This pup is weird y'all.
He LOVES and I mean LOVES to eat sticks and leaves. Potty breaks are a challenge because he just wants to eat all the leaves and sticks. And an occasional rock. I don't even begin to know how to train this out of him. Drew said he will grow out of it, but I don't know.
It makes him so happy.
I have lost count of the number of sticks he has brought inside today. I'm still leaving my window open during the day so he can come and go as he pleases (note to self: hire someone to install the new doggie door). And since the weather is so nice it hasn't been a problem for me really although I swear there was a fly in here a moment ago as big as a baby hummingbird.
It wasn't. I checked.
But my bedroom floor looks like a war zone with left over splinters of wood everywhere. He has plenty of toys that he enjoys chewing on and playing with. But nothing seems to quite satisfy like a piece of wood.
I mean...#same pup.
He gets hiccups several times a day. Which I think is fairly normal for growing babies but it is so damn cute!
He doesn't like the rain but he has no problem with joining me in the shower each morning. And in case you are wondering, aiming the water at him has no effect.
He's still pretty firmly attached to me though we have been doing more to try to get him to be friendlier with other people. He's not aggressive with others at all. He just obviously prefers my company above all others.
Mister Manfred is so excited by new people but still shies away from them at the same time. I hope he grows out of that.
Xander and Savreet were up this weekend and Savreet especially seemed to love him. Apparently Xander's secret mission was he wanted to make Manfred love him more than me but he did not succeed. We even left them alone with him for several hours both on Friday night and Sunday day.
In your FACE Xander!
Saturday is doggie day at the Pub so we will start taking him there once a week to meet other doggie pals and people. He did really well his first time, mostly stayed under my chair but he ventured around a little. He let a few people hold him...Sam and Bridgette...and I think Drew all got lap time. Some of the other dogs were intimidating at first but we had no incidents and as we were leaving he really seemed to be warming up to some of them.
Friday night was Go Frock Yourself at the Pub. Don your best prom apparel. It was all Elliott's idea. He even got crowns for King and Queen of the Prom.
So you know we came to play.
We found this amazing sequined jacket on Amazon for Rob and bought him a matching bowtie. Then he decided to DYE AND SHAVE his beard. Please note, this was his idea.
I found a great Vera Wang dress (in my size even) at Goodwill for only $8 but it just wasn't flashy enough. So I bought a tulle skirt on Amazon, found a near perfect matching sequin tank top, and voila...suddenly we were a matched set.
Though in retrospect I really wish I'd gotten a black skirt to really be matchy matchy.
I also ordered a new wig a la Ann Jillian and if you don't know who she is then you are probably too young to be reading this.
However in true Suzanne fashion, I didn't really do a dry run on the wig prior to prom night. And it was a bit too thin because my purple showed under it. So I pulled out the ragged old Farrah Fawcett wig, added a sprig of baby's breath, and suddenly I was Miss Piggy went to Prom.
I'm still apologizing for my prom get ready meltdown. Sorry babe.
While I didn't win Prom Queen, I lost to Elliott and since it was his shindig I'm ok with that. Also he told me I only lost by one vote and he didn't want to accept it but Matt made him.
Obviously Rob was Prom King. I mean, did you see him?
It was a really fun night. I miss this gang of misfits and miscreants a lot.
OH! We got our first vaccines on Thursday! I'm so excited. We are almost there people. #stillwearamask
In other news, the financial hits keep coming. We did have to pay out of pocket nearly $25k for the pipes. Still trying to sort out if we can make someone else pay for that.
The promise that we would "never know they were here" was shockingly false as to how the yard would look when they were done. And they did such a poor job putting the artificial turf back that we are going to have it completely redone.
BTW big backyard project is a go! We decided to finance it to make it more affordable in the meantime with the plan to pay it off as quickly as possible (famous last words?). But this will ultimately make the backyard more user friendly for Mister Manfred and since the side yard isn't human friendly due to lack of access, it needed to be a priority. I cannot WAIT to post the before and after pics.
It isn't cheap but it is good for the long haul and is environmentally friendly because we won't water the back at all anymore. And I get to buy pretty pots so that's fun too!
I've also been putting off a toothache for a while now...it was intermittent (and COVID) so I just kept putting it off. But it started hurting non-stop so I had to finally do something about it.
Here's a fun fact about me: I'm allergic to Novocain and Lidocaine. So what that means is, I have had cavities filled (2) and my original root canal with NO NUMBING AT ALL.
Please let that sink in. And think about that the next time you think I am a wuss about pain.
Having said that, I had already made up my mind that I didn't care if I swelled up like Aunt Marge or broke out in hives for a month I was not doing it without numbing this time.
And even with that resolve, my anxiety was so much that when I went in on Monday to have it done my blood pressure spiked so high they refused to do it. And mercifully decided that the best course of action is to sedate me. So that is rescheduled for next week.
And that's going to cost me at least $1k - I haven't heard from the anesthesiologist yet.
And I just suddenly realized I never got a bill for that kidney stone last year. Did I pay it and forget? That feels unlikely.
I'm really fortunate in that we have the means to pay for these expenses. I mean sure, We are going to have to push retirement a little further out maybe, but this won't bankrupt us.
Yet.
Of course we still have the foundation issue that needs to be determined and resolved so that we can replace the kitchen sliding door. I'm still afraid how much all of that is going to cost us.
But that's life I suppose. We will get there. In the meantime if anyone wants to help me earn some side money, I can take orders for cakes (carrot or German Chocolate), cake pops, decorative cookies, cobbler, fudge, and (Christmas) crack. I won't claim everything will be super pretty and 100% professional looking, but they will be homemade and super tasty. And the imperfections make them special, right?
I am considering branching out to doggie treats soon too.
Other than that, it's nearly pool weather. And I hope everyone will be fully vaccinated soon. So if anyone needs a weekend getaway, book your stays now. But also, you should expect weekend pool parties very soon.
Hope to see all of you here.