I was taking a shower on May 26th,
2011 when I cut my leg while shaving. That tiny cut triggered a non-contagious,
incurable, autoimmune disease called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. I could
barely walk for the first six months. I maxed out on walking or standing after
15 minutes if I was lucky. For six months I didn’t know if I’d ever get my
energy back or be able to walk any length of time. I had to drop out of college
because I couldn’t keep up with the workload.
After much perseverance and some
exercise classes at the senior center I was able to run a 5k without triggering
a flare (a flare is when symptoms ‘flare up’). Since then, things have been
looking up and my lupus is even in remission. What hasn’t changed are my Lupus
symptoms. I still get fatigue, and I still get a rash when I go out in the sun.
I also have added another health problem to my list: Endometriosis. Soon I
shall have surgery to officially diagnose and treat what’s going on in my
reproductive organs, and I can’t wait.
My health history is part of the
reason why Nessie and I have such a great bond. She’s missing a leg, and I am
not like your average 20-something year old. I am inspired to keep pushing
myself when I see Nessie doing things I never thought physically capable for a
three-legged dog. She runs faster than Princess. Her back leg is strong enough
that she can jump onto the bed, although sometimes she doesn’t quite make it
and falls off.
Nessie is a caring dog, too. There
have been a few occasions where I have been sick or in pain and she has stayed
with me and kept an eye on me. She has watched over me when I’m curled up in
pain and crying out. She cuddles next to me when I’m too tired to move. And
when I was throwing up the day after my birthday she placed her paw on my
shoulder while I clung to the porcelain thrown.
We made it official on the 10th of this month. I had gotten some birthday money, had some left over from my trip to Beverly Hills, and I took all our cans and plastic bottles to the recycling center. I managed to scrounge up $130. All I needed was $20 to have enough for the adoption fees. My husband gave me his plastic money and sent me off to make Nessie a member of our family. And now she is.
We had a lovely evening at the park. Princess and Nessie played some canine football. Princess would grab a pinecone and run around while Nessie chased her and eventually bowl her over. And then they would start again. My husband and I spent most of the evening laughing at their antics until we thought they were sufficiently worn out. Then we went home and devoured the pot roast I made. Except the dogs, they just got normal dinner.
I've been sick for the past few days, and let's just say I never handle sickness well. Some of the casualties of this heinous cold are my dogs. I haven't taken them on a walk since I got sick so I decided to take them to the dog park and let them wear themselves out. I figured they'd forgive me for being a bad dog parent after taking them to the canine equivalent of Disneyland.
Even though it was about two hours from sunset, I could feel the heat from the sun on my face. There was barely a breeze. The atmosphere at the dog park felt like listening to 311's song "Amber". Well, if you like the song, that is.
I brought my camera thinking the lighting would make some great shots of the dogs. But they were absolutely boring in terms of photography. They just wanted to sniff things instead of run around. They also were
Princess loved to tease the barking quartet
distracted by very loud, barking dogs on the other side of the fence. After the barking quartet left, I asked Princess to do something interesting. She definitely did something interesting... just not at the dog park.
Just standing around, sniffing scents.
We drive home, the dogs just as energized as when we left, and then I started cooking dinner. Nothing fancy. Pasta sauce from a can. Pasta from a box. I made it a bit more interesting by cooking some peas and putting them in my pasta. It's very delicious if you like peas.
My husband and I sit down to eat and watch an episode of "Bones". I'm not a fan of watching "Bones" while we eat because rotting corpses ruin my appetite, but it's the only show my husband and I both like. After dinner he disappears into his mancave to play this weird game called Rust or something. It's a weird game and I still haven't figured out why he finds it interesting. So far he's gotten wood from a tree by hitting it with a rock and killed a bear that doesn't make turns very well. I don't get it. Anyways...
He's playing "Rust" and I'm about to work on a new blog post when I hear Princess counter-surfing. Counter surfing is where a dog reaches onto a counter so they can sneak something yummy to eat while you aren't looking. I yell "Off" but I can tell she ignored me because the next thing I hear is glass landing on the kitchen floor.
"Sh*t!"
I run to the kitchen expecting to see Princess standing in a sea of glass with blood squirting from her paws. Thank god that wasn't how it turned out. Instead, pasta sauce is EVERYWHERE. Luckily, the glass bowl didn't shatter, but Princess was face deep in the bowl filling her little tummy with tomato-basil pasta sauce.
"Out!" I yell as I pick up the glass bowl and start wiping up the mess all over the floor.
Of course she only listens for 5 seconds before coming back to try to help me clean the floors. I scoop her up and stomp into my husband's mancave.
"Your dog knocked your bowl off of the counter and spilled pasta sauce EVERYWHERE. You get to watch her."
I was livid.
My husband kicks the dog outside and helps me clean up. That's when he points out the ceiling.
"Oh my god, how did she manage that?!" I yell/laugh. There's a point in all anger where things get so bad they just become hilarious.
Yes, that is pasta sauce all over the ceiling.
She not only managed to get pasta sauce all over the ceiling, but she managed to get it inside the air vent. My husband and I spent a half hour standing on a stool trying to clean it out with Q-Tips. Eventually we gave up. We couldn't get the vent off because it's sealed the the ceiling with paint. Great. And it wasn't just on the ceiling, though I neglected to take pictures of the rest of it. Princess managed to get it on the carpet in the room outside the kitchen, all over the counters, on the cabinets on top and bottom of both sides of the kitchen, and all over the floor.
Princess, this wasn't what I meant by "do something interesting".
I had a lot of fun on my birthday. The first half was a bit boring- my husband had to work. But I did get in a nice 2 hour bubble bath after I kicked the dogs outside. I played spa music on Pandora and used the voice control feature on my Surface to read an English translation of the Buddhacarita. It was the most relaxing thing I've done in months.
The Birthday Fun Stuff
After my hubby got home we went to one of his work friend's house and waited for everyone else to arrive. This part was very strange for me for a couple of reasons.
This get-together had nothing to do with my birthday. We just showed up with my birthday cake.
I didn't know anyone. My husband has the good habit of keeping work stuff at work and private life private. This means that I hadn't ever met any of these people before because they all work with the hubs. So I was spending my birthday with about 10 people I didn't know. Awkward...
The hubs didn't really tell me what we were doing. I just got to find out as we went along.
Luckily for my husband it ended well and I had a great time. We first stopped at a Korean BBQ place where you BBQ your own food. Then after a couple of hours we went to a bikini bar where I got a lap dance from a very talented stripper.
The entire time a variety of alcoholic drinks were flowing and I broke the universal law of alcohol: Beer before liquor never sicker.
When we finally got home I ran straight to the toilet. Eventually I was able to go to bed and I woke up in close to the same state I fell asleep in. For most of the day I stayed close to the porcelain bowl where Princess and Nessie kept me company. Especially Nessie. I'm sure if I had let her, she would have placed her paw on my shoulder and held my hair back. It was the nicest thing a dog has ever done for me.
So all that maturity stuff I said on my birthday sure seems like nonsense now. Especially since I still feel very, very lousy. Hope you had a good weekend!
Usually on your birthday you feel a little bit older and a little bit wiser, or so I've found. But this year I feel young and not so wise. Maybe it's a sign of maturity. But probably not. I would totally have a plastic sword fight if given the chance.
As another sign of my immaturity, you should see what my husband got me for my birthday.
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That's right You are looking at a giant stuffed hippo. And a box of chocolates. Could a girl get a better present? I doubt it. Now I just hope Princess doesn't think my hippo is a toy.
I've been given quite a few hippos and I've named them all. What should I name my new hippo?
