A girl in Charm City

Ok, so I'm still alive, and still read here every few days, but hardly ever post. I'm not ready to share all of this info on FB, but want to post it up here.

Last year on Christmas Eve my partners mom passed away from a long battle with ovarian cancer. So, I put the pups in the car and drove to Maine on Christmas day to plan a funeral and salvage a 40th birthday celebration.

This year we decided that she would come to DC and we would start our own Christmas traditions and have a quiet few days together.

Until that is, until Kaili-the-little-white-dog got sick on Christmas Eve. We were up with here most of the night, and we got a reprieve for a few hours between 8am and 4pm. At around 6 pm I made the decision that we were going to the doggie ER. 4 lesbians and 2 dogs sitting in the waiting room at the pet er for 6 hours was a sight I'm sure. The vet there gave her some fluids, pain meds and immodium and sent us all home. I kept her overnight, but there wasn't much improvement. S came and got her yesterday and took her to our regular vet and L and I kept Skippy and we tried to get a little sleep. They admitted her for more fluids and tests.

We get the test results back later today, and I don't thik they are going to be good. S is hoping to take her home today and while that may happen, I don't think it will be for long. She'll be 16 in March and I can't imagine any way that this is going to have a good outcome.

Next year, we are going to the islands.

And I feel like I should update. 

First and most consuming is a huge diet change.  Not a DIET, but elimination of gluten and dairy due to suspected allergies/sensitivities. Boy is this hard as a lacto-ovo vegetarian.  Is there such a thing as an ovo-vegetarian?  

Anyway, cooking and making sure I have friendly food with me is time consuming.   Gone is pasta with veggies, sauce and cheese as a fast weeknight dinner.  Gone is my beloved sunday morning post-yoga dairy fest of a bagel w/ cream cheese and a non-fat mocha (at least the mocha can be saved).  Welcome, cooking various grains on Sunday to have on hand through the week.  Welcome, serious grocery shopping with much label reading.  Welcome menu planning down to 3 meals and snacks a day.  No more flying by the seat of my pants. Sundays are shot with food planning and prep.  Our food expenses are exceeding our budget but quite a bit these days due to varying factors. 

So far, I'm not craving anything, but I think that is because I've been well prepared.  We'll see how that goes for the long term.  I have yet to face eating out or socializing, both of which I will deal with this weekend.  Its been not quite 2 weeks so I'm not feeling differently yet, but I guess I have to give it time. 

Work is crazy and I will leave it at that.  Its as consuming as the diet change.  Moreso.

S has a new job and she starts Monday.  She is very excited to be working with a lot of the peeps we moved here from NH with.  Much of the old gang is back again.  I'm hoping a flex schedule for her will help manage my crazy ones.  

I feel like I need a vacation, but I'm not sure how to make it happen.  I really want a few mid-week days at the beach by myself, but that will prover harder than a vacation.  

Spring is almost here, trees are letting off pollen, the daffodils are up and my tulips are well on there way!

 Thing One:  Our gym is right across the street from Whole Foods, so it makes for much "On your way home can you pick up.....?".  Wednesday's request was an avocado.  I said to gf, do you know what to look for in an avocado we want to use for dinner tonight?  When the response was no, I said just ask someone in the produce department to help you, or sometimes they have stickers on that say "Ripe Now!" or "Ready to Eat!" 

She was so proud of the bright green, rock-hard avocado she brought home (it was pretty).  I asked if anyone was in the produce department, and she turned it over in her hand and said "no, but it has a sticker that says ripe now!"    You would think the produce jockeys at WF would have a clue.

Thing Two:  Are the same messages always out there?  Do we only pay attention when we hear relevant messages?  I'm pretty sure its the latter, but sometimes I wonder. 

Spicy Thai Kettle Chips rock my world.
Back to your regularly scheduled lunch hour....

Says the note on the LJ home page. It hasn't been 26 weeks since I was here last, I come here a few times a week. I read, I leave random comments and I even think about posting. But the longer I go with out posting the more I feel like I have to say something substantial rather than just something flip.

So, for those of you not following along at home....

S and I are shacking up and my family is being fantastic about the whole thing. Being in a relationship is hard, living with someone is hard, but we are figuring it out. For the most part, its good. I am loved and cherished.

S retired from the Navy this spring. I am so glad that she is done, as her unit is back in Iraq this summer and I don't know that she or I could bear it again. 22 years of service is plenty for one person.

Remember that Doggie we found? Well, Marco has become a full fledged member of the family. We've had a few behavior issues, but nothing that some training and consistency couldn't fix. I call him my little Moo Man because he looks like a cow with his coloring. We are such crazy dog mommies. I swore I'd never....

I wore a dress for the first time in over 10 years to a black tie gala this spring, and the world didn't end as predicted. There is even evidence of such craziness. I guess in NE I felt like I had to dress a certain way to be a certain kind of person. I guess now that I'm 30something I a) am solid in who I am and don't need clothes to support my identity and b) don't really care what people think. It hasn't become a habit yet, but it might.....

I'm almost two years into the financial planning gig and its going really well. It is still one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I'm still learning, but I'm making a go of it and I think I'm going to make it. Its only been within the last 8 to 10 months that I have been sure.

The most recent news is that my dad has been offered a job in Tampa, and he starts after labor day. I haven't spoken with my mom about it to she how she feels, but its not ideal for them. I imagine its hard to be a late 50's sr executive looking for work. He's not ready to retire yet, but he's only looking out 6 to 8 more years until he does. I guess you have to take what you can get, and it won't be the first time she's packed up house and moved (although this will be the first time w/out kids in tow). They are talking about putting the NH house on the market come the first of the year and then go from there. 

I guess those are the highlights!  I just bought tickets to NH for next weekend, booked a place in PTown for a week in October,  and then to Las Cruses NM for Thanksgiving.  We will be back in NE for Christmas.  I'm tired booking all that travel and I haven't left the house yet today! 

This is from the Parade magazine, Sept 2006. Its been haning on my frige ever since then, and I'm just getting round to making it.

4 T Butter (I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 OO)
2 C Chopped Onions
2 C Chopped Celery
2 C Chopped Carrots
2, 35oz cans of tomatoes and their juice
6 cups veggie stock
1/2 C dried lentils (i used puy)
1 C chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 C dry red wine
4 cloves garlic, minced
S&P to taste
1/4 t ground cloves

Melt butter, sautee veggies 8 to 10 min.

Add tomatoes, broth, and lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 min.

Stir in 1/2 of parsley, add wine, garlic, S & P, and cloves(i've been adding salt all along at this point, so I didn't add more, also didn't have cloves to add) Simmer 25 more minutes. Add remaining parsley, stir and serve.

We're going to have this with fresh bread and maybe some salad for dinner.
The house smells fantastic.

We have decided to let the little boy dog stay. Its been 2 weeks and we have had only one genuine inquiry about him. I feel badly for the woman who did inquire, as her dog got loose at doggie day care (they took off his collar!!!) about 50 miles from here, and she is desperate to get her dog back. (I've had about 5 messages from people wanting puppies for christmas, and/or wanting to BUY him. Grrrr)

The city puts them up for adoption after 3 days, the vet said 7, and to be safe and at least 2 weeks for getting him nutered. So the little boy is going to get snipped after the first of the year. He needs work, but I think he'll do just fine. Of course should his former owners turn up, I'll give them hell and then reluctantly give him back.

Edit on the nutering: Our vet referred us to another local vet that does a spay/nuter clinic. They are going to give us the rescue/shelter rate for keeping him out of the system.

AND our groomer is going to give us a freebie for keeping him, even though she knows he's a mess. She'll get a tasty bonus or something for that kindness.

Well dog visit and shots for stray: $100 Nutering for said stray dog: $28 Fewer unwanted puppies and dog less likely to mark in the house: Priceless

He's having a bit of seperation anxiety when we leave the house, and is very happy to grab a lap or shoulder when we are home for a nap. We kenneled him last night and he did ok, apparently the bathroom is just too large a space to contain his anxiousness (says the back of my bathroom door). We'll see how he does at home crated all day today.

He doesn't like to walk on a leash much, and has pulled out of his collar more than once. He also wanders, so we can see how he has gone missing.

He has a vet appointment tonight just to make sure he doesn't have anything he could pass on to Kaili. There is some lepto going around, and we just want to be sure. They are going to give us a current client/good samaratan rate. We will save our recipts in case we find an owner for him, but we figure its cheaper/easier than having to treat kaili down the line.

Oh, yeah, he smells better after a bath too!

Found on East and E Lombard

S and I found a male, Lhapso Apso/Shitz Tzu today around 12:30 on East and E Lombard. He does not have a collar, but does have a chip that is registerd to a breeder in Miami Florida with an unworking phone number.

If you know who this dog might belog to, please have them contact us. This little guy is too clean and sweet not to be loved by someone. We want to help him find his way home!