Year 2, Day 208: Gone All Day!

It was a busy, gone all day type day! Keturah had an appointment 30 minutes south of us.  Then Benaiah and I took the dog to get his annual shots and heartworm test done 30 minutes north west of us.  I drove 2 hours and spent 3 1/2 hrs in waiting rooms! So, supper was a quick taco type supper.  And I'm still buried in emails because my computer is unhappy and won't load more than 1 webpage at a time.  So, not much to do about that except take out the extra RAM again and that takes a bit of effort.  Grrrr.

We took Socks to the F.A.C.E Clinic as we always do because it's cheap.  Same vaccinations, but cheaper.  I was hoping to get a fuller vet exam this time because it's a newer service they offer, but we were put in the wrong line and the vet line was super long anyways.  They do have a vet check the animal's heart and check teeth, etc. because you don't want to give vaccinations to a sick animal.  That's fine.  I didn't have any concerns anyway.  It's a first come, first serve clinic but the waiting room wasn't too full.  They were just running behind or slow today for some reason.  They are also in the process of updating their facilities, so it's a mess in there right now, fyi!  Not a big deal to me, but some might get annoyed.  Now, what got me annoyed, which was no one's fault, was that there were several pit bulls in the waiting area and when they bark, it's LOUD.  Oh man!  And I thought Socks' bark was loud and annoying!  Now, none of them were vicious, the owners were kind and loving and doing their best to control their animals.  Some were still young dogs.  One poor very large one hasn't been socialized well, the young woman admitted, and so it was there to get a shot to calm it down so it can be taken out more and socialized.  The young woman seemed very embarrassed and did all she could to keep her dog in control.  And what did Socks do?  Absolutely nothing.  Not even a slight woof.  He barely resisted Benaiah's handhold on him.  At several points, he even laid down and looked like, "Mom, do I have to put up with this any longer?"  We even sat near a room that had cats that were allowed to freely roam, and one of them showed a paw under the door, and Socks didn't go after it for once.  He also showed a little interest in two loud cats, but didn't lounge for them either.  He was extremely well behaved.  I know he's now 7 year old and has started to slow down, but it was more than I expected.  He is a healthy dog, and even gained 6 pounds!  Probably because Grandma likes to spoil him with biscuits every day (we don't give him one every day like she does, but he expects it now!).  And that's fine.  He needed to fatten up a bit!  And I've changed the way I feed him by giving him less food more often so it doesn't go stale, so he eats more.  His heartworm test was negative, so I gave him his first dose of flea/heartworm medication tonight.  He gets that monthly as a liquid that goes along his spine as close to the skin as possible, which is hard on him since he has so much hair!

But that whole process took all afternoon, leaving little time for dinner.  I quickly defrosted/almost cooked hamburger in the microwave on 50% power because I didn't pull it out earlier.  In fact, I almost forget that I need to plan for dinner on a daily basis! I'm just not interested in being in the kitchen.  Thank goodness others in the family love it, like Grandma who made blueberry pancakes for brunch today when the boys went over while I took Keturah to her appt.  Those pancakes are a staple for our vacation menu!

I'm finally getting the hand of making smoothies!  Biggest tip is to NOT put too many different ingredients in it!  This one is almond butter, almond milk, banana, and collagen.  No sugar.  No honey. No dairy or protein powder with dairy.  And it was perfect!

Ugh, gotta start preparing!  Actually, I'm pretty stoked for this program!  It's so versatile and easy to adapt for all ages.  They go through the same material year after year and just go into more detail and/or use resources appropriate for each age.  Can't wait to watch the videos, too!  I'm going to do that on our way to Michigan on that long car ride!

We were the 27th customer on the 27th! And yet, it was already 2 pm and the clinic is from 10 am to 4 pm.

Calmest dog on the planet.  Ingenious teenager at it again.  He needed both hands for his rubix cube, so he stuck his arm through the dog's collar.  Goofball!

I asked Keturah to set up the table and she came up with this ingenious idea of putting magnetic letters on each plate to label them!  The magnets had been left on the table for Abishai to play with.  I thought it was a unique way to do it!

Actually, we were listening to a podcast on hospitality in the car today, and Keturah might have heard about the name tags.

We couldn't find a "B" so we choose an "N" for Banana, aka Benaiah.  He goes by banana on Instagram.

Cute!

Ooooo, it's shiny!  I cleaned and buffed the stove top the best I could.  Still not my first choice, but I'm trying to take care of it the best I can.

Keturah went a little over board on decorating with duct tape lately.  She covered up this chair that was mine from childhood.  I was mad, but then realized it's just a chair and Grandma Howell would be happy that it's being used and that Keturah has such a creative streak in her!

Jared took this picture, but it pretty much sums up how these two relate to each other.  Abishai loves his doggie!  They are buddies!  In the morning, Abishai says, "Doggie in!" when I tell Keturah to put Socks out.  I think he may be concerned that Socks will run away again, because its the time of day that Socks got lost for an hour.  But yes, Socks is the gentlest beast you have ever met!  And he's still so cuddly!  Oh, and I heard Abishai say, "Miss you" when he was playing with that phone.