#3036 three things: Harley, a short walk, and Harry Styles

 1. Harley health follow up. I took Harley back to the urgent care vet this morning for a follow up on her appointment last month. Last month she had terrible runny poop, she looked emaciated and uncared for, and her leg was hurting. She had bloodwork, xrays, and got a bunch of medicine out of it (and it was quite expensive.) I'm glad to say that she is feeling much better. She hasn't gained any weight; she's still around 53 lbs and the vet wants her to put on about five more lbs. To do that, I'm going to add puppy food to her regular food because puppy food has more nutrients and fat to help puppies grow. (This is the recommendation from the vet.) Harley had a great time at the vet today. She really loves to go for rides and have new people pet her. She was such a good girl that I got her a pup cup from Starbucks afterward. Now she is sleeping off the doggie downer I have to give her before a vet visit. She is mellow at home but a totally bonkers Lab at the vet.

2. We went for a walk! Since I broke my wrist, I haven't taken the dogs for walks. I did walk Mac a week ago with MT because Mac is a bit easier to walk. She is content to amble along and smell all the smells whereas Harley just likes to walk and pull. Because Harley had some doggie downer on board, I decided to walk them around the block. I held the leashes with my left hand and they were very good girls. I had no problems or worries. My wrist is getting stronger, and I am whittling down the time I have the brace on my arm. I'm still sleeping with it on, but during the day, I have it off for longer periods of time. The wrist doesn't really hurt. It is stiff and doesn't have full mobility, but it's coming along. I can lift and carry stuff that I haven't been able to manage for awhile. I have a follow up with the surgeon on Tuesday, so I'll let you know what he says about my recovery and next steps.

3. All Harry all the time. Maybe you know that Harry Styles released a new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.  I like the music. On Monday night I watched the album release concert on Netflix, and it was enjoyable. He performed all the songs on the new record top to bottom, then he did a few of his older songs. The first single from the new record, Aperture, is an ear worm. I wake up singing it. If you have five minutes, I highly recommend watching this clip of Harry's performance of Aperture at the BRIT Awards. It looks and sounds amazing, IMO. 

Enjoy the rest of the week!

xo

PS I just noticed there is no mention of Stella in this post. She is absolutely fine and is a happy, noisy terrier. She still loves to catch a frisbee and run around the yard. She is the definition of play hard, rest hard.

#3035 for the women

 

I hope you've all had a great day.

#3034 spring refresh

 

new wee calendar!

Happy March! I feel spring in the air, don't you? The tulips in the dirt/flower patch between our house and the neighbor's house have started to sprout. The leaves on one of the maple trees are budding merrily. The other trees aren't doing anything yet, but they will. I know there is every chance that we will get snow this month, but I appreciate the weather we have had so far. Today was sunny and warm, around 60 degrees. The dogs were outside most of the day and I had the windows open in the house. 

Yesterday I went to get a haircut. I usually have one about every 12 weeks, but this time I went 15 weeks between cuts. Oof...my hair looked rough.

before

The same woman has been cutting my hair for nearly 25 years, and all during that time, she has been in the same salon at the same station. As a long-timer at my job, I can appreciate her longevity. I always like how she cuts my hair. She knows my hair and how to coax it into cuteness that I can not duplicate. 

after

I added the little flower-y frame with my sprocket printer. I am always amazed at how light my hair is getting as I grow older. It used to be so red. Now it is definitely strawberry blond with strips of white.

Wow! It is quite windy out now. I just checked the weather app and the high temperature tomorrow is going to be in the low 40s with a chance of rain. Good thing I haven't put away my sweaters yet.

That's all I've got today. I think I'll do a language lesson and crawl in bed to read for a bit. 

xo

#3033 lunchtime adventure

On Monday I had a lunch date with my friend Wendy from work. We were looking forward to having empanadas from Empanada Co. Unfortunately, we didn't check their hours ahead of time, and when we got there, we found out the restaurant is closed on Monday. 

In the same complex, there is (was) a kolach store, and we usually get a couple of kolaches while we are in the area. Unfortunately, the kolach store, Hruska's Kolaches, has moved, so that place was closed, too.

In the building behind the empanada store is a place called Wasatch Tap Room. It's part of the Squatter's Brewery group. I thought they might have a restaurant, so we walked over there and they were open, but unfortunately, it is just a bar, no food, so we left.

We looked at the map program to find restaurants near me. Sugarhouse, the neighborhood we were in, has a gazillion places to eat. A restaurant I've been to,  Fiddler's,  popped up as being nearby, so we decided to go there. It is classified as a bar, even though it has a big dining area and menu, so according to Utah laws, you have to show your ID even if you are clearly over 21 years old. Unfortunately, Wendy did not have her ID with her since I drove, so we left that place, too.

We decided to go to Pretty Bird because we knew where it was and we knew we could get in there easily. I had chicken strips and fries and it was really good. We were bummed not to have empanadas, but we have already made plans to go to Empanda Co on March 10, a Tuesday, so we can satisfy our taste buds. We might even find Hruska's new location and get a kolach as well!

#3032 injury update and February art gallery

I want to start by telling you I was able to watch the overtime period of the men's hockey match this morning, and I got teary-eyed when the U.S. scored and won the game. I did! I'm such a sucker for stuff like that! If you watched, you no doubt know that it was 46 years ago today that the U.S. hockey team beat Russia in Lake Placid. That was not the gold medal game, but it is the Miracle on Ice, and the U.S. team did go on to win the gold that year, and haven't done it since...until today.

I love watching the Olympics, and I think the winter games are my favorite. Of course, in a couple of years, when the summer games roll around, I might say those are my favorite. I really just love the Olympics. Watching the Games these past couple weeks has trained me for sitting in front of my TV for a few hours every night, and I am okay with that!

So it's been nearly two weeks since I had the splint removed following the surgery to put my wrist back together. I am wearing a brace about 60 percent of the time, including when I sleep. The wrist is getting stronger and has more mobility. It is also still tender, a bit swollen, and tires easily. Do wrists get tired? Yes. The scar is healing well, and I'm glad about that. I put Vaseline on it several times a day to keep it from drying out and to aid in the healing. Here is a a photo of the scar when I first got the splint off, and a photo I took earlier this week.

February 10

February 18

There were 12 stitches and a lot of bruising. You can see the bruising is mostly gone now - in fact, you can't see any in the bottom photo, but there is still a bit of bruising on the arm below where this photo ends. My next follow up with the surgeon is on March 17. I don't think I will have to do any physical therapy. I move the wrist every day and gently squeeze a stress ball to gain some strength. I do have some pain on the knuckle of my bird finger on the right hand when I make a fist. I'm hoping I can work through that with the stress ball.

I think I'll make my own little art gallery logo!

Since it's the last Sunday of the month, I thought it would be fun to show you some of the art I've made this month. Most of these are responses to Jill the Artist's prompts.

This first one I did on January 25, the day before the wrist injury. The prompt was "texture" so I attempted to create texture on the flowers by putting water down and dropping paint in. Then I scribbled around the flowers with marker. 

"Arrangement"

This next mess was done on Jan. 29, the day after the surgery. The prompt was "bridge." In my Percocet-clouded mind, I saw myself making a cool abstract of the Pont Sant'Angelo in Rome with St. Peter's Basilica in the back (the pink splotch.)  This was all done with my left hand. Umm...okay.

"Abstract Pont Sant'Angelo by Lefty"

I took a little time off to heal after the bridge prompt because it just wasn't very fun or comfortable to pain with the splint. The prompt for this next one is, big surprise, "owl". I did this one in watercolor pencil, and I think he turned out pretty well.

"Owl in watercolor pencil"

Usually I draw and paint my wee calendar before the end of the month, but this little piggy happened right around Valentine's Day. I think I might do all animals for the calendars this year.

my February wee calendar

The next prompt from Jill was to make yourself a Valentine. I went looked at some ideas on Pinterest, and I really liked a wreath of hearts that I saw. I finished it, then had the idea to add paint droplets to it, but some of the droplets were kinda big and reminded me of something yucky, so I decided to smear the paint and draw some extra hearts. It's not as cute as I wanted it to be, but that's okay.

"Heart Hug"

The prompt for this last one was "path". I took up a gray colored pencil and got after it.  

"Late Winter Path"

Yes, I do name all my little drawings because why not? I did do one tonight, but I just shared it with the Underground group (Jill's art and writing group), so I'll share it with you next month.

There are many things I haven't liked about breaking my wrist. It's been pretty sucky overall, and not being able to write or draw was one of the things I missed the most. I still have to limit the time I spend without the brace because like I said, my wrist gets sore and tired, but I am so glad to be able to write in my journal, and here on my computer. It was uncomfortable to type with the splint on. As for drawing and painting, I have a lot of enthusiasm for it, and I like to do it every day.

That's all I've got for tonight. Take care!

xo

#3031 three things: DNF

1. DNF. These three letters stand for Did Not Finish in the world of book lists. I love lists, as you may know, and I keep track of three lists on Goodreads: Currently Reading, Read, and Want to Read. If I have a pile of books, physical or electronic, I call that my TBR, the To Be Read pile/list. I just saw that Goodreads is going to add a DNF list soon, and I think that's cool because sometimes a book seems interesting and readable, but when you get to it, it just doesn't tickle your fancy. That's when it has to go on the DNF list. I used to tell myself that I needed to give a book 100 pages before I gave it a DNF. Now, I'm a little more picky and give a book 41 pages (100 minus my age.) Life is short and there are too many books out there to waste on a book that doesn't grab me in 41 pages. I have had two DNFs in the past couple of weeks.

2. DNF The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. I have seen this book several "best" lists, so when it came up on Amazon for less than $5, I decided to get it on my kindle. I really like stories about people from India, and the premise sounding promising. Unfortunately, I didn't care for the writing or the characters I met. I gave it 52 pages, but there was no way I wanted to wade through the 600 plus pages of this book, so to DNF it went.

3. DNF Murder in the Mystery Suite. This book is a cozy mystery that I had on audio from the library. I enjoy a cozy mystery now and then, and I thought this would be a fun one to listen to while I'm cleaning the house or driving around. However, I really didn't care for the reader's intonations and the weird accents she gave to some of the characters. Maybe I'd like it better if I actually read it in book form? I was going to listen to it anyway, but then a book I'd had on hold became available and I was more interested in that one, so the cozy mystery went to DNF.

Do you ever DNF a book? How many pages do you usually give yourself before you give it up?
 

#3030 that b*tch scared my dogs

 

This isn't a three things post, but I like this pic of the dogs, and this post is about them.

Mac, the black dog, and Stella, the scruffy terrier, love to be outside. Harley, the white dog, likes to be outside if it is warm and sunny. We have a big backyard enclosed by a chain link fence.  The three of them lay in the yard and watch the world go by, barking at passers-by. The don't jump up and growl and act mean, although Mac does look kinda scary and has a loud bark, but she is very shy. Harley wants to be petted, and Stella brings a toy in hopes that the person will somehow play with her. Usually people will just walk on by. Sometimes I'll hear them say "Shut up!" Sometimes I will see them petting Harley or trying to get Stella's toy to throw to her. Mac doesn't want to be petted or played with. She'll stay away and bark or just watch. 

Where am I watching from, you may ask? My office window upstairs. I have a good view of most of the yard from up there so I can keep an eye on the dogs. 

Just now I was sitting down here at my computer and I heard the dogs barking, and I heard a person yelling at them. I looked out the window, and there was a woman in a red sweatshirt, pants, and a white bobble-hat absolutely losing her sh*t at my dogs. There's a green electrical box just outside the fence, and she kicked it ferociously a couple of times while yelling at the dogs. I could hear her upstairs in my office with the window closed yelling mean words at Mac who was at the opposite end of the yard - I couldn't even see her. Stella and Harley got scared and ran inside and Mac was right behind them, and the onery woman walked on up the street. Now all three dogs are inside and they are quiet. Stella is hiding in the closet. Harley is on her bed here in the office with me. Mac is hiding on T's bed. 

Honestly, I know the barking is annoying. It annoys me, but I also know they are dogs and that's what they do. I go for walks and dogs bark at me and I just keep walking. Maybe that woman didn't get a Valentine yesterday and she took out her frustration on my critters. All I can say is, "Have the day you deserve, ma'am."