Suburban Musings

Charlie, finishing off K3’s milkshake…

I am home alone.  For days.  Alone.  No kids.  No husband.  Alone.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

K#1 is moving into an apartment for her final year at college…has a boyfriend and younger brother to help her.  That means K3 is with her for the next couple days, sacrificing “having” to play with her adorable 9-week old Yorkie puppy in between hauling some boxes.

K2 and hubby are both at Band Camp this week.  That’s right.  High school band camp.  At a university.  Hubby is producing a reality film about it…wants to call it “One time, at Band Camp…”  Oh, the drama…the angst…the humidity and 90 degree temps!  Should be a real, er….memorable time.

And me?  Left all alone at home.  Darn.  Last night I relaxed in bed, watching a movie with the cat.  Tonight a friend is coming over to help me organize beads so a bunch of moms can make bracelets for a (band) fundraiser.   Hey, if some wine gets poured, so be it.

<sigh>  Nice week.  Nice, quiet week in a clean house.

Charlie and I went running this morning and when we got back in the car I noticed some wild animal running around in wide circles in someone’s front lawn. What the?! Turned out to be a young raccoon with a ravioli can firmly stuck on his head, all the way past his ears. Who knows how long he’d been walking around in circles? Anyway…I went over and grabbed it and tried to get it off, but it was stuck. Chased that thing around 2 yards, catching it about 4 times, pulling at the can, and having it hissing and growling at me from inside the can. (I’m sure the neighbors got quite a laugh watching us…maybe I’ll show up on YouTube!) Finally, I took Charlie’s leash and wrapped it around its body to get a better grip outside those busy paws and yanked the can ’till finally it came off, amid many screams and growls. The little guy shook his head and ran away. I brought the can home so he wouldn’t get stuck again! Unfortunately it didn’t even occur to me to take a picture with my new camera/phone But I know that raccoon couldn’t possibly have lived and another raccoon couldn’t even have pulled the can off…stuck too well.

I forgot to recount our vacation weekend! We packed so much into 2 short days, that we really do feel like it was a good vacation. We camped at a cramped little dusty campsite, but it wasn’t too bad. K2 brought along his girlfriend, who got along quite well with the family. We spent the day Saturday at a lovely private beach with old friends, then grilled at their cottage for dinner + s’mores & sparklers at the campsite later.
Next morning, a deluxe breakfast out at a little diner, followed by blueberry picking (okay, now you must know we were in Michigan!)…we picked nearly 8 pounds of the most juicy blueberries you can imagine! Then we hit the farm stand, a Swiss bakery, and back towards home.
Oh wait! We had to drop the boy and his girlfriend at her grandparents’ house on another lake. At least we THOUGHT we were just dropping them off. That led to lunch, a long boat ride with tubing for the kids, and steaks on the grill for dinner. All this from people we’d just met! What great people! I guess that’s Hoosier Hospitality, huh
Downside; K2 racked his chin on the tube and we ended up spending 2 1/2 hours at the ER for an xray, ct-scan, etc. Luckily, all was fine, tho we’d thought it might actually be a cracked jaw.
We got home well after midnight *YAWN* and then up early for work the next day….I’m STILL trying to catch up with laundry, etc.
Great weekend, though. See…you don’t have to spend a lot to have a lot of fun

We had a conversation about really wonderful people today. Isn’t it great when someone can be really, really NICE and yet still be a great businessperson? They are well-respected, yet not taken advantage of just because they’re nice.
Some people, on the other hand, think they have to be *itchy to be a good boss. Why is that? I think it especially happens with many female bosses. Not my current boss, thankfully! In fact, she is what partially attracted me to my current job; very easy-going and down-tp-earth. But there have been a couple in my past…..ugh.

It is still sad to not have Buster around.  Calmer, with “only” two dogs, but still very sad.  Especially since he was MY dog…followed me around like my shadow.  I miss kissing the side of his warm face.

We’re planning a vacation this weekend.  Well, in a financially strapped world, we’re calling it a vacation.  We’re driving 3-4 hours to a crowded campground, putting up a tent in near darkness, and trying to sleep the night.  Then, we get up and spend the day Saturday at the beach with the maid of honor from my wedding (25 –cough cough- years ago!) and her family.  I look forward to that part!  Then, 3-4 hours drive the next day, back home.  No vacation days until end of August;  90 days after starting the new job.  It will be a cheap and quick “vacation” but a nice break, nonetheless.

Well, after a seemingly normal day, Buster was getting ready to go out with the other 2 dogs tonight… and had a seizure there in the hallway. After he calmed down a bit I carried him to his bed in my bedroom, but he was still having a hard time breathing and his gums were white, signifying a lack of oxygen. My husband and I stroked and kissed him and I told him to “go to sleep”…and he eventually passed away. We went to get our 2 sons from their friends’ houses so they could say goodbye before we brought him over to the vet clinic…there they also cut us a shank of our favorite hair; a mixture of black and white from his long, silky ear. We are very sad. We will miss him terribly…I already do; I can’t imagine looking over a that empty dog bed…He was our sweet, sweet boy.

It is so shocking to us that Buster, tho 11 years old, was a happy, healthy dog until last Thursday. That was the day he had a seizure & we found out he has incurable cancer and an enlarged heart with a tumor on it…One day he was seemingly perfectly normal…the next he was quite sick.

He had a bad weekend; we took him for a short walk on Saturday since it was such a beautiful day, but he literally collapsed 2 blocks in…the rest of the weekend he’s barely moved and refuses to eat. My velcro dog doesn’t follow me, won’t come to me if I call, etc….just lays and looks pitiful, and thumps his tail at me. Even my teenaged son thinks its time to put him out of his misery. sigh How sad. How fast. I’m really not ready to say goodbye. My poor Buster.

Then suddenly this afternoon he seems a little perkier. He’s sitting some, rather than just laying on the couch; he follows me, etc. Partly because K3 got him to eat some food…that must’ve made him feel better. Maybe we have a couple more days after all. <sigh>