chapters are now done. The 5th has already brought some challenges and a new family with about 70 descendant's to add. Genealogy is a lot of fun but it can be very frustrating. Back to work.....