Saturday, August 5, 2017

August Is Here!

Yes, August is here and that means I'm off to the UK for two weeks!!  I  can't believe the time has arrived!  The Wingrove Event Planners International have designed a great itinerary for me, allowing me to have time with lots of longtime friends.  So, in addition to Katie and Adrian's wedding, there will be lots of reunions, to which I'm really looking forward.  

Eileen is my first stop, and while I'm with her we will travel to Manchester to visit Allan's sister and her family.  There have been three additional grandchildren since my last visit, so many little ones to meet.  On the weekend, Eileen and I will travel down to Bath for the wedding, which should be a happy, festive weekend.  She will then drop me off at the Camerons for a couple of nights.  While I saw Dave and Jenny at the 2015 reunion, their "children" are now young women!!  Ann and Martin will pick me up there and I'll have some time with them, which is really exciting as I haven't been to Dorset or seen their new house.  We also plan an overnight in Bristol in hopes of meeting up with the Thomases and possibly the Marshes.  No doubt there will be many embarrassing memories shared over a glass or two of wine!  I wish I could see everyone, but I'm a bit disoriented about where Ann and Martin are now located.  In any event, we are really maximizing my time - and we ladies do have to have some time to just sit and "chew the fat".  I'm really looking forward to it all and it's great that it"s centered around such a happy occasion.

Started packing today - at least selecting clothes and seeing that all will fit before pressing, etc.  Even that presented a problem as Mama Mia decided she might want to travel a bit, too!  She kept moving to whatever section of the bed I was working, until I finally had to give up and try again later.

Preparations were not without drama.  Several weeks ago I had to take Rosie to the vet.  She was very lethargic and two days straight she threw up clear, bubbly stuff immediately follow by a white, thick mucous that she could hardly spit out.  When I threw a squeaky toy down the hall and she didn't move from her bed, I knew something was really wrong.  The vet didn't know the source of the problem, unless she had eaten something that made her ill.  He gave her and antibiotic shot and sent me home with another antibiotic and something for the vomiting.  It took a few days, but she recovered and returned to her usual happy, perky self.  This is the first time she has been sick and I was very concerned......am so glad she is better.




Then this week it was Mama Mia, who had a severe case of constipation.  This has been an ongoing problem for her, but this was an extreme case, to the tune of about $500!!  Because she was (and pretty much remains) a feral cat, they had to handle her with gloves and anesthetize her in order to do the examination.  They gave her an enema and kept her overnight to be sure she was pooping.  Then the vet sent me home with some chew-able tabs to put in her food - that was very iffy!  Plan B was to add coconut oil or mineral oil to her food, which she stopped eating!  After two days without pooping (partially because she wasn't eating) one of the people who will be caring for my pets while I'm away stopped by and asked if I'd tried Miralax.  So I researched it online and most people added it to moist food, which Mama doesn't eat.  Finally, I found people whose cats only eat dry food and they added Miralax to the dry food.  So, I tried that and it seemed to adhere to the dry food and is tasteless and odorless.  I put it on her food one night and the next morning she had eaten it all.  Twenty-four hours later - poop!!  Who would ever expected one would be so happy about poop!  I'm hoping things will be normalize by the time I leave........never a dull moment!

Otherwise, I devote much of my time to The Resistance!!  We actually prevented the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) from being repealed even though the Repugs hold all branches of government.......and it's mostly women doing this!!  In fact, when they determined who was active in this process, the answer was "your mother"......not the vulgar term, but women old enough to be your mother or grandmother.  Also, it appears that many more women are running for office, which I think is a wonderful thing.  My feeling is that the world will be a better place when women claim their power and use it for good!! HOWEVER, I have to confess that it has all been exhausting and depressing!  I really can't imagine having to do this for 4 (or God forbid, 8!!) years......but if we don't, the USA will be a 3rd world autocracy of some sort that you will not recognize.  I think much of this was inspired by the Women's March in DC the day after the Inauguration, which makes me even more proud that I participated.....on the day after my 70th birthday!!  WOMEN ROCK!!

This is a sweet thing that happened today. The lady who cleans my house every couple of weeks in from Mexico.  She originally worked for a cleaning service that abruptly shut down, but she contacted me about continuing to clean my house.  Eventually, her niece joined her.  Well, Anna, her niece, was away for awhile, visiting her family in Mexico.  Today was her first day back and she brought me this cute little basket and some sweets - dried sweet potato and fig.  That was just so sweet!!  It made my day!

Will close now but wanted to touch bases before I head out.  I hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the season.  No doubt I will have lots to share when I get back!  In the meantime, take care and enjoy every minute!