Rough Night

Cheetah is not very happy with me right now. Why you ask? Because I took to my bed at 8:30pm. The rerun of The Office just wasn't doin it for me and it's been a long evening.

CAUTION: some gross content

On my way home (I left the office at around 4:15) I finally stopped at CVS to pick up a couple of Rx. I got in line at the pharmacy and there was a guy there with a shopping cart full of stuff - I shit you not. Once I determined he actually planned to check all of this crap out at the PHARMACY, I huffed off to the magazine isle. We are supposed to look for images that evoke something in us for group, so I figured I would pick up a few. $70 worth of magazines later (yeah I know) I was back in line and finally got my prescriptions.

I didn't actually make it home until almost 6pm. Sigh. The second I walked in the door I knew something was rotten in Denmark. I had no idea what it was, but something was WRONG in here. It did not take me long to figure it out. As soon as I hit the hallway that leads to the bedrooms I got slammed in the face with the stench. Cheetah had a biiiiiiig accident in the master bathroom. Sigh. It was baaaaad. She hasn't done anything like that since she had so many tummy problems after the puppies. I then noticed she had vomited on the carpet in the hall way and on her bed, although there was very little evidence left. I know - ew. But she's a dog - that's what they do. I was thankful that Mr. PM is at a company conference this week. If there is one smell he can not take, it is dog poo. Cheetah thoughtfully managed to stay on the bathmat for the most part, so I just folded up everything she hit and took it down to the basement.

Cheetah is so very helpful. Just today when Zibby's owners mentioned she had done some backsliding on her housetraining, I said, "all dog's backslide once in a while." Cheetah was just trying to prove my point I guess.

I wracked my brain trying to figure out what made her so sick. The dog food is the same; although I am playing with the proportion of wet to dry a bit, that should not upset her like this. She had treats in her treatball today - but nothing new there either. I thought and thought about this as I cleaned up and took the linens down to the wash. While I was down there I fed the cat. AHA! I know exactly what it was now! Or at least I had a pretty strong speculation.

OK this is gross, but last night, somehow Cheetah found that great delicacy, the litterbox. I had JUST cleaned it out a couple of hours earlier, but Lexy must've been in there. I caught Cheetah red handed, so to speak. Her breath was HORRIBLE the rest of the night. (Cheetah is one of the few dogs I know who simply does not have bad breath! She also has really white teeth. I attribute this to her age + all the bone and stick chewing she does.)

So anyway, I was glad to have figured that out, but I still decided to give her boiled chicken and rice for dinner to be safe. I figured Swiffer shouldn't have to miss out because she didn't poop in the house, so I made enough for both of them. I used to make this stuff by the vat when Cheetah was nursing. I would literally make 5 quarts at a time.

Of course today was the first hot and humid day in a while - we have been really lucky with weather this year. So naturally with Cheetah getting sick on top of that, I was concerned about dehydration. Chicken and rice is another way to really rally against that. I used 3 cups chicken stock to one cup of white rice and diced the chicken directly into the pot while it was still partially frozen. This way the chicken cooks while the rice boils. Once most of the chicken stock was absorbed, I added about another cup of water. I cook it very low to make sure the rice absorbs as much liquid as possible, and is completely saturated. When I am finished, it is a slightly soupy concoction. This helps to replenish her fluids. I also throw some ice in to help it cool down quickly, so more water. For anyone who has not prepared this meal for their dog before, be prepared to find rice all around the bowl for days. They always root out the chicken first and then go back for the rice.

I am fading fast here, but I have one more thing to tell you. One of our puppy sponsors from overseas is in town and I will be meeting her tomorrow! She found the webcam because she works for a client of my husband's company. As I mentioned, Mr. PM is currently at a conference, which she crossed the pond to attend! So tomorrow evening he is bringing her home to meet me and Cheetah before she heads home. Hopefully Cheetah will have a similar reaction to the one she had when Schroeder visited. We can only wait and see. But I am excited to meet her. I want to say her family bred dogs when she was a kid, but I could be mixing up her story with someone else.

Cheetah is sleeping comfortably now. She still wanted to play a little but she is definitely less energetic than usual. As much as I hate to see her sick, I have to admit it is kind of a nice break. Have a good night all.

Doggone it, people like me!

I have joined this women's group called Finding Another Way. It is sort of an offshoot of Life Coaching, but with a small group of women plus 2 facilitators. The female facilitator is my favorite. She is a life coach to whom I was referred and she speaks with clarity to me. The male facilitator, we'll call him Stuart does not resonate as well with me. But that's just my initial impression - his sense of humor has poked out so there is hope. Anyway, it is supposed to be a holistic approach to help me figure out what the hell to do next.

What I am supposed to be doing now, is just allowing everything to be as it is. I am supposed to sit with my feelings and not analyze them in any way or fight against them or have any thought about them at all really. "it’s like sitting on a bench with a good friend who is feeling deep emotional pain—let’s say grief. You sit with her in silence, just being with her, not trying to fix her or impede her grieving process by stopping her tears. So in being with what is, you allow yourself the space to feel the emotions and observe the thoughts. Many feelings and thoughts will dissolve in this manner, although some will take longer than others. Some thoughts and feelings will remain persistent and those will require inquiry, which we’ll explore in a few weeks."

Does that sound easy to you? Try it. It is incredibly difficult for a cerebral person to just sit there and allow things to flow through without any analysis, any defense mechanisms, any questioning... just sit with it. It's a pisser. I suck at this game.

I'm still not sure what I think of the whole thing. It is a little bit cosmic touchy feely, which kind of makes me want to slap someone. We keep an online journal and someone wrote back to me "I hear you." I pretty much wrote back and said "Bullshit." Hey, it started a discussion. :-P

But it is a different approach to things, and I am willing to give it a shot. The women in the group are all very interesting. I'll let you know if I figure out the secrets of the universe or anything.