Day 1815

I wonder how much more forgetful I'm going to become? When I was driving Dot to her physical therapy session today, I noticed my skin turning a beet red color as I felt an intense burning sensation. It only took me a few seconds to realize that I'd inadvertently taken my evening Niacin pill with my breakfast meds. You're always supposed to take Niacin just before you go to bed, because one of the common side effects of this drug is an intense flushing sensation caused by the dilatation of small capillaries under the skin. When the blood rushes to these small capillaries, you feel like you're on fire. It's best if you're asleep when this happens. Luckily, Niacin flushing only lasts a couple of hours, so I was almost back to normal by the time Dot and I returned home.

Dot did really well in the underwater treadmill today. Everyone agrees that it is important for her to continue the treadmill therapy, but some days are better than others. Dot tires easily now and if we walk too far in the morning, or if she overexerts herself, we have to take it easy during her therapy session. Today was a good day and I hope there are many more to come.

This time of year quickly becomes so busy that I often wonder how I'm ever going to get everything finished. I looked at my calendar today and noticed that I have something major planned for every single day from now through the 23rd of December. Most of the things I have to do aren't even related to Christmas, but they will keep me very busy nevertheless. Dash has another cancer re-check coming up. I have several dental appointments, plus an initial evaluation by my new physical therapist. The weekends are filled with Santa Paws pet photo events and I have an appointment to get a haircut as well. I'm really starting to slow down. The thought of something major on my to-do list every single day seems almost overwhelming. When I was younger, I would have tried to schedule all these things on the same day.

I might have mixed up my meds this morning, but I did remember to take out the trash this evening. The dogs got both their walks, even though there was a light mist in the air for most of the day. Dot and Dash don't seem to mind overcast, damp days like today. It's the thunder and lightning they really hate. I didn't get around to investigating dental insurance like I had planned, but I'd better not postpone this too long. It would be just my luck to have the insurance go into effect after all the dental work was completed and not get any benefit from the policy.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. This has been a long week. I definitely need to go to the grocery store, since the refrigerator is almost empty. I'm going to get a haircut in the afternoon, but the most important thing is going out for breakfast in the morning. I've been eating cold Swedish Muesli cereal all week and it's definitely time for something delicious.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1813

If anything happened today, I certainly wasn't aware of it. It's been so chilly lately that I think my brain has gone into hibernation. I haven't even bothered to cook breakfast for the past few days and have been eating a bowl of Swedish Muesli that Janet picked up at the Ikea store instead. Even though the stuff has the consistency of sawdust and is basically uncooked oatmeal, it is surprisingly good when mixed with fruit. I suspect that I'll revert to my old habits as soon as the bag runs out. I'm definitely not driving all the way up to the Ikea store for a bag of cold cereal.

Whenever the weather turns cold, the air in our neighborhood is thick with the smell of wood smoke. So many people are burning a fire in their largely unused fireplaces that it is often hard to breathe. I've never understood the fascination with fireplaces. They're drafty, dirty, and unless the chimney is properly screened, they provide an open invitation for critters to come into your house. I can smell all types of wood burning when we take our morning walks. Since this is a city, people buy "designer logs" at the supermarket. Pinyon Pine is popular. So is Mesquite. All these exotic smells just make the dogs sneeze. I find it ironic that the people who like to burn a fire are typically the same ones who hate coal fired power plants and automobile exhausts. They certainly don't mind turning logs into charcoal and soot though. Fireplaces are just a more romantic kind of air pollution.

I had to fill out a bunch of new patient paperwork in preparation for my dental appointment tomorrow. I don't understand why there isn't a central repository for this information where doctors, dentists, surgeons, and other medical folk could just download your medical history whenever they needed it. I've seen a lot of doctors and I'm convinced that I've filled out this same information at least a hundred times. Sometime you have to fill out the information multiple times for the same doctor, because they want to update your file every year, or more commonly because they lost the paperwork you filled out the last time you saw them. I've gotten so tired of filling in the list of medications I take, that I've pre-printed a list of all my meds and just staple it to the patient information form. Some parts of today's form were embarrassing. Especially the part that asked "When was the last time you saw the dentist?" I left the entire Dental Insurance page of the form blank because I don't have any dental insurance. Maybe I'll get some later. It's always easy to get dental insurance because it doesn't really cover that much.

Work was slow today. Or maybe work was normal and the entire day was slow. Cold Winter days can be disorienting. I'm hoping that my brain returns to normal tomorrow. I'm also hoping that my teeth turn out to be normal as well. New x-rays and a cleaning is OK. A root canal, not so much.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day