5/24/2014 Update

Good Morning Gentlepeople,

This is usually a good time to work on this.  Jerry and Mom are asleep, and the dogs are resting quietly.  This is more fun than doing the dishes. LOL

My little Yorkie, Grayson, is grieving over Stewart.  He won’t get up on the couch with me.  That spot was Stewart’s, and he doesn’t want to be loved on or held.  Considering the fact that Grayson was never a cuddle buddy, but he would always get up on the couch with me as long as I promised not to hold, squeeze or kiss on him. No, Grayson is not very good as a snuggle bug, but he still follows me around everywhere.  I think Grayson thinks I’m gonna run away from home and escape, and he’s not letting me go without him.  I always knew he was a smart dog!!!

I’m holding my own with my liver disease.  Had more blood work done on Thursday (May 22) and when I called about it, my results were really good.  On top of being a diabetic and having to take 7 shots a day (not always good about taking my shots) and the dietary restrictions that goes with that (nasty healthy food) now I have to be very careful about ingesting things with potassium.  I knew bananas were high in it, but tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, as well as many other “healthy” foods will mess me up.  I’m on 2 diuretics, lasix and and spiro-oh who cares.  The spiro works the best, but it also causes high potassium.  If my levels go too high, I could have a heart attack, and without it, I’ll have to go to the hospital all the time.  The nurses at the juicing station have told me that they have some people coming in everyday and having 10-20 liters drained off each time.  Oh, the threat of infection, that is really scary.  So now I’m attempting to watch everything I buy at the supermarket, but there are a lot of labels that don’t mention the potassium content.

Mama loves to go out to eat, and she really loves Golden Corral (if given the choice).  Mama’s brother, Kenny, and their cousin, Betty, have been going on Wednesday for the past several years, and they would rather go to Ryan’s.  I had to have a hard talk with Mama, cuz she wants to go every week.  I can’t physically afford to go that frequently.  I went with the group to Ryan’s acouple of weeks ago, and I used to really enjoy the place.  However, Ryan’s has changed so much, and I am not impressed.  So, I don’t have to worry about overeating there, LOL.  But when I have a doctor appointment or labs—Mama strikes for the kill.  If I don’t take her to Golden Corral, I WILL pay for it!  There’s nothing worse than a hungry 76 year-old Mama (being all of 4’ 11”) and I am just too tired to fight anymore.  I’ll take her every 2 weeks, and if she wants to go more often, she can go with Uncle Kenny and Cousin Betty.  I never had children, but this is what I would imagine from a child—throwing a temper tantrum.  I have learned that I have to pick my battles with her. Besides, she’s so cute when she’s not mad.

Guess I had better shut up.  I want to get the dishes done before Mama wakes up. Quite sure she’ll want a Hardy’s bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and a McDonald’s coffee.  Fortunately they are caddy-corner to each other.

Cya,

Arlynda Lea

Not So Very Merry

Okay, I know I promised that future posts would not be so gloomy, but for the second year in a row, the month of May is proving to be not so very merry.  Last year, we lost of our beloved Obie on the 5^th, and we lost our beloved Stewie last Thursday afternoon (the 15^th).  That’s Stewie (a.k.a. Stewart Little Bit, Stewie Bug and Pee Pot) in the image above, and Obie is in the one on the right below (with my mom).

Please forgive the rather poor picture quality.  Our digital camera is not a very good one, and Jerry has not made a whole lot of progress with mastering Photoshop Elements 9.

Oh, and that is Trixie on the left of my mom’s face.  A better picture of her is below.

If things go according to OUR plan, Trixie will outlive me and Jerry.  So, if you might be looking for a really sweet puppy (as in a term of affection) who will make sure every scrap of edible food within reach is never left uneaten for more than a few seconds…

Grayson rounds out our current herd of pups.  He could be registered as a purebred Yorkie, but we have not sent in the paperwork.  When Jerry called him, “Next,” last night after Grayson refused to jump up on the couch with me, I gave Jerry one of my registered (as a lethal weapon) looks.  No, the boy just ain’t right in the head.

My profile picture is of Reenie, who I had when I first met Jerry.  If she had of run him off like a killer attack 7-pound poodle is supposed to, I would not have to be giving so many lethal looks.

I promise to tell you all about Reenie later on, but this is supposed to be about Stewie.  So, I had better get to it.

We got Obie in March of 2003, and I came home with Stewie around a month later.  I was walking into the PetSmart here in Springfield, and Stewie was bouncing all over the inside of a Jeep CJ-5 (I think) that was parked near the front door.  When I came out, the owner of the vehicle was getting into it, and I asked him if he might be looking for a home for the blond whirling-dervish (long-haired Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix) inside.  You see, several of the rescue groups in the area take dogs and cats up to PetSmart in the hope of finding good homes for them, and it so happened that the owner of the Jeep ran an animal shelter around Branson.  Less than an hour later, I was showing Jerry what I had found.

Since I had also found Obie in the PetSmart parking lot, Jerry forbade me from ever even just driving by the store again.  It’s a good thing I rarely pay him any attention or the fight might have been on.  By the way, would you like to guess where Trixie came from in 2010?

Anyway, it did not take Stewie long to make himself a prominent member of the family, but he liked to take long runs away from home when he could slip out of his collar.  Chasing him down was never as hysterical as the time Reenie got away from Jerry in the huge parking lot of an abandoned shopping mall on the south-side of Sherman, Texas while we were out on the truck with him, but chasing Stewie did have its moments.

As with Obie, Stewie died of old age.  I suppose a vet would say that the cause of death was congestive heart failure, which he was taking medicine for, but him simply dying of old age works for me.  I am glad that he is not suffering any longer, but I sure miss him.

I have not been able to sleep in our bed for several months now.  So, I sleep in the recliner that is in the living room, and Stewie would pull the blanket off of me when he wanted to sleep on my lap again after getting down.  When I would not wake up, he would sleep on the blanket, and I would wake up wondering what happened to it.  No, that never got old.