the chronicles of week 3

soooo, as you can tell, I am SO on top of blogging ;0) Just been spending my typing time working on papers and research 'n stuff. But, here I sit, at home, ALONE (kind of lonely, kind of spectacular) on a Saturday night. Why not take a moment 'n spew?

Why am I sitting at home alone on a Saturday night, you ask? Talk about a wild ride of a week, which all led up to this point. So, Monday night, I actually got home before midnight and found out that Lonnie's Grandpa died, so he was packing to leave for Iowa Tuesday morning. Then, I go in to talk to a professor Tuesday morning, and she's all frazzled because she's got a family emergency and is leaving for Chicago. And I just happened by right while she was trying to find someone to cover her social psych class. Of course I volunteered, and left her office with a textbook, video, and notes to expand on for two sections of social psych on Wed. and Friday. They actually went well (I think) - we were talking about Asch's experiments in conformity and Milgram's experiments on obedience and authority. But still, I always get nervous teaching, and spend excessive amounts of time preparing, doing extra research, finding contemporary "real-life" examples, etc. So just a little extra work...

Anyways, I left her office, and then got a call from Juilie that she was going with Lonnie to Iowa, and would I just keep an eye on the horses and the dogs, etc. Okay. By the way, our dog, Blue, has been sick for like, the last three weeks. The vet had removed an abcess (sp?) from his leg, but he didn't improve, so he spent some time at the vets getting blood-work, and they found his red blood-cell count was WAY low = bone marrow not working properly = probably leukemia. So he's been on a special diet of liver, cottage cheese, and rice (since that's all he'll eat), and lots of water and drugs and vitamins, and has to be let out to the bathroom regularly, etc.

Fortunately, Bart has been a Godsend helping with chores - NOT having to rush home to feed the horses at night has been a huge help! And he fed in the a.m. on Wednesday and Friday so I could go teach that social psych. class. But, at the same time, Juilie was still nervous about leaving him with things (since he's relatively new to our routines, and is, afterall, a 21-year-old MALE. No offense, but 'nuff said), so I am still the responsible one. No pressure or nothin' - I hate that "R" word.

So, Thursday morning, the dog's wound from the abcess removal had split back open and started oozing again - nothing smelly and excessively gross, just some run-of-the-mill puss and drainage. So I cleaned it, wrapped it, and called the vet, and then picked up some anti-biotics and stuff to flush it out with. He was lethargic, but he was still eating, so the vet wasn't too worried. Thursday night, he didn't want to eat or drink anything, so I force-fed him his drugs, cleaned the wound out (I should have collected the drainage to measure how much there was - it just kept coming and coming and coming...) and put him in his kennel so I could leave the wound uncovered to let it drain overnight.

Well, Friday morning, Blue still wouldn't eat, and now, he couldn't walk, either. Literally - couldn't get his paws under him. So, since I had to teach, I force-fed him some broth with electrolytes, left Bart with chores, and called the vet, Juilie, Lonnie, and our neighbor driving into town, and our neighbor took him to the vet for me. Hours and phone-messages later, I found out that he DOES have leukemia - a rare form, no less, and that Juilie and the vet had decided to try a blood transfusion until the vet can talk to the oncologist and decide what to do. So I spent a couple hours at the vets while he had that done, and then brought him home for the weekend. he's actually perked up since yesterday. Like, he'll eat, and wag his tail, and I don't have to carry him, he can walk. Honestly, if he goes downhill again, as the vet is predicting, I think the most humane thing to do is to put him down. It was just heartbreaking watching him Thursday night and Friday. And he's a hound dog - the kind that loves to be out chasing rabbits over our 80 acres and going running and riding with me. He is just depressed.

At any rate, I was supposed to go out w/ Jael tonight (after rescheduling from last night, when I stayed home to care for Blue), 'cause Juilie and Lonnie were supposed to be back, but Juilie called from Nebraska to say she and Lonnie were stuck 'cause of the wind and snow and ice. And Bart is in Nebraska for his frat's pledge weekend ceremonies. So I am all alone. And I have spent most of the day doing nothing. I did laundry and dishes and chores and filled water tanks and have been doting over the dog, of course. But other than that, not much - paid some bills and checked e-mails 'n such, and spent a lot of time napping, since I've been spending my nights this week sleeping on the couch so I can check on blue, let him out, etc. Actually, just can't bring myself to sleep in the same bed as Bart. lol - j/k - you are fantastic! *mwah*

So that's my week - really, not bad, but definitely stressful. And I still have homework, and vacuuming, and all that other fun stuff. And maybe if the weather ever actually clears up, I can go riding again. if my horse remembers me ;0)

huh - so maybe that makes up for not writing for quite so long...but i'd better go and post my blogs for my psych class while I'm "in the zone."

Laters!