Birthdays, Surgery Scheduled, Loki, Corona

February 7th - I turned 48 years old. I got a few dresses and a cassette player. (I have a lot of cassette tapes I still enjoy from time to time and the player I had doesn't play well anymore.) My mom gave me money. 

 

I've heard for a few years how good Cheesecakes by Alex is, so I had Charlie get me their blueberry cheesecake. It was very good. Charlie, Kelly, Sean, Ashley, and I went to Cugino Forno for my birthday dinner (it was afternoon and not many people were there) and it was delicious, as usual.

February 8th - Kelly turned 21 years old. Hard to believe I have a 21-year-old and a soon to be 24-year-old. We got her a couple games, a black T-shirt that says "Social Distancing Expert" with a picture/drawing of a game controller on it, a stuffed black wolf (she loves wolves), and a new PS4 controller. Possibly something else as well. She liked the idea of cheesecake for a birthday cake and wanted strawberry, so Charlie got one for her from Cheesecakes by Alex. My mom gave her money.

I asked Kelly if she wanted to go out to eat or if there was something she wanted me to make for her and she said she wanted my stew. :-)

February 21st - Charlie turned 52 years old. He got some things for his aquarium and I made him a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. My mom gave him money.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The doctor who is supposed to do Charlie's surgery finally called a few weeks ago or so (well, someone at their office called) and scheduled his surgery for April 8th. They will be removing a couple inches of his intestines where the rupture happened last year. I am nervous about the surgery. They asked him if he was sure he wanted to go through with it (which I thought was odd since it was the doctor who said he needed it) because it's "very invasive" and Charlie told them that he does. He's tired of the pain and doesn't want another rupture/infection ever again. I hope this helps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past Thursday evening, Loki threw up a little bit a couple times. We didn't think much of it. Cats throw up from time to time. But then on Friday, he wasn't eating at all and spent more time lying around than he normally does. Usually in a ball or doing "meatloaf". 

 

I began to worry and prayed for him many times. If he didn't get better, I was going to bring him to the vet on Monday. But by Saturday he was doing a little better. There was more improvement by Sunday. By Monday morning, his craziness and energy was back 100% and I was so relieved. He's my little boy (the cutest and the baddest!) and I couldn't take it if anything happened to him.

 

February 13, 2021

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe we're almost four months into 2021 and I've only finished one book so far. smh I read a little almost every day, but struggle to stay awake long enough to finish a chapter. It probably doesn't help that I read in bed. lol Hopefully things pick up for me soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ordered this dress from Macy's a couple weeks ago.

Calvin Klein. It was originally $119, but I got it on sale for about $71 before tax. Shipping was free. I love a shirt dress.

 

 

I got these shoes at Macy's. They're by Style & Co. They were originally $60 or $70, but were marked down a little. I paid about $51 after tax. No, I won't be wearing them with that dress. lol
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't looked at the corona numbers for North Carolina or my county in many months. I got tired of it. I'm way over all of this - corona, restrictions, limitations, masks, shut downs, all of it. 

 

I still wear a mask, even though I despise it. (I have claustrophobia. I hate things touching my face. And I've gotten headaches from wearing masks. One of those headaches being a migraine because I had worn a mask longer than I normally do.) And I sanitize my hands often if I'm out of the house. (Though that's only a couple times a week.) But I'm really sick of it. The vast majority of people I see wear masks and most try not to get too close to people. 

 

I get why we're told to keep our distance, but it's gone on for so long. (Pandemic fatigue. Restrictions fatigue. Etc. I've read terms like this often.) Two weeks was doable. Even a month, maybe two, I could see. But two weeks has turned into a year and that's a long time to demand people stay away from their fellow human beings. 

 

Again, I get why they tell us to avoid close contact with others, but it still stinks.

 

And I'm an introvert who doesn't need or desire much human contact! lol

I know corona is real and we should be careful. But they keep moving the goal posts and it's annoying and frustrating. Two weeks to flatten the curve and allow the hospitals to handle cases and prepare. Then a month, two months, six months, a year, and now longer. 

 

You hear talk of herd immunity (real, not real) or we just need a vaccine (that we don't know the long term effects of; and, yes, I believe in vaccines) and we can make our way back to normal. Now they say a vaccine won't be enough. 

 

And they said early on that corona will never go away and that almost everyone (if not everyone) will get it eventually. So if it's always going to be here, do we quarantine, avoid people, shut down businesses, no gatherings, no holidays with family, no vacations forever/until everyone has had the virus? 

 

We can't keep up the shut downs and avoiding that basic human need to be with others (especially family) forever or for however long it takes for everyone to get it. And if/when the latter happens, do they come up with another reason to restrict us? "Pretty much everyone has had the virus now, but you can get it again, so keep wearing masks, avoid people, don't work unless you're essential, don't go to church, etc."

I am not a corona denier. (Friends and family have had the virus, including my son and daughter-in-law. Acquaintances, and family and friends of acquaintances, have died from it.) I know it's worse than the flu. 

 

And I am all for vaccines. (My kids got all the recommended ones.) I believe corona can make you a little sick or very sick or not sick at all and there's a small chance it can kill you. 

 

I agreed with the shutdowns and restrictions at first and I agree that we should still be careful, but if the virus is here forever and nothing we've done so far has slowed things down enough and the vaccine isn't enough to get us back to our lives, then what do we do? Keep waiting? For how much longer? It's already been too long.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Goodbye, Pippin

Pippin

 

March 31, 2005 - January 28, 2021

 

 

I've been meaning to write this for a few weeks, but I kept putting it off because I knew it would be hard.

 

 

I brought Pippin to the vet some time between 8:00 and 9:00 AM on January 28th. They called me later that afternoon and said that things didn't look good for Pippin and that they believed the best thing we could do is put him to sleep. (Not her exact words, but it's been over a month and I can't remember exactly how she worded it.) Pippin was severely dehydrated (they were giving him fluids) and his kidneys were shutting down, which is what I figured. The vet and a couple of the receptionists told me that we did a good job taking care of Pippin, that we did a lot for him. I wish I could've done more for him though.

 

Even though I figured we'd end up having him put to sleep that day, it was still hard to hear. I had a hard time not crying while I was on the phone with the vet. I cried when I got off the phone, and later that night or the next night, I had a big ugly cry. I've cried several times since then. 

 

Just the other day, I was letting Milo out and thought of Pippin. We had him for almost 16 years and it feels strange that he isn't here anymore. He was a lot of work, especially his last few years and even more so his last month of life, but he was a good boy. 

 

I still get a pain in my heart and a lump in my throat when I think of what he went through those last few weeks and how he didn't deserve to be sick like that. Not that any animal does. But he really was such a good boy - sweet, funny, goofy, playful (until he started feeling bad), well-behaved. He had the worst breath I've ever smelled in my life. lol But he wouldn't let us brush his teeth. He needed teeth pulled and a deep cleaning, but with his age and heart issues, the vet said they couldn't put him under anesthesia to take care of it.

The first couple weeks after he died, I would sometimes look over to where he slept in the dining room (he had a bed and blankets in a crate) or Kelly's room and think, "Does he need to go out?", "Is it time for him to eat?", "Is it time for his medicine?" (heart medication, lasix, blood pressure), "Is he doing okay?"

 

The last few weeks of his life, some days he'd happily eat his food (even though he wasn't eating nearly as much or as often as he did a few months ago) and some days we'd have to gently force him. And then there were the days when he wouldn't eat at all. For 2, 3, 4 days in a row he'd eat nothing. Then on the 4th or 5th day he might eat a handful of food at most. As his eating got worse, I knew he was probably coming close to the end. And then when he was peeing every hour, I figured his kidneys were failing and this might be it for him. I had hoped they could maybe do something to give him a little more time, but I didn't have high hopes for that.

 

Pippin would've been 16 on March 31st. We got him in May of 2005 when he was almost two months old. He was so little and curly and sweet and adorable. He learned quickly to potty outside and to do as he was told. I don't think we could've asked for a dog sweeter or funnier or with a better personality or temperament than Pippin. He was gentle and loved everyone he met. 

 

He was the goodest of boys.

I gave Pippin a lot of nicknames over the years. I don't know if I can remember all of them, but here are the ones I can remember.

Pips, Pip, Rips, Ree, Reez, Ree Roo Pee Poo, Pippin Dip, Ree Roo the Pee Poo, Reez the Peez, Mr. Nassy (because of his nasty breath lol), Rippers.

 

 

I cried a few times while writing this. Not hard, but I did have to stop and compose myself a few times.

 

I will end this entry with some pictures of Pippin.

 

May 2005

 

 

 

May 2005

 

July 21, 2005

 

 

 

August 2005

 

January 2008

 

Age 3

 

March 2, 2009.

 

Pippin loved snow. It snowed a little bit the night before we had him put to sleep. I carried him outside to potty and even though he couldn't really see anymore, I said to him as I was holding him, "Look, Pippin. It snowed." 

 

 

November 20, 2010

Early 2012

From the vet's office.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~