Just a Quick Post!

Just a quick post!
So that everyone doesn't think I've fallen and couldn't get up.
I've just been super busy.
Busy at work. Summer is here and the Fourth is fast approaching, so it's crazy busy.
One of the girls is on vacation so I'm back to 6 days a week
and when she returns, the new girl has to be off for at least 2 weeks
because she's having surgery....
Yep.
Anyway!

I've also been working on putting up a privacy fence here at home.
(More about that later and the reason behind it.)
I had a couple of gift cards given to me at Christmas to Lowes.
I had them earmarked for a new kitchen faucet but....
I bought wood, screws and pickets instead.
I already had the posts and I had cement that I purchased last Fall
that was still sitting on my porch so....

OK, don't be yelling at me now!
I used my dolly to move those bags around
and I was very careful of the muscles that I hurt before.
I barely have any pain left!
and I can't just stop doing things.

So I was extremely careful of my stomach muscles.
I didn't want to get hurt again
but I did accidentally get beaned in the head with one of the posts.
I turned my head but it still got me good in the ear.
Luckily my hair covers it but for several days it was swollen.

AND.... ok, I hate telling people this one but...
for as long as my muscles have been hurt, for at least a month,
I've had this tooth problem.
My gum was swollen and... infected above one tooth.
I won't go into detail but I was brushing non-stop, flossing, swishing hydrogen peroxide
and every day this thing swelled back up.
I tried coconut oil pulling too, where you swish it every day for 20 minutes
and... it wouldn't get better.
The tooth itself didn't hurt but it was discolored.
No one could see it because it's way back in my mouth.
I don't have a BIG mouth, I've always wanted a big Julia Roberts type of smile
but mine is small, like Bernadette Peters' mouth.

Anyway, I'm terrified of dentists
and I don't have insurance but
today I went.
I was going to tell him to pull it and this morning I think I started having
a panic attack over it!
I went up front to the office girls and was almost crying.
But it turns out a couple of co-workers have had teeth pulled and I never knew.
They told me it was nothing to worry about!

Still I was sick with worry.
I went to a new dentist, the one my sister has started going to.
They took x-rays and he asked if I had considered a root canal.
I couldn't afford one of those but then when he looked at the x-ray
he said it wasn't an option anyway.
The infection was too severe.
So he pulled it.
He said he gave me more Novacaine than was probably needed
but he wanted to make sure that I didn't feel pain.
He said it was fractured and that had caused it to get infected.
I have no idea how it would be fractured
and he said it could have happened when I had gotten a filling.
So, I guess because of that, it crumbled as he pulled it out.
Ugh.

Good news is that he prescribed Tylenol with Codeine.
As I type this, I finally getting feeling back in the side of my face.
I haven't taken a pill yet but my sister said that at the first twinge I should.
So, I guess I'll wait for the twinge.

I'm starting to feel "something"...

but I really hate to take any drugs
unless I really need it.

So anyway.
That's kinda what's going on
but I have more to share for later.
Like the reason for the fence
and photos of the work that I finally finished of my friends pets.

Ah OH! I'm feeling something now,
Dang it!
If it increases, I'll take one of those pain-killers.
Before I sign off, I'll share another commissioned print
that I did for a client.
She supplied the photo and I'm not that happy with it but...
she was happy,
so that's all that counts.

And like I said before, since they are prints
they are pretty cheap so that helps me deal when I'm not crazy over one of them.

OK!  WHOA!
I'm off to take a pill!
XOXOXO

THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

is tomorrow and today is Father's Day,

it seems like a good day to start posting again.

I'm feeling much better.
I had this weekend off and although I received one phone call and several texts so far,
it's still nice to take a break from work and do nothing.
I got up early Saturday, at 5:30 because of the dogs
and also because I decided I hated my curtains in my bedroom and took them down.
So at 5:30 in the morning my room was bright with sunlight.
I'm contemplating leaving the windows bare though.
It's on the second floor and unless I'm standing right in front of them,
I don't think anyone can see me.
Even if they could, I'm usually covered in little dogs and the random cat.

Speaking of cats.
Thank you ALL so much for all your kind words about Stretch's passing.
That really meant the world to me and I could feel the love and friendship.
Truly, thanks for being there.

My cat Ghost, I'm sure I've mentioned him a few times.

In fact he might be the topic of the first post I wrote on this blog
back in 2009.
He had become lost back then.
Lily and I searched everywhere.
I posted signs,

Lily went door to door with flyers.
I had ads with photos in the 2 newspapers.
I had a HUGE sign posted on my front fence.
I went to all the shelters every other day
and Blue and I walked the neighborhood.
I had a few people who walk by my house with their own dogs,

tell me that they were keeping an eye out for him.
I went to a couple of homes of people who called about the ads

and said they had found a white cat
but it was never him.
I purchased my first cell phone so that I would have it on hand if anyone called.
There's much more to this story but 1 month and 3 days after he was suddenly gone,
he was found.
Foind in the next town over.

Some kids found him in a storm drain in a park

and put him in the bathroom there and called Animal Control.
Animal Control came to get him but he crawled into a hole were the plumbing came out of the wall.
The animal control officer, a woman I knew, finally got a gripe on him and pulled him out and scanned him for a chip.
Thank god I had him micro-chipped and she called me right away.

So anyway, lately he has been following me everywhere.

I mean he always does but now he doesn't let Ping or anyone else push him out of the way.
He lays stretched out on my chest with his face tilted up, just staring at me as I watch TV.
He's on my lap as I sit at the computer.
He sleeps on my head at night

or lays in front of me and stares at my face,

putting his paw on my cheek.

I'll move his paw and he puts it back.
Sometimes I fall asleep holding his paw.
There have been times  that I've woken up because he's laying across my throat
and I will push him off and roll over and he lays on my back.
He's gotten so obsessed that he sits in the bathroom when I take a bath and he'll perch his front paws on the edge of the tub like he's thinking of jumping in.
I've had to put my finger on his forehead and push him back.

He did this over-the-top behavior once before
and I became worried and took him to the vet and had him looked at and his blood work done.
He was fine.

I told co-workers back then that maybe there was something wrong with me!
But I'm still here and that was quite a while ago and now he's doing it again.
Maybe he's just my comfort cat.

Hey! I heard some good news the other day that I will share now.
The Wednesday before last, the 8th, when I was really bumming out.
I was at work, Wednesdays are half days for me and Doc doesn't work that day
so the clinic has a different jibe for me.
I was just trying to get through the morning and go home.
It was the anniversary of my Dad's passing and some years I don't think about it that much.
Not now anyway,
but this year it landed on a Wednesday again, just like all those years ago.
It was a sunny summery Wednesday that day too and I was to leave for lunch when I got the call.

So I'm trying to not think about that or the other things I've mentioned in the previous post.

I was up front in the reception area and chatting briefly about something to one of the receptionists when I see this man walk in the door.
I recognized him.

He's boarded his little dog with me a couple of times
and he brings the little guy to the clinic for grooming too.
I remembered how he talked about his little dog, who he adopted from the shelter
and how he never wants to go anywhere because he doesn't want to leave him.
I remember he had to go to a family thing and he was so sad about it.
And when he returned the little dog who had been so quiet and calm and so good,
had stood up and came to life, hopping with happiness to see his dad.
I remember how the old man had laughed and hugged him and the moment just made me feel so happy to see that bond.

So Wednesday the 8th,  I'm talking and trying to pretend that all is right with the world
and this old man comes in and he's got tears running down his face
and the receptionist hurries up to him.
I hurry back to the lab area to tell the vet techs and the vet that the man was here and something was wrong with his dog and....
I just started to cry.
Then the receptionist came rushing back with the little dog and I hurried off to my area.
I tell ya, with all that was going on in my head at that time,
I felt like I was on the verge of sobbing hysterically.
Finally I got it together, finished my work and went to leave.
I stopped up front for a moment and saw that they had kept the little dog to run tests and things.

Turned out he had a heart condition and fluid had built up and...
Anyway, it can be controlled with medication.
The techs filled me in on the details and told me that the vet had said the whole situation had gotten to him too.
They said he said it was hard to to see a nice old war veteran so upset.
Then the other day, the vet stopped as he was passing me in the hallway and said that the little dog was doing really well on the medication, that he was doing REALLY good!
He thought I would want to know.
I thanked him.

So there's that good news!

and the little Eskimo dog is going to a new home this week!

And I'm starting to feel better!
I haven't had to take any pain medicine at all anymore
and there's just a dull ache and occasional stabbing sensation but I usually can massage it out.
I guess it was my muscles, pulled, or torn or something.
I'm going to be more careful from now on.

So - I'm back!

I've finished a few commissioned pieces and I'm working on one more.
In the end, they are actually prints, mounted on canvases
and I sell them are dirt cheap.
I'll do a few more new ones and then I'll just have them reprinted and sell those too.
To be honest, I'm wanting to move on to something else.
I have some ideas on some collage paintings
and of course my illustrations.

Talking about that, I did do a little one for my sisters birthday last Sunday.
She's always gardening and her cats like to be out in the yard with her so....

Now if I did something like that for people, I'd charge more
because it's takes a lot longer to do.

But first I need to catch up with my own yard.
Mowing, weeding, planting the flowers that are still in their containers.
And the house.
Yep. Kinda let it go.
Yesterday I got rid of 3 big bags of stuff.
Vacuumed everywhere and need to get scrubbing because I want to paint.

I also want to go back and read all of the posts that I missed on my fav blogs.

Wish I had more time for everything.
Oh well! Someday.
XOXOXOXO

R. I. P. STRETCH

The morning after I wrote my last post
I came downstairs to find Stretch just laying on the kitchen floor.
Nora saw him and ran to chase him but he didn't get up.
Nora just looked at him and then at me.

That morning I took him into work with me and had extensive blood work run on him.
And radio-graphs
and had a fecal done and an urinalysis.
Then a sonogram.

I had him on a food that he liked and which helped him form firmer stools.
That's always been his problem.
IBS.
That's why I have him.
HERE is the post that I wrote when he came home with me.

But lately he didn't like his special food
So I had tried some others.
In the meantime he was really dropping weight.
When I weighed him at work, his weight had plummeted to 6.10 lbs.

The Dr. thought maybe with a couple of  medications
and different food and a shot of Vitamin B12.
Maybe that would help.
She consulted with the other vets
and no one could find anything conclusive.

So, it was either IBS or Lymphoma. (Cancer)
I kept him at the clinic, where I could closely monitor him
and his eating and his stool, etc.

Last Saturday he weighed 6.4

Yesterday, Monday he weighed 5.11.

Today he was wobbly and fell.
He was drooling and I knew it was just a matter of time.
I wasn't going to make him wait.
So I had the vet release him to Heaven.

This has been a bad few weeks.
In June alone, FOUR of my long time boarding dogs have passed.
One of them was a dog that I felt so close to, that I felt like he was my own.
I went into the exam room to say good-bye and his owners and I just balled our eyes out.
Another boarder, as the husband was carrying him into the clinic, the wife ran to my boarding door.
She was in tears and motioned me to come with them.
Yep....

I have a few more really sad things I could share that happened last week,
but I won't.
No use in depressing all of you too.

Some good news though!
Mikey is getting a home.
The son of the owner was going to put him down.
(I'm leaving out a lot of details)
but I had him sign Mikey over to the clinic and a home has been found.
(No, not me.)

And my friend's little schnauzer Louie, his Go Fund Me page has gotten a lot of donations!

Yep, that's good news.

Sigh... anyway.
With all the tragedy in the world
some might think me silly to get so upset about all of this
but I can't help it.
I just need to work on myself some more.
So, my break continues,
I just felt that I needed to share Stretch's passing.
xoxoxo

TAKING A BREAK

I'm feeling a bit... worn out.
Mostly, Physically and Spiritually.
Physically, this pain that I have?
I'm now thinking it probably wasn't rash-less shingles but instead pulled, or torn or strain muscles.
Honestly, I don't even want to talk about it anymore.
I'll just say it still hurts, but it's better.
Time will eventually heal it I'm told, but my work life and home life causes it to be
two steps forward and one back.
So, I'll take my Ibuprofen and use my different creams and
someday I will be better.

Spiritually....
I'm tired.
I need to be quiet and recharge. 
I need to be by myself and get it together.
Several things happened
but last night was the last straw on the camels back.

A few of the first straws...
A dog left in my care at work, now needs a home.
He's been there for over a month and we've now been told that his owner will never be coming out of the nursing home.
He's a good little guy, but I am NOT going to bring him home.
Two reasons.
One. I'm at full capacity at my house.
Two. He's a very nice dog but for some reason I just don't "Click" with him.
(Still I care and worry about him.)

Oh and he's 12 years old.

and then a friend, has a little one that needs surgery for a cancerous mass and a dental.

She's not the type to ask for money but she's tapped out and needs help.
I and a few others suggested she start a Go Fund Me page.
it's HERE.
I asked people at work to forgo their morning coffee and kick in that amount
but evidently coffee is more important.

and FINALLY,
the last straw.
I'm on Facebook.
Mainly to post cute dog and cat pictures back and forth with my friends.
To share funny images with co-workers that I like
and to converse with my family and friends that don't live close by.
I also have a Facebook Art Page HERE.
I'm hoping to build that up but I randomly do post my work there for local people.

But, last night there was a post on my personal page that I can't get out of my head.
I'm still very upset and I feel helpless and devastated.
It was written by a "friend's" husband, about a Pekingese that come up to them.
This is what a Pekingese looks like if you aren't familiar with the breed:

(savearescue.org)

This morning I got up and BLOCKED these people,
these "Friends".
I also had to Block their daughter who actually is very nice and caring but I don't want them to be able to see what I post through her.

I'm just tired off it all.
People who just don't care.
I need a break to regroup and find something I want to talk about.
I did post something on my Art blog yesterday, before going to Facebook.
If you want to see some of my latest Art, you can check it out there.
So... I'm gonna disappear for a little bit.
But I'm be back for sure.
Thanks for understanding.
and here's what I wrote and posted on Facebook this morning -

So, I just figured out how to block someone.
I had a "friend from high school" friend me a couple of years ago.
I really have no idea way she contacted me but I accepted her request anyway. Over time I realized we have absolutely nothing in common and our views were polar opposite on many things.
But Oh well! we can't agree on everything.
Her husband then, also friended me.
Pretty much they were a boring pair and only posted about where they went for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But, whatever.
I'm sure I bore people with all my dog/cat posts but it's my page and I can post what I want.
So... last night the husband posts about how a little dog came into their garage. He wrote that it was in the rain and trying to come inside their door. It had tags and they called the # a few times and no one answered. But, like EVERY night, they had dinner plans, so they LEFT. I commented to ask where the dog was? Was it in their garage? What happened to it? and he responded that last that they saw it, it was running down the road after their car and he did see it finally get back up on the sidewalk.
They left the little dog lost and loose in the rain.
I assumed he HAD to be kidding, not that it was funny, but he has a stupid sick sense of humor but NO! he and his wife (my friend?) commented back to me that the dog wasn't THEIR responsibility!
and then the conversation started to turn a bit nasty so I stopped it.
I refuse to argue with horrible close-minded selfish people.
They live in another state, otherwise I would have driven over and hunted for the dog myself.
The only positive of this whole thing was that their two daughters were posting like crazy against their parents and how they acted. Thank God, their daughters have hearts.
I thought about it all night. Was the little dog found? Luckily they live in a rich neighborhood and don't have a lot of traffic like where I live.
The thing is, they had just posted about having breakfast at their church. I'm sure they are at church right now.
I would think their religion teaches compassion. Compassion and empathy for whoever owns that little dog. Compassion for the little dog itself.
I pray that it's ok and wasn't hurt or killed on the street.
I honestly thought about deleting my Facebook account over this.
But then I suddenly realized that if it wasn't for Facebook, I wouldn't know how horrible and heartless these people really are.
Later last night, they posted a photo at the restaurant sitting out on a deck, enjoying their wine. 
I've Blocked them now. I wish I could do more than that but...
OK, I'm sharing this for another reason too. If you think I'm wrong and agree with what they did, please comment and let me know.
So that I can Block you too.