Yesterday I had childcare off. I always take the Friday after Thanksgiving off. It was intended to be my day…a little recovery from the busy-ness of Thanksgiving…and a chance to start on the mystery. Well…none of that happened.
My day started at 5am. I have trouble sleeping in. I’m a creature of habit and 5:30am is my habit. I checked to see if the mystery was up. It wasn’t. I checked my phone and got a message from Kalissa. She had a migraine and wasn’t doing well.
I had already known that my day was going to be a jumble as Ruby had to get to the vet. Our vet is in Postville. That’s about 50 minutes or so from our house. We love our vet and willingly make the longer drive to see her.
By the time 7:30am rolled around I was about to call the vet to get an appointment when Kalissa called crying. Her migraine was bad and she was going in. Craig was driving her and could I take Carver….um, sure. At this point I didn’t have the appointment for Ruby and figured I’d have to take Carver with. Oh well. It was going to be interesting. Then I remembered Kelli didn’t work until 2pm so she would help. Bonus is that she lives right along the way to the vet.
Ruby got a 9:30am appointment. I had Craig bring Carver and install the carseat in my truck. Off we went and met Kelli along the way while Craig took Kalissa to the doctor.
Wednesday Ruby took a turn for the worse again. Her tail was tight between her legs. She was shaking. She wouldn’t jump on the couch. She was a mess constantly looking at me with the pleading “aren’t you seeing me and aren’t you going to do something to help me” look. Hubby says I imagine that look, but I don’t at all. Ruby does give that look when she’s sick. The shaking was completely new. She was doing it all the time on the evening of Thanksgiving.
I took a video of her shaking so I could show the vet….Here she is.
At the vet we found out that even though we cut her thyroid meds back the levels still weren’t normal…but closer and showing improvement in the right direction. Her symptoms are still odd though. The vet is wanting to test for Cushings Disease. That has been the goal all along but we were supposed to get her thyroid levels in place first….but that’s not happening in a timely manner and Ruby is obviously stressed. So we are doing the tests on Monday.
Should she have it, then meds and more monitoring. These meds are more expensive…. $60-$70 a month but that’s do-able. We’ll just have to see where this takes us. We’ll know a lot more next week.
Ruby-Shaking
I dropped Kelli off…stopped at the grocery store with Carver and then on to home. I had a parent call wondering if I had a childcare opening and asked for an interview. I was hesitant but did the interview. I do have room but it really has to be the “right kid”. If I add someone it has to be the exact right “mesh”. It’s so hard. With the young little ones I have it’s so hard but I do need to make enough money to make enough money that it’s worth my time….oh it’s a juggling act.
From there Neighbor Girl came over. She played her saxophone songs for me…the saxophone scared Ruby so she only played them through twice…poor dog. Then we got talking and she was telling me that she needed snow pants and didn’t have any. My day was shot by now anyway and I didn’t see a chance to sew so…I told her to call her mom and see if I could take her to get some…so that’s what we did. We did make a deal that we had to do some work first so she cleaned up the toys Carver messed and threw my outside pumpkins that were serving as decor away and I mowed lawn….YEP, moving lawn when it’s almost December. That’s unusual.
We ended up bringing her cousin with too…We bought snow pants…then gloves that won’t get wet in the snow… Then I turned the cart back around into the girls clothes section. I told her that I was proud of her for the hard work she was doing with the saxophone and wanted her to have a pretty Christmas outfit for her upcoming concert where she’d be playing her saxophone. She picked out a sweater dress with matching leggings. Then onto find some boots.
From there we went to Dollar Tree and she picked out things for her school gift exchange….then onto McDonalds. I asked the kids what they wanted and each told me a sandwich off the dollar menu. Then I said don’t you want fries…they both said together, “We can have fries?” I said yes…Then I asked, “What do you want to drink?” They both said, “We can have a drink too?” I told them whatever you want. Then they got in the spirit of things ordered a chocolate shake and a McFlurry. It was so cute.
I LOVE taking these two to town. They are so unassuming. They don’t ask for a thing. I love that….so unlike my own kids were!!
Then on the way home…UGH. The pickup started making a weird noise. To make a long story shorter…I had to call Hubby. He came and drove the truck home and right to the shop to have them look at it. We’re supposed to go to Hubby’s family on Sunday…Hopefully they can fix it today. We’ll see.
There was no sewing that was done today…not a drop. So much for my mystery quilt plans. Alas….
For those of you wondering…Neighbor Girl is a hot and cold thing. She’s been over more lately. Mom isn’t always liking me so she doesn’t let her come like she used to. Back in September I expressed concerns to people at DHS. The family was really mad at me. Things have gotten some better at Neighbor Girl’s house….at least I think they have but it all comes at a price of me not getting to see her. Six weeks had gone by and I didn’t see her at all. Then her family needs something or they want some quiet time and they let her come. Thankfully they don’t stay mad for good. Some people in my situation might be mad at the mom and feel used. I don’t. I follow their requests to the letter, calling if she going to be late….explaining the situation. Whatever perimeters they put in place, I honor. Wednesday she was over and wanted help to make her mom a birthday cake…I let her make one here. It’s a tightrope I walk and rarely do I ask for time….I was so happy that when we asked today was a YES day!! It’s slowly getting better. I am grateful for that. My only concern is always her.
So that was my day…Ruby, Carver, Kelli, the vet, the grocery store, an interview, the lawn, Neighbor Girl & cousin, WalMart, Dollar Tree, McDonalds, broken truck, Hubby, the repair shop…and now the computer.
Just an aside….For those of you who have been on the edge about getting an Instant Pot, Amazon has a great Black Friday deal….I’m SO tempted to get another!!
Hope Ruby is on the mend..It is so good that you are there for neighbor girl. She will remember you for,ever.
Cushing’s is very manageable in dogs. The meds are generally less expensive when ordered online and for our dog, taking that pill a few times a week was all it took for a normal life. Prayers for sweet Ruby.
Oh poor Ruby! You take such good care of her I hope she feels the loving care & it helps her feel better soon & gives her strength to get well! I admire so that you also care about the neighbor girl and I know that no matter what she’ll always remember your kindness & support!
I see now they have a mini IP :)
not much of a MQ sewing day for me either. I’m second guessing my color choices.
So sorry to hear of Ruby’s troubles. Hope she feels better soon. I would call CPS again about neighbor girl. This child deserves so much better. I know services are stretched thin but this child is neglected. THe more reports the better for her.
I love your kind heart….
I’ve been wondering about “neighbor girl”. She will remember your kindness the rest of her life. You are such an angel from God “doing unto others….”. Never feel guilty for calling child services about her. Too many times people have turned their heads and children have been abused/hurt. God Bless You!!
What a full day you had! It contained all things possible, I think. I’m glad you were able to help out Carver, migraines are no fun. Then to mow the lawn in November in Iowa, pretty rare indeed and having neighbor girl to help, wonderful! I love that you took her out for those things that will make her concert special, a new outfit, her class gift and out to eat, you are a very kind person. Bravo Jo
I hope Ruby is feeling better and that the truck is an easy fix.
Jo,
It is so nice to read that there are still folks in the world who willingly go out of their way to help others. Neighbor girl is a very fortunate young lady to have you in her life. I feel bad for Kalissa – migraines are so awful. I hope things work out well for Ruby, poor baby. I haven’t started the Mystery yet either, but I’m going to! Love your Cheddar bow ties quilt. Love that quilt shop also, have been there once on a shop hop trip. Thanks for all you share, and for all you so lovingly do for others.