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Running Up That Hill

I’m back to running up that hill. And by hill, I simply mean I’m back to running again. I’ve been itching to run for quite a while, so I thought why not give it a try. Originally, I had planned to start running again in June, but I hurt my left knee. Fortunately, it healed pretty well. Unfortunately, the outside of my left knee still likes to lock up while running. Hopefully, I can alleviate that pain by stretching my IT band. I really do enjoy the treadmill workouts on Apple Fitness Plus. It’s much better doing the treadmill workout than a normal run,

This weekend went pretty fast since I worked Saturday. It wasn’t the busiest day from a lead perspective, but I was able to make it a productive day. While I worked, Anakin and Athena kept me company. I’m sure going to miss spending my work days with Athena. She’s been my constant companion since I started working from home. Truly, she’s been one hell of a sales assistant. Since she was small, she had brought nothing but joy to our family. If I could collect dogs like Athena, I absolutely would do it.

We made the appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon. It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye, but it’s been hard to see her fading away. She’s still eating and drinking, which is good. Those days, however, are numbered. We’re going to give her one hell of a last supper tonight, so she can go out having enjoyed all of her favorite things one last time. I’m going to bring Anakin’s duck with us to the appointment, so she can smell his presence and feel less alone. We’re all going, so she’ll have her favorite humans with her. She loves her brother dearly, so having a piece of him with her should bring her comfort.

Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
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Memento

As our time with Athena winds down, I’ve been searching for the perfect memento to remember her with. When Maya passed we had her cremated locally. The funeral home, which specializes in pets offers a package that includes a wooden urn engraved with their name and law print to carry the ashes, a clay paw print with their name engraved, a fur clipping in a jar, and a certificate. When Athena, passes we’ll buy the same package for her.

We’re a bit concerned about how Anakin is going to react to her passing. As a result, we’re trying to think of measures to help him cope with her loss. He loved her more than he loves food, hunting, or even his AFLAC duck. It will be a tremendous loss for him. Consequently, I found an Etsy store that makes stuffed replicas of your dogs. I’m thinking about buying one for Anakin, Arrow, and one for us. Although it may be a bit watery l getting one for Arrow as he destroys every stuffed toy he has within minutes. On the other hand, Anakin will treasure his memento.

My bestie said goodbye to her sweet dog Nema today. These past few months we have both been navigating the choppy waters that is end-of-life care for a beloved pet. It’s not an easy time that’s for sure. In fact, we’ve both found it difficult to determine the right time to put the puppy to sleep. Obviously, we don’t want the animals to suffer or experience pain, but you don’t want to pull the trigger too quickly either. It’s a bit of a balancing act that ends with the death of a beloved family member.

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Lost in the Forest

I started work this morning with only two monitors, which felt a lot like being lost in a forest without a phone or compass. Ever since we lost power yesterday, my monitor has been out of commission and my headset has had intermittent issues. Additionally, I had to reset all our Nanoleaf lights, so they’d connect to HomeKit again. Admittedly, the process of resetting the smart lights is not so smart. I was able to reset two in our fan, but I still have a few left to fix.

Today I talked with IT for the majority of my morning. We worked together to fix my peripherals. Obviously, it’s a bit frustrating as I can’t take calls while on the line with IT. In fact, my entire morning was pretty much a waste (not to be theatrical about it.) The few clients I did speak to weren’t looking for coverage or wanted it free. This afternoon is off to a similar start albeit with a working computer system. Hopefully, I’ll get someone that’s ready to buy.

What are your future travel plans?

Is there anything more exciting than future travel plans? I don’t think so either. Next month I’m headed to see my parents for a week in Minny. I’m really looking forward to being able to see my extended family at my aunt and uncle’s anniversary party while I’m there. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen many of them. Fortunately, I’ll be able to work remotely, so I won’t need to take any time off for the trip.

At the end of September, I’m going to visit Jake once the Hubby gets back from Vegas. He’s going on a guys trip it Vegas, which should be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward, however, to spending time with my boy and hiking the mountains of Utah. Fall is gorgeous where he lives and I can’t wait to see the mountains. As of now, it’s a solo trip, but hopefully, I can convince Hubby to fly out for a long weekend. I’ll probably go back to Utah or Minnesota in December, so I don’t lose my status with Delta. Once the Hubby’s old boss actually pays him, yep still hasn’t paid him seven months later, I’ll look to plan something overseas.

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Back Home

We made it back home from Boston last night. Fortunately, the trip was completely uneventful and smooth sailing. The extent of our travel troubles was me missing my turn at the rental return center and the Mayor’s meltdown over food in the Sky Club. In his opinion, the food there sucks. In fact, it didn’t but he was happy to eat his Sbarro. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the locally curated food including one last bowl of clam chowder and a cannoli.

I ordered pizza on the way home as there was no way my ass was cooking dinner last night. It would have been nice to have a home-cooked meal after eating out the last five days, but whatever. Nonetheless, I was happy to be home and reunited with the puppies. Unfortunately, my sweet Athena is not looking too good. I keep hoping against hope that she’ll miraculously recover. I really can’t imagine our house without her.

The change in climate from Boston to South Florida was brutal. Our weather throughout the trip was quite comfortable. There was one evening of storms, but those hit after we had made it back to the hotel for the night. In contrast, South Florida continues to be unseasonably hot and humid. I noticed when we got home that our house was pretty hot. Apparently, the AC was not working so well. I’m not sure when it stopped working, but nobody seemed to notice until I said something. Fortunately, the hubby was able to get it working, so we could sleep comfortably.

It’s good to be home, but the trip to Boston was great. I’d be happy to never have to drive in that city again, but I did enjoy exploring it on foot. It was a great trip to connect with the Mayor’s new team and to connect with my dear friend Jenny. I can’t believe that we ended up in the same city on the same weekend. It was such a blessing to be able to see her for dinner. Now that we’re back home, it’s back to reality which includes work and eating healthy again. The splurge on tasty food in Boston was fun, but I’m ready to get back on the wagon.

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Packing

I’ve started packing for our trip to Boston tomorrow. The Mayor and I don’t leave until tomorrow night, but I want to make sure we have everything we need. This trip I’m not faffing around. I hate getting to our destination only to realize I forgot to pack something important. Consequently, I’m hoping that going through my list and packing today will help avoid that frustration.

We fly out late tomorrow, so I’m hoping and praying the weather doesn’t mess up our travel plans. This time of year, it’s difficult to fly out of Florida due to our summer storms. The weather hasn’t been better in the northeast either grinding most of those airports to a complete halt. I’m going to bring my work laptop just in case we can’t get back Sunday. I figure if I’m prepared for the worst, we’ll get home without a problem.

This will be our first trip to the Chowder Cup, which is the big showcase tournament held in Massachusetts every year. It’s a good opportunity for players to gain exposure to junior teams as well as colleges. For me, it’s an excellent opportunity to enjoy summer in Massachusetts. Our schedule is pretty open, so we should have plenty of time to explore Boston and the surrounding area. Planning fun, random excursions is kind of my forte, so we should have a good trip.

I’m super excited for the trip, but it will be hard to leave Athena behind. Her days are numbered, so I hate to be away from her at all. While we’re gone, Goalielocks and the Hubby will take good care of her.

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Ten Things

List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.

Todays prompt is to list ten things that I know with absolute certainty. Personally, I think ten is a mighty high number these days judging from the nonsense I see on social media. So here are my ten things:

  • My world revolves are my boys.
  • Another day above ground, no matter how rough, is better than being below ground.
  • My dogs light up my world and I don’t think I could live without one again.
  • I miss having my parents close by.
  • I miss having my grandma close by.
  • Hockey is the greatest sport in the world and the Q is wrecking it by removing fighting.
  • An adventure with loved ones is worth more than a material gift.
  • European chocolate is much better than American.
  • MTV in its current iteration absolutely sucks and should be off the air. I miss spending time watching music videos.
  • If you’re going to order a steak well done, don’t order steak.

That’s my list. What ten things would be on your list?

Brief Athena update. She’s slid back a little bit this weekend. Although she’s more stable than she was the previous weekend. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to be in any pain and has not lost her appetite at all. These days she’s enjoying donuts, puppy ice cream (loves the cheese bacon flavor), and roast beef. Her favorite places to hang out are her new bed or the couch.

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Athena update

I thought I’d hop on this fine Friday afternoon and give an Athena update. After an incredibly rough weekend, she has rebounded. We were quite concerned that she wasn’t going to make it through the week, but she’s persevered. In fact, her gums are back to a nice pink color. She’s also back to playing with her brothers.

My baby girl

She loves her new bed and sleeps every night there now. Since I work from home, she’s with me every day. My workstation is in my room, so she hangs out in bed all day. The only exception is when she hangs out in the family room while I spin over lunch. I’m fortunate to be able to work from home and spend every day with her.

This morning and this afternoon, she was anxious to do her full walk. The last few days, she had been content to just hang around the yard. Consequently, it’s good to see her back to her normal habits. In fact, she’s back to aggressively defending our cul-de-sac from birds, squirrels, and other dogs. Unfortunately, this also means she’s back to alerting the household every time a package is delivered. I’m trying not to get too hopeful because it will hurt all the worse when she deteriorates again. If only our dogs could stay with us forever. That’s the Athena update for now.

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The Spoils

Today the spoils of Prime Days have started to show up!!! We’ll be getting a steady stream of packages over the next week or so, which is always exciting. I definitely took advantage of Prime Days this year to stock my pantry. Consequently, it will save me a lot of money over the next few months. This, of course, will be helpful as the Mayor is starting Junior hockey next month. For the uninitiated, junior hockey ramps the cost up from “an arm and a leg” (cost of youth hockey) to organ territory. Now in order for you kid to play hockey, they’ll need your arms, legs, and at least one kidney.

I digress. My favorite thing that was delivered today was Athena’s new bed. It’s super plush and supportive for her. She has a bed in her crate but has been sleeping on the floor next to our bed this past week. As Athena lives out her bucket list, my princess will be as comfortable as possible. This puppy will want for nothing. She absolutely loves her new bed. I guess part of me hopes if we keep spoiling her, she’ll get better. Love is the best medicine and she’s surrounded by it.

The Amazon fairy also brought us some more rice, protein shakes, a new pair of jeans (yay) and accessories for my new Roomba mop that’s coming next week. I ended up buying the Roomba J7 and Braava mop combo during Prime Days. Our current Roomba, Lord Vader has died. After running over Athena’s poop several times, it was her puddle of pee that finished him off last Saturday. I love my Roomba. Even with the three dogs, it does a great job of keeping the floors clean without me, or anyone else, having to do anything. I’m an ardent supporter of anything that makes life easier.

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Athena

Athena has been a part of our lives for over eight years. It feels, however, like she’s been here forever. She’s an integral part of our family and owns a big piece of our hearts. In late May, she got sick, so I took her in to see the vet. I was hoping it was just a bug, but was worried it was something more serious based on her behavior. With a working diagnosis of potential pancreatitis, we brought her back home for the night. The vet scheduled her to return the next day for an ultrasound and fluids.

The next day, the boys dropped Athena off in the morning. Around lunchtime, our vet called with the worst possible news. While her pancreas was fine, she had two large masses in her liver that were actively bleeding and ascites. They diagnosed her with hemangiosarcoma, which is a very aggressive cancer without any good treatment options. Consequently, we brought her home to say goodbye to her brothers, and FaceTime Jake. Thankfully, she wasn’t in any pain.

Before the Mayor and I flew to Minnesota early Thursday, we said our final goodbyes to the Piggie. We all agreed that if she worsened or showed any evidence of pain, my hubby would take her into the vet to be put to sleep. In the meantime, he’d continue spoiling her with all her favorite foods and activities. She was living out her bucket list.

Athena was in good shape when we came back from Minnesota much to our surprise. Her symptoms of liver failure had completely abated and the ascites had gone down. She was playful and happy. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Honestly, I didn’t think we’d see her alive again. This past month with Athena has been an absolute gift. She’s on borrowed time, so we’re spending as much time and spoiling her as much as possible.

This weekend she started to go down hill. She’s not showing signs of pain, but we can tell her liver is starting to fail again. I’m hoping against hope that her liver begins to function again, but that’s highly unlikely. Consequently, we will probably have to bring her to the vet or bring the vet to us to put her down. We can’t imagine losing her, but we don’t want her to experience any pain. In the mean time, she’s living out her bucket list one donut at a time.

Jake and Athena’s post deployment reunion
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Arrow is one

Our little puppy, okay not so little, Arrow is one. we celebrated yesterday with birthday ice cream for all three puppies and a special gift for Arrow. As you can imagine, all three dogs loved their ice cream treats. Anakin enjoyed his in the comfort of his crate as he gets a food aggressive towards the other dogs. That and he’ll try to take their ice cream too.

Arrow loved his little Lamp Chop stuffed toy. I, on the other hand, did not. Apparently, I missed the fact that it had a squeaker in it. Needless to say, Arrow and his toy were squeaking away all night. Anakin loves to hoard toys and not play with them. He was eying Arrow’s toy as soon as Arrow got it. Consequently, I distracted him with another toy. Nevertheless, his focus continued to return to Arrow’s toy.

While the puppies enjoyed the birthday festivities, the rest of us watched the Hurricanes take on the Devils. This was a must win for the Devils, but ultimately the Canes sent them packing with an overtime goal. The Panthers play tonight and have the chance to end the Maple Leafs season. We went to game four Wednesday and they looked terrible. Here’s hoping our Cardiac Cats show up and get er’ done.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Weezer’s Blue Album (yesterday,) here’s Buddy Holly.