Wow... is it really?

Is it really Saturday, already? Thursday was "ages" ago with the start of a record snowfall for the Northeast. It kept coming... and Friday also turned into a "PA Region Closure" for DH and his company. When it was finally done snowing around 2:00pm... the plow-man came to do our driveway. He didn't do that great of a job... but at least we can now get out. We have around 20+ inches of snow... and in some areas, it's 24 inches. The guard rail behind us on the street is buried.

We also spent the day cleaning up dog messes... Punky was not communicating her needs very well and I may have been preoccupied with Nolli... all I can say is that at least Punky is kind enough to go on the tile floor and not the carpet. She surprised me twice, so today we are a little more vigilant and she is getting quality Mommy time. (I know that she will act up if something seems off to her.)

We also woke up to more snow today... only a couple of inches. It was enough to keep us lazy and in jammies for half of the day. We finally got showered and out the door to do necessary errands after 1:00. Now we are back home... settled in, and I'm deciding on what to make for dinner. The dogs will still have at least 2 more trips outside to the yard before it's all over. Oh... and DH, being the wonderful man that he is... took Nolli-dog's bandages off of his front paws today. It was a little traumatic and Nolli actually nipped at him in the beginning. So... we went to plan B which was to place him up on the table and have me hold him like when we go to the vet. I talked and coached Nolli through it with very little incident. Although my back is now achy and my knees hurt from halfway crouching down to hold his neck and head. Can't really complain though... that's what Moms do! Nolli is happy to have those bandages off.

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

Nolli's Day

Tonite we are so glad to be home, safe and sound. This Nor'easter that is dumping snow on us is really doing a great job of it! DH took the day off to help me get Nolli to the vet on time. It was a bit slippery when we drove across town today. It also didn't help that our wiper blades decided to stop wiping the snow off the windows... so we had to stop at the Wal*marts to get new ones after dropping Nolli off for his appointment.

We had to be in the exam room while the prepped Nolli... and it just about broke my heart. When they put his I.V. line in, I was holding his head and neck and I felt him flinch. I was quietly talking to him... telling him that I understood what he was feeling and telling him to be gentle. He was so good. The vet picked him up to whisk him away and I saw Nolli look at me with such a sweet look in his eyes... I started to cry. The tech told us to call them at noon... and we went home to wait.

The vets office called us at 11:50 that Nolli had done well and was ready to come home. We headed up to get him... and the vet was nice enough to carry him out to the car for us. He came back in and told us that everything went well... his tumor was a sebaceous tumor and was benign. He also found a fatty tumor below the first one and removed that. Nolli also had his teeth cleaned and his front dewclaws removed. Poor baby was really groggy... and we put him on the sofa with a pillow under his head and his soft blanket over him. He was shaky for quite awhile... and I spent quite a bit of time bent over him, giving him kisses and rubbing his head to calm him. We let him sleep for as long as he wanted... and he woke up while we were eating dinner. His dinner per the Vet's instruction was browned ground beef... and he ate all that I gave him. He's been pretty good about not trying to take his bandages off because he has so much experience with vet wrap on his front paws. Oh... and the vet also trimmed up Nolli's nails very short, which was an extra blessing as I was going to have to take Nol to the groomers this next week.

That has been most of our day... part of it has been "trying" as DH has a new all in one printer that doesn't want to work and he's spent over 2 hours on the phone trying to get tech support to understand the issue. I think he has figured out part of the problem tonight... tomorrow we shall see! And... the wind has finally arrived with this storm... it's snowing sideways and blowing like crazy!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

Not Exactly the Way I Planned

I went back to physical therapy... and when we started going through my evaluation and what was going to happen, it wasn't even what I thought! I had prepared myself for electro-shock therapy on my lower spine. We instead spent the time with me being either on my back with my knees up or being flat on my stomach and doing half push-ups.

I've been instructed that I cannot bend from the waist, not allowed to pick anything up, (including a little red dog) and to refrain from sitting too long and... the best part... No Housework, No loading or unloading the dishwasher! Once I get through the next 2 days, I am suppose to start this "No doing things" phase for 4 days. I will have to be on my stomach on the bed doing half-push ups in 2 5-10 rep series every 1 to 2 hours. Crazy stuff.

Tomorrow is Nolli-dogs surgery day. We are due to have 5-10 inches of snow tomorrow. I am not happy about that. I'm still not sure how I am going to get Nolli in and out of the car after... being that I am not suppose to do any lifting!

My next appointment for p/t is Wednesday morning. I am hoping to have some real progress.

Thanks for reading... be blessed.
~Suzanne

Monday, Monday!

Ackkkkkkkk! It really is Monday. My keyboard is acting funny since it slide off the roll-out shelf last night. And I was almost done with this post and I somehow managed to erase it! Add to that being woke up by my DH this morning by my cell phone and then having a little orange dog poop all over my kitchen floor while I was getting dressed to take her out... you've got the start to my Monday!

I was all set to tell you about our great weekend... and how we bought a new cool file cabinet and how I've been busy with getting things more organized around here. And about DH going to the eye doctor... he's getting some cool new glasses... and how I focused Saturday to be all about him and taking care of things that he really needed. Sorry... but that's about all the time I have left now... as the cable guy is coming today... we've been waiting since the end of January to have them bring us another cable box.

Oh... has anyone noticed that "blogger" has changed the page format and all the cool fonts and neato stuff you could use to add or edit your posts are now gone. I don't like it... and it's much harder to add graphics and photos... I think I need to go looking for another host. (Darn Google.)

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

Quiet Day...

We've been having a fairly quiet day here... We all got up at 5:30 to get DH out the door for his day. (I knew his day was gonna be a long one.) Then we... (me, Nolli and Punky) settled back down around 6:45 and went back to sleep for about an hour. It felt good to sleep!

I have been feeling out of sorts for a couple of days... and today it seemed to intensify as the day wore on. I couldn't seem to focus on much and I felt quite "foggy"... as though I were back on cancer meds. (Yuck!) I'm not sure what is going on, but I have been headachy and my tummy has been almost as sensitive as Punky's! I'm sure it's just the old "living without a thyroid" thing. This week was my 4 year anniversary for cancer... "Yay" to survival! It will soon be time to schedule my annual full body scan... I'm so not looking forward to that and going on the special low-iodine diet. Just when I get my skin looking and feeling good, my hair isn't spaz-ing and my nails look good... I have to do "the diet" and screw it all up! Just so I can take 8 little pills that cost about $5000 and have scan that will cost another $5000 and then have it read by the radiologist-oncologist... and that will cost another $2000. I still don't have last years all paid for yet! (Yay for good insurance.)

It's Friday night... and DH is still not home from work. He started out in Princeton, NJ... and went down to a computer lab at mid-day for a warranty job... and finally finished his day at 7:45. He still has a 3 hour drive home... and paperwork after that. This week has been a long one for him... with tons of overtime and night calls. He does have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow and I told him that I would do the driving. I think the only stop we may make after that is to Best Buy... he really needs an additional GPS system beside his phone. Sometimes it takes him through some scary parts of Philly... just because it's the most direct route. I wouldn't want to be where he was yesterday. Too scary to even think about!

I did have a wonderful phone call from my sister April today... always so good to hear her voice on the phone! And it is so helpful to hear her perspective on some of things that I am going through and feeling these days. I find that I am thinking and talking more to my Mom... we always had a "special connection". We would often pick up the phone and call each other... and it was always a case of "I was just thinking of you and was going to call you". She always seemed to know when I was struggling and needed to hear her voice. I always seemed to know when she needed a "pick-me-up" and to hear the words "I love you"... My Mom loved us in a such a special way. April told me today that she knew how much she loved us from her letters to her and Adonna.

So... tonight... we are hanging out. We've watched Celebrity Rehab all snuggled up on the bed, waiting for DH to come home. I've done a couple loads of laundry. (That's a huge deal for me... to be able to carry laundry down and do it!) We puttered a little bit, and I've spoiled Nolli and Punky with yogurt-peanut butter drops. I've checked e-mail, face book and twitter... so I guess I will work on my list for grocery shopping and call it a night! Pretty boring stuff for today!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

Dog Day Morning

Today was the day for both dogs to go to the Vet. They were both very excited as I pulled out collars and leashes. Nolli was especially excited... he knew a car ride was involved. We made the trip across town just fine... and we were able to park in handicapped parking. (Yay!)

We made our way inside to the waiting room... it was filled with 4 other pet owners and we chose a spot at the backside near an older Bernese Mountain dog. He was sweet and beautiful, but as he walked away from us for his turn in the exam room... you could see his hip problem and how hard it was for him to walk. (awwww...) Nolli waited so sweet and patient. Punky was a little basket case and needed to be held. We were called 3rd... and made our way to the exam room. Nolli figured it out and started to bark a little bit. He doesn't bark much, so it surprised me a little.

We waited in the exam room for quite awhile... and Nolli literally sat in front of the door facing away from the room. He was ready to leave as soon as possible. When the Veterinarian came in, Punky was the first to be examined. We discussed what I knew about her... and he gave her a thorough going over. At the end, after she had her shots... he picked her up and weighed her. I was more than surprised to discover my little girl has gained weight... she weighs a whole 10 pounds now!

Next up was Nolli dog. I discussed why we were there aside from shots. He needs to have his teeth cleaned... and his dew claws need to be removed. They have always been a problem for him and get caught on things. Then I told him about Nolli's boo-boo on his tummy. He has had a spot on his tummy that won't heal. We will almost get it there... and then it flares up and gets all yucky. He has a pretty good infection on it now... and the doctor rolled him over to get a real good look. It has become very swelled in the last few days... and it's actually a tumor that has to come off. He's scheduled for surgery in a week. Poor baby... I feel so bad for him. And of course, it will need to be biopsied. I am hoping that it's something benign. Nolli was so exhausted after going to the vet... he's slept all day. I'm going to spoil him rotten until his surgery day.

Thanks for reading... be blessed.
~Suzanne

Reality Check!

Some things... no matter how much you want them... seem to stay out of reach! I've been contemplating going back to school. I went for an admissions appointment last night. I have got the smarts to go... I even did so well on the admissions test and placed almost over twice what is required that I didn't have to take the second part.
They even have a financial program that would suit us quite well. The only problem is that classes start on March 1st, less than 2 weeks away.

DH and I talked about it last night after I got home... he pulled out the calendar for the rest of this month and for March and April... and reminded me that I really have too much on there that cannot be juggled around. I got so excited about going back to school that I blocked out all the stuff that is "blocked out on the books!" So I have the sad task of calling the admissions officer and telling her that I won't be able to keep our appointment because I already have an appointment for that day... and that I have too many other things that my husband needs me to take care of while he is traveling out of state for the next 3 or 4 weeks. It's just not gonna work! I am going to have to pass on this term and request to go when the next course comes open on the class schedule. Reality Check!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne