#2966 3 things: Mac, MT update, '80s music

 

1. Mac, my black dog, wasn't feeling well this morning. There was puke and poop on the floor, and I knew she did it because she looked guilty and miserable. Her ears normally point up and she holds her tail high, like a husky, but today her ears were flat and her tail was low and tucked. Her eyes were sad and kind of unfocused, and she wobbled and swayed when she was standing. The biggest thing that made me feel worried was that she didn't eat her breakfast at all. She wouldn't even eat a kibble from my hand. I thought I might have to take her to the emergency vet so I stayed home to keep an eye on her. She was quiet and subdued all day and followed me around the house, always laying near me. She didn't want to be petted, necessarily, but she wanted to be close. I'm happy to say that she ate her dinner and played outside a little this evening. She's still quiet and sleeping a lot, and I think that is okay. Hopefully she will be back to normal tomorrow. Mac does have an appointment with the vet on Monday to get her shots, so I'll mention that she didn't seem to feel well today.

2. MT is on day 26 of his Colorado Trail through-hike. He messaged me tonight that he is at mile 310, and camping with a couple of people. On Tuesday he sent a message from mile 288 and he seemed down, lonely and homesick. He seems to be okay again now. He did tell me that when he was hiking yesterday, he heard a helicopter overhead, which was unusual, and then he came upon three forest rangers who were monitoring a nearby fire. MT said he didn't see or smell the fire at all. The thing that's cool is that at mile 310, he has travelled further than he has left to go. The end isn't quite in sight, but it is closer than the beginning of the trail. Amazing!

3. '80s music just hits the spot sometimes for me, and last night I got a belly full of fun '80s music at Red Butte Garden. The concert was called "I Want My '80s" and four bands played: Paul Young, Wang Chung, John Waite, and Rick Springfield. My favorite of the four was Wang Chung. They sounded great, and I knew every one of the six songs they played. They just had a 30 minute set and it was tight and fantastic. Rick Springfield was my second favorite. He was fun. He kept mentioning the elevation and seemed to be having a hard time catching his breath. The crowd happily filled in when he wasn't singing. A funny part of the show, to me, was a singing contest between the under 55 fans and the 56 and over fans. (LOL) 56 and over won resoundingly. We were LOUD and there were probably more of us, to be honest. Hahaha  It was all totally rad!

 

#2965 July recap

My mom has a blog and mostly she posts once a month, and it is a recap of stuff she did during that month. I'm going to do something similar, and it is based on what I've been doing in my journal. At the end of the month, I choose five or six photos that are highlights or memorable things  of that month.  Let's see how it goes:

I finally had a picnic lunch at a cut-away in Red Butte Garden. I've been wanting to do it for years, but never made it happen until July 2025. I really enjoyed doing this.

Although MT's hike on the Colorado Trail isn't my adventure, it is a huge part of my month. He is having a great time, and is making good progress. Today (3 Aug) is his 22nd day on the trail, and he's gone 250 miles. He is currently taking a zero mile day in Salida, CO. On Thursday he hiked over 20 miles and his feet were tired and sore. He got into Salida yesterday (Saturday), and decided to rest there today.

My favorite concert this month (and it might be the best one of the summer), was Rhiannon Giddens at Red Butte Garden. She is an exceptional talent: a two-time Grammy winner, a Pulitzer prize winner, and a McArthur grant recipient. She's an amazing musician and has a beautiful voice. I was mesmerized by this show. I hope she comes back to RBG every year.

One of the things I get to do at Red Butte Garden is to record blooms in the Children's Garden. This year I kept thinking how fun it would be to get a little fairy figurine and place her in different spots for photos. I finally decided to actually make it happen in July. I found this sweet little fairy with a book in the gift shop, and I had the best time taking her photo one day while I was recording blooms. I think I have about a dozen photos right now, all in the Children's Garden. She'll probably make her way around to other areas eventually. I really love these photos. It was exactly what I envisioned.

July 24 is Pioneer Day, a state holiday here in Utah. It is the day Brigham Young and the pioneers came through Emigration Pass, looked at the valley, and said, "This is the place." For us non-believers, we have morphed Pioneer Day into Pie and Beer Day. I had a slice of pecan pie from bougie Harmons and a local beer from Salt Flats Brewing Co called Save the Lake pilsner. Delightful.

For the last photo, I had to include a pic of Harley at the vet's office. There hadn't been time to give her a doggie downer, and she was sorta bonkers. The girl has no chill. I thought she had a UTI, and she may have, but the urine sample that was tested last week did not show any bacteria, but there are little crystals in her pee which could be something else, although I can't remember what the vet called it. Dr. Cauthen and I agreed that I'd monitor Harley for more random pee leakage, and if it happens again, we'll do a different test to see what we can see.

Have a good week!

 

# 2964 three things I'm looking forward to in August

 It's time to turn the calendar page, and here are three things I'm looking forward to in August.

1. Lots of live music!  August is my busiest concert month at Red Butte Garden. I'm scheduled to work at five shows: Rick Springfield, Michael Franti, My Morning Jacket, ZZ Top, and Keb'Mo' with Shawn Colvin. There were supposed to be six shows, but Ray LaMontagne rescheduled his show for next year. In addition, I am going to see Chris Stapleton perform at Utah First FCU Amphitheater (formerly USANA Amphitheater). 

2. Trip prep! I know August is going to rush by and the trip to Central Europe will be here before I know it. August is the time to get my clothing and shoes selected, gather some art supplies, make sure all the documents are in order, and research is done. 

3. MT will come home. At least I hope he'll be back in August. When we were talking the other day, we thought he had a good chance to get home by the end of the month. He's gone about 210 miles as of today, and he's been on the trail for 19 days. If it takes another 20 days to go the next 210 miles, then he would have a week to travel the last 80 or so miles. It could happen. My wish is that he is home by Sept 4 at the latest, because I leave on the 5th, and I'd like to see him before I go on my trip.

BONUS THING:

*Harley got a clean bill of health from the vet. She did have a UTI, but I treated it at home with  cranberry-infused doggie urinary tract supplement chews I purchased on Amazon. Harley likes the chews, and it seems to have worked. YAY!

#2963 dogs get UTIs too

I was supposed to be in southern California this weekend. Things changed because of T's deep muscle contusion and the fact that he was having a hard time walking and seemed downright miserable, so I cancelled the trip and stayed home instead. After I made the decision to stay home instead of go on my trip, I had myself a little pity party for ten minutes or so, then I decided to make the best of it. I made a list of things I wanted to do: make art, write, clean the kitchen, read, and relax. It seemed like it would all be okay until Harley, the lab, got a urinary tract infection. 

How do I know she had a UTI? Well, she was leaking pee. Where? On my bed. Yeah. It was gross.

Thursday night I noticed she was licking her privates a lot, which is not pleasant to witness. She was up on my bed, lickinglickinglicking. I told her to stop, and she did, but the damage was done. There was a big, stinky wet spot . I stripped the bed - this was around 2:30 a.m. -- and stomped into the spare room, closing the doors. Mac howled. Stella scratched at the door. Harley felt ashamed. I laid in the bed obsessing about how to get the stains and smell out of the mattress. I googled how to do it, then I got on Amazon and ordered a waterproof mattress cover and a new pillow top for the mattress for good measure. I fell asleep around 4:30. 

T woke me up around 6:30 am because he needed something, so I got up and moved around slowly, thinking about having a nice cup of coffee. I never did get that coffee because stuff kept coming up, and I was tired and dragging. I called the vet around 10:15 to schedule an appointment for Harley to get some meds. They had an opening at 10:30, could I make it? HECK YEAH! We'll be there. The vet's office is just a few blocks away. 

The thing is that Harley gets way amped up when she gets to go anywhere. I always give her a doggie downer before going to the vet or the groomer, but since we only had 15 minutes to get to the vet, there wasn't time to give her the downer, and she was bonkers hyper. On top of that, Mac managed to slip out the door and run straight to the car because she wanted to go for a ride. Stella also got out and ran to the car, but she came back in with the offer or a cookie. Not Mac, though, so she just came along. 

The hour I spent at the vet was a total shitshow. The vet was busy, and I didn't want to wait too long since Mac was out in the car. I waited about 30 minutes and told them I'd call to reschedule. Harley and I got out to the car and the tech came running out and said she'd put us in a room right away, so we went back in. The plan was to extract some urine from Harley and test it to make sure it really was a UTI.. They were also going to draw some blood to check her thyroid because she lost four more pounds since we were there a month or so ago. (She's skinny - just 64 lbs now). However, no urine or blood was able to be drawn because the dog was so hyper five techs could not  hold her still enough to get any samples. The tech came back in, covered with Harley hair, to give me the news. We now have an appointment at 9:30 on Wednesday morning. Doggie downer will be given before the visit.

The new bedding arrived, and I made up my bed all fresh and nice. Ooh, that new pillow top is decadent! I'm happy to say the waterproof pad works nicely, however my sheets got leaked on and I again was stripping the bed in the early morning hours, laying in the spare bed, shopping Amazon for doggie diapers and UTI chews. 

Saturday I dutifully did a bunch of laundry and again made up my bed nice and fresh. The doggie diaper didn't fit. She liked the chew, and I think it's helping, but I decided that no dogs would be allowed to sleep with me. (I know. Why didn't I do that before? I don't know.)  I'm happy to say I had a delicious sleep last night, and I haven't even had to have a nap today. 

Between caring for the dogs and caring for T, the staycation wasn't everything I'd hoped it would be, honestly. Today has been a good day. though I spent the morning drinking coffee and reading, then I cleaned the house. It really needed it and I feel glad that I took the time. It's just much better. I've been reading, drawing, writing, and eating cookies I got from Crumbl yesterday. I've only left the house once today to get some ice. 

AN UDPATE ABOUT T:

The quad muscle has relaxed significantly, although T says that he now has pain in his calf muscle. I do feel a little tightness there, but I think he's mostly better. I don't know what will happen with his work at FedEx. I think he is worried about re-injuring that quad muscle. More to come on that.

AN UPDATE ABOUT MT:

My husband has been hiking the Colorado Trail for two weeks now. When I spoke to him earlier today, he was on mile 170.6, and he is a happy hiker!

Have a great week!

xo

#2962 wait, there IS more

 

This weekend I was at the day spa getting a little self-care maintenance: brows groomed, a manicure, and a pedicure. I hadn't been to the spa since November, so I was due! I am fortunate to have an awesome aesthetician named Baily, who is not only a master aesthetician but also a competitive short-track speed skater. She's amazing! 

Since we haven't seen each other since November, we had some catching up to do. She was telling me about her boyfriend training to get a spot on the Olympic short-track team, how they are going to Montreal in October for a World Cup event to qualify for the Olympic team, and how excited she is about possibly going to Milan in February. She said she won't be on the team, but she'll go to support her boyfriend. Then she asked me what I've been doing this summer, and I said, "Just working." I did mention that I volunteer at RBGA and that I'm going on vacation in September, but my main reply was, "Just working."

As I was gazing at my pretty painted toenails the next day, I thought about our conversation, and I was annoyed with my dumb answer. I have been doing SO much more than just working. In fact, I'm am working fewer hours this summer than I have in the past. I do lots of stuff besides work! I could have told her that I've been to nine concerts so far this summer. I look at flowers and I talk to people from all over the U.S. and the world. I've read 12 books in the last three months. I spend good time with my dogs every day, taking them for walks and playing with the frisbee every morning. I'm holding down the fort at home while MT builds our real estate empire (lol) and takes time to pursue his dream of doing a major through hike. I write, draw, and paint. I plan, dream, and think deep thoughts. I go to the movies. I collect stickers. I take photos. I sit on the deck and practice the Italian art of dolce far niente. I am learning to speak French, Spanish, and Italian with Duolingo, practicing at least a little, and sometime a lot, every day. I have a 494 consecutive day streak in the app for goodness sake! I am healing my metabolism. I'm thinking about the next phase of my life. I am mostly filled with le joie de vivre. I AM WAY MORE THAN WHAT I DO TO COLLECT A PAYCHECK.

And you know what? The next time I see Baily at the end of August, I'm going to tell her all that stuff.

#2961 3 things: Sunday family version

This pic is an oldie but a goodie from back in 2020. That's Mac photobombing our family portrait, back when she was an only dog.

Tonight I wanted to take a quick minute to update y'all on the three of us.

1. MT. He has been out on the Colorado Trail for eight days now and has covered 102.4 miles with no off days. He did go off-trail on Thursday afternoon to spend the night in the town of Fairplay. He wanted a shower and to wash some clothes, and he was back on-trail the next day. Tomorrow will be a "zero day," a day of rest, zero time on trail. He is in the town of Frisco at a hotel. When I talked to him tonight, he was appreciating the comfort of a bed and air conditioning. He feels good, is pleased with his progress, and is happy to be doing the hike. Here is a pic he posted on Facebook tonight:

MT on the Colorado Trail

2. T. Right now, the youngest member of the family is the least mobile. T has a deep bruise in his right quad muscle. On Thursday he was in so much pain, his whole body was quivering and he could hardly put weight on the leg. I took him to the ER where he was diagnosed with this deep bruise. The only cure for it is to mitigate the pain with a layering of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, heat/ice, and rest. He's been doing the resting, but hasn't been as diligent about the other parts. Today when I got home from RBGA (Red Butte Garden and Arboretum), he was in tears from the pain. He was scheduled to go back to work at FedEx tomorrow, but there's no way he could do the job. We went back to the ER and the doctor extended his order for T to have until July 24 off. This evening I have been monitoring his heat/ice schedule, making sure he has his meds and plenty of hydrating liquids, and encouraged him to take a shower which cooled his body and his temper. He is more calm now, but still in pain.

3. Me. I am doing okay. I have decided to cancel my trip to CA to visit Mom and Lizzie this week because I feel that it will be better for me to stay home with T, especially as he is having such a hard time walking. I'm bummed, for sure. I was looking forward to seeing my fav women. I just didn't feel right about leaving T. 

So there you have it. MT is having his turn at living his best life. T is experiencing physical pain for maybe the first time, and I am just plugging along. Hopefully I will have a good update on T for you on Wednesday or Thursday. 

Have a great week! 

#2960 good times this weekend

There has been a lot happening at my house in the past few days. Let me tell you about it.

On Friday, I worked at the office in the morning, then came home at 1:00 to finish up my workday, and to have a chance to say good-bye to MT as he set off for his through-hike on the Colorado Trail. I felt emotional when he left - like, I actually cried. I wasn't expecting that, and I was puzzled by this reaction. Hang on to that thought, because we'll circle back to it in a bit.

That night, T and I went to see the new Superman movie on an IMAX screen. I didn't really want to see it, but I did really want to hang out with my son. I didn't really particularly like or dislike the movie. T really liked it, and I think I was the only person in the theater with a meh response. There was a lot of cheering and clapping at the end of the show.

Yesterday (Saturday), I was up fairly early to play with the dogs, water the plants, and feed the birds; it's my usual morning routine. I also cleaned up the kitchen and made some nice coffee, then did the bookkeeping. T's friend Jordyn came over and they were day drinking. It sounded fun, but I had other things to do.

I'd decided earlier in the week that I was going to fulfill a wish that I'd had for years, and that was to have a picnic in a cutaway at RBG. There are two cutaways on the main trail; basically, they are little patios in the trees along the northeast part of the trail. I stopped by Delice, a French bakery/cafe for a baguette with ham, cheese, and butter. There were also cornichons, but I swiped them off quickly. Of course I also got a kouign amman for later. For a drink, I stopped at Starbucks for a green tea lemonade. I felt like it was a very nice meal.  Since it was around 2:00, I had no problem getting a table in a cutaway, and it was everything I wanted it to be. I was truly delighted by the whole event! Here are some photos:

ham & cheese baguette, chips, and green tea lemonade

nom nom nom

livin' the dream!

After the meal, I recorded blooms in the Children's Garden. It was glorious. I want to show you this pic of a blooming yucca plant. She's not in the Children's Garden, but you can see her from there. 

blooming yucca in the Water Conservation Garden

She's gotta be 15 - 20 feet tall! I love it!!

When the blooms were recorded, I stopped at bougie Harmon's for a salad and some good German pilsner. I sat out on the back deck at home. The dogs ran around while I ate my salad, drank some beer, and read a book. It was truly pleasant. I kinda feel like having a meal outside is one of the simple pleasures of life. 

With a slight buzz, I came inside the house, ate my kouign amman, and turned on Netflix to watch the movie Nonnas. It was cute. Then I put clean, fresh sheets on my bed and went to sleep. It was a good day.

This morning I slept a bit late until the dogs wouldn't let me sleep anymore. I actually appreciated them getting me up since I slept through my alarm. Just as I was about to leave the house to go back up to the Garden, my SIL Janet sent me this photo of MT:

MT's first day on the Colorado Trail

Again, I teared up and I think I know why: I should have taken him to Denver. I should have driven him to Pocatello, then rode along with them to Denver to drop him off at the trailhead. What I was feeling was guilt and selfishness. I also feel worry, and concern, and sadness that he is doing this adventure alone. Not that I would hike 500 miles in the Colorado mountains, but it's a bummer that he doesn't have a trail buddy. He is not a solitary individual like I am. I know he'll be okay and that he will get a bunch of new stories to tell from this trip. I'll miss him, though. When he was in Pocatello for the past six months, I knew that he could come home just about any time, and I could talk to him every day, which we mostly did. It's much more difficult to come home now since he'll be out in the wilderness, and we probably won't get to talk as much.  He did call me this morning as he was walking, and he said he has some butterflies about the whole thing, and he is excited and happy that he is doing it. Anyway, I'll keep you updated as I hear from him.

The docent shift was uneventful. It was pretty slow early, then picked up quite a bit after 11:00. I stopped at Raising Cane's for lunch, and now I'll be getting ready to go back up to the Garden to work at a concert. Tonight's performers are Watchhouse, a duo from North Carolina that I saw play RBG when they were known as Mandolin Orange. Their music is folky/Americana. Very on-brand for RBG and it will be a good show. I am working the recycling station.

I guess that's all I've got to say for now. Have a great week! Please keep MT in your thoughts, and send good vibes for his safety and health.

XOXO