Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2003. To me this was a priceless photo. We took Mattie to a petting zoo within a Fall Festival. As you can see we came across a hog. Mattie was intrigued but unsure how to interact with this pig. I think Mattie's facial expression says it all. 



Quote of the day: Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection - or compassionate action. ~  Daniel Goleman

I was getting ready this morning and all of a sudden I heard a loud bang on our deck. Fortunately Sunny or Indie weren't outside. I opened the window and looked out. This is what I saw..... a construction helmet from above came flying down onto our deck. 

That may not sound like a big deal, but it was the last straw! I literally called my complex to file another compliant against the State Department. The State Department shares a common wall with me. For the past TWO YEARS the State Department has been repointing the bricks on their walls. Last year they absolutely ruined our summer and fall. They had scaffolding all over our deck for months, and our plants and fountains needed to be removed, and the amount of dust, debris, and noise I dealt with daily was over the top. Not to mention having workmen staring into my windows! The beauty of all of this, is the State Department doesn't care, nor did they have the courtesy to let us know they were taking over our outdoor space last summer or NOW for that matter. 

I thought I was done after last summer's ordeal, but they are back doing MORE work for the past month. Literally our deck looks like the desert, covered in a gray sand/dust. It is absolutely pervasive and you can't sweep enough. The particles are so fine, the only way to manage this is power washing each day! This gray stuff is all over our plants, the deck, and our furniture. I honestly can't stand it and it makes our outdoor space unusable. 

Later in the day, I took Sunny out for another walk. Sunny literally jumped into the bushes to chase a squirrel up a tree. When Sunny is in pursuit of a squirrel he won't move. He sits like this for minutes! I had several people walk passed me and started chatting with me, because the natural question is..... what is he looking at?! I can't go a day without someone telling me how beautiful Sunny is and everyone thinks he is a GIRL! 

Poor Sunny has a rude awakening coming to him tomorrow. He will begin his shot series for heartworm. Dogs get monthly oral heartworm preventatives. Because Sunny wasn't on them at the shelter, he contracted heartworm from a mosquito bite. Once you contract heartworm, it can't be eliminated with oral meds. The dog needs a series of three shots. The shots are supposed to be painful, since they are inter-muscular (so Sunny will need pain meds and anti-inflammatories). In addition, as the heartworms break apart after the shot, the dead worms can circulate in Sunny's body and if he exerts himself they could clot in his lungs or heart and cause death. This is a major problem for me because Sunny is VERY active by day. Curtailing his activity will be like mission impossible. So wish me luck tomorrow. It isn't only ONE day of curtailed activity! We are talking two months at least!!!

Peter and I had a meeting at Georgetown University Hospital today to work out some of the details on the donation we plan on making within the month for a weekend child life position. We have donated a significant amount of money to Georgetown over the last five years, yet as a donor we have expectations in return, such as access to data about the services we provide. Yet this consistently doesn't happen. So we had a serious talk today with philanthropy about poor communication and our disappointment about the lack of outcome data. I felt like we were heard. In addition to the $5,000 that came in yesterday from a donor, we also learned that one of our corporate sponsors wants to help us start another Mattie Miracle snack/item cart at another hospital. So we could potentially be running three carts (all in different hospitals) shortly. I am working out these details.