<p>So sad - D’s heart dog was also aging rescue dog. We got her at 14, guy had her for years, then “changed his life style” and my guess is that his new partner didn’t want her. Put her in a kennel for 2 months while trying to talk partner into it, but no good. We got her and she just settled in and knew she’d never leave. D was at friends house for weekend and wasn’t coming home til Monday after school. She gets home, no dog and calls me “Where’s Casey?” First I danced around the story (“she’s at the vet”), then finally I had to tell her straight. Had to leave work she was so upset, we sat on the couch and she cried for 2 hours. She was angry we didn’t call her right away.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine and I used to say it was harder when we had to decide whether it was time to put an old dog out of their misery and why couldn’t they just die peacefully on their own, it would be easier. But after one of our dogs got bit by a rattlesnake, guess what, it’s not.</p>
<p>Ok I talked to my s. Walked him through the events of the weekend. Told him about the anti- siezure pills and let him know I was planning on waiting but that if things got bad I wouldn’t. He is on board with the basic plan. Is hoping that we can wait so he can be here. That is a weight off my mind. He handled it well. We talked about how well we had done for this dog. I held the phone up to the dogs ear which is an inside joke in our family.</p>
<p>Hoping the pup is doing better this afternoon, Switters.</p>
<p>switters:
Actually if your dog can not get by that long, maybe it is good for your S. He don’t need to see all the suffering the dog has to go through. We got a cat when my D was in 4th grade. In her senior year, D went through all the sad … when our cat was gone. It is so hard and she even can not drove pass the vet clinic for a long time. It is so vivid and sad till now. Last night, we chat on-line and D send me a picture of a cat, it is SO like ours, we still miss her.</p>
<p>fammom:
Hope your poor S can make up fast.</p>
<p>bears:
Congrat! I think all will work out fine for your S. Just try to encourage/motivate him all the time</p>
<p>D got a lot of her stuff moved to her next year apartment. Bought a mattress for 50$ from a store near the apartment, I guess it must be a used one. She said there is plastic cover so it should be new, which I don’t believe. The store even move the mattress to her room for free.
Her 4D design is all done and 2D design is done but need to go through critic this week. Working on 3D design and plan to get Drawing done this week also. Still need to work on one or two essay. We are joking that life is much easier for her and she may have time to goofy on-line now.
Before 5/12 noon, all of the students have to get out of the dorm. I thought to get her ticket in the afternoon of 5/12 but she want to be before noon. So she is going to fly home in the morning of 5/12. After a little brick and preparation, we are going to Europe in 5/18!</p>
<p>We will miss the student year end show. she just told me there will be a show yesterday. Are you going to have some piece there, and the answer is yes. feel bad I didn’t have a chance to see it.
switters and bears: if you go there and have the chance to see her piece, can you took a picture? thanks!</p>
<p>Hey switters sorry about the dog. I think you did good with your son. </p>
<p>28 years ago I came home from study abroad in South America and was told that the cat had died…I was weeping on the phone in Miami waiting for the flight to G’ville. My mother reassured me that I would be home to bury the cat…“when did she die?” I ask…“Two weeks ago” answers Mum! “Where is she?” I ask in horror…turns out she was in a wine box in the freezer waiting for me to do my part in digging a hole and planting an azalea on top. It is a joke in our family that I had to dispose of the icecream in the freezer also but I actually was glad that I was asked to do that one symbolic thing for the cat that greeted me everyday when I came home from school for 11 years! Hopefully little switters can be there for the end but just feeling like he is involved in the decision is helpful for closure/saying goodbye to dog and a big part of his childhood. This makes me realize that I need to think about having my daughter walk through a living will for the cat before she leaves for college…sort of a DNR order from the person who loves her most…</p>
<p>Ah switters, we have 2 dogs, but they’re the first dogs for everybody. They still have a good many years with us, and I’m going to just hate it when it’s over. The D’s will probably all be out of the house and I’m not sure if that makes it harder or not. And if anything happened to H… oh, they would just be devastated. </p>
<p>When I feel melancholy about the inevitable end, I sometimes watch Jimmy Stewart on Youtube reading his poem about his dog. Search for Jimmy Stewart Beau Poem and you’ll find it. </p>
<p>“He never came to me when I would call, unless I had a tennis ball…” It’s great, and quite a lovely tearjerker.</p>
<p>Well I managed to get myself in a tizzy by the end of the day because I spent too long watching the dog. I was so upset I was second guessing myself. We don’t have a definitive diagnosis, just a most likely one. So by the end of the day I was watching every twitch and thinking oh no another seizure. Watching him stagger, and wondering if that was a med side effect or brain tumor side effect. I may not have the nerves to wait. But when I called the vet to ask about the logistics of not having nerve to wait she confused me by offering hope that it’s not tumor, since we don’t know for sure that it is. My h kicked me out of the house to go talk about the finkler question for book group. I don’t recommend it even if it won the Booker.</p>
<p>If the hot dog place was Max’s on Adams, yep, they don’t get any better than that. And if you went to Uno’s or Due’s pizza (same pizza, Due’s less crowded), you were having the BEST deep dish around, hands down (IMHO, of course). </p>
<p>Last time I flew thru Midway airport in Chgo, I waited to have lunch so I could get a hot dog. Guess what, the stand was closed for 20 minutes, and I did not have time between flights to wait. I was SO ticked off. But Thursday I fly thru Chgo again on my way to Minn for the great move-out, and I can taste that hot dog now…</p>
<p>And on a happier note, congrats to Bear’s son on a launch decision.</p>
<p>dung, it sure was on Adams, is it between state and wabash?
pizza was on S.wabash, near SAIC buildings. sports bar with green awnings. I don’t have receipt to check its name because that was his treat. he took out “small” thinking, well, it will be small. did not know that it would be a hubcap with two inches vertical wall filled with bath of sauce and cheese.
we knew of Uno, there are few franchises in the city.
but that pizza was something else. how are you supposed to eat that? cut with knife or machete or what?
every bite was like, splutter movie mess. crust would not hold what’s on it. it all run out and drip splash on your face.
sausage and portabella. hummmmmm best part was the cold leftover for the breakfast.
by then it was solidified and easy to eat.</p>
<p>Yes, hot dog place is on Adams between State & Wabash, wow bummer you missed it! They are the best. Don’t know which pizza place it was, but sounds like you got a deep dish rather than a thin crust. Deep dish you have to eat with a knife and fork, no getting around it. And a small can feed 2 people sometimes. If you did not eat it that way, everyone knew you were tourists LOL. And it’s always better the second day!</p>
<p>Off to move D1(nursing) out of her dorm tomorrow. Her school requires that the kids move out within 24 hours of their last final so that means just me and her on a Thursday. We still don’t have housing for her for next year yet, but she made two appointments to see apartments tomorrow. Hopefully, one of them will work out or it will be a strange and stressful summer! Things are harder to arrange out in the country. They’re just not as available. Even the storage place… the guy isn’t there every day and D had to meet him at the restaurant he also works at to get a key and sign the contract. It’s a restaurant that has a small river running through the outdoor seating area. Sit at a certain table, and they’re not allowed to bring you a beer. I kid you not!</p>
<p>Worse yet, and oh, it will be bad — moving D2 out of Mica on Sunday! She’s busy all day Saturday (volunteering at the kinetic sculpture race) and wants to go to the MD sheep and wool festival Sunday morning, so that doesn’t leave us much time. D3 has a big paper due and needs my help with that at home and I just feel like Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver. “Everybody want a piece of me”. That was Taxi Driver, wasn’t it?</p>
<p>D1, who is strong like a little pack mule, made plans to work on Sunday so she can’t help with the move out of D2. Clever little brat!!! Mother’s Day is going to be terrible! So why do I think it’s all so funny??? Just picture me, sweating and cursing for most of the next few days. I’ll make sure to sweat and curse while helping D3 with her paper too. Cursing at least, will come naturally. Especially when we try to get it all in the house. Thank God for those storage units!</p>
<p>BTW, if you’re ever around here on the first full weekend in May, the MD sheep and wool festival is really wonderful. It’s at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Just when you think the glamour fiber people couldn’t get more expensive, you overhear someone paying thousands of dollars for frozen ram sperm. The sheep are being primped for their beauty contests, and the occasional little mohair goat escapes and starts running around. Yarn is for sale everywhere, and it’s just glorious! There’s a contest where a lamb is judged for the tastiness of its meat AFTER the beauty of its carcass is espied at the Mount Airy Meat Locker the day before. And no one bats an eye…</p>
<p>G
is this mean your collarbone trick worked?
I thought that taxi driver thing was
“you talkin’ to me?”
then I am not that sure. </p>
<p>anyone out? gotta do some more work and willpower is fa…d…ing…(no more good candies but ages old peppermint balls that someone brought in)
where is smarty? night owl? hooohooot??</p>
<p>I’m right here hoooot hoooot
Can’t sleep insomnia the bin Laden news really pretty much put a stop to sleep for the next few days for me. It was just the little topper on the wedding cake of disaster and news that triggers my personal demons the past few months, so much to worry and fret about excepting that I’m not energetic enough right now to get much work done. But I’ll go make a good strong cup of coffee, see if I can find some weird nighttime talk radio (Coast to Coast is always just great at moments like this) and keep you company working Bears.</p>
<p>So Bears toughen up, buck up and keep stitching. Did you ever find anything out about that little suggestion of my sisters?</p>
<p>shhhh! smarty, he can hear you! LOL
nah
since acceptance was late still in the fog
and I knew of kids from the said town who came to live with dad’s family I worked (was half sibs of kid I raised) to think how people live in other side of whatever I know, it is only fair that I pay what I rightfully owe.
look, I get paid making gawd-awful bears and dogs leisurely in between blogging and eating candies, while some parents are processing chicken parts, picking strawberries or scabbing toilet so they can send their kids to college or just put food on the table.
they are the ones need/deserve max aid.
now, whoever in charge, please give away work study and federal grants/loans freely, no question asked!!
shall I chant USA! USA! USA?</p>
<p>Bears you are a doll…both literally and figuratively.
My sis has some serious (controlled thank god) health issues as does my nephew (again under control thank god but a rocky senior year). But still my sister would advise let the deciders decide. </p>
<p>You are right, it is true that there are always so many who have such need and we should always keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I often stop myself when I get into a poor me let me feel sorry for myself mood and try to shift to thinking in sort of a combination zen/glass half full frame of mind. This is not easy as I am of a certain personality that looks and says, oh that glass is half full. And then I automatically think what happened to the rest of my scotch…and/or water. Sorry just my insomniac attempt at humor, I know it’s not that funny, that’s why no one else around here will stay up and keep me company. As for the education thing I’d be more tempted to change USA USA along with you if our system matched some in Europe where if a kid can make the cut, pass the test then they just go to school, whatever. Don’t need loans, grants, asking for money. They just go regardless of where their family fits socially and ecoonomically. </p>
<p>The coffee’s kicking in, the aspirin is working, the headache is gone. Well off to work again.</p>
<p>“change USA USA”
and of course I meant
chant not change
although there are some things I WOULD like to change here</p>
<p>Okay now I’ve had toooo much coffee, birds are starting to chirp sun must be rising.</p>
<p>I don’t want to get too political here but what I was referencing as a college system has more subtlety than it sounds the way I wrote it. I think we should have a system maybe like the healthcare in Vermont, everyone who can qualify goes, it’s a level playing field and then family income determines how much you pay. Does that mean no merit scholarships, hmmmmm, I don’t know but I just don’t think anyone should be slipping through the cracks because it’s too much of a strain financially on the family and that happens now. Of course I’m not addressing the issue of lower grade schools dropping the boat which happens too. Egad I’ll just go back to work now.</p>
<p>smarty dear, we dampened the thread, I mean entire forum with our misery.
no one wants to play anymore…</p>
<p>halooooo Pooh? Tigger? Piglet? oh no oh no I am lost!!!
or shall I go Eeyoe-ing
“don’t pay any attention to me, I will just stay here and be miserable…”</p>