Ethan’s Journey

 I wasn’t feeling the best today. That sucked a little. Nothing like Tylenol to get you through. I ended up taking a nap this afternoon to rest. That did help. My phone decided to quit working so after work, I had to go to a Verizon store to deal with that. Luckily, I got a new SIM card and my phone became happy again. Things like that really go to show you how dependent we become on our phones. Before I drove to get it fixed, I told Ethan that if he got a call from a random number, it was likely me, broken down. Luckily, that didn’t happen. I was bummed that I didn’t feel so hot because I was supposed to meet up with some of the girls from my sorority.  I loaded up on Tylenol and made the drive to the meeting place. It was a SUNY Canton Alumni event. Us ladies were the youngest ones attending. We had a room off to the side with snacks and we also got free drinks. I gave my free drink tokens away since I drove myself. It really was the responsible thing to do. It was so fun to...

 Today I had a couple strategic planning meetings at work. After work, my friend helped me take Penny and Ferguson to the vet for their annual vaccinations. They were treated like rockstars as always. After that we went to dinner and visited. It was nice to see her. We had a lot of laughs. After dinner, we came back to the house and was surprised by the presence of Avery Reese. I had told her earlier that Mema made us a rhubarb pie and that I was going to probably eat ALL of it. If she wanted some, she needed to get a piece very soon. She came home to say hi, get a piece of pie.  Mema’s rhubarb pie wins all the awards in our house. Yum! Penny is sad after her vaccines. She even got an NSAID to help because she was painful, crying and shaking from her vaccines as the evening went on. Poor girl. She got to come up to bed to snuggle with mom under the blankets. I hope she sleeps well. Ferguson and Jiminy are tanks. Little 5 pound tanks not caring about their vaccines. Penny is ge...

“You can’t control the wind but you CAN adjust your sails.” I watched a little kid in a video say this. I wish I knew this when I was 5. In the situations you can’t control, control what you can, your reactions. In my leadership group, they talk about the “pause”. There’s action and reaction. Insert a pause in there. Take a moment. It’s hard. I find it most hard when Paul says something that I deem “insensitive”. Especially when I help him back in the camper. That is an activity that brings many couples to the brink of divorce. We now often drive separate. If only I knew about the pause and exercised it during this activity. Ha! I walked around our yard today, taking a break from work. I walked upon a frog sunbathing. He saw me. He didn’t jump. He didn’t try to get away. I respected his space. I watched him as he sat there patiently for bugs to fly near him. Imagine if we had to catch our own food without using our hands? He had patience. When I see these types of things and actually n...

 I checked my email often today with anxious anticipation. Is the dog that I am interested in still available? Nothing. I went on their website and found an email address to follow up.  I was thankful that work wasn’t crazy. My emails are a bit out of control, but it is expected when you are carrying a requisition load for two people. I am not sure what would happen if I had a regular workload. I think I might get bored. Paul is convinced that a black cloud is following him. He has had a series of unfortunate events that has taken him down a path of frustration. He sucked a rock up in a jet ski motor, got a flat tire on the camper, the brakes aren’t working on the camper, both lawn mowers broke over the weekend. While I understand the frustration, secretly I am glad it isn’t worse. I don’t dare say it out loud and jinx him. I also don’t want to minimize his feelings as he has every right to be frustrated. I am looking forward to my Friday night outing with my sorority sisters....

 I woke up, and Heather was still asleep. She had decided last night that she wasn’t going to be present for breakfast. I met Melissa and her family for breakfast. The food at the casino was delicious.  Melissa and I became friends in 6 th grade. She is much smarter than me. She took all the hard classes in school. In 8 th grade she took advanced art. I so badly wanted to be in one of her classes that I begged and pleaded to somehow get into that class. Somehow, someone wanted me to shut up and allowed me in the class even though I didn’t have all the criteria met. I got to sit next to her and we had so much fun that year. We played volleyball for 6 years together, going to summer camps to improve our skills.  We spent summers riding bikes the 4 miles one way to one another’s house. We canoed, we swam, we talked endlessly on the phone…except at dinner. We would hang up to eat dinner and then call each other back. In 11 th grade I struggled with history. Who cares about th...

 This morning the weather was perfect! Warm, still and the lake was like glass. I took the dogs for a walk and noticed that Penny still isn’t feeling her best. Luckily my stethoscope was in my car. Lungs clear! Yay! She earned a day of rest after that. As I was walking, I thought about Phineas and how much we missed him. This was his favorite place on earth. I look at the sticks and think “Phineas would have loved that stick.” Are we ready for another pittbull? Maybe? I don’t know.  I drove from camp to Turning stone casino to meet up with my friends Heather and Melissa. We went to watch Chelsea Handler perform. We ate a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant. Afterwards we walked to the show. It didn’t start for a while so we had a drink first. The people watching was epic. Our seat was pretty close to the stage which was awesome. We enjoyed the show and laughed a lot. The end of the evening was rounded out by visiting in a cozy setting and chatting. The theme, do the thin...

 Today we were greeted with a warm and friendly day full of sunshine and happy thoughts. The dogs got lots of walks off leash and actually tired them out. Poor Penny has developed a cough. It is either from her sensitive trachea or perhaps an allergy.  I suspect her sensitive treacherous is the main culprit. She has started coughing since I put on her seresto collar. The collar helps keep her safe from fleas and ticks. She also takes a pill for her heartworm protection, that also helps keep her safe from fleas and ticks. The thousand Islands is known for their prevalence of Lyme disease. 1 out of 3 dogs here tests positive for Lyme disease. I can’t have any of my dogs having ticks on them. What if? What if they have a tick on them and Ethan snuggles up to them. The last thing he needs is Lyme disease. This is why I go overboard with the flea and tick control. Today Penny wore her harness more and went for several walks where she pulled and had tension from the harness on her n...