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Last week was a
great one (other than the two scares that Bellie gave us), and we’re officially
in our fall feels now that we have our fall décor up and college football on
the TV again!
Monday, August 31
Monday, I started the day with an extra snooze which is always a good
idea! ;o) Brian got Belle up as he does every morning,
and he was happy to report that she’d had a good night, and she didn’t have any
accidents in the bathroom!
I dropped the kids off at school, and one of my friends who works at the
school met me in the car line to hand over our other friend’s phone because
she’d left it in the classroom teaching Sunday school over the weekend.
I drove straight to her house after I left the school to drop her phone
off, and then I headed home to play with Bellie. I fed her breakfast (right now, she likes it
when we sit with her on the floor and spread the food out all over… she doesn’t
like to eat out of the bowl), and then we went outside to play for a
while.
Right now, the humidity is so awful that the morning dew completely soaks
the grass, and Belle has gotten more and more disgusted with the wet grass in
the morning, so she has to be coaxed out there.
Haha. I don’t like it either so I’m
right there with her! And because the
grass is so wet in the morning, everyone is completely covered in grass when they
come inside (it does not come off by wiping our feet on the mat), hence the
reason I vacuumed for the 84th time in three days Monday morning. Haha.
At that point, Belle had been out of her crate since 6 AM, so I put her
in there for her morning nap and I made a cup of coffee before retreating to my
office to get as much done as I could while she was in captivity.
I ended up finishing my blog post for Tuesday, finishing my blog post for
Wednesday, and getting three loads of laundry done before it was time to get
her out of her crate. Brian and I had
lunch together, and then I fed Belle again and played outside with her some
more.
I brought her up to our bedroom after that to put some of the laundry
away, and she behaved. We’re slowly
trying to expose her to all the rooms in the house so she can get her crazies
out and get desensitized to all the things.
Since she spends so much time in the kitchen and the living room, she
barely bothers anything in those rooms anymore, but she still acts crazy –
chewing everything in sight and getting into everything – when she’s in
any of the rooms on the second floor.
Sure enough, after being a perfect angel in our bedroom, I took her in my
office to wrap up in there and she immediately peed on the floor. Sigh.
I banished her to the kitchen after that so I could finish up in my
office, and then I let her out one last time before I had to pick up the kids
from school.
Thankfully, I was right there with her in the yard, because she got into
some fire ants and they got all over her nose and mouth and beard. I snatched her up and started brushing
frantically at all the ants – there were probably about 20 on her – and she was
going crazy writhing around trying to get them off her. She looked so scared. Thankfully, she has so much hair that most of
them were stuck in her beard and I was able to brush them all off / pick them
out before they got too close to her actual skin.
I felt soooo bad for her and it scared the daylights out of me, too,
because she’s so tiny. I wasn’t even
sure how many times she’d been bitten (if at all), so I wasn’t sure if we
needed to take her to an emergency vet or what.
After a quick Google search, I was relieved to see that it didn’t seem
too serious, and I was grateful that Brian was working from home so he could
keep an eye on her since I had to leave.
Brian said she slept right outside his office the whole time we were
gone, and thankfully, she was just fine when we got home. Although, we did see two bites right by her
lips Tuesday night, which explained why she was biting / chewing so frantically
all day Tuesday.
When we got home, I did a Bible study and my devotional for the day and
then I took Olivia to dance. When I got
home, I spent about 30 minutes outside and I finished a Reel of her for Instagram, and then
I put away some more of the laundry.
While Brian was picking up Olivia from dance, I baked two dozen blueberry muffins to have on hand for the week ahead
and then I made dinner. Jacob would have
normally made the muffins for us, but his throat was still feeling a little weird
on Monday, so I didn’t want him to spread any germs. The whole time I was in the kitchen, Belle slept
on the floor. It was a little weird for
her to be so calm but later in the week, we figured out why.
When Brian and Olivia got home, we all sat down to eat together. I’d made my easy spaghetti and meatballs
along with some steamed broccoli.
After dinner, I went for a walk and then did a short strength training
workout, and then I got showered. We
ended the evening with two episodes of Friends and then Brian and I
watched some more of Scarpetta before we went to bed.
Tuesday, September 1
Tuesday morning, I was up at 6 AM and I got the kids to school. Bellie had another good night, and she was
accident-free again!
When I got home from dropping the kids off, I saw that I had a million
text messages from Jacob saying that he’d left his blazer in the car. Every other Tuesday, the kids go to Mass, and
the kids are required to wear their “church” uniforms which consists of an
oxford shirt, a tie, and a blazer for the boys.
I tried texting him back, but his phone had already been locked up for
the day (the school requires all cell phones to be locked away in special phone
lockers for the duration of the school day).
I tried emailing him to let him know that I could bring his blazer to
him since I was going to work at Outreach later in the morning, but he never
saw the email.
I spent the next hour feeding Belle and playing with her, drinking my
coffee, and enjoying a muffin, and then I put Belle back in her crate and
headed back to the school / church.
Mass starts at 9:30 AM, so I sat in the commons area and chatted with one
of our resource officers and one of our priests until Jacob walked in with his
class. I handed off the blazer and then
drove to the other side of campus to work at Outreach for the rest of the
morning.
My parents were already there, so I jumped right in with Momma, filling
brown paper bags with non-perishables (mac-n-cheese, Ramen, canned veggies,
raisins, and a few other things). We
filled lots of bags, but unfortunately, we couldn’t fully stock the shelves
because we ran out of canned goods.
The rest of the morning was spent pushing carts out to people who were
picking up and then refilling the carts as they came back. On Tuesday, each cart got a brown paper bag
of non-perishables, a bag of paper goods, two bags of baked goods (that Publix
donates), a bottle of juice, a big bag of shredded cheese, a bag of fresh
fruits and vegetables, a big pack of frozen meat, and a few other smaller
items. We also keep diapers and other
baby items on hand as well as hygiene items and cakes (in case anyone is
celebrating a birthday) that people can request if they need them.
It was a busy morning, so I stayed a little longer than I’d planned, and
I hightailed it out of there right at 11:30 AM to get home to Bellie.
When I got home, I spent an hour and a half with her feeding her, playing
fetch, hanging outside in the 100-degree temps (so miserable), and eating my
lunch.
I put her in her crate around 1:15 PM so I could get some things done
around the house. I did one load of laundry,
and I finished my blog post for Friday, and then I got Belle out and took her
outside for a while. I brought her
upstairs to lay out the laundry, and she was very well behaved in our bedroom
again. I guess we can check that room
off the list, and we now have one more space that she can behave normally in
and not go too crazy. Haha.
Olivia had her first crochet club meeting after school on Tuesday, and
Jacob wanted to stay and hang with one of his friends who always stays after
school, so I didn’t have to be there to pick them up until 4 PM. That meant I got to skip the car line, and
instead of being in the car for an hour Tuesday afternoon, I only had to be in
the car for 30 minutes! Always winning
to spend less time in the car!
Since it was a short drive, I took Belle with me… I just couldn’t bear to
put her back in her crate so soon. I
buckled her into her doggie seatbelt, and away
we went! And as usual, she still had to
be all up on me even though she had her own seat. Haha.
The kids were positively delighted to see her in the car, and Olivia held
her the rest of the way home. The kids
both chattered my ears off all the way home.
Jacob had loved being able to spend some extra time with Julian after
school and Olivia had the best time at crochet club!
Crochet club is being conducted by one of the girls in 12th grade as she’s
doing it for her senior service project.
All the kids are going to be making hats, scarves, and blankets for
cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
For their first meeting, they each made granny squares that are going to
be compiled into one big blanket down the road.
Olivia said that there were about 20-25 kids in the club and there were
only four of them who knew how to crochet (one being her), so she was able to
help others learn. She is STOKED for her
next meeting and she’s so glad she decided to join because she loved it.
We had a wonky evening Tuesday because Olivia had a late dance night and
Brian had a tennis match. Because of the
way the times fell for everything, we either had to eat dinner at 4:45 PM or 9
PM, so we opted for 4:45. Lol.
The second we walked in the door from school, I started prepping to make
breakfast for dinner and then when B walked in the door from work, he started
on the scrambled eggs. We all sat down
together to eat our standard eggs, grits, and bacon + some of the leftover
muffins I’d made Monday.
After dinner, we all cleaned up the kitchen, and then Brian took Olivia
to dance while I finished up in the kitchen.
Jacob and I tidied the whole first floor and I vacuumed (again). Brian came home, changed for tennis, and then
left again, and Jacob headed upstairs to play video games for a bit while I put
away some more of the laundry. Bellie
kept me company and she was a good girl.
I took her outside for a bit after that, and then I did a stair stepper
workout in the living room while Jacob showered.
Belle kept trying to bite my stair stepper while I was working out, so I
had to lock her up in doggie jail (the kitchen) for the rest of my
workout. She stayed right by the gate
the whole time and looked at me longingly while I worked out. Haha.
And my dad sent me this picture of him with the kids from forever ago
that I don’t think I’d ever seen. Just
look at those precious babes!
When Jacob came downstairs after his shower, I headed upstairs to take
mine and then I got my pjs on and headed out to pick up Olivia from dance since
Brian was still playing tennis. She
finished her granny square on the way home and she looked so cute doing her
granny hobbies.
Jacob was on Belle duty while I was gone, and he was so mad when we got
back because she’d been biting his feet and toes constantly. She’d been doing it all day to me, too, to
the point of absurdity, and it was later that night that we noticed the ant
bites around her mouth, and we assumed that’s why she was so crazy on Tuesday…
she was probably itching. :o(
Olivia got in the shower and then grabbed a snack and the three of us
hung out in the living room until Brian got home. It was almost 9 PM by the time he walked in
the door, so we got the kids in bed shortly after that and then I
meditated.
My throat was feeling verrrryyyy iffy Tuesday night, and since everyone
had been sick in our house but me, I thought I was doomed. So, I made myself a hot toddy, and then Brian and I settled in to watch a few more minutes
of Scarpetta. That show is only
eight episodes, but now that the kids go to bed so much later, Brian and I only
have about 30 minutes to watch TV each night now. We were laughing because I don’t think it’s
ever taken us this long to finish an eight-episode show before. Haha.
Wednesday, September 2
Wednesday morning, I woke up at 6 AM feeling fine (other than my
allergies), so I guess my weird throat was nothing. Bellie had another great night and had no
accidents so that was great!
I got the kids to school and then I headed home. I had nowhere to be Wednesday, so I was a
happy camper. I spent an hour and a half
playing with Belle, feeding her, getting some fresh air, and making sure she’d
gone to the bathroom, and then I put her in her crate and headed to my office
with my cup of coffee.
For some reason, she HOWLED for, like, 30 minutes after I put her in
there and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. She always whines for a couple of minutes and
then settles down, but she was not having it Wednesday. Thankfully, she quieted down eventually, and
I was able to knock out many items on my list:
-
Process a Poshmark shipment
-
Start and finish my blog post for Monday
-
Catch up on both email inboxes
-
Send a few more emails about Grandparent’s Day
-
Place a Target order for some things we needed
-
Make a dinner reservation for B and me for an
upcoming date night
Late in the morning, I also got an alert on my phone that Taylor Swift’s
website had restocked her signed CDs (the same ones that she’d released last
year around this time… the one that I’d gotten for Olivia and myself), and I
remembered that my friend, Heather, hadn’t been able to get one for her
daughter last year. So, I texted her and
asked her if she wanted me to try to snag one for her since she’s a teacher and
can’t take the time to do stuff like that during the day.
She responded immediately, and said yes, and I was so happy because I was
able to grab one for her! There were
four different versions again this time (same four as last time) and one was
already sold out by the time I got on there.
The other three sold out shortly after I grabbed one, so I was happy I’d
been able to get one!
I got Belle out of her crate after that, and we went outside for a
bit. She ate her lunch and I ate mine,
and then we played fetch for a while. I
cleaned the kitchen and then did some blog housekeeping and placed an Amazon
order while I hung out with her, and then I took her up to our bedroom to
finish putting away the laundry. She was
so good, yet again, and I was happy about that.
I put her in her crate after that and then I headed to pick up the kids
from school. Wednesday is our day that
we have NOTHING in the evening, and it’s so glorious. As much as the kids love their
extracurricular activities, they are always grateful for their breaks.
When we got home, I hung out with them for a bit and then we all split up
to do different things. Jacob played
video games upstairs, Olivia hung out with Belle on the couch, and I headed
back upstairs to do my Bible study and devotional for the day and cross some more
things off my list:
-
Add a few dates / tasks to my planner
-
Go over Jacob’s retreat paperwork
-
Clean off my computer desktop
-
Do some more blog housekeeping (it’s never-ending)
-
Add the kids’ new school photos to their baby books
-
Tidy the whole house
-
Finish all the half-done tasks I’d started and never
finished because Belle distracted me and / or required attention (haha)
-
Wash and dry all the cleaning rags
-
Water the indoor plants
By the time I’d finished all that, Brian had texted me to tell me he’d
stopped by Walmart to pick up a few things we needed and he was on his way
home, so I headed to the kitchen to get all the cozy things going (cinnamon and
pumpkin spice in the diffuser and jazz on the speaker) and start on dinner.
On the menu Wednesday was beef tacos, so dinner was easy peasy! And Brian had bought some fresh limes at
Walmart because he knew I was making tacos and he wanted to try another tweaked
version of his margarita recipe that he’s trying to perfect. He didn’t have to twist my arm! And they were delicious!
Belle was a perfect angel all through cooking and dinner and
cleanup. She lay in the kitchen right
around my feet the whole time and she would move and follow me around as I
moved. Haha. She just loves being close and I looooveeee
that. <3
On another note, she had an upset stomach all afternoon and evening, so I
think she was more mellow because she wasn’t feeling well. We’re weren’t sure why at the time, but we
found out later in the week.
After we cleaned the kitchen, I headed outside into the furnace to walk a
couple of miles. I’d been feeling
wretched all day – dizziness, shoulder and neck tension, headache, etc. – so I
had to make myself go, and I’m so glad I did because it actually made me feel a
bit better.
I showered when I got home, and then we all settled in for two more
episodes of Friends. We’re on
season six right now, and that is, by far, the best season to me! There are so many classic episodes in that
season! Wednesday night we watched The
One With the Unagi – A CLASSIC.
IYKYK.
While the kids got ready for bed, I meditated, and as I was laying there
all calm and still, I heard Jacob yell, “DANGER!” and Olivia screamed bloody
murder. He’d hidden in her room and
scared the crap out of her like Ross does in that episode and I could not stop
laughing. It was so dang funny.
After the kids went to bed, Brian and I finally finished season one of Scarpetta
and it left on a major cliffhanger which was annoying since breaks between shows
are years now rather than just three months.
Thursday, September 3
Thursday morning, I was up at 6 AM and Brian told me that Belle had
pooped twice in the bathroom since her stomach was still weird. Sigh.
Thankfully, she’d gone on the hard floor and not in her crate, so she hadn’t
gotten in it.
I took the kids to school and then headed home. I tried to feed Belle breakfast and she
wouldn’t eat, but she did want to play.
We went outside for a bit and then we played fetch in the kitchen. I tried to feed her again, and she didn’t
want anything, so I put her food bowl in her crate to have later when she was
in there.
Then, I tidied the whole kitchen, swept up more grass clippings (she’s
scared of the vacuum, so I try not to do it while she’s right there in the room
with me), I got all the kids’ music stuff packed up for later that afternoon
since they’d forgotten to do it, and then I pulled out all my fall mugs. Yes, yes, yes!
Around 9 AM, I put her in her crate with her Biscuit
and her food, and then I grabbed a cup of coffee
and headed to my office to knock out some things. On the list for Thursday was:
-
Starting and getting this blog post caught up to
present (which took most of the morning since I’m so long-winded, lol)
-
Going through my email inboxes
-
Approving the border/background from our PhotoBooth
guy for Grandparent’s Day photo prints
-
Responding to blog comments from the last week (I’m
trying to stay on top of this instead of letting it go for so long that I have
to respond to 100+ when I take the time to catch up!)
-
Catching up on blog reading
I got Belle out of her crate after that and took her outside to go to the
bathroom, and then I finally got her to eat since she hadn’t eaten in her
crate. She sat in my lap and literally
ate out of my hand, though. Lol.
After that, she was back to her usual spunky self, and we played fetch
for a while. And I think I tweaked my
neck throwing so that may be the end of me playing fetch. Bless.
I ate lunch when we went back inside and then I brought her up to my
office so I could wrap up a few things in there before picking up the kids. I caught up on a few things in my planner, I
sent two more emails for Grandparent’s Day, I refilled a prescription, and I
called the vet to tell them that Belle had blood in her stool off and on for a
few days. They told me we needed to
bring her in ASAP and they wanted to schedule an appointment for 2:30, but I
couldn’t take her then since I had to get the kids from school and then take
them to music lessons and dance. We
scheduled an appointment first thing Friday morning, though (and as I’m typing this,
we’ve already been to the appointment and I’m so glad we did).
I brought along two Stanleys in the car line since I was feeling so bad Thursday
because one of them was for my electrolyte water. I’m trying those to see if they help with any
of my symptoms since one of my doctors suggested he thinks I could have
POTS. Olivia got in the car and immediately
said, “Not Mommy with two Stanleys!”
Hahahaha.
After school, the kids and I went to music lessons, and I sat in with
Jacob. His Piano Lab teacher invited him
to join a fine arts competition called Literary that takes place in the spring
in the state of Georgia. Jacob will be
required to play two different pieces for the judges (and an audience) to
compete, and he’s working on perfecting Clair de Lune since he already knows so
much of it. I am so excited that he is
considering doing it since he’s always been too shy to play in most of his
recitals, and I can’t wait to be there to cheer him on!
When we got home, we let Belle out and she seemed to be feeling
better. She ate her whole bowl of food,
and her spunk seemed to be back somewhat.
We didn’t have long at home because Olivia had to get to dance, so I
spent the short time we had making dinner for Olivia, tidying the kitchen (for
the 84th time), and trying to have a cup of tea, but I only had about three or
four sips and it was time to go.
I realized on the way out the door that I’d forgotten to thaw the chicken
for dinner (and then I realized that I wouldn’t have had time to make that dish
anyway since I’d be getting started on it so late) so I decided to pivot and
make turkey and cheese biscuit sliders.
Well, the turkey was almost out, too, so I had to swing by Publix on the
way home and grab some after I dropped Olivia.
Whoops!
The boys and I ate dinner together and then I lay on the couch because my
body felt absolutely wrecked. My neck
and shoulders and upper back and all the things were screaming at me, so I knew
it was time to rest. (And one thing I
found out about hEDS is that people with it often have to lay down after doing
regular, everyday tasks because any and every little thing can cause pain
and/or exhaustion. Interesting since I’m
always talking about going to lay down for a few minutes to give my neck and
shoulders a break! I pretty much have to
lay down every day at some point.)
After resting, I brushed Belle’s hair, and that’s always a challenge
because she thinks the brush is a toy.
The whole time I try to brush, she’s constantly writhing around trying
to eat the brush, so I’m lucky if I get even three or four brushstrokes
in. And since she’s a Yorkie, she’s
supposed to have her hair brushed daily.
Good luck with that. Lol. Maui never let us brush her hair either. She always reacted the exact same way that
Bellie does.
I mustered the energy to do a stair stepper workout after that, and Belle
kept trying to bite my feet because she thought it was a fun game, so I had to
put her in doggie jail AKA the kitchen.
While I worked out, Brian worked out and Jacob made music in the
GarageBand app on his phone, and we all just hung out together also watching
college football.
After my workout, I got showered and then Jacob got showered and ready
for bed while Brian went to pick up Olivia from dance. While he was gone, I spent some time outside
with Belle and then I did a Bible study and my devotional from the couch while
also getting up 84 million times to get Belle because she was getting into
stuff she shouldn’t be in. Haha.
When Olivia got home, she took a long shower and then she grabbed a
snack. While she did that, I meditated
and then the kids went to bed. Brian and
I watched some more college football and then we called it a night.
Friday, September 4
Belle did well in her crate Thursday night, and I was just starting to
wonder if it was necessary to take her to the vet. But then she had an accident on the kitchen floor,
and I’ll spare you the details, but it let me know we were doing the right
thing.
I strapped her into her seatbelt and put
her in her bed and then we dropped the kids off at school and headed to the
vet. After I’d told them her symptoms,
they told us to check in from the car because they didn’t want her in the
waiting room with the other dogs. We’d
arrived 30 minutes early for her appointment, but they were able to take us
right in, and they had us go in a side door, so we didn’t have to go through
the waiting room.
Based on her symptoms, they told me they were going to do a fecal test
and a parvovirus test, and y’all the results came back positive for
parvovirus. Parvovirus is a severe
infection that is incredibly dangerous, and without treatment the mortality
rate exceeds 90%. Terrifying. It requires aggressive intensive care (ICU
treatment) so they had to hospitalize her immediately, but we were told that
even with the ICU treatment, some dogs still do not survive because “parvovirus
is going to do what it’s going to do.”
The doctor told me that since she’s vaccinated, she did have a higher
chance of surviving, and she did say that it’s very rare for vaccinated dogs to
get it, so it is incredibly unlucky that she did. The craziest part is that we have NO CLUE
where she could have possibly gotten it.
We haven’t taken her out in public.
We only took her for that one walk on our street several weeks ago, but
I carried her most of the way. Other
than that, she spends all her time inside or in our backyard that’s fenced in
so other dogs can’t get in. The doctor did
tell me that parvovirus can live in soil for up to FIFTY YEARS, though, and
that during drought conditions (which we are currently in) it tends to be
exposed more.
So right now, as I type this, our new little baby is in ICU at her
veterinary clinic. They are giving her
an IV to administer several medications (one of which our doctor said is new
and gives dogs an excellent shot at survival) as well as some vitamins
and fluids to keep her hydrated. The vet
recommended hospitalizing her for 24 hours to start, but said it’s highly possible
she will need to be there longer. Ugh. I was obviously beside myself hearing her
diagnosis… of all the things I thought could be wrong, I had no idea it would
be something so scary. (I typed this when we didn’t know, and thankfully, all is well now, so keep reading!)
I got home around 9:30 AM and I called my parents to let them know what
was going on. I still always need my
Momma and Daddy when something yucky happens.
We ended up talking on the phone for about 30 minutes, and then I made a
cup of coffee and tried to work, but it was kind of hard to concentrate on
much.
I worked on this post for a bit and then I went through all my emails and
sent a couple more about Grandparent’s Day.
Brian and I had lunch together and then I wrapped up a couple of things
in my office before it was time to leave.
I had to put gas in my car and return something to Target before I
picked up the kids.
After school, we came home to freshly baked chocolate chip cookies by Brian (happy long weekend to us!) and then
Brian took Jacob back out for a haircut while Olivia and I settled in at
home. She spent some time on her laptop
being lazy and I did a Bible study and my devotional for the day, and then I
worked on this blog post some more, I called my eye doctor to check on the
status of my trial pairs of contacts, I finalized my editorial calendar for the
rest of the year, and I worked on updating more album covers since I’m trying
to get it done once and for all.
After that, I freshened up and we all headed downtown for dinner. The kids had been wanting to go hang out down
there sometime, and when my friend, Jeannine, invited the kids to do a Pokemon
Go walk with them Friday night, we thought that was the perfect
opportunity.
We ended up having pizza and getting frozen yogurt right afterward, and
then Jeannine and her family met us down there.
There was a free outdoor concert Friday night, and the band had told
everyone to dress in their Dolly Parton best in memory of her, hence my bubble
gum pink tank top. ;o)
We sat and listened to the band for a bit and Jeannine and I walked down
to the little bodega on the corner to grab bottles of water for everyone because
it was HOT.
On the way back to our spot, we stepped inside the little coffee shop
that’s been there for a million years so I could grab a picture for y’all. This is the coffee shop that Theo of Golden is based on, so if you read the book,
now you have an actual visual of it.
:o) That entire book is fictional,
but it’s based on real places in a real city, and I’m thankful enough to have it
close so I can visit any time.
People are now flocking here from all over to see it, and I just think it’s
the coolest thing! And I’m so excited
for Allen Levi and all his success because it is truly so well deserved. I’ve known him my whole life and he’s like a
real live Theo… just the best human. I already
shared this picture earlier this year, but we had the pleasure of spending some
time with him at the ball we attend annually, and he is truly a gem.
The kids did all the Pokemon Go things while Jeannine and Brian and I chatted,
and we all left a little after eight. It
was so HOT and I think we were all ready to get home to the air
conditioning.
I got showered and in my pjs when we got home and then we all watched two
episodes of Friends before the kids went to bed. Brian and I made some cocktails and then we
watched Ted Lasso and started Silo before going to be around
12:30 AM.
Saturday, September 5
Saturday morning, I was awakened from a dead sleep at 8:20 AM and it was
the vet calling with excellent news – Bellie was ready to go home!! They said she’d eaten and was in good spirits
and after 24 hours of intravenous drugs and vitamins and fluids she was well
enough to leave!!
We had to pick her up before 9 AM since they’re technically closed on the
weekends, so Brian got up, got dressed, and headed out the door with Olivia to
go get her. We were all so excited and
relieved that our baby was coming home!
While they were gone, I got a ton of stuff done around the house…
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Made the bed
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Collected all the dirty towels
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Tided my closet
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Tidied our bedroom and bathroom
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Tidied the kitchen
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Vacuumed the kitchen and the living room
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Unloaded the dishwasher
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Hand washed Belle’s food and water bowls
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Sanitized the tray that they sit in
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Sanitized her toys
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Pulled up all her bedding to be washed
Meanwhile, Jacob started his laundry and jumped in the shower because he
had a lot to do before he left for his retreat Saturday morning.
When Brian and Olivia got home with Belle, we were all SO excited to see
her and we could tell she was so excited to be home. She was WIDE OPEN and so happy and bubbly and
energetic, and I was just so relieved.
Her little doggie leg had to be shaved so they could administer her IV
and it just looks so sad… but also kind of funny because she kind of resembles
a poodle when they have those crazy haircuts.
Haha.
I put some fall scents in the diffuser, Brian turned on ESPN College
GameDay (YESSSS), and I started making waffles for breakfast because college
football Saturdays are finally back, y’all!
EEK!
We ate breakfast late since Bellie got home late and then after we
cleaned up the kitchen, I gave Belle a bath since she’d had to stay overnight at
the veterinary hospital.
After her bath, she got her zoomies out, and then she scarfed down her
entire bowl of food for breakfast like she hadn’t eaten in a million years.
I sat down to drink a cup of coffee and watch College GameDay for a few
minutes, but I couldn’t watch long because I had to get ready to see Jacob off
for his retreat.
Olivia got showered and ready for the day because she was going to hang
out with Maren, and then I threw on a tiny bit of makeup and got dressed for
the day before helping Jacob finish packing.
I made him chicken fingers so he
could have something in his belly before the trip, and then we packed a bunch
of snacks in his bag for him to have on the bus.
We didn’t want to leave Belle at home, so we brought her along for the ride
and she was a perfect angel all the way there and back. We saw several of our friends there who were
also dropping off kids and one of them had brought their maltipoo, too. So sweet!
(And we kept them separated so their dog didn’t get Bellie’s germs.)
Belle lay in Olivia’s arms the whole time we were there getting Jacob checked
in, and once Jacob met up with his friends and got on the bus, we said goodbye
and headed home. And for the rest of the
afternoon, I stalked him on Life 360 until he got to camp safely.
Olivia was getting picked up shortly after we got home, so I made her a
quick lunch and she ate, and then Brian and I ate lunch, too. Belle ate an entire bowl of food again like
she was starving and then we let her out.
It randomly started pouring after that (which we weren’t expecting), so Maren’s
mom texted me to let me know they were going to wait for it to subside a
little, and then they came to pick her up.
They spent the day shopping for supplies to make matching shirts for
twin day during HOCO week and running a few other errands. Then, they went back to Maren’s house to make
their shirts.
Meanwhile, Brian and I were childless for the day, which was weird. I cleaned up the kitchen, tidied the rest of
the house that I hadn’t gotten to earlier in the morning, washed all of Belle’s
bedding, dusted a few areas downstairs, and then I decorated for fall after
Brian hung the mirror over the mantle.
Belle took a long nap while I did all that and Brian and I watched the
Georgia game. I had a migraine all day Saturday
so I wasn’t feeling great, but I did finally get some relief after rolling my
trigger point balls up and down my occipital (neck) muscles, getting Brian to rub
my shoulders, drinking some electrolytes, taking
some Tylenol, and relaxing for a bit on the couch. I had big plans Saturday to tackle a lot of
things that I could do on my phone while watching football (catching up our one
second a day video for the year, organizing a few lists in my Lists app, and
going through some recipes in my emails), but the migraine didn’t allow.
Georgia won massively (which was expected since we played a much smaller
team) and when the game was over Brian and I had to start thinking about dinner
for us. Maren’s mom had texted to let me
know that the girls wanted to spend the night (shocking, haha), so we told her
we’d grab all of Olivia’s stuff and swing it by their house. But first – dinner for Belle! And she ate her entire bowl immediately again. We could tell she was feeling much better.
After she ate, I packed all of Olivia’s things and Brian and Belle and I drove
over to Maren’s house to drop everything off, and then we picked up dinner from
Five Guys. Belle slept in the car like a
perfect little angel the whole time.
When we got home, Brian made Moscow Mules for us with fresh lime juice,
and we ate dinner sans kids. I'm thinking I should
just count that as a date night since we got to have an evening at home alone. Haha.
After dinner, I ran around the backyard with Belle so she could get out
her evening zoomies, and then I cleaned the kitchen, showered, and got into pajamas. The big college game of the night had been
delayed for weather, so Brian and I finished the most recent season of Silo
and then switched over to the game when it was done.
Olivia and Maren Facetimed with us at 10:30 PM because they wanted to show
me what they’d bedazzled all day, and they wanted to say goodnight and that
just melted my heart because she still thinks of us even when she’s with her
friends. <3
Sunday, September 6
Sunday morning, I woke up at 8:45 AM and went straight downstairs to
check on Belle. She was waiting by the
gate patiently and was super happy to see me.
She was accident-free and she went straight out and went to the bathroom.
I fed her breakfast, unloaded the dishwasher, tidied the kitchen, and
hand washed a few dishes, and then I ate breakfast with Brian when he came
downstairs.
After that, I grabbed a cup of coffee and went to my office to get some
things done, and Brian went in his office for a bit, too. We left Belle in the kitchen, and Brian said
that she just lay on the mat in front of the garage door right outside his office. Such a good girl.
I worked on my planner for the week ahead,
I tackled some emails, and I transferred photos from my phone to my
computer. Late in the morning, Brian and
I sat down to get Ed Sheeran tickets to the show in Atlanta since we’re going
again with friends, but we had a million issues (I won’t bore you with the
details but TICKET MASTER SUCKS) and it took foreverrrr. We couldn’t give up, though, because the
tickets were on super sale for Labor Day, and we finally had success after many
hours and many failed tries.
Olivia got home a little before 1 PM, and she’d had a great time with
Maren and her family. They’d gone to
Chick-Fil-A for dinner and s’mores milkshakes, they’d gone night swimming,
and they went to church Sunday morning.
Olivia had never been to a Protestant church before, and she really
enjoyed getting a look at a different faith.
She loved their music, too.
Oh, and of course they finished their shirts for twin day and they had
bedazzled everything they could get their hands on.
After she got home, I did a stair stepper workout and then the three of
us ate lunch together. Then I got
showered and ready for the day.
Belle napped on the couch while Brian watched TV, so I went to my office
to organize pictures, finish updating my album covers in iTunes (I’M FINALLY
DONE!), work on this blog post, and listen to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
in the background while I worked.
We had a massive thunderstorm blow through later in the afternoon, and I was
worried we wouldn’t be able to make it to church, but thankfully, things eased
up just when it was time to leave.
Brian, Olivia, and I went to 5 PM Mass (two church services in one day
for Olivia!) and since Sunday evening Mass has no music, we were out of there
by 5:40 PM to pick up Mama Cass for Sunday dinner at Momma and Daddy’s.
After we got her, we swung by our house to pick up Belle, and then we
headed to Momma and Daddy’s. Momma had
made spaghetti, we opened a bottle of wine, they had old standards/jazz playing
on the speaker, and it was a cozy evening at their house. And Belle was great the whole time we were
over there and she had no accidents, so she’s really making progress!
We left their house a little after 8 PM (with my Momma’s You’ve Got
Mail DVD in hand!), and then we all got into pjs, and watched Grammys:
The Icon Sessions With Taylor Swift.
I’d already listened to it, but I wanted to see it, and I wanted Olivia
to see it, too. She was a little bored
with the interview portion (which surprised me), but she loved the mashup of I
Knew It, I Knew You, August, and All Too Well as I knew she
would. It is just brilliant.
After that, we turned on college football again, and Olivia listened to
some more of her Harry Potter book that she’s reading this quarter, and then we
got her in bed. I meditated, Brian and I
splurged with another cocktail since we didn’t have
school and work the next day, I snuggled with Belle on the couch while we
watched football, and we ended up going to bed wayyyy too late.
I wish every weekend could be a three-day weekend! It’s always so nice to have a day to get
things done around the house, a day to do fun stuff, and a day to visit with
family and relax.
Happy Tuesday, y’all!
