Christmas Shopping and Holiday Angst

Thanksgiving is a week away, and we've been inundated with catalogs. I started Christmas shopping last week. I found a few things online and a few in catalogs.

Today I shopped in person. I stopped at the Stamford Home Goods. I love Home Goods--you never know what you may find. I found some ideas for Elaine's party (assuming she is having one--I haven't heard from her.) I picked up a few things for Jeff. (I can't list them because he's one of the few persons to read this blog.)

I then went to a tutoring session. On the way home, I went to an anniversary party at this store. It was literally on my way home. I did well, getting a belated birthday and a few Christmas gifts for family members.

I'm feeling ambivalent about the holidays. We have several family changes to deal with.

Spike is not as ill as he was last year--we worried about him surviving the holidays then. But now he is dealing with other problems.

I'm trying to get into some kind of holiday spirit, but it can be a challenge.

A Trip to the Vet's

When I got home from the gym today, Jeff had noticed something off in Spike's right eye and made an appointment at the vet's.

Good thing; his eye needed antibiotics, and what we thought was a hot spot was much worse.

Our poor guy needed a shot for pain, antibiotics and eye drops.

Spike seemed better pretty quickly. Thank goodness, we got to the vet's today.

Today's Afternoon at the Dog Park

Because of my general malaise and my discouraging post this morning, I decided I had to post something more positive.

Today was an unseasonably warm fall day--it reached 61 degrees. So we took Spike to the dog park. It wasn't as nice as the day before his birthday, but very pleasant. We timed our visit for the warmest part of the day: we saw Chance and Tipper, their humans Art and Kevin, and met some new dogs and people. We even met a Basenji named Zoe. We've only seen one or two Basenjis before. It's a rare event.

As usual, Spike was reluctant to get into the car. We told him he would be happy when we arrived at dog park. Art and Kevin greeted him, a few dogs sniffed, but mostly ignored him as he "chilled" as Art said.

This may be our last visit to the dog park in a long time. It's not good for Spike to go in the cold. I just hope we have a few more unseasonably warm visits this fall.

Checking In

I've been feeling discouraged.

As if I'm treading water. I'm not drowning, but I'm still far from the shore and I'm getting tired.

It's the little things. I sweep or vacuum a floor and minutes later, dead leaves are scattered across it.

On the way to the dog park, a hose breaks in Jeff's car causing it to overheat. We have to leave his car at the shop and take a cab home. The hose breaks when the auto repair shop is busy, so the car remains there for days. The replacement hose isn't expensive, but the labor to install it is.

It's the bigger things. Spike's health remains a concern. We thought he had finally kicked pneumonia, but he stated huffing again.

The holidays are approaching, bringing about as much stress as good cheer.

How will I make it to shore?

TV Catch-Up Time

Now that baseball season's over, Jeff and I have been catching up on some shows that we've recorded.

In no particular order:

The Simpsons--I guess we're only recording this out of habit and with the hope that the writers can come up with a solid episode. I barely remember any episodes of recent years. It seems that a few have decent setups that the writers can't sustain.

The Big Bang Theory--we started watching this show when it went into syndication. I think it replaced Seinfeld on a local station. I'm enjoying the show, but am getting tired. I mean the show is getting tired. I was interested in how Sheldon would propose to Amy, but the show is dragging out that storyline, and it's annoying.

Face Off--nine seasons already. This is my favorite reality show, but I still wonder if they'll run out of quality contestants showing two seasons in one calendar year. The top contestants are good, but the bad are really bad.

More to follow in another post.

Celebrate! Spike Turns 15 Today!

We always celebrate Spike's birthdays, half-way days and anniversaries.Today is special. At Spike's size, an age of 15 is equivalent to 83 human years.

We had hoped to take Spike to the dog park, but it rained off and on all day. Spike's recovering from pneumonia; lying in the wet grass didn't seem a good idea.

At least we went to the dog park yesterday.We walked from the car about halfway across the field when Spike just plopped down as if to announce this is where I want to rest. Jeff and I got chairs from the car and hung out with him for an hour. A few dogs came over, looked at him and then ran off to play. It was a beautiful day--sunny, about 70 degrees with a cool breeze. I'm hoping for a repeat visit tomorrow.

Tonight we gave Spike a good steak dinner with a peanut butter Frosty Paw as dessert.

Happy Birthday Spike. 

Feeling a Little Better

after reading the second part of this post.  But I still need just a little more time.

Mets Post Post-Mortem

Sunday night feels so far away. Today I realized that if the Mets had won either Saturday or Sunday--there would have been a game last night. And maybe game seven would have been tonight.

I suddenly thought of these lyrics from this song.:

As I walk this land of broken dreams,
I have visions of many things.
But happiness is just an illusion,
Filled with sadness and confusion.
What becomes of the broken hearted
Who had love that's now departed?

So I'm still not ready to celebrate the Mets season.

All the talk about comparisons to the 1986 series was cool, but ultimately the 2015 Mets fell 4 to 1 to the Royals, as the 2000 Mets fell to the Yankees. That hurts; they couldn't even win a respectable two games.

I need more time.

Election Day Light

No national or state-wide elections today, but there are many local elections. Our current mayor Harry Rilling was re-elected. I haven't heard about the other races yet.

I'm more informed about the local elections than I've been in several years. I still don't know all the candidates and their positions. But it's important to vote. Too many people died securing that right. Others still struggle to exercise it.

I heard a report on the radio today that the US is behind most other industrialized countries in voter participation.  NY Rep Steve Israel wants to move election day to a full weekend to make it easier for people to vote. He says the Tuesday voting day was well suited to the 18th Century agrarian society, but makes it difficult to vote in a modern society.

I agree that we should make voting easier. Too bad many Republicans don't agree, crying about non-existent voter fraud.

Mets Post-Mortem

The Mets season ended last night. It lasted a month longer than I had originally expected. But I don't feel pleasure in that. Not now.

I woke up this morning with this song in my head. I'm also angry. Angry at prima donnas like Yoenis Cespedes who thought he could hit when he couldn't run. Then there's Matt Harvey. Yes he pitched beautifully through eight innings, but I preferred Familia with a clean start in the ninth. I'm mad at Terry Collins for submitting to these prima donnas.

Someday soon I'll be able to celebrate a great season. For now, I mourn what could have been.