Baby Baths and a Bucket Woman...by Lisa Harmon

Kenai and his blankie games 22 mo

Kenai is enjoying his morning play times, pretending to be Linus with his blankie. He’s been dragging it along while batting around a tennis ball all week, silly guy. And we’ve had a glut of cardboard boxes for him to tear up, which has made his boy heart happy. With his continuing die in the rears, he isn’t getting bones, and he isn’t getting training treats. I fudged once and felt so bad for the boy when it was potty time. Our play times are foodless, boneless affairs for awhile. Hence, the cardboard boxes and play-as-reward training spells. He stares up at the top of the tv where his bestest bones sit and wait for him. Oh the pitiful…so he’s got tennis ball times, and Linus blankies, and horsing around in the dirty laundry to keep him entertained. I may have to abandon the laundry games, after finding toothie holes. Now that the weather is changing to fall, the furnace has replaced the AC, and ’tis the time of the dry skin dander fest. Some people have beer fests, dog owners have dander fests. So I’ve pulled out the Head and Shoulders shampoo/conditioner. It works very well for dander, as well as pretty much any itchy skin problem in dogs–folliculitis, fungal infections, yeast overgrowths etc. As the boys hate all out lather and rinse bucket baths, I’ve developed a “baby bath” routine for them–a shampoo wetted rag rubbed on every boy part. H&S doesn’t really have to be rinsed off like other shampoos and soaps. In fact, leaving a bit of the sudsy treats the skin (it has zinc in it) The rag gets rinsed and relathered, rather than the fussy babies, when it’s baby bath time. BB actually thinks it’s great, like some funny smelling massage. Kenai? He puts up with it. When they get really messy, mud from stem to stern, then they have to endure the bucket woman. I get the donkey ears and droopy faces for a “real” bath, and despite how funny it is, I try to take pity on them. The rag gets them clean most of the time, to their relative satisfaction. Nevermind Kenai’s “I smell like a girl” reaction… Thursday I hit the Sam’s club, discovering I could buy an 80 lb case of ground beef for just $1.54/lb rather than the family packs at the grocery for $1.99/lb When I get some grocery money, I’ll go back for veggies and non-perishables. We don’t have tons of pantry space, but we do have 2 chest freezers in the garage, so there’s plenty of room for things that can be frozen. The case of meat should last a couple weeks, so I don’t have to go to the store every few days. The store runs were wearing me slick. Getting around’s getting harder for me, durn it. To combat the worsening issues, I’ve started a cortisol controlling supplement. It lessens my body’s overreactions to stress and strain. Sometimes it can feel like your body hijacks you, doing what it wants and taking you along for the ride! That’s just part of the fibromyalgia–the pituitary/hypothalmus/adrenal glands go haywire and these endocrine system problems affect every system in the body, from metabolism to anxiety. The fibro flares set off the autoimmune diseases, then the opportunistic illnesses like chronic Lyme start up when the immune system goes wonky. It’s a chain reaction, and getting better means you have to climb up each link in the chain again, hand over hand. Claw over claw is more accurate. It can be done, but promise ya it takes longer to feel better than it does to go down. This downturn has been 18 months long and counting.    BB’s had a rough week, but his playful personality is irrepressible. Beebs is bumping and wiggling and grinning all the same, die in the rears notwithstanding. I almost got them these huge stuffed animals at Sam’s, and may yet go back. They’re big as the boys–can you imagine the flinging?!   I was looking forward to Friday’s training time. It’s sort of like a surprise package–I never know what we’re going to work on, or even sure which of the Brothers Grin will have their “time in the sun” until its time to go. They both love “playin with Lisa” time, no clue that they’re actually training. We’ve had some 10″ of rain so the training session had to be cancelled. It’s rained so hard that even if it had rained cats and dogs, the boys wouldn’t be asking to go out! They zoom out, pee under the nearest tree, and zip back in for their dry off games. It’s the only time they don’t dawdle outside! Boy I can really tell the seasons are changed–I’m thinking about apple crisp, and added cinnamon and cloves to today’s pinapple upside down cake. Hot chocolate is replacing milkshakes in my don’t-I-wish list, and hot tea is taking over from iced tea. The fluffy sweaters and layering clothes are out, and the thermostat’s being turned down (gradually, mind you). I love cooler weather, and so do the boys. 45-65 degrees is the ideal temperature span, brisk enough to invigorate, and warm enough not to make puppy slobber-cicles freezing on fences! I was disappointed for them that we didn’t have our weeking training, but there’s always next week. And with any luck the AT&T truck will go away–everytime I see them at the end of the road, I know I’m in for a frustrating time trying to get online. I have to connect and disconnect until getting 24 kb/second or better, just to get explorer to open. Urg!