Shoes

When you do a lot of walking, shoes are important. I suppose if you do a lot of standing and running, too. Nurses have special shoes or they wear a good pair of tennis shoes. My foot doctor told me to wear New Balance (the higher the number the better). They get too hot and they do not look good if I have to dress up and give a presentation or go to a meeting. The highest I find is 610 at my local shoe store. Where I purchase my SAS taupe huggies. I can get away with wearing these to meetings and they are cool. Ugly shoes but they let me walk without pain. Or, very little pain. Not like before with the plantar fasciitis. I do get some burning from the friction, I will start using baby powder to help remedy that.

I think I just found out why I cannot find a higher number of New Balance. The 800 series runs over $100. Well, that is about the same that I pay for my SAS. If it stops the pain, it is worth every penny. And, so far - the SAS sandals stop that horrible heel pain. I seem to be able to walk almost forever. Now, I need to find something for my aching back when I walk too much. I did find out that if I pushed myself (like I had to in Key West) the back pain finally dissipated. YAY!

The above photo was taken while I was sitting in Key West at Mallory Square waiting for the sun set. You remember, where the cruise ship had to wait over an hour for the girl to arrive? Most folks tell me that a ship won't wait very long. When the doors are closed that is it, they said. This one waited, however.

I can see by the little emblem on the side of the shoe, that it must be the real deal. I have purchased knock-off crocs but not the real thing. I may have to give the real ones a try to see if they help my feet during long standing episodes or when I do a lot of walking. Do you have a certain type of shoe that you swear by? Have you had episodes of plantar fasciitis or heel spurs? If so, have you had a shot in the heel? I heard that hurts a lot. Maybe foot surgery?

Making more memories

Warther's Museum 2009

On Saturday I met family and we toured the beautifully decorated trees at Warther's museum. A couple of the family had not been before and they were just as entranced by his carvings and work as they were by the trees. The trees did not disappoint.

I fell in love with a beautifully lit blue one. Head to toe in blue lights, tinsel, garland and balls. It had not been sold yet. $750. Sorry. My budget doesn't even come close to allowing such a luxury and besides, can you imagine what my pets would do to such a beautifully decorated tree? Oh, the horror!

We all went out to eat at Texas Road House and again were not disappointed. Then we did a little shopping at the nearby mall. My heel spur is really acting up. I am getting shooting pains down into the inside of the heel. Not the middle. More toward the inside of the heel.

I took it easy on Sunday. Even though it was rather nice outside and I could have cleaned out the garage or patio, I stayed inside. My daughter's boyfriend is still mowing my grass for me and he did that yesterday. I got to clean the bathroom drain out. Lovely. Little Chong was very curious as to what I was doing. He was the only one. He kept coming into the bathroom and there I was sitting on the floor and working under the sink. It was as if he was asking me "Did you fall down? Do you need help?" It was comical. Until I realized that my wooden spoon was missing. I use the spoon's handle wrapped in paper towels to clean the drain out. Yep. He stole it and it was chewed up beyond rescue. Cheech threw up later and I finally got all the wooden splinter pieces picked up off the living room carpet. Thieving little devils, they are!

My office was scheduled to work only Monday and Tuesday of this week so I took vacation days. I have a follow up doctor's appointment this morning and then I will go to the grocery store and buy the items that can be stored for four days before the feast.

I will go again on Wednesday to get the fresher items. I am fixing all the meal for me and my crew probably on Friday and will be going to the family feast on Thursday. For that get together I am making my usual cheese ball and tray. I am taking a vegetable tray with dip, some olives and pickles and maybe devilled eggs. I asked my daughter's boyfriend to ask his mom if she had time would she make me some homemade noodles for Thursday. I hope she only says yes if she has the time. She also works full time. My family are not noodle eaters but I thought the other day, 'we never have noodles' and I figured I might take a batch. We'll see how they go over.

For the movie department we watched "My Sister's Keeper". It was good. I am not a fan of C Diaz. I do like the way she looked worn and haggard in the movie - it fit her role. I got a little confused as they tossed the viewer back and forth in time. I did not see much chemistry between C Diaz and J Patric and I swear I saw him pull back from her kiss in disgust at the beach scene. I almost watched the movie again (fast forwarding to that part) to see if it was my imagination or not, but didn't really care. I am beginning to warm up a bit to A Baldwin. He played his part well, I thought. And J Cusak was great as the judge. My daughter just could not believe that A Baldwin in this movie was the husband in Beetle Juice. I got a chuckle out of that.

We also watched "Next Day Air." Skip this one! The two chuckles we got in the entire movie did not make up for the foul language and blood scenes. This is NOT comedy. The only ones worth watching were M Def and Y Deliz. M Def didn't have more than a dozen words in the movie and that is where we did our chuckling.

On the "old movie" chart I watched "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte." So many times you hear old movies mentioned but have you ever really watched them? I caught this one the other morning at about six a.m. In the old time movie fashion, it was quite good.

It even has a name.

I am so traumatized tonight I cannot bring myself to muster up the energy to find a picture to post. Work was so-so. Nothing there. I did have that wonderful check-up after lunch today that women get where they smash your breasts between plates of cold steel. Yep. It could have started then, I suppose.

I come home and again, not much to harp about.

The new boxer was playing with the puppies. The puppies are getting a bit bigger and want to uh...want to err... show the boxer who is the alpha dog, I guess is the best way to describe it. Well, Chong does since he matures a week or two quicker than Cheech. Chong has been going to town since we got the boxer and he is leaving poor Cheech's head alone. Cheech is relieved, I suppose.

The boxer barely gives Chong a second glance while he humps away. He probably adds to the horseplay with flipping him around from time to time.

I scooted Chong off of the poor boxer's leg for the umpteenth time and Chong kept crying. I thought he got stuck between the chair and the fan and he yelped. He kept twisting around trying to lick himself.

I looked closer. "What is the matter with you?" I asked him. He twisted again and yelped. I got a closer look. Oh, good grief. He was uh... it was err... well, it was out there and it wasn't going back in.

I have to admit, I really didn't know what to do for him. Should I blow on it? Oh good grief, Peruby! But really? What do you do? I picked him up and took him to the bathroom and shut the door for some privacy. The other dogs were not helping us.

I ran warm water in the bathroom sink and sat him down in it trying to get him to relax. He seemed to really like this feeling and did not squirm. We sat there until the water got cold. It didn't help. I wrapped him in two big fluffy towels and turned to Google. It even has a name.

Some of the sites said to rub Vaseline on his extrusion. I called my vet. She was gone but the receptionist was there. She asked the other lady and she said to rub Vaseline on it.

Back to the bathroom. I got my old jar of Vaseline out and picked up a good glob. Was thing going to hurt? I looked at Chong. "Sorry" I said. I dabbed some here, some there. Nothing. Oh, how about the base? I applied some to the base. It was all red and looked like it was bleeding. Zip. In it went like a flash. Wow! It works! I was so relieved. Maybe not as much as Chong, but I was relieved. I called the vet back (it took all of 45 seconds) and thanked them and told them it worked.

I wrapped him back up in the warm towels and held him while I sat on the couch. He slipped off into dreamland all warm and snug. After about 15 minutes he wanted his brother, they snuggled, I covered them and they went back to sleep.

Oh, you think that was it? Ha, ha!

My daughter came home. I reminded her it was the last day of August and to get the $2 off per gallon of gasoline from our grocery store points, we needed to go today. She drove her car, I drove mine. Her boyfriend mows our grass and he said we should take both our gas cans and fill them. I thought that was a good idea, so I grabbed our good plastic container and an older one that I had not used in ages. It didn't have a lid, but a long spout.

We filled my daughter's car up. The attendant told me I couldn't fill two cars up. Only one. I didn't mind. I said "Sorry. I didn't know." She was very nice about it. "Can I fill my gas cans up?" She said sure. I filled them. I put them in the back hatch of my car and drove off. The first turn I heard a thump. I immediately pulled over and opened the hatch. Gas was pouring out of that old gas container all over the back of my trunk. I could smell it everywhere. I picked it up and cursed under my breath. Great! Just Great!

I got home and my garage door would not open. I began banging it on my steering wheel, enraged by the gas fumes consuming me. The little insides of the opener slipped out and I didn't notice the garage door open. I put the opener back together and pushed the button. The door began closing. Ack! I screamed. I pushed and pushed, but the stupid door would not open back up. The gasoline fumes were really starting to get to me now! I became livid.

I shut off the car. Got my keys to open the side door to the garage so I could open the door for my car with the opener attached to the wall. It opened. I pulled my car in and opened my door. It crashed against something metal and I didn't care what it was. I began slamming my car door against the metal again and again and again. I was full of rage. I hate this smell!

Finally, I stopped. I picked up the metal (old bars from one of my daughter's old boyfriend's trampolines) and almost flung it against my car. My senses were beginning to get the better of me and I tossed them off to the side. I grabbed those gas cans and sat them off to the side.

I reached in and tried to pull the carpet away from the back of the hatch but it was all connected. I ran inside and knocked poor Sable over (she is always laying in front of the door). She almost fell down the basement steps. I grabbed a bucket of warm soapy water and some rags. And then I saw it.

Folks, the honeymoon is over.

There between the kitchen and the dining room were shreds of my carpet. Bare wood peeked up from the corner door frame. The rage boiled back up again. "Who did this?!" I screamed. Dogs ran every which way to get away from me. I stomped my foot. "Who did this?!" The smell from the gasoline was making me act like I was on some kind of bad drug trip.

I grabbed the bucket of sudsy water and flew outside to try and wash out the gasoline smell from my car. The fumes were overwhelming. I washed the carpet. I pulled out the chintzy piece of plywood that separates the carpet from the spare donut tire. I washed and I washed, but that gasoline smell consumed me.

I was in such a rage. I threw the rags, I threw the bucket. Soap was everywhere. I left the hatch open so that the car could air out. I turned out all the lights, closed all the garage doors and calmly now, walked back into the house. I had to calm down.

The dogs were excited. They were hungry. The needed to go outside. Somehow I kept it all together. I took them outside. The new boxer did nothing. I brought them all back in. I fed them. I watered them. I cleaned up the shredded carpet. I did not cry. I am not a crier.

I took the boxer out for a second time by himself. I walked him around the block. Twice. I needed the cool evening air to clear my head. My foot was killing me. I was glad it was dark so the neighbors could not see me limping. He still did nothing. We went back inside. I cleaned up the puppy pee pads and put new ones down. I sprayed Febreeze.

My head is swimming. I am drinking cool ice water. I cannot get rid of the gasoline smell to save my life. I put my clothes into the dirty clothes basket and took it down to the basement. I washed my hands and arms about seven times. It remains with me. All the dogs are sleeping. The cats are hiding. There are two cats that I have not seen since the day after we brought the boxer in.

I think I now know why he was abandoned. The separation anxiety can be a killer. I went through it with Sable. I'll get medicine if those nice folks don't want to take him. He will grow out of it I suppose.

Well, my head is still swimming and I think I will call it a day before the headache has a chance to hit me.

Dressage

No, I know that (dressage) isn't the correct term for this class of horse show, I was referring to the gentleman at the lead. He was quite the looker, most of the others were dressed in Western flash, you know rhinestones and neon silk shirts. If I remember correctly, this duo (trio?) pulled a second place in this event.

The fair (and it's greasy food) is a distant memory. I am catching up on my sleep (one night I think I slept nine hours - almost a record for me). My feet are still hurting. As soon as I get paid this Friday I am off to buy new shoes for work, play and walking. They have to tie on the top is what the doctor says. Wear a shoe that does not let the foot separate from the shoe bottom when you walk (flip flops are horrible!). I despise flip flops. In a couple of weeks I will take my new shoes and have the doctor slip the insert into them and cut it to fit my shoe I will wear the most. I guess that would be my work shoe.

After that is taken care of I have a few more medical procedures. I am hoping that the main one does not require a hospital stay. It is just minor and will hopefully make my life easier. I keep telling folks by Halloween I should be feeling much better. Maybe I'll even be able to do more yard work by then. I hated letting that go this summer. When I have the pups outside, I'll pull weeds and trim some around my Hosta. My moon flowers are doing so well in front of the patio, I am going to keep the big set of them there and let them take over as much as they want. The smell in the air at night is heavenly. It covers up what the pups are doing. Ha Ha!

The pups had their second set of boosters yesterday. They are 8 and 8.5 lbs, now. (When we first took them in mid-July they were 2.25 and 2.50 lbs). They are getting taller, leaner and can run like little rockets. We may have over-watered them.

Work is going well. Schools are starting back up and techs are anxious to get their networks started out on the right foot. The filter is a big part of that and I am busy making up "how to" documentation. I really enjoy doing that. Step by step instructions with pictures.

I talked to an old friend this evening. I've not seen her since the spring. She has 14 cats, only 2 inside. She thinks some dog is getting the baby kittens. I could not let that happen. For starters I'd be getting a slew of them fixed. The ones I couldn't get fixed, I'd be taking to a shelter. But, she was raised different out in the country.

Her grandson started 4th grade today and she had to tell me all about it. Her older granddaughter is out west and is in dire straits. Seems she is pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. He happens to be married and is staying with his wife. She (my friend's granddaughter) was staying with his sisters, but they kicked her out. Now she is staying with one of her boyfriend's buddies. Yikes. My friend is so angry and upset with her. She won't listen to reason.

On the movie front, we watched "Identity" last week. It was a thriller. Remember "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie? Or it's other name "Ten Little Indians"? It kind of reminds you of that story. It has John Cusak so it was great in my book.

Coming along

I like how this photo looks like Sable is watching over the pups.

Just a week or so ago I swear she tried to lead them astray and lose them. I caught her and stopped them all. She is even playing with them now. They have stopped irritating her so much (not completely) but they are getting better and she is getting more tolerant.

I am still coping with a lot this summer, but the puppies are a welcome distraction. (I could only think of extraction there for a minute!). They are going through that thieving stage where they will run up (or into your room) and grab something, anything and run away with it. Then the chase is on. They love it. A sock that didn't make it into the clothes basket. A napkin that falls on the floor. It is all fair game to them. If I don't get the napkin it gets shredded into a million little pieces. The sock also gets grabbed quickly, I am not sure what damage they can do to it.

They have a dozen little toys and though they do play with them from time to time, they get tired of them and look for something new to chew. Shoes are a big favorite. I keep mine in the kitchen which is still off limits to the pups. That is where we feed the cats and Sable and these little rat scavengers will eat every last crumb found in the cat's dishes or Sable's. Not their food mind you, they grab at it and then leave it sit. But forbidden fruit, eh?

I am trying to get a little organized in paperwork this week-end. It is much too warm to work outside. The interesting thing about being a pack rat is I can tell you what my electric bill was years ago. I keep my old check registers. It fascinates me to read over them, but it is also a huge time waster.

I have not finished Q&A yet, and I picked up some books on watercolor painting and digital art. I have not carved out much time to read this week-end. Oh, and the Cloris Leachman biography. I love to read biographies. As do most bloggers.

My daughter is getting excited about going to the University here in town. She wants all new clothes and a new haircut. All those years (between 6 and 15) when she did not care about clothes are long gone. It is Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie, and Lucky's now. I kept telling myself way back then 'remember how cheap this shopping is, because soon enough it will be the other way around' and that is exactly what has happened. Oh, well. She could have wanted the expensive brands all along, so I figure I lucked out.

She tried so hard to find a job. There are times (as any parent knows) when I have to bite my tongue. When she applies for jobs, she kind of reaches for the stars. I have to be careful about what I say because I get the backlash "See?! You want me to find a job, but you knock down every idea I have!!!" Ouch. So, I let her call and ask questions. She calls. She finds out that to be this or that you have to have certain qualifications. It is hard to sit and listen to this, but it is an important (growing) stage in a young adult life.

Recently she tried for work as a maid. Now, this in itself is very comical. I have nagged her to no end to help me clean up around the house. We all know where that gets us with most teens. I had to smile to myself. In a motel? My first instinct was "Do you know how gross that could be?!" But, I bit my tongue. So, let her find out. It didn't pan out. Not yet, anyway. It is a job I would never want to have. She still is adamant about not working around food, but she may be bending a little there.

So, we are marching through August. The dog days of summer. I am still limping (it gets really old), but it takes time to get appointments to get the insert made. I figure maybe by the end of September or at least October I may be feeling much better. That would be okay with me because October has always been one of my favorite months (if not my very favorite). I do like September, though. I love the changing of the leaves. I like a little cooler weather. I have to find my camera battery and take more pictures!

A long August

My niece in San Diego last month

I had the family reunion on the 2nd of this month. Since then this month has not been much fun for me. I have had five doctor appointments, with two more to go this month. I have had two car appointments (my car and my daughter's car), I have had jury duty twice, two college scheduling sessions, and have one dentist appointment and one veterinarian appointment yet this month.

In July, I had four doctor appointments, and two veterinarian appointments.

In September (so far) I am looking at five doctor appointments (one a mammogram, yay!) and a dentist appointment for my daughter.

But, today was the worst. I had a cystoscopy. If you ever had one of these, you would remember it. It is much more painful for men, I suppose. Still, it hurt like the dickens. I am still having pity pains.

I am not seriously ill. Not in any way. One is a procedure I am finally dealing with, the other is my foot and the others are routine. Everything is just falling in this 60 day time span.

Sprinkle in a migraine about once a month and I am very chummy with pain these days. My foot is currently soaking in Epsom salts. The water has long gone cold. Chong tried to drink out of it, I stopped him. Silly pup.

And, they threw in a tetanus shot for good measure! It is swelled up and as sore as a bad bruise. Scientology and their belief of keeping doctors and medicines out of their life might be looking pretty good to me right now. (Just kidding!)

Getting back to normal

Pups at about 11 weeks

Yep. We are thinking rat terrier. This picture shows one that looks just like our little buggers. Still can't comprehend how somebody can drop off 4 pups that look this cute, this sweet and leave them out in the elements with slim chance of survival. What would it have taken to drop them off at a humane society or a shelter? Since I have never dropped off (only picked up) maybe they beat the owners or something. I don't know. I need to shelve these torturous wondering thoughts before I let them ruin my day.

They are doing very well in the potty-training department. My daughter has really worked hard with this. We let a neighbor clip their toenails yesterday and Cheech bled on one. My daughter was very upset (as Cheech is her baby, Chong tends to favor me). Afterwards my daughter said we are getting our own clippers and she is going to clip from now on. It all worked out though, because Chong threw up on the neighbor. She was swinging him on her porch swing. Really though, the neighbor lady felt horrible about Cheech's toenail. She has a small poodle of her own. She loves little dogs.

Cheech and Chong met about 10 new people this week. Today I am headed back to my sister's house for dinner. Some of our luggage was left in her car after the reunion trip and I need to retrieve it. She wants me to bring the pups again so her grandson can see them. The pups will get more socializing done this way. I read online that it is important to get them exposed to at least 100 people while they are little so that they have a healthy social demeanor in their adult life. It isn't very hard to do, as everybody wants to see baby puppies.

Still exhausted and recovering from the reunion. Jury duty is a thing of the past. The lady in the clerk's office said that if I get called again within the next 5 years, just to tell them I served in July 2009 and I won't have to serve until the 5 years is up. Unless, of course, I want to. Don't see that happening, but you never know.

We watched Slumdog Millionaire last night. This movie was hard for me to watch. For starters I get confused as to which boy was which when they were young and growing up. Is that Jamal or his older brother? And, why did the older brother turn so mean and rotten? There is a book (Q & A). I'll try to get the time to read it. I get frustrated by the violence. I know and understand that it is a fact of life, but some of the choices the characters make irritate me to no end. I sigh and tell myself that I do not walk in their shoes.

Even more confusing was the closed-captioning in English to let us know what they were saying in Hindu. It was super tiny and I had a hard time reading it so I was lost a little bit. I followed the story line the best that I could. Why was their Mother killed? Maybe the book will have more detail. The other book Six Suspects does not sound too bad, either.

We missed the Italian festival and a car show in town this week-end. I thought about it, but both my daughter and I are running low on energy. I had a sore throat and an ear ache yesterday (still could be the air conditioner), lower back pain and general malaise. One good thing, my heel didn't hurt as much as the previous weeks. I see the insert office (for my foot) on the 20th, everything takes time. My August is still full of Dr. appointments. I can see a little clearing though beginning in September.

edit: reading the excerpts from this author's books, I can see I am really going to enjoy them. I like his writing style very much.

My crew

My crew filling up water balloons at the reunion. My daughter is on the left. My niece (who lived with us for 5 years and my nephew - both I consider mine at heart). This was when the weather was still cloudy and the rain had not moved completely out of the area. It became very humid and warm and the water balloons were put to great use.

I am still extremely tired and still in some foot pain. The orthopedic surgeon has decided it IS plantar fasciitis and I will have a custom-made insert made that will cover the entire foot and I will have one for the right side for balance. The plantar fasciitis has created a spur to form on the bottom of my heel.