Trigger

Our Trigger dog passed away on Friday.  We've known for a few weeks that his heart was in bad shape.  He was still pretty perky  and he wasn't in pain so we made the decision to bring him home and hope that he would be comfortable.  Friday night as we were getting ready for bed, he slipped away peacefully. Even though we were mostly expecting it, we are all pretty sad.  He was almost 13 so the kids don't remember a time without him.  Glenn and I just miss his face and his stubby wagging tail and his constant cleaning off all of the dishes in the dishwasher.  

Trigger was a naughty dog for a significant portion of his life.  He used to run out the front door any chance he got and race up the street.  We'd hop in the car and race after him but with his head start, he'd usually have a 15 minute adventure until we caught up with him.  He also did the same thing anytime he was off leash camping or hiking.  Certain members of the family can't drive past a camping spot in the Snowies without remembering the day we spent tracking Trigger down (instead of camping and hiking ourselves!).  

Trigger also enjoyed eating food off of the counter, off of people's plates and in the last few months of his life, he liked to pull the cat food bowl off of the table and eat that.  One time he dragged a couple potatoes and two bananas into the living room and while he just nibbled the potatoes, but he ate both bananas and somehow managed to peel them. 

He was an affectionate and loyal dog who loved Glenn the most.  Once he got too old for his own hunting trips, he'd mope until Glenn came home and then he'd sniff every item of clothing that Glenn had worn, as if he was reliving the hunt.  A few times, I'd take the other two dogs on a walk and have to leave him at home because of a sore leg and he would howl until we got back.  It was the saddest, most dramatic noise.    

We can't forget the great Chicken Coop mystery.  We had no chicken eggs for months, couldn't figure out why there was coop bedding in the house until we finally caught Trigger red-handed (red-pawed?) in the coop snacking on fresh eggs.  He squeezed his appropriately-sized frame through a chicken door because he needed a snack.  

Trigger loved his pack and they miss him.  We've noticed Tootsie walking around the house a few times and I wonder if she's looking for him.  I'm glad he had such a long life and I'm so thankful that he found his way to us.  

Trigger loved sleeping on the couch.... on his back with his feet in the air.  

I took this picture after I sprained my ankle.  Dog pile!  

Trigger loved nothing more than sleeping in the sun in our backyard.  He was mostly deaf in the last year and there were a few times where he didn't hear me coming and I had to double check that he was still breathing!  

This is how we will remember him.... sitting in the sun looking at us while we yell his name like "what?"  

 

Pictures of pets

Our house is still full of pets.  They've all adapted to having the house to themselves all day since I'm back at my office and the kids are in school. The dogs still love a trip to the field and the cats still try to sneak outside unless it's super cold.  Last month, Reina and I had to take both cats and one of the dogs to the vet for their annual appointment.  That trip was as chaotic as it sounds.  But they are all as cute as ever and we humans fight over who gets to sit next to the snuggly dog when it's cold in the evening.  

Reina would love to help me with chores but she's stuck on the sofa until Coco decides to change venues. 

Charlie loves to snuggle even if he's snuggling the back of my neck.  

Coco helping me with my latest sewing project.  So helpful!  

A tale of three pets at the vet. Pet 1 -  Coco preferred to sit on my shoulder facing the wall and (I can only assume) imagine herself in an alternative location.  

Pet 2 insisted on sitting in my lap in the waiting room and darting for the door anytime it looked like the appointment might be wrapping up.  

Pet 3 sat on the examining table and purred.  

Trigger helping me have a lazy Sunday.

 

Kids at Water World and pet pics

It's been a super weird week but I'm saving that story for another post.  In the meantime, a few weeks ago we took the little monsters, the big monsters, the grandparents, and some friends to Water World for our Official Last Fun Event of the summer.  Well not the Last Fun Event, but maybe the last fun event in Denver?  Anyway, we piled everyone into the car and headed south.  The little monster cousins hadn't been to WW before and none of us had been there since the summer of 2019 because of Covid so we had a great time!  

E talking to his juice box - or talking to me to say 'stop taking my picture'

Where did this grown up girl come from?  

E is not a huge fan of the water and the fact that he walked in up to his knees was very big news. 

Reina and the lazy river 

I didn't get any pictures of Will, or at least any pictures that I'm allowed to post but he was there too and he did a great job with his younger cousins.  He sat in the little wave pool with them and even convinced E to go on a giant inner tube on the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" complete with dinosaurs and lava.  E announced to everyone after the ride that Aunt Lucy had ruined his life by encouraging him to go.  Oh well, I had a nice run as Cool Aunt Lucy but all good things come to an end. 

We recently bought Will a new bed to match is taller physique and a new bed meant new bedding which resulted in a weeks-long search for the perfect comforter and sheet set.  One night while perusing TJ Maxx and sending 10 (TEN!!) pictures to Will of navy and white comforters in all shades and patterns, I stumbled across this welcome mat that had to come with me. I left without a comforter too but later that weekend, Glenn and Will went shopping and came back with the manliest of manly bedding in the form of black and dark gray and I'm just happy that he found one that he likes.  

Since I'm back at the office, the pets and I don't get to hang out like we used to.  We still find time to go to the F I E L D (can't say it out loud where they can hear you) on the weekends.  

A happy bunch post run at their favorite place.

I came upstairs on one particularly hot evening last week to find Coco sleeping in our sink.  While it was a nice cool place to nap, it was also convenient for reminding me that she'd like a refreshing drink 
directly from the tap.  

A rare sighting, a tuxedo cat and a tuxedo dog sharing the same bed.  Soxy still doesn't prefer the dogs be in her direct orbit but for some reason she tolerated it yesterday. 

 

The rest of the month

We had some really cold temperatures last weekend.  At one point before I went to bed on Saturday night, it was -18 and that was without the wind chill.  We made it through with lots of extra blankets for humans and inside pets and hot water bottles in the chicken coop.  The temps have warmed up to normal 20s and 30s this week but we have spring on our minds, even if we have months to go.  

We grow cotton in Wyoming! In February! 

Trigger loves his Glenn. I took this picture on Valentine's Day and thought it was especially fitting. 

Here's the COVID update.  I'm still working from home with chickens who want to come in the house.  Numbers in Wyoming are as low as they've been since last Fall and that's reassuring.  Glenn and I and the kids are still pretty far from getting a vaccine but we're glad that more and more people are getting it.  We were reminded this week that COVID is still an issue when we found out that a few boys from the basketball team are quarantined because of positive tests.  Will isn't quarantined but he sat by one of the boys on the bench the day before the quarantine started but everyone was wearing masks.  I'm keeping a close eye on Will this weekend which he adores (sarcasm.)  He loves when I remark on every cough and sneeze and ask him how he's feeling every few minutes. The team is pretty disciplined at wearing masks during the game and especially on the bench so I'm hopeful that Will is going to be okay.  The end of the season tournament is next weekend so we are all hoping that no other kids get infected and the team can finish out the season.  Will had his best game this week against their cross-town rival.  His team lost but Will made two free throws and played some really good defense.  I didn't scream when he made his free throws which is a win-win for everybody.  

 

Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve

 Reina saw a meme tonight with the above title and liked it.  A lot.  She is counting down the minutes until the big day.  I, on the other hand, am sitting in the the darkened dining room waiting for a cat to come back inside so that I can go to bed.  It's pretty cold and windy so I don't think her little sojourn will take very long but she might also be able to sense that I'm tired and I'm still working tomorrow and shall instead take her own sweet time.  Last month, I made the mistake of checking on all of the pets one night before I went to bed (did I write about this already?) and I couldn't find Soxy in any of her usual places.  She's the culprit running around outside right now, for the record.  It was a warmer than usual night for November and so I started to wonder if she'd snuck out when I was letting the dogs out before bed so I went outside a few times and called for her, no luck.  I finally went to sleep but I worried about her all night.  I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and decided to go check on her.  I came downstairs and found her in the catbed next to the printer. Long story short, she made herself a lovely little bed in the lining closet and I only know that because a few nights later, I accidentally locked her in there and found her in the morning because of all of the meowing.  Yes, this turning into a cat blog. 

She's back inside so I can stop writing now but I'm on a bit of a roll.  The kids holiday break has started.  They have two weeks off and we are going to do our best to enjoy as much of it as we can.  I'd say "enjoy every minute" but I'm the mother to a teen and a tween and let's not get ahead of ourselves here.  I'm working a few days this week and most of next week but I will be at home so at least I'll have company.  Glenn is working tomorrow and then taking the rest of the year off and is planning a few outdoor adventures for the three of them.  I'm more ready for Christmas than I've been in years.  Having to get packages ready to send all over the country instead of just putting them under the tree certainly helped my organizational skills.  Pop-pop and Grandma are staying put in Arizona instead of driving back here.  It was a tough decision but the right one.  We can see the light at the end of this COVID tunnel and we just have to hang in there until we are all vaccinated and then we can all hang out as much as we want to.  We can have dinner parties, we can go to the movie theater, we can go to Target on a busy Saturday - the possibilities are endless!  

Wyoming's case numbers are coming down and actually starting to stay down.  The Governor instituted a statewide mask mandate a few weeks ago and numbers have dropped.  We've had somewhere around 36,000 cases but the number of currently infected people is lower than it's been since earlier in the Fall.  The vaccinations have started in each county and that's great news.  In this household, we are still taking it pretty seriously and masking up, etc., but we are planning to spend Christmas with Aunt V and family and nobody better even cough between now and then.  

One more animal story.  I took last Friday afternoon off and I planned to finish up some last minute shopping and present-wrapping while the kids were in school.  Before I headed out, I took the dogs to the field for a quick 20 minute run.  We still have snow on the ground from last weekend's storm but that doesn't deter them but it does make them more tired which is a win-win for me.  I got all three dogs back in my car and headed home to drop them off before I went shopping. I looked down and noticed bloody paw prints on the seats and discovered that Trigger had just about torn one of his toenails off.  I called Glenn, he met me at home with one of his co-workers who used to work in a vet office. She confirmed that we'd have to take Trigger in because the tear was too far up his toenail to fix at home. I called the vet office and got an "emergency" appt which is super helpful but also more money. I left the other two at home, drove Trigger across town, waited with him in the vet office, left him in the vet office because he had to be sedated, raced through Target for last minute items, went back and picked up Trigger and came home.  No presents were wrapped.  No quiet afternoon to reflect on the holiday season.  Instead of last minute gifts, people will get a picture of Trigger's wrapped up foot because that's where all of their stocking stuffer money went. 

So that's where we are on Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve.  

The rest of the week

The last week of January has been a doozy.  Relatively speaking, of course.  I started to feel puny last Saturday with a stomach bug. I was sick Sunday into Monday.  Reina started to feel yucky Sunday and stayed home with me on Monday.  Glenn and Will went to work and school on Monday.  When they walked into the house Monday night after practice, Will announced that he'd thrown up in Dad's truck 7 times on the way home.  School is about 5 minutes away so you know that was an intense ride.  Glenn looked like a man who had been through some things.  Will didn't use his backpack or bag to catch the vomit, instead he aimed for Glenn's cupholders.... that aren't removable.  So the three of us stayed home together on Tuesday.  

But it's Friday and we are back on track.  Reina is reading Nancy Drew books which delights me.  She's reading the actual books that I read as a kid that were at least a generation old at that point.  She's a voracious reader.  Her birthday is right around the corner and it's a hot topic of conversation.  

Dressed up for basketball.  They have to dress nicely on game days. 

Reina camping out with three of the four pets on one of her sick days.  I think the dogs were delighted that we were feeling under the weather.  

I received this text from Glenn over the weekend.  Clearly someone hacked his phone.  I just can't figure out who the culprit is!  

Sick days and snow days

We've had a wild week at the Pauley household.  (How many times have I started a blog post with that sentence?)  Last Wednesday as I was getting ready to head to Laramie for a presentation, I had a call from the school nurse.  Reina had a sore throat and wanted to come home. I zipped over to pick her up, took her home, went to Laramie, gave my presentation and drove home in the snow.  Glenn was keeping an eye on her.  She didn't have a fever so I thought maybe she was just having an off day.  About 10:30 pm, she barfed.  I thought "well maybe it's just the pain medicine I gave her that upset her stomach."  And then she barfed again and again and again until 8:00 a.m.  She's usually very stoic about being sick but this one hit her hard.  I would doze off only to be woken up by "MOM I NEED YOU I BARFED" many times. I should clarify, I'm happy to be there for her and I know these days won't last forever but boy did we both need some sleep when morning came.  Long story short, she had all of the symptoms of influenza or strep but she'd just had the flu shot and the strep test was negative and she slowly started to feel better.  So far, no one else in the house has caught it and we are hoping it stays that way. 

The day after Reina came home sick, Glenn had to endure one of those events that happens when you turn 50.  The big colonoscopy. I think it's safe to say that the days leading up to the test were harder on him than the actual procedure.  As someone who likes multiple fruits and veggies every day, being on a low fiber diet was tough.  The last 24-hours when he could only drink clear broth were even more brutal.  I knew he was hungry when he picked giant burgers for dinner the night after his colonoscopy.  He's happy to report that all of the tests came back normal and his dr (supposedly) told him that Glenn had the cleanest, most magnificent colon he'd ever seen. 

Yesterday, the weather took a turn and we started to get quite a bit of snow.  As I was driving home from work, I had a call from the school - this time with the automated news that classes were canceled for today.  There was much rejoicing from the younger members of the household who know get a 6-day break for Thanksgiving.  Just when I was wondering how I would juggle my work day and their extra day off, I received a text saying that State Offices were also closed.  I didn't necessary 'rejoice' but I was happy to not burn a vacation day.  Glenn was already sleep so he didn't find out the exciting news until 6 a.m. 

We had a fun snow day.  Glenn and I did some extra chores.  Reina played with a girl next door.  Will ventured outside for some fun in the snow and we all watched a movie.  It was a nice relaxing way to kick off this fun week. 

We built a Lego gingerbread house for Christmas decorations this year.  I mostly put it together but Will helped with the tricky parts.  At one point, I couldn't figure out where a piece was supposed to go and Will took a look at it and told me in a serious voice, "wow Mom, these really are big boy Legos." 

The snow out our front door this morning.  

The dogs' idea of a perfect snow day

Soxy's too 

Out big kid laying face down in a snow drift.  He wanted to jump off of that shed but Glenn put the kibosh on that before I even heard of the plans.  Phew.  

September and some sideways pictures

Everyone is in bed, except the author of this blog and several pets.  Tuesday nights are usually hectic but we kept everything organized tonight.  The Rockies won a game and I find myself with a few minutes to write about this crazy family.  September is moving a long.  We are in the full swing of dance and piano lessons. I'm taking piano lessons too so Reina and I practice together when we can.  She helps me read bass clef and I help her stay on track or at least not get up and check how much time she has left every five minutes.  Will has football practice after school every day and they had their first game last week.  He has two more games this week and he's playing offensive line and special teams.  Last week, he recovered an onside kick and I was thrilled he touched the ball.  Glenn is in pre-hunting mode (but really when is he not?) with a bunch of big hunts coming up this fall.  I'm busy at work and trying to finish up the gardening season before it snows. 

We are all plugging along.  School is going pretty well for both monsters.  Reina provides me with endless details about 5th grade and Will is typically circumspect about 7th grade.  If I can just be patient for two more years, Reina will tell me all I need to know.  Will is happy to share details about his day but he waits until 9:00 p.m. so that's fun.  Bedtime around here is like it was in the toddler years again, bursts of energy, requests for snacks, trips up and down the stairs 900 times with the added excitement of "You have to sign this permission slip" and "I don't have any clean socks for tomorrow."  

We are getting into a routine and in a few weeks, this will all be normal.  Until then, he are a few highlights of the new school year.  

Will is taking a tech ed class (home ec for us Gen X'ers) and the first segment is all about childcare.  Will had to fill out a questionnaire about his childhood and it made me giggle.  

We've had a rather warm September although the weather might finally be changing.  We thought Labor Day was a good time for outdoor dog baths.  Trigger didn't appreciate our multi-tasking.  

We interrupt this blog again for kid and dog sickness

Our Spring of Weirdness continues.  Last week, I took a half day off from work because Trigger pulled a muscle/slipped a disc if dogs do that/has something we still haven't discovered after two trips to the vet and was feeling very poorly so I stayed home to keep an eye on him. It worked out well because we had new windows being installed and workman finishing up in the kitchen and I could keep all of the pets corralled in the basement.  Trigger had us pretty worried for a few days but he seems to be feeling better and is getting back to his perky self.  

Tootsie the Nurse Dog doesn't just look after people.  

On the way back from the vet - snuggling the gear shift because he couldn't reach my lap. 

Our kitchen finished up on Wednesday and we are really enjoying the changes - pictures coming soon!  Thursday, everyone went to school and work and Glenn and the kids went to a hunter's safety class that night.  Reina felt a little warm when they left but I didn't take her temperature until they got home. It was almost 102.  Oops.  She slept fitfully, which means I slept fitfully.  She threw up once and then woke up about 4 a.m. and coughed and watched cartoons until the rest of us crawled out of bed. I stayed home with Reina on Friday.  We zipped to the doctor where she was thankfully diagnosed as NOT having influenza even though she had all of the symptoms.  We were sent home with instructions to buy lots of juice boxes and watch movies and get some rest. 

Rockin' the mask and cat pajamas.  

Doctors orders - naps and movies!  

 On Saturday, she felt a little better but was still feverish and a little droopy. I had to run a bunch of errands while Glenn and Will were at hunter's safety so Reina came along.  Letting her sit in the cart really cuts down on my overspending at Target because there's no room - who needs coupons?!

So there you go.  Another weekend in the books.  Another week closer to springtime when the warm weather will hopefully burn off the germs that keep infecting our house.  One week closer to Aunt Vicky being done with chemo.  One week closer to gardening time and green grass.  We have a blizzard warning for Wednesday, is it too early to be talking about gardening?  Stay tuned for snow pictures and stir crazy kids. 

Grown-up Cousin Visit!

Last weekend (how was it already a week ago!) we had a visit from our amazing Grown-up Cousin.  The baby and toddler cousins make many appearances on this page so it is with delight that we get to see Will and Reina's grown-up cousin Alena.  She graduated from college last spring and is headed to the Peace Corps in just a few weeks.  We were thrilled that she could squeeze in a trip to see her little cousins before she's heads off to awesome adventures.  And thanks to the government shutdown, Uncle Mark made the trip, too!  Yah for the government shutdown!  (Not really, the whole thing makes the Broncos Baby Mom angry but that's a story for another time.  Or a story for never because this is a FAMILY BLOG.)

What did we do with our Grown-up Cousin? What didn't we do?  We shopped, we jogged, we watched tv, we ate and ate and ate and ate.  She and Uncle Mark even helped babysit the little cousins so that we could celebrate Uncle Matt's birthday at a grown-up establishment.  Some of us showed Alena our prowess with video games.  Some of us choreographed complicated dance duets and had our hair braided.  Some of us thought about kidnapping her and keeping her in Wyoming - there's Peace Corps stuff to do here but didn't ultimately carry out a plan.  All of us had a great time and made some memories. 

We didn't take enough pictures and the visit was too short but everyone had to get back to work and school and international travel.  We are so glad that she came out to see us.  What a great start to 2019. 

Trying to get cousin pictures and the dogs couldn't stop getting in everybody's business. 

Will micro-managing the picture and hey that's Coco.  

Awwww... a little blurry but awwww.

Reina  and her fabulous braid and I snuck away to see The Sound of Music.  I bought the tickets months ago and almost forgot about it.  It was a great performance and all week Reina and I have been listening to different songs.  Her favorite?  Doe a Deer.  Mine?  Climb Every Mountain.  

A few weeks ago

I've had these photos sitting in my draft folder for a few weeks now and I have a bunch of new football photos to upload so the October theme of the blog is FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL and also Reina's Halloween costume. 

Will's last regular season game was a few Wednesday's ago, on one of the high school fields under the lights.  It was a lot of fun.  Will had a good game and the team won.  It was also cold enough to be an adventure but not so cold that it was painful. 

Will's out there somewhere. 

Post-game dancing.  

Listening to the last post-game speech from the coach.  Look how old that kid looks!  

Slow down time, just slow down a little bit.  

That weekend we also had our first snow of the season and it wasn't just a skiff.  It felt strange dusting off the snow shovels when I still had blooming flower pots but that's Wyoming for you.  

It was cold enough for all three pets to sorta snuggle up on the same bed for an extended period of time.  

So that was an earlier October weekend.  Since then, we've had a little bit more football, some hunting for Glenn, lots of work on Reina's Halloween project (to be unveiled soon) and a bunch of other stuff.  Party, party, party!

The Great Chicken Mystery of 2017-2018

I don't write about them much but the Pauley chicken girls are still racing around the backyard and providing us with a lot of company when we are out there.  They are pretty friendly and super food oriented so if you go out the backdoor and yell "come here my little chicken girls!" they come running.

Egg production hasn't been what we expected but we've chalked that up to a lot of different factors.  Over the summer two of the girls went broody - which is cute for a day or two until they stop laying and don't leave the next box and insist on laying on everyone else's eggs.  Luckily neither one was aggressive - I've read that some chickens will peck or attack anyone trying to make them leave the next.  My girls would complain and head back to the hen house as soon as they could, but no biting.

After they stopped being broody, egg production picked up a little bit until molting time.  The number of feathers floating around the backyard would briefly give me pause everyday until three live chickens came racing around the corner of the deck to see if I had brought any snacks home with me.  All three molted at different times but we stopped getting as many eggs each day and then the days got shorter as winter set in.  We don't have any artificial light for the chickens so egg production naturally drops off as winter sets in.

The last few months, as the days have been longer and the chicken girls are all healthy, we've gone weeks before we'll find a few eggs in the coop.  We blamed the cold, we gave the chickens pep talks, sometimes I resorted to strongly worded lectures (listen you slacker chicken girls!) and egg production has slightly increased over the last few weeks.  But we definitely haven't been getting eggs every day.  Sometimes there will be three eggs in there and then we'll go a few days with nothing.

Which brings us to today.  Glenn called me as on my way home and said something like "I might have figured out what's happening with the eggs but don't jump to any conclusions."  Today was cold and snowy but the snow wasn't sticking and the yard was a big muddy mess.  The chickens don't mind but we kept the dogs inside to cut down on the mess.  When Glenn got home, he let the dogs out, went to check for eggs and as he opened up the back of the coop, he was greeted by Trigger standing inside the hen house.

Huh.

"Don't jump to any conclusions?"  Yes, we should probably conclude that Trigger has been eating the eggs. 

Mystery solved?  Probably.  We tested it when I got home and with hardly any encouragement, Trigger can squeeze himself through the chicken sized door into the hen house.  Tootsie took a lot more convincing so I think she's off the hook.  Unless she's smart enough to not incriminate herself.  Looking back, every once in a while, I'd find a few tiny bits of egg shell in the nesting boxes and I'd worry that maybe the chickens were eating their own eggs (eww) but the few times that had happened before, it was a bigger mess and they wouldn't eat the whole thing.  I wondered if something small was getting into the hen house and stealing eggs but there aren't many animals out here that wouldn't just try to get the chickens. 

Furthermore, Trigger will eat just about anything.  In the past, we've caught him snacking on raw potatoes, onions and a banana that he pulled off the counter.  He can hear the sound of a chip dropping on to the kitchen floor from rooms away and he also tries to steal the scraps I bring out for the chickens.  Once he gorged on the cat food bag that he found in the garage and then barfed it up all over our bed.  That was a fun day.  AND, his coat has never looked more luxurious.  Or maybe that's only if he's been bathing in eggs, I don't know.

AND we keep finding little bits of wood shavings from the coop inside the house.  This has been happening for a while.  We'd just say man that stuff gets everywhere ha ha ha and never wonder why are the wood shavings from inside the coop INSIDE THE HOUSE and stuck in Trigger's coat?  Huh. 

Bottom line, it's a good thing that Glenn and I don't run a detective shop.  We can solve mysteries but it takes a while and it's helpful if the evidence just sort of presents itself, by standing in the hen house waiting for you to feed it an egg.   To borrow a line from one of my favorite episodes of Law & Order (where clearly I learned NOTHING about detecting, evidence, putting two and two together, etc.) "Girl you are as dumb as a sack of hair."

Kids, if you are reading this, Dad and I are going to brush up on our detective skills by the time you are teenagers.  We'd better get cracking. 

Who me?  It's not dog shaming if said dog as no conscience.  

Housebound

I had foot surgery last week. This is probably a good time to remind the Pauley kids that a Morton's Neuroma is probably in their future - it's a hereditary thing and so far Pop-pop, great aunt, aunt and mom have all had it removed.  As far as surgeries go, it hasn't been too bad, just a lot of couch time and staying off of your feet. I've had some sweet nurses taking care of me.  Reina offers to help me up the stairs.  Will brings me sprite a lot, which is so sweet and not at all because he wants to open up the bottle and get a few sips for himself.  Glenn brought me chocolate.  Vicky has brought me snacks and much needed company and entertainment from toddler cousins.  Friends and co-workers have stopped by which has helped break the monotony of lying on the couch for days.  

Coco has been more snuggly than I expected.  Each night I wake up to find her curled up close.  Is she being sweet or just waiting to see if I expire and she can assume her rightful throne?  

Coco has also helped me knit.  Glenn had to grab her as she made a dash for the stairs with that giant ball of yarn in her mouth.  

T & T have been sofa companions and I think they are happiest that I'm home for another day.  It's much more comfortable to watch the neighborhood from the warm living room instead of the cold backyard.  

My view. Thank goodness for George Clooney movies to pass the time.