Category Archives: the hubby

I’d Like a Passport Please

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Getting the hubby to take a moment out of his three weeks “vacation” to actually get a damn passport is like pulling teeth.  Thing is, we need to get one sooner rather than later.  We’re still considering a cruise in February (though he’s rethinking this since there’s some work changes in the new year and he doesn’t yet know how that will play out – I’ll give him this as a legit reason), we’re constantly invited down to Mexico to spend the weekend at Herbie’s vacation home, we’ve been invited to Japan more times than I can recall to tag along with Herbie’s current tour and more recently, we’ve casually been invited to attend Montreux Jazz Fest in Switzerland with Herbie.  And then there’s visiting my friend, Jo in Madrid where she teaches.

For all of these things…yeah, we’ll need a passport.  Mind you, his last day of vacation is Friday.  We need photos, we need birth certificates (I have them, I just need to pull them out), we need to fill out the application and we need to get to the post office before 2:00 today.  Um yeah, I don’t think he’ll be going today considering he’s a major moppet and needs a serious haircut and shave as well.  At least in my defense, I can go any day since I basically work from home.  He kinda can, since he can go into work at whatever time he wishes.  But still.  I’d just like to get the damn passport already.  Please.

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My head feels thousands better!  It usually does by the time I take the second Imitrex.  Only the second Imitrex puts me over the edge and makes me crash in a big way.  Sadly, the need for the Vicodin is fairly new.  My head never used to hurt like it seems to hurt lately.  It seems to feel like my head is in two or more vices just squeezing with all it’s might and it seriously brings me to tears – and I’m not one to succumb to pain-induced tears much (oddly).   I would never have even thought of the Vicodin if my doc hadn’t prescribed it when I called in begging for the Imitrex saying that my head was killing me (in that case for over two days).  I’ve learned though, that it makes a huge difference.  Mind you, I should have gone to the chiro today and that would have made a difference as well.  I’m also considering trying acupuncture for migraines since I know first hand how well it works for lockjaw.  Anyone try this?

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And thanks SO much to all the ladies that have found me today and left such informative and helpful comments regarding Ladies Who Launch.  I will definitely be following up with you guys.  I’m really, really interested in learning all I can about LWL now.

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Busy day today.  The pupster is getting groomed (talk about being a moppet).  I have some more pre-Thanksgiving prep to do – I’ve made the gingerbread for the trifle and will make the pudding today so it’s all set to assemble tomorrow, I made brownies last night before the migraine got too crazy (hey, I think I was in so much pain yesterday that I may have even spelled it incorrectly – yikes!), all I’ll have left to do tomorrow is make the cornbread casserole – woohoo!

I’m also meeting a friend out in Pasadena in a bit for some baby shower gift shopping, lunch and catching up.   Between Bunco and book club we see each other twice a month, but we have November off from both and she wasn’t able to make the last book club,  so I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen her.   Should be a fun lunch.  Hopefully she’ll bring the little one along too.

And now, I’m off to dig up those birth certificates – wish me luck!

Bring on the Thanks

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I also realized that while writing my posts day to day I’m always thankful for the activities or topics that I’m posting about (the positive ones anyway), but I often don’t state this gratitude outright. So to make up for what some may view as some lacking thankfulness or gratitude posts, here goes…

* I’m thankful for our home – I may complain about it from time to time, but we’ve got a good thing going here and the neighborhood is awesome (she says having just returned from a lovely evening walk).

* I’m thankful for the boys – it’s not always easy blending a four-legged family, but our guys have taken to it quite well. They’re also always looking out for each other (when the pupster wasn’t feeling well, the kitkat was right there snuggling close and giving him hugs). They’re also great napping mates (see yesterday’s post regarding my love for napping).

* I’m thankful for my darling, non-sports loving, geeky, mellow, moppet-haired hubby – he’s my dream come true and all I could ever hope for in a partner (even if does desperately need a haircut right now). I aspire to be as calm as he can be in stressful situations – I’m sure I’ve said it before, but he’s so go with the flow and mellow its enviable.

* I’m thankful for my car. It’s a very simple, very inexpensive, bargain-priced Hyundai Elantra, but I love it. It’s the perfect size and it has and does pretty much anything I’d ever want or need a car to do or have. Mind you, I’d love a little sporty 5-speed so I could whiz through those Hollywood Hills, but considering this car cost less than my old sporty car that I bought over 15 years ago, I’m just fine. But once we make it rich, a sporty weekend car will be mine! Bwahahaha!

* I’m thankful for modern medicine and awesome doctors – both for me and for the pupster. I’ll sing it to the world, our doctor is awesome – along with our vet! We get special appointments if we need them, we get follow up phone calls after treatment, but more importantly, we get heard. Our doctor heard my casual chatter about little thing that seemed off and immediately suggested that we check my thyroid and even though my numbers were relatively low, she got me on the meds and it’s made a world of difference. She totally rocks!

* I’m thankful for chocolate – okay, I might be PMSing here, but really, nothing beats good chocolate. My friend recently visited Japan and brought me back some KitKat bars (at my request since that’s a common search keyword here for the blog – blog post to follow in the near future) and man, they’re good! Even cooler still, she’s in London this week and will hopefully be able to bring me back some Cadbury Dairy Milks or Fruit & Nuts. How exactly does US chocolate manage to taste so crappy compared to European chocolate?

* I’m thankful for my Mac and the lacking blue screen of death. Ah, so nice and so simple to use. I’m thrilled that I made the switch without argument or dragging my feet. Now I just need to learn to use half of the fun programs.

* I’m thankful for my friends. I seem to have had some slight bumps in the road of friendship these past couple of months, but I’m moving on. I know that I’ve got a great batch of friends that have been in my life for years and seeing them again, or talking to them from time to time feels like slipping into the most comfortable pajamas…just right.

* I’m thankful for NaBloPoMo – it’s brought so many blogs and bloggers that I’d otherwise never have known about into my life. And that’s not counting the cool things you can learn – like yummy Mexican restaurant recommendations while visiting Tucson! So handy and helpful. Fussy totally rocks for starting this up.

* I’m thankful for the time I’ve been able to spend working from home. I know that I sometimes vent about my job – who doesn’t, right – but it’s nice to know that I can work from home, have fun, and be able to take off on a moment’s notice. I honestly believe that working a 9-5 sort of job would kill our relationship (the hubby being a workaholic that doesn’t go to bed before 2:00am), so I’m thankful to have the opportunity to work with something that’s so flexible and creative.

I could go on and on, but I feel comfortable leaving this at an even ten. Well, that plus the pupster is begging for his dinner (and his medicine) and I still have Thanksgiving stuff to research.  So I leave you with a pretty picture from my birthday getaway two years ago (San Juan Capistrano), just because pretty things to look at are just one more thing to be thankful for…

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I love to Nap

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No, really.  If you were to call my house, anytime between 2:00 and 5:00 you’d likely wake me up.  Mind you, I don’t not sleep for three hours!!  It’s more like 30-45 minutes.  But it’s pretty much a daily occurrence.  A somewhat daily occurrence that the boys love.

My favorite part of the weekend, aside from finally having time to just hang out with the hubby, is what we refer to as snuggle time.   Snuggle time is when we all get back into bed, read a little, and love on the boys.  It’s also one of the few times that the boys will willingly snuggle together (or closer together than they’d normally be).

Sometimes, like today, snuggle time quickly escalates into sleepy time where everyone falls asleep – some for longer than others.  Today, ahhhh…today was a wonderful snuggle time turned sleepy time.  That makes this a perfect Saturday in my book.

And of course, it helps the healing energy to get to the right boy at the right time…Griffin is nearly all better – the ears are no longer swollen and he spends more time not flapping than flapping his ears.  See, there really is something to napping.

He Can’t Seem to Catch a Break

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This has been a tough week for the pupster.  First we’ve got his little bout of whatever after we picked him up at the boarders on Monday, then he’s stuck in a car ride from hell and back as we go to Tucson.  Then today, his ears inflate to the thickness of a checkbook and he scratches himself so badly, blood squirts everywhere.  he can’t walk two steps without shaking his head and flopping his ears.

So yeah, we just now got back from the vets.  And let me just say, I love our vet as much as I love our doctor.  They agreed to stay later on a Friday to squeeze the little guy in so they could see him.  So the hubby and I raced across town, mere minutes before rush-hour gets it’s start on the 101 and made it in record time.

The Doc just thinks that something bit him and he’s having an allergic reaction.  He gave him two shots and some meds and sent us on our way.  By the time we made it home, the swelling had already gone down a lot and the head shaking and flapping has also cut down.

We’re sure he’ll be fine.  We just need to set the timer to remind us to let him out to pee every hour or so (from the diuretic shot).  Mind you, as I was typing the line above, he threw up again.

*sigh*

Poor little guy.  I think I’ll go sit on the couch and cuddle him so he’ll stay still and rest some.

On the Road Again

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By the time you read this, I’ll surely be well on my way to Tucson (a city that I seem to have challenges spelling correctly) considering we woke up at the butt crack of dawn – which happens to be way, way, WAY earlier than I prefer to wake, mind you. Since the hubby never got to shoot Herbie (outside of sound check in San Francisco) we’re making the 7+ hour drive to Tucson to shoot him there. This time around though, he’ll be given 100% full access to photograph all he wants. Thankfully. This was only a week in the making and what we wanted from the start.

The other cool thing this time around, is that the hotel will only be a few minutes away. In San Francisco, since the drive to Santa Barbara was going to be so insane, we stayed an hour out of the city (plus is was like half the price!). So this time, we’ll be driving into town in time for sound check, then the pupster and I will poke around town a bit. Hopefully I can have a little fun before the show. I’d love to be able to check out Old Tucson if I can.

But man, who knew when I agreed to this NaBloPoMo thing that we’d be on the road so much. I feel like I’m spending all my time either pre- or post- publishing stuff. The weird thing, I haven’t even had a chance to really blog about anything other than my day to day antics. I mean there’s a whoe slew of stuff I’d planned to officially write about, you know to try my hand at writing consistently. Guess not. Ah well, something to aspire to. At least we’re nearly halfway through the month, right?

The Pupster is Better!!

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Two hours later he was right as rain. It started with the kisses, moved on to tail wagging and then went to full on moving about and chasing the kitkat around. I gave him a scrambled up egg for dinner (just an egg, nothing added).  We took him out for a brief walk, just up to the corner and he was a full on walking force to be reckoned with.

I’m actually wondering if it was a reaction to the manure/fertilizer the landscapers laid last week. All last week I walked him so he wouldn’t walk on it and wiped his paws down before he came inside. When the hubby let him out yesterday while I was still out, he was out and about on the grass/manure and the hubby didn’t wipe his paws off. By the time I came home, he was liking his paws.

I think I remember something similar like this last year (or the year before) regarding the manure/fertilizer. I don’t remember the specifics just thinking something like “hmm…surely they wouldn’t use fertilizer with something in it with their dog, our dog and the grandbaby running around.”  I have a feeling though that they don’t really think about that since their dog has it’s own fenced in area and the grandbaby spends most of his time on the blacktop riding his bike.  Either way, seems very strange, but I’ll keep a close eye on things and learn from my mistakes.  Hopefully, the lawn guys come today and will cut and bag that crap.

We’ll keep an eye on him though and thanks SO much for thinking good thoughts.

Poor Little Guy

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We picked the pupster up this morning from the boarders and everything was fine. He was happy, he was bouncy, he was his usual self. Now, five or so hours later I came into the living room from unloading the groceries and I see that he had an accident on the rug (so not like him…even when he just can’t hold it, he goes by the back door, not in the middle of the room). I didn’t yell at him (he was left home with the hubby and he’s notorious for not remembering to let him out).

When I put him outside though, he just sat down in the grass with his head hanging. He wouldn’t come to me, wouldn’t even look at me, he just kind of wobbled there while sitting. Eventually, he laid down. The hubby then went out and picked him up and carried him inside – he was totally limp and breathing kind of weird.

So we wrapped him in his blanket and put him on a pillow on the floor. The hubby was laying down with him and blamo, he puked. Twice. I’m assuming it was breakfast since he hasn’t had anything but two dog cookies since he got home. So now he’s just laying there, on the floor, totally lethargic.

So now we’re just keeping an eye on him to see if we have to take him to the emergency vet. I know something is up though since the kitkat is staying close to him (and they’re not that close) and the pupster isn’t closing his eyes and resting, he’s just laying there staring off into space. The only time those two can have a good snuggle is when the pupster isn’t feeling well and won’t growl the kitkat away.

So please, keep him in your thoughts. With luck this isn’t anything more than an upset stomach.

Repeat After Me…

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…while business trips can often times be pleasurable; business trips are not guaranteed to be pleasurable.  Business does not always equal pleasure.  And yes, I learned this the hard way.

Of course, I’m far too tired to fill you in.  But there’s always tomorrow.

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I’m thankful for being able to sleep in my own bed tonight and to finally be out of the car (too much driving today for my own kind of fun).   I’m also thankful that my husband is so very tolerant and able to go with the flow so easily (and just thrilled that I was able to hold back the tears earlier).

Crappy Connectivity & Then Some…

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Well, I have had such crappy connectivity while we’re out that I just had to finally let it go.  Seriously, I’ve been trying to connect now (Sun 1:42 AM) for the past hour and a half.  Instead, I’m closing the (seeming lack of) internet down and rambling here in TextEdit.  I’ll cut and paste it when (if) I finally get a signal.

So far this trip, while our rooms have been lovely, Sheraton has still managed to screw us.  Neither hotel has been able to upgrade us and we have the points – we’re not even in the “preferred guest” floor. And don’t get me started on the whole internet thing…you’d think when you pay $10 a day for internet that they can at least make sure it works well!

But on to bigger and happier things.  Wine tasting yesterday was great.  I was surprised to see the leaves on the vine change for the fall as well as the leaves on the trees.  And of course, the wine tasting was lovely.  We also had some great food (one of my favorite things about this region is just how good the food can be).

Today though we’d planned to do a winery cave tour in Kenwood/Sonoma (at Kunde), but we woke up to rain.  We figured that it would be cold (and it was), it would be wet (and it was) and we wouldn’t get any decent photos, so instead we just headed out to San Fran for the Herbie show.

The show itself was awesome!  One of my favorite things about seeing live music is watching the band interaction.  I love nothing more than seeing that a band is having fun and playing with each other (unlike the Police this last tour).  Herbie’s band was having a ball playing off of each other. Even the sound check was good.  And everyone kicked ass on When Love Comes to Town – it wasn’t U2 and it wasn’t Joss and Johnny (from Herbie’s last album, Possibilities), but it was still AWESOME.  Sonia has a great voice – nice and raspy.

That said, I was stuck in that damn auditorium from around 3:00 until 11:00!  And let me just tell you, that’s just too fucking long to be in one place.  Probably the one part of our “vacation” that I’m not enjoying – and get the privilege of doing again tomorrow (well, I guess tonight since it’s already Sunday).  At least tomorrow/today, since we’re in Santa Barbara, I can take the car out myself during sound check and whatnot (without incurring a $30+ parking fee – crazy San Francisco parking!!)  In fact, I volunteered to pick up a birthday cake for Herbie’s daughter just so I had an excuse to leave soundcheck – I’m a smart cookie, you see.

And speaking of being Sunday, it’s nearly 2:00AM and woooweee, I’m tired.  The hubby is still working on downloading the photos, so he’ll probably be up for the next hour or two.  It’s times like this and his crazy late nights that I’m thrilled he’s “on vacation” and can sleep in as late as he wants once we get back home on Monday.

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I’m thankful that my husband feels comfortable driving in San Francisco – those hills scare the hell outta me!  I’m also thankful for our yummy, Heavenly Bed that we’ll be sleeping in tonight.  And I’m thankful for good friends that willingly agree to visit the kitkat to make sure that he has enough food and love while we’re away (okay, she might have bitched a bit and does it out of obligation because we stock her fridge the day she comes home from their international tours, but still – she does love our little boys, honest).

Gratitude Wine Country Style…

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I’m thankful for my hubby (how cute is he?)
My Photographer Hubby

I’m thankful that I got to see grapes (even if they were shriveling up into raisins)
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I’m thankful for the beautiful colors (so purty!)
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I’m very, very thankful that I was about to sit in the hotel lobby, in front of a toasty fire and get some brief internet service that allowed me to upload a handful of photos.

And it goes without any need for explanation…I’m most certainly thankful for WINE!!