23 Years

After much self-debate, I did drive over to the periodontist appointment on Wednesday morning.  I was mega early.  The hygienist told me I was one of two (of her appointments) who actually showed up.  The early one drove in from another town, about 55 miles away.  He said the roads were not as bad as they could have been.  That was my assessment as well, but I was still grateful that schools were closed and traffic was light.

They could have started me when I arrived, except that, like unto the hair salon where the girls do each other's hair when customers cancel, the hygienists in this office clean one another's teeth.  My gal was having her own teeth cleaned as I was waiting for the actual time of my appointment. 

I gave both the dentist and the hygienist big hugs and best wishes on their retirements at the end.  They tell me I've been going to them for 23 years, based on patient records.  That's where the blog title comes from.

The 23 years got me to thinking.  I started going to them in June, 2001.  That's before 9/11, the twin towers coming down.  During those 23 years, I lost a lot of weight, took up running and triathlon, got divorced, saw my son off to overseas deployment, twice, lost my sister in law to ALS, lost my brother to undiagnosed heart issues, etc., etc., etc.  23 years is the lifetime of a young adult!

They have taught me well.  They tell me I don't really need a specialist anymore, and I will be fine with my regular dentist who is very good and will keep a close eye and send me to another specialist, if I ever need it again. 

The rest of Wednesday, the wind kept blowing.  I timed shoveling sessions for when Ember was napping.  I did three sessions, clearing as I normally do, coming inside to thaw out between sessions.  When I went out for each session, I found that most of what I had done before was drifted in.  I did the next section, then came in again.

Across town, DIL's dad is had a family birthday dinner at the China Buffet, but I begged off.  Ember and I have had enough adventures for one day.  I am missing seeing my foster grandchild by skipping this, but as I said to them via messenger, "I know my limits".

Couch puppy time!  This was shortly before she fell asleep and then transferred to her crate.  She was being my heated, weighted lap-puppy blanket.  I can just feel the stress drain when I have my pup on my lap!

Thursday - cold!

At 3:56 a.m. I heard my puppy whining.  I put my feet on the floor, and went swiftly through my morning routine, but I did not skip steps.  Guess I should have.  I was downstairs to rescue her before 5, but she had soiled the crate bedding already.  Poor baby!  She tried to alert me, I just wasn't fast enough responding.

So that's how our bitterly cold Thursday morning started out.  Puppy out in the snow, Mommy rinsing things out in the toilet and starting a load of laundry.  We played some indoor fetch down the stairs, and she played "take an inside toy outside, be startled by how cold it got when you rolled it in the snow, then get zoomies that range both into and back out of the house".  We calmed down and napped as a couch puppy until a little after seven.

I texted my own trainer to bow out of today's human training session, in favor of dealing with the remains of Mother Nature's gift.

In the pre-dawn streetlight it did not look too terrible, but you know how slick side streets can be, even with a little bit of cover.  

Cold as it was, I tried to keep the day as normal as possible for Ember.  It took fully half an hour to get her into the car, and we carefully crept over snow-packed streets to the day care.  Her workers met her at the door, and she was so excited to be there.  A couple of her fur-friends were also there, and the workers took them back to play.

Back home, the sunshine made the shoveling not quite so bad.  The temperature had risen above zero to 2F for my first shoveling session, which was pretty much clearing out parts that had drifted in.  I had not cleared the driveway on Wednesday, so that is part of my puppy day care agenda, too.

I call this next photo:  "Things I have done for my dog that I never dreamed of doing for my cat."

Yes, I shoveled off the deck as part of my puppy day care activity.  I did wander out to do "poo patrol" but could not find any visible... I imagine when the snow melts... or someone steps in it...

Meanwhile, a month in to having "daycare" days for the puppy, the kitty is getting bolder about coming upstairs to see mom during Ember's absences.  

The day care worker told me Ember had loose stools during her time with them, a couple of times, but it got better as the day went on.  Now I've got just her and me for the next four days so I can keep a close eye on her.

Life goes on.  It is full, and it is good.  Keep on Sparking, my friends!