Archive of Marcia's Musings April 21-27, 2003Sunday, April 27, 2003
Hugely Busy!!
Yesterday was a hugely busy day!! In the morning, I had a client come over for a fitting-- Katy's dress is PERFECT for her!! Before and after her fitting, I continued to sew on Allex's tops (three of them) and was able to finish them before we went to pick up Sally. We got home from there are 1pm and the two of us spent the next couple of hours trying to get her settled back into the house. She seems less skittish today but yesterday she seemed very skittish.
Although she slept in our room like normal last night, we are leaving her downstairs for the most part because her depth perception isn't good for going down the stairs. Obviously, going up and down them by herself is out of the question so, to ensure that she doesn't when we're not here, we've got the baby gate back up.
Ebony came over around 4:30 to spend the evening with her while Jim & Lee and Judy & Jim (my co-workers and their husbands) and Brian & I went out to see The Capitol Steps at the Ronald Reagan Building. Judy had the idea a couple of months back and then, when I was working at the Viking store, one of my co-workers (the crazy one who it seemed, had to hold herself back from breaking into a song-n-dance routine when she was teaching a class) mentioned in passing that she was in The Capital Steps!!
When we bought the tickets for the show, I told Linda Rose (pronounced like "Ellie Mae") the date of the show that we had tickets for and she declared that it would be the day that she worked the show. If it wasn't already on the schedule that way, she would make sure she was on the schedule for that show!!
Wow!!! Fan-tab-u-lous!!!! She has a MARVELOUS voice!!!! After the show, we waited for her to come to the lobby and we talked with her for a few minutes-- I had no idea she'd been in summer stock shows and had been doing the Steps for 5 years!!! What is she doing in a Viking store???? Okay, the steady paycheck thing probably comes in handy but laugh?!?!? We laughed soooooo hard!!!!
It was a wonderful show-- you've got to listen to some of the bits on the website: I think Condoleeza was one of my favorite (Linda Rose sang that last night) but there were sooooo many wonderful numbers!!! We'll be going back to that again when Brian's folks come to town or our friends, Pat & Nathan, are here. TOOOOOOOO Funny!!!!!
That was Then . . .
. . . and this is reality. Still lots to do today. The grocery and warehouse store runs, along with some sewing for me (!!!) and a few other things. Hopefully, Allex will be able to come over to pick up her tops today; I know she needs them!!
More to come later . . . probably. Have a nice day!
Saturday, April 26, 2003Sally Came HOME!!!!
Friday, April 25, 2003Another Busy Day!!
I made a trip to Columbia today to pick up a sewing machine foot from the Viking Gallery along with a couple of other needed items from them and from the fabric store there. The fabric store was having a sale on cone thread (the kind used with sergers) so I stocked up-- big time-- and bought a big storage box for storage of it. This is one of the last times that I'll be able to take advantage of the discount that I was getting from the fabric store since my card expires on the 30th. I probably won't get it renewed for obvious reasons.
I'm glad I went though because I was able to get a color of thread that matched one of the Allex's tops better than the other colors that I had in my current stock. Of course, the fact that I picked up at least 8 to 10 other colors (at 4 cones each) explains why I needed the storage box!
Then I went to see our Sally . . .
Another Sally Update
Well, let's see: when I walked in, they all greeted me with "There's the Anxious Mom we've been waiting for" types of comments. Apparently, I'm the only one who comes to visit their pet when they're in the hospital. I can't imagine letting her just sit there and not know that we know she's there and want to bring her home but can't. I guess she really is our child, eh?
They gave me a separate room this time (otherwise, I've been in the back tech area, frankly, a little underfoot) and the doctor came in very excited. (I didn't even expect to see him today.) He was excited because he could really see improvement in Sally today. Her walk was much more normal and the twitching had subsided more.
All of her blood tests and EKG came back normal with a couple of exceptions but none of the exceptions would have been things that would've ordinarily lead to a stroke. In other words, he still doesn't know why she had a stroke but, at least the treatment that she's receiving is working. That's good news for now but how can we prevent something that can't be seen? Yeah, that's the hard question, eh?
At any rate, she will be coming home tomorrow, just after noon. Unfortunately, we had plans to go away tomorrow night that can't be broken but, Ebony is going to come stay with her. I think that's so sweet of him, don't you? They are really good friends and apparently he's been really worried about her.
*****
I've got a few things to finish up on Allex's tops-- I want to spend tomorrow afternoon with Sally so I'm going to try to finish them up tonight.
Thanks again for your emails of encouragement-- they are much appreciated!! Take care of yourselves and thanks for stopping by! Have a good evening!
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Sally Update at 6:45pmFirst Things First: Sally Update
I went to the vet hospital first-thing this morning: I was there about 7:45am. They let me back to see Sally who immediately started wagging her tail when she saw me. She had an Elizabethan collar on so that she wouldn't lick/bite her injection areas. I had brought her a stick (one of her favorite treats) and her thyroid pills and ham to take it with (twice daily-- they wrote the script so they should remember it, right?). She couldn't hold the stick so I held it for her and she chomped it down easily and happily.
I sat with her for about 15 minutes and, frankly, I could already see improvement-- she was standing, by herself, without falling down! That was good to see and, of course, she was anxious and worried and didn't understand what was going on and why she was there. There are times when I really wish I spoke dog or she spoke human!!
They'll be giving her IVs, anti-inflammatories and anti-biotics all day today and I'll go back later to check on her and see how she is doing. It did me good to see her this morning since she was much less sickly than I had seen her in my nightmares during the night. Sometimes seeing your dog in the hospital can be "Good Medicine" for both of you.
Not Any Less Important . . .
It is the birthday of my love, Brian!! Happy Birthday, SWEETIE!!! (I'll get back to the bold/italics in a bit . . .) Brian is the best life partner I could ever hope for in this life. He's good to me and for me. As he ages, he only gets better as a person. Thank you, Love.
Now on to the "SWEETIE" part: A few weeks ago, Mike Mills, Brian's co-worker at Nerds, announced that his wife, Patty, had started a business: Creations by Patricia. About that same time, Brian announced to me (via email) that he wanted a "Revolution OS" available at ThinkGeek for his birthday. Wow, that'll be a surprise, won't it? He even saw it come through on the VISA card bill!!
Well, last week, I contacted Patty-- knowing that my SWEETIE loves his dark chocolate and mint, I arranged for her to have it sent to work via Mike and, coincidentally, Brian's working with Mike today (Thanks to Larry and Cheryl!!).
I probably will not see this gift in one piece, if I see it at all tonight so I asked Patty to send pictures-- aren't these bits nummy looking? How clever to have a mold of a computer and CD!! She even dipped some Mint Oreo Cookies in dark chocolate!! Yowza!!
I should mention that Patty made up a nicely bagged presentation along with a scroll of what happened in history on Brian's birth date. Yes, Honey, I'm afraid that all of your co-workers no know your age, too!!! I would HIGHLY recommend Patty and Creations by Patricia for all of your CHOCOLATE needs!!!!
He said I'd probably have a surprise waiting for him at dinner tonight (he's always expecting a party-- I never let him down by NOT giving him one!). I don't think he'll be able to eat dinner tonight!!
More later as time permits-- I'll try to provide another update about Sally. Thanks soooo much for all of the emails you've been sending!! She is definitely enjoying hearing about your well wishes for her!
Have a good morning and afternoon!
I've just returned from my evening visit with Sally. She has improved but not as much as the vet would've liked to see. The tilt of her head will likely stay with her for awhile but may eventually go away. The twitching of her eyes seems to have subsided a bit but is still there; her third lid is not up nor are her eyes as watery and red as yesterday. I took her for a walk outside and she did her business but, apparently, other than her stick-treats and her pills-with-ham, she's not eating as well as they would like her to be. Her gait was better but still a little uneasy as she walked around; she was able to step over things and down the steps but didn't want to go up the steps of the back entry at the hospital. (Oh, yes, we'll be having a talk with the doctor, before she leaves on Saturday, about second floor access for the first few weeks after discharge.)
I sat with her and petted and rubbed/scratched her tummy and talked with her for a long while tonight. Having received many emails all day from her friends (thanks again sooo much for all of those emails!), I relayed your good wishes: "Malcolm and Kerry and Duncan and Daisy and Morris and Curly . . ." you get the idea.
This morning when I visited, she wouldn't give me a kiss but she did give me one tonight!! Man, was I happy!! I see my "Good Ol' Sally" there, trying to get better so that she can come home!! The doctor kinda hinted that I shouldn't come in the morning but come in the afternoon tomorrow. He says that its hard for the staff in the morning because they have things that they need to do for the animals that are there overnight or for early surgeries. I guess tomorrow will only yield one really long visit then-- Sally may be disappointed because I'm not there twice but at least I'll be there for a long time when I do go.
Now, I need to go make dinner for the Birthday Boy so I'll catch up with you later.
Have a good afternoon and evening!
Wednesday, April 23, 2003Sally
Remember me saying that Sally was walking sideways the other day? It has gotten progressively worse and today, at nearly 5pm, she "fell" flat on her chest, walking across the carpet in the livingroom. No, this is not good.
I got upset, needless to say and called Brian and then I called the vet. They wanted to leave the office but were going to wait for me to bring her down. She could barely walk to the car or the vet's office. She would either go sideways or fall down.
Once in the exam room, I got down on the floor with her and petted her and talked with her. The vet came in and examined her and easily pin-pointed the problem: Sally had had a stroke. Since she started doing the sideways walking on Saturday, that was probably the first one. There was probably a second episode today which is why she became suddenly worse.
They've kept her in the hospital and will keep her for three days to try to get her better. They've had good success rates at "healing" stroke victims so hopefully, she'll be one of those successes.
No, I'm not coping well. I'm working on it though so ya'll will just have to be patient with me, okay? Thanks. We'll keep you posted.
Have a good evening.
Tuesday, April 22, 2003Suddenly Tired
I finished up the dress tonight; I've only got the bow (of the same fabric) to make yet. Of course, after the fitting on Saturday, I'll have hand-sewing to do but I've still got plenty of time for that. The Kittermans' stopped by tonight to drop off the fabric for Allex's tops. The pattern is interesting so it presents a new challenge-- I'm already looking forward to that!
Business Update
As mentioned above, one project finishes and another comes along-- I like the timing on that, ya know? There are some things that I've got to work on for the business this weekend in addition to the sewing: like opening a checking account for the business money and expenses. I've also got a lot of pictures to put up on the website. I've been taking photos of my progress on the dress along with pictures of at least one outfit that I made for myself.
Brian's been his creative self and keeping himself busy, too. He's been working on my logo as well as busy making a box for my sewing machine foot pedal. Currently, I'm using my sewing box but sometimes I need to use that as a . . . sewing box, ya know? I haven't been able to do that because it needs to be in my sewing room/office all the time for sewing. A few weeks ago, I asked him to make a new box or something to put it on and, he has out-done himself! He made a box, with a lid and a hinge and (WOW!) it is really great!! Because its a box, it also gives me additional storage space, something that I never have enough of in this office.
I've got some ironing to do and I'm probably going to make this an early night, too.
Take care and thanks for stopping by! Have a great evening, night or day-- dependent upon your geographical location!!
Monday, April 21, 2003Busy Day and Night!!
No, I'm not complaining-- just amazed. Work was fairly busy today but then I'm covering half of the Northeast region, too. Lee is on vacation today so Judy and I are manning (should that be "womaning"??) the fort. I had a fairly full day there, came home, made dinner and started sewing on Katy's dress.
I put in the most beautiful "invisible" zipper I've ever done tonight! Man, that was a work of beauty!! I've got the front and back put together with only the sides to join and the bodice to line. There was a minor problem earlier in the evening, by the way: the zipper that the pattern called for (a 12" zipper) would've put the bottom of the zipper somewhere in the top half of the hem of the dress! They really need to remember to size the zipper for the size of the dress, i.e., a dress in size 1/2 would have a zipper that is 6" long. Thankfully, I had the aforementioned invisible zipper that was the right color and six inches long. The bottom of it fell slightly below the bodice which is where it should be. That'll make a lot of difference.
I quit sewing about 9:30pm because I realized that I was tired, even though I was excited about the progress I'd made. I'm going to have them come over on Saturday for the final fitting on the dress; I'm sure it'll be perfect but you never know.
There are lots of potential customers in the offing with a fabric drop by a reader of these and Brian's pages. Its always fun to meet someone from the 'Net, eh?
The last couple of days, we've noticed that Sally isn't as graceful as usual. She's walked (as in stepped) sideways a couple of times and stumbled when there was nothing in her way. This worries me but I don't know what to do. We're going to watch her for a couple of days and, if it doesn't go away, we'll start having her sleep downstairs, blocking the stairway with the babygate like when her leg was healing. I won't like doing that but if it keeps her safer because she's not going up-n-down the stairs, it is worth it.
There's always something to worry about with "kids", isn't there?
*****
I'm tired-- gotta get some sleep since tomorrow is, as they say, another day. Have a good evening and night!
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