Ethan’s Journey

 I woke up this morning, vacuumed and mopped. I sat on the couch with Paul. He had his computer out doing work and I was texting people to coordinate for our weekend next weekend. How did life get so busy. Some times I feels busy but then it seems like I am sitting in one spot just spinning like a stuck browser. What is that? We prepared for departure for cousins weekend. Paul took his time with his beauty routine and we left a little later than expected. It was a chilly day but there was NO RAIN! Bright side! We all were bundled up in our extra layers and huddled by the campfire for warmth. It was fun to share stories, laugh at each other and eat junk food. Ethan was chatting with his cousin, Zack for quite some time. We filled our bellies with pizza and wings. Our wings were made by one of the cousins. Jiminy was with us and was passed from person to person as he happily napped. Nana really enjoyed snuggling with him and they both fell asleep together. It was heart warming to sle...

 Today I had a celebrity guest stop by the house this morning. It was Avery Reese! She was working remotely and thought it would be nice to work remotely together. Awe.i love that! We went to Nana and Papa’s to visit. Obviously I brought my celebrity guest with me. The Aunt’s (both named Julie) were there. We spent the afternoon chatting and laughing a lot. We distinguish the Aunt Julie’s with “aunt” and “auntie”.  Aunt Julie and I went into the liquor store while Auntie Julie and Avery stayed in the car. We picked out some things for this evening. Julie picked up some peanut butter flavored tequila. It didn’t even sound good. But we were going to find out how aweful it was. “How do people use this in a drink?” Julie asked the cashier. The cashier was a bit grumpy and strait laced. She gruffly replied that “people just do shots”. She was not there to chat apparently. She then asked Julie if she wanted two bottles. Julie explained that she was only buying a small bottle for us ...

 I was able to get the remainder of my laundry done today! For some reason, that just makes me stand a little taller with that off my “to do” list. But there will always be more! Penny’s tush is healing nicely. The swelling is down, she seems more comfortable. She isn’t making noises like she is being murdered as she tries to do her “business”….see..it sounds very official. My in-laws were on their way into town for Cousin’s Weekend. It is always something we all look forward to. I sent a text to see how their trip was going. It is such a LONG drive for them. About 8 hours or so. They finally crossed into New York and stopped at the Angola rest area on the Thruway. As they returned to the car, my nephew realized he couldn’t find his phone. Ugh! Everyone knows that feeling. Did I misplace it? Was it stolen? Is someone hiding it on me? After some searching my sister in law checked the app and the phone had already started traveling down the thruway….but they weren’t in their car. If ...

 “Get out of your butt!” Ethan said to Penny this morning.  Penny is known for being the exact opposite of a lady, so this is not surprising. Ethan didn’t really appreciate her licking her butt in front of him. The noise itself is pretty foul. Penny looked at him and continued to lick her button. What a gem! Ethan left for work and a while later, there was Penny, smacking her lips as she was licking her button.  “STOP!” I said to her. So nasty! 🤮  I let the dogs out and did a few things while they did their “business”. We call it “business” because it makes them sound official in some way. Like they pay bills or something. I heard what my mind painted as Ferguson being attacked by a hawk and raced outside. I called Mr. Ferguson frantically. I was squawking loudly as he is a bit deaf these days. Ferguson was happily smelling flowers, unaware of my yelling and arm waving. The noise I was hearing was Penny. She had to poop but was crying while posturing.  I rudely...

 Today Ethan had an appointment with his hematologist. His hematologist gave us some good information about platelets numbers, red blood cell percentages and more. He gave us symptoms to look for that would indicate a problem. At the current time, the percentage of red blood cells Ethan has are low, but not overly concerning. We are going to monitor. I feel comfortable with that. Ethan graduated to seeing the hematologist “as needed” and does not require follow up annually at this point! Yay. He did say that because anemia and kidney disease go hand in hand, the nephrologist should be able to manage the anemia portion of things. Tomorrow we meet with the nephrologist. We will see if she got the final results back or not from the biopsy. I will be interested to see what the plan will be. The dogs got some good outside time. I had Moe out on his chain today. I saw some guy walking up and down our road. He looked like he was selling something. Yuck! I left Moe out for a bit to bark at...

I laughed a lot this weekend—genuine, belly laughs. I smiled often, and I felt it deeply. I love weekends like that. Despite the weather being gloomy and muddy, we still managed to enjoy our camping rituals. Day fires are always fun, but when they stretch into the night, they're even better. This morning, I took the dogs out and was surprised by how thick the fog was—visibility couldn’t have been more than ten feet. Then, for the first time, I heard the foghorn. I know where the lighthouse is, but I’d never actually heard it before. It made me strangely excited—such a simple, silly joy. The day turned out to be beautiful. The best part was not feeling rushed to get home. We were able to soak in some sunshine and enjoy the slower pace. I did have a bit of sciatic pain, but it was minimal. I even felt up to doing some weeding outside—which is a huge step forward compared to last August and September. That progress means a lot. There’s so much to be grateful for. When we got home, Eth...

 We actually lucked out with the weather. It hardly rained today. We even saw the sun for part of the day! BONUS! We did have a day fire to attend to. That kept us warm. We found a spot with minimal wind. The pups got to go on a few long walks today. They loved it. They would go for a walk, pee on things and run around. Moe got to go off leash. He has come across two men he “doesn’t know” and he has not growled at them. This is improvement. He also seems to be remembering people he has met in the past. Ferguson got some alone time with Mom. Ferguson is my shy guy. He doesn’t ask for much, is usually standoffish but appreciates a little one on one time. I flipped him on his back and help him life a baby. He started napping immediately. He had a little smile on his face and was so relaxed. He looked like a happy little bat. This is what almost 14 looks like. We had a campfire into the mid to late evening. Good tunes, lots of laughs and a fire to keep us warm. Not a bad day. I have fi...

 Today, weather was not the best, however, not the worst. We had periods of rain, rain showers, misting and even sunshine. We had a daytime fire but it kinda got windy and we moved away from it. I took the dogs on several lengthy walks. They are not used to these yet and needed to recover afterward. There was a lot of napping that happened. We had our morning coffee with Aunt Lois and Uncle Craig. This is a camping staple. Afterward, Paul and I worked on situating the camper as best as we could. We needed to put things in specific places. We are down sizing as well as rearranging. I’m have a list of things we have forgotten or that we need. Good weather is on the way”needed” list for the summer. I am hoping we receive this want. We navigated away from the day fire to where it was less windy. We visited with the neighbors. We made chili to share for dinner. Some warm food for us. After dinner, we went to neighbor, Rick’s, for some music and laughs. It did not disappoint. We spent a ...

 We traveled up to the islands today. As we were leaving, the dogs were so excited. I put them in the truck to wait. Moe decided to jump into the driver’s seat while Paul was inside the house finishing up. Paul is very particular about his vehicles. When he saw this walking up to his truck he was ranting about how he didn’t want Moe in the front seat. I said “he was going to help you drive.” I made Paul pause and just look at him.  “But isn’t he cute?” Begrudgingly Paul did agree that Moe looked cute in the driver’s seat.  We left Jiminy home with Ethan to keep him company. It was rainy and blah the entire time. The ride was smooth with minimal swearing from Paul about the traffic. We were laughing at the dog’s being goofy.  As we backed in, it got a little hairy.  Paul was barking orders at me. “Keep the dog out of my way.” I reached over to grab the dog collar “I can’t see around your arm.” We have had many tense moments of backing the camper in. This can make...

 I learned something today. I learned about birds “anting”. Apparently, birds will either apply ants to their feathers OR rest in an ant heavy area to get the ants to crawl on their feathers. Ants produce and secrete formic acid from their body. They use formic acid as a defense mechanism. The formic acid is  it is also known as to have anti fungal, antibacterial and  antiparasitic properties. Birds engage in “anting” to get rid of any parasites they may have. HOW DID THE BIRDS FIGURE THIS OUT? It’s genius.  I am sick of the rain and the drab. I am bummed this weekend won’t be nicer. That is the funny thing about camping, we still go. We laugh despite the rain. We will survive. We aren’t made of sugar. I developed a headache that just wouldn’t quit. I was in bed by 8:20 pm. It is definitely aching. I hope it goes away soon.

 Today was a busy work day. I had a quick visit from Sarah. She popped over after work to pick up a mini fridge for her daughter. We were lucky enough to know of someone that could get her one and it helped her immensely. Thank you Grant for coordinating that. Thank you Brian and Kim for being the cargo transport service. The new owner is a diligent student and may be joining Avery in the physics classes at Brockport. If she ultimately decides to go for physics, Avery would likely be her Teacher’s Assistant in the physics lab. We have pictures of these two girls, just babies together. They will have to get a picture with the SUNY Brockport sign, all grown up. Here is Avery playing “big sister” and reading to her “little sisters”. This evening was spent getting groceries and making sure everything is ready for transport for this weekend. I ran into Ms. Avery Reese at Walmart. “Look what the cat dragged in.” I said as I bumped into her. I unloaded some groceries in the camper. I pack...

 Today I started work early. I had lots to do and wanted to make sure I got it all accomplished. I was able to get most of it done and I was happy with that.  I needed a cut and color done at the hair dressers. Once that was taken care of, I ordered some Wegmans subs, stopped home and grabbed Paul, picked up the subs and went to Avery’s dorm. She was out of sorts because she had worked all day and then had to move all of her things into the town houses which are almost right next to the dorms, on campus. THEN she found out the town houses which she is in, is on the second floor. She was NOT pleased with having to walk all of her things up stairs.  When we got to her, she was miserable. To be fair, Paul and I were hungry/hangry and the three of us made for a real pissy group. We ate and we miraculously became far more team oriented. Paul and I loaded up carts and just walked the carts over to the town houses which as it was that close. It was easier than unloading the cart...

Paul and I woke up this morning and had coffee. We chatted for a bit and then he went to work. I organized my day and started to think about tomorrow’s events. Avery is moving and we are going to help her. She is excited to start her new summer research project today. She stayed at Brockport again this summer.  She will get her town house assignment tomorrow. She will meet the people she is living with for the next several weeks. She is excited to start cooking for herself again. I felt a bit tired today. I also took an allergy pill. I suspect the two things were very much related.  After work I made dinner of chicken, broccoli and rice. I made enough so that we could eat, but still have 10 extra meals I could put in containers and put in the basement. The only salt in the meal was the few dashes of Parmesan cheese that was divided up into many meals.  There were several things I had to take to the camper. I also had to finish several things out there. I spent about an ho...

 Sarah and I packed up our hotel room because our weekend was over As we were leaving, we had our cars parked in front of a pond. There were geese at the pond with their babies as we were watching the mama and Papa geese tend to their babies. I thought wow what a gift to see that as we were talking about that gift a turtle popped his head out of the water and I said what a gift we got today a turtle popping his head out of the water and geese with their babies.  It reminded me how important weekends like this are sometimes I get caught up in making sure that I do all of my chores every weekend that I don’t necessarily take a moment to enjoy the life going on around me. Avery has decided that she wants a kitten. She and her friend Kendall have been following this litter of kittens since they were born. Today they were going to meet the kittens and pick one out.  What? I want to go!!!!  I don’t have time today to go with them, but I’m making time because not only do I ...

 We were delighted how quiet the rugby team was. Today Sarah slept in until almost 10. I got up, showered and took my computer down to breakfast. I caught up on some work. We went out to canandaigua lake. We found a walking trail with pretty bridges. We saw lots of birds, like finches, Robins and even a heron. We noted how lame age makes us.  We went back to the hotel and watched some of our favorite shows. We shared many laughs. We said inappropriate things and Sarah made fun of me for looking “homeless” when I walked to the lobby in my pajamas.  We finished the evening with our Grubhub food and watching the classic cinema genius, Anchorman. I had forgotten how much our house quotes this movie. It was a wonderful day.

 Avery called me this morning in a panic. She lost Jet keys at the store. She had already gone back into the store, looked on the floor where they likely would have fallen out of her pocket. She didn’t k ow what to do as she was at the store, stranded, with no keys. We have the backup set at our house. I told her to ask the cashier to see if anyone may have turned them in. I questioned if maybe she locked them in the car. She said she had peaked in the window and didn’t see them so she was sure they were in the store.  Off I went with the spare set to meet her. She was so apologetic and appreciative. I brought my computer as I had an interview to conduct and wasn’t sure I would be able to make it back home in time. I arrived, and unlocked the door. She found her keys in two seconds hiding under a bag in her passenger seat. She was mortified. She was so sorry she had “wasted my time” and for “being an idiot.” We had to pause that and reframe it. “Avery….you are in finals week. ...

 I decided to go to a rummage sale today. I don’t really need anything, but like looking at all the stuff. I looked at housewares, holiday decor, crafts, furniture and more.  Earlier in the week, Paul could not find his caulk gun. It opened the door to being immature and asking all sorts of questions about Paul’s caulk. He ended up borrowing a caulk gun from someone. I saw a caulk gun that was used at the rummage sale for $1.00. What a steal! I also bought 4 screw drivers because between Ethan and Paul, MY screw drivers always turn up missing! They were 4 for a dollar. I spent $3 on ankle weights for the camper. I collected my treasures and went home. When Paul got home, I couldn’t wait to tell him about the present I got him for his caulk. Then I snickered because I am not mature enough mentally to use words like caulk with a straight face. We had a vehicle towed to our house this afternoon for Paul to fix. The tow truck driver backed into the driveway and luckily Paul was ho...

We received an initial report and a surgical report from the kidney biopsy. We are waiting for one last report for a plan to be made.  We met with the nephrologist. She didn’t want to make a determination as to what to do for Ethan without this last report. We have to meet with her again in 2 weeks. Ethan has to get his lab work done on Saturday. Ethan then had his appointment with his other doctor. I don’t need to be present for those appointments. He did a video visit. The positive from COVID -the gift of video visits. Ethan tries so hard to maintain full time hours while juggling all of these appointments. I did inquire about his fatigue. His doctor said that his kidney values shouldn’t be bad enough to cause fatigue and kind of dismissed that symptom. He has been struggling with it more than in the past. I will continue to tell all the doctors that will listen. It’s such a vague symptom so I think that makes it hard to pin point the cause. If anemia is still present on the bloo...

 Jiminy was out of sorts this morning. Every morning when I come downstairs, Jiminy is snuggled up with Ethan as he eats breakfast. When I come down stairs and ask “who wants to go out?” Ferguson whines, I open his crate.  Penny stays quiet because she is snuggled up and sleepy, but I make her go out. Jiminy’s version of “going out” is going to the potty pad, so he comes off the couch so he can be like the big dogs. Moe wags his tail and I let him out of his crate.  The 3 big dogs get their “business” done and Jiminy goes on his potty pad. But then Jiminy started doing laps. He seemed unsettled. He seemed stressed. He would do a lap and go to the potty pad and urinate a couple drops. Then he had 3 drops come out on his way to the potty pad. “Oh no Jim, you have a urinary tract infection.” I gave him some medicine to help with any pain he was having due to the UTI and got some antibiotics…STAT! Pair that with two coughing dogs, Ferguson, the old man is the only one holding...

 Poor Moe has the kennel cough. He got it when he stayed in the kennel while we were away. He was vaccinated so hopefully he won’t have it as bad as if he wasn’t vaccinated. So far, Penny has started to show signs too. So now, two coughing dogs for the next 10-14 days. The bright side, it will exercise their immune system and likely have natural immunity for at least the summer. Sarah bought Jiminy some mini glasses and I couldn’t love them more. What an adorable prop! Jiminy was helping me work from home today! Can he be any cuter? He is such a perfect little soul. Perfectly imperfect, with his one eye! We received paperwork from the disability office. It was dated May 3 rd. Post marked, May 5 th. It was a reminder that we haven’t turned in our paperwork. It was kind of scolding us about it.  I received the paperwork last Monday. I spent at least an hour and a half filling it out to mail it back the next day. I received it last Monday (May 5 th) and mailed it back last (Tuesd...

 My Mother’s Day started out a bit rocky. I had to do 2 1/2 hours of work to prepare for my meetings tomorrow. I didn’t have time Friday to do so. Ethan and I have been chatting about his therapy and he knows he has issues with being focused on time as well as socially not engaging. Today I challenged him to be more conversational with the family over. We went through different scenario’s of how to talk to the adults. This is something he has struggled with his entire life.  We went over different things he could talk about and I asked him to work on the conversational piece, which he did great with.  He was around family the entire time. He did not retreat to his bedroom. He was mostly polite. He shared his opinions and participated in conversations. Both Paul and I were really proud of him and gave him feedback to support that. This morning I started opening our mail. I haven’t opened it since Thursday. I got a letter from SSI saying we had a meeting via phone on Tuesda...

 I heard Penny in the other room making strange whining noises this morning. This is not normal for her. She came to me with her whole body trembling and was visibly upset about something. We have taught Penny to “show me” which means we will get up and follow her so she can show us if she needs more water, she needs to go out, her toy is stuck or her favorite thing to show…..she wants more food. Penny led me to the fireplace. Perplexed, I needed to think like a dog. If she were cold, she would have cuddled up under a blanket. She sat there whining at me distressed and shaking like a leaf. “What’s a matter Penny?” She jumped on the fire place door. I opened the fireplace to see if maybe there was a bird or something she heard. Nothing! I moved the damper on the fireplace and then I heard a bird fluttering about in the chimney. I told her she was a “good girl” for letting me know. She does try to always protect us. She has protected us from people riding their bikes down the road, f...

 Avery came home today to visit. She was telling me how hectic her week was and then shared that a kid that everyone seemed to know and like, passed away suddenly early evening on Wednesday. This was quite upsetting to many of the students on campus. While Avery didn’t know this kid well, she did go through a grieving process. She kept running over and over in her mind that this kid hadn’t even started living yet. Gone much too soon. I was thinking of this kid’s mom. Losing your child so close to Mother’s Day. Ugh! I can’t even imagine! Avery really was proud of the campus as everyone came together and celebrated this kid’s life. They brought pictures, flowers, trinkets, and more.  Avery, her friend and myself went out to dinner. It was fun chatting with them. I spent more time in the camper this evening cleaning, organizing and putting things away. I am making slow progress. Slow progress is at least progress!

 I couldn’t tell if I was nervous or excited for Moe’s class this evening. We have been working daily on the items he would be tested on. I enjoy doing this activity with Moe and I think he enjoys the praise he gets (and snacks) when he does a good job. I had a feeling I knew where he was going to excel and where he would flub up. We have been working hard all week. Our test has to be done with no treats and little verbal command. We went down from 6 to 3 dogs in class after the second class. I like a smaller group. All three dogs are different in their own ways. Pepper is the bouncing, happy puppy. Moe is the laid back, chill dog…unless he feels he needs to protect, then he turns into a psycho maniac, and Bailey, a mix in between Moe and Pepper. We each had our dogs in a heel as they were walking. They would have to do a heel sit twice during the walk. They had to navigate their turns correct and match their pace to the handlers, which included speeding up and slowing down. Moe do...

 Today I got the notification for Ethan to check in for his three appointments next week. Luckily two are virtual and we were able to schedule them for Ethan’s lunch and as his shift ends. How did people juggle appointments and working when virtual visits were not available? I do remember using a significant amount of my PTO when the kids were little to go to all of the appointments. We made it work. I guess people do what they need to do. The bright side of Covid is virtual visits are more readily available. I guess Ethan has always had multiple specialists and appointments but it has now tripled. The good news is that he is able to swing all of these appointments AND  continue working full time. That is a big deal in my book.  Ethan is the reason why I push my practices for employees to have more than 40 hours of PTO. There is no way to juggle appointments, kids events, family events AND take a vacation with 40 hours a year.  We have a pileated woodpecker pecking a...

 I had trouble concentrating today. I was getting my work done and then would have a random thought like if giraffes had hot chocolate, would it still be hot by the time it got to the stomach? Why? Why am I wondering about this? What would Penny look like with eyebrows? I took some mascara and lightly colored in eyebrows. They came out a little angry. I was cracking up and decided to leave them on her. Paul and I have a perpetual debate about Penny and her intelligence level. He thinks she is smart. I think she is a dingbat that is capable of having a thought or two per day, but that’s it. I had my soft and warm coat on and I took it off. I threw it on the couch for when I got cold. It was off and on all day long today.  While it was on the couch, Penny decided to cuddle up in my warm, soft coat. She slept for a bit and then got up. She ended up getting stuck in the sleeve of my coat like a Chinese finger trap. I was cracking up at her. I sent a video to Paul as proof of my st...

 It was a routine Monday. Meetings and calls galore. Luckily it was much smoother than last week. I did have over 70 resumes to look at today in between the meetings. I was able to get it all done. Phew! Moe’s test is coming up on Thursday. It is his final exam. He could have done better on the practice test. We have been practicing. I did two training sessions today in between the rain showers.  The 3 minute down stay may be the hardest part. We will keep working at it. My van is getting some much needed maintenance from Paul. New muffler, new brakes…she’s going to be a real beauty! I have had enough of the rain. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

 The camper is officially open. Last fall I wasn’t feeling so hot with my disc herniated. I have some major cleaning to catch up on to prepare the camper for being inhabited. I also decided that I don’t need 7000 hand towels (where did they all come from?) or the hundreds of bath towels we have. I pulled all the bins from the camper and will be going through them all. I have enough beach towels for an entire beach! I will be rearranging things so that we have a bit more room and less crap we don’t need. No drawer will be left without going through. Penny saw me making trips and joined me for a bit in the camper. She sat on the couch and delightfully watched. The dogs LOVE camping! I also started preparing the linens. Everything will be washed and fresh. We went to dinner with my mom and Gene. We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed the company. It was to celebrate our anniversary. Why do weekends go by so fast?

 No work today. Yay!  I met up with Avery at the Goodwill today. We checked everything out and she got some good finds for when she moves to her apartment. She was offered an externship through her college again this year. I am not sure what project she will be working on, but she gets to live in the town homes on campus again. She is pretty happy about that. She has just under two weeks left until the finish of her semester. Ethan pulled a muscle in his upper back this week. We did some stretching, I did some massage, I applied some Aboniki balm and had him sit on the heating pad to see if it was helpful or not. Hopefully the Aboniki kicks in and it takes some of the pain away. I enjoy the smell of it. It is very menthol-ish. I was wearing it yesterday and kept getting whiffs of myself.  It was a low-key this evening.

 Paul’s alarm went off at 5 am. I wasn’t warned ahead of time and was not expecting that. He pulled himself out of bed and went to pretty himself up.  I never did go back to sleep. I have been scarred with alarms from the hospital and was wide awake. Paul let the dogs out and then I received a text from Paul from one floor down of our house. This was the romantic text exchange between Paul and I.  So at 5:20, I climbed out of bed, put the dog in the shower and proceeded to wash the fecal material off of his fur. I took 3 shampoo applications to address the smell of the defecation material. Ugh! It was a little after 6 when all was completed. I had less than an hour to prepare for physical therapy. My physical therapy had me sweating today. Why is it so hot in there? Being warm and “working out” makes for  a sweaty hour. I wound down my work week, but never finished all my work. This week was punishment for vacation. It was intense. It will spill over to next week. It...

Today is Paul and my 26 th year wedding anniversary. I did a Google search on the number of couples that stay married for 25 years. 40% was the answer. That seemed high to me…but if it’s on the internet, it must be true. I had an early morning interview to conduct, then I had a presentation to do virtually to tech students in a school in Texas. As I was getting ready to present, a technical issue happened and I was without ALL of my notes. CRAP! I had a quick talk with myself….”Self! Looks like we are doing this on the fly…..Best of luck.” With that I started the presentation. Overall, I feel the hour long presentation went pretty well. I feel it was played off well that I had NO idea which slide was going to be next. My co-worker (and friend) that was on the presentation with me. I called her immediately after it ended. I asked if she could tell I didn’t have my notes. She shared that she had no idea that I didn’t have my notes. So I considered it a huge win. I achieved a status of “e...

 Ethan’s biopsy preliminary results came back as no rejection. We weren’t suspecting rejection so that we are grateful there were no curve balls there. We still have to wait a few days for final results. I have been reading up on terms used in the report to do a deeper dive into things. Not that I think I know better, just to be sure I am asking the right questions.  In our local news, there was a car that rear ended a delivery truck. I don’t know what happened, but the driver didn’t survive. I know car accidents happen every day, but this one stood out.  Maybe it stood out because I saw the picture. The car was crunched up. The man that passed away, his daughter wrote something in the comments of the news article. She is a young adult. Her world forever has changed today.  I stress to my kids all the time…slow down, pay attention because things can change in an instant. Showing up late and alive is always better than the alternative. Paul and I went to pick up a fre...