Goodnight, Smoky Moon

Smoky Moon, aka Little Miss Piggie Pie

June, 1998-April 2017

That was fun, I should have done it sooner and I will do it again

Last night I did something I don't ordinarily do, and made a phone call at 10:00.  When I got my aunt's answering machine, I apologized for calling so late, but I just had to talk about Downton Abbey.  Thankfully, she picked up and I hadn't scared her, and we had a wonderful conversation about the show.  Next week, I promised to call her on Monday, but last night I couldn't wait BECAUSE PUPPY!

Speaking of puppies, my next dog is going to be either a lab or a lab/shepherd mix.  Of course, with any luck, it will be a good long while before I get to the next dog.  Little Miss Piggie Pie is still going strong, although she has packed on some poundage (just like her owner) and I've been calling her Fat Squirrel.

I enjoyed my 3-day weekend, but didn't get as much done as I wanted to.  The laundry is done, the sheets changed and 4 of 6 storage cubes are put together.  Work tomorrow should be, erm, interesting (objection hearings).

Car stuff!

1958 Volvo PV544 with my dad in the driver's seat.

In Dad's own words:

In spring of 1963 this Little marvel of Swedish engineering agreed to take me across the plains and deserts of Rt. 66 to the Mojave Desert. It never failed me, although it sacrificed portions of its valves and piston rings to get me there. Long May it Run.

I have my oil change appointment tomorrow morning at 8:42 (yes, they're that precise).

In other car stuff, to the owner(s) of the nice house in the spottily-gentrified area of Akron I drive through on my way to and from work, your BEWARE of dog signs only work as long as people don't see your two little terriers in the yard being all adorbs.  Hyperbole aside, cuteness is not a killing weapon.

To the dude with the Star Trek personalized message on a Superman license plate, I am really impressed at your mingling of fandoms and a little bummed that you're probably married.

To the person with the plate 8U4DNR, why would you hate someone for choosing a Do Not Resuscitate order?  That's very selfish.

To the person with the plate N8FKIN, whose next of kin and why does it matter?

Bits and pieces

My adorable dog is hard on toys, so I buy inexpensive ones with no faces.  This is what she does to them:

So on Sunday night, I went in with the big trash can and cleaned up all the bits of stuffing and other debris while LMPP made pathetic noises which I translated as "I'm not done with that" and "That one's still good, really!"

When I got out of the shower, she was lying in the hall on top of two unshredded toys, nibbling on a third.  Nobody is going to get Smaugette's hoard now!

Work is interesting right now.  We've had a streak of people doing really dumb things, like forgetting to mail in paperwork, etc.  There is also lots of work going on as the front counter area gets renovated.  Most of the work is being done at night, but today maintenance was taking apart half of our file storage shelves and moving the other half.

Power tools on metal shelving made our court sound as if we should be answering the phones "Stormer's Tire and Lube, how may I help you?"

Yesterday was Call Day, so that's over for the month and we have Monday off, so I'm getting an oil change.  For the first time since I bought Edgar, I am truly angry with Ford.  The coolant light was on, so I bought universal coolant and then couldn't get any in the car because the fill opening was under the rigid part of the hood.  I wound up using a kitchen funnel held at an extreme angle and my hand braced around it to catch any spills, all at 7 p.m. in my unheated garage.  But the light went off today, so victory for me!

So much accomplished, so much yet to do

So far on this long weekend I have:

Gotten all the houseplants but one in from the garage, arranged and watered.
Gotten the final 40 pound bag of softener salt down to the basement and in the softener.
Done 4 loads of laundry and put clothes away.
Went to the grocery store and got my contribution to Tuesday's 'comfort food' lunch at work.
Moved my vintage trunk so it is under the antique map.
Gone out to Mom's house, watered her plants and sorted 10 days' worth of mail.
Cleaned the bathroom & kitchen sinks plus the tub & toilet.
Swept the kitchen floor.
Remembered to take the recyclables to the curb on Friday night.
Took compostables out to the pile.
Changed the sheets.
Changed to my holiday blanket and comforter (with help).

Blanket:

Comforter:

Things I still need to do:

Finish the laundry, including the fall comforter and blanket, and put it all away.
Sweep and steam the bathroom floor.
Take all the dog hair to the compost pile!
Set up my new nail polish storage system.
Vacuum.
Shower, exfoliate, all that.
Manicure.

I'm realistic enough to know that the vacuuming may not happen along with the bathroom floor, because I definitely can't skip showering and washing my hair and I've only got one back and a few spoons.  Still, when I type up my list, I can see that I wasn't lazy, I did get stuff done, and if I did it with lots of breaks, then who cares?

Powell and Pickerington

First of all, that handsome boy in Sunday's post is my brother's dog, an American bulldog mix.  Ralph is getting old, greying and arthritic, and according to my SIL, he likes to spend his days following the sun around the pool, since he's allowed on the outdoor furniture.  He also sleeps with the elder of my two nephews.

The pool is gorgeous--brand new this summer and just perfect.  It helps that their house is positioned so that the back yard gets full sun every minute of the day.

Yes, that is where I spent my Saturday afternoon. :-)  Dad, of course, took a nap.  After we were all suitably pruned up and chlorinated, we showered and got dressed.  Jeeves and the boys took the Jeep with the top down, and Mom and Dad and I rode with Anabel.  We found the restaurant and after three of us topped off our nicotine levels (Mom abstained), we went in and were greeted with a lovely chaotic rush of family.

All three of my Colorado cousins were there (although one of them is now a Kansas cousin) and all of their kids, and we had a great time talking and catching up.  I also found out that my aunt and the cousin who now lives in Kansas both share my weakness for lemon drop martinis, although I was smart enough to stop at one this time.

I got mistaken for my mother once, and corrected someone who thought Mom's name was Cindy, and ate pizza and just generally had a good time.  When it was time to leave, Dad and I were outside waiting for everyone when a man, his wife and little boy walked out.  The man looked at me and then asked if he could ask me something.  When I said yes, he said, "Is she really 100?  My son said the cake said 100!"  I told him yes, and he should congratulate his son on his reading.

Dad went to bed shortly after we got home.  Mom and I lasted a bit longer, but not by much.  I was asleep by 10:30 and woke up at 4:00 with an incipient migraine.  I walked downstairs, got a glass of water and some ibuprofen and made my way to the family room, intending to see if I could sleep sitting up.  A soft voice warned me "Please don't be startled" and I saw a long lump on one half of the sectional.  I laid down on the other half, and asked Mom why she was sleeping downstairs.

Mom had gotten up to go to the bathroom and left the door open.  When she came back, she got into bed only to discover she couldn't put her legs all the way down.  Ralph had taken the open door as an invitation and climbed in with Dad. :-D  Mom, being the softie that she is and knowing how hard it is for Ralph to climb up on things these days, decided to just sleep downstairs.  She asked what I was doing and I told her, which led to worries about if I had a blood clot and should we go to the ER and such.  Eventually Mom fell asleep and my pain dulled enough that I went back upstairs around 5:30.

Unfortunately, the migraine wasn't gone, so when I woke up again at 6:30, I decided to just get dressed, pack up and go get some coffee.  When I opened the garage door, SuperDoughnut's super ears picked it up just like he did up at Lakeside, and he came upstairs afraid he would miss Mom's Krispy Kreme run (which is silly, because he is the only reason she does that when she's there!).  I told him Gramma might be sleeping late because *portentious voice* she got up in the middle of the night and when she got back into bed there was someone there who shouldn't have been.  When his eyes got really wide, I said, "And he had brown and white fur hair" and SD relaxed.  I went to the nearest gas station I knew how to get to, grabbed a cup of coffee and filled Edgar's tank and then went back.  I was tempted by the pumpkin spice coffee and the pumpkin spice creamer, but since the goal was to get the coffee to stay down, I went with plain Colombian.

Mom & SD went on the doughnut run, and I called to see if they could get me another cup of coffee.  Sadly, I mis-timed my request and they were almost home.  To my surprise, when they walked in 15 minutes later, Mom had a cup of coffee for me because my thoughtful nephew remembered there was an indie coffee shop around the corner.  I hugged him and promised at least two months of not picking on him.

Despite more talk of blood clots and the inadvisability of driving with a migraine, I left at 11:00 and was home by 1:00, at which time I took to my bed to recover.  Because the kennel has no Sunday or holiday pickup, I didn't get LMPP back until tonight.  So since it was hot as blazes on Monday and the dog wasn't there and my migraine had finally left, I used the time to do laundry and Vacuum All The Things.

So now it is Tuesday evening, tomorrow is Call Day (ick) and I have had a good dinner and fed my puppy, who is sprawled in the hallway where I can trip or step over her.  The next excitement will be the Girls' Weekend in NYC in October.

Went to Powell, played in the pool.

Went to Pickerington, ate pizza and chatted.
Brought home a sunburn and a migraine.

Now recovering and chilling.

Food, family, fireworks and fun!

I'm home after two lovely days at the lake.  Things did not start well, because at 6:20 Monday morning when I tried to re-settle the carafe in the coffee maker, I wound up splashing boiling water and coffee grounds all over my right hand, the counter, the coffee maker and the floor.  When I got that cleaned up and the car packed, dropping Little Miss Piggie Pie off for boarding was easy, and I grabbed a quick and expensive cup of coffee at Bruegger's before starting out.

My trip was exactly 100 miles in 100 minutes, yay me and yay Edgar.  Mom met me at the Dollar General closest to Lakeside because she was out riding her bike in traffic when I arrived, and gave me her credit card to buy my ticket and car pass and then we headed to the house.

My nieces and nephews are turning out to be really great people, smart and kind and funny.  At the advanced age of 15, The Awesome Nacho still lets his youngest cousin beat on him with a pillow.  Super Doughnut was so afraid he'd miss the golf cart ride to get doughnuts this morning that when I opened the garage door at 6:30 to go outside for a smoke he came barreling down the stairs and stuck his head out the door pleading for me not to leave without him.  I told him to go back to bed, it would be a while.  Princess Mathgeek cheerfully peeled potatoes, went to East Harbor with the joy of a swallow returning to Capistrano, and displayed the snarkasm that is the hallmark and birthright of my family.  Princess Minnie is bright and affectionate and totally and completely addicted to chocolate.

I met three gorgeous dogs--two Golden Retrievers whose owner called them "English Cream Retrievers" and a very sweet, very old, very shy Siberian Husky.  I am totally bragging when I say the latter took to me to such a degree that I heard her owners talking about it as they walked away.

I helped Mom delete the zillion text messages from Verizon on her phone, took the nieces and nephews to the Cheese Haven, read two books and ate several wonderful meals, including an early birthday Bastille Day dinner of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, port wine & shallot sauce, roasted green beans and cake.  I took at least four golf cart rides, driving three times, and discovered that Jeeves and I have a fear of heights in common.  Dad set off two fireworks and when the power went out he took the coffee maker out to the garage and ran it off the golf cart battery.

Today I went to The Patio for doughnuts, one dozen for the famdamily, two dozen for work, then got packed up and left Lakeside.  I dropped off the doughnuts, picked up the dog, who was clean and very fluffy after her complimentary bath, came home and took some Benadrool (my eyes have been itching non-stop) and took a nap.  Then I collected the three boxes from my porch--one from Ulta, one from Bath & Body Works and one from someone named Keith in Augusta, Maine.  I haz a puzzled about that last...

As always, I'm glad I went and happy to be home.

Two more days

(hopefully) until the kitchen floor is finished.  One more day (hopefully) until the appliances are back in place and I don't have to have yet another bowl of granola for dinner.  I like granola, I'm just tired after a week of it for dinner.

After my trip to Cleveland last week, I missed two more days of work thanks to a nasty case of bronchitis, something I haven't had for a decade.  I haven't missed it at all!  Then, just to put the grey icing on the cupcake of doom that was last week, in addition to the floor being sanded, I developed a sinus infection.  I am now recovering from both illnesses, but it's been a week I don't want to live through again any time soon.

Also, I decided that I am going to bring the map home from Cleveland and just plain have it framed at Joann or Michael's or Pat Catan's.  I don't need to spend $2,000 for museum-quality framing for something I just want to hang in my living room and enjoy.

Oh, and Little Miss Piggie Pie continues to have the staff at Valley Animal Hospital snowed--they tell me every day how sweet she is.  However, in her favor, she was a snuggly little girl last weekend when I needed a nap partner, and she didn't even huff much when my coughing shook her off the bed.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K Casa de Jammies

Monday through Thursday of last week, painters came to Casa de Jammies, and Little Miss Piggie Pie day boarded at a local vet hospital/kennel.  The staff there said "She's really a sweet girl" and I didn't get a bill because she ate someone's Bichon, so she must have behaved.

The kitchen and back hallway have had the 1970s wallpaper removed (hears distant cheers from South Carolina) and painted, the kitchen in what was supposed to be sage green but is in fact more mint green and the back hallway in a barely-tinted cream.

The painters were good painters, but lousy guests.  One of them kept leaving the toilet seat up, they used up all of my good hand soap, half a roll of paper towels and two rolls of toilet paper and left me with a nearly full gallon bucket of mint-not-sage paint.

This past Thursday night, Mom and Dad came over and helped me pull up the carpet in the eating area, revealing some awful linoleum.  It looks like raw meat.

When I brought out the shop vac to clean up the dust left behind, Dad said, "Oh, that's where it is.  I needed it last week."  I didn't remind him he had left it unused in his garage so long a mouse built a nest in it, just told him that if he wanted, I'd bring it back, but I'd cry real tears.

For the first time ever, I had professional cleaners come to the house.  A team of sisters Mom knows from her law practice worked from ten until two cleaning the kitchen and bathroom while I removed the staples and the tack strips from the NY strip floor.  Both women were friendly as well as being very good at cleaning, and I enjoyed having them here as much as I enjoyed the clean house they left behind.

While I was pulling up staples and tack strips, I came to the very sad conclusion that the hardwood floor in the eating area was pulled up to make room for the Porterhouse lino.  I've already picked a pretty brown carpet for the living room and now I need to consult with the guy at the carpet store about what kind of floor is best for homes with dogs.

Speaking of dogs, LMPP was excitable but not bite-y with Mom and Dad, but growly and snarly with the cleaning team, so she spent five hours outside, allowed in to warm up whenever I took a smoke break.

Today I get to rest from yesterday.

The schedule for the coming week is Sunday, grocery shopping and laundry, Monday work with Mom, lunch with Mom, shopping with Mom, and Tuesday through Friday, bring one piece of kitchen furniture out of the living room, clean it and put it back.

Tears at 5 a.m.

Last night, I dreamt that Little Miss Piggie Pie had to go into the vet for something that would take all day and when I dropped her off, the staff asked if I wanted a loaner dog.  I said yes, and a tech came out with my beloved Bigfoot.  I spent a wonderful day with him, and when the vet hospital called to tell me LMPP was ready to be picked up, I said, "You know you're not getting Bigfoot back, right?"  The person on the phone said that was fine, it would only cost me a $45 adoption fee to keep him.

So I went and got LMPP and introduced her to Bigfoot, and had two wonderful dogs and you know how this is going to end, right?

And then I woke up.  And it SUCKED.  And I cried.

I am Jammies, hear me roar!

...or at least, hear me not whimpering like an abandoned puppy. I dealt with a hornets' nest over the back door to the breezeway all by myself last night, and today I took my shovel and flicked it off the siding in one swing.

Plus, lots of people at work loved the lemon pound cake I made for our triple baby shower yesterday.  Yup, three of my co-workers are spawning.  Thankfully, they are due in successive months and each works in a different area of the court, so the need for training and temporary replacements is not as difficult as it could have been.

My butterfly bushes are not completely lost--the branches are all dead, but new growth is sprouting at the base of several of them.  The miniature roses are goners, though. :-(

All in all, life continues at Casa de Jammies in a mostly serene fashion, except when Rooter ventures into the front yard and Little Miss Piggie Pie barks herself hoarse.

Alarums and excursions!

Yesterday was a fairly ordinary work day, even a pretty good work day.  I woke up early enough to be ready in time to leave the house and make a quick stop on the way in for Lemonheads and Raisinettes for my two co-workers who just finished school for the semester, and the day went pretty quickly.  I was pottering around at home last night when Little Miss Piggie Pie started whimpering a bit and then the city tornado sirens went off.

I was just debating whether or not to head for the basement when my dad called.  After asking me how I was, he asked if I was aware of the weather, and then proceeded to read me the entire text of the warning.  I promised him I would keep an eye on the dog and on the radar and went about my evening.  He told me to call him if a tornado was headed for Hudson because he was going to take a nap.  Typical Scary Bear, nothing gets in the way of a nap.

LMPP calmed down and went to sleep, so I went back to working on spreadsheets for Mom while outside it was storming to beat the band.  I took a break when the hail started.  It was so loud I knew what popcorn sounds like from the inside of the popper.  Then the hail stopped and the rain started again, and when I went to look at the lightning, I realized there was standing water in the driveway.

So at 9:30, I was outside in flip-flops and a rain poncho, wading through ankle-deep cold water trying to clear the grate on the driveway drain.  I succeeded, but too late to prevent the garage from flooding.  I came back inside, saw that the tornado warning was over and there was a flash flood warning, washed my feet, set up the coffee and went to bed.

This morning, the garage had a layer of mud and yuck all over the floor, lots of things moved around from the water and was in a general state of disarray.  Unfortunately, because today was call day, I had to go in.  I'll need to be, at minimum, in the hospital before I call off on call day--it's just too hard with only two people in the accounts department.

My drive in was complicated by a detour that meant I had to use the high-traffic route and included the sight of a whole bunch of downed trees and washed-out shoulders.  Lake Morley was full of water, with more dripping from the pipes.  I told my colleagues what had happened, explained that I'd like to take Wednesday off and got permission from the chief clerk to do so.  I then had to tell one of my fellow auditors that yes, I washed my feet after wading in dog-knows-what. :P

Call day was interesting.  For the first time in my experience, we had two people admit, albeit reluctantly, that they weren't just behind in their paperwork, they'd done things they shouldn't have with money that wasn't theirs.  Thankfully, the judge is more interested in helping them fix things than punishing them.

When I got home, the garage had started to stink (it was 90º F today!) and I called dad to make sure he and his couch weren't buried in the remains of my childhood home and to see if I could borrow a floor squeegie and the ionizer.  He was alive and well and said he'd leave everything where I can find it tomorrow morning without waking him.

A big thank you to all of the G+ friends who held my paw last night and sent me dry thoughts. <3 all="" nbsp="" ou="" p="" rock.="">

Omigoshomigoshomigosh!

Something incredibly cool and incredibly gross just happened!  Details after the jump for non-squeamish types.

Random factoids

Yes, another list, because I lack the brainpower for narrative structure.

1.  I have my first chest cold in quite a number of years, and it's as horrible as I remember.  I left work early on Thursday, called off on Friday, and had a holiday today, so a long rough weekend.

2.  Little Miss Piggie Pie had her annual pincushion appointment this morning, and had to be muzzled for snapping at Dr. Bob despite a handful of Bil-Jac treats.  The good news is she's finally gained some weight, and he thinks she's perfect at 54 pounds.  She got more treats when we stopped at Pet Supplies Plus to get dog food--I hope she doesn't think that kind of treatment is going to last! ;-)

3.  On the way home today, I passed by the repair shop owned by the guy who bought my Saturn.  Norm is a 17 year-old Saturn SW1, with no luxury options and 118,000 miles, and the guy who paid me $600 is asking $3195.  Good luck, Mr. Lotsaballs!

4.  My taxes are done and I am getting a teensy refund, which will go straight to the Cleveland Clinic to pay my portion of the bill for my MRI.

5.  There is a blizzard going on outside right now, and even with a racking cough and lizard-rough dry skin from taking a zillion hot showers, it's nice to look at it.  I do like snow, and I'm trying to store up some cold for when I'm miserable in August.

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

...is what one of my co-workers said when I announced that I thought that Little Miss was possessed.

Well, no, I don't really truly deep-down believe it, but she's been showing a couple of weird Littlefoot behaviors over the past few days, like raiding the stash of cotton balls and chewing them up before spitting them out on the living room floor, and licking the kitchen floor.

Oh well, at least she wasn't possessed by Bigfoot, and therefore able to open the refrigerator door!

A Nightly Contest

Ever since I read about Simple Dog on Hyperbole and a Half, I've thought that Little Miss Piggie Pie has a great deal in common with Simple Dog.  For one thing, they look alike.  For another, LMPP failed the canine IQ test as well, and finally, she does quiver when she wants me to be happy.

Where they differ, however, is in stubbornness.  For the last week, LMPP has decided that she no longer wishes to sleep at the foot of the bed.  The top of the bed, on top of my pillow, is clearly her ordained place in the world, and she makes every effort to take it.

When I go to bed, I pull back the covers and before I can even sit down, LMPP has jumped up and curled up on my pillow, foregoing any of the turn-in-circles nonsense that would waste time.  So I yell at her to get down, she does, and then she jumps right back up again.

Last night, and for as long as it takes for her to learn (meaning possibly forever), I closed the bedroom door in her face and didn't reopen it until I was safely in bed.

Oh, btw, buy Allie's book so she'll write another one!  It's really good.

Mouse's last day

When I got home from work Tuesday night and Mouse didn't greet me at the door, I knew something was wrong.  When I went into the living room and found him wedged in a corner and stuck in a pile of poop, I knew it was time.  I helped him up and outside, did a quick cleanup and went to let him back in, only to discover he'd fallen again because his back legs wouldn't support him.  I got him in, but he didn't want to settle on his bed, so I checked it and discovered it was soaked with urine.  That was when I called the vet and scheduled the appointment.

I spent as much time as I could with him that evening, petting him, talking to him, scritching behind his marvelous, soft ears.  Little Miss Piggie Pie demanded her share of the attention, of course, but I managed to send her off with a toy.  I sang his song to him, and fed him treats, and tried my best to let him know that I loved him.

Wednesday morning I got up, helped Mouse outside, gave him his pain pill and settled him back on a clean bed.  Then I called off work, and the two co-workers with whom I spoke were very sweet and sympathetic.  I did some work for Mom I'd brought home, and eventually it was time to get dressed and go to the vet.  I discovered that Mouse had once more lost control, and frankly, given what all is in my trash can right now, I'm glad it's freezing here.

The vet had squeezed us in after a surgery, since they were closing early, so Mouse and I waiting in the surgery prep room while the doctor finished up surgery on a Goldendoodle.  The vet tech I spoke with claims that Goldendoodles get stupidity from Goldens and bad hair from Poodles.  Mouse wanted to leave, and it broke my heart to see him trying to walk out and knowing that he wasn't leaving ever again.  I petted him and cuddled him and told him how very much he'd meant to me, and finally it was time.

Dr. Mark came in, and I helped the vet tech get Mouse to lie down, and then I petted his head and crooned silly things to him and stayed with him until he was gone.  Then I took off his collar, said my goodbyes to the hospital staff, came home and cuddled Little Miss.

Mouse was with me such a short time, but he was so sweet and silly that I couldn't help but love him.  I'm glad I got him his own set of bowls so he didn't have to eat from hand-me-downs, I'm glad I got to see him bounce like a low-rider, I'm glad he got one last snow and one last visit from Mallie, and despite the sadness I'm feeling, I'm glad he could come to live with me.

The name on his records is Amos, and sometimes I called him Mouse, or Amouse, or Amoos,e or Mr. Mouse, or Mr. Moose, but I always used his "real name" when I sang to him.  It's probably blasphemous, but I don't care--just replace one word in the following song with my dog's name, and you'll know what I sang:

R.I.P. Mouse

My sweet old man, November 1, 1999-November 27, 2013.

Did I miss a holiday?

Because it appears that today is Try to Kill Your Pack Leader Day.  First Zeus uses chemical warfare on Mallie and this morning Mouse made me fall.  

As you know if you read this blog regularly, Mouse is a 14 year old yellow Lab.  He's got severe arthritis in his hips and back legs, and lately he can't climb up the two concrete steps that lead to the back door.  I've been going out and helping him back in while looking for a good, reliable ramp that doesn't cost a fortune.  

This morning, I let Mouse out, and ten minutes later walked out to let him in.  I was behind him, not really doing anything other than bracing him against a backward fall when in a sudden burst of energy, he surged up and over both stairs and into the house, and I fell forward.  I'm not entirely sure where my feet were, because I've been having sporadic episodes of MS foot drop.  I landed on my hands and one knee, so now I have bruises on the heels of both hands, some nice road rash on my leg and an knee that screams at me when I ask it to support my weight.  Oh, and my shoulders hurt like hell.

Could we please consign this holiday to the circular file?