Hot Diggity Dog

  Unable to sleep. Despite the magnesium I dutifully swallowed and all the other rituals observed I still can't seem to fall asleep. I was on the brink when Charming Eddie decided to roll off his pillow and lie as close as possible to me. I was on my side, and my arm went around the little guy on its own. I was gently scratching his tummy and tugging at his fur, just the way Mr. BoJangles likes and has trained my left hand to do, when I found a chunk of matted fur. It felt like he had been chewing at it, trying to remove it himself and it was hanging by just a little bit. My fingers went to work, pulling one strand of fur at a time until it was off. I was quite pleased with my efforts, as Eddie is not one to succumb to scissors or the clippers. I was drifting towards dreamland when my fingers discovered another mat. I carefully slipped out of the bed as my mind was trying to remember where the scissors I last used to cut my own hair with were. I didn't want to turn on a light, ...

  Yesterday the rain held off until after dark. The Patient had a little cabin fever, so we went outside. He thought he was going to hike up our driveway to take an up-close look at the mower. I knew he probably wouldn't be able to but went along. He didn't make it as far as I did. I stopped on the way back down to grab a few weeds. Good intentions and all ..... I put my foot on a crumbly board to lean across the ditch and remove all the spent stalks of a daylily. I pulled them all out and then addressed the dead leaves at the bottom. All was right in my world until I took my foot off that board. The yellow jackets have taken up residence under that board and as soon as my foot took the pressure off, they were in attack mode.  I never learn, it would seem. I know full well that late summer is when they are prevalent. They swarmed me and started stinging. Oh, how those little monsters hurt. I ran down the driveway yelling and waving my arms to ward them off. My right shoulder w...

  The past month has been trying. Yesterday we visited our primary care doctor to get the results of The Patient's latest blood draw. I may have mentioned that The Patient is .... difficult. He rarely follows directions or helpful advice. That is not going to change at this stage in his life. Back in earlier days he broke his foot. In fact, that particular year our entire family broke something, with the exception of my youngest. And yes, she felt left out. She was very vocal about it, as well. I broke my foot for the second time; Jill broke her toe and Jeff broke a foot. It was so bad that when I called the orthopod's office his receptionist would simply inquire, "Which one of you this time." The kids and I obeyed doctor's orders and healed our broken bones without incident. The Patient was the last one to see the doctor. I warned our doctor that The Patient would be challenging. He soon found out that was an understatement. I don't remember how many casts we...

  The rain has eased up, and only scattered showers are falling after the sun goes down. Despite that, I can't seem to escape this house. I try to simply walk outside when he is occupied with something. That something is his phone. If this technology had been available when he was a very young man, I doubt seriously he would have done anything! Still working on my dwarf garden. I went out this morning to gather the long dead stems from my daylilies that have stopped blooming. They will make a great thatch roof to go over one of the "doors" into the giant oak tree. I barely had a handful when my phone rang summoning me back to do The Patient's bidding. He was hungry. To convince someone that he was extra needy, he had that strange grimace on his face. I wanted to fetch a mirror for him, since he obviously needs practice to make it look real. Whatever, I popped a frozen sausage biscuit in the microwave and decided I would not get anything done unless I was inside today....

  It rains every day. Not just a gentle shower, but torrential downpour. Then it will subside and the sun will shine for a time, then the sky will darken for an instant replay. The patient continues to be constantly needy and in what he decrees as excruciating pain. I question his ability to accurately describe the pain, since he will fall asleep shortly after the declaration without the aid of pain killers. I long to escape the confines of my house and hike up to my playhouse and sort sewing and craft accessories. No moans of pain or requests for this and that will assault the peace there! I am afraid to do so lest I get stuck up there with the rain. I would be fine, but The Patient would not. I am still dealing with a half screen on my laptop. I just deal with it, or don't even try to fix it or even open it up. Some time ago, back in the days of kampground doings, I discovered that someone had left three of the seven dwarfs on a site. They were faded and dirty, but I still gather...

  Have I expressed just how difficult The Patient is? He has not had a shower for 4 days. I rinsed the dirt and blood off, but there was no soap or deodorant involved. No way to put this delicately, but he does not smell good. I have a very sensitive odor detector. I smell everything and can usually pinpoint the source. When you have an adrenaline rush, your body emits an odor unlike any other. Very pungent and unpleasant. So, when I awoke this morning, I determined that a shower was going to happen. Besides, lying in bed non-stop for two days is long enough. I know that getting up and on your feet is painful but will make you feel better in the long run. A shower is the best therapy when you are miserable as far as I am concerned. The Patient disagrees. I left him grumbling in the recliner while I stripped the bed and remade it while the sheets were in the washer. He had it in his head that he would immediately occupy that fresh sheeted bed. I told him he was not allowed in the be...

  One of the questions The Patient asked yesterday was about his cell phone. He wanted to know if I had found it. I had not looked since getting the truck up the drive was foremost in my mind. I did go look after I had calmed my mind with the help of my dog and cat therapy. I grabbed the garden rake with the extra-long handle and headed up my driveway and down the adjacent drive to the scene of the crime. I called his phone and I could hear it, but I could not see it. The phone case is black, making my task near impossible.  The underbrush was thorny, but I had put on a pair of jeans knowing that. I tried raking where I thought the ring tone sounded. I found lots of paper debris that people toss from their vehicles, a dogfood bowl that I had been looking for and dirt and leaves. No phone magically appeared. I decided to use the rake as a walking stick and attempt to go down into the ditch that was maybe 6' deep. I saw a foot hold and tried it. It was muddy from all the rain of...

  We walked out of the hospital and into the night. Did I mention my night-blindness? Under normal circumstances, I would never attempt to drive at night. History has taught me that the ordinary is not noteworthy. Stress never brings out the best in me. Some things make me want to curl into a ball and cry, and while that would be a great release, it would not help me navigate dark roads. Instead, I broke out in a cold sweat. I could feel rivulets of sweat cascading down my back and underarms and scalp. By the time I had backed the truck out of the parking space, my hair was wet and my clothes were stuck to my skin. The air-conditioning felt like ice, and I was shivering (not in anticipation). The road from Blairsville to Hiawassee is being changed to 4 lanes. Safety cones line both sides of the route approved for traffic. You would think that would be a help for someone with my vision. Instead, the headlights sent out a beam that seemed to strike the reflective part of the cone and...

  Yesterday's post is still lingering, waiting for an opportunity to get to the icon for publishing that says 'post'. You can see that this is very frustrating. Back to the story. After thanking all the cats for their concern as we walked into the yard, he made it up the steps and into the house. Toni must have sensed something was amiss, as she decided to stand in front of The Man with adoring cloudy eyes and block his path to the bathroom. I had to pick her up and move her. Time to assess the damage. It took some doing, but he finally got his shirt off. I had the scissors ready to cut it off, but he was adamant about saving the stupid shirt. It has a hole in the back where a branch or something poked through. I was hoping to limit the mess that removing his shirt would make to the bathtub. I didn't.  He was still holding his left arm close and said his shoulder hurt. I managed to rinse the blood and dirt off. Lots of scratches. nothing major. He is on blood thinners, ...

Did you think I fell off the face of the earth? I feel like I did and have finally crawled back onto a flat surface. My laptop is still not cooperative. I have to catch it unaware, and I can finally do something, though only on a half screen. Never letting The Man choose one for me again. That is a task for my son.  Finally finding ourselves with no doctor visits pending, I was getting the RV ready to roll. It has been humid and hot, so I used the hottest portion of the day to bathe two dogs. Eddie is still shunning me for making him get clean. Bo loved it. My back hated it. It didn't cool down until around 6:30 and I was going out in my pjs to make the RV bed and inventory clothes and supplies to see what I would need to load. As you all know, well maybe you forgot, The Man has a favorite chore. It is getting the mail. He is not so patiently waiting for his new glasses. It has been a month, and he was told two weeks. That was like telling a toddler he could have a snack in an hour...

  Seems like my laptop is suffering attacks as often as the weather is flooding regions of our country. As if that is not enough, I have to jump through hoops to get my blog back. The weather is lovely here and I spent some time outside in the gardens. I wish I could download pictures, but my efforts seem to annoy the powers that rule the internet. It is all I can do to stay online, much less try to learn a new trick. I took The Man by his hand and we walked outside. What I saw was completely different than his view. His carport has become his dumping ground. Well, besides the back seat of his truck. Inside he tends to use my coffee station. Did you hear me scream "WET AREA" when I had to pull all the mail and receipts piled there when they got wet and left a gooey mess of paper pulp. You say you didn't? Well, you certainly should have. I asked him what he saw as he looked around. He saw the cute kittens frolicking in the front yard and what he calls periwinkles everywher...

I am sleeping too much! First, I can't seem to get to sleep, then I find myself longing to crawl back into bed all day long. This is not right. I woke this morning at 6:02, thanks to our alarm system, Toni Louise, barking her fool head off and jumping around excitedly. Nothing new here, she wakes every morning in the 6:00 range. She wears a diaper at night, so that can't be her issue. She wants to be fed. I get up and let all the dogs out and greet Kevin, the cat at the door. He stays out at night with Lucy and her kittens. By morning he is so happy to see me. He butts my head and I butt his. Then after greeting each one of the dogs, he jumps into the recliner belonging to The Man and sleeps. I decided to try withholding feeding time until 7:00 in an attempt to change the time on Toni's internal clock. She will give me the stink eye and wander back to the bathroom where she arranges herself over the air vent. Is she going through menopause and having hot flashes? I have fin...

  My laptop developed a virus! Just add that to all my current mishaps! It was 47 degrees when I woke this morning. A bit nippy. I had to locate a sweater to wear as I was hurrying to accompany The Man to his cardiologist appointment. He was rebuked by the nurse practitioner for not keeping track of his blood pressure. He didn't hear her and had that deer in the headlight look on his face. He won't just tell people that he is having trouble hearing them. I have to do it. Other than neglecting to monitor his blood pressure, he is fine for another 6 months. While I was recovering from my ill-fated hand surgery, The Man ordered new hearing aids. He swore this was going to revolutionize his world. I was pessimistic. He needs to be evaluated by an audiologist to be properly fit with some that actually work. My prediction of doubt proved to be true. They were different, in that you didn't have to fiddle with the volume on the device itself. It came with pocket sized computer to d...

  As I sit here, BoJangles is at my side, eyeing the keyboard as I type. He must have something he would like to say, but it is my turn today. Hand is still swollen, but the pain has subsided a lot. I was able to mow the grass in the dog yard today. All the recent rain has the grass growing to new heights! It was so high I had to mow twice. Once with the blade higher, then again with the blade lowered. The Man say I am scalping the grass with the blade too low. He said it was not meant to be that low and to go up a notch. I told him if it wasn't meant to be used, it would not be there.  Anyway, I won that argument. After all this time of me mowing, years and years, I can pick the level I want the blade. I like the grass very short for many reasons. It is easier to scoop poop. Long grass makes it possible to end up with a surprise on the bottom of your shoe. Also, very short grass is not inviting to snakes. I have nothing against snakes as long as they stay away from my yard an...

  Hi, it is me again, Bo. Mom's hand hurts today and she told me I could take over the blog. Well, just for today. It has been a stressful morning at our house. Toni Louise needs to reset her internal clock. She cares not that time has changed to Daylight Savings Time. It is still dark at 6:00 when she stands at the foot of Mom's bed and barks. I tried to tell her that we should all wait another hour and let Mom sleep. Mom yells, "No, Toni, it is sleeping time." Then Toni barks again. This time Dad bellows, "Stop it!" Mom got up to take us dogs out. She was not very pleasant about it, mumbling about Toni being relentless. I was going to ask Eddie about this word, relentless, but he was not listening to me.  He was at the door barking his fool head off, before Mom even got there. Kevin was trying to talk to Eddie, too, but Eddie wasn't listening to anyone. Mom opened the door and that is when it happened. Eddie ran (he usually waddles and takes his time),...

  I am so excited about my late Mother's Day gift from The Man. I sometimes complain that The Man never pays attention to me. Over the years this has led to some pretty unique gifts. I really did not think he could top the Mother's Day gift he gave me when the children were young, but old enough to question his idea of a gift. That was the year he gave me 50 lbs. of cow manure. I his defense, I did say that I wanted to fertilize the gardens and grass. He says I asked for it, but I just mentioned it in passing. He gave me clothespins and trash cans one year for Christmas. That was early in our marriage when we couldn't afford to pay attention, and I did ask for those particular items. You should also know that was not the only gifts I got and my gifts to him were equally useful. I have a new toilet seat! The toilet seat that was in use before was hard to clean. I could clean it and know that it was clean, but it never looked clean. I told The Man that I was going to order on...

  Gas prices keep going up. I want to take a trip; I really want to go somewhere. My biggest obstacle is not the fuel prices, but appointments for both of us. Every time I think I have carved out a two-week span with nothing to hold us here, another obstacle steps up to block the way. Yesterday I had the stitches in my hand removed. Still so swollen and ugly. The nurse and I took the tight stitches out and I had imagined I would feel instant relief. High expectations, I know. In came the needle and syringe. No numbing, but the only part that stung was the needle piercing the skin. He was as surprised as I was that no blood filled the syringe, just a tiny bit of clear fluid. He ordered a pressure bandage and another visit in 2 weeks. It didn't start to really hurt until almost bedtime. A dull ache all the way through my hand, up my arm and mainly my wrist. I am hoping the swelling will go down and my wrist will regain some range of motion that doesn't hurt.  Remember when they ...

  Our old girl, Toni Louise, is aging rather rapidly. I saw her picture in an ad from the local dog shelter. She had a sweet little face and I was charmed. I showed the picture to The Man. He looked and agreed that she looked sweet. Then he made his annoying proclamation of "NO MORE DOGS!" A couple of days later the dog shelter called me (because, of course, I called them to enquire about the sweet-faced dog) to let me know that they had gotten a lot of strays in and reminded me that they were not a no-kill facility. Repeating that info to The Man, I showed him her picture again. This was back in our campground running days when I was held captive to the business, while The Man did the fun stuff, like mowing and towing and cleaning out septic lines. I am not saying that his work was glamorous, but it did provide him with the opportunity to leave the property quite often.  He called me in the office to say that he had an errand to run "in town" and would be back soon...

  No pain pills for two whole days. Healing is taking place! My thumb healed first. I can bend it and wiggle and pull my britches up and down. That got me thinking .... When I was a lowly student nurse in the early 70's, I encountered a doctor in the ER who liked to cut toes out on his patients with ingrown toenails. Wait, I misrepresented his technique; he literally yanked them out. He loved an audience and would happily invite the student nurses to watch. He would seek out the instructors to send us there. There were two classes going on and healthy supply of students to horrify. The patient would be waiting in complete dread. I don't know if they had experience or just word of mouth from other patients having had this procedure. He would enter in a rush and grab the offending toe and wrap a rubberband as tight as possible around the base of the toe. His tray of sterile instruments would have already been set up. This is when the instruments were not disposable. They were gat...

  "Hey'', I said to the man in his recliner next to me "when I tell you that I had already told you something, you do believe me, don't you?" I wonder about the strangest things, I've been told. It was The Man who told me so. Can't help it, I am naturally curious. And highly intelligent .... that is what my mother said about my sister and me. I am no genius, but I read a lot and that curiosity makes me ask questions. I retain that knowledge and pull it from the depths sometimes in an effort to explain things to The Man. I also am good at paying attention to my surroundings, not a trait The Man shares with me. So, I wonder and ask absurd questions. His answer to the question, by the way, was "No, maybe sometimes." Encouraged to continue with a titillating conversation, I asked, "Can you tell when I am lying? Not that I am. I did tell you most of the things you ask me about two or more times." He thought about it, like I knew he woul...