I Hate Food 2

So, I finally went to a nutritionist.  That is funny, I hate food, but I went to someone to tell me what to eat.  I had to.  With all my food restrictions I feel like I eat all the same things over and over again.  Boring.  It was nice to have someone listen to me and all my food issues and not think I am a freak.  Well, that and the fact that I am paying her helps. 

We originally corresponded by e-mail.  I had told her that I had gained 50 pounds in the past 20 years.  She asked me if I could do stairs since they are located on the 2^nd floor.  WHAT!!  I’m not THAT heavy…well, she didn’t know that 20 years ago I was underweight and probably look “normal” now to everyone else but me.  When I met her, I had old ugly feelings come out.  She was so tiny, like a little pixie.  There I am following her back to her office like Godzilla chasing Tinkerbell.  Arrgh, Arrgh!  I was in her office for a good hour and a half going over my history with food starting as far back as I can remember.  From grazing off  TV tables as a toddler , to the Mommie Dearest scenarios in high school staring at my dinner on the table until it was time to go to bed (my parents took pictures, they thought it was funny), ending with my husband leaving me in Whole Foods (he really did) because I wrinkled my nose at his dinner suggestion.  She reviewed my food diary/log I had kept for the past two weeks.  Some days I did real well with eating(yea!) and other days I wasn’t eating enough.  She also said I tend to eat the same things all the time.  Duh, that is why I am here.  I need help.  I am going back to see her next week for my updated food meal plan.  She is putting together a list of all the foods I can eat with suggestions on when to eat them. 

The next day I went and saw my allergist for my once a year check in and epi-pen refill.  She checked me out, said I didn’t look too bad but was obviously suffering during this ragweed season.   I told her about my newest symptom in grocery stores; I can’t go down the bread aisle or anywhere near the pastry department without having heaviness in my chest and it feels like I have inhaled spikes into my lungs and nose.   She whipped her head up from taking notes and said “that’s not good”.  Well I didn’t think so either.  (For all my dislike of all food, I actually graduated from pastry school a few years back.  I do like making cakes and treats for family and friends and occasionally sell a cake/pie or two around the holiday season.) The Dr said that I need to stop baking right away….well, that isn’t going to work out for me this year.  I have desserts to cater on Friday for a party of 150 people and then there is the holiday tea at church where I run the kitchen.    So, so, so, they drew blood from me to do further testing and I am going back next week for the skin tests.  Great.  Let’s find out how allergic I am and let’s see what else I can’t eat.  This is becoming really kooky. 

And the results are in!  I have new food allergies to add to my growing list: barley, oats, bananas, avocado, kiwi, and of all things, carrots.  I knew I didn’t like them for a reason.  Now where do I go from here?  I just ate my lunch, arugula salad with grilled chicken and balsamic dressing.  My face is all red and splotchy.  This is madness.  All foods I can eat and have a reaction to that??!!  Maybe it’s time I consulted a different doctor.  I feel bad because I really like my allergist.  I don’t know what anyone else could tell me.  If I am testing positive with a skin/blood test, what is another doctor going to say? 

As I have said before, it would be so much easier to take a pill for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with 8 glasses of water a day.  Since that isn’t happening any time soon, I guess I will muddle through this mess I am in looking for solutions.  I’m afraid that one day I will have the BIG reaction and have to use my epi-pen.  Actually, that is what my daughter is hoping for…..any excuse to stab me with a needle.  For a nurse, she really doesn’t have any bedside manner with her mom!!  Until then, the battle with food continues………..

Grocery Stores

I hate grocery stores; a few more than others, but hate, HATE them.  We all know I don’t like food, so it isn’t a stretch that I would feel that way about supermarkets.  They are a necessary evil, I mean, how are people supposed to get their food and various sundries?  The problem with living in a smaller town is the choices of where to shop are pretty limited.  I’ve started going out of town to shop.  There is a nice grocery by my office I go to pretty often.  The other grocery is in Hartford.  I like that one, but I can’t tell my Mother I go there, she gets all upset because it is in a not so nice part of town.  But with the choices I am presented with, it makes the most sense.

Waldbaums is at the top of my places I don’t like to go to EVER.  First off, it is located by a senior community, nothing against senior citizens, but they can get pretty cranky.  The parking lot is a mess and if I were to get into an accident it would be there.  If you make it into the building, the inside is pleasant enough, but the aisles are wicked narrow. And when friends bump into each other in the aisle and start talking, it is amazing how they can completely ignore anyone trying to get by.  In one particular aisle, there is a pole right in the middle so you can’t get your cart around it.  What is up with that?  There is also a ramp that I can’t figure out.  Was someone lazy and didn’t want to make the ground level?  It’s also pretty warm in there, I’m guessing to accommodate the seniors.  One time, my husband I were in there doing a mother load(buying two weeks worth of groceries)and we went through the self check out.  Big mistake.  There were a gazillion people there and they were all at the registers.  My husband had a brilliant idea to go to the self check out.  The 12 items and under express lane!  Really?  Jeeeeeze, so here I am in my ski jacket that will keep me warm in the Arctic Circle in this HOT grocery store swiping bar codes that aren’t swiping, putting my items in the bags, my husband taking the bags off the stand, then having the computer tell me not to take off the bags causing an error to happen and the unhappy girl from behind the supervising desk to come over and put a key in the register to fix it all the while glaring at us for taking up too much time in the express lane.  At some point, I had my jacket off, sweating up a storm and my husband and I having words loudly over how to properly go through one of these self checkout lanes.  I got myself in such a twist, my husband very quietly and politely asked me to leave the store, which I did in tears.  After an extended period of avoidance, I eventually succumbed and went back.  Then there was the hummus incident.  I had a positive attitude about the store that day—I will shop here, I will be pleasant, I will enjoy this time to myself without the kids.  Well that got cut short.  In the front of the store when you walk in is the deli and produce.  I had a few things in my cart then walked away to look at the hummus.  Grabbed a big tub for my vegan son, plopped it in my cart and started off towards the meats.  All of a sudden, this very senior woman shouted, “Hey, that’s MY cart” and slapped my arm!  Ohmygosh, I am so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.  She grunted and walked away in a huff.  I didn’t do it on purpose I called after her.  No response.  I tried to shrug it off, but my arm really stung!!  L Later that afternoon, my son cracked open the hummus container.  MOM!!! He shouts, come here quick!  He thought he was eating the skin of the chick pea when in fact it was either a mealworm or a maggot.  AACCKKK! I didn’t look at it too long to figure out what exactly it was, all I knew is that it wasn’t right.  I drove back to the store to return it.  It really wasn’t about the money, more of like, this is what happened to me today, one of your patrons slapped me and I have maggots in my hummus.  I told the poor girl at the customer service counter that I would NEVER step foot in her store again.  She said she didn’t blame me. 

Then there is the grocery store on Farmington Avenue that the whole town shops at.  I can never get in and out of there without seeing at least 3 people I know.  We also have a Trader Joe’s and two Whole Foods.  TJ’s is great but not a lot of variety and Whole Foods can get pricy if you are trying to feed a family of 5.  Now that it’s just my husband and I most nights for dinner, I do shop there out of laziness.  If I want to do a big grocery load, I’ll go to the store that is on the edge of the bad side of town.  Its clean, has wide aisles, really nice looking produce and friendly staff.  And most important, they carry a whole range of Hispanic foods.  My husband can get the chorizo he likes and I can get my cheesey arapas.  Full of carbs but oh so good for a once in a while treat.  But not a good place to be in the first of the month.  That’s when peoples get their check.  The grocery stores are packed then and I stood in line for 45 minutes once just to check out! 

Now, as luck would have it, I might be banned from all grocery stores.  My wheat allergy has gotten much more severe.  When near the bread aisle or in proximity to the bakery department, I feel like I am breathing in nails, my nose and lungs just ache.  When I told my allergist that, she had a freak out.  Well I guess that answers that.  No more craziness in parking lots, no more dodging people I don’t want to talk to. No more standing in check out lines forever.  My husband will have to man up and do the shopping from now on.  I think I can live with that!

Things

Birthday gifts.  Christmas, Anniversary, Valentine’s Day gifts...and we can’t forget the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.  Is anyone else besides me having trouble buying for people nowadays?  Kids especially, they have everything already.  And my parents, good grief!  If they want something they just buy it, so shopping is that much harder to do.  My biggest nightmare question is when my parents start asking what to get my kids for birthday or Christmas.  They don’t need or want anything.  They already have it!

What happened to saving your allowance to buy the Sweet 16 Barbie that smelled like strawberries or to buy the really cool t-shirt at Spencers?  All three of my kids are different with money.  My daughter used to get $1 allowance per week when she was little.  The first thing she would want to do is run to the Dollar Store and buy plastic fingernails.  I’d sit and meticulously put those on her and they would fall off in 10 minutes tops.  The middle child was pretty thoughtful with his allowance.  He would want to buy something to share with either his siblings or the whole family.  My youngest holds onto his money, I think he could start his own bank. 

As they have grown, gotten jobs, they want for nothing.  Cell phones, lap top computers, game systems.  What happened to calling someone on a land line or playing a game with an actual person.  My daughter started amassing kitchen appliances, tools, gadgets, pots, pans a year before she moved out.  Lest I forget to mention the new bedding, towels, pillows, lamps and furniture she bought herself.  My house was starting to look like a cross between Pier 1 and Williams Sonoma.  Because she kept buying her own things, that left nothing for the rest of us to get her.  The day she moved in, I asked her where her vacuum was.  Oh, I don’t have one.  What??  I picked up my Mother then ran to Target to get her cleaning supplies and toiletries.  I don’t think I have ever seen my Mother so happy to buy someone a vacuum!  Now the question is; does she actually use it?

My middle child has a townhouse apartment across from the campus of his university.  Talk about not needing anything.  He and his roommate are all set up.  His roomie is graduating this December and the lease on the apartment is up in January.  My son is graduating in May so we decided not to renew the lease.  That means Mr is moving home after exams in December and will commute his last semester.  He has three floors of used furniture.  I told him he has to have a tacky tag sale and get rid of things he does not need.  All that crap is not coming in my house.  I just got rid of a department store, I don’t want another coming in! 

My youngest is the one who wants nothing.  When he was seven, we asked him what he wanted for Christmas.  A penny he said.  A penny?  Yeah, I don’t need anything mom, a penny will do.  He has his clothes, phone, lap top and Playstation.  That is all he wants or needs in his life.  I am helping him pack up for school and everything that boy wants to take can fit in one suitcase.  Where did he come from?  He is certainly not like the other two. 

My husband is a big culprit of spending money on himself.  He just bought himself a brand new high end car and pampers that thing like it was alive.  The man also wants for nothing as far as his guitar/music studio is concerned.  There is always new equipment being snuck in down the basement stairs.  And he says I’m bad about spending money! For all you inquiring minds out there, I DO wear all the shoes in my closet and use all the handbags as well!!  Not all at the same time. 

When is this spending going to end?  How long can we sustain this?  Pretty soon everybody is going to have everything, then what?  When I say everybody I mean EVERYBODY.  What is going to happen when there is nothing left to buy?  Hopefully people will start to realize that life isn’t about having things.  I was thinking about going to the mall this afternoon to scope out fall fashions and pop into the craft store to get a few things.  Instead, I am going to spend the afternoon with a friend.  We are going to bring her paintings to a gallery and set them up for a show.  Afterwards, we are going to “the meadow”(what the boys call the river bank) for cocktails while we watch our husbands fly fish on the river.  Next time my parents ask what we need, I think I am going to ask for their time.  Time spent together going over old pictures, time to hear stories about their childhood (who knew Auntie could get a bicycle up a tree?) and time creating new memories.  Because at the end of the day, it’s all we really have.

Home Depot Madness

I stopped in Home Depot today to pick up a few things.  I decided to opt out of the self check-out.  If you don't know me, I cannot deal with self check-outs.  My husband had to ask me to leave the store once I was getting so bent.  I pick the register with no one in it and our conversation went like this...........

Girl-How are you today?  Find everything you need?
Me-Fine thank you, yes I did.
Girl-Would you like to open up a Home Depot card today and save 10%?
Me-No thanks, we already have one.
Girl-Do you want to open a NEW Home Depot card? You can save 10% today and have no finance charge
       for 12 months, it's a great deal, blah blah, blah(I stopped listening, it was like school)
Me-No thank you.
Girl-Are you sure?
Me-Yes, I'm only spending $12!
Girl-RELAX!
Me-Inner horror and a shocked look on my  face

Now, I don't know if she was telling herself to relax or me, I don't think she was all there to begin with.  I mean, if you already have a credit card to the store, why would you open a NEW one?  And why would a person want to open up a card for $12? I don't know, it just struck me as odd.  And I walked out of there feeling like I needed to take a shower.  Why does that always happen?  I purposely didn't touch anything I didn't need, I chose items that weren't dusty and I still walked out of there feeling gross.  Not to mention the creepers in there staring at me, its like they have never seen a girl in a hardware store before.  I think I'll let my husband go from now on.....

The Rental

My husband and I recently flew to Raleigh, NC to settle our youngest in at NC State University.  Our flight was relatively uneventful, unless you count my purse having to go through the screening/x-ray process 4 times.  We landed in Raleigh to bright beautiful skies and one of the most efficient airports I have ever been in.  On our way to get the rental car, my husband kept asking if my son really rented the smallest car.  Yes dad, he replied, you told me to rent the cheapest one.  Really?  Really! 

My son and I stood outside Hertz waiting for my husband to secure our transport.  As time ticked by, I looked at Connor then we both looked at the shiny orange and black sports car and said at the same time—he’s upgrading to that car!  Not 2 minutes later, a Hertz employee bursts out of the front door, leaping like a gazelle towards the car and exclaimed loudly in a sweet southern accent, “the Challenger’s hittin’ the road!”  Connor and I busted out laughing.  Leave it to boys and their toys, and my husband and his cars. 

The Hertz guy fired up the engine of the 2011 Dodge Challenger RT and it was LOUD!  He pulled the car around for us and was almost giddy with excitement.  Do guys really get that excited about cars like that?  My husband came out of the building with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.  I just rolled my eyes.  I crawled into the back seat and had my son sit in the front seat so he could help my husband navigate—he had been to Raleigh several times before and knew his way around.  By the time we made it to the hotel, I had leg cramps from being folded up in the back.  Not much room in those kinds of cars!

We parked at the hotel, unloaded our stuff and came back out to go see the college campus before dinner.  As we were walking towards the car, I noticed a gentleman following us.  Then we heard him address us—Hello there!  My name is Scooby.  I have a motorcycle club and our colors are orange and black.  You have a pretty sweet car there and we would love for you to ride with us tomorrow.  I have a bunch of friends who would love to have their pictures taken with your car.  Okayyy, sure we will think about it, thanks!  

We tooled around Raleigh in the Challenger, capturing attention where ever we went.  I could see people looking and pointing from my back seat cubbyhole window.  Of course, my husband has to drive like a maniac, chirping tires and putting the pedal to the metal.  After our dinner, we drove back to the hotel and parked in the middle of Scooby’s motorcycle club.  At least if we parked by them, they would be respectful and mind the car—no dings.

The next morning, we took off for breakfast.  Boy, those Southern people sure do love to eat breakfast out!  Could not find a table anywhere, so we ended up at the local K-Mart to get Connor hooked up with school supplies.  When we came out, I noticed a giant scratch on the front bumper, like someone backed into us.  OMG!  What do we do now?  Go find somewhere to eat of course; doesn’t everyone do that after they discover a scratch on their bumper?  We ended up at Golden Corral.  Ick, but it was food.  We took the rental agreement in with us and sure enough, there was no indication that the car was previously scratched.  Fortunately my husband signed up for extended rental coverage through American Express and was able to submit a claim for the bumper.  I think I was the only one who ate that afternoon….my husband was on the phone the whole time and Connor was so nervous he looked like he was going to barf.  Poor kid could barely choke down a small salad and two onion rings.  He’s my child that will eat anything that isn’t nailed down, live or not.  I was loving the chocolate fountain!  Anyway…

On our way to my son’s dorm, we heard a couple of shout outs to us—love your car man!   Good grief!  As we pulled up to the dorm, the young man assisting in the parking lot had my husband unroll the window.  “Dude, first I want to say, I LOVE your car!  And you can park in the lot over there”  He parked, we unloaded and both boys left me standing next to the car as one went to find a dolly and one, well, I don’t know where he went, but I was there alone.  At least three people told me how much they liked the car.  Really?  Its ORANGE!  But I guess people like orange cars with black stripes and a racing fin on the trunk. 

We got Connor all set in his dorm, said our good-byes, had some tears(all mine)and set off to the airport to drop off our scratched rental car.  After a bit of rough navigating(my husband and I could never be on The Amazing Race together)we made it to the Hertz return lane.  A pimply faced kid is standing there all smiles with return sheet in hand. Wow, did you have fun in this car?  It’s a great car, you were lucky to drive it.  Yeah, ok, but we noticed something when we came out of a store.  Oh the scratch? Yeah, that was there! They just forgot to mark it on the sheet.  Phew.  My husband gave him the keys real quick and caught the shuttle to the airport before Hertz could change their minds! 

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that my husband rented this car.  When we were in Virginia for a family wedding in December he upgraded to a high end Cadillac.  He took our two boys to Miami in January and rented a Mustang convertible.  This time, the Challenger.  We don’t have any trips planned anytime soon where we will need a rental.  But there has been chatter about, can you guess?  Buying another car for him to drive this winter.  He is starting to worry about the snow and his Jaguar…..I knew it would be a problem even though he insisted it wouldn’t be.  Maybe he can rent one for two months.  I bet that Challenger would be available!

Window Monogram

I did it!   Well, I didn't actually put my window sticker on myself, the directions were too complicated, I had my girlfriends daughter come over and do it for me.  She wanted to put it on the Jag instead, but I didn't think it would be a good idea.  My son came home and took one look at it and said "Mom's got a trampstamp!!"  And it took my husband a week to even notice my new window monogram.  For a psychologist you would think he would be more observant.  I have to be even more careful driving around town and not give into road rage.  Not only are my license plates easy to remember, now I have my initials on the back of my car!  I love it though, and am pretty proud sporting my trampstamp!

Bumper Stickers

Bumper stickers....they are kind of like tattoos.  I think you either like them or not.  They can be permanent like a tattoo, you can have many of them, and they both fade over the years.  Some people have them, some don't.  I'm really undecided if I want to put a window sticker on my back window.

Growing up, my parent's cars were devoid of any stickers whatsoever.  No small sticker advertising the dealer where they bought the car, no "Give Peace a Chance" or "Go 'Skins" Pristine surfaces on both cars until I started to drive, then our cars were littered with dings and dents.  My father bought me a VW Fastback when I was in college to spare my mother's new Pontiac Sunbird.  I decorated that VW with at least 5 Grateful Dead window stickers and a few bumper stickers as well.  I'll never forget the day he had to borrow it to go to work.  He came home and said that he was so embarrassed to be driving around a car with skulls, roses and dancing bears all over it.  How could people take him seriously when the car gave people the impression he was a stoner?  Since that day, I refrained from having any bumper stickers on any of our cars.

Fast forward 25 years.....my really good friend here in Connecticut went out of town and came back with the whole back of her car COVERED with bumper stickers.  They all have to do with peace, love and understanding.  Actually, I think she has that on one of her stickers!  They don't look bad on her car and much like a tattoo, they suit her personality, and she is easily identified if you are driving through town or looking for her in a parking lot.  I must admit, I felt a bit of peer pressure to put a sticker on my car.  I had an older vehicle at the time, so I thought, what the heck, and put a Spanish flag bumper sticker on.  My husband is of Spanish heritage and had his growing up years in Madrid, hence the Spanish flag.  It held up pretty well, didn't fade or curl up.  We have since sold the car and it has been sighted in another part of the state!  Like a tattoo, that sticker isn't going anywhere!

Now on to my conundrum.  I have a new car.  Well, a new-used car.  It's beautiful, no dealer labels, no real identifying marks except for my license plates.  The plates belonged to my grandmother and before her, they were her father's.  So, what to do.  Recently another girlfriend of mine wanted to get a monogrammed window sticker for her car.  OOOOHHHH, I'm all about having things monogrammed and that sounded like a sticker I could do.  Not the "My kid is on the honor roll at King Phillip" or "My kid can beat up your honor student".  I ordered us our respective monograms and they came in a few weeks ago.  She put hers on right away and it looks fabulous.  I have been staring at mine.  Do I do it?  I don't know.  What if I put it on crooked(always a danger with tattoo's), what if the back wiper wipes it off?  I just don't know.  My husband recently bought himself a new car and I told him I was going to put my monogram on his car.  He didn't think that was funny. 

And here I sit, filled with so many questions.  Questioning myself even, why is this such a problem??  Diving to work today I saw lots of cars with lots of stickers and lots without.  I guess it would be ok to put it on, it would be on the glass, and I could scrape it off easier than a sticker on the bumper.....I know!  I'll put it on tomorrow......maybe.

It's been 2 weeks.....

and my husband has officially gone mad.  He washes the Jag every other day and he must have wiped the car free from dust 15 times on Saturday.  Heaven forbid I leave the garage door open....it lets in the pollen and we can't have that now, can we.  I caught him on line looking on the Jag website at "snow socks"  Snow socks!!! Really??!!  They look like booties you wear into an operating room but instead of putting them on your feet, you put them on the rear tires whilst wearing orange latex gloves.  Apparently they add some sort of traction while driving through ice and snow.  I laughed so hard at the video that I hope I have dissuaded him from looking into those further.  Oh, and the biggest news is that the car has a chip in the windshield, the heated windshield, already.  Good grief, and I thought I was high maintenance....

The Jag is here................

And boy, is it lovely.  I came home from work Monday afternoon and I saw a key, well more of a clicker looking device, on the counter.  I asked my son if his dad had gotten the Jag...yep.  Went at noon time. My husband pulled the car into the garage that evening, and wow, that's about all I could say.  He took me for a spin around the block with my girlfriend in the back seat.  I looked back at her after we made the first turn....she had her shoes in her hand(God forbid we get dirt on the new floor mats)and a big grin on her face.  The seats are soft buttery leather that seem to form right to your body, holding you in such comfort that you don't want to get out.  The interior has ambient lighting and a kick ass stereo.  Well, it better!  I haven't driven it yet, I am afraid of the power, I think it has 450hp, alot more than my BMW.  And I thought that was fast.....Tuesday morning around 4am, my husband got out of bed and went downstairs.  What is he doing?  Then I heard the mudroom door open to the garage, creeeeeeaaaaak--OMG he's down there looking at his car!  Wack job.  He is so happy, he has thanked me a billion times for letting me let him buy it. My husband works so hard, has driven junk cars for so long, its about time he had something special. 

Alas, no Jag today.....

My poor husband, he's been counting down the days till he gets his new car.  It looks like the car fairy hasn't made it to CT yet.  And the out look isn't too good for tomorrow either.  Especially if the end of the world happens....he will never get his dream car.  Unless he's not raptured and is left behind to endure the 6 months of hell on earth.  Then he will be riding in comfort through the hailstorms of fire and brimstone. Stay tuned for updates as they happen....

The 2011 Jaguar XF Supercharged

For the 28 years that I have known my husband, he has always driven the clunker car.  The “good’ cars were reserved for me since I primarily toted the kids around.   He’s driven cars without brakes or gas caps, cars that overheat just by looking at them and cars that should have never been on the road in the first place.  About ten years ago, when we finally had two reliable vehicles, he bought himself a 1986 Jaguar XJ 12 cylinder red rocket.  The Jag was fun for a while but soon the novelty wore off.  It had one problem after another, would overheat just by turning it on, leaked oil and housed many a mouse.  It was a happy day when that car went bye-bye.  A few years ago, my husband started frequenting the Jag dealership in town, checking out the new models, dreaming about the day he could buy one.  I’m not sure exactly when but sometime last year he started becoming serious about buying one.  I just fluffed it off, saying yeah, yeah, whatever.  Not thinking he could possibly be serious.  We have 2 kids in college and tons of things to do around the house, how could we afford this??  Please….

We went to Singapore in March to visit my brother and his family.  While we were there, my husband kept showing my brother a video on YouTube featuring the Jaguar XF Supercharged driven and reviewed by the guys on the BBC show “Top Gear”.  He and my brother ended up in a Jag dealer IN Singapore—Good Grief!  He came back giddy like a schoolgirl, busting at the seams to tell me all about it.  In Singapore, everything is heavily taxed and cars especially.   The Jag he is interested in is $435,000 in Singapore but under $75,000 in America…..it’s a bargain, right?  He has to buy it—NOT.

Back home in the states, I was hoping that the Jag issue would fall by the wayside.  He can’t be serious, he just can’t.  He’s been known to tell tales and fantastical stories to me.  I would fall for them and he would get a good laugh.  I was thinking this was one of those times and wasn’t going to fall for it this go around.  Instead, it became an obsession with him.  Late at night when I would think he was working, I’d take a peek at his laptop and he would be looking at Jags on e-bay or watching that damn BBC video.  Jeeze man, stop!  And then it happened.  I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes and my husband came over to me and said he was going to by a Jaguar.  Wh-wha-WHAT??  No, I don’t think so.  We need a shed, finish the dining room, redo the bathrooms, pay for the boys college……so many other things to do and buy.  And my biggest argument against this purchase was that he wouldn’t be able to drive it in the winter.  Not the winters we have here in the Northeast!  He’d have to buy another car and that’s another added expense.  After my meltdown, I thought he was done with this.  The next Saturday I had gotten up early to run some errands.  When I got home, my husband caught me off guard asking me to go with him to test drive a Land Rover.  Oh, ok.  Then he continued with, well after we do that, let’s drive down to Woodbridge to test drive the Jag.  Oh for goodness sakes, if it will make you shut up!  So off we go to the Range Rover dealer.  Drove a lovely truck, but it would be like buying another Suburban.  It would be just too much for what we need. 

We got to the Jag dealer and-wow-those cars really are beautiful.  I can see why my husband is so taken with them.  They are all like works of art.  While we were waiting for the dealer to wash the car we were going to test drive, I sat in a convertible.  Now THAT I could buy with no argument.  Out on the road, I checked out all the interior stuff, radio, navigation system, all the buttons on the console.  Hmmm, what’s this button do?  It was a button with a picture of a car and a snowflake.  My husband answered slowly, “I don’t know” in a tone like he did know but wasn’t saying.  Whatever.  We got back to the dealer and with great flourish my husband says “hey Rob, what’s this button with the snowflake do?”  “Why come inside and I will show you a 3 minute video on the Jag’s WINTER mode”.  Winter mode?  Are you kidding me?  Since when do Jag’s have a winter mode??!!  You can’t drive those things in the winter.  This felt like a total set up.  My husband knew I would never believe that he could drive it in the winter unless I saw it for myself.  We watched the video set in New Hampshire on a closed icy snow covered road with professional driver.  Oh good grief, now what am I supposed to say, that video just took away my biggest argument!  After the video was over, my husband looked at me, Cheshire cat grin batting his big brown eyes and said “You can pick the color”

Later on that week, we had a serious sit down.  Laid out all our expenses, no holds barred discussion.  Can we really afford this?  There is no way I am sacrificing any of my expenditures for this car.  Although I did give up my gym membership—I never go.  But I decided that before all this.  We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, but had a zero meltdown adult conversation.  In the end, with all that we want to do to the house and the boy’s education, it looks like there is enough money in the till for the car.  The next few days we didn’t talk about it.  I was at work having a particularly bad day and got a phone call from my mother.  She for one was not in favor of the car.  I forgot what she said but our conversation ended badly--we hung up on each other at the same time.  I promptly called my husband and said “are you going to pull the trigger or not?”  He called back later and said he had put a deposit on a 2011 Jaguar XF Supercharged Ebony black, London tan interior(my choice) and the upgraded XFR seats(his choice).  Apparently the seats are the shiznet.  Oh boy, here we go….

It’s been a few weeks since he ordered the car.  Rob couldn’t find one made to my husband’s specifications in the States so he special ordered one from England.  The car wouldn’t be ready until July or later.  A few days ago, I got THE call.  The ETA on the Jag is this Friday, Rob found one in Michigan.  Yesterday I was getting ready for work and needed help with a zipper.  My husband asked if it was a new dress….why yes it is, and you can never say anything again about me spending money when you have just spent the most of all—and all for YOU!  He held his head low and mumbled some sort of agreement.  Today we are all anxious about tomorrow; is the car going to be in?  Are we crazy for buying this? What have we done?  Are you really going to drive the Jag in the snow with all the gunk on the roads?  And no, I am not taking my shoes off and wearing slippers in the car, that’s just cuckoo!!  But I will keep all of you updated and promise to put up pictures……………………..

Sugar

I don’t like food in general, but I do love sugar.  Sugar in any form will do.  Candy, chocolate, ice cream, custards, puddings…..yum.  I don’t care for sweet tea or coffee, which is strange for a human fly, but do love a good milk shake.  Upon occasion, I’ve been known to eat candy and sugar products in place of meals.  Nothing like having a handful of Hershey kisses for lunch, especially the caramel filled ones. 

As I was downing my third sleeve of Peeps the Saturday before Lent, I thought to myself, I need to stop; this can’t be good for me.  So that day I decided to give up sugar for Lent.  I’ll just stop eating all the candy and really pay attention to the sugar content in all other foods and try not to be so excessive.  Piece of gluten free cake, right?  That evening, I told my daughter what I had decided to do.  She looked at me and said “Mom, isn’t sugar your major food group?  You can’t eat much of anything else.”   Oh my gosh, she’s right.  It is my major food group.  I’m allergic to so many foods.  What am I going to eat?  After my mild panic attack, I thought ok, I can do this.  There are plenty of things I can eat……right?

Do you ever read the labels in the grocery store?  Do you know how much sugar is added to pretty much everything?  Unbelievable.  And do you know how hard it is to give up candy?  The very first night I was at my parent’s house for dinner.  I stood in the kitchen talking to my father absent mindedly tossing M & M’s in my mouth.  It was such a habit.  I collected myself and told myself to stop.  I did much better for the next week or so, only eating things that had low or no sugar added.  I even tried the sugar free Peep.  I’d like to say I took one for the team, the Peeps people need to pull those atrocities from the shelves across the world.  I didn’t even bite all the way into the fake Peep before I was dry heaving into the garbage bin.  While I realize people have dietary/health issues and there is a market for sugar free candy, sugar free Peeps are just wrong.  I immediately fired off a scathing e-mail to the powers that be at Peeps.  They must have been thinking who is this crazy woman??

Alas, I have fallen a bit off the wagon.  On the flight to Singapore a few short weeks ago, the stewardesses handed out ice cream bars and it would have been rude of me to say no, right?  Vanilla ice cream topped with caramel covered in what was like a Nestle Crunch Bar.  They were so good that my husband made me keep the package it came in to see if I could find them here in the States.  Of course not, probably for the best.  I have been good at work though.  Work is a place where I would have most of my sugar.  It’s really hard to walk into my supervisor’s office and not pick up a mini Reece’s or a Rolo.  Today I was in Target and figured, while I am here, I might as well get the kid’s their Easter candy. Well, our Target just upgraded to include a grocery store and they have moved everything, so I was all over the place.  Zip lock bags were not near the dog food aisle anymore and it took me a while to find the kitchen department.  I ran down my list and totally had forgotten to pick up a few stuffed bunnies.  (At work we are collecting bunnies to give to the kids at Connecticut Children’s Hospital.)  I had to wander the store again to find them.  For all my efforts, I grabbed a Reece’s peanut butter egg….I thought it would be better for me than three sleeves of Peeps.  Don’t know about that, but it sure tasted good. 

Well, Lent is almost over but my quasi sugar fast is not.  I really don’t need to be eating so much candy, no one should. I’m not saying I won’t eat all the kids stale Peeps or the left over Reece’s bunny in the four pack, but I am really going to try to monitor myself.  No candy at work, no Gummy Bears(the good ones in the gold pack)in the car, and no ice cream in the freezer.  I think I can do it, I think……

Turkey Update.....

The turkey loves us.....I came into the office today and there he was, standing in the parking lot.  The ladies told me he hung out all day in front of he office door, not letting anyone in or out.  Jen when out to shoo Tom Turkey away and he stopped, turned tail and dropped a big poop.  HA-take that!  When Barb went to lock the front door at closing, she saw Tom holding another lady hostage at her front door.  She ran at him and shooed him off to release her  from captivity.  This morning when my manager came around the corner she saw the turkey in full feather display in front of the doctor's office door holding the nurses off, and one of the ladies was in the car honking her horn and flashing lights to try and scare him.  Dave went out with his golf umbrella to shoo him off.  My manager called Lenny, our maintenance man.  I swear he has a super hero cape under his clothes, he is an amazing man.  And there is nothing like sitting at your desk, looking up and out the window to see Lenny's feet run by with a broom chasing turkey legs.  Too Funny.  Long story short, Lenny was successful in moving the turkey on to greener pastures.  And Chris wants me let everyone know that the turkey did not eat the multi-grained bread she tossed at him, he bypassed that and took off after her instead.   Never a dull moment.....

Turkeys need insurance too....

We had two turkeys come to the office today.  Around lunchtime today, one of my co-workers came in and said there were two wild turkeys out in the parking lot.  The insurance world can sometimes be a bit dry, so to see two fowl feathered friends was highly exciting!  We all ran to the windows with our cell phones to take some pictures.  Where did they go?  Chris and I braved the rain and went out the front door to get a better look.  They were on the move towards our office.  Chris ran back inside and came back out with FOOD!  She wanted to feed these dang things, like geese at the park.  Don't do it Chris, no good will come of it.  She started tossing whole grain bread at the male who in turn started making the moves on her.  Tom Turkey was gobbling quite loudly, walking quickly, then he was charging at Chris!  See I told you not to feed him!! We ran in the front door to the rest of our coworkers laughing.  Now the turkeys were at the front door and pecking at it.  One of the ladies in the office has chickens and turkeys on her property.  We made her go out and talk to them, try and get them to move on.  Well that didn't work, Tom chased her back in.  Next, Dave tried and the turkey didn't even let him open the door all the way.  Good grief!  What's going to happen if we have clients stop by?  We left the turkey guarding the door as we all meandered back to our desks in hopes of him becoming bored tormenting us and move along.  About a half an hour later, we did have a client stop by to sign some paperwork.  I overheard my coworker ask her how she made it in through the turkey.  She seemed surprised and said that she didn't see any.  Oh good, I would hate to have one of those things peck at a client.  As she was walking out, she quickly turned and came back in the building--RED ALERT RED ALERT the turkey is back, I repeat, the turkey is back!  Chris!!  You should have never fed them, now they will never leave!  We snuck the client out the side door, and the receptionist did the same to get the mail.  When I left for the day at 3, the turkey was still holding his post, so I too slid out the side door.  Working where we do in Avon, tucked back away from the main roads in a wooded area, you never know what might pop out to say hello.  We've seen a bear cub, only to realize after 15 minutes of staring at him playing in the stream that his MOM might be somewhere close.  There are snakes that sun themselves in the summer, a creature living in the bushes by the mailbox and something funky swimming by the dam.  And we had the year of the turtles.  Witnessed the mom laying eggs one spring and by September we were rescuing the little guys running across the parking lot.  But the turkeys have taken the cake, never had we have anything charge us or hold us hostage in our own office.   Maybe they needed a tenants policy for their nest or needed to add a piece of jewelry to their schedule....can't wait to see if they are around tomorrow : )

Eddie's Teeth

My poor Eddie.  I am sitting in the waiting room of the oral surgeon while Ed is having his wisdom teeth removed.  This kid has never been a stranger to the dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeons and endodontic procedures.  And I have become familiar with all their waiting rooms.  As far as they go, this one I am sitting in could use an update and new chairs, but this practice has the nicest people working the front desk. 

Eddie got his teeth the normal age babies do, 6 months or so.  Beautiful white straight teeth.  I was always amazed at his red rosebud lips and how they played of his white teeth when he smiled.  Right around his 3^rd birthday, it was a lovely day out and he wanted to run next door to play with his friend Elizabeth, who went by the nickname Beanie.  I called Beanie’s mom, Jackie, to let her know Eddie was on his way over.  I stood at the front door watching his chicken white hair bouncing up and down while he ran towards her front step.  All of a sudden I heard a noise that is instantly recognizable as teeth hitting concrete.  I bolted out my front door screaming, Eddie ran towards me screaming, and Jackie ran after Eddie screaming.  I scooped him up and the three of us ran into my kitchen where I sat Eddie on the counter.  He was bleeding profusely from his lip and mouth.  We got him hanging over the sink, crying, trying to get him to rinse his mouth out with water to see what happened in there.  Not an easy task with an almost 3 year old.  Finally he calmed down enough so we could peer into his sweet little mouth and OMG what a mess. The inside of his mouth looked like hamburger.  He was cut on the side of his mouth inside and out.  Jackie looked at him and said he needed stitches and there looked to be a crack in his fang, the eye tooth.  I got Ed comfy on the couch with an ice pop, and then collected myself before calling his dad.  At this time we only had one vehicle and I needed Bob to come home.  I knew I would be met with resistance, as Bob was working and going to school full time, he was 30 minutes away, so if I needed him to come home for any reason, it had to be a serious one.  Fortunately he had an opening in his schedule and he came right home.  Took a quick look in Eddie’s mouth, scooped him up and drove directly to the emergency room.  My husband said they gave Ed some Demerol to calm him a bit while he was in the papoose board.  Eddie looked up at him, his mouth all bloody, big green eyes rolling around in his head and said “I Love You Dad”.  Poor little guy, ended up with 5 stitches inside his mouth and 3 on the outside, he bit right through the muscle.  And his sweet little baby eyetooth was indeed cracked, right in half.  After his mouth healed, we had to address his tooth.  What should we do?  To try and save the tooth for it only to fall out in a few years anyway would be $800.  To pull it $200.  Considering we didn’t have two nickels to rub together, the $200 option seemed best.  How bad could it look, right?  OMG!!  We were like, what have we done? He looked like a hayseed, a hillbilly.  Eddie is a cute kid anyway and it just added to part of his charm, but it took us a good many years to come to that conclusion.

Fast forward 5 years…….Eddie’s teeth were straight, but he needed to have his upper palette expanded. I guess when the orthodontist can get ahold of a young mouth; they can manipulate it so it would mean less pain and torture later or possibly no need for braces at all.  He had the braces on the front four adult teeth, and the palette torture device in place.  I had a key that I would use in the morning and evening to turn the expander.  Eddie wasn’t too bothered by this, he said it felt like someone was tickling his nose.  My other two kids teased him, saying he was going to look like “Hey Arnold” the Nickleodeon cartoon character who’s head is shaped like a football. 

I was working outside the home at this time.  Emma had recently broke her arm, requiring many trips to the orthopedic.  Since Bob was basically unreachable and unable to help, I did all the running around for and with her.  Then I got the call.  The school nurse called me at work to inform me that Eddie had fallen on the playground.  She said his two front top teeth were slightly pushed forward, he wasn’t bleeding bad but probably needed to see a dentist.  I was so tired of always being the one running back and forth to doctors, sports practices and games.  I wanted some help.  So I called Bob and asked him if he could go and collect Eddie to see what was going on.  Although he groaned about it, he agreed to get him.  He said it was a good thing too.  I would have had the biggest freak out, bigger than the one I had when I found out how bad Eddie’s injury was. 

Bob walked into the school clinic to see Eddie sitting in a chair holding a gauze pad over his mouth.  When he removed it to show Bob, he was utterly in shock.  Eddies teeth weren’t slightly pushed forward like the school nurse had said, they were almost all the way out of his gums!  AAACCCKKKK!!  The only thing that saved them from going into the playground mulch WERE the braces.  Bob quickly rushed him to the orthodontist because he didn’t know where to go with him.  She sent them to an oral surgeon who put the teeth back in his mouth.  By the time they got home I was a wreck, Bob was a wreck, and Eddie was a wreck.  It wasn’t like his baby teeth where you could pull them out and others would grow in.  These were adult teeth.  Now he was in danger of losing them altogether.  I quickly made an appointment with an endodontist. He checked Eddie’s front teeth with a piece of ice to see if there was any loss of sensitivity.  Of course there was.  Now the real problem was to get this kid 2 root canals before his 2 front teeth turned black.  Yikes, time was of the essence.  My poor little guy, so much mouth trauma in his short 8 years.  After his root canal procedure, the dentist said it was a good thing we didn’t wait too much longer as his roots were already turning grey on their way to black.  He also said because now that his teeth were essentially dead, he wasn’t sure how long they would stay in his mouth.  And he would probably need implants one day.  Great, another thing to worry about. 

Fast forward another 13 years and he still has all his teeth.  Thank goodness for mouth guards during all the lacrosse and soccer seasons.  And another thank goodness when he decided to be on the high school swim team.  No mouth guards needed!  I still worry he will wake up one day with two adult front teeth on his pillow and Eddie has dreams they fall out as well. 

And there Eddie sits in the oral surgeon's chair.  Big green eyes rolling around in his head, chicken white hair sticking straight up, red rosebud lips holding in the bloody gauze.  As I was collecting my doped up 21 year old, the sweet assistant who seemed smitten with him, asked if he had any final questions.  “When can I drink alcohol?” came out of his mouth.  I was absolutely(no pun intended)mortified! My sweet boy is officially a man.  Now he can pay for his own damn implants!!

Singapore

Hi my friends!  I am in Singapore, halfway across the world!!  I am enjoying my time here(on day two) with my brother and his family.  Yesterday we went to Chinatown.  I remember it was a fun time but I was still foggy from the plane ride and time change.  After a good nights sleep, we woke up refreshed and ready to go.  Landed in Little India today.  Grace and I both bought sari's.  Mine is cream with gold embroidery and Grace's is pink with gold and turquoise and cream embroidery.  We put them on together with our bindi's and bangles, how fun!!  Singapore is a magical country.  Plus they are living a killer lifestyle and that always helps.  Waking up to a panoramic view of the yacht club is nothing short of spectacular.  Almost time to eat, Vanessa is cooking up a Thai dinner for us.  Tomorrow we are up for more exploring and afternoon relaxation time by the one of 3 infinity pools.....such a hard vacation....

3.11.11

What a day at the Gallegos house, or should I say what a week!  Monday I went into the living room and noticed a dark stain on the ceiling.  Upon further inspection we discovered the bathroom above the living room was leaking somewhere.  Bob had to poke holes in the ceiling to drain the water into a bucket sitting on two end tables stacked on top of each other.  We haven't been able to use our bathroom for a week now, as the plumber hasn't been able to get here before due due all the rain we are having.  He's busy replacing water heaters in flooded basements....AND we haven't had counter tops, a kitchen sink or a dishwasher for two weeks.  The plumber came today and told me that the bathroom was too big of a job for him and for me to seek help elsewhere.  As I was leaving to take Eddie to have his wisdom teeth removed, Bob came home to be able to meet the counter top guys.  Got back from the oral surgeons to have a house full of guys installing my shiny new granite counters.  Still don't have the sink hooked up yet, or the dishwasher.  That will be tomorrow-hopefully.  Now Eddie is asleep, maybe I can try and put some order back into this house.  My Mother is coming over this evening(God forbid anything is out of place) to see her two boys...Connor is coming home for spring break and Eddie, well, he's recovering.  Oh and what do you feed a vegan after he's had teeth pulled?  He can't have pudding, yogurt, ice cream...spent 45 minutes running around Stop n Shop looking for soy substitues.  Do you know they make a vegan soy free, dairy free, gluten free mac and cheese?  What the hell is in it? Crazy. Well that's been the day so far and its half over.....

Tacos are not kid food......

Kid food, according to my husband, is anything that could be found on a kids menu.  For example, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese or fish sticks.  Dinner has to be meat, starch, vegetable and salad.  Everyone knows I hate food to begin with, so this was no easy chore for me.  My kids did have their fair share of chicken nuggets and spaghetti o’s.  There were many a night where my husband was either working or in school so the quicker I could get dinner on the table, the better.  It was about 10 years ago when we moved to Connecticut that we instituted family dinner every week night.  Trying to hold off hungry teenage boys after swim or football practice wasn’t easy, but somehow I managed to make it all happen. 

I was lucky enough to land a part time job that allowed me to be home in the afternoon for the children.  I ran around  to doctor and orthodontic appointments, getting supplies for school projects, helping with school projects.  Because my husband woke up each morning and thought about what he wanted for dinner, he would pull something out of the freezer and leave me instructions.  That worked for a while, mindlessly preparing a dinner for him but not for me or the kids.  Maybe we didn’t want what he picked out.  I started collecting cook books, trying out new things.  For the most part, there weren’t too many disasters, although I have been hailed the Queen of Boiled Meat.  And I am sorry, I grew up eating my Great Grandmother’s bean and hot dog soup and it is delicious.  I think that was the night my husband took a taste and threw the rest in the trash and went out to eat by himself. 

One afternoon, instead of making what was instructed, I decided to make tacos instead.  We hadn’t had those for a good long while.  The kids were excited to help me pick out all the toppings and side dishes.  It was one of the few times all four of us worked together to prepare dinner.  We were singing and dancing around the kitchen setting the table, chopping lettuce, grating cheese.  Then it was the classic record player scratch noise, we all came to a screeching halt.  Dad was standing in the doorway staring with his mouth open in horror at the scene in front of him.  What? I asked timidly, What’s the matter?  It took a few moments for my husband to reply TACOS? TACOS FOR DINNER? THAT’S KID FOOD!  The kids and I slowly turned out heads to look at each other, for a brief moment the silence was deafening.  Then like a flip of the switch we all started laughing, the kind where you have lots of tears and sore abs the next day.  I don’t remember if my husband ate with us that night, I think he did.  He might have had leftovers from the night before, God forbid he eat a taco.  That night I realized that our family dinner nights weren’t all about the food, it’s who we are with that is the most important.  The kids and I would not have had all that fun together if I had been cooking one of his scripted meals.  After that incident, we all began to look forward to meal time.  There were many dark nights of brooding teenagers full of angst, but also many bright nights full of laughter.  Some nights we all had so much to say to each other, unless you were holding the salad dressing bottle, you could not speak.

Fast forward 10 years and we are almost empty nesters.  My daughter has moved out and the two boys are away at college.  We have settled into a pretty simple routine.  Monday night I am out of the house so he has dinner on his own, Wednesday night my husband dines with his business partners and I have only child dinner night at my parents and Thursday night we go out to dinner together.  Tuesday night has become my evening to make dinner and he cooks on the week-ends if we aren’t out with friends or family.  Recently we took out our counter tops in preparation for new granite counters.  My husband had to unhook the dishwasher and take out the sink as well.  Wow, no cooking going on in this kitchen for at least two weeks, that’ll be tough I said to my husband.  He looked at me and said, this will be such a hardship, you won’t be able to make dinner two whole times. 

Last night was the first of my two nights of making dinner.  I stopped at Whole Foods and bought already prepared salmon, roasted beets and salad.  My husband made it home before I did so there was no trickery to be had.  I was going to tell him I made everything in tin-foil for easy clean up.  As I was getting out the paper plates and plastic cutlery, he looked over the paper tub and plastic containers of food asked if there was anything he could do to help.  He took about six steps into the family room and then I announced dinner was ready.  We had a good laugh while eating, making fun of all the “hard work” I had put into the meal.  After we ate, he volunteered to do the dishes.  Such a nice guy.

I am hoping, truly hoping, that our counters will be in soon.  I have both boys coming home from school next week end.  One on his spring break and the other to have his wisdom teeth removed.  It’s one thing to eat out or bring food in when there are only the two of us, but for them, I really need to have a working kitchen.  My post surgery boy will need soups and comfort foods to make him feel better, and the other one, well, he just likes to eat all the time.  The outlook is good for taco night and dancing in the kitchen.  We will just have to make sure Dad won’t be home for dinner…………..

Hot Spots

Hotspots.  I wish I was writing about a fabulous resort or a good sale.  The hotspots I am referring to are on my dog.  Would that make them a vacation spot for fleas?  Or a $99 dress sale at Rover’s Bridal?  Alas, no.  Apparently when dogs get stressed, they can start an itch-scratch cycle causing an infected sore or sores requiring medical attention.  Wonderful. 

Jersey is our 10 year old Golden Retriever.  She has a very sweet temperament, but has her moments of being a nervous nelly.   I am the parent that has to take her everywhere, not my husband, her favorite human in the whole world.  Jersey does not like riding in the car.  She cries, pants, and her eyes bug out of her head. One time she got herself so worked up she pooped in the car.  But that is another story. 

This all started back in December.  We had just gotten back from a quick week-end trip to Virginia.  My girlfriend watched Jersey for us and had said that she was super nervous and had trouble settling down.  Got the old girl home and she seemed happy to be there.  The next Saturday, I noticed little tufts of hair about the house.  Later on that day, my husband said the dog had chewed a small raw spot on her back leg, looked to be about the size of a quarter.  Off he went to Petco for the cone of shame. We gave her doggie tranquilizers for the rest of the week-end to help calm her down.  I called the vet on Monday and of course, they wanted to see her. 

I was lucky that my son was home from college.  He helped me get the nervous nelly in the car and off we went.  In the waiting room, Jersey was ill behaved as per usual, trying to sit on my lap, crying, and straining on her lead.  Finally we get called back.  Vet comes in, takes Jersey out, and brings Jersey back in with half her leg fur shaved off.  Oh My Gosh, I am the worst dog owner in the world!  My poor dog had the biggest hotspot ever!! (well, I had never seen one before but I am assuming it was the biggest one on record) I can’t even describe to you what it looked like.  You just have to see one, or not.  My son was gob smacked, totally without words.  When he finally collected himself, he noted it looked like a brain, a bloody brain on her hind quarter/hip area.  Poor thing, I felt so bad for her.  I am guessing Jersey got herself all worked up between us leaving for the week-end and all the commotion going on in the house with the holidays approaching she started gnawing on herself.  The vet gave me a script for some antibiotics, and sent us on our way.  I stopped at the local pharmacy and was met with a “Huh? It’s for a dog, we can’t fill this.”  The pharmacist spoke over the partition and corrected the girl at the counter.  Not only did they fill her prescription, the antibiotics were FREE!!  I was very excited since my dog has a $200 yearly cap on health care and I had just spent pretty penny at the vet’s office.    After a few days of treatment, she was on her way to recovery.  All was well, or so I thought….

About the middle of January, I came down the stairs to see Jersey chewing her bum again and the familiar tufts of hair are found about the house.  Great, get the cone out.  This time I am ready, got the Benadryl, calming pills and doggie anti-itch spray.  That should hold us over till Monday when we can see the vet.  Unlike last go round, I don’t have my strong son to help me get the dog in the car and to help me manage at the vet.    

Fortunately the car ride was pleasant.  I walk in with Jersey straining on the lead, choking herself and gasping for air.  The sweet girl behind the counter checks us in and on we go to take a seat.  There were quite a few people in the office that day since it was a day before a big snow storm.  The only spot for us was next to one of—gasp--our parish priests!  He also had a golden retriever, a big, beautiful, CALM golden retriever.  I was absolutely mortified sitting next to them.  Jersey tried to jump onto the priests lap more than once.  She also slobbered all over him and his beautiful dog.  Good grief!  They finally call her name and back we go.  The vet and I decided that Jersey was all stressed out about the snow.  She didn’t have anything to sniff and had to do her business in the driveway.  We got our prescription and then we were on our way. 

Jersey is finally done with all her meds, the snow is melting and she has grass to sniff.  Since the last round of hotspots, there has been a big life changing event in the Gallegos household.  Older sister has moved out and Mom & Dad are quasi-empty nesters as her brothers are still at college.  Jersey has taken to this rather well.  No indications of anxiety so far although she has been crying, yes literally crying for attention.  As I am writing this essay, she is trying to put her nose under my hand for a quick scratch.  In a few weeks, my husband and I will be traversing the globe to visit my brother and his family.  Jersey will be staying with a friend from work who has a golden the same age.  Since they get along famously and my girlfriend treats Jersey to people food, I have a feeling our Jersey will have a blast and not want to come home.  And hopefully, this ends the hotspot happenings.