Still Here

I am still here ... just not very productive in the blog world.  But life has marched on regardless ... and here is a summary of me running to catching up to it. 

Milo

A sad event.  Although I don’t own a dog, I have been an active participant and “grandma" to my children’s dogs.  The 3 dogs shown in this picture grabbed my heart for the whole of their lives just as securely as if they lived with me full time.  From left to right: Meathead, Milo, and Grimace in much younger days.

Meathead and Grimace passed away many years ago taking pieces of my heart with them.  Milo died last weekend at the age of 11 after a long struggle with pneumonia.  He was the last of this trio to leave us and my heart aches for him so much.  I hate that he is gone.  As searingly painful it is to let them go ... and to stand with them as their heart stops and they take their last breath ... it is a final loving gift of comfort for them surrounded by "their people” in those last moments.  This was my daughter’s first experience with euthanasia.  So the pain was particularly intense for me watching her part from her most beloved best friend, Milo. 

You lived a long life fully devoted to my daughter who is now missing you terribly. 

Your grandma is missing another part of her heart.

Rest In Peace my sweet boy. 

Aja

Aja continues to surprise us.  This past May she passed her one year anniversary with us.  Just when I think she has reached her full level of comfort with us, she moves forward another step.  I don’t think people realize (or in some cases accept) the amount of time that is needed for an adult pet adoption. 

If she is looking a little chubby in that picture - it is because she has gained some weight.  When she came she was a gaunt 7.8 pounds.  I suspect she didn’t eat much during those 2 weeks at the shelter.  At her last check up she was over 10 pounds.  She loves her meal times.  And we carefully cater to her likes and dislikes.

Here are her ‘achievements' since I last wrote (No photographic proof, of course.  She avoids any documentation that she is evolving.  She would loose her “cat credentials” if she allowed pictures of her exploits.🤣)

• Jumps on the bathroom counter top. Seriously, I didn’t think she could jump at all - she did it so seldom. Now she leaps up like it is no big deal!  How she disguises her abilities!! 
• Jumps up on the bed when my husband and I are both on it - big WOW!
• Lays beside my husband when he is lying on the bed - not for a long time and not all that frequently - but Aja is all about baby steps.  My husband was so stunned when she did this the first time, he didn’t want to move - or even breathe, fearing he would scare her off.  She was definitely “testing” the waters.  Always testing!
• Roams the condo many times a day.  A bit skittish when she does it, but is learning to be daring!
• Has picked a living room window to watch the world from that is not in the bedroom. That would be her “chubby” picture above.

We are really happy she is our “special girl."

Eskarina

We have finally reached the point of normalcy in grand daughter visitation.    What an amazing little person she is becoming.  

Although she is not vaccinated yet, being only 3 years old, everyone around her is vaccinated so the circle of protection is safe for all.

Her use of language continues to astound me.  Such sentence structure and complexity of thought coming from that little mind!  Of course, now that she can parrot back everything she hears, adult speech has to be carefully monitored.  No “f” bombs - as my son recently discovered!  😂 All words are fair game in the mind of a 3 year old.  

Knitting /Crochet

For me, this is the Year of the Blanket apparently!  No pictures yet but soon. I am working on two afghans now, and one or two more are waiting in the wings to be started.  And ironically they are ALL crochet!!  I also want to knit a sweater for my grand daughter.  She has finally reached the age where she won’t outgrow a handmade item in 3 months.

In other areas ...

As I grieve the passing of Milo, my normal reaction is to clean, declutter, re-organize. Basically just keep moving.  Action and distraction lifts me out of obsessing out of my sadness for a time.  Sitting still and thinking about the loss makes the whole grieving process so intense.  Walking would do the same thing, but the heat outside right now would sap my strength, so staying busy inside air conditioning is the next best thing.

Yesterday I vacuumed and steamed cleaned the carpets.  It is a job that takes hours because I also try to move things to reach areas that normally don’t get cleaned.  As much as I would like to replace this 18+ year old wall-to-wall carpeting, it cleans up beautifully when it has been steamed cleaned. It is just a lot of work to do it.  Next up - the pantry and the fridge.  Both need attention.  

And in my walking around I routinely simplify the spaces and surfaces in my condo.  After years of having tons of bricka-a-bracka all over every surface, I now find peace in cleared spaces.  As it turns out, it also helps my blind husband who would find maneuvering around “stuff” very difficult.

We also did a few big things this year.  This winter we replaced all the windows.  Part of that process was stripping them of the double hung drapes the previous owner had installed.  I am not fond of curtains or drapes but I kept them for 4+ years while doing other big improvements.  I am very pleased with the blinds we installed this spring.  They are the traditional size - not mini - and they are white with gray highlights similar to the markings of wood.  My carpet is gray so it works well.  They have a nice header and are complete as they are without the trappings of additional drapery.  Simple clean lines.

This coming August we will be in this condo for 5 years.  The list of condo improvements seems enormous when looking back.  New windows and window treatments throughout, new kitchen appliances, a new bathroom toilet in the guest bath, a new garbage disposal, 3 new lights/ceiling fan combinations, a new screen door for the deck, a new deck light, 3 new10-year smoke alarms, and a new air conditioner.  With each change this condo feels more like my space and less like someone else’s space I am visiting - a feeling that still haunts me at times.  

Next year we will probably tackle the flooring.  And there are other items that need a more current update. But I may change my mind on all these future changes.  They will be expensive and very disruptive.  When I was 30 or 40, or even 50, I could anticipate staying put in a home and enjoying the improvements for another 20 years or so.  Now, at 74, our future is harder to predict. We may have reached the point that condo improvements would not be a good use of money or time. Time marches on.

If I could just slow down that marching of time ... or even just roll it back a bit so I could give that dear dear grand dog Milo - one more hug.

That’s all for now.  Hope it isn’t months before I write again. Thanks for stopping by.