A Sense of Doubt blog post #4014 - Letter to Dad #22 - The Garage and Various Updates

Garage work space at 8209 Pattiwood taken Dec. 27 2015

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4014 - Letter to Dad #22 - The Garage and Various Updates

Hi Dad, I like looking at pictures of our houses, and this one is a picture of your last garage at Pattiwood. I did not live there with you, but I stayed there with you after I moved out west and visited. I would have surely visited more if not for the pandemic making air travel and just being out among people risky. My sister and her husband live there now, and last I saw, the garage looked much the  same as they inherited all of your tools.

I thought I had written updates here since my last post a week ago.

SATURDAY: I had two things to attend and had to push myself to get out. I almost skipped the first one, which was the Zen and Psychotherapy cohort at Dharma Rain. But I went and made connections with those in my soon-to-be profession. I like some of the ideas with Zen Buddhism, but I am not now and not going to be Buddhist. But “Zen” is just the Japanese word for meditation, so saying “Zen meditation” is redundant. I strongly believe in meditation, and there’s a lot overlap with tai chi.

Then I went to the Star Trek fan club happy hour hoping to meet people to play games with and people BROUGHT GAMES! So I had a fun time playing Trek-themed card games and talking nerd stuff. Plus I learned about other game options locally, one being a con in March.

DOGS: Essel has acne again. No big deal. Satchel is okay but her urine showed a little more protein than the last time so filtering is not getting better, but it’s minor and not yet to the level of medication. The big issue is that after weeks of Ellory having diarrhea I finally got fed up and took her in and we are trying a “hydrolized” diet, basically an allergy-safe diet. So no more making food in the crock pot and cutting up boiled chicken. She can ONLY have the hydrolized diet, even treats, even peanut butter, are out. There are approved treats! I was worried about getting her pills into her without pill pockets and peanut butter, but they suggested meat balls with the approved food and she LOVES THAT. And she is generally eating ALL of her food without help as long as I put enough canned meat in it. And we’re going back to weekly B12 injections for a while.

That’s it really. I am on break now until Feb 23 and spending my time on house stuff, applying for jobs, writing, and a few social events, including my ride along with the cop that I have to schedule. I need either more financial aid or more income. Both would be nice. And I am having trouble connecting with the supervisor where I get therapy to set up my clinical internship, so I am going to have to expand my search.

Netflix has good stuff. Though I am back on STAR TREK via Paramount. Watching the new STAR FLEET ACADEMY show and am current with it as it just started.

Satchel will be 14 in July. She’s getting old and it makes me sad and fearful. I am sure like me you are cherishing every moment and more so as the pets get very old. Also, like me, I know you hope to have Ashley for many more years. Even Ellory is showing signs of age as she will be ten in October.

Snuggles are the best! I wish Ellory still snuggled with me like she did when she was young. I snuggle her in bed all the time but she rarely sits with me or lies with me on the couch. Though she was scared to death by all the fireworks after the Super Bowl. She was trembling. Some close by neighbors let off a lot of loud ones. She was so scared she didn’t want to return to our room at bed time (her safe place) and refused to get off Liesel’s bed. I had to leave doors open so she could return late in the night (which she did) but I had trouble getting to sleep without her and without my music AND white noise.

Ellory loves her new food as I reported but she has been begging for chicken and peanut butter that she used to have and can’t have anymore.

So I make two things: the chicken with lemon and garlic powder and ground chicken with seasoning. And broccoli. I tried the ground chicken with vegies and she liked it the first time and not the second.

However, I have been saving some recipes I want to try, like some fried cabbage with miso, chicken pot pie meat balls, and some egg plant wrap. I have to be careful as she is totally off carbs. But it removes some stress that I could basically make the same thing every other day.

I am off to get my RSV vaccine now.

Love you, Big Guy!!

More next week.

- christopher

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2602.12 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3877 days ago & DAD = 532 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.