TGIF!! I know were only 9 days into August and it still feels like it’s going fast to me Okay let’s dive into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. I made gluten and dairy free shortbread cookies yesterday and they taste like they are dairy and gluten free   I will either drizzle them in lemon icing or  maybe make them into cookie sandwiches using dairy-free cheesecake frosting. That will elevated them a bit, but I still wouldn’t recommend them. A cookie like shortbread depends on the quality of the butter and the gluten in the flower to get the right flavor profile and bite. I didn’t think this version would be comparable, but I guess I had to prove my hypothesis I do think it’d be better if I made the cookie a chocolate flavor with cappuccino flavored icing Those flavors would cover for the lower quality (in baking terms) butter and flour.
2. Also I’ve been craving chocolate cake from Cheesecake Factory for a week now. I rarely have cravings this vivid and specific.
3. Lizard Slayer is alive and well. Yesterday morning I went over to the area of the planter Maggie was hanging out in and saw an unattached still-moving lizard tail. Eww. Then later, Wizard found the rest of the lizard — not moving. My sweet and charming dog is a serial killer. Probably, one day they’ll be a movie about her. All the neighbors will say, “But Maggie was the sweetest girl! I can’t image her being a serial killer.”
4. Today is my UCI appointment. We’ll see how it goes. I was surprised to get a text that they require masks….then I remembered this particular facility has very sick patients who are often severely immunocompromised from the meds they are on to treat their disease. I’ll cheerfully wear a mask.
5. We were going to see Turbo tomorrow, but he’s had a virus. He starts first grade Monday, so I want him to rest and get well. We will likely go the following weekend then I can hear all about his first week of school. As for my weekend, well now I can do some cleaning I’ve been ignoring all week — yay me!!!

Yep that’s my boring five, I bet yours are much more interesting!!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Maggie is clinically fine. The vet took a urine sample so that should come in soon just to be sure. Once that comes back fine, she’ll work on adjusting meds. As long as Maggie’s not sick, we’ll figure out the rest. She’s slightly sluggish today from the Rabies shot, but overall tolerated it very well.

Now for the fun part. They took Maggie back for the testing and shot, I could hear a bunch of women exclaiming and I thought, Oh they must have a puppy back there. But then I heard Maggie’s name. It appears she’s gathered a fan club back there, LOLOL! The vet brought her back to me and said they were all talking to her because every time they do, she wags her tail and wiggles in happiness. The vet said she must be a happy girl at home.

Yep, except when she’s in prey drive chasing lizards and totally ignoring my commands. The night before she’d looked at me from the top of the hill in sheer obstinance. That’s rare but she has her moments for sure. So yeah…she was just showing off at the vet’s office, LOLOL!! (Shh, don’t tell her, but I’ve seen them exclaim over other dogs, so Maggie’s probably not as special as she thinks.)

But at least we’re reasonably sure she’s in good shape physically. I don’t really thing we can cure her show-off-itis

How’s your day going?

It’s blazing hot here! Which is pretty normal for this time of year, but I’m hoping the heat doesn’t last all the way through September and into October.  Okay here’s the highlight reel of my weekend:

Friday: My birthday was mostly low key and very nice. Wizard got me Hoka shoes for walking, something I could not bring to buy for myself because they aren’t cheap, so I love them. He also got me some serving dishes I really wanted from Pottery Barn which I LOVE, but again…well you know all know, I’m cheap But I’m so happy to have them. I’m not big on stuff overall, but these dishes make me happy to have in my cupboard ready to use. Then Friday night we met Youngest and Daughter in law for dinner and had a lovely time! They are always fun.

Saturday, it was the shower. It turned out well!! I’m so happy. I loved working with my daughter in law’s mom, it was great to get to know her a bit better that way. And I had fun driving with my sister, my youngest daughter in law and her mom. Biker Witch thought I was trying to kill her with my driving, but HA!!! I got her home alive and unscathed. Seriously, the day went well, and the company on the long drive was made it enjoyable. There are things I thought I could  have done better at the shower, but who cares — the shower was great, the guests happy and the guest of honor very pleased and gracious.

Sunday I got caught up on a few things, then we took our big gift out to our son and daughter-in-law for the baby. It’s the bassinet they wanted and I’m so glad I didn’t take it to the shower now as there were a LOT of gifts. We barely got them packed in the big vehicle we used to transport them home! As a side note: There was some incredibly thoughtful and creative gifts there — I’m in awe of people with that talent! Anyhow, seeing all the baby stuff in their house now made it even more real and exciting. The baby’s room is so cute! My son and daughter-in-law are both doing great. My daughter-in-law is in her last month of pregnancy — and the excellent care she’s taken of herself really shows. And I got to spend quality time with Jett and Hazel — two of my favorite grand pups! They are so loving that I came home covered in dog hair. That’s always a sign of a good day in my world, LOL.

Maggie has a vet appointment this afternoon for her rabies shot and checkup. She’s been doing better this last week, but I’ll bring up my areas of concern. The the rest of the week is pretty easy. Friday is my UCI appointment but I’m pretty set for that too. It’s nice to feel a bit more caught up this week which is a good way to start out the week!

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Who let August in??? If feels too soon Okay let’s dive into sharing five random things about our week.

1. My daughter in law took a picture of Wizard and me last week, and I look like a big puffy older woman. And I thought that shirt I was wearing looked okay, but nope. I’m a little traumatized, LOL. Also I’m not stressing about weight gain or loss until after I get “fixed” then I’ll figure out the path to feeling my best weight wise. But still, pictures of me are now banned to protect my mental health
2. On the other hand, my grandson, Turbo, has style!
3. My hand is healing so well now. I was able to do a bit of yoga yesterday with no real pain, and it just ached a bit at the end of the deal. A huge improvement! Plus the swelling is gone (or mostly gone). I’ll admit (now)  that when I slammed my hand into the drawer pull on Sunday, I wasn’t sure if I broke a bone or not. The hand/wrist bones don’t have much padding to protect them. I leaned toward not haven’t broken anything, but still, I’m relieved.
4. Tonight we’re going to dinner with Youngest and his wife for my birthday. It’s a not a big deal birthday this year. Too many other things going on, and I’m fine with that.
5. Tomorrow is the baby shower! My daughter in law’s mom has done a huge chunk of the work, but I’ve enjoyed helping where I can. Please cross your fingers that we pull this off — all arranged by phone, text and email since we live about 180 miles apart We both want my daughter in law to have a lovely shower celebrating this much-wanted child, and we sincerely hope the guests have a good time too!

That’s my five, now I’d really love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a delightful weekend!

Success!! I finally got an appointment with an UCI endocrine surgeon! It’s August 9th, and from what I can see she (the surgeon) is well-qualified and specializes in just what I need. All I need to do is get a CD of the thyroid ultrasound I had in April, which shouldn’t be hard.  Wizard and I are feeling pretty good about this.

As long as we’re moving forward, I don’t want to dwell on the frustrations we went through to get here. In fact these two months of problems may have actually led me on a jagged path to better quality care. Life is funny like that sometimes.

How’s your Wednesday going?

So the weekend was good. Well mostly.

Saturday morning we met youngest and his wife at the auto museum/ winery. The place was so cute! Amidst sweeping fields of grape vines were three buildings with pathways and stairs to reach them. So lovely and peaceful.

The first building was a quaint store with so many things to look at that each time we were in it, we found new things. Totally fun. Tucked into that was a little winery. None of us were interested in wine tasting (too early, and we were all driving), but on the way out, Wizard and I bought a few bottles.

Then we followed a path through grapevines and beneath the warm blue skies to the first building complete with an old fashion gas station out front. There we met that highlight of the day — a friendly cat! Me and daughter in law were smitten, petting him and telling him he was beautiful (because he totally was!) while the two men headed inside muttering things like, “We’re not here to see a cat.”. Then we went in to see rows of beautiful kept classic cars, and an assortment of other classic electronics like older computers to work on cars (don’t judge, I’m not a car person) along with TVs and stereos. We all enjoyed it.

Then Wizard and I sent youngest and daughter in law off to see the top building as it wasn’t accessible to Wizard. Well that was my plan. Wizard insisted I go with them and he’d be fine. So I did (because he means it) and we climbed a hill and stairs to the finally building with a wrap around porch. In the back was the wine/barrel room and we couldn’t go in there. But we looked in like super secret agents Then we went inside the actual building to see more immaculately kept classic cars, some with less than a 100 miles on them. Amazing. Youngest solved all the questions about how they got the cars in there (hidden garages) but none of us are sure how they got one car up to a platform up in a corner of the building. We then discovered a Barbie room filled with Barbies because that makes sense in a car museum, LOL. Daughter in law loved it. I asked daughter in law if she’d be surprised to learn I was more of a Tom Boy as a kid and had zero interest in Babies? She was not surprised However I went through with her because I love her and she was interested. Youngest got about a foot and a half into the room before he remembered something (anything!) else he had to do.

After that, we found Wizard and went back down to the main building where we hung out and did more window shopping, and ended that portion of our fun that day with Wizard buying the bottles of we wine we chose (without tasting which is pretty risky).

After that, we all went to lunch. We had fun and talked nonstop, but the food was the only day’s disappointment at a normally reliant restaurant. Well, we can win at everything, now can we?

Later than evening Wizard went into our bedroom for something,  and I opened a Petit Syrah wine that we’d bought. Um, I had a bit of an uncorking adventure that sprayed red wine on the wall, floor and me. That was a new experience and I’ve opened quite a few bottles of wine. Wizard came into the kitchen, saw the newly sprayed walls, floor and my white shorts, then fixed a look on me. “Did you sneeze?”

I couldn’t help it, I doubled over with laugher. My bloody noses are a little scary lately, but also, funny as heck in some ways. (Note: they are probably just allergies and nothing to worry about). Regaining some self control, I pointed at the wine. “Blame him!”

We cleaned up, did what we could to keep the cork out of the wine and failed. But then came the moment — Tasting the pricy and surprisingly difficult to uncork wine. We both had some trepidation wondering if we’d just invested in colored vinegar.

But it was wonderful!!! Full body, nice balance with a good backend finish for my very amateur tastebuds.

So that was Saturday. Sunday Wizard went racing and I stayed home with plans to workout, wash floors and begin the sourdough process. In the process, I hit my the back of my hand on a drawer pull and bruised it. That’s just annoying. But Maggie’s bladder issues appear to be worsening and she seems a bit restless.  I’ll feel better after she sees the vet on Wednesday.

How was your weekend?

TGIF! No small talk, let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week:

1. We just learned of a fire on the mountain highway coming down into our town. It’s a 100+ degrees here so it’s not good news. It’s close enough that we’re not worried (about ourselves, we are worried about the people and animals in its path) but we’re on alert. We see a lot of air support on the fire, so that’s hopeful — sometimes they can knock it down pretty fast. And I have a friend in Canada evacuating a huge fire there — I hate fires.
2.  The week has been mostly quiet and hot. Somewhat boring, but only because the heat limits our options.
3. Maggie is having bladder issues as in very small accidents. She gets very upset about it, but she doesn’t seem unwell. All that said, she has a vet appointment August 5th, and I’ll ask them to do an ultrasound. They’ll either do it then and make another appointment. It’s really just a precaution that I’m more than happy to pay for. I think it’s just a poor spa job (before we had her) and age, but she hides pain so I’d rather be overcautious.
4. The baby shower for my daughter-in-law is August 3rd and its really nice to have that to think about and look forward too. The baby should be here very late August and maybe early September. Those are great distractions from dealing with getting into UCI. I think we’re making progress, but I have an appointment with my primary doctor late next week in case I need more help. On the upside, I’ve been polishing up my phone and nagging skills, bwahahaha! It’s been a long week.
5. Tomorrow we’re going to an auto museum and winery place with Youngest and his wife. It’ll be fun to spend time with them! Wizard and I both need a day out, or at least a couple hours as it may be too hot for us to stay longer than that.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!