Ethan’s Journey

 Another call from collections. Still battling with insurance over charges from 2020. How? I worked outside until about 1:00. It then became rather warm and I moved inside. The dogs had so much fun being outside with me for hours. Ferguson had the most fun. He lived up to his name of “Scat Dog” and found some sort of scar to roll in. He had a quick bath and was shunned to the screened in porch to dry.  Jiminy was doing dog things like lay in the grass. My office for part of the day. The highlight of my day was to see Sarah for a hot second. She showed up right in between meetings and we spent about a half hour chatting. I picked Avery up from her Senior Trip. She had fun but was glad to be home. She then helped me grocery shop. Riveting! However, with Avery, we always seem to have fun. So actually, grocery shopping was pretty ok. Looking forward to a weekend full of friends we haven’t seen in way too long!

I overbooked myself today. I worked outside with the dogs out until early afternoon. It was so pleasant. After work, I headed to a friends house to catch some bull frog tad poles in her pond. I brought them back to my pond to let them mature. Tadpoles do better in warmer water. The cooler water slows their maturity rate. Maturity can take anywhere from several months to up to 3 years. After catching all the bill frog tadpoles, I got home and went out to dinner with a friend to drink a margarita and eat some yummy Mexican food. When I got home I looked around the yard and noticed that my iris’s have gone crazy, multiplied and have really earned a spot in my yard. Avery is spending the night away from home on her senior trip. She said she was hot but having fun with activities. Ethan got to do some cool stuff at work. He was excited about it and was telling me all about this nasty car he had to work on today. The ash tray spillith over. 🤮

 Happy Memorial Day. Today we are thinking of all our men and women that served but perhaps were lost along the way. Your service is cherished!  Humans are funny creatures. Paul and I are so nosey. “What’s that guy doing?” “What’s going on over there?” Always asking each other these questions. At one point I walked in the camper and found a pair of binoculars on the counter. “Why are these out?” I asked. Paul described that he heard some yelling down the shore and he was trying to see what was going on.  We were driving home and saw a cop that had pulled someone over. “Wonder what they got pulled over for?” Why are we so nosey? I think it is the nature of the beast. I found a baby turtle and named it Sheldon. It was so small and cute. I found it very far away from a water source. Ethan had fun bonding with Sheldon before Sheldon went to swim with the frogs in our pond. When we arrived home, we enjoyed the day working to get stuff ready for our next trip, but it doesn’t feel much like w

 Today is a ceremonious day. Annually on this weekend, a group of guys on the shore line come together to help one another put in docks at the lake. It’s cool to see these things still happen with so many negative things in the headlines. It is simple, I help you and you help me. The docks and lifts went in. There were some jokes about the temperature of the water and “shrinkage”.  The most drama that happened was that there was a Robin’s nest on the end of the dock that was sitting in the side yard. This dock was going to be sent into the water. Everyone agreed that the best needed to be moved so we didn’t harm the baby birds. Paul built a replica dock right next to the real dock and the nest was moved. The parental birds had no issues and continued feeding the babies. Yay! SUCCESS! I went on a few walks today and weeded the garden. I am thinking about transplanting some flowers from my garden. I was thankful that the weather was nice this weekend. I asked myself earlier today “what h

 3:00 am. It’s nice and snuggly and warm in the bed. Phineas and his aged mind came in and alerted us that he had to go out. He does have a bit of the kidney disease so I can’t even be mad. So if one goes out, all 4 of them go out.  The stars were so beautiful. The moon was reflecting off the lake. There was no wind. There was no noise, except the dogs sniffing around.  Today Phineas had a big day for a 13 year 9 month old dog. He had 5 major walks as well as a swimming session. He did a rock dive or two. The rest of the dogs went on several walks as well, but no one else was swimming. We had happy hour and a yummy meal that filled our bellies and allowed us time spend time with company. At one point I closed my eyes. I used my other senses to observe the environment. I could feel the warm and then cool air on my skin. The breeze was swirling around. I could smell the fresh air with a hint of lake. I couldn’t really taste anything, because that would be weird. I could hear the small wa

 Paul and I spent time at the lake today. The weather was nice and we sat in the sun this afternoon. There was a breeze and Jiminy got cold so he had to wear his super warm bear hat. Jiminy doesn’t mind his bear hat because it keeps him so warm. He looks super cute in it, especially when he is tired.  The stars were brilliant. There is not much light where we are and it makes the stars really pop against the dark sky’s canvas. Nothing like R&R for a holiday weekend.

 Yesterday, Avery and I were discussing ducks and how they “mate for life”. This is wrong information. Turns out, Mr. Right….is Mr. Right-Now.  Avery shared that the lady ducks get “gang raped”. Horrified, I began reading about the traumatic life of a female duck! I began down a rabbit hole of waterfowl reproduction and how it has adapted and continuously evolved. “  Forced copulations are “pervasively common in many species of ducks,” writes Prum. These are socially organized “gang rapes” that are “violent, ugly, dangerous and even deadly” and even sometimes end in the death of the female.” Here is a link to the article:   https://nypost.com/2017/05/06/dont-be-fooled-ducks-are-sadistic-raping-monsters/ The article is interesting and not the way my rose colored glasses wanted to see ducks. I am not sure I can look at the male ducks the same. The hematology appointment went well and we discussed a plan for weaning off Ethan’s blood thinner prior to his biopsy. This will help keep him fr

I made schupfnudel tonight for dinner. I didn’t actually make it from scratch, I bought it as a premade-warm it up in the pan- mix. It was cheese and pickle schupfnudel. It sounded so interesting. Schupfnudel is like an oversized gnocchi in southern Germany and Austria .   It was really good and there were no leftovers. I struggled with the pronunciation. So I said it was similar to gnocchi. Well….I can’t say that word correctly either. Avery had a lot of fun making fun of me for it. I did an American and Italian pronunciation on Google and still struggled. She and Paul were laughing at me as I tried to practice. I told her I wasn’t going to buy gnocchi or anything that rhymed with it because I mispronounce it so terribly. I swear kids really build up your self esteem. It was a fun conversation. I decided that I excel at other things. I finally was able to get through to NYC to schedule Ethan’s next biopsy. I reiterated multiple times that we had to be the first appointment of the day.

 Today I replanted some of my tomato plants and cucumber plants. I also planted more tomato plants. I am hoping for a good crop this year. I called again to schedule Ethan’s biopsy for next month. The person that schedules those was supposed to call me back but never did. I made it very clear that we needed to be the first appointment of the day.  I also am going to make it clear that we can’t have a student doing Ethan’s echo. I am already getting anxious thinking about it.  We are having our sidewalk re-done in a month or so and I am going to lose a bunch of flower beds. Today I started digging up my bulbs. I am hoping that they will survive in a brown bag in the refrigerator. They are too pretty to go to waste. I am not upset that I will be losing my flower beds, there are so many. I can’t keep up. I started digging up and replanting my mums. I do little bits each day and whatever gets done, gets done. Ethan and I chatted this morning. It was nice. Then this evening, he took Jiminy

 I put in a call to schedule Ethan’s next heart biopsy on Friday. We have been playing phone tag since then. Today I called to follow up. They called me back at 5 :30 (the only time I set my phone down all day). I immediately called them back within 5 minutes….the call went to the answering service because they had just closed for the day.  Ugh! So we continue to play this game. When Ethan got home from work, he pulled a chair out to the road to watch the traffic.   Monday nights are a car show night at the local bar. He never wants to drive his car there, he just sits outside and watches the cars as they drive by.  It makes me happy to see him because that is how he enjoys himself.  It is now time for bed

 Last night there was drama in the neighborhood. Paul had fallen asleep on the couch and was awakened by what seemed like a rave. Nope, just police lights. Someone hopped the ditch at the neighbors house. They woke up with the police knocking at their door. A parents worst nightmare on the night of senior ball (their son went to ball). I felt like I was going to puke for them when I heard the story. I can’t even imagine those brief moments when they worried their son wasn’t safe. Thankfully, everyone was ok and walked away from the incident.  This time of year makes me so nervous. There are always so many tragic car accidents or event, it terrifies me. The only peace I get is that I know I raised a good kid and don’t have to worry about her choices…just everyone else’s. No pressure. Ethan requested a haircut today. I took quite a bit off. I sweeper up his hair and told him that some bird is really going to have a warm nest because of his donation. I usually put the hair on the ground o

 Avery spent the day pampering and preparing for the senior ball. She was excited about her outfit. She was excited about her hair. She was excited.  She and Rachel got ready together and Avery did Rachel’s hair. I did Avery’s hair. I shaved triangles into her head as well as did lots of braids. Avery’s friend, and boyfriend came over to do Avery’s makeup for her. All 4 kids were in our teeny tiny bathroom whooping it up, while Avery got her makeup done. There was a slight break in the rain to get 5 minutes worth of pictures. We rushed and found a pretty spot in the yard to grab some photos. I then drove the kids to Casa Larga Vineyards in Fairport where their ball was. Paul was picking them up around 10 pm. Avery decided to spend the night at Rachel’s house where they will no doubt giggle the night away!  It was fun to watch.  I enjoyed each kid finding their style and feeling beautiful in their own skin.

 I woke up this morning and put on my most professional outfit to date. I had on my purple T-shirt that says I do crafts with seven different types of craft beers in different fancy glasses, as well as sweatpants. I did have to change mid-morning as I met some of my previous coworkers out for breakfast. We had a wonderful visit and I appreciated the time with them so much. Life should never be too busy to appreciate those that have touched your life in some way. When I arrived home, I couldn’t find Ethan. His car was home, he wasn’t in his room, garage or barn. I looked in the basement, nope. I decided to accept that he was tucked somewhere doing his own thing. I was sent an article about an 18 year old in Dayton that went into cardiac arrest at school. Luckily they had an AED device and they were able to get her heart beating again. They determined she needed a heart transplant. She went into cardiac arrest two more times and ended up having a stroke in the process. Woah. Sounds famil

 I had a work meeting first thing this morning. So I jumped in the shower right away and picked out my meeting outfit. My meeting outfit was very professional and fancy. It consisted on grey sweatpants bought at the thrift store but I knew they can from Walmart. Secondhand Walmart sweatpants. SEXY!  My shirt was a pink sweatshirt with a cowl neck so I look fancy. Don’t worry, this is what the others wear. We have all worked with animals and are the kind of people that animals ruin our nice things. We are used to not having nice things and not being fancy. Standing in the bathroom, I had my sweatpants on and a bra as I was applying my lotion and deodorant. It was quite a sight. Avery walked in and saw my half ensemble. All of my imperfections were hanging out for her to see….and I don’t really care. I have scars. I have rolls. I have dimples in places they shouldn’t be…..but man…I am still moving forward so I consider it a win. “Do you know who the designer is of this outfit?” I asked h

I didn’t sleep well last night. Damn allergies. I woke up around 3:00 am congested with a slamming headache. It took a lot to get back to sleep. I then woke up thinking I heard Phineas scream barking….nope he was sound asleep. My mind is playing tricks on me. I laid on the couch and eventually fell back asleep When I woke up, my eyes were all puffy and I looked a little bit like a monster. Avery was nice enough to take a picture of me all snuggled in and feeling like my head was going to explode. The extra sleep in time proved beneficial, however, I still felt off all day with allergy funk. So I did what anyone would do, and mowed our field. We will see how that turns out tonight. Ethan was home today. He slept with Jiminy again last night and will tonight as well. Jiminy, although we didn’t NEED a 4 th dog, I think we secretly did. Animals help people heal. They provide friendship, a sense of purpose, entertainment and u conditional love when you are at your worst. ”Do you want Jim to

Ethan slept with Jiminy last night. Jim really likes to snuggle up to Ethan. I went in to get Jiminy this morning to let him out and both were still sound asleep, warm and snuggled in. I loved that moment. I went on a few walks today around the track with the dogs. The weather was windy but friendly enough to want to be in it. This evening my pseudo daughter, Rachel, had some pieces on display at the art show. She is an amazing artist. She has worked so hard this year and had some pretty amazing pieces. The art show was pretty cool. There were lots of talented artists featured through all the grade levels. There was a QR code you could scan to leave the artists feedback. I LOVED this idea. I remember having my art in an art show and wondering if anyone liked it, noticed it etc. This was so fun to do. After I sent notes to the kids that had really interesting or captive artwork, I found several other pieces to compliment. Some of these pieces were not as visually appealing but the amoun

 Good ball Phineas kept resting his nose on the glass today.  What a dork. He was giving himself a pig nose. He is a silly dog.  Paul woke up this morning and said he didn’t sleep well. I asked him why he thought that was. He said “because you put a fan in the window blowing 42 degree air on me all night.” Ha! I snuggled in and slept fantastically.  So I put the fan in the window again tonight. He is a big boy. He can pull it out if he doesn’t want it there. Ethan has been hanging out with Jiminy more and it makes my heart warm. They both enjoy it. Little Jim just needs a little more than the other dogs. Most of that is cuddling. He really likes to fall asleep on you and snuggle into your body warmth.  The little dude always finds a way to be on his back with his paws straight out. I went to say good night to Ethan and Jiminy was all snuggled into his bed fast asleep from his big day. I worked outside for a bit today. I gave the dogs a cheerio scavenger hunt. They also went 4 times aro

 My first “Happy Mother’s Day!” Came from Ethan, as soon as I woke up. It made my day! I think my whole face was smiling. Avery was cute and made me a delicious breakfast. It was good to be home. We puttered around this morning. All the dogs got a bath and their bedding changed. I started unpacking my travel bags.  I prepared my sides to go with the chicken I was serving. I threw the chicken in the crockpot and it cooked perfectly!   It was nice to spend time with family. The kids made me proud to be their mom. 

 The flight home didn’t go as planned. We woke up at 4:15 am and hustled to the airport. We boarded our plane and everything was going according to plan. About 15 minutes into our flight, our plane turned around and headed back to Orlando for a “fuel leak”.  We were told to remain calm and not to worry about all the flashing lights and emergency vehicles that were going to meet us on the ground.  We landed and all of the emergency vehicles were quite a distance away. I told Sarah it was because they were just going to let us burn up if we caught fire.  Apparently fuel was gushing out of our plane. After we landed and it was evident we didn’t die, the emergency vehicles rushed over. We then had to sit on the plane for quite some time (likely waiting for a gate). We finally got off the broken plane and had to stand in a line with like 300 people while we were rebooked onto another flight.  The three of us got split up and we’re getting home at midnight connecting flights in different cit

 Florida traffic lights take FOREVER to change. It was so annoying today making the trip back to Orlando. We had reservations to midevil times dinner show. Another first for me. I am not upset about all the palm trees around. Who doesn’t love looking at palm trees? We attended Midevil times for dinner. The food was good. It was quite entertaining. It was very clear the efforts that go into choreography of the fights. They don’t give you utensils to eat your food, so we all left with chicken and potatos under our fingernails. Our night didn’t win. But we had fun despite that. We sat out under the stars chatting until about 10 pm. Then off to bed for our early start.

 Every morning I have sat out on the back patio having coffee. I was very quiet and still and the birds were getting brave to get so close. I enjoyed the varieties of birds chatting back and forth and imagine it to be the juiciest bird drama going on. Mr. Crow is trying to get with Mrs. Morning dove, but she’s a lady and is not having that man-sense. Except this bird drama is exotic with all the species recognized by my nerdy bird call identification app. We packed our things up and went to Indian Rock beach. The sand was warm and the water temp was perfect. 78 degrees.  We tried to be really careful with our sun exposure since yesterday we got a slight bit of too much sun. I wore a tee shirt to save my shoulders and back. The rest of me was layered in many layers of spf’s ranging between 50-70. I did well. Sarah was a bit crispy and sore. She also payed on the sun screen. We then ventured down to a little restaurant and had an adult beverage and lunch while sitting outside. It was bea

 Today we decided to do an airboat tour. BEST.DECISION.EVER! We had a private tour of the marsh areas and got to see ALOT of wildlife. I put my spf 50 on like a coat of armor. We got onto the boats. We were given head sets so that we could hear one another talk and laugh. He allowed us to stand on the boat. We rotated through this position. We got to see many wildlife animals. We saw a variety of birds. Manatee, sharks, crabs, dolphins, jellyfish, etc. We also had the cool experience of getting off the boat and walking around. The sand was so soft. It was from limestone and was very fine. We found conch (they were alive) and fiddler crabs. We also saw a few small lizards, which I love. The boat just glides on the water and made me think of Ethan drifting when we went around corners fast. So smooth and fast around corners. The boat never felt like it was going to tip. We didn’t purposely book a private tour. It was just that no one else was on our tour. That was amazing. Later, we went

I woke up thankful that my sun screen did it’s proper job yesterday. I asked Sarah if I looked like I got a little color. She said no. She could have lied…but it’s ok. Honesty is the best policy.  Sarah and I sat outside this morning having our coffee. We were listening to the birds and watching them land on the pond. It’s so cool to watch them prepare for landing and effortlessly glide along the smooth surface of the water.  I was thinking about our day with the manatees and said to Sarah “ I wonder if the wet suit is stretchy?” As I was thinking about my butt to waist ratio. “I freaking hope so.” As she was also thinking about her butt to waist ratio. We laughed at the thought of struggling we may go through later in the day. The excitement on the drive was palpable. We all bubbling with imagining what it is going to be like. Like kids on Christmas morning.  They first gave us a little lesson about manatees. They only have 3-5% body fat and can get cold stress in water under 68 degre