Scaredy Cat

Two weeks ago I discovered more lumps on Pimento the Foster Cat's skin. I contacted the shelter to let them know, and they asked me to make an appointment at the clinic to have them looked at. The appointment was last week. Pimento came home with three prescriptions-all to be administered for ten days: a tablet (twice a day for five days, then a stepped down dosage for another five days), an antibiotic wipe (twice a day), and ear drops (twice a day).

Pimento is not a fan of any type of medicine. I anticipated the tablet would be the most difficult to administer. I was wrong. We put a spoonful of wet food in the bowl, bury a piece of medicine inside, and add a couple of kibbles on top to hide the medicine's texture. He inhales everything and licks the bowl.

Even though we use the food as an incentive for the other two medicines, their administration has been problematic. Every few days we have to come up with a new way to attract him/grab him/dose him. The saddest part of the whole adventure is now Pimento doesn't want to have much to do with us. I can tell that he wants to be friendly, but if I cross his invisible safety line when I walk by he will get up and move. Once we are in bed with the light out he will jump up and nestle next to Tony's legs, but there are no cuddles on the couch.

I hope that once this medicine regimen is finished and Pimento is healthy again it won't take him long to get back to his regular habits.

Five years ago: Pushing The Pedals

I Love A Parade

StockCake

This weekend is the Manchester (Missouri)  Homecoming, a three-day community festival and carnival. Hubby Tony and I used to live in the city and still attend church there. When the pastor put out a call for people to participate in this morning's Homecoming parade Tony and I decided it would be fun to be a part of it.

The theme was "The Great Outdoors". There were hundreds of people participating in the parade, but the committee had everything well organized. Our group carpooled to the starting area and found our place in the lineup about two thirds of the way back. The organizer handed out bags of giveaways to the walkers. Right before the parade started we gathered for a group photo, then we waited for our turn to start moving.

The parade had honorees, local politicians, floats, bands, Scout troops and packs, sports and cheer teams, and a couple of community organizations. The two-mile route wound through subdivisions and ended at a school on the west side of the city.  My task was to hold one side of the banner that gave the name of the church. Behind the banner there was a group handing out candy, stickers, and rubber ducks with the church logo. Next came the Cub Scouts, followed by several Jeeps (to represent the outdoors).  

Our group was behind the school district Step team. One of the members pulled a portable speaker and played fun, upbeat music. For the most part the team walked, but whenever things slowed down they would go into a formation and do a 30-second performance.  

At the end of the parade we realized there wasn't enough seats in the Jeeps to drive everyone back to the church. Several people, including Tony and me, decided to continue walking. By the time I reached the car at noon I had completed my steps for the day!

Inoculated

Now that it's meteorological fall my thoughts have turned to preventing flu and COVID.

Based on my research it seems like the best time to get a flu shot is in early October so it lasts for the entire season. The best time to get the fall COVID vaccine is generally September or October, but I've heard of several people getting sick so I decided to try to do that sooner rather than later.Of course the vaccine has been caught up in politics, and the whole system is chaotic right now.

Public Domain Pictures

Last week I walked up to Walgreens with Hubby Tony so he could pick up a prescription. I asked the pharmacist when boosters would be available. He said they had received the serum but were waiting for insurance companies to agree to cover the costs.

Since then I've checked the pharmacy website a couple of times, but earlier today I read Dkzodys post about getting the latest COVID booster I checked again. Appointments were now available! 

Because we had no other plans for Friday night Tony and I made appointments and had a 'date' getting boosted. 

The paperwork process was a little clunky. The associate who checked us in grumbled that she had done the job successfully all day but was now getting a computer system error message. She overrode the message, and fifteen minutes later Tony and I were walking out of the store, wearing matching bandages on our shoulders as proof.

Five years ago today: A Small Sign Of Normalcy

No Thank You

Tomorrow I have my yearly appointment with a dermatologist to get my skin checked.

I've been going to the same multi-doctor practice for years, but I recently learned the practice joined up with a large regional company and my doctor retired. I had my choice of one of several new, young doctors; I chose the one that I could get into the quickest.

For several days the new company has been sending me texts and emails asking me to download their app so I can do things like check in online. I have been politely ignoring the requests. I have no idea how secure the app is and don't want my personal information floating through cyberspace until I learn more about it. They can ask all they want. I will just make sure to get there early enough to fill out their paper forms and show them my insurance cards.

VectorPortal

Five years ago today: What Are The Chances?

Frankly, The Frank Was Great

Today's adventure happened because I had a hankering for a good hot dog. 😁

I was looking for a dog  that was plump and juicy and had a casing that "snapped" when I bit into it. They're standard at barbecues. However, there is no option to barbecue in our condo development. When I did some research last night I quickly realized that the go-to restaurants for good hot dogs were closed for the Labor Day holiday.

This morning I was reading an email news compilation from St. Louis Magazine. Close to the bottom of there were links to several articles in the magazine; given my recent search for a good dog I thought the one called Hot Dogs or Brats? was timely. In the article several local restaurateurs weighed in on the topic. One of them (Gerard Craft) mentioned his current favorite was Wally's, which is an enormous gas station and travel center less than ten minutes from my house.

Although I was pretty sure I knew what the answer would be, I asked Hubby Tony if he would be interesting in combine a walk with a trip to Wally's for lunch. He said yes, so I started investigating what we could do.

Wally's is right off Interstate 44 in Fenton. It's not too far from several county parks along the Meramec River. Buder County Park was the closest, a little over a mile away from our final destination. That's where we decided to go.

We left the car in the parking lot at Wally's. According to my map app, if we were driving the trip would have involved multiple turns. However, on foot the walk was a straight shot down one road, parts of which had been closed after the 1993 flood.

Faint road lines and a directional sign

Buder Park is in the river flood plain. I had never been there before, but soon figured out it had soccer fields, a radio controlled model plane flying field, drone flying area, a small archery range, and one pavilion. Tony and I stopped to watch the planes before continuing on the loop road around the park. The last part ran next to the river and we could see glimpses of the trail on the other bank.

When we returned to Wally's both Tony and I were ravenous. We did not stop at the huge merchandise side of the store, but headed straight to the bathroom to wash our hands (passing through the liquor section on the way). With clean hands we passed by the huge soft drink wall, the jerky bar, the pizza station, and the popcorn station on our way to the barbecue carving/sandwich station. Both of us grabbed a foil-wrapped hot dog, but chose slightly different toppings (mustard for both of us; onions and relish for me, pickles and hot sauce for Tony). I decided we needed a bag of kettle chips to share, but I passed on anything from the bakery station, ice cream counter, or coffee bar.

We took the food back to the car. I opened up my dog. It had been cut in half and griddled so that all the surfaces were nicely browned. When I took the first bite the casing popped like it was supposed to, and it was a good thing I had a napkin handy to catch the juice.

Five years ago today: Get Out Of The House, Get It Done, Get Home

Family, Food, and Fresh Air

Earlier in the week Hubby Tony sent a text to Son Donald asking if he would like to bring his dogs and join us for a picnic dinner tonight. It took a couple of days to get a response, but the answer was yes. In the meantime, I learned that today was National Eat Outside Day, which encourages people to enjoy the sunshine (or moonlight) while enjoying a meal. Our outing was obviously meant to be.

Tony is in charge of Sunday dinner, and for our picnic he put together quite a spread-rotisserie chicken salad with cashews and grapes, marinated cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and potato chips. Dessert was watermelon chunks and grocery store apple pie.

Yesterday I was discussing our plans with a neighbor. She recommended we head to Simpson Park, about ten minutes from the house, because it was shady and had a lot of picnic tables. As a bonus, the park has several short trails where we could walk the dogs.

It ended up being a great time. The dogs (a Chihuahua and a Chihuahua mix) were excited to ride in the back seat of my car with Donald, and then excited to be at the park. We decided to walk before eating and took a path that followed the bank of the lake. The dogs tend to get wound up when they see another dog, but they are so small it's easy to control them.

Back at the parking lot, we found a table and set out the food. Donald attached the dogs' leashes to the table leg, where they rested quietly unless another dog walked by. After dinner we took another short walk, then agreed that both the humans and the dogs were ready to be done. Both dogs were subdued on the ride home, and happy to transfer to Donald's car for the drive back to their home.

No Longer Needed

Back when Hubby Tony's mom passed away he inherited a small bag of vintage jewelry and pocket watches. We had no use for any of it, but it didn't feel right to turn around and immediately get rid of the things. We put the bag in the safety deposit box and promptly forgot about it.

When that bank branch eliminated their safety deposit boxes Tony decided that a smaller box at a nearby branch would better suit our needs and be more cost efficient. The bag of jewelry wouldn't fit, though, so we brought it home, put it in a secure location, and promptly forgot about it.

Every few months he or I would uncover the bag and say something about processing its contents, but neither of us took the initiative. Tony recently learned about a jewelry buying event the last weekend of each month at a store at the mall that specializes in buying and selling antiques and collectables, so we got the bag out and looked carefully at the contents. There was nothing he or I were interested in keeping so I put the buying event on this month's calendar.

Today after lunch we drove up to the mall and navigated our way to the store. The process couldn't have been easier. We walked to one of the rear counters, where the owner took a look at what we had, separated the things into a small pile of "good" pieces and a larger pile of "costume" pieces, and gave us a price for the entire lot. We agreed to the price, and left with cash.

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Five years ago today: Getting From Point A To Point B

Quite Pleasant!

On last night's news the meteorologist described the wonderful temperatures of the past few days as "resort weather". The highs and lows have been about ten degrees below average, which means our windows are open to enjoy the mild temperatures, low humidity, bright sun, and gentle breeze.

This morning I was taking a walk and this song came to mind. I hadn't thought about it for years, but it's mellow tone seemed to fit perfectly.

 

Five years ago: A Little Church Humor

Choose Your Attitude

When you're confronted with a project, what is your attitude about it?

At my previous house, my walk-in closet had enough room for me to hang a face mirror on the wall next to the door. The mirror was large enough that I could stick Post-It notes with inspirational thoughts to the bottom. That way I could refer to them as I was checking out my makeup and jewelry before I left the house. 

Some thoughts came and went, but the one permanent note simply said:

In other words, when I was confronted with a project did I jump into it enthusiastically (I get to do it) or grumpily (I got to do it). Many days just reminding myself that I had choices helped me to choose the positive option.

In our condo I don't have a spot in the closet to hang inspirational thoughts, but the left side of my office desk has turned out to be a pretty good place to collect insights. Once again the insights come and go, but there's still only one permanent reminder that helps me choose my mindset.

Five years ago today: My Kind Of Meeting!

Paying Attention To My Surroundings

When I got up this morning Hubby Tony was already gone. I put on clothes that would be good for exercising, because my plan was to take a walk right after breakfast, then come home and shower before continuing with my plans for the day.

I usually walk with Tony, but without someone to talk to I was able to pay attention to the small details around me.

Like hearing a pair pf crows talking to each other from two nearby rooftops. They made sounds I'd never heard before, some of them almost human-like.

At this time of year it's easy to see the sheet-like grass spider webs...even when they're on top of ground cover.

And this partial fairy ring of mushrooms (some large and some small) that was not there a couple of days ago.

This mainly-dead tree had branches covered with more galls than I had ever seen before.

I was almost home when I saw a tiny maple tree sprout growing in the gap between the lower rail and a fence picket.