Small dogs

About a week ago (perhaps two?) we got a letter from the dog-licensing bureau, that Gracie was due to have her license renewed, and reminded us that she'd need proof of her rabies shot.

So -We scheduled an appointment for Friday, yesterday, at 10:30 with her Veterinarian, Dr. Kyle to give her the shot.

As an afterthought, we brought Gracie's folder with us.

This folder has her shot record, copies of veterinarian visits, and anything else that needed recording.

For Ex: Paul had written notes about times when she'd been bitten by a tick.

Well, as we drove to the Vet's office, perhaps a 12 minute trip, Gracie sat on my lap.

And low and behold I found two ticks attached to her. There was one attached: just about an inch above her eye - hiding in her fur, (I told Paul about that one, and he tried to see it while driving. Not a good idea. I didn't mention the second which was on her belly. Til we got there.)

We couldn't have been going anywhere else that would have befitted
the situation more, and we congratulated each other on the good timing.

We got to there, weighed her - exactly 5 pounds! Yeah! She gained an ounce or two!

The receptionist wanted to know the reason we made the appointment. Rabies shot?
She said Gracie didn't need it - she'd had one in June. Good for three years. Oh? We checked her file, and sure enough -there was her tag was indeed taped to the inside of her folder.

You're thinking - why wasn't it on her regular collar? The reason: it was too big and cumbersome for her small neck.

Good heavens. As they say - short-term memory is the first to go! But - good timing for tick-removal!

Dr. Kyle, is a young Vet. And very gentle, knowledgeable, positive. He talked at great length about ticks, and the high prevalence of lyme disease in this area (Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York State) for dogs and people.

He would remove the ticks and then he wanted to give Gracie a heart-worm blood test, because one section of the test shows whether a dog has developed anti-bodies for lyme disease. Some dogs do develop the anti-bodies and some don't. If she did, she would only get some antibiotics, if she hadn't developed them, he would vaccinate her with a new serum to protect her. So we agreed.

He took her into what he called their "hospital section" and got the blood sample. And removed the ticks.

We waited a short time in the waiting room for the test results. It was negative.

So - she didn't produce the needed antibodies. We gave him permission to innoculate her.

He also suggested medication to prevent ticks from attaching. Gracie has had bad reactions to flea medication put on her neck, which was how this medication needed to be applied. Obviously, we didn't want to go that route if it was at all possible. So he suggested a tick collar, which we got for her. Even being the smallest - it was 25 inches. (The majority was cut off, of course.)

On the way home, Gracie became lethargic. And when we got home, I thought she'd yelped when the site of her stomach tick was accidently touched. BUT - Paul was also checking the smoke/gas alarms and putting new batteries in them, and that noise was similar to her yelp, so I made the assumption that what I heard was the coincidental noise. She was trembling. Was she upset about the alarm? BUT even after the alarms were fixed she kept trembling -She was trembling last night and this morning also. Her tail was completely uncurled. She was so sad and unhappy.

We took the tick collar off her this morning, and waited to see if that was her problem. She continued being uncomfortable. And she yelped again. We called the vet. Too late. They were closed. We called their emergency number and this Vet said it was okay to give her some pediatric benadryl.

To make a long story short. She's slowly acting better on her own. We haven't given her the benedryl yet, but it's here in case she needs it. Also - it's recommended for when she flies with us in December so she'll sleep and not bother the passengers around us.

When little dogs get sick, it's hard to ignore the symptoms because there's a very small window of time when they can get very sick.

Chicago - Part 2

After I posted my last posting, Nancy wrote to correct me. Felix's brother is Cosmo, and the third little boy in the picture is Schuyler Hudson. Nancy said - you'd never guess he's from New York, would you! LOL.

Now I know why I put Oscar and Felix together - I just realized. . . .aren't they the Odd Couple? Jack Lemon and that funny looking man. Can't think of his name. My brain sometimes works mysteriously.

So - Dan came home on Sunday around noon-time.

Just in time to take care of Evie, so we could take Vincent to the French Market.

Before school on Friday, when we were waiting for the kindergarteners to go inside, we talked with Mariah: Cosmo and Felix's mom. She wondered if we'd like to go to The French Market for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. It's an annual affair held at the French School, which is located very near the Disney School. Vincent's school. The French School a beautiful old, three-story brick building. It was full of french foods, french clothing, jewelry.

They also had wonderful child-care available, and Cosmo and Felix had been going for several years,and had a great time. So while I registered Vincent outside the child-care area, in the basement, (No parents were allowed in the child-care room), Nancy parked the car. According to the child-care schedule - they had a Kung Fu exhibit and lesson for those interested, Puppet Shows, bead necklace making, tattoos, and other exciting kid things.

So Felix, Cosmo, Nancy, Keir and Mariah arrived. Felix and Cosmo ran inside the room and we could hear them yelling and greeting each other with excitement, as we climbed the stairs to the first floor. . . .

The food. Oh. My.: I'd never seen real crepes being made. Wow. They made all kinds. Nancy ordered a mushroom/cheese one for lunch. I had an apple one. We shared. Then we all went to various exhibits on the first floor. There were all kinds of pastries being sold in the halls, but we resisted temptation.

We went upstairs to the third floor where all kinds of clothing apparel, hats, scarves, mittens, children's dresses with swirly skirts, filled the whole gymnasium.

We went down to the first floor and I sat at one of the tables to rest, as they went on to look at some exhibits. Before long, they came back with the kids, and some crepes for them. They sat down to eat at the table with me. Vincent didn't care for his crepe, so Nancy had it. She got him a sandwich "to die for." Ham, on homemade french bread sliced and buttered. He liked it. Felix and Vincent wore some beaded necklaces they had made in the childcare room. Felix wore his two, Vincent wore his one.

There was something wrong with Cosmo. He was very sad. He sobbed. Evidently he didn't realize that they were making necklaces, and he missed out on doing that, and now felt that he wouldn't have done Kung Fu if he'd known about the necklaces. Well, Felix made two, Vincent one.

Keir and Mariah tried to convince Felix that it would be really really nice if he gave one of his necklaces to Cosmo, that he'd still have one, and Cosmo would feel better. . . .but that it was his choice. He said no. (It must be a brother/sibling thing.) After a few moments, Vincent took his necklace off, walked over to Cosmo, and put it on his neck, and said he wanted him to have it.

That was the highlight of the day - I am so proud of my grandson. I realize that Evie hasn't gotten to the pain in the backside stage yet, but Vincent got a lot of good vibes from all of us, and even Dan, when we got home. So - perhaps that will help him when Evie gets to this time/age, which of course she will!

So - what's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Adjustments

I don't know about the rest of the world because I haven't found it important to know, but I was wondering, just wondering, if a lot of places besides here have a stretch of good weather, then the crappy stuff comes in for a few days to ruin it.

We're trying to get ready to leave for Florida. One reason we stick around is so that Paul can get all the leaves up. Not being a leaf-collector afficianado, I never thought about it - but the leaves should be dry to be swept up. So Paul claims, and I believe him. You can't mow in the mornings because of the dew and dampness. And it poured last night. Paul started mowing about a half hour ago. It's raining again now. Such plans need to be adjusted. So - He's wandering around here doing other stuff on his Close-up-the-house-list.

Speaking of plan adjustments: Do you remember when I mentioned that Paul had the kolliwobbles (sp.) a week or so ago?

Well he wasn't being truthful. For several days afterwards he hid the fact that he continued to have a pain in his side. When I found out, . . . .we decided it was time for him to make a doctor's appointment.

His appointment, last Monday, coincided with my appointment to see my endocrinologist, so I couldn't go with him. He said something to the affect - don't worry - all he'll do is prescribe the medication I had before for IBS.
He told the doctor that the pain was similar to something he'd had before when he had IBS, and requested a prescription for medication he thought would take care of it. The doctor ordered it for him. Note: the medication worked well, over three days, while I was gone.

But, our doctor also wanted him to have a CT scan of the area. This meant he was to go to Sayre, PA (about a half hour trip) last Friday. I already had my tickets for Chicago - leaving on Thursday, and coming back on Monday. It really bothered me that I couldn't be there with him, and I told him so, but he told me not to worry. . . .There's nothing to worry about, he said.

The whole procedure would just take time. He needed to be there by 10:30 AM so they could use a dye to flush the kidneys -for the 5 - minute noon-time test. The flushing took about four hours. So he didn't get home til mid/late afternoon.

I called him on his cell, from Chicago - before he left, while he was there, and after he left, and when he got home. As he explained it - He said he had a very comfortable recliner to lie on, with a blanket around him and took a nap - just like home, read his Kindle, had lunch delivered to him, watched tv. It was all nothing to worry about.

Since he was gone almost all day, Sharon came and let Gracie out (in the rain,). Our little dog never "works" under those circumstances.

We received the info in the mail yesterday about the CT scan. The results: mild "ileus" intestinal blockage. Also enlargement of the right adrenal glands. He sees our doctor Monday morning at 8:45.

We're planning on packing the car up Sunday, and if the good Lord is willing, we'll be leaving after his appointment.

Otherwise, after all, we're not on a set schedule. Isn't it great that we cancelled our plane reservation down there? The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Chicago trip - Part 1

As you know, I've been to Chicago to help Nancy look after my grandchildren while Dan was away at a conference in Washington, D.C. I left on Thursday and came back on Monday. The time went by very quickly, and yet, we did so much - it seemed like a nice long time. Is that possible?

I came in the late afternoon of rainy Thursday. The rest of the time, it was sunny.

We took Vincent to his school Friday morning.


Then we brought Evie home, and after the sitter came, Nancy and I went window shopping at a lovely area near them called Lincoln Park. It had a beautiful variety of little shops: children's clothing, kitchenware, books, games. We did lots of fun looking around, and had fun buying little spur of the moment things.




Ex: A long story - Nancy and Dan are friends of Keir and Mariah, who have two children - Felix and Oscar. Keir is a writer. Oscar is in Vincent's kindergarten class at the Disney School.

Here's a picture of Vincent - right, Oscar - middle, and another friend outside before school started.

Don't know why the above and here is blue and underlined. I'm keeping it as is because if I do anything, knowing me, I'd probably delete it by mistake.


Felix is in second grade. Their dad, Keir, has written several adult books, and just had his first children's book, The Real Felix, published. (Obviously about Oscar's big brother) Oscar's dad came to Oscar and Vincent's class last week and read the first chapter of his book to their kindergarten class.

There was a bookstore at Lincoln Park which had Keir's book, so I bought it for Vincent. (Kinda neat knowing a real live author! Felix, Oscar's brother, was the subject, of course.)

Below - Vincent modeled his new shirt.





On Saturday afternoon, we went to a birthday party for a four-year old little girl, Mia, that lives at their complex, so he and Evie dressed up. It was cute to see all the little girls all dressed up in pretty dresses. Vincent was one of three boys there too. Interesting to note: the little girls giggled, screamed, and crawled under the table, and behaved pretty much like little boys. Maybe, if I thought about it, they were a tiny bit more subdued.






Evie and I are below. The Windy City did a number on my hair - so I'm not happy with the picture, but it's the only one of Evie and me.




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How come?

Here I am . . . .getting ready to fly to Chicago tomorrow to help Nancy take care of Evie and Vincent while Dan goes to a conference in Washington DC.

I have my list typed up of what I need to bring.
My wash is done.
I've gotten my e-ticket on-line, and prepaid for checking in one suitcase. (It'll be big - since I have lots of "stuff" to include for my wonderful grandchildren beside what is on my list. I know, I spoil them. Nancy works full-time (and probably more) as a math professor. Evie is almost 13 months old, and Vincent is 5 1/2 years old, in full day kindergarten at the Disney School. So Nancy needs someone to help out when Vincent has other things going on, or needs to be picked up.

Alright, already. How come?

Well - I have to backtrack a little. I'm prediabetic. I have been for a while.

OK. I have a little book I write in, and for a long time (a couple of years) I kept track of my blood sugar. It was never or hardly ever high. And never ridiculously high. If I ate right, it was good. I exercise (not regularly, but try to), but that's not what I'm here to write about.

My little book - God bless it - always showed that for a long time, my glucose levels were good. Excellent, in fact. Paul and I try to eat healthily. But - I got tired of checking every day, and stopped completely. Wouldn't you? Perhaps not. But, I did.

Recently, I started feeling guilty, but still fine. I decided I should probably check my levels for old-times' sake. I tried. My accucheck compact meter wouldn't work. I thought, well, the test-strips are old. So, last Friday, I called my doctor's secretary, to renew the prescription. Plus the lancets.

We get our prescriptions from Walmart up here. One went through fine. The other was too old. Okay. I called to ask what the bill was the one waiting for me? I expected within a couple of dollars to $0.00.

Medicare pays for diabetic equipment for seniors. It was almost $40.

HOW COME?

Well, Walmart didn't have the medicaire diagnosis code from my doctor, (I don't know why, because I've been with Medicaire for six years)so they couldn't adjust the price to include medicare.

So, I called the doctor back and she, Carolyn, the secretary was to fax the diagnosis code to Walmart, (plus the other medication that needed a new prescription). so I could get this medication for medicaire's most reasonable price.

Did she? This was the Friday before our long weekend. When I called yesterday, Tuesday, they hadn't received it. I called Carolyn back. She called again. I called them. They got it. Plus the new medication was much lower than it would have been without medicare.

But the old medication was still close to $40. I asked them to please give it to me using the medicare diagnosis code. They said they couldn't. I needed a new prescription. Meanwhile, I've been on medicare for six years. How come????? Why didn't they have the medicaire diagnosis code?

Well, since I'm feeling well, I guess I can wait till I get back from Chicago to continue on with this saga. Don't you hate it when things like this happen?

And how're things goin' in your neck o' the woods?

How could I forget how beautiful it is up here in the Fall?

These past couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous up here and I just happened to have my camera with me! I couldn't resist taking pictures. And - It gave me practice with "cutting and pasting." I never seem to be able to post pictures in the correct order. But - Some still seem dark. I need to learn how to fix that

Sunday, the day before yesterday, as we were driving out of Woods Edge for church, the fog was lifting from the valley and I got this picture. The colors weren't fully out, and we expected it to take another week.



The weather fooled us yesterday- and our area was perfectly gorgeous - lots more color. We had a fun day, even though it started out a bit worrisome: We found a deer tick attached to Gracie Sunday night.

Paul tried to get it off with tweezers, but part of it wouldn't cooperate. We made an appointment with our vet in Watkins Glen on Monday morning, and took her. The technician completed it. All was okay, but we need to get a blood test in a month to see if she develops lyme disease.

It was Columbus day - and such a beautiful day, we stopped and had a cup of coffee outside at a main street cafe and people-watched. Then we went down to the lake and walked the length of the boardwalk. Lots of tourists. We noticed something interesting about Gracie. She walks well on a leash, if she walks between us. It must give her confidence. She charmed lots of people.

The next two pictures show our Fall decorations.





The next two pictures: On Saturday, Montour had their Fall Festival. They've been known to have serious weather problems (I've experienced rain, above 90 degree weather) - but they lucked out this year, and we took Gracie for a walk down through main street.

I didn't know The little girl looking at the pumpkins, but she added nice color (with the purple balloon). In the other picture, if you look closely, you can see The Falls in the background.




Saturday night, grandson, Lee, had his 16th birthday party - he invited his whole class. He even had fireworks! We were going to go to it, but unfortunately, Paul had the kolliwobbles and we didn't make it. (He's feeling fine now.) That afternoon, we did drop off an outdoor game Lee wanted for the party, and his present.

Yesterday was Columbus day, so after we finished in Watkins, we dropped Gracie off at home, and went on exploring. We decided to have lunch at Glenora - outside on the deck overlooking Seneca Lake. The place was quite full, but we did get a table, and had a sandwich, with a glass of chardonnay.

Our picture is dark, but in the background, you can see how beautiful the day was. Actually, it didn't show the bright emerald green the grass was. Paul says the light green color comes from new grass coming from the combination of the morning dew and the warm days and cool nights.




The next picture shows a nursery we stopped at. We got a Burning Bush and the two big yellow chysanthemums plants that you can see in the first pictures of our front porch.



The last three pictures were taken as we rode through the hills near Seneca Lake. My brain had missed the "beautiful before time" of Indian Summer. That's what's here now. I'm glad we're not missing this.





So how the heck are things goin' in your neck o' the woods?

Hamburgers and Fries- Oh, My. . . .

The big freeze is tonight. The weatherman says it should go down to 23, between 1AM and 10AM.

So - we're not going to cover the plants. Their time is up. Our weather? It's been cloudy or rainy. Raw. But it's beautiful now. Maybe Paul can even mow. Right now, there's still a lot of dew on the grass. (10:30AM) (It looks good for this afternoon.) Most of the outside furniture will be brought in. Except for two chairs we're gonna leave out - just in case.

We have a brand new hamburger place over by Panera Bread that we've been to, two times. It's a restaurant chain called Five Guys. Have you heard of it?

They've got all kinds of rave notices tacked on their walls. (from newspapers around the country.) The only way to describe it is: The minute you enter the store, your cholesterol count rises. Take note: Their portions are extremely large. Plus add-ons are all free: tomatoes, grilled onions, mushrooms, cheese, lettuce - you name it.

They offer two size hamburgers - Regular and Small. You'd think that the regular size would have one burger. So, the first time we went, we ordered it. Nope - it's two burgers. It's too much. Our second time, last Saturday, we ordered two small ones. Still too much. Maybe next time we'll order one small, cut it in half, and share it.

Fries: As kids would say - "they're to die for." And rightly so. Freshly cut, and fried right there. We didn't order any the first time, but we got some this past time. Again - Their portions are big. Way too much. The hamburger and fries come in a paper bag. Again - we ordered the smallest. They give you a cup and it overflows with as much outside the cup as inside it. More than enough for us to share. We left there stuffed. Very bad for you, but once in a blue moon we'll suffer through it without feeling too guilty.

So - we'll have our frost tonight - and we'll be ready for it. Looking forward to going south.

So - what's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Good News

Three years ago, my son, Jil and his wife, Epril were married in the Philippines with his dad, sister and myself in attendance.

They just celebrated their third wedding anniversary . . . . but after spending a full year apart. She's still in the Philippines.

He's been back home here since last October - because a year ago his U. S. medical transcriptionist company told him they wanted him to come back and work in the states or plan to lose his job. The only out-of-country people they'd employ, were those in India. So he returned. They've both been anxiously waiting for a year, going through all kinds of red-tape for Epril to get her green card. She and her mother (who will be there for moral support) will fly to the embassy in Manila for her interview on Nov 8th. I bet that will be a nerve-wracking day.

She should be in Florida around Thanksgiving. But "should be" are the words to look at. I go to a Thursday morning Bible Study group. My prayer request: to pray for Jil and Epril to be together soon. So, yes, prayers are being hopefully answered. At least one day (November 8th) seems to be written in stone.

So: Good News!