Like Nothing Happened

The dog is totally fine after being neutered. He was a little woozy and had a hard time walking in a straight line for about an hour and half after he came home. He was totally fine after that. The clinic sent pain meds home with me and I crushed one and put it on his food this morning. He flat out refused to eat it. I finally gave in about an hour ago, dumped the medicine laced food and gave him some without. He's been acting completely fine so, I suppose he doesn't need the meds anyway. It's like nothing happened. I guess I should be relieved. (Of course, I totally am. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a sick dog that was in pain. Hooray for an easy surgery!)

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Is it Monday yet? I DO love my kids and I DO love spending time with them, but we are ALL so very ready for a change of pace. We need the new school year to start. Like, now. (But I guess we'll wait until Monday. ☺) Bring it on!

Fixed

The dog (or dig, as I sometimes like to call him) has been dropped off at the spay & neuter clinic. (Salt Lake Spay and Neuter, if anyone is interested. They have excellent prices and can get your dog in very quickly. I called around to vets and the prices ranged from $200.00 just for the surgery, all the way up to over $600.00. That was for a yearlong puppy wellness plan through Pet's Mart. They tried to reason that it would cover all visits he may need throughout the year + the neuter so, it was an excellent plan. I asked them just how often they thought I would need to bring my dog in!? I just couldn't justify the cost. The Humane Society is another great option, but they have a very long wait list and also don't like to work on Pugs because of the shape of their face and nose. I guess it makes them hard to intubate. They recommended Salt Lake Spay and Neuter. They're only $45.00 for the neuter and will do vaccinations for $35.00, as well. Bonus!) I wanted to have him neutered within the first couple of weeks of having him, but Ryan felt that we should give him a chance to settle into our house and get used to us before we took away his manhood. Or, is it dog hood. I don't know. But, fine. I decided to wait. My dad felt that we shouldn't do it at all. Or, at least give him a chance to sire a litter of puppies before we took all the joy out of his life. I, however, felt it would be cruel to let him be a real dog and then snatch it away from him. So, neutering it is. I'm very excited! He's not an overly excited dog. In fact, he's really pretty boring most of the time, but when he does get excited, he gets very excited. This is going to be good for him! ☺

Ouch!

I had my nails done (acrylic) yesterday for the first time since February. I was so busy with doctor appointments for the first couple of months of the year; I could never find the time to go. My own nails are pretty darn ugly and I was getting really sick of looking at them. They need a little sprucing up and I finally made the time to go. I forgot just how much it can sometimes hurt to have them done. Wow! It wasn't horrible, but I forgot that it takes some getting used to. ☺

The television was on MTV while I was there and I saw Jersey Shore for the first time ever. I've never had any desire to watch it. Ever. I kind felt like I would catch an STD, or something just by watching it. So, I've avoided it. The episode where they go to Italy (if you follow the show) was on. You know, Italy, the Motherland, Italy, we're going to Italy, my family is from Italy, the Motherland, Italy, Italy, my family's Italian, Italy. I think I heard the word Italy (or some reference to it) about 21,345 times in the space of 10 minutes. Because the television audience would be in danger of forgetting where they were going if they didn't remind them every 0.2 seconds by saying Italy, Italy, Italy.

What did I think of the show? (I'll answer, just in case someone wants to know.) I'll have to quote the cantankerous David Letterman to let you know what I thought and say, "This, my friends, is why the rest of the world hates Americans." Truly, truly awful. (And not because they said Italy so many times.) And that's my 2 cents.

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We went to Lagoon at the end of June. Peyton really, really, really wanted to go on the Spider when we were there. He couldn't because he wasn't tall enough by about 3 inches. But....that's not the way he remembers it. He remembers that he didn't get to go on the spider because I wouldn't let him. He thinks I kept him from it out of spite, or something. He remembers that he couldn't go on the Spider just about every other day. He'll start crying at random moments and when I ask why he's sad, he'll scream at me, "YOU DIDN'T LET ME GO ON THE SPIDER!". He's scarred for life.

Can You Feel It?

There's something in the air that gives you the feeling something exciting is about to happen! Something long-awaited and you've been counting down too. Something that happens every year. Do you know what it is? That's right! The first day of school is only 1 week away!!!!! (Every single mom knew immediately just exactly what I was talking about. ☺) I'm so, so, so, so very glad too! IT.IS.TIME! My kids aren't terribly excited and I get that. I never got all that excited over having to go back to school, but it really, really is time. They're "bored" all the time. They "don't have anything to do". They're getting on each other's nerves (which, in turn, gets on mine) and fighting all the time. They may not realize it yet, but going back to school next Monday is going to be very, very, very good for them! And yes, for me too! (I'm sure my excessive use of exclamation points in this paragraph, and probably in the next, convey very well just how excited I am!!! And a few more, just for good measure!!!!!!!!)

I have all the shopping done. (Oh, wait! I don't have crayons, colored pencils and a couple of other supplies. No big deal. Those will be easy enough to get this week) My kids wardrobes are fully kitted out now. (At least until around Christmas because by that time, they'll have outgrown everything I just bought and will need another new wardrobe.) I ♥ sales! So very much. Especially sales like $10 jean sales, or buy 1 pair of shoes and get another half off, or spend "X" amount of dollars and get "X" amount of dollars off your total purchase. (Having 4 kids to shop for, I always spend the "X" amount of dollars and always get the"X" amount of dollars off of my total purchase. ☺) Oh, I just love sales! And back to school! And kids who aren't bored anymore and finally have something to do! Hooray for the return of sanity! (And hooray for exclamation points, too!!!!!)

Survey Says.....

I'm just wondering at what age you started to do your own laundry? And, if you have kids, at what age did you have them start doing their own? I personally love doing laundry. It's quiet and relaxing for me. And I find it extremely satisfying to take the clothes from dirty to clean. I love the smell of laundry soap and fabric softener, too. I love to take things out of the dryer and sniff them. It's just so, I don't know, comforting to me? Yeah, I guess that's what it is. (Plus, and I don't mean to brag, I'm good at it. I'm fantastic at making sure there are clean things to wear. I'm not so great at the folding and putting away part, but there are almost always clean clothes available for the whole family. They really don't have anything to complain.) So, I'm kind of hesitant to give up being the one solely responsible for it. (It's also a control thing for me. Don't act like you're surprised. I just know that if I'm the one doing it, its being done the way I want it to be done. Well, duh Christa. Of course it is. Right there I was just predicting what some people were thinking about that statement. ☺)

Presently, I do let my kids switch stuff from the washer to the dryer and turn it on. I don't ever let them load or start the washing machine. I guess I don't trust that they will put the soap, fabric softener, color bleach, etc. in the right places in the drawer. Or, that they won't throw a red sock in the whites. (Controlling.) I do let them fold towels (it's veeeeerrrrryyyyy hard for me to let them do it if they don't do it the way I like, but I'm trying), but nothing else. (Because I'm terrible at the folding and putting away part.) So, why am I even asking this question? Because it's a skill that they WILL need to learn and I'm going to have to teach it to them eventually. I just want to know when that time should be.

Unexpected

I decided, on a whim, to put Peyton to bed on Monday night in just his underwear (and pajamas, of course☺). No Pull-up, Goodnite or diaper. I didn't expect anything other than a wet bed in the morning, but I wanted to test the waters. Just see what would happen. I'll be darned if he didn't wake up wet, but totally dry. And the first thing he did when he got up was go use the bathroom.

I totally thought it was a weird fluke, but thought I would try again on Tuesday night. (Again, not expecting any miracles.) I heard him talking to himself when he woke up in the morning. I went in his bedroom and found him playing and his underwear and pajama pants were wet on the floor. Okay, no big deal. I wasn't really expecting him to make it through the night 2 days in a row. So, I went to take the sheets off of his bed and found that they were completely dry. He had made it through the night, but because he started to play before going to the bathroom, he had the accident.

I'm still putting him to bed in underwear and he's still waking up dry. I was so NOT expecting anything like this to happen. I was expecting him to need to wear "something" to bed for at least another year. It's such a pleasant surprise that he's doing so well. If he has an accident here and there, it's just fine. And if he needs to wear "something" to bed here and there, that's just fine too! (I hope I don't jinx myself by saying this.)

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The dog has settled into a good routine. He goes to bed (in his kennel) at around 9:30 each night and stays asleep until I get him out at around 7:00 in the morning. It's so nice! I do usually have to INSIST that he go in the kennel at night. (Because of his extreme attachment to me.) I usually have to carry him into the room and put him in. Until 2 weeks ago. I was looking around the house for him so I could put him to bed. I called and called him and looked everywhere. I couldn't find him. The only place I could think of him possibly being was under Peyton's bed, but he wasn't there. I was getting really perplexed. If he wasn't in the house, how could he possibly have escaped? I finally decided to check his kennel. Sure enough, that's where he was. I thought it was weird, but shrugged it off and just shut the door. He's been doing it consistently ever since that time. Right around 9:30, if we can't find the dog, we check the kennel and he's there. I have no idea why he started doing it, or how long it will last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does.

Once Bitten

My feet, ankles and calves are covered with mosquito bites. I've counted and there are 32 of them! 32!? Good grief! More than half of them are on the tops of my feet and back of my ankles. The itchiness has been coming and going and varies in intensity & frequency. Most of them have been there for about 2 weeks and really shouldn't be itching anymore, but oh well, they are.

They were itching pretty bad last night and so, I covered them with Caladryl lotion before I went to bed. It "worked", but not very well. They were still itchy, but tolerable. I figured I could ignore them and I went to sleep. I was suddenly and rudely awakened at 1:30 by intense itching on my ankles. It was horrible! I was able to resist scratching for about 5 minutes and then couldn't take it anymore. I gave in and started scratching them and did it for about 10 minutes. My skin became so inflamed and sore and even more itchy. It was unbearable. I got out of bed and covered them with more Caladryl. It didn't do a thing. I remembered that I had some Campho-Phenique and tried that. Nothing! I was getting really anxious and desperate (it was after 2:00 and I was tired) and felt like I was going to scratch my skin right off.

I decided to Google home remedies and came across some very interesting ideas. I found several things, but here's a list of a few:

1. Bar soap (I knew about this one, but mine were past the point of being helped by it.)
2. Rubbing alcohol (I knew about this one too, but really was beyond this helping.)
3. Oral antihistamine (I thought, "duh! Of course that would help!" So, I took a Benadryl pill. It took about 30 minutes to kick in, but it finally did. #16 gave me relief before this finally worked and the 2 of them togehter worked wonders.)
4. Caladryl
5. Calamine
6. Orajel
7. Bag balm
8. Cover the bite with a piece of Scotch tape
9. Underarm deodorant
10. Honey
11. Mouthwash
12. Vinegar
13. Bleach
14. Baking soda paste
15. Hot water (take a bath)
16. Vick's Vapo rub (This one jumped out at me. I decided to try it and finally got some relief! The cooling effect was so, so, so, so very nice. As I was drifting off to sleep at around 2:30, I thought about maybe trying Icy Hot. You would get the cooling and heating effect all in one. I'm going to try it today if it gets really bad.)

There were several more. Some I won't try, some I might. I'm happy with the results I got from the Vapo Rub and will most likely continue to use it.