Hello readers,
You know how much I love dogs. Well, I have started a new blog about them. Actually not any old dogs. It’s about dogs you know. It’s about Pippa and Henry, dogs you know well. It’s going to be a challenge because I’m going to try to post every day using the Daily Prompts as inspiration.
So, it’s Erin Tharp, signing off, at least for now.
I almost forgot! The new blog is ThePoochPlaceblog.wordpress.com. I can’t wait to see you there!
For health reasons, starting maybe six weeks ago, I am now on a gluten-free diet. Actually it’s for health-ish (what a tongue twister) reasons. Starting next month I am enrolled in a trial for a new physical therapy technique. Don’t ask me to give you the science, but it has to do with inflammation in the brain blocking blood flow.
Good news: I don’t understand it, but I have had a few treatments before the actual trial started. It really works!
Now to the diet. It has been an adjustment. Every one of my favorite foods contains gluten! Luckily, Sarah’s boyfriend’s mom is gluten free so Sarah gave me some tips and a list of foods his mom eats. Plus, with gluten-free being so popular, Sprouts and Trader Joe’s have lots of choices.
As I said, just the couple treatments in and I’ve already felt this new therapy work. Nothing huge—I’m not walking or talking—but I am more comfortable. If this continues, I can do without wheat.
I had gluten-free brownies at lunch today that were simply delicious! Who knew?
I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the Tharp household: Henry!
My son is an eight-and-a-half-week-old Jack Russell, and the sweetest puppy imaginable.
He is still too small to get up on my bed (if he fell it would be a Henry pancake!) but you would think he had epilepsy the way he clamors to reach me when my parents come into my room.
Henry does tons of sleeping. Actually I’m looking at him right now, and he’s out. Anyone with kids, be it human or canine, knows how dangerous a baby sleeping in the daytime can be.
It’s gonna be a long night.
Mom is on her Peloton bike as I write this. She said it’s to burn off some nervous energy.
Sarah is at a pre-game gathering at a bar before the game. She said Adam Morrison just led everyone in a cheer. Her principal actually gave her the day off.
I think Dad was ordering a shirt.
Confused yet? We are a Gonzaga family. They play for the championship tonight.
Sarah graduated from there in 2009. At graduation, besides being freezing (Gonzaga is in Spokane), it felt like such a close-knit campus. Almost quaint.
The school is probably best known for their basketball team. But this is the furthest they have ever been champion-ship wise and the announcers on Saturday (a game in which Dad and Sarah were at, as an early birthday present for Dad) said they expect Gonzaga to take it all. Wouldn’t Mom and Dad be in such good moods if that happened? I can only hope.
Mom asked if I was going to watch. I’m not really a sports person, but I suppose so.
Go Zags!
As soon as Dad got back from the vet, any mementos of Maggie were put away. For now… Things like her bed, made by Serta. Yes, Serta. It was made for arthritic dogs, with memory foam and a short step up.
Her bed was next to the head of mine. That’s why I needed my white noise machine. If she were human, Maggie would definitely have needed a C-PAP machine! But last night: Silence.
It was almost eerie. I kept thinking I saw the shadow of something stocky. And I could swear I heard snoring.
It’s funny how your mind plays tricks on you. I had accepted the fact that my daughter was gone, but I guess my heart hadn’t.
Here is a post from “Pizza and Peonies,” my sister’s blog. I’d like to introduce you to the extremely goofy/quirky/sweet/devilish Maggie. Actually, there are tons more adjectives depending, on who you ask. Not all post appropriate!!
Sometimes, being disabled, at least being in a wheelchair, is almost like an E-ticket ride. Taking walks with Pippa (Maggie has gotten too old), it’s a good thing that my chair is sturdy. The maintenance of the sidewalks in Corona is almost nonexistent. In their defense, we have lots of old trees with massive roots that tear up the sidewalk.
We have taken several vacations that make those tree roots look like child’s play. When we visited Sarah in Arizona three or four years ago, we went to Sedona. As I “bumped” (the word “bump” is putting it mildly) along, my wheelchair tipped from one side to the other. I almost toppled on numerous occasions. I was having so much fun. Sarah was in tears.
Not our actual trail, but close!
On a trip to Hawaii, my dad rented one of those beach wheelchairs. You know the ones: they’re plastic and have huge tires. There was a tag distinctly saying that the chair should only be used in six inches of water. Come on, what wave in Hawaii is six inches tall? This time, it was my grandma crying as she watched from the beach. As she begged my Dad to go no deeper, a massive wave immersed me again. It was the time of my life.
Not actually me. I was about another ten yards out.
I guess I have always been a daredevil. Before I got sick I wanted to ride the Stratosphere, that roller coaster probably 300 feet in the air. I guess I really would have risked my life either way. If I didn’t die on the roller coaster, Mom would have taken care of it.
I ordered something from Amazon on Monday. Because I have Prime, some of the order was here Tuesday, and the rest arrived this morning. What was ordered is quite boring (a few board games), but it was the box it came in that intrigued me. A white box with the words #LoveIn3Words. That was perfect post inspiration!
Family
Understanding, patient, giving
Sarcastic, hilarious, belly-laugh inducing
Generous, kind, loving
As you can see, I couldn’t narrow it down to just three words so I settled for three lines.
I don’t know what I’d do without my family. Actually, I probably wouldn’t be here! I hate the expression, but they are my rock. I might not always show it, but I appreciate every measly task they do for me. It’s not much, but a huge THANK YOU!
The word “heard” did nothing for me. Because of that, I went to myriumwebster.com, expecting to use their word of the day. But something caught my eye. It was an article on how the dictionary needs to be constantly changed (I know I’m a nerd when things like that fascinate me).
It said more than a thousand words have been added, in all categories. Sports to science. Slang to music.
Some 2017 editions include urgent care, air-ball, and Epi-pen. In slang, you have whack, boo-hoo, and yowzah. I see that spell check hasn’t caught up!
I wonder what people 50 years ago (heck, 10 years ago!) would have thought about not just recent dictionary additions but our language today in general.
This post was another post about nothing, but what words would you add?
Pansies. They are smiling. Just like when I see the color yellow.
I told you that I’m extremely quirky. Add random, too. I looked at the songs in my iPod today (I usually just put it on shuffle and don’t pay attention). The poor thing probably thinks I have multiple personalities! To make the point, I will choose ten songs at random.
See what I said about random? I have no idea how the Genius in iTunes does it, and I’m afraid to see what it would choose for me. I would have thrown in the towel long ago!
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