Earl

So it has been way too long since I have decided to visit my blog. I have time this morning!

Our dog Earl had TPLO surgery two days ago. Basically he tore what is the same as a human ACL in his right rear knee. We thought (and hoped) it was a sprained muscle, but unfortunately surgery was needed. The surgery basically reconstructed his knee. He is now the proud owner of metal plates and several screws which hold it all together. They had to saw the lower leg in half, the realign it all. Talk about painful! I admire his tenacity and his will to just "deal with it"

Although if you think about it, with pets ignorance is bliss. Little did he know what he was in for, nor does he understand how intricate the surgery was. He does not understand why he is sleeping in his crate (this is an 85 pount dog who sprawled in our bed, leaving little room for other activities............lol)

We have to keep him from jumping up on anything (no more snoozing on the sofa) and also have to keep him confined to one room. Our living room looks like all we need is a couple of large blankets to make it into a tent city that most 5 year olds would spend hours playing in. We have all of our furniture tightend up so that he has to stay in the middle of the room. Luckily we have a large room and pretty big furniture!

He gets his splint and bandage off today. My angel of a daughter who works as a vet nurse is going to come over to do it. I just hope the incision is healing well.

I just thank God that they have the technology to do this type of repair. Years ago a dog would have lost his ability to use the leg. My bank account is crying, but when we make a committment to a pet, we do anything within our means to help them.

I love Earl, Jim loves Earl and he is our boy. Now if we can just get through the next 6 weeks or so through rehab, he will be good as new!!

Lucky Me

What is it about bad weather that causes the planets to align and make people crazy?

On the way home from work tonight I decided to stop at my favorite grocery store, Kroger.

We have our "favorite" parking spot, which, when the weather is bad makes the trek into the store long and wet/snowy/slippery. But as we are creatures of habit about certain things (maybe it is superstition??) I parked way the hell out in Iowa...............(as my daughter dubbed my parking habits many years ago................) Now today in Raleigh it was in the 30's and rainy. Did I say rainy?? Wet, soaking borderline freezing rain. We are coming out of a nasty snowstorm from last weekend and a very rainy day on Tuesday. So needless to say there is alot of water no matter where you go.

Ok, back to my story

So I grab the one lone shopping cart sitting forlornly at the entrance and proceed to the entrance, waiting for the automatic door to slide open. Open it did, but it was activated by a man who, for reasons unknown decided to stop midway through the entrance to check his email..........it's cold, windy and rainy............dude, MOVE. Ok so now I am in...........I maneuver around the canteloupes, sideswipe the onions and BAM. Run right into a very tired young mom with two dripping wet children in one of those shopping carts that are 8 feet long...........all I need is a head of lettuce......ok, whew...........managed to get past that obstacle...................why do stores put a department requires one to linger over the perfectly ripe tomatoes at the entrance of the store?? Don't they know that the minute you hit the produce department time enters into a different dimension? Decide on hamburgers for dinner, so I require a nice package of ground beef. But alas my phone rings, it is Jim, so I answer and proceed to stop smack dab in the middle of the flower department. I look up above my head and realize that I am in the mecca of Valentine's Day. Balloons!! Flowers!! Stuffed animals, roses, cupids...............
ok, focus on the conversation. Ok, sounds good, be home soon, I love you too...................

The rest of the shopping expedition goes off smoothly..............Black Opal wine half price.............hhhmmm, ok, I'll get three bottles.....................now onto the checkout.

I have maybe 12 items. I go to our favorite checker, a wonderful man we call Mr Thurman. As I sidle up to the checkout he says that he has to change the tape. Ok, no problem. I turn and see how long the lines are getting and right behind me is a young woman holding one college ruled notebook. Is that all you have?? I say. "Yes." Go ahead of me. " Really?" Sure.
(I am feeling like I need to be nice)..........so she squeezes in between the candy rack and my cart. That will be $2.43 Mr Thurman says.............so my new BFF proceeds to dig through her purse for what felt like 5 minutes looking for enough change to pay..........Just as I was reaching into my purse for my wallet to see if I can help, she finds the last few cents needed to make her purchase.....Cool!! Now it's my turn...........

Checking out went quickly, although I had a new bagger who felt it necessary to use 8 plastic bags to wrap my wine bottles in. We're out of the wine bottle bags he says. Ok, just bag the damn things....lol

So I venture out the front door only to have to stop just past the roof that covers the entrance.

There are about a dozen cars whose owners have decided that they are more important than us mere mortals and they have parked in the NO PARKING ZONE so that they don't get drenched while maneuvering into the store to pick up a twelve pack of beer.....................

There is one spot open, thankfully where the apron slants onto the parking lot............there is a Kroger employee guarding a very full cart with his right hand in the air as if to flag down a taxi in New York. As I go down the incline a woman tries to fit her car into the open spot, apparently the recipient of the full cart being guarded by said employee. I swing wide out of turn one only to have to make a quick right, submerging my feet in what feels like a two foot deep puddle (ok, it was about 3 inches deep, but to me it was really deep) Thank goodness I had on my waterproof Columbia hiking shoes. Rather an odd feeling, though, dry feet, wet ankles and calves...............

Anyway I am now almost to Iowa feeling like I am on the home stretch of the last lap of the Daytona 500..............Yes!! Unload the now soaking wet groceries into the truck, turn and push the buggy into the cart return.....................one more 20 foot stretch...............shit.........here comes little miss thing, slowly coming through the parking lot, talking on her cell phone. Completely oblivious that I am trying to cross in front of her. My hair is dripping. I am wet, I am tired and hungry. I have three bottles of wine in the truck....don't do this!! But slowly she passes me. I am invisible.....................

The rest of the ride home was thankfully uneventful except for the puddle that was hidden on a turn. I felt like I was parting the Red Sea...........

As I pull into my driveway I am thankful to see the Jim has parked outside the carport. As I pull in away from the rain the door opens and out comes Earl and Sadie, our beloved dogs, and the man who makes all of this worthwhile, my love Jim.

I am home.......................................

It is still raining, I am sure that there are still people trekking across the Kroger parking lot. But I am in my living room, hamburgers cooked and eaten. Two glasses of wine under my belt.

I am home with the ones I love. Lucky me.

Snow

We are having a storm in North Carolina. Not just a little storm, but a full blown snow storm, complete with wind, hail, freezing rain, snow and bitter temperatures. For many people this is a normal January occurence, but for North Carolinians this is a BIG event. We are used to winter temps in the 40's and 50's. If we do have snow, it is normally a flurry, melting within hours. If you blink you miss it. Our last big storm was ten years ago, almost to the date! That one dumped about 18-24 inches on us, depending where you lived. I remember it like it was yesterday. This one didn't dump as much snow, but the wind chill is 14 at the moment. The bird feeders are very busy. I can hear the freezing rain hitting the windows. Time to bake something........

I hate it when people criticize North Carolinians for panicking when it snows. We are not a state that is equipped for many inches of the white stuff. The hazard that we face is the fact that normally it warms up during the day and then it freezes at night. You can't really manipulate ice. If it were just snow we were dealing with it would be better. I grew up in New Jersey, where nothing closed during a snowstorm. When it normally took 20 minutes to drive home could sometimes take 2 hours. We took it in stride. Saying a prayer of thanks when we finally turned into out driveways. I have lived here for 20 years and yes, I am out of practice when it comes to driving in the snow. By choice, I avoid it. With access to our "virtual" offices online it is easier to work from home. Luckily we don't have that many instances of bad weather, so most of the time it is a non-issue.

It is beautiful. The picture posted is my little not yet discarded Christmas tree taken last night. It is a winter wonderland and I am thankful that it is Saturday. My daughter had to work today and I will not relax until I know that she and her fiancee are home safe when she hopefully gets off of work at 4:00.

So to my friends in NC--enjoy the day!! Take lots of pictures, make a snowman, inhale the sweet cold scent of frozen air, and look forward to the 70 degree weather we will probably be enjoying......next weekend.



I Love NC

Sitting in Panera

I have lost my connection to the internet. I bet you are wondering, then, how am I blogging this morning? I am sitting in Panera Bread, using their WiFi. Sipping good hot coffee, munching on an absolutely wonderful Asiago bagel sandwich (bacon, egg and cheese--zero calories....lol). If only I could have scored the comfy leather chairs...........
My wireless card that is my lifeline to the internet in this incessentaly mobile world has for some unknown reason stopped working. During an update the computer timed out and now I have been trying to uninstall, reinstall, etc for the last three days. I guess I have no choice but to contact the carrier and see if they could walk me through the process. It will probably be someone in Columbia or the Dominican Republic that will take the call. I had to call about our Direct TV last week and actually got to speak to someone in Montana. Come to think of it, I don't believe I have ever spoken to anyone in Montana to date..............
Anyway, I truly have nothing against people from another country. It is just rather surreal to be speaking to someone thousands of miles away about something that we consider a rather personal issue. Maybe internet connection aren't personal to many, but when you are discussing your bank account with a complete stranger that has never set foot on American soil, well, it just kind of weirds me out...............
The reality of technology is sometimes hard to grasp, yet we take it for granted. As I walk into the grocery store I can transfer bank funds from one account to another via my Iphone. As I am looking at the computer screen snapshot of my bank account, I can pay a bill either through my phone or on a website and VOILA!! the money gets debited............Truly amazing, if you think about it. No wonder we go into hyper-ventilation and heart palpitations when we lose our connections.
What we need to react to is when we lose our connections to real people. Weeks and months go by, we say "I've been meaning to call her/him/them. "Oh, she called me.....oh my god, was that three weeks ago??" Shame on us for that. But that is also the reality of it all.
So I will go to Wal-mart, do alittle shopping, no doubt buy at least one think that I do not need or require to survive in this life. Then go home take a deep breath, maybe do a shot or two of tequila, just for good measure and make a call to my new BFF in Venezuala.....................
Peace out my friends, have a lovely Sunday!!!

Stew

I made stew tonight. It is cold out and I wanted to make something that will warm the soul. Beef, carrots, celery, potatoes, onions. True earthy fresh ingredients. Individually they are red, orange, green, white and yellow. But put them in a pot and simmer for several hours and the colors all blend together into a symphony. I normally make a stew that has alittle red wine to add color. Tonight I decided to add tomatoes. A can of pear tomatoes laced with basil. My mom makes tomato based stew, I prefer the brown type. But having it simmering for that last several hours makes me feel like Mom is the cook. She would make dumplings and gently ease the dough onto the simmering pot and let them puff up into puffy clouds. It was my Dad's favorite part of the stew. It is almost 9:30 and alittle late for the dumplings. Maybe tomorrow when I reheat it I will slip some on top. I made an irish stew with guiness a few weeks ago, not a big hit in the house, unfortunately. It smelled wonderful but it had a different flavor. At least I tried something different.
Sometimes different works and sometimes it doesn't. Tried and true is safe and a sure bet. But where would we be if all we ever did was the tried and true? Admittedly this is the first time I used tomatoes in my stew. I feel like I have expanded my horizons a bit. I think that I am going to exercise my right to step out of my box more often. I would say once a day, twice a week, once a month, but part of the reason to do it is to be spontaneously inspired. Sometimes I feel like we need more inspiration, but we choose to play it safe and do what we know, what is safe, what is predictable. I admit, I am not what you would call conventional about alot of things, but I think that I have become rather predictable lately. So tomorrow I will seek inspiration, part my hair on the other side, change my purse. My point is, tomorrow is a new day and why not rearrange the furniture a bit??
Carpe Diem!! Seize the Day!!
Here's to something new!!