Random Ramblings (Rantings?)

I am having trouble focusing and getting motivated this weekend.  So I thought I’d just write on some of the random things going on and going through my mind today.  Warning:  there may be a little whining in here.  About the weather.  I think those of you in the Northeast and Midwest can probably relate.  I’d like to blame the lack of focus on Spring fever, but since spring is only here on paper, that excuse is not going to fly.  Mother Nature must have lost her calendar…..she seems to have forgotten that the first day of spring was this week.  Then there’s the whole thing with the groundhog.  For some reason a lot of us here in the North often get sucked in by that little critter.  It’s mostly just wishful thinking, because deep down we know there will never be an early spring.

Weather and walking:  My plan for the weekend was to get some nice long walks in so I could try to catch up on my Idita-Walk minutes.  My plan to do most of my minutes during the 2^nd half of March was flawed.  Yes, I’ve lived in New England my whole life, and yes, I should have known better.  When 8 inches of snow arrived this last week I felt I was doomed to fail.  I’ve been fighting the late winter blues all week.  (Especially after the week of 40 degree sunny weather we had).  There was a lot of arguing with myself, but I still got out and walked every day except for the day it snowed.  They weren’t long walks, but I was out there.  Even on the day I had to put on my big snow boots, heavy coat, snowsuit, knit cap, and snowshoes.  I am so over snowshoes this year.  I blazed trails that day so the next day I could walk without the snowshoes.

This morning I lay in bed with my coffee watching the weekend weather with a sinking feeling, as well as watching snow flurries fall outside the window.  When I got up and opened the sliding door, and got blasted by frigid cold air, I think I may have whimpered (no, honey, really that must have been one of the dogs).  It was below freezing, windy and cloudy; not what I had been hoping for. I readjusted my plans and went grocery shopping.  When I got home from that I had a quick lunch and out Kobi and I went.  It wasn’t the long walk I wanted but we added to our minutes.  It was actually peaceful, other than the howling wind, because no one else wanted to be out there either!  We are hoping that tomorrow will be just a few degrees warmer, and a little less windy.

Home security:  My hubby went out to a concert last night.  This is not something that happens very often; usually it is me going out with my sisters and/or friends.  I have always hated being home alone at night.  Hubby used to work 3^rd shift and those overnights were the worst for me.  Last night he was expected home before midnight but I still wondered if going to bed alone would bring back my vivid imagination that led to paranoia at every little noise I heard.  It did not.  What is different now than back then?  We have dogs, which we did not back then.  I had three dogs in bed with me, and one downstairs in the dining room standing guard.  Well, okay, he was actually sleeping, but when Dad got home he let out the ferocious bark of a very scary dog.  I feel protected with Moses on guard down there; even if I know he is just a big love, when he barks like that he sounds like a guard dog.

Hubby says that when I am not home the dogs bark a lot.  They bark at every little thing they hear, probably because they are listening for me to come home.  I was expecting that last night, because they do the same thing on the one day a week when hubby works late.  They were surprisingly quiet last night.  The only barking was going on outside when Cricket was barking at the deer.  We have a group of deer that come into the yard to eat most evenings, and the dogs will bark even when they are not right in our yard….they can hear them walking in the woods.  Cricket was at the gate of the fenced in yard barking and barking, and sometimes the deer don’t even care, they will still hang around.  But when I try to open the window to take a picture, the squeak of the window will spook them.  Hence this one lousy photo of them taken through the window at dusk:

Stress level elevated lately:  The last few weeks have been a little rough on the animal front.  First, Cricket had an allergic reaction to her vaccines.  That evening she was scratching and scratching and couldn’t settle down.  I called the vet and he told us to give her Benadryl and keep a close eye on her.  She settled down after a while, but we had to give her two more doses before she got better.  Then the next night she was throwing up.  By the next morning she was finally recovered though.  Next up was Kobi’s dental surgery and removal of two lumps and a wart on his head.  He came home that night but his head would not stop bleeding.  Back to the vet he went the next day and by that evening he was also okay.  His recovery since then has been great.

Just this week Moses was throwing up, and didn’t want to eat.  This also passed after 24 hours and he is now okay.  On Thursday I was working in my home office when I heard strange noises from the kitchen.  I went out to investigate and all I saw was the 3 dogs at the door wanting me to throw the ball.  I told them “not now” and went back to my office.  More noises ensued, and when I went out the dogs really weren’t doing anything.  What was that noise?  I turn and see our cat Conrad hanging from the bar stool at the counter, claws stuck in the seat and trying to detach himself.  Poor old baby, what if that happens when I am not home to rescue him?  The latest: now our cat Samantha is sneezing, snuffling, and coughing.  We will see how she does through the weekend before calling the vet.  Do cats catch colds?  Maybe it’s allergies?  Nothing stresses me out more than when my babies are not feeling well!

Apparently I had more to ramble on about than I realized!  To be continued….