Need Input, when you stop laughing at me

Today was a Big Day for me. I managed to get both the builder guy out and the carpeting people in the same morning! Wooo!!

Yesterday I met the child to do her a favor. We went to lunch afterwards, and she agreed to a) come to my house and help me clean so I wouldn't be so embarrassed when they showed up this morning and b) work with our iPods so we can share music. We actually like a lot of the same styles of music, so we want to be able to share songs.

We left the restaurant. I dropped her off back at her place so she would have her own car here to go out afterwards. She also needed to grab her iPod and computer. I came home and took care of two dogs who were quite upset that I was about 2 hours late for their dinner. Molly really isn't feeling well - she didn't prepare a meal of her own.

Back up on that. Molly has been "quiet" for at least a week. She seems to be ailing a little, but I don't know exactly what to tell the vet. She is quiet? Not enough. It's not from the Addison's. But yesterday morning she pooped black, and I worried about internal bleeding and decided to drop off the sample at the vet's office. I couldn't recall giving the poopers any different treats or foods that had dye in them to make the color so dark. While I was at lunch (of course), the vet tech called. Had Molly had any different foods? No, I said....then said Oh, I am so stupid! Last night I dropped an entire pint of blueberries on the floor and Molly did eat a few! Maybe as many as a dozen? Baby had less, so her poop didn't get so dark. We had a good laugh - the poop was further analyzed and Molly was declared to have healthy poop after all.

The child showed up here and we started to play with our music on our computers. It was reminiscent of dueling banjos. Listen to this song! Remember this one? I want that song! Oh, I haven't heard that one in forever! Having no idea of how to move songs, the child was confused. I pretended to know what I was talking about, as I figured there had to be a way to do this. 

This took us about 4 hours, and then she needed to leave. We didn't even run the vacuum. It was 9 pm, and by that time fatigue had bitten my butt and I said, eloquently and with poise, "screw it."

At 1 am she called me with a few words from a song that has been eating up a friend of hers. She wanted me to tell them the song. I had no idea, until the friend tried to sing the line for me. Within 3 minutes, I stuck my phone against the computer speakers so they could hear the song, since I had found it for them. Obviously, I hadn't had any sleep yet, so child offered to show up at 10 am to help me clean. I recovered from the shock, and went to bed about 2 am.

At 8 am, I got up after a long, long night of vague and bizarre nightmares. I haven't had those in a long time. I was twisted in the sheet every time I woke up, and the poor dogs just dealt with my flapping around, since every time I woke up they had moved to accommodate my restless sleep. I had a quick breakfast after meeting the usual morning needs of the my support crew (beagles), and realized it was almost 9 am. The guys were expected between 9 - noon, and I still had to make a list up for them. It had to be very detailed.

At about 10 am I had finally printed out two copies of all 5 sheets of issues in the house for me to present to the builder guy, Brian. He showed up while the ink was still wet. Yikes! I still hadn't even vacuumed. Oh well. Nothing to be done for it.

We went through the list, item by item, and I asked him to tell me if they were refusing to fix, or agree to fix, and as of what date. He was very cooperative, seeing as how I had presented a list a year ago and it was not completed. One of their employees was laid off, and so Brian told me my paperwork was just misplaced. I assumed he was told to make me happy, so I was content. He really didn't refuse any of the repairs, although I suspect some of the contractors he is going to send will refuse some of them.

Meanwhile, the carpet guys came in. I thought they were coming to look, but no, they showed up with tools and proceeded to fix the carpeting.

Of course, every 10 minutes I had to take the dogs outside at their request.

Poor, considerate Brian agreed to use an 8-foot ladder to try to replace a burned-out bulb in my ceiling fan in the living room, even though they did not have anything to do with the fan. He tried, but thebulb had exploded, and it turned out to be a special size, so he couldn't replace it. He did offer to install one for me if I get the right size. I will get a dozen, if I need to. I am in no position to go up ladders right now.

I asked him about the appliances. When I bought, I was offered to pay more for appliances. I asked if that meant better appliances or prettier ones. I was told they are the same, but I could get stainless or black. I passed and took the bisque, and I am happy with the standard color, but the appliances just plain suck. The oven door has two pieces of glass, and something was able to leak between them and I couldn't get to it to clean it. Also, there is no way to clean behind the handle. I can't explain it well, but trust me and it drives me nuts. He said, hm, you probably have to remove the handle to clean behind it.

After they all left, I was making spaghetti sauce and spilled some behind the handle. Realizing that it could stain the light color, I decided to test the "remove the handle" solution.

Bad move. Removing the handle meatnt most of the door came off. Good news, bad news. I was able to clean all of the glass, but I am not able to put it back in.

Once I stopped bleeding, I called Whirlpool. I told them I hate my stove, but said it as nicely as possible. Repairs would be about $200, she said, although it was a wild guess. I asked if I could get a trade-in deal, since I really dislike the damn thing so much and it's only two years old. I want a better one. She said no, but she could offer me a 15% rebate if I get a new one. But I have to keep the old one, too. I had already decided to donate it to some place that needs a stove that works, but that is about all it does. Of course, they would need to put the door back on.

So, do I get a gas line put in and get a gas stove, which I prefer? Get another electric? Stoves generally last me about 20 years. I am very easy on appliances. I will call the builder tomorrow and see if they are willing to offer me any deals since Brian suggested taking the handle off, but my guess is they will either say no or offer me full retail for ALL new appliances. While I would like all 5 appliances upgraded, I don't need that big of an expense right now. Do I stick with bisque? Really, color is not a big deal to me - mostly I was content with white in the past after flirting with trendy colors. I already did black and stainless years ago. One word: Fingerprints.

My inability to meet deadlines due to my brain damage from encephalitis (not the only change in me) has once again cost me a bundle. All because I had a vaccine that I argued vociferously against.

Maybe I should stick with electric before I blow up the kitchen or burn it down.

The child? She called after Brian was here, and I told her not to bother. She went back to sleep.

 

 

 

You ROO she all

A little information on poison oak, ivy, and sumac. All three contain the same oil that causes rashes in humans. The oil is called urushiol, and is pronounced you ROO she all. It makes the leaves shiny, if you have any skill at actually finding the plants before they find you. A dead plant does not mean you are safe - the oil is still there. You can get the oil off anything that has touched the plant - pets, clothes, gloves, shoes, hats, toys, other people. Do not ever burn the plants. If someone does burn some, run away fast so you don't get the smoke in your lungs. Where the smoke touches your body, you can get a horrid rash. Ask Cindy and my friend Doug. Both were almost totally covered by smoke from burning poison ivy plants. The smoke can also carry it to your lungs, which is very dangerous.

In general, poison ivy/oak/sumac is not dangerous, though. You might not enjoy it's results, but the rash will pass within usually a few weeks. Nothing need to be done unless the itching is intolerable. Treatment is usually corticosteroid creams or if the itching is really intense, cortisone pills and/or shots. I have needed all the above at some point. Almost all people are allergic to urushiol oil. Once a rash happens, sensitivity tends to increase in the future. I can attest to that! It would be more pleasant if we could develop a tolerance over time, but it's the opposite.

Here is a direct quote from a web site by the Mayo Clinic:

"Often, the rash has a linear appearance because of the way the plant brushes against your skin. But if you come into contact with a piece of clothing or pet fur that has urushiol on it, the rash may be more spread out.

The reaction usually develops 12 to 48 hours after exposure and can last up to three weeks. In severe cases, new areas of rash may break out several days or more after initial exposure. This may seem like the rash is spreading. But it's more likely due to the rate at which your skin absorbed the urushiol.

Your skin must come in direct contact with the oil from the plant in order to be affected. Spreading blister fluid from scratching doesn't spread the rash."

Normally, for me, I get a rash in five days. ST said he has had it happen in less than a full day. This time, it was longer for me. It must be severe, according to the Mayo Clinic, because it has been popping out for over a week after the initial rash appeared. My first few rashes were not very linear, but some of the later ones are. The ones in the center of my stomach are the worst, and they came out last. Normally, the first ones are the worst, and they decrease in intensity.

Because rashes and blisters can appear in new locations as secondary and tertiary sites, people believe that once they have scratched a rash, it spreads. It doesn't. The fluid in the blister is like the fluid your body produces to heal and protect itself from anything similar. Once the oil is washed off of you and your clothing, pets, whatever it got on, you are not contagious. This is why I knew I was safe for a massage - I had many showers with soap from the time I was infected until my massage.

After contact with urushiol, you can avoid a rash if you immediately wash with lots and lots of soap and water. If you cannot get to soap, use lots and lots of cold water. That might sound uncomfortable, but warm water will spread the oil. Picture putting cold water or hot water on cooking oil - same effect.

Ladies, if you squat in the woods to pee, look at what is on the ground first, lol! Ask Cindy.

I had to ask a lot of questions regarding poison ivy after I had a very bad outbreak on my right hand and wrist at one time when I was working in Children's Protective Services. Every day people touched me - the children I interviewed often hugged me, kissed me, shook my hand. Some kissed me if I didn't move fast enough. Amazingly, I never caught lice or even a cold during the years I spent around young children who were often sick (Children having untreated lice or other untreated medical conditions sometimes was a reason for CPS to go out and investigate). Their parents shook my hands, sometimes hugged me for helping them get out of a bad situation. Police, doctors, judges, attorneys, school teachers, principals, therapists, counselors - all day long, I was around people who shook my hand, hugged me, used my pens, etc - I needed to know if I could infect anyone. If so, I had a few people I wanted to go see...but my doctor assured me it was safe. Clients' dogs and cats rubbed me, plus the occasional horse or other pet.

Molly was an only beagle for a year and a half, and on occasion she went with me to see kids. She helped break the ice a few times. She was especially useful for seeing preteen and teen boys who needed to tell me about sexual abuse. I wish I could have taken her more often. It really wasn't an approved technique.

So, if you aren't already asleep, you have more information on poison ivy/oak/sumac than you probably wanted to know or ever will need to know. We hear stories about spreading poison ivy, or that poison oak is worse, or other urban tales.

It is best, truly, not to scratch it. Scratching can cause a secondary infection from germs under your nails and then of course cannot heal as fast. I have actually taught myself to believe I am itching elsewhere. It is hard to explain, but I do not ever scratch a rash or bite. I rarely will scratch anything unless I look first - it really burns to scratch poison ivy, spider bites, or shingles. Especially shingles. I had that when I was 23 years old.

Enjoy the outdoors, and try to remember, "leaves of three, let them be."

Or: If ST has been in the woods, send him to the shower and don't touch his clothes.

 

After AZ

It's a good thing that I like to be amused, or I could get depressed and angry at times. Instead, I laugh, and the dumbest things can make my day.

Last Sunday I realized I had a, uhm, rash. It was near my waistline, and in a few other areas. Nothing big, but it was the day before my massage and I didn't recognize the rash. Keep in mind I am a redhead and have fair skin. If anything can happen to skin, I have had it or will have. This includes skin cancer, twice. So, I looked at this rash and tried to decide if I wanted to risk giving it to the Vampire and the rest of his patients - since I couldn't identify it, I had to assume it could be contagious. Normally, I would ignore it for a while and see what developed.

In order to be a Good Citizen, I decided to go late to our first block party and headed up to my doctor's clinic. Yes, the same clinic that did not catch my encephalitis, even though I was sitting right there looking for help when I was in the midst of it. The same clinic where the nurse misunderstood my "ear infection" complaint for a "urine infection," which led to a mighty odd set of questions and answers.

After answering another 5,093 questions by the nurse regarding a rash she didn't ask to see, the doctor strolled in. I believe the guy might have Tourette's Syndrome. He certainly has something. It's hard to describe his mannerisms, so I decided he must be a very good doctor to get where he is acting like that! Assuming is a dumb thing, isn't it?

He listened to my heart. For a skin rash. OK, he is thorough. I had no idea he could learn much in less than a second, though. It was more of a touch the skin routine than actually listening to anything. I thought, wow, he must really be quick!

Then he asked me if I have pets. I said yes, two dogs. (Wondering: are we going to discuss allergies again? That led to me getting tested by an allergist which led to her insisting I get a pneumonia vaccine that I strongly protested against, which led to - encephalitis. And may be leading other places still.) He said that dogs can give people ringworm. I probably have ringworm.

Would he perhaps like to see the rash first?

He looked at it, and proclaimed it to be ringworm, since dogs can give people ringworm. Without telling him that my dogs don't have ringworm so they can't give it to me, I said, logically, "Does this look like ringworm to you?"

"Well....no, not really. It's shingles."

I looked again. Yep, rash is still on both sides of my body. "Does this look like shingles to you, on both sides of my body?"

"Well....no. It's ringworm."

AIEEEE!!!

"Does it really look like ringworm to you?" (YES, we really did go through this! I should have an audio of the conversation. Then again, a video would have been interesting, too.)

"No, it really doesn't. I will give you something for ringworm."

"I don't want anything for ringworm because it's not ringworm. Do you have any idea what it is?"

"It's shingles."

"It's not shingles. It's not ringworm. What is it?"

I don't know. I see ringworm all the time, more than you do. I see shingles all the time. It's ringworm."

"It's not ringworm."

"Do you want me to take a scraping?"

"No, I want to see my dermatologist tomorrow."

"OK, good idea. I have no idea what it is."

Nurse: "No co-pay today. You are free to go!"

Next day: Dermatologist

"What are you reading?" (grabs book from my hand)

"Just an old book. Remember the last time I was here and was reading "Fifth Vial? You said you had read it too? My problem with that book is if she dreamed the whole thing, what happened to the gun shot wounds she should have had?"

"Gosh, you are right! She should have had physical evidence from that. It does kind of ruin a book or movie when something like that is so obvious, doesn't it? So, what kind of rash do you have? Let's see."

"Here, and here...."

"Hm. It's on both sides, so it's not shingles. You had shingles once, yes? Can't get it again. Poison ivy."

"I was out west."

"OK, poison oak."

We proceeded to look at his maps on the wall showing pictures and locations for poison ivy, oak, and sumac. I said that with all the trouble I have had with poison ivy, I have not learned to recognize the plant. He said he didn't, either.

He also told me that all three plants have the same oil, and are equally nasty. I didn't know that before. Listening to him try to pronounce the name of the oil - something like ururishol - made us both laugh! My rash really hadn't itched all that much, and was not showing the usual poison ivy pattern, so I had not recognized it. He gave me a small sample tube of Topicort to use, since the rash wasn't that big.

The next day, it started to pop out all over, but not in huge areas. A few days later, it started on the middle of my stomach and still ITCHES. Usually the later rashes are less itchy.

I still am not sure how I got this. It seems unlikely that I got it in Arizona - I didn't see that many plants, and I am used to avoiding foliage anyway, just in case. The other possibility is that ST came here the day before I left for the trip. He had just left a 45-mile bike ride, partly through a park and woods, and was very happy to see me. Most of my rash is on my chest and stomach, with a little on my face and neck. Most of those areas were not exposed in AZ. Once before, he gave me poison ivy on my ankle, possibly off his shoes. I hadn't been any place to get it. Even if I needed to know, there probably isn't a test to separate poison ivy from poison oak.

It's not gone yet, but it's improving a little. It's not contagious, so it didn't affect my massage.

After leaving the dermatologist's office, I stopped off to see Cindy, my Nature Girl friend. We were on her patio. I pulled up my shirt, she said, "Poison ivy."

Next time, I go to Cindy first, but it won't be nearly as entertaining.

 

 

In AZ

I want to stick these silly things in my journal before I forget them. They are too good to lose!

The reason we were in AZ in the hottest time of the year was so Late and Son could do what they needed to do for Son to start college. I had to drop them off in downtown Tucson two days in a row and entertain myself for many, many hours.

The first day I sort of hung around campus. Eventually I got a phone call from my gynecologist's nurse. My answers got to the point where I had to clearly state that I was in a public place and had to be careful on my answers. Mostly, it had to do with my estrogen levels and my testosterone cream. Even so, it was a bit embarrassing. Then I realized I was probably paying by the hour to park so I went in search of directions to the mall. Hey, it was 110 degrees. Where else was I going to go?

Late assumed I needed directions only to the mall when we discussed it later. I had to clarify that I needed very specific directions as to how to get off the campus, also.

Keep in mind, I-10 has most of the exits closed in Tucson. The second night I missed the last open exit and had to frantically call and get directions in the dark to backtrack. Scary stuff, for me!

The second day I decided to go hiking in the morning before it got "hot." I hit the Catalina State Park around 9 am. I had a nice talk with the ranger at the park regarding what I needed to worry about. I felt I had enough water, but he said once I got past the "wilderness" sign, if I got injured, my only hope for rescue was by helicopter. Since there were few cars in the lot, I was concerned. If I lost my balance and got hurt, who would know? I had a mirror, but in the sunlight, who would have any idea there was a hiker in distress?

By that time, I was out of the car and thinking I needed to pee first. I hit the outhouse in the park first, rather than find a nice rock later on. I am a setter, not a squatter. That particular place had nothing to set on, so I proceeded to squat uncomfortably. Sure enough, I peed all over the back of my shorts before I realized it. Luckily, I was in the desert so I was dry in ten minutes.

I stopped by some picnic benches to put my backpack on. I noticed "things" by my feet, and it wasn't too long until the term "fire ants" hit my brain and I hurried up. Red things. Nope, don't want to try to make friends with those little buggers.

I started up the trail on my own. By that time, it was over 100 degrees and the sun was harsh. I put on my hat, and headed up. After only a few miles, I realized I hadn't seen another living human and I was a bit, well, dizzy. Off balance. It seemed a bad decision, so I headed back down.

I was ashamed of myself for letting heat get to me, but proud that I was being sensible. I enjoyed the hike, but not nearly enough of it.

I tried not think about having peed on my pants. I really lack the squatting skill.

I went and walked around a nearby store. I was still sweating and still thirsty, so I figured all would be well within a few minutes, and it was.

More stories to come later - it's 5 am and I need a shower! Molly is getting her last shot at 8 am from ST. After this, I need to find a new "vet tech" to help me for her monthly shots. He is moving out of town in a few weeks.

I am very sad.

 

 

Yet another pearl of wisdom

Pearl:

If you meet a nice, sweet, sexy, brilliant man who tells you he will eventually move to another state due to his career, well, then, believe him.

Try not to fall in love in the interim.

 

 

Testing

Today was my lucky day to see the neurologist. I got to him via the ENT and the ear specialist. Once we knew it wasn't an ear problem that makes me feel like I am sitting in a rowboat in a storm all the time, I was told to go posthaste to see the neurologist.

I was not looking forward to this appointment. There was nothing he could say that would make me feel better. True to form, he didn't. He said I have ADEM, or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. This makes me off center balance-wise, causes me to have a crappy, inconsistent memory, and all kinds of lovely other effects. It seems that after I had that pneumonia vaccine, something happened that triggered my immune system, which woke up long enough to attack my brain. How rude is that? What did my brain ever do to my immune system? Maybe since I never get sick my immune system decided it might as well find something to do. Luckily, it's usuall monophasic, meaning I should not ever go through that again. Unluckily, the changes in my brain are probably permanent.

At least there is an explanation for my personality changes, my sudden inability to maintain proper records and files, my loss of memory, my reaching for words I just knew an hour ago. I took notes while he explained things to me since I knew I would not remember.

My sleep issues of course excited him. I tried to dissuade him from delving there, but he wants me to have a sleep study (again). Again, I am being accused of having narcolepsy. I disagree, but I am not a neurologist. I need to find a dog sitter for an overnight - I will actually be gone about 24 hours. I have to do the nap-thing the following day. I think they expect me to nap for them. Right. That won't happen unless either a) they give me napping drugs or b) I am in the middle of some serious chronic fatigue. If I get upset worrying about the sleep study, I can probably satisfy them via option "b." At least this time the rules are I try to go to sleep when I am ready to. The other place made me try to sleep at 9 pm. That is just a joke - I normally lie down closer to 1 am. But, this one will also get me up at 6 am. Yuck.

He mentioned a few new medications. I balked, and he sent me home with some brochures on the drugs. I will read them. If there is some obscure little side effect that one person got and it's hideous, I will get a second hideous little side effect that no one else has had yet.

Off topic, on my way home I drove by a telephone pole or whatever they are called now and one of the little round gray things hanging on it was smoking. I don't know what the thing is called - the word "transformer" came to mind, but it's probably wrong. I see these things all the time, but never saw one exhale before. It's half a mile from my house, unlike the neurologist, who is a mile away. I decided to call someone regarding the smoke.

First, I thought, call the police. Then I decided no, fire station. Then I wished I had the phone number on me so I didn't have to remember to look it up, etc - eventually it hit me that the correct number is "911" and I called it in, sounding very ignorant since I didn't know what the thing is called. If they go look for it, they will find it. It's the only telephone pole in the area with smoke coming out of it and lots and lots of wires nearby. It's over 90 degrees and very humid outside, but I hope someone goes to look at it anyway.

I need to go read up on these potential medications. One is for improving memory and one is for sleep, but isn't a sleeping pill. I know nothing about either one, but I will in 15 minutes.

More to follow later regarding my trip out west. This was just an annoying medical bulletin so I can come back to it later and say Oh wow, I forgot all about that!

 

 

Where is it?

Everyone else goes on trips and comes home and describes all the fun things they did. I didn't go any place new except the caverns, and I will instead write about the Other Things, the things people also have happen to them but try to pretend they didn't. I will start with the ending, from when I got home, and work back. I find these things amusing, and they do not ruin my travel experiences. They just make them more unique.

Even some of the worst housekeepers still have some little thing that they are retentive about. I never had a stainless kitchen sink before, and I can't stand seeing water drops on it. I keep my sink clean enough to, uhm, eat off of. I constantly wipe it, and never allow water drops on it, or on my faucet. Ever.

I don't like a dirty bathroom, either. What with two dogs and my own (odd looking) hair, that means daily sweeping to get the hairs off the bathroom floors. The mirrors get wiped daily to avoid looking at spots on them. My bedding is washed religiously at least once a week, and the spread sometimes several times. Vacuuming is done generally more than once a week. Dishes are not allowed to pile up. Laundry is never more than one load behind. Ever. Even after my shoulder surgery, I carried items one at a time to the washer if necessary.

I was gone ten days. My home was inhabited by three nieces, one not even quite to her teens yet. The amount of neices here varied daily. Sometimes one, sometimes all three, sometimes maybe more. All of them live in very nice, neat, homes. Obviously, the cleaning is done by their parents at home, and while they all love dogs, none have any at home.

If anyone has a secret recipe for getting dog poop out of white grout on a bathroom floor, please share. Otherwise I have to go get grout cleaner and sealer. I hope to replace these tiles fairly soon as I hate them, but just knowing I have tried to clean those stains with a toothbrush and several chemicals isn't adequate. I know the floor is clean, but the stains are not sitting well with me. The dogs have lived in this condo almost two years and have never once gone in the front guest bathroom. All three rugs were stained. I am still working on the rugs. Diarrhea.

My living room carpeting had three red stains on it. I was told they were from Baby having thrown up. Dogs don't throw up that kind of red stain. Yes, it was Baby who got sick. My 7-year-old beagle who never gets sick, got sick. About 2-3 days into my trip, I got a call, "Aunt Susan, Baby is throwing up and won't eat." I was in the car, luckily riding instead of driving, and I had to give the niece explicit directions on how to cook and prepare plain chicken and brown rice only for Baby. The refusal to eat worried me almost enough for me to leave and go home, but by that night Baby was eating again, and the limited diet did the trick. Did she have diarrhea, I asked? Oh, no, I was told. I was told neither did the whole time. If Molly has diarrhea, her medication is not being given correctly and could lead to her death. Baby never gets diarrhea. She is like a machine - healthy as an ox, no health issues. Molly, the 9-year-old beagle, is the fragile one. Just don't tell her that during her nightly 2-mile walks.

The nieces were advised to curtail long walks due to Baby's problem. I also didn't want them walking Molly during the sunny part of the day. The nieces love my beagles, so I don't really worry about their care of the dogs, unless they love them to death.

So, red stains on carpeting, poop in the bathroom on the floor and the three throw rugs. I wandered into the kitchen (remember, I had been up about 30-35 hours by this time). The sink had obviously not been washed or wiped in ten days. The dishwasher was full. The dishwasher had been run, but not emptied. The rest of the dishes from 10 days were in the sink (I don't put dishes in the sink), on the counter, and elsewhere in the kitchen. My blender base was on one counter, and the glass part on another. I asked where the niece found the blender, since I hadn't used it but once or twice since I got it and didn't even know where I kept it. She couldn't remember. I realized a few days later that the connecting piece is missing, and so far, I haven't found it.

The top sheet off the bed was on the sofa for the dogs. A very old single bed sheet was on the bed. When I removed that, I realized one niece had encountered her time of the month while I was gone. So did my sheet and mattress pad, and no attempt had been made to wash it out, as far as I could see. I am still working on that, too. I am very grateful to my friend Cindy for teaching me about waterproof mattress pads several years ago. Thanks to having dogs, I use nothing else. I would have gone ballistic to find blood stains on my new, expensive mattress set.

Usually I come home to find all my towels in a soggy, wet, mildewy pile on my laundry room floor. I will happily toss them in the washer and listen to the pleasant swishing sounds. Not this time. Well, there was a pile, but smaller than usual. I checked the linen closet. They had actually done a load of laundry! Towels were oddly folded in strange piles and put into the closet. Even a kitchen towel was in there. Nice attempt! I refolded the towels, moved them around, and dragged the kitchen towel to the kitchen.

There is something on one of my windows, but I am not sure what it is. It's not water, or it would have evaporated by now. Oil? Jello? I am not sure what it is, or how it got there. It's a large area on the window, and will remain one of those mysteries of life until I get around to washing windows. I hope this happens soon.

The nieces happily gave the dogs a shower in my bathroom. I am not sure why, although Molly does have something stuck on her fur. My guess is syrup, but I could be wrong. The shower was not cleaned once, nor the floors swept or vacuumed any where in here, for ten days. Does anyone wonder what an opaque mirror looks like? I had no idea the shine on a sink could be entirely obliterated. I have two mats on my shower floor. They were some very interesting colors, and I had no idea that much dog hair could harbor underneath them. They went in the washing machine too, after I did the towels and sheets.

My two new All-Clad pans that I have carefully bought on sale because they will last me forever? All-Scratched pans. Next time I will ask them to use only non-metal on the pans. If they can make that one little change, I will be happy. I had meant to hide those two pans in my car when I left, but I just forgot. One of them did pull out all my pots and pans and lids and put them in neat piles, so I guess that was a reasonable trade off. I wonder what prompted that? I hope nothing fell on any toes.

I just quietly sighed, and thanked the girls for taking good care of my dogs. That is what counts, right? I can clean and repair everything else. I know they weren't drinking, partying, taking drugs or having unreliable boys over. The nieces are good kids, and love my dogs. They just don't know how to clean, or perhaps considered themselves on vacation too. I get frustrated, but I am OK with it.

Meanwhile, I was rushing into the (dirty) shower as ST was expected within the hour, and the nieces were enjoying my high speed cable access, wirelessly. I had had to show them how to use it, which surprised me. They had to use their own laptop. Ruining my laptop would have made me cry.

Luckily, they decided to pack up and move on back home before ST showed up. I was exhausted. I took him on a tour of my home, saying, "Just in case you think I never do anything around here...." His good manners did not allow him to comment on the shower.

The toilet. I guess one of the nieces had some sort of explosive issue. At least twice, since I have two bathrooms. I cleaned that up, and tried not to think about what she might have eaten to cause that sort of disturbance. ST didn't have to deal with that surprise. At least it missed the walls.

After he left, I crashed and slept hard for two hours. In the middle of the day! Me! I needed it. The next day I got up at 8 am, took care of the dogs, curled up on the sofa with them, and slept until noon. The day after that, same thing. I napped until the child called me at 11:30 am. We went out and had fun for a few hours.

No, I didn't take any pictures of my home. I just did the tour to see what needed to be fixed and agreed again to fix the dress the one niece tried to make. She obviously never sewed before. It will take me hours just to remove her stitching. She must have used heavy thread and a backstitch set too tightly on the machine, but I think I can fix it. I had needed her to try it on before I was willing to redo it. The pattern was not her size, either, but I think I can work with it.

I will try not to dribble any Red Pop on the fabric.

 

 

Next?

I came back from AZ on Tuesday. It was a red-eye flight that was to leave there at 10:30 pm. However, seeing as how Murphy was an optimist, I was prepared to camp out as long as necessary. I knew we would leave late because for the first time I convinced Late that we should be at the airport at least two minutes before our flight was due to take off.

A woman on our plane on the flight to AZ decided the rules do not apply to her. She went in the tiny little airplane bathroom before takeoff and had a cigarette. Then, in the air, she had a second. There was a delay in deplaning so the police could politely escort her smoked ass off the plane and take her to new accommodations. Eventually, they shuffled us on, about an hour late, and we sat a long time. The woman next to me was chewing gum with her mouth open for the entire time, and just as I was reaching for either my iPod to drown her out or the cord for it to wrap around her neck, they decided to explain the problem to us.

A fuse was not working properly. A mechanic was needed to "sign off." Personally, I would rather have the fuse working as intended. Mechanics are required to be available 24/7, but "ours" decided to go home and was not responding to calls. We were eventually deplaned and told we would be put on another plane. That took another two hours or so.

Once we got on the second plane, and all settled in, I considered removing the gum from my seatmate's mouth. I didn't want to be escorted off and have her fly home, so I was reaching for my iPod again, when we were told that we were delayed due to, I think, missing fire extinguishers, and the mechanic needed to....

We eventually flew out four hours late. I don't mind late flights as much on the way home as I do on the way out, but it's painful for most people on a red-eye flight. Me, I don't much care where I don't sleep.

Just before take off, my cell phone rang (just as I was reaching to turn it off!) and Late said she had a spare seat next to her in the front exit row - did I want to move up? I did, yes, and after we were in the air a flight attendant approved the move. I was then sitting between Late and a Very Large Man who told me he was going to snore, and I should whack him if he gets too loud. I happily opened my book, clipped on the reading light, and read quietly all the way home, between two snoring people. To me, that is almost as good as listening to my favorite CD. Peaceful. So the guy snorted loudly a few times - he didn't mind my giggles.

Arizona itself was a good trip. It was hot, of course, running 105-111 daily. A dry heat, though, you are thinking. Well, dry is relative. It was dry to us, compared to the humidity we are used to. However, it is the rainy season there, and we had storms every day. It always rains when I go - they should send me a ticket whenever it gets too dry. This time we had an added attraction - sand storms. I hadn't run into this before. Late at night, I was driving us home from Bisbee (somewhere down not too far from Tombstone, I think?) and we had storms off and on all the way, about 100 miles or so. Thunderstorms don't bother me much. As we got closer, where there is still construction and some bare dirt, I would have a block of heavy rain, then no rain and heavy sand. Then heavy rain, then no rain and heavy sand. I was looking out for locusts, but only saw some harmless looking crickets. I couldn't remember the word for the events I was thinking of - is it the Scourges? Pestilence and all those nasty things?

We went every place. We went to a cavern that had 99% humidity at 71 degrees. Felt like home :-). We walked around Bisbee some, went to the Desert Museum. Now that was an interesting visit. I have been there maybe 5 times now, and I just love the place. However, the desert walk section was closed due to "a problem." Of course, I had to ask more questions. I had heard about a javalina biting someone, but now I know more.

It seems there was this wild javalina who tried to join the tame herd at the museum to look for a date. He was all nasty and stinky, and the females at the museum are regularly groomed by the vet. The wild guy was not accepted by the ladies. He became a bit irate about his rejection and ended up biting a human male. Jealous, perhaps? So far, the museum people had not been able to trap the wild guy and release him to another area where maybe he can find himself some nice wild gal to hook up with.

I rarely took my camera with me because it was too hot to leave it in the car and I am too lazy to drag it around all the time when we were some place I didn't need it. I did get a few pictures when we went to Mt Lemon and also when I went alone to Catalina Park. Late and Son spent two days at UofA for orientation for Son, leaving me to entertain myself. No problem, I am easily entertained.

What I came home to will have to be another entry. Let's just say for now I had multiple teenaged nieces in my home for ten days and a sick dog here with them, and no maid was in sight.

Sabino Canyon

Also Sabino Canyon

Catalina State Park

I think this was from our start up towards Mt Lemon, but storms sent us back down.

 

 

 

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