How's your week going? December 11, 2023

[ProudTVJunkie]

Hi All,

Sorry I was pretty much MIA last week. Astrid, our dog, had her spay and gastropexy surgery. For those who have never heard of gastropexy...German Shepherds are one of a few large breeds that can suffer from bloat as they get older. That's when gas fills their stomachs to the point that the stomach can twist. It's fatal about 80% of the time. A gastropexy is a procedure where they tack their stomachs so that can't happen. So we had it done along with her spay surgery. The only downside is that the incision site is longer.

But our Astrid is a handful. At 7 months old, she doesn't understand why she can't have her walks, run, or jump. And she hates the cone on her head! Someone needs to be with her all the time because she chews the cone and tries to scratch her incision site. It's made for an interesting week! But we're half way through. In another week, the sutures should be desolved and her incision healed. We can't wait.

We haven't gotten a Christmas tree yet. Astrid has sidetracked a lot of my plans, but I'm trying to get back on track. I'm hoping to get the tree early this week. And I just need two more presents for my brother-in-law and his girlfriend and then I'm done.

I missed you all last week. So please, check in and let us know how you're doing.

[tycho657]

I’m back from my last RV camping trip go the year. My reign as President is over yeah😻 I had a very low tire yesterday on the RV. The lady parked next to me had a small compressor that pumped it up. Made it home and all is good.
I did a couple of home visits for St Vince this morning to bring food to some families. Best way to get into the Christmas season.

I don’t think I will put up any more Christmas decorations. My fresh Christmas wreath should arrive this week. I love the fresh pine sent that makes the house smell like Christmas.

What is everyone doing to get ready for Christmas?

[DrvrTrnr]

We finally were able to get the algae problem in our pool cleared up. We let the water evaporate since June. Then only 2-3 feet of water were left so it got drained. Then it got a chlorine bath followed by an acid wash. It filled up in a couple days and now has all of the start up chemicals. It looks beautiful again. Now we have a water leak from the water meter to the main house shut off valve. The water had to be turned off at the meter. We were losing 1.5 gallons a minute. That's 90 gallons an hour and we don't know exactly when the leak started! Water running over the sidewalk and into the street was our first clue. Luckily it will be fixed tomorrow. I'm glad the pool is full so we can fill a bucket to flush the toilets, lol.

I'm hoping for an uneventful rest of the week!

[nathanfan1]

What a difference a year makes! Last year, we were buried in snow by this time, the temps were hanging below zero, we both had covid and Christmas just plain didn't happen. We never got a tree and didn't see a single soul. This year, we've had some light snows but they've all been followed by warmups that have melted it and overall, the temps have been above normal. I hope we'll get our tree on Wednesday and get it up and decorated with the help of the grandsons. It's nice that they're old enough and strong enough to help carry things. I can hardly wait to enjoy my nights in front of the fireplace with just the tree lights and the Christmas music on!

I have everything I need for gifts ordered but still need to receive a few things. Sure don't know what I'd do without online shopping since I'm essentially homebound.

This year I decided to give up on a VERY long standing tradition of making homemade caramels. I've done it for about 30 years and given friends and family each a 1 pound box as a gift. However, my hands are just getting too weak to handle the heavy pan and it scares me to think of dropping scalding caramel on myself, so I decided to be smart before there's a disaster. In place of that, I'm going to try a few Christmas cookie recipes and also make a snack mix called Reindeer Chow. I'll share what I can and I know everyone understands.

Christmas cards got mailed out this past weekend! WooHoo! I think I'll be hosting Christmas Eve dinner with just 5 of us here. Then we'll see the kids and grandkids as they have the time to come over during Christmas week. As I said at the beginning, it sure will be a better Christmas than last year!