Ethan’s Journey

Paul was getting ready for work this morning and was in just his underwear. He had a large 4 -5 inch rip along the seem where the underwear was coming unattached from the waist band. He was slightly bent over, causing skin to be exposed in the gap. I walked over to him and gave a good tug and about ripped those underwear in half. “It looks like those ones have a hole in them.” I said in a monotone voice His bare butt hanging out he said “oh come on!” “YOU oh come on….those underwear are past their expiration date. Why would you even put those on?” I asked. He removed and replaced them and said….”I will just put these in the dirty clothes.” He was joking. “THROW THEM OUT!” I said.  I do excessively rip any socks or underwear with holes in them because both he and Ethan will continue to wear them and fish them out of the garbage if I don’t make them completely unwearable! Moe is having an adjustment period from not camping. He does like being outside all day. I would even let him sta...

Back to work today. It was a nice day, steadily busy with minimal headaches. I felt tired though. 4 days off and I can’t handle a full workday. Ha! I did some meal prep tonight, not a big batch but enough for dinner and a few extra lunches. I finished another portion of preparing the camper for its winter slumber. I have one more task and I will be done! Jiminy was a little bit clingy today. He would have been happy if I just sat on the couch snuggling him and letting him lick my arm all day. He was so happy when Ethan got home and they snuggled.  Everyone needs a cuddly little lap dog. They just make your heart soften. Paul has started up bowling again. He had bowling this evening. He started the evening off by leaving his ball and shoes at home. He was a bit annoyed with himself. Tomorrow I have a hot dinner date….but not with Paul. Sarah and I are going out to eat and do a little browsing together. This means we will walk around a store, chatting and laughing at things. Avery se...

I had the day to myself. I gots lots done around my house. Tons of laundry. The dogs make up most of my laundry. Their blankets, potty pads and dog beds. Moe got a bath. He was due. He smelled like a dog after camping and laying in the dirt all weekend. I made some snacks for the boys. Turkey Reuben spring rolls. Yum. They are so crunchy in the air fryer. I have a new found love for Rice paper.  My next adventure is pizza spring rolls. I picked up some tomato’s at the farm stand and blended them. I put them in ice cube trays so I can add them to pasta, chili or whatever else I make that requires a tomato taste. It makes me feel healthier. We went to a friend’s house for dinner and to watch the bills game. They made beef on wreck. Yum. I brought the apple pie I made. Today is Ferguson’s 15 th birthday. I would love to say he is a perfect dog. I will say he is imperfectly perfect. He used to bite everyone, he still bullies Moe every day. He is a feisty little curmudgeon. He loves his...

We woke up this morning and jetted out of the campground a day early. It was supposed to start raining and be kinda yucky so we just left.  I took advantage of the time by cleaning out the camper and getting it ready for a nice winter slumber. I have my cabinets emptied, drinks are mostly out,  my pots and pans are in Rubbermaid containers just in case mice get into the camper. Yuck! Bedding has been stripped, pillows removed, garbages emptied. I even washed the refrigerator shelves. I am tired.  Luckily we didn’t see anymore seizures from Jiminy. He did vomit twice yesteryear and again this morning. After the 3 rd vomit I gave him some medication to combat nausea. He did much better after that. I took the remainder of the day to put things away, catch up on laundry and more.  Paul and Ethan started moving shelving into his barn. He was given lots of shelves from when my mom moved. He will be able to utilize his storage. Avery and Kendall popped over because they nee...

we slept IN today. I was up earliest at 9:30 am. This never happens. Paul woke up about a half hour later. He decided to go home and do a few things while I stayed camping. It is a 20 minute drive. I had coffee outside and then let Jiminy outside. He was right behind me as I walked over to the community fire pit. I turned around to see if he was right there…and he wasn’t.  My eyes scanned our campsite as I called for him. Then I saw him under the camper rolling around. I knew exactly what was happened by and sprinted fast as lightening to him. He was having a seizure. There was no rhyme or reason to him having a seizure unless he bounced his head off of something. I wasn’t watching and don’t quite know what triggered it. I called Paul to bring Jiminy’s seizure medication back with him. We discussed the urgency and decided to take a “wait and see” approach.  Jiminy recovered but was quite tired. He earned himself to be in the papoose at all times with me.  He walked down t...

I had my coffee outside under a tree. It was pleasant in the sunshine. I sat in my outdoor chair which Moe tied to a tree and chewing on his bone. I took the dogs for a walk just to get them outside and moving around. My friends and I went to the local cemetery. This cemetery was beautiful and housed some very old gravestones. With the trees starting to change color against the landscaping of the cemetery it was easy to enjoy the colors against the blue sky. The illuminati was on a Doctor’s gravesite. We made our way up the hill towards the tower. The tower has a spiral staircase that was quite tricky to navigate as it was narrow, didn’t have a railing the entire way up and very dark. We finally made it to the tippy top. There may have been some bad words as we kept climbing. This is the Tower.👆 We came home around 4:00 ish. We had some snacks, started a fire 🔥 and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.  Our friend’s shared chili with everyone. I am pleased how well Moe is doing with...

I often compare sitting with Ethan in the hospital for months to being in prison. I was afraid to go anywhere. I was afraid of bringing diseases back to Ethan. I was afraid something was going to happen when I stepped away.  I remember being at the rehab center and Ethan was separated from me doing his therapy and how weird that felt. I remember walking outside and feeling the sunshine on my skin for the first time in months. The positives that came out of a crappy situation are tremendous. I didn’t realize it at the time. But really relishing in the little things we take for granted. Today I saw an adolescent deer grazing on apples under the apple tree in the back yard. I totally enjoyed the moment. These moments are gifts. We just have to look for them and enjoy the moment. My sister in-law had me cracking up this morning. She found that Amazon keeps tabs on your buying history and maps out the personality of your purchases. She shared that her profile says: She prioritizes runni...