I have always wanted to see a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, so I jumped when discount tickets were offered through the Theater Development Fund for Pirates of Penzance at NY City Center.
It was great fun. Hal Linden of Barney Miller fame, played Major General Stanley and the stage direction was a delight.
I took my mother to the show. The tickets were for Saturday at 3 pm and there was a blizzard warning in effect. Intrepid city-dwellers that we are, we trekked into Manhattan anyway. Just in case, I brought Shannon to stay at my parents' house as it is a short walk from a subway station. My apartment requires that I drive to the nearest subway stop and I was afraid that the weather might prevent me from getting home. The snow was really coming down when the show let out and we were forced to walk through approximately 6 inches on the ground and frigid winds when we left the subway.
I got snowed in at my parents' until today. Have you ever been stuck somewhere for days without a change of clothes? I only planned on staying overnight so didn't bring nearly enough. We got about 16 inches all together and we only got my car out this morning. I'm thrilled to be home with my clothes and my food and my things.
After the rollercoaster week that I've had, I managed to have a serious discussion with the vet and I feel a little better. I spent most of the weekend doing a great deal of online research into canine kidney disease and dehydration and incontinence and we (the vet and I) are not certain that it is Shannon's kidneys afterall. I've made a number of changes to her diet and her supplements to support any oncoming problems and then we are just going to keep a close eye on it.
After finishing Generosity, I decided that I wasn't going to start any new stitching projects until I had made major inroads on my UFOs. In that spirit, I pulled out a piece that is more than halfway finished and that I haven't touched in at least 3 years. Midsummer Night's Fairy by Mirabilia. When I stitched this piece I decided that I would do all DMC and then add in the metallics, beads and treasures. Looking back I'm not certain I would still make that choice, because the metallics are a BEAR! Particularly since most of the metallic stitching on this piece is blended needle - you either are stitching with one strand of DMC and one of metallic or some combination of just metallics. It's driving me crazy and gave me such a headache yesterday. So I opted to put my needle down and take a trip to the gym.
My first trip to the gym and I walked on the treadmill for a half an hour. I had never been on a treadmill before and it took a little getting used to. Getting off was also an experience and I had to find my land legs as it still felt like the ground was moving under me :-)
I added a graphic to the bottom of the blog that will track my weight loss. This morning's weigh-in shows me down a total of 22 pounds. Wow!! Of course, I didn't eat much this weekend but I'm still mighty pleased with myself. 175 is a mini milestone for me and I am almost there.
In 1997, I was personally in a very bad place. I moved back in with my parents, had no job, no life and felt like I had nothing worth living for. I was pretty depressed. For my birthday that year, my Mom acquired a puppy in Alabama with the help of my sister. I had always wanted a dog and this was an adorable JRT puppy. How could I feel down with that wriggly little body and that puppy breath... I named her Shannon.
When she was about 3 I noticed that she had occasional 'episodes' during the night, when she would act oddly. My first reaction was that she had hurt herself, but it eventually became clear that these were seizures. I discussed them with my vet, but as they weren't frequent, we opted not to medicate.
This past summer, the seizures were becoming more frequent and they seemed to be worse. I decided to try an anti-seizure medication. After an initial adjustment period, this seemed to work wonderfully and Shannon has been seizure free ever since.
Because the medication can cause some side effects, she must go in for occasional tests to make sure that her liver and other body functions are doing well.
This past week I received the devastating news that Shannon has early stage kidney disease. This is not curable. She is only 7 years old. Emotionally, I have been all over the place. On the positive side, because of the epilepsy, we caught this earlier than most people do and with treatment she may live for quite some time with the disease. On the negative side, I know that I won't have my best friend for the 18 years I could hope for with her breed. When Shannon came into my life, I was dealing with kidney disease in my elderly cat (another reason I was so down). That cat wasted away to nothing. But he was 14 when he was diagnosed and 19 when we had to let him go. He also had a myriad of other health issues due to his age and while it is always sad to lose a pet, he lived a long life.
Since then I have learned a lot. Shannon has always received the best diet and I have done my best not to expose her to toxins as cancer is so common in dogs. I have kept up with all the latest research on health and training. No cheap supermarket food for her.
It just isn't fair.
Name: DebbieJRT Home: Bellerose, New York, United States About Me: crotchety cross stitcher, trying to channel my inner athlete See my complete profile
