Pippin

I'll be bringing Pippin back to the vet in the morning. He seemed to be doing better for a little while, then he stopped eating again. He'd go a couple days without eating and then we'd be able to get him to eat a little bit for a few days. Then he'd stop eating again. This has gone on all month and he's gotten very skinny.

Monday night, he started peeing a lot more than normal. We were taking him outside every couple hours and then he started peeing more often than that, so we had to start taking him out every hour. (I take the night shift and Kelly takes over in the mornings.) Surprisingly, we haven't seen any blood in his urine. We sometimes miss taking him out and he pees in the floor. When I wipe it up, I check to see if there's any pink or red tint in his urine.

I've been wondering pretty much all month if he's coming to the end of his life. And now with the frequent urination, zero appetite (we've tried gently forcing him to eat, but he spits it out or refuses to open his mouth), and strong thirst, and the fact that his kidneys have been less than ideal for a couple years, I think his kidneys may be failing him now. 

 

Plus, he seems confused, gets lost and ends up under, between, or against things. He'll just stand there as if he doesn't know what to do about where he is. He also stumbles a bit and when we take him outside to potty, he sometimes falls off the step going out the door. I'm surprised he hasn't whined when that's happened. More recently, he sometimes just sits on the ground and we have to make him stand up so he can pee. I think maybe it's the lack of food that's causing his confusion and stumbling. He's got to be weak from not eating.

 

I called the vet and told them that if it's something simple that would keep him with us a little longer, then we'll do that. But if it's going to require a lot of medication and intervention and/or drastic measures, I'd rather we just put him to sleep if he's as bad off as he looks. They agreed that it may be time, but of course they'll have a better idea what we should do after looking at him.

They want him there by 9:00 AM and they'll look at him when they get a chance between patients. We may or may not be saying goodbye to him tomorrow. At first I thought maybe I'd want to bring him home so we could have one more day with him and then bring him back on Friday to have him put to sleep, if that's what is decided is best for him. But then I got to thinking that I really don't want him to go another 24 hours of starving and frequent urination (it's got to be uncomfortable). Poor old man has been through enough, in my opinion.

The lady I spoke to at the vet's office said, "You've done a lot for him." And she understands and agrees that, depending on what they see, putting him to sleep may be what's best for him now. She said that she herself is about to have to make the same decision for her pet.

I'm dreading tomorrow (today now, technically) and have already cried a few times. It reminds me of when I had Sadie put to sleep. I cried a lot and it hurt to say goodbye to her, but it was also kind of a relief to end her suffering. If today is the day we have to do the same for Pippin, it will hurt and I know I'll cry a lot (I'm getting choked up now as I type this), but his suffering will be over. 

 

The Little Ol' Fat Man has been a very good dog and he doesn't deserve what he's going through right now. We will do what we can to make things better for him.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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2020 Meme

1. What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before?

Wear a mask, bring hand sanitizer with me everywhere I went, wipe down everything brought into the house (and doorknobs and light switches) with disinfecting wipes (I stopped doing that months ago), avoid people more than normal, watch more church services online than I did in person. All of which I hated. And still hate. Because we're still doing it.

 

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

 

I don't make new year's resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.

5. What countries did you visit?

None. :-/

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?

To be able to go out in public without a mask or hand sanitizer and to go to church in person more than I watch it online.

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

March 21st. The day my son got married.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Kept my sanity in this increasingly insane world.

9. What was your biggest failure?

No failures that I can think of.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I was very sick in late January/early February. (I even lost my sense of taste, which has never happened to me before.) I never go to the doctor, but I went for this. I thought it might be the flu and so did the doctor, but both tests were negative. She prescribed Tamiflu anyway because she said I had all the symptoms.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Finding toilet paper, paper towels, disinfecting wipes, and certain food items during the shortages was pretty great. lol But other than that, and clothes and a couple pairs of boots, getting a new desk and chair (my old one was broken) and paintings and decor for my office/library was nice. I think the room turned out pretty.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

People who refused to return violence for violence or hatred for hatred.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

People who rioted and committed acts of violence (including murder), theft, vandalism, arson, yelled in people's faces, called them names, and accused people of things without evidence. It didn't depress me, but it was appalling and sickening.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills (including doctor bills for Charlie and a kind of big vet bill for the dogs) and groceries. Most of the money for the office/library came from the first stimulus check.

15. What did you get excited about?

Church, when I've been able to go.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2020?

Waymaker. It came out a couple years ago, but got popular again last year. I saw videos of people singing it outside of hospitals and while marching.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. Happier or sadder?

A little sadder, and definitely more annoyed and frustrated and sick of people being stupid.

ii. richer or poorer?

About the same.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Pray, read my Bible, go to church.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Stay home from church.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

We were home, as we are every year. Sean and Ashley came over. Mom came over for a few minutes.

21. What was your favorite TV program?

The Mandalorian.

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don't hate anyone.

23. What was the best book you read?

The Wicked King, The Queen of Nothing (both by Holly Black), and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?

None that I can think of. I fell in love again with a lot of older Fred Hammond songs that I've known for years.

25. What did you want and get?

An electric fireplace for my office (looks like a wood burning stove) and clothes.

26. What was your favorite film of this year?

No favorites in 2020.

27. What did you do on your birthday?

Nothing. Got some presents, ate some cake.

 

28. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020? 

 

Classic, feminine, lady-like for the most part. Pretty, flowy skirts, denim skirts, shirt dresses. But also some military-style jackets and vests (a few military style and others not), and biker/military-style boots in the fall and winter. And, of course, beautiful dresses and tops and skirts with heels for church on Sundays.

29. What kept you sane?

Prayer and faith in God.

30. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Tom Hiddleston.

31. What political issue stirred you the most?

I don't normally pay much attention to politics, but it was hard to ignore last year. I wrote a couple big paragraphs in answer to this, but decided to just say that what stirred/bothered/moved/annoyed me the most was riots and hypocritical politicians. And I'll just leave it at that.

32. Who did you miss?

My church family.

33. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn't meet anyone new.

34. Tell a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020.

I had to exercise my faith in a way I never thought I would. The Bible teaches us to trust God and not to fear; that we should just obey His Word and live how He tells us to live and He will take care of us. Between corona and riots and political unrest and threats from our government about fines and arrests (and sometimes actually fining and/or arresting people), we really had to just live the best way we could and trust God to take care of us. I'm not saying our government has oppressed us (some would disagree) or that we're being persecuted, we haven't had it nearly as bad as Christians in China and other anti-Christian countries, or as bad as the early church, but it has been difficult.

Here's hoping and praying that things will get better this year.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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Books and Movies of 2020

1. The Wicked King, by Holly Black

2. The Queen of Nothing, by Holly Black

3. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens

4. Still Me, by Jojo Moyes

5. Cilka's Journey, by Heather Morris

6. Wolf by Wolf, by Ryan Graudin

7. Days of Chaos, by Jack Hunt

8. Midnight Sun, by Stephenie Meyer

9. The Light Between Worlds, by Laura E. Weymouth

Books 1-3 are very good. I gave them each 4 stars at GoodReads. I gave books 4-8 three stars. I would've liked Midnight Sun better if it had been a couple hundred pages shorter. I gave book 9 two stars. 

I would've read more, but most of the time I either fell asleep after only a page or two or I was too tired to even pick up a book. I started two other books last year (The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri on July 21st and A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir on December 4th), but I barely made a dent in them.

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I only watched six movies for the first time last year. Crazy. 

1917 was the best of the movies I saw. Very well made and well acted, but I didn't love it. 

 

Wonder Woman: 1984 started off looking like it might be good (I loved that it was set in the '80s), but ended up being just okay. 

 

The rest were either silly (Enola Holmes, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) or cringey and poorly cast (Little Women 2019) or kind of boring and the acting wasn't good (Midway).

Such a shame that there wasn't at least one movie that I really liked and would watch again.

The best thing I watched last year was season 2 of The Mandalorian. It was so good!

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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The Holidays, Doctor Stuff, and Sick Dogs

I've gotten way behind with my blog. I told myself several times that I need to post a new entry, but I'd always get busy with other things. I'm setting a few things aside to write this.

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We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. My mom didn't stay for dinner because she doesn't like to eat after 5:00 or 6:00. :-/ We have it that "late" so that my brother can have Thanksgiving with his son and his son's mother's family (he's still married to Jennifer, but left her a couple years ago) and not have to rush here or still be full from dinner there when he gets here. Plus, I don't have to get up real early to cook.

So anyway, it was just me, Charlie, Kelly, Sean, Ashley, my brother Del, and my mom (who didn't stay long and didn't eat). We had turkey (of course), mashed potatoes and gravy, black eyed peas, stuffing/dressing, green beans, crescent rolls, apple pie, and pumpkin pie.

 

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Kelly had her neurologist appointment on December 11th. He doesn't believe she has Tourette's because of her age when it started. He wants her to see a psychologist. The psychologist is supposed to call to make an appointment, but they haven't yet. I may have to call the neurologist and ask about it.

 

After Kelly and I left the neurologist's office, we went to Cugino Forno for pizza. They open at 11:00 and we got there around 11:30. There was maybe one or two other small groups there (2-4 people each), so we were able to sit far from other people and enjoy our amazing pizza.

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Charlie's doctor still hasn't scheduled his surgery. Something we thought they would do a couple months ago. He said he called them yesterday and they said they would let the nurse know. :-/

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Charlie and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary on December 17th. We didn't go anywhere because of corona and because we didn't really want to go anywhere. I cooked us a delicious supper, he gave me flowers, and we exchanged cards.

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We had a nice Christmas. Sean and Ashley came over. Mom came over when she got off work (around 3:00 or 3:30), but didn't stay long. Del didn't come over, but he came by a couple days later because I told him we had a gift for him. He said his apartment is cold and he only had one blanket before our mom bought him one. So I got him a nice, thick blue one. He loved it.

Mom gave us money. 

 

Charlie and Kelly got me an electric fireplace that looks like a wood burning stove for my office. This room gets cold and I was tired of having to wear socks and cover myself with a blanket. I like that when the weather gets warm I can run it without the heat, so I can still enjoy the look of it in the summer. 

 

Sean and Ashley got me a Barnes and Noble gift card, a few boxes of one of my favorite candies (Goobers), a bookmark, and a Fellowship (LOTR) decal for my car (something I asked for that I knew wouldn't cost them much).

Sean loves astronomy, so we got him a small USB light projector that shines blue stars wherever he points it. He can use it in his car or their bedroom. We also got him a blanket with constellations that glow in the dark and a black T-shirt with four or five '70s models split bumper Camaros on it - his dream car.

We got Kelly a stuffed Pusheen lion, a black cloak, a blanket that's forest green on one side and white/ivory sherpa on the other (she loves blankets), an Ahsoka Tano Funko Pop figure, and a video game.

We got Ashley three books - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I had sent Sean a text with the titles of several books asking if Ashley had read any of them and she hadn't. He said that she said she trusts my taste in books because she loved the ones I got her for her birthday. She told me a few days after Christmas that she read Anna and the French Kiss in a day and loved it. :-)

Kelly and I got Charlie two T-shirts - a blue one with Chevy Novas, Camaros, and Chevelles on it (including a '67 Camaro, the year Camaro that he has) and a white one with Novas on it (including a '70 model, the one that he has).

 

We got Mom a pretty purple cardigan and a pink/purple decal for her car that says "Protected" with angel wings over it and a cross for the T.  I've had a white one like it on my car for years and I remembered her saying she wanted one when I first got it, but I couldn't find anymore back then. So I checked Amazon and found a few.

Sean and Ashley got Charlie a golf hat and golf towel. Some brand that Sean and Charlie like. They also gave him a pretty green Hot Wheels Camaro. Charlie wants to paint his Camaro green, so Sean figured Charlie would like it.

For Christmas dinner, I made a roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli or green beans, black eyed peas, crescent rolls, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. That evening, Charlie got the free month trial of HBO Max so we could watch Wonder Woman 1984. It was okay. The first one was much better.

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Saturday, December 26th, Milo woke up very squinty. He could barely open his eyes and kept them shut most of the time. He started sneezing the next night. Pippin had been sick to his stomach (something that happens to him a few times a year), which usually lasts about a week, but after a week he still was barely eating. His stomach issues had cleared up, so it wasn't that. I watched him more closely and figured it was probably a tooth bothering him.

So, I called the vet Monday morning and they had me bring them in early Tuesday morning. (December 29th.) I was finally able to pick them up around 4:00. They sent Milo home with steroid drops for his eyes and antibiotics. They also took blood from both dogs. They weren't sure if Milo's problem was an upper respiratory infection or something else. Or possibly both. 

 

Blood results were pretty good for both dogs. So Milo probably did have an upper respiratory infection and it's definitely Pippin's teeth or a tooth that's bothering him. There's nothing they can do for Pippin though. With his age and his heart problems, they can't put him under general anesthesia to pull his teeth. I've since started mashing his food after letting it sit in warm water for awhile to make it easier for him to eat and that seems to have helped. He can't eat the canned stuff because it gives him diarrhea.

Milo is doing much better. He started playing again after a couple days on his medicines and is no longer squinting or sneezing. He had a follow up appointment on Thursday the 7th and the vet said he looks great.

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A couple weeks ago, I was having trouble sleeping. I would wake up several times, usually because I was cold. I doubled up my quilts and that helped a lot, but I wanted to get a thicker blanket or comforter so that I wouldn't have two quilts to wash when I changed the bedding. (I only have three.) I got a cheap one at Walmart - just $64 before tax. When I put it on our bed, the material felt kind of thin to me, so I wasn't sure it would keep me warm, but it has. I don't know how long it will last because of how cheap it is, but I like it. I may get a better quality one (on sale) someday.

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I bought a new coat from Dillard's a week or so ago. Actually, I ordered it online. I saw that they had coats on sale and I really wanted a red one, but I wanted to try them on first. I ended up liking the way the black London Fog single breasted looked on me better than the red Anne Klein double breasted. It was originally about $150 and I paid less than $90 before taxes. It came with a scarf, but it was shorter and thinner than I prefer. I was going to bring it to Goodwill, but Kelly said that Rene loves scarves, so I gave it to her. 

 

I can't remember the last time I bought a coat. At least 10 years ago. It's nice to have a new one. My gray one needs a button sewn on it and my other two coats (one long, red double breasted and a dark purple one) are my church coats because they're too nice, in my opinion, to wear while grocery shopping and running around town.

 

 

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This was longer than I was planning, but that's usually how it is with me. lol I hope to do my usual end of the year and beginning of the year posts soon.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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