Maintainers Weekly Chat: March 20 - March 26
 

I survived the eight inches of snow, but face that the mounds have not yet melted because the temps have stayed below freezing. Oh, well. We still have to walk across ice to get in our cars in the driveway.

Today is a full day press to get our tax information ready for the preparer. What's left shouldn't be that hard, but I suffer from the feeling that there's some major deductible item that I've forgotten. Maybe I donated money to a local college for a science center or sumptin', LOL.

Our snow did melt. And today's the vernal equinox - first day of spring. I am wearing full-on sunscreen to celebrate!

I survived the dog sit without much problem and am happy to be home!

Dagmar :flow2: :sunny: :beach:

:wave: It's always good to see Bill and Dagmar here ahead of me in the weekly thread. I've had a full morning's worth of drama and done my exercises. The heavy rain has passed over and the afternoon is promising to be mild. I'm just heating up some celery and bacon soup I made earlier. I'm going to have it with leftover peas and a bit of cheese.

Then I'll catch my breath and see what the afternoon brings. I've got my own ideas but 'the universe' may think otherwise.

Yes, let's see what the universe brings this week. My family has several "unknowns" going on right now that could come to fruition this week. Or not.... I know it is stressing me out so I need to focus on what I can control and what I cannot.

My focus this week is to see if I can get some weight off before my cruise in 10 days. I'd love 5 (ha) but I'll settle with anything at this point....

Good morning!

This weekend we had a party and had such a wonderful time! DS was home and helped out considerably. MIL made all the food and she and DS did most of the clean-up. Everyone had such a good time, which was nice as not everyone knew each other. In all, we had 17 people attend--two had to cancel at the last minute.

We're being reminded that we should take a trip to Anza-Borrego state park to look at wildflowers. I suggested to DH that we do it one weekend, but it seems everyone and their brother has the same idea. The park is reporting it is full to capacity by 6:30 AM on weekends and I've heard stories of cars parked on either side of the highway for a mile before the entrance. DH suggested we take an afternoon off of work and do that instead. I'm up for that!

That sounds wonderful, Allison.

Looks like DH will be out of a job in a couple of weeks. SIGH.

The good news is that I've somehow moved to that point where I'm no longer overeating when I'm extremely upset. :cp:

Seems I'm not sleeping instead. :shrug:

Going to be a turbulent few months I think.

Dagmar :tired:

I'm facing a difficult decision with my kitty, Charlotte. Dh is in Japan until Saturday afternoon and she seems to have taken a quick turn for the worse. It's hard to tell because she's hiding from me and her brother, Wilbur. But, I know that hiding is a sign that things aren't right. My philosophy has been that I'm happy to treat her kidney disease as long as she's comfortable, but I stopped treating her as of yesterday as I didn't feel it was fair to drag her out from under the bed. I'll see how she seems this afternoon. Very sad about it. I know that Wilbur will be a wreck-- he is already demanding lots of attention from me because he doesn't understand her withdrawal. I'm also concerned how he will do with us leaving next Wednesday for 12 days. They both stay upstairs away from the dogs (their choice)-- but I think he'll come down for company when she's gone.

Dd was hoping to hear good news about a job she applied for but they said they still have to interview more candidates before deciding so that is up in the air.
Dh also applied for a different position within his company (which would require a move!) and hasn't heard back.

So, lots of uncertainty at the moment.

And it's pouring cats and dogs here.

I am determined to find something good to focus on today. Any ideas?!?!?!

We're expecting some of that rain here tomorrow, Michele. Sorry about Charlotte, but I totally understand. When Chico had the kidney trouble it was so hard to see him act so happy to be fed only to watch in horror as he backed away from the food and refused to eat (what Lab does that?). I'm sure it'll be an adjustment for everyone if she were to have to go. When my in-law's cat was nearing the end, we were about to go on a cruise with them and they made the agonizing decision to let him go because they couldn't fathom leaving him and having someone else have to make that decision. Hopefully it doesn't come down to that for you. ((hugs))

Michele - thinking good thoughts for you, Wilbur, and Charlotte. (And I totally just got the naming when I typed it out that way. :) )

Michelle Being away generally causes increased stress for most pets, no matter how much they like their sitter. And it's definitely not fair to the sitter to leave them with a pet who may be critically ill.

I have had to deal with extremely elderly pets and I've had my client contact the vet and leave instructions about action to be taken if the pet takes a turn for the worse. Also instructions for disposal of the remains.

I also ask the clients if they want to be notified of the pet's condition or if they prefer to find out when they come back. Kind of ruins the vacation to hear that your beloved pet has passed away.

Dagmar :(

Thanks for your thoughts about pet sitters, Dagmar. I talked to the vet and signed papers with my wishes "just in case" but suspect we will do it before we go. However, I think she heard me talking (just kidding-- she's deaf as a doornail) as she perked up last night and started snuggling again with Wilbur. I spoke to dh and he and I are on the same page. I don't want to do it too soon, nor do I intend to let her suffer. And I certainly don't want to leave a pet sitter with an almost impossible decision.

Michelle, of the thousands of euthanasias I have performed for medical reasons, I can think of maybe 2 where I thought the owner might have been slightly premature in making the decision. And only slightly.

It's never easy, and the timing is often bad for us humans. I had to euthanize my parent's dog on Christmas morning two years ago.

JZJ-- I appreciate your insight. It does help. Spoke to dh last night and we are tentatively planning on doing it on Monday if she doesn't feel too poorly before then. He gets home Saturday. The vet closes at 2 on Saturday and he'll be pushing to be back by then. I don't want him just getting home and having to rush there with me. I'd rather have us have the weekend with her. But, if she seems uncomfortable, I'll do it myself earlier. She is snuggling with her brother now, rather than hiding from him, so I don't feel I need to rush to make the decision.