Working Holiday

I find it funny that people are still shocked I sometimes have to work on a holiday. Especially Thanksgiving or Christmas. People, I work in news. I've been working in news for 6 years. The news doesn't stop for family, friends, and feasting. But I try to take turns with people and sometimes I get to choose. Like this year I decided to take off Friday instead of Thanksgiving. It's a bonus because I get a three day weekend and I get to go out to dinner on my birthday. Plus I'm off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so I think that's a good trade off.

Working today wasn't that big of a deal anyway because it was a pretty easy day. I did some pre-planning on Wednesday night and got my 2 newscasts as organized as I could. Many of us brought in side dishes and desserts for dinner. Our editor even smoked a turkey so we had a pretty good spread that we ate on all day. I had extra supplies from our reception over the summer so I brought in the sectioned plates, utensils, napkins, a loaf of bread, and three side dishes. We just decided to throw this together last night, so I was amazed at what I could bring that I already had at home. I didn't have to go to the store for anything. I spent the morning cooking for work and cleaning for company who is coming tomorrow night.

Tomorrow, as I've mentioned, is my birthday. Our friends, Rachel and Nick, as well as Mom and Dad are going to eat dinner with us at Shogun in Owensboro. Yummy Japanese hibachi food! I'm very excited and looking forward to it. I might even brave the stores tomorrow to look for a new outfit. I'm at that point where I hate all of my clothes again and feel fat in everything. Also, tomorrow night, we're meeting a couple of my cousins out for drinks. We have no plans for the rest of the weekend, but I imagine we'll start the indoor Christmas decorating. We put lights up on the house last weekend. Now it's time to start on the tree and all the knick knacks.

Yay for the holidays!

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful for many things this year:

I'm thankful I have some money in the bank. Not a lot, but some. Enough to make a dent in my debt. I'm about ready to pay off my car, and that is so sweet.

I'm thankful I have a job that allows me to put money in the bank. And spend it. Usually on groceries. And wine.

I'm thankful my job is not flipping burgers and actually has some purpose and respect that goes along with it.

I'm thankful I have a second chance at marriage and a husband who does not run around on me.

I'm thankful he looks out for me and takes care of me when I need it. Like when I'm sick. Or hungover.

I'm thankful we're able to travel and see the sights. Even if it is just a rock formation or a state park. Every moment is precious.

I'm thankful we have a nice home and a big yard. Even if we had 36 huge Rural King bags full of leaves last weekend. And aching muscles.

I'm thankful I don't live in white trash alley anymore. And kids don't smash my pumpkins.

I'm thankful for my family. I'm lucky my parents and three of my grandparents are still living. And my little cousins bring me such joy.

I'm thankful for friends. New ones that hang out with me on a Saturday night. Old ones that stay in touch and will never forget me.

I'm thankful for my dogs. They may have problems from time to time with fleas, glanding, and eye gunk, but they're my best buddies. I don't know what I'd do without them to come home to.

I'm thankful I've almost made it to my 31st birthday. I wouldn't want to go back to any other year of my life. I've got it pretty good.

Jack Scratch Fever

I haven’t had much to blog about lately except for pet problems. It’s not Bug this time, it’s Jack. A little over a week ago, he started scratching like crazy, and constantly. We went to a pet store to see what remedies we could find. The manager told us that dogs tend to have corn allergies this time of year. And most dog food has corn in it. After he told me what most dog food was made of, I was more than ready to try something new. The manager also recommended a tea tree oil spray. So we bought both. We’re working the food in gradually: half old, half new. The spray provided relief for a bit, but otherwise didn’t do much good. We noticed Bug was scratching, too, but not as much and no hair loss. After we put the spray on Jack, we noticed he had a big chunk of hair missing.

I started looking up solutions on the internet. Then I considered flea allergies could be the problem. I treat the dogs for fleas in the warmer months with flea collars and topicals. But I thought fleas went away when it got colder. I was wrong. Pmo found a couple of Bug the other day and I also found one on Jack. Then I noticed Jack had some red, irritated spots on him that I now believe are flea bites. So I turned back to the flea shampoo I use in the summer and broke down and bathed Jack today, though he wasn‘t due for another two weeks. I'm told overbathing can irritate their skin, too. When Jack was dry again, I put a flea collar back on him and applied the topical.

I found some home remedies for dog allergies on the internet involving oatmeal and baking soda. I didn’t have any baking soda so I tried the oatmeal recipe. It said boil 2 quarts of water and a handful of oats for 10 minutes, drain the particles, and let cool. I had to stick the pot in the freezer so it wouldn’t scald Jack, but I got it down to a nice lukewarm temperature. I put the oatmeal on him after the flea bath and it felt good to me, silky smooth in fact. Surely that had to help even a little bit. I left the oatmeal on for about 5 minutes, then rinsed it off. I think next time I’ll only make half the batch though, unless I’m bathing Bug, too. It seemed a little excessive for one dog.

After I got Jack out of the tub, which he was so ready to do after shivering during most of the ordeal, he didn’t scratch for about 5 to 10 minutes. But I was also vacuuming so maybe he was just distracted. Nevertheless, he eventually started scratching again. So I gave him another dose of children’s Benadryl in the hopes it would ease his pain in the afternoon. That was also a recommendation from the pet store manager and I read about it in several articles on the internet. Except there‘s conflicting information on whether the liquid form or the pill form is better for dogs. I bought the liquid. I haven’t been able to tell if it helps because it’s either been at night when I get home and we soon go to sleep, or before I go to work and I’m not around to see if he’s still scratching. But he hasn’t thrown it up at all, and he has a sensitive stomach. So that's a good sign.

I hope some if not all of these remedies work. I think the flea treatment will do the trick, but the oatmeal and baking soda are good ideas, too. I guess I'll move onto Bug tomorrow.