Dinner is Over When the Fat Dog Licks

 

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

We started the weekend off right! Hubby Mac chose to take me out for dinner tonight, just because he could. It was surely a welcomed change. Not only eating out, but just getting out for a little while makes all the difference since I can not get out on my own. The wheelchair and stairs on either door of the house has put a damper on my outings. 

Sweet man asked if Denny's sounded good and of course, my reply was, "That sounds great." My focus in that reply was not so much on food as it was the idea of being able to leave the house for just a little while. It had been some time since I last went outside. Just having the fresh air around me sounded wonderful. 

Dinner was great. The mozzarella cheese sticks were tasting very good. I was hungry and I know Terry was. Terry ordered steak, mashed potatoes, and corn. The meal came with some garlic bread on the side. My dinner consisted of bacon, sausage, eggs with cheese, and two slices of toast. I was hoping for a ham dinner but could not find a ham dinner being served. The ham breakfasts were not being served after 2:00 PM, without an explanation as to why. Anyway, lovely dinner. Fantastic company.

Terry and I had talked about doing something else to stay out longer but nothing sounded good. He took me for a drive up the freeway and back again to suffice as some time spent outside. I was grateful. Outings are difficult when considering the wheelchair and what I can handle safely. Plus, it means putting Terry to work by pushing me in and out of some areas. He has his own issues that make it difficult at times. 

Thursday March 21, 2024

Another weekend has come around. We have nothing planned for this time off work, but something always seems to come up. Speaking of "coming up," another unusual event has come up, but this time I'm really concerned. 

Last time we had any sort of specter experience was when someone touched my back, leaving a warm spot where I was in contact with something I could not see. As I said, this was nothing harmful and left no feeling of ill-will in me. Once I asked if whomever was in the room with me could prove it by touching me again, my shoulder blade immediately warmed, with the feeling of a hand being placed on my back. Eerie, yes. Harmful, no. Scared to death? Oh, yeah. Always. 

As I was taking care of some chores in my kitchen today, I opened the commonly known "junk drawer" to put a couple of items into the mix when I noticed a strange sight across the top of the drawer face. But this event left me concerned, as this meant stern or angry business for the entity trying to convey the message. 

The entire surface of the drawer top had been covered in knife slashes. This attack on the long strip of white left me uneasy. Terry has had bottles flung from the top of the refrigerator, causing him to flinch a bit to avoid the contact of the heavy glass. This has occurred three different times now. I've had one bottle hurled by me, but the remnant feeling of that incident was that I probably wasn't the target of the entity who threw it, like Terry seemed to be.   

The lights have been an issue in the home as well. For any of our devoted readers, you understand the situation. Other posts have been written about our basement light and our kitchen lights. Now the messages being delivered by whatever entity is here are getting a bit more serious it seems. 

The knife or sharp object damage is displayed from one end to the other on the top of the drawer. I don't know what caused the cuts exactly, but they were not here earlier in the week. I open this drawer quite often and so does Terry. Neither of us had seen these slash marks before. Once again, we have no idea where they came from or what happened, but I don't like the idea that these are done by a sharp object and by someone we can't see. Unnerving scenario. 

Friday, March 22, 2024

Without hesitation, the first day of spring arrived, followed by rain. The forecast is showing a week of rain, with scattered showers, and a drenching as well. Oregonians just can't win. Our spring tease from the prior week held beautiful summery days of 72 to 78 degrees, leaving us to believe all the warm weather was here. Now? Like I said, rain, puddles, mud and depressing, dreary days ahead for a while. 

Like every spring in Oregon, it will eventually give way to summer or a facsimile thereof. Although the past couple of years have been rather warm. The flowers are in bloom now though, splashing color throughout the landscape around us. Ornamental plum trees are blossoming and the scent of fresh flowers is in the air. Standing outside, taking in the lovely floral displays and breathing in deeply to collect every aroma of blooms, flowers, and freshly mowed grass makes me smile. 

We ordered a new harness for Togo, since fat boy decided to chow down everything in his bowl as often as he could, and gaining nine pounds in the process. His harness was tight and bunching up each time we put it on. I had pulled the straps out to their fullest accommodation, with no luck. The dog was scrunched into that harness. 

After 12 days on the journey to arrive (I guess it was shipped along the Oregon Trail by stagecoach), it finally came today! I tore into the wrapping immediately to see what we ended up with. When shopping for a harness for big boy, I Googled "Best harness for Siberian huskies," and the one I ordered came up. All the research I found claimed these non-escape harnesses were the best for the breed, so I ordered it. 

His name crafted on the side, our boy is now looking stylish in his new garb. He even has a carrier for poop bags, a handle on top, reflector strap in front, and much, much more room. It's a good looking harness. 

Togo sat with bated breath, wanting to see his new harness. I opened it with care while he waited to see the outcome. 

So handsome. Our boy is now ready to impress the ladies along the alley, as well as taking a manly hike through the wilderness. The spot of pink above his name plate is the roll of poop bags included in the package. Our man is ready to roll!

A harness for his highness. 

Now I have to combat his forever shedding coat one day this week, along with brushing his teeth, and cutting the hair out between his toes. It's getting long and causes him to slip on the floor since his pads are not flush with the flooring. We don't need any leg injuries in this house!

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Our Harry Potter series marathon continues today. Mallory came over around noon and we were fully glued to the TV all day. Completing movies five and six left us happy. It has been so long since I've seen these films that I had forgotten much of what happened. 

During the viewing, I was thinking Neville Longbottom was killed during the tournament, when it was Cedric who died while participating in the TriWizard Tournament. It's the small details that make that movie worth watching again. JK Rowling definitely created a masterpiece in the Harry Potter franchise. Not only financially, but the films themselves are the bomb. The books are better, of course, as you typically find in stories, but the films give the tale depth and character. Worth watching!

We watched five and six; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, respectively. Following the awesome movies, we decided to order some pizza for dinner. We all ate and enjoyed the last moments of our visit together. It's always nice to have Mallory come by. We love to chat with her and find out what's going on in her life, as well as her being inquisitive about ours. 

Licking our fingers at the end of the pizza fest, we all settled back. Mallory let Togo lick her empty plate, indicating the evening was coming to an end. Dinner is over when the fat dog licks. Mallory gave me a big hug, thanked us for everything, and headed out before darkness kept her from seeing as well on the road. 

Terry and I cleaned up the plates, the napkins, the bread stick bag, and all the marinara sauce containers. It had been a good day! We are going to complete the series of films next weekend, and then will select another group of movies to watch. 

Our Saturday night was relaxing and I am grateful for that. My husband and I discussed how thankful we are for each other, our home, our babies, and being able to pay bills, eat, and live. We have two nice vehicles to drive, and a beautiful family, awesome friends, and fantastic readers of the blog. Being grateful for all of the things in our life is important to us. Remaining grateful always is the plan. Our chat was left in a good place. Off to bed. 

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Sunday is a day of cleaning house for me. I work during the week, take Saturday off for myself, then like to clean at least a little on Sunday. Today I tackled the dishes, wiping everything down in the kitchen, and cleaned a bit of the laundry room. Next up? Breaking down my shower bench box and recycling it, putting away clean clothes, trying to clean up and vacuum the nook where Jasper sits during the day, and then I'm going to try to venture into our bedroom where six inches of Togo fur lies on the floor. The poor vacuum. 

Terry wanted to clean some of the house, but once again, my triple Capricorn tendencies smacked that offer down. I want to clean it. I'm stubborn that way. Feeling the need to get out of my wheelchair more, the idea of being able to accomplish chores is making me happy. 

My home health care is ending week after next on or around the 16th of April. I will sign off of those services and sign up for outpatient services through the facility at the hospital. They will help me gain even more strength and get me walking the way I was before the incident. That's the goal. 

Walking with my walker, I have been pushing myself more and more each day. I am putting some of my weight on my foot and ankle and walking across the house using the walker and boot instead of using the wheelchair all the time. Getting excited about the freedom, I pushed myself a bit too hard last week, so I had to dial it back a bit. Ice packs, elevation, and remaining still was the result of thinking I could just jump right into walking again. That knocked my stubborn self down a couple of notches. 

But once again, the ankle is ready to go. I have walked around a bit on it today, using the boot of course. I want to keep it safe, without any setbacks in the form of twisting the ankle or falling before it is 100% healed. I do not want to find myself back in stage one again. Not if I can help it. 

I'll leave this post right here. Cleaning house and eating dinner is what we have left in the day. In order to do all of that, I need to end the post to be able to move. But in the meantime, we are wishing everyone a nice week, filled with happiness for you all. Bless each and every one of you and may you have a week of beautiful blessings. Until our next post, take care of yourself and each other.