Saturday, February 3, 2024

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2003. Mattie was 9 months old and at that point he loved crackers and cereal. He wasn't in love with sitting in a high chair, but he tolerated it as we always played games and had all sorts of interactions to distract and engage Mattie's mind. Look at those big beautiful eyes! 

Quote of the day: Your place I’ll hold, you will be missed, the fur I stroked, the nose I kissed. And as you journey to your final rest, take with you this … I loved you best. ~ Jim Willis

Look at that face! Sunny loved lying on his back, kicking his legs up and looking at me with his big eyes. What Sunny was looking for were belly rubs. One of his favorites! This photo was taken in Mattie's bedroom, which I later used as my office. If I was upstairs, so was Sunny. He followed and tracked me, NOT unlike Mattie. 

You may not be able to tell from this photo, but Sunny's front top teeth hung over his lower teeth. So he had an overbite. I can't tell you how many vets fell in love with Sunny over what they deemed was a cute overbite! He always received lots of OHHHs and AHHHHs!

I had my usual routine this morning of waking up at 6:30am, feeding the cat, getting myself showered and dressed, made breakfast, cleaned out the cat litter box, vacuumed the first floor, and then went upstairs..... made my parent's bed, got my dad washed and dressed and downstairs for breakfast. Started the laundry. My dad's physical therapist came over at 11am. Physical therapy for my dad is crucial, as the key to keeping him at home is his ability to move. Thankfully I have been able to secure four sessions of PT for my dad each week. 

While my dad was in his session, I hopped on my Saturday support group meeting. This was the second session I attended. The first session was a speaker's session, where a guest led a discussion. So today was more like a real support group session. The session was three hours LONG. Honestly by the time I was finished I wanted to lie down, but in my house that isn't possible, as my parents were ready to go out for frozen yogurt. Something I promised to do with them in the afternoon. 

Typically I am not a support group type of person. I did not excel in this form of therapy in graduate school either. Why? Two issues. The first, if I am experiencing a crisis, I really do not want to hear yours! I don't like comparisons or hearing unsolicited advice. But my second issue is I land up getting very wrapped up in group member issues, that I want to serve in a counseling capacity rather than as a fellow group member! What I can report is I have already become friends with one woman in the support group and get this.... she lives in England. 

This afternoon, I drove my parents to the frozen yogurt store. When I got out, I could see that a whole girl scout troop was inside, therefore there were NO chairs and tables. I knew I had to come up with plan B. Frankly I was tired and hungry, and just wanted to go home. But I knew that wasn't the solution. So I looked up on a map what else was around us and found a Dairy Queen. I am a big DQ fan! It reminds me of all my trips to the North Carolina beaches! Which is where I had my first DQ experience and was introduced to a DQ Blizzard!

Any case, this was the first time my parents went into a Dairy Queen and my mom had a pumpkin pie Blizzard, I had an oreo hot cocoa Blizzard, and my dad had a parfait with peanuts and hot fudge. They were happy campers. If a Blizzard doesn't make one happy, nothing will.