For the first time ever, one of my pups came in at the right at the right weight during his annual physical. Yippee!
Hooray! Can we celebrate with chocolate cake?
I had asked Grandma and Grandpa to take Toby to his visit for me, so they got to hear all of the praise for his new, healthy weight. (Hopefully it will inspire them to not sneak him goodies.) The vet also said that she is seeing no evidence of the knee issues that had been bothering Toby. All good news. đ
After watching thousands of Ukrainians forced to flee their homes with barely the clothes on their backs, it seemed like the time to finally put together the go-bag I should have created years ago. I know everyone should have one, but itâs just so unpleasant – like setting up a will.
So far, I have the bag. Thatâs a good start, right? Someone suggested putting some small denomination bills inside. I had some change from the store, so that got added. (Almost done now, right?)
After that I kept getting bogged down thinking about photos and memories and passwords. Some people suggest keeping password written down on paper. Others recommend using a thumb drive. I found a few companies that will give you a small amount of free, secure online storage. Iâve wondered about the risk of storing my passwords there and only having to remember one password to access them. Someone suggested that these smaller companies might be less likely to be hacked than Google. Something to think about.
What about pictures? Many people use Google Drive, but Google mines your photos for advertising. Is it worth having my memories snooped through? Or should I pack a hard drive? A thumb drive? Are paper pictures better in case of a technology crash? How do you decide which life moments are worthy of saving?
I am torn when it comes to packing things like âextra socksâ or âextra shoesâ. I donât really have extras of those lying around, ready to not be used. Yet, would I have the presence of mind to grab spares before fleeing a tornado?
Is anyone out there more prepared than I am? Do you have a favorite book or cherished item already packed for an evacuation? Do you have pet food set aside and rotated regularly? I canât picture being able to store food for Toby where it would be handy for me yet inaccessible for him. (That boy can climb like a monkey when food is involved.)
My head hurts just thinking about this. I am going to go to bed and hope no disaster finds me while I sleep.
As long as you pack me, youâll have everything you need!
Hello friend, welcome home.*
Dear Max, we are all so happy you are here with us. I hope you will continue blogging from across the Bridge like I do. Someday. When you feel up to it.
(I know Daddy likes black & white line drawings best. â¤ď¸đ)
Today my dad announced that his church secured a shipping container and was taking donations to be sent to Ukrainian refugees in Europe. I told some neighbors, and we all scrambled to gather what things we could to help. I donated these baby blankets that I had made. My mom asked if I were sure that I wanted to do that. Sure, ’cause now I have an excuse to make more!
Years ago, as an exercise, I read a children’s book in Chinese. It was about Anna from the Ukraine, and it followed the story of her scarf. Her childhood scarf moved with her through her life…sometimes functioning as her babushka, later as a picnic blanket when dating her soon-to-be-husband. Later it was her shawl as she and her husband moved to America. When they started their family, it became the baby’s blanket. Eventually the scarf was so worn that the now-grown daughter made it into a quilt that she used for her own baby. It makes me wonder if one of the modest blankets donated in the coming months might someday have a similarly interesting story to tell.
Would of the puppies in Europe like some of my baths? I would gladly donate them.
Image 1: Woman sitting on couch eating cookies. Small puppy in green sweater comes over, puts his ear against her ample stomach and asks: âSo, when is the blessed event?â
Image 2: Puppy in green sweater sails backwards after a Pow! Right in the kisser!
Hey, where are all the Bitey images? Sorry I donât have any today. Weâll have to make do with imagination.
February 2022 came in with neither a bang nor a whimper but dizziness from the first day to the last (but as far as I can tell, not vertigo even though my ears ring loudly). As a companion it brought along such horribly cloudy thinking that I could barely function. I spent many afternoons asleep on the floor because I couldnât do anything else. One day I woke up surrounded by tennis balls and a sleeping puppy. Even the Tobester found this condition annoying.
Post shut down in this area, it generally takes 2-6 months to get an appointment with a doctor. I decided to make my first with an eye doctor to see if my glasses were at fault. By the time I could get in, the calendar had turned to March, and my dizziness slowly started to fade. The brain fog hung around long enough to make sure I thoroughly embarrassed myself trying to talk to the doctor, though.
The take away from the appointment was that one eye had changed but the other was basically the same. What concerned her was the bad state my eyes are in and the transient drooping/numbness I have on one side of my face. She recommended I research Myasthenia Gravis to see if the symptoms matched my condition. If so, see a neurologist right away. In the meantime I desperately need medication for my eyes that I canât afford.
When I got home, I was a dutiful patient and started the supplements the doctor recommended and stepped up the eye drops/ointments I use. I researched the conditions she suggested, then I started looking into assistance and grants to get the medication I need. At the moment, I am still waiting to hear what I might quality for. After that, I will better know which treatment to seek.
While Iâm upset that I have lost so much time that should have been spent working, Iâm hopeful that March will bring better news.
Then maybe I wonât have to spend another month drowning my sorrows in cookies.
Donât look at me. Iâm not going to say anything.
I was sitting on my beanbag chair (OK, pile of dirty laundry) when Toby barged into the bedroom and started harrumphing. Snort this, stomp that. “Mom, get off of the laundry.” Whatever. I moved aside so my obviously upset puppy could go to bed.
A few minutes later I walked out of the room and was greeted by this:
Evidently Toby had wanted to go outside to play. He got discouraged when I didn’t notice him trying to bring me my boot and his leash, so he threw himself in the laundry.
If you’re not going to pay attention to me, I’m going to bed.
This wasn’t the first time the boot/leash things happened.
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Join Bitey and Toby in more puppy fun in Dream Our World. Inside, the boys discover the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World is available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.
This used to happen a lot when the boys were together. Toby would ride his peppermint backward around the room until he inevitably ran into sleeping Geordie’s face. I would say, “And a good time was had by all” but Geordie would probably bite me.
For all the romantics like Toby out there, Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Forgot to get your sweetest something for Valentine’s Day? Then order a custom pet portrait from my shop! Tell your loved one that you ordered it weeks ago, and it will still be a little while before the paint dries. He or she will be so happy with the results that they won’t mind the wait.
Toby’s barkday was at the end of last month, but thanks to me getting sick and then the car breaking, I wasn’t able to get him any presents. This week, G & G took pity on my little boy and brought him a fresh bag of tennis balls. The down side is that now he wants to play all day every day. The up side is he he is working off some of those holiday pounds.
Get that camera out of my face and throw the ball already!
To Toby, the game is to either catch the ball or touch it with his mouth. Then it is considered out of play.
The first thing Toby does when he gets a new ball is chew a fuzz handle into it.
Like most places, it is snowy and barely in the teens here. Toby doesn’t mind going out because he has a nice pet human to warm his paws when they get cold. If the pet human tries to thaw her paws on a warm puppy tummy, though, all heck breaks loose. Toby’s pet human is grateful for the tennis ball game so they don’t have to freeze as much.
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Care to find out what Bitey and Toby have been up to? Then check out Dream Our World! Inside, the boys view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World is available at my shop at L Bowman Studios.
No, I didn’t trade Toby in on a green-sweater-clad feline, but I did think about it.
Toby had a grooming session at the beginning of the month. Afterward, he could no longer hide the fact that Gma had been slipping him goodies over the holidays. Now he is on a diet, and he just howls and howls for food.
Toby, pre-furcut.
Toby, post-furcut.
Toby howling for food.
Evidently Toby didn’t do much better on his second visit to the groomer than he did on his first. The woman working with him said that he hates the blow dryer so much that he fought and fought her about it. By the time she was done drying him he was thoroughly exhausted and fell asleep. She had to put him in a sling in order to reach to trim his paws and tummy. Who would guess that such a sweet-faced little guy could cause so much trouble?
While Toby’s year started off with grooming and a diet, mommy’s started with two broken teeth, a broken car and a pair of broken glasses. Yay 2022.
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If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can still pick up copies of Dream Our World. Inside, Bitey and Toby have a fantastic adventure as they visit the museum of their dreams and view the world of art from a canine perspective.
Dream Our World is available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 