I’m back from vacation! Actually, I’ve been back since Monday evening, but have been busy and lazy at the same time.
Vacation was wonderful! It was EXACTLY what I needed and I feel better for having been gone for a bit. I’ll try to write an actual vacation entry soon (must actually look at photos Aaron took with my nice camera!).
Nigel is a bit worse. He has been an incredibly finicky eater and that’s hard to get my head around because he has always been the dog that would eat anything. At least when Nesmith decided to mostly stop eating, it wasn’t as shocking because he had always had weird eating habits, sometimes going a few days without eating when he was in prime health. Nigel’s eating habits drove my poor mom a bit crazy while Aaron and I were gone, plus she was going into the vet on days off so he could get his SQ fluids. She’d restrain him while a tech, or sometimes Dr. Mary, would administer the fluids. And they would discuss Nigel’s health and what to do. One day, she was talking to Dr. Mary and a handful of techs about Nigel and his lack of eating and kind of lost it, going into how it was so difficult trying to get a reluctant dog to eat after having just done the same with Nesmith just a month previous, and me and my dietary difficulties with my cancer stuff just before that. My poor mom. But she got them all teary eyed and when she was telling me the story, she and I just laughed and laughed. Even though it isn’t actually funny, just funny in the whole you can’t do anything but laugh sense. We’ve traumatized everyone at that clinic so much lately.
So, since we’ve been back, we’ve been brainstorming, trying to figure out how to get Nigel to eat. Initially he was on a kidney diet but he refuses to eat that and, even though lots of foods aren’t good for his diseased kidneys, but a dog’s gotta eat, right? For a few days he really liked toasted, buttered flatbread with seedless blackberry jam. He refuses meat, which is good as it’s hard on the kidneys, but weird. But I think he mistrusts it as mom would give him his pills in it. For a while, he’d eat mac and cheese, some cheerios, wheaties…I don’t even remember what all mom and I have tried. I tried some baby food yesterday and he gave it a few licks and then turned up his nose at it. Aside from that, he only ate a few nibbles of graham crackers with milk and quite a bit of Reddi Whip. Blerg. But this morning, I offered him Stanley’s normal dog food, thinking what the hell, and the little turd actually ate some it, after refusing to eat dog food for days, and then ate a bit of cheese, which he also had been refusing recently. It’s exhausting and often disheartening, especially so because we did this just over a month ago with Nesmith and have not yet recovered.
Speaking of Nemma, his ashes were delivered just before Aaron and I left for vacation. They’re hanging out on a shelf of my desk, with my study skulls. At least he has the company of other deceased animals? It seemed fitting, for the time being. I had a moment where I wanted to bring the ashes with on vacation, for the odd sense of company, but decided against it in case something were to happen to them. I’d feel bad if I lost them.
I start my first rotation in about a week and a half and I’m nervous! And excited! And I have no idea what I’m doing!!!!!
Clariel by Garth Nix, the prequel to the Old Kingdom books FINALLY came out this week, after 10 years since the last one. 10 YEARS!!!!!! It has not disappointed me thus far, though doesn’t seem to be quite as amazing as the others in the series. After so many years of waiting for it, I think I’ll be done with it later today. I wish I slow my reading speed for instances like this. I do recommend it, though, but only if you’ve read the other books in the series first (which you should, because they are my favorite books!).
Aaron’s going to make a salmon chowder for dinner tonight, which sounds tasty and interesting. And I might make a lazy apple crisp. Mmm…dinner.
Off to read my books some more!
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