Ang's Journal

I keep having decision anxiety about Shadeaux. I don't think it's going to be much longer before I'm going to have to make the extremely hard, but ultimately compassionate, decision to have her put to sleep. She has so many lumps all over her poor body. She has a particularly ugly & fast-growing tumor on her back right knee that has me concerned. But my wonderful vet Doctor Joe has told me that as long as she's eating, drinking, maintaining continence, showing interest in play & attention, & not showing signs of constant pain, he would say she's still living a good life. Well, she was a frisky biscuit this morning, romping with her brothers in the back meadow before devouring a bowl of dog chow. She peed & pooped outside without any issues. She whines for ear scratches & to remind me that even though it's going to be 90+ degrees today, she still wants to be swaddled in blankies at all times. Yes, she's slow getting up & down the stairs, but c'mon, she's 14 years old, which is like 98 years old in people years. So, I am trying to enjoy each & every day I get with my Princess Puppypants & to not turn to Google Vet.

My parents moved into their new house in Montrose last week! They were EXHAUSTED when they arrived here, after a six-day trip across the country. Bobo Bro (who may deserve to be sainted) flew to South Carolina & drove with them, making it a two-car caravan with 3 people & 2 Giant Schnauzers. Last weekend, I spent a few hours on Saturday helping them unpack, but honestly they are doing really well on that task! Then yesterday, I was in town for a dermatology appointment & I ran into them when I stopped by City Market for a few items. Wow. That was surreal. They looked happy & relaxed. They went to a Taco Tuesday gathering in their neighborhood last night & Mom is playing Bunco (sp?) tomorrow. I think they are settling in well.

As for the dermatologist, I was seeing Sherman because I have two cysts, one on each of my fourth toes (ring toes?). He lanced them & drained some disgusting goop out of them. Apparently I am going to have to do this myself, every two weeks, for a YEAR to get them to go away. Delightful! They don't hurt much, but they did hurt when I wore my steel-toed boots for the last two field work adventures in Oklahoma. I probably need to get new boots with a larger toe box, then use some sort of padding (maybe corn pads) to protect the cysts. Getting older is SO AWESOME.

One month in. We've looked at nearly 30 houses, bid on two. We were the third-strongest bid on the first one, second-strongest bid on the second. Statistically speaking, we're gonna win the next one, amirite??

Part of the whole experience has been learning how to lower our standards. We started with a list of things that were MUST-HAVES:

• 2 bathrooms
  
• fireplace
  
• basement
  
• good kitchen
  
• A/C
  
• garage
  
• big fenced backyard

.... & we thought we were being flexible when we said stuff like "Well, I guess a fence-ABLE yard would be okay...." HAHAHAH THE DENVER REAL ESTATE MARKET MOCKS OUR NAIVETE.

So here's a Facebook exchange between me & hotpantsgalore today:

HPG: what time are you going to be home friday?
HPG: That house isn't doing showings till Fri.
Me: Maybe by 2 PM?
Me: Make the appointment later than that just to be safe.
HPG: ok
HPG: not too much later
HPG: i'm gonna set up a sniper stand & shoot everyone else who comes to look at it after us
Me: Solid plan. All that exposed brick!
Me: That gorgeous kitchen!
HPG: I know! But it's only a 2/1
Me: We can deal with that. You may have to learn how to pee in the yard. Shadeaux can teach you.
HPG: NOOOOOOOO!
Me: Not even for exposed brick?

So I have been working from home full-time since the beginning of December, more or less. If I'm not in the field, I'm in the spare bedroom. I haven't been in the field very much (a total of two weeks), so I've spent a LOT of time in the spare bedroom. Alone. I'm an introvert, & generally happy with my own company, but it's been a bit much even for me. When hotpantsgalore was in New Orleans for the last month, I was going days without talking to anyone but my neighbor Steve (& Shadeaux).

But THIS week my isolation has been broken! Bobo Bro is working here until his internet sitch is resolved. HPG got home yesterday afternoon, & even though she works outside of our home herself, she is around in the mornings & evenings! And we have had the landlord, repairmen, & delivery folks in & out of the kitchen, trying to fix all the crazy shit that's going on in there. I had my book club over last night for our monthly discussion group, & we had a lovely evening discussing Outlander.

Even more amazing, the Denver environmental group invited me to their monthly meeting today! It is a sign of how starved for human company I am that I was really excited to go to a meeting. But it was nice - I finally got filled in on a lot of the details of the URS/AECOM merger (seriously, I have missed so much). I think I got some project work here in the Front Range. A PM asked me to help him write a proposal. And I was scheduled for some Chevron training so I can help on a big ongoing project in Colorado & Kansas. PROGRESS, FINALLY.

Tonight, HPG & I are going to a pub quiz over in Lakewood, where - one assumes - we will interact with EVEN MORE PEOPLE.

Can't a girl get a moment to herself around here?

Having a dog is like Junior Varsity Child Rearing. I think everyone wants to have a kid should get a puppy first. If, after a year or two, the puppy is healthy & well-socialized, then its owners can consider trying to raise an actual human child.

Today has really been a JVCR sort of day. The morning always starts with basic dog maintenance chores: all three dogs go out in the yard, Brayden gets fed, & everyone gets water & breath mints (well, not breath mints, but these hard, crusty treats that supposedly clean the dogs' teeth, thus improving their breath). I noticed this morning that Brayden (Stacy recently informed me that I've been spelling her name wrong for months) wasn't exactly smelling like a rose, so I hauled her into the shower with me for a quick bath. Now here's the part I don't understand: I use shampoo, conditioner, & body wash to clean myself, all three products having strong scent components. I wash Brayden with one quick all-over application of doggie shampoo. Yet, after getting out of the shower & drying off, I smell like Perfect Coat Tearless Protein Shampoo, not Bath & Body Work White Tea & Ginger Body Wash. Not really the perfume I was looking for. But at least Brayden smells better.

Post-shower dog care includes drying Brayden (she ferociously fights off the towel throughout this process) & brushing out her beard & furnishings (the long fur on her legs & belly). Then Hershey & Sydney get a little brushing so no-one feels left out. To reward them all for being good during grooming, I decide to give them my favorite treat - Kong Stuff'n. Basically, this stuff is liver paste in a Easy Cheese can. I give it to the dogs by squirting it into these three hollow chew toys (Kongs). Then the dogs chew & lick the toys for hours, providing me with a chance to play Free Cell uninterrupted.

Except that today, Hershey decided that she should have all three of the Kongs. Of course this caused a squabble, with everyone trying to steal everyone else's Kong. I have a low tolerance for all the noise, so I ended up shutting Hershey in one bathroom, Sydney in another, & Brayden's currently locked in the computer room with me. If they were actual human children, I figure this would have been the point where I was screaming, "YOU'RE ALL GROUNDED! GO TO YOUR ROOMS!"

When do they start half-day kindergarten?