I walked dogs at the animal shelter last week. I think I walked five. It’s hard to keep track, but they were all good and I didn’t have any trouble. I also wore my arm guards to prevent any accidental scratches Here’s a couple pics of the dogs I walked: This is Hope — I fell for this sweet girl. A few times I stopped on the walking trail to keep distance between us and other dogs, and Hope would turn and make eye contract with me to see what I wanted to do. She’s a smart girl! But I am not getting another dog, I just want to help these dogs find homes!

And this is Birdie, she was young (I think, I didn’t look at her age on the intake sheet), sweet and full of energy. She was good on the leash for me, and no trouble at all.

I definitely can’t walk dogs this week as I’m recovering. And late next week we go to Hawaii, so hopefully I can do it when I get back. It’s a ton of work, but it’s also equally rewarding. I’m also very careful when I come home to prevent spreading any illnesses that are at the shelter to Maggie. I take my shoes off in the garage, come right in and shower before I pet her. It’s too easy to spread things like kennel cough.

How’s your Wednesday going?

Sorry I missed Friday. Things got chaotic before I had my throat surgery Even though I had my bloodwork done for 15 days, everyone just noticed at the last minute that my sodium level was too low to be safe for surgery. Anyhow, we treated with way buckets of electrolyte drinks, retook the blood test, and I had the lesions removed on Friday morning as scheduled. Everything went fine, and I even came out of full anesthesia with no nausea, which is a miracle for me. The surgeon took a large chunk out in the vicinity of my where my tonsil would be if I hadn’t had them removed as a kid. In fact, the largest mass appears to be tonsil regrowth, which is a weird thing that does happen. Nothing looked suspicious, but it’ll be biopsied just to be sure.

I’m extremely relieved to get this done. Progress after months of waiting and waiting feels pretty good. My throat is very sore as expected but it should heal. What I didn’t expect was a three week restriction on lifting anything more than five pounds. That should make going to Hawaii interesting But as long as I heal as expected, we’re going! I’ll pack light and all will be well.

So this weekend has mostly been rest, trying to eat and I’m allowed to do some light walking. Oh and watching videos of Turbo! He got four hits in his baseball game on Saturday

How was your weekend?

I finished THE SERPANT AND THE WINGS OF THE NIGHT, which is the first in a series. I liked it, but I can’t decide if I want book two or not.  I really liked the first book right up until the end — which made me feel like the heroine was back where she started. So…I’m debating.

In audio, I randomly chose a mystery LISTEN FOR THE LIE by Amy Tintera. I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s a fun mystery if you like sarcastic heroes with murder on their minds. I mean…this heroine should irritate me, but I’m actually amused. But I can see why some readers would not be as entertained since she has a voice in her heard urging her to murder most people she sees However, I’ve had voices in my head telling me to write their story, so I can’t really be too judgmental.

What are you reading or listening to?

We made it to Turbo’s baseball game! And we had fun, Turbo got a hit, caught a grounder and brought in a run.  After the game was over, he still wanted to practice, which cracked me up. I don’t know who I enjoyed more — Turbo or Wizard, whom Turbo wanted to impress.  I loved it all. Here’s a blurry pick through the fence of Turbo playing first base.

We had a great time partly because the other team, parents and coach were all there for the same reason we were — to support, encourage and teach all the kids. We clapped and encouraged all the kids from both teams, and the game ended up with a tied score.  Afterwards, the other team’s parents made a human bridge with their arms for the kids to run under and called our team over too. I thought that was so cool. These kids all had a great day learning the game and best of all, sportsmanship.

Sunday I had lunch with my friend. She’s doing great despite a few medical challenges this year. We had a nice lunch, caught up and shopped a little. We have been trying to get together more often, but can’t seem to manage more than three times a year. Life for both of us has been keep us busy.

How was your weekend?

TGIF!! This week has been warp speed and somehow we landed on Friday again. Now it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. So last week I went shopping for tops. I found some at Macy, then went to pay and discovered they were having a “presale,” which meant that in order to get the 30% off, I had to pick up the clothes at a later date. I agreed, and save $40.00! I also had to drive back out yesterday to pick them up. But Wizard came with me and we went to lunch so it turned out to be a nice time.
2. This week has been a bit of juggling with medical stuff (it’s boring to talk about) and changing pharmacies because our old pharmacy closed. But both Wizard and I got it all organized by the end of the week! This is a big win. My frustration is trying to get through to my ENT’s office, but once I do, they are super helpful, so I’m not complaining. I understand they are juggling a lot more than I am!
3. I listened to the book IT’S ONE OF US by J.T. Ellison. I really loved the book, but didn’t love very end. Still it was a good book and I’m looking to read more of her work!
4. I worked my first volunteer shift at the animal shelter. I have a lot to learn, and definitely need more experience getting the martingale collars on. I had one mishap (not the dogs fault!) that left me with a scratch on my arm. I don’t consider that a big deal, but my arm had to go the drama queen route and bleed a lot. I cleaned it up, it’s fine. I had a more experienced dog walker collar the dog (she even struggled!), and then I walked him and returned him safely to his kennel. He was a good boy once we got going and I didn’t have any more problems. I’m going to order the arm guards the other dog walker suggested. By the way, she wanted to give me her arm guards to use right then — these are really nice people who were so very patient with me. I will get better! Last comment — Wizard had a moment when he saw the scratch, but quickly recovered and realized I was fine. It’s going to happen and Wizard knows that, he’s just been a little protective of me lately.
5. This weekend we are going to see Turbo play baseball on Saturday and Sunday, I’m having lunch with a friend while Wizard goes racing. It’ll be a fun and busy weekend.

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

Yesterday I was helping Wizard by shoveling ground cover into a trash can. Wizard has it all raked into piles and we’ve been disposing of it little by little each week in the green (for stuff like grass clippings, etc.) trash can. I insisted on doing this part as it’s easier for me than Wizard (which he will deny, LOL). It’s a quick job, and one I don’t mind doing. But I can’t convince Wizard to just let me do it. He’s physically incapable of letting me do it.

So he got another shovel to help. And missed the trash can, hitting my back with a shovel full of ground cover.

We thought we got it all off. By the way, I wasn’t mad, it was just an accident. Anyway, we finished shoveling, then I took off my shoes, went into the house and washed up…then discovered I left a pile of ground cover on the floor. It’d gone down my pants but evidently got stuck until I tried to clean up. After awhile I was just laughing because a quick, simply job always turns into more than is should!

And that was pretty much how my day went yesterday, LOL!

How’s your Wednesday going?

We had so much fun at my oldest son’s birthday dinner! I’m really happy it turned out so nice for him, and that’s thanks to his wife. She definitely made him feel special. And his brothers made sure to harass him, LOL. There were many memorable moments, but the one that stands out is from Turbo (my grandson). So Turbo sat between his parents and across from me, quietly doing a mini building project at the table. Everyone else was chatting. I was teasing Oldest about getting old, and he said something back. I can’t even remember what he said – it was all just teasing stuff.

But Turbo heard and snapped his head around to glare at his dad. “Don’t be mean to your mom, Daddy.”

We were all so stunned we just sat there for a beat. Then my son hugged his boy and told him he was very smart. I love both father, son and my daughter-in-law so much, and appreciate that have taught him that. Truly.

But it’s also funny because the first few years of Turbo’s life,  it would blow his mind when we explained that Grandma is also his daddy’s mom. But he clearly gets it now And he protects me from his dad, LOLOL!!! Because my other two sons aren’t going to protect me when they are too busy getting in on the teasing. I mean…maybe I started it? But still, I have Turbo Protection!

There was so much more going on. Youngest and his wife carpooled with us, and they are always fun. I saw in the back with my daughter-in-law because she’s the most fun   Also Wizard had a bit of a stressful week, and they way, he could chat with Youngest and decompress.

Middle son was in a great mood — he has a child on the way and we learned, a big promotion. He was definitely celebrating and he wove some hilarious stories. This child, well his a full grown man, has always been a charmer and I can see he has refined his ability to draw his audience into his story web — even when he’s making crazy stuff up on the spot. The way his brain works is, um, unique (in the best way). Oh and his two dogs have figured out how to open their crates, but he can’t figure out how. That’s a mystery that’s bugging him. Thankfully, they have great dogs, so it’s not actually a big deal. But how are they doing it???

Here’s a pic of me and Wizard at the restaurant:

How was your weekend?