Finally, a break

Well, my week of hell is finally over. There was some drama, some serious stress, too much exhaustion, and a lot of chaos, but it's all over and done with :) We are all moved out of the apartment, and the inspection is done, and we're all moving forward.

The dogs are doing much better. Cory had all sorts of allergies going on, and he's on some serious meds and is doing much better! A brand new doggy. Charlie is doing better as well, but we'll see how he does once his round of medication is done...

He had a very busy couple of days in Burlington, as well. Not only did he have to put up with me moving things all over the place, but he was in and out of the car all day, but he did really well. And I tried to walk him as often as possible, and we made lots of trips to the dog park!

We had a few interesting moments together, however...

So, I have my dads car while my parents on vacation - and although it doesn't have AC, it DOES have automatic windows, which makes it easier for me to provide some fresh air for Charlie when he's either in the back seat or the passenger seat. So I've got the windows all down, and Charlie is looking around and enjoying the weather; we stop at a stop sign, but because of traffic we were sort of over the crosswalk a bit, so naturally there was a pedestrian on the sidewalk waiting to cross. He was a big dude, just hanging out, minding his own business, and in anticipation for the traffic to move, he began to move forward, and Charlie did NOT like that at all. He immediately started barking at him, to which I settled him down and we moved forward, but it was definitely interesting.

He's also getting better about meeting people - and generally, people in Burlington are extremely friendly and respectful towards dogs and their owners. Many people recognize that he's a rescue dog just by his demeanor towards strangers, so they're very sweet. Some other people, aren't so cautious. We were in the local video store visiting a very good friend of mine who works there and several people got right down on their knees and just showered him with love and kisses and hugs - it was so, so sweet; and they all asked beforehand if it was OK to pet him - which was also really awesome. But, we were in the corner looking at some videos, and someone, dressed in all dark clothing carrying a large bag (he really doesn't like anyone with big bags) came marching around the corner, clearly knowing exactly what she wanted. Charlie started barking and got quite defensive - I apologized and calmed him down and explained he was a rescue and gets nervous around strangers - but she cut me off and responded with a brief, "yeah, ok, I guess I'm cornering him, sorry," and pushed me aside to get her video. Rude!

But that's going to happen. Some people are animal people, and some people just aren't! Whatcha gonna do.

And we spent the night in the new apartment last night - I was on an air mattress and we were both totally exhausted. Charlie curled up on his bed, but immediately saw me crawl into my little air mattress bed and he came right over and zonked out right next to me. I'm noticing that he dreams quite vividly, because I'm finding that he kicks me in his sleep! Funny boy. He's like me - he likes to take up as much of the bed as possible, he kicks in his sleep, and he tends to roll over on top of his bed mate - i.e. me. But I certainly wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

So now I'm home, and my other doggies were here at home for the last two nights. My wonderful neighbor has been keeping an eye on them, and has been giving Cory his meds. But they were totally excited that I was home - I haven't seen Cory that excited in such a long time. Now we're all in the living room curling up for some movies.

I'm about ready to not think about anything that has to do with cleaning, packing, unpacking, or driving for the next 24 hours. So I will be parking myself on the couch with the dogs until I absolutely have to get up :)

*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

The last week has been unbelievable. Our house was so chaotic, my mother and I were at our wits ends. Dad is just... well, dad. He tends to handle these situations rather quietly.

Anyway - picture this: a pile of boxes, bags, and camping supplies for mom and dad in one area; a pile of boxes, cleaning supplies, and odds and ends for me to move to Burlington with in another area; a pile of boxes, folders, and baskets full of photographs for mom's genealogy work in another area; too much recycle, laundry, and towels all over the place in piles. For about 36 hours, that's what our house looked like. My parents finally get on the road, and my immediate thought is: awesome, some peace and quiet, they're on vacation, and the dogs are relaxed now. So my first night was smooth, the next day was quiet and I did some work and got some laundry and cleaning done... fantastic. All is well..

And then this morning happens. I wake up after a restful night sleep and begin preparing for my trip over to Burlington to meet up with the landlord to pick up the keys and to begin my actual MOVE down to the new place. I have my coffee. I shower. I feed the birds and rats and cat. And then I head downstairs to grab the laundry from the dryer... only to see diarrhea... everywhere. Trails left and right. Immediately, I'm annoyed. But then I see the blood, and panic sets in. A bit mucusy, but mostly bloody, and I freak out because I'm not sure which dog it came from. So I rush upstairs to check all the dogs to see if anyone is bleeding externally, only to discover that Cory not only has some serious discharge coming from his eyes, but also from his bum. EWW. I get past the initial gross factor and go into auto pilot - I assume it's Cory with the issue and I call the vet, I give him some probiotics, and then I get ready to leave. I had to leave at least for the day because I canceled on my landlord the day before, and I couldn't cancel again. Our wonderful neighbor keeps an eye on the dogs while I head out.

Of course, then I get to Burlington and Charlie promptly jumps out of the car and drags me into the back yard of my apartment and I discover that it is he who left the treasures downstairs.

At this point, I hit a wall. You know that point. You can't take any more stress. My capacity just overflowed and I came inside, sat down on my bed, and I cried and cried and cried. I'm moving on my own with no help, my parents are miles away, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get rid of the furniture I'm not keeping, I have two sick dogs, a car with no air conditioning, I have been totally MIA from the apartment and thus not helping out my roommates and I felt totally awful about that, it was hot as all hell, and I have until Saturday to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of. I just couldn't take any more. I finally heard back from mom and she helped calm me down, but man... I was done. I hit that brick wall so hard I wasn't quite sure how to regain my footing. But I finally did, and I took a couple of car loads down to the new place and threw out a pile of junk. I was running on auto pilot, though. So I packed the car back up and Charlie and I were on our way home.

So now we're all in the living room attempting to stay cool. I'm a bit more calm than I was before, but I'm mostly nervous about the doggies now. Hopefully Charlie's issue is food, and not internal. But Cory... he's getting old. And he's not looking too good, and as the vet said earlier, "these older dogs tend to fall apart all at once, you know..." So I'm taking both Charlie and Cory to the vet tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers and praying that they're both OK and this is all minor - not only for their sake, but for mine as well. This has been a helluva couple of weeks what with losing Boots, too much chaos, and Charlie's icky issues.

I'm going to have a beer, play some video games, and not think about anything for awhile. Tomorrow is a new day, and a trip to the vet is the first thing on my to-do list. Let's hope the outcome is a happy one!

Chaos

I think for the next two weeks my life will be chaos. And as I write this I'm watching a baby finch fly around our house - the little thing somehow ended up in our living room this morning and although both doors to the house are open, she can't quite figure out how to get out. And she won't let us near her to help her out - oivey!

Anyway, I just got back from spending a couple of days in Burly at my apartment - not the new one, the one I've had for the last two years. The 'rents are going on vacay, and I'm left trying to pack myself up. Which is totally fine - I've moved so many times in my life, this is routine by now. Anyway, I have to house sit/dog sit while they are gone, so the week I'm moving I have to head back and forth to watch the dogs/clean and pack up the apartment. To make my life easier, I've packed up my entire room in two days - holy cow! I took little Charles with me which was great because I had to chance to walk him around the "big city" AND I had the chance to socialize him with people. A ton of my friends were in and out to say hi to me and meet the doggie (I also have roommates, which is great) and everyone has been so, so sweet with him! They recognize immediately that he's a nervous little boy and they get right down on the ground with him, and the next thing ya know he's on their lap and they won't leave him alone. It's so cute and he's loving all the attention! Thank goodness all my friends are animal people :)

Anyway, I get the keys to my new place next week which is VERY exciting! So I can't wait to start moving stuff in there! Such big changes, this is crazy...

Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying this break in the heat.