Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Tuesday miscellany

It's the last week of my summer break. This hasn't been a very good summer, I'm sorry to say, with the exception of having Poppy this year. She's such a sweet girl!


This was her in the car on the way home after her spay surgery on Wednesday. She was groggy and out of it for the rest of the night from the anesthesia.


After that first night she was mostly back to normal. I was supposed to keep her still and quiet for the several few days, but that's been a joke. She's a really active girl and it's hard to get her to settle down when she's feeling playful. George was so sweet when Poppy went to the vet that day; he whined and moped when I came back without her, and when she got home that evening he stayed by her side until bedtime. It makes me happy that they love each other.

Yesterday Gregg and I removed the last aquarium from the school. He'd been maintaining at least one of them for over 10 years! It's disappointing that it ended the way it did. Moving them out was a lot of work, and he didn't get so much as a "thank you" for doing it. If not for the fact that I have to work there and I don't want any trouble, he'd send them a big bill for all the hours of work it took.  Plus, we're stuck with all the fish from both aquariums at our house, in temporary tanks set up for them, until we can figure out a good place for them to go. There's also one of the tanks sitting empty in our hallway. It's all been a really big hassle and a lot of inconvenience. It stings that there hasn't been one word of thanks for any of it.

Tonight, I'll start making food for our book club meeting tomorrow. I'm the host this month, but Sara offered to have the meeting at her house so we could all use her pool. We decided that I'll make the food and take it over, and she'll supply the beverages and the pool.  I'm so behind on housework that it would take me the whole day tomorrow to clean enough for company. I don't mind cooking, but cleaning is another story! And I've been so, so tired lately.

 I don't know if it's the heat, the stress, or simply hormones (or some combination of all three) but despite sleeping a lot I'm having a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning. All I want to do is lie around and read a book. (I bought a lot of good reading material at the used bookstore in Raleigh). Also, did I mention that I've done something to my back? I've had lower back pain for almost two weeks now. It's been too painful (not to mention too hot) to walk very much, and that's probably part of the reason for my energy slump. 

That's all for today. I hope you all are well and keeping cool if you're in the grip of a heatwave. That includes most of my blogger friends, I think.





30 comments:

  1. I'm glad to see that Poppy didn't have to wear a Cone of Shame! I hope you find good homes for all those tropical fish.

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    1. Gregg's working on finding homes, but it's going to take awhile. It's my lot in life (having married the man I did) to occasionally have refugee aquariums and extra gear cluttering up the house! I'm very used to it.

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  2. Oh, Sweet Poppy and Sweet George who loves her.
    Do you ever go to a chiropractor? Or perhaps a good therapeutic massage might help. I am so sorry you are having back pain. It's so debilitating and pain alone can exhaust you.

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    1. I'm wary of chiropractors, to be honest. A massage sounds nice but having never had one, I'm not sure how to go about finding one. My back seems a bit better today and I was able to walk some, so I'm going to hope that this is the start of it healing.

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  3. Yes, dogs never listen to their doctor's advice. The first thing Lily did when she got home from getting spayed, was run up the stairs. I have some serious back issues. Five years ago, they were going to do a laminectomy to remove the pressure of discs 1 - 5. A year ago, #1 began leaking disc jelly again. I don't like medicating, and you're going to hate this, but what I've learned to do is walk. It does hurt like hell, but it helps realign your spine and take pressure off bulging and leaking discs.

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    1. Gregg keeps telling me the same thing--that I need to be walking. And most days I've done a little bit even if the pain was bad enough that every step was miserable. This morning I was able to do the whole half mile circuit of the neighborhood--not very far, I realize, but more than I've been able to walk in a couple of weeks.

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  4. I'm sorry about your back pain. No wonder you're feeling lethargic. Don't feel guilty about lying around and reading a book. Consider it your physical and emotional therapy. Hopefully, things will go better than expected when school starts up again. If it doesn't, you'll just have to keep your ear to the rail for a position that makes you happy.

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    1. "Physical and emotional therapy"...I like that! I'm still trying to be positive about the new year and I hope this is all normal for a school undergoing massive changes, at least at first. Things should settle down some in a month or two.

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  5. Sorry your break is over so quickly. You were at the school a lot during the time you were supposed to be relaxing! I didn't know the aquariums have to come out of the school. That's too bad after all of Gregg's and your hard work in taking care of them.
    I hope you like your new position better and things settle down for you soon. And your back feels better too!

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    1. Thank you, Ellen. My position will be a lot different this year. Much more behind the scenes, but it will be a lot less stressful in some ways. I'll have a lot of work to do but at least most of it can be done without interacting with people too much.

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  6. Oh man. Chronic pain, job woes, and this heat...that would sap anyone. Sorry. All I can do is suggest locking your doors, avoiding people and cuddle the dogs. Oh...and Gregg too!

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    1. All good suggestions, and exactly what I plan to spend my last few days of freedom doing! Thanks Debby!

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  7. What a mess with the school and the fish tanks. Watching the fish is one of the relaxing soothing things to do. All this stress seems to be adding up between your back and the heat does not help.
    Poppy is such a darling ! So happy Happy George is a great big brother.

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    1. Poppy IS a darling! So sweet and affectionate, a real cuddle bug! She's also a huge tomboy and likes to play fight rough with her big brother George. Having her is turning out to be so good for him, too. He's really peppy these days and seems much happier since she joined our family. I think he was more lonely for Ginger than we realized.

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  8. That's disappointing about your summer; I remember how much I looked forward to that time during my teaching career. And what a huge slap in the face that there wasn't even a "thank you." Unbelievable bad manners. We are having 70s and low 80s here at the moment and I hope it stays that way.

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    1. I'm beginning to think this woman is merely callous. I don't think she intends to be offensive, she's just so busy at the moment that she's not thinking too hard about anyone else's feelings. Maybe things will get better when the new year starts and thinks begin to run smoothly after the first few weeks. One can hope!

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  9. It was 36/7C here yesterday, and the house was so hot. I have just got up and opened all the doors and windows in a hope to cool down a bit before it hots up again......only about 28c today! Positively cool!!

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    1. I'm so sorry about the heat there, Frances! Take care and stay as cool as possible.

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  10. I hope Poppy is recovering well. No cone of shame? I also hope you’re recovering from the back ache. May this be a better year!

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    1. No cone of shame! And it's been a week now and she's acting like it never happened!

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  11. Dear Jennifer, I am so sorry that much of your long awaited summer break did not go as expected, and did not provide the rest and fun you were looking forward to (and needed!).
    Hopefully, your back pain eases soon, and you can enjoy the book club meeting by the pool.
    The last two days here in North Yorkshire were beyond hot - record-breaking temperatures! We did not sleep all that well and limited our activities to mornings and late evenings, and of course not having to work makes a long siesta in the afternoon possible.
    Much cooler today, still warm enough to go sleeveless 😊

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    1. I mentioned to Gregg that you are in England, and he said, "Too bad! This week is breaking records for heat. I hope she's not miserable."

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  12. Knowing how much you needed a break this summer, I am really sorry to hear that it has not been the restorative break you so badly required. Unrelieved pain is so debilitating--hard to concentrate or rest easy. If you can, Mary Moon's back suggestions are good--a therapeutic massage would really help with all the tension you are carrying, too. A real shame about having to remove the school aquariums (and the massive amount of work that requires). Was this something the new principal decided? My grandchildren's elementary school has two of them and they are well loved by the children. Hope your book club meeting provides a bright spot in an otherwise dark period. Glad you have Gregg, George, Poppy, and Marco by your side. Fingers crossed that a new job opportunity is forthcoming in the next year.

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    1. Yes, moving the aquariums was the new principal's decision. See my reply to Steve, below. I'm excited about book club tonight and I'm making some (hopefully) very tasty food for it. I'll post food pictures later!

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  13. Wait -- I think I missed this news about the aquariums. Why are they being removed? I thought everyone enjoyed them! In any case, sorry your house has turned into a fish hostel and I hope you find them new homes soon.

    This has been a challenging summer in many ways! Enjoy the rest of it as best you can and keep us posted!

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    1. The new principal immediately asked for Gregg to move the big beautiful lobby aquarium to a new spot--which he did, free of charge--and then two days later, after seeing the price of maintaining the aquariums (Gregg's servicing fees and supplies) she called him and asked him to remove both aquariums altogether. Yes, everyone loved them, but she doesn't want to pay for them. Fair enough, but she was curt and rude about it, and never apologized for making him do all the work of moving one of them TWO DAYS before she made that decision. And then she wanted it all done immediately, never taking into account that Gregg has other jobs to do. It was a relief to get the last one done this past Monday.

      This is another reason I'm dreading this new school year so much.

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  14. Poppy looks adorable. Sorry that she hasnt been too well. A beautiful I have discovered today

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  15. Dear me! Never a dull moment there is it. I hope by now Sunday things including pooch are improved.

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  16. good for Poppy.....and that school is a bunch of assholes.

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