6-1-12 Friday (Moody Elephants)

Thursday:

Jim and I had doctor’s appointments today.  It was time for a physical.  Jim, however, “forgot” to fast.  The doctor did everything else except for the blood and urine test.  He’ll have to go back in for that.  It’s really been a long time since I’ve went in for a physical.  Blood/urine lab tests, “how is everything”, say “ah”, looked in my ears, listened to my heart/lungs, took my weight, blood pressure and height.    He also felt glands in my neck.  Lab results should come back by Monday.

For lunch we went to Cheddar’s.  We’ve been there many times before.  Their food is good and their prices very fair.

I brought Dasher back to the vet.  Dasher managed to remove the stitches on his leg.  The vet said he can’t do anything else with the cone so we’ll have to watch him.  His penis and leg incision is getting infected so he prescribed a antibiotic and I have to clean the wounds twice a day.  Ugh.

Jim worked on a laundry room cabinet project.  

Above: He built and installed 2 cabinets from Ikea (left side). 

Above: Left side is litter (shown with a door open), and right side is cat food.  The cat enters where that laundry basket temporarily is (Jim will install a shelf), jumps up on the shelf and goes through the round holes on the left for litter and the right for food.  This keeps the dog out of the cat’s food and poop.

I finished up the curtains/sheers for the dining room.  What do ya think?

Dinner was fantastic!  We went to the Cajun Queen with a Groupon in hand.  I looked at the menu prior to going and thought it was pretty limited.  Jim and I both got the Chicken Diane. 

Mushrooms, garlic, butter, green onions, parsley and our Queen's Magic spices - all sautéed together. Moderately spiced and served over rice.

Jim ordered his mild and I got mine regular.  The chicken was so tender and overall it was so flavorful.  We sat up on the roof top terrace where it was nice and quiet, not windy and the temperature seemed perfect. 

This definitely made up for our week of lack luster meals.  Awesome!

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Friday:

Wow.  Vacation is almost over. 

Jim hung the hardware needed to hang the new drapes for the guest bedroom too.  He gave them to me to wash and iron:

I’ll show you the finished product later.

For lunch we went to Kennedy’s Premium Bar & Grill with another discount certificate.  I had the fish and chips and Jim had the Rueben.  We’d go back.  The food was good.

Next up, a Half Off Depot certificate for a Segway tour with Charlotte NC Tours.  We thought we were going to have issues with them since Jim had trouble scheduling.  They told Jim they’d only do a few coupons during every tour and the day we initially picked was at it’s maximum.     Jim was going to get our money back from Half Off Depot. The restrictions they placed on the coupon wasn’t agreed upon in the coupon’s term and conditions.  Jim accepted the alternate day. 

Part of the tour took us through the Elmwood/Pinewood Cemetery.  We’ve been here before on a prior tour.  One of the highlights was this grave site belonging to a circus performer.  He was an elephant trainer in town for the traveling circus.  His elephant killed him.  You can read about it here if you want.

After the tour, we popped over to Mert’s Heart and Soul for some Sweet Potato Cake.  We’ve been here plenty of times.  Their service absolutely sucks so we’ll only go for the cake anymore.  It was sooooo good.  Yum!

For this evenings entertainment, with coupon in hand (need I even say that part anymore?) we went to the ConCarolinas.  It’s a Sci-Fi Convention.  We’re not typical convention goers so we tend to get bored during some of it or often don’t even understand it.  We went to a Walking Dead panel discussion.  That was fun.  The last one we went to had 2 actors from the show.  This one also had one.  Amber Chaney who played Hershel's wife as a Walker.  While researching her for the blog I also see she had a part in the Hunger Games.  You can click on her name if you want more info.

Above: Amber Chaney

We also saw a show by the Blibbering Humdingers.  They were a lot of fun. 

The Blibbering Humdingers (aka "the Dingers" or "the Humdingers" "the BH") are a husband/wife wizard rock duo from Cary, NC. They play mostly comedic songs about Harry Potter and the wizarding world created by J. K. Rowling.

Hilarious music.

A very late dinner at Sticky Fingers and then home to bed.

5-30-12 Wednesday (Unicorn Abuse By Dental Professionals)

Monday:

Happy anniversary to me and Jim.  13 years!  We celebrated with brunch at Mimi’s.  Ya know, Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s.  Mmmmm.  We then went shoe shopping.  I needed new sneakers, and shoes for work.  Mine were worn, tired and hurt my feet.  We stopped at 3 different shoe stores and between the 2 of us managed to buy 9 pairs of shoes.  8 of them were “buy one, get half off another” except for the $20 pair of shoes I just had to have because they are “fun”.

Dasher continues to acclimate himself to the torturous Cone of Misery.  His pain pills make him drink a lot and pee a lot.  He’s had 4 “accidents” since being home from the hospital.  He’s been so good about not peeing in the house until now.  Yesterday he peed right in front of us in the office.  He was trying to get my attention but I just thought he wanted a treat or something.  I went downstairs with him, gave him a treat which he didn’t eat.  At that point I just thought he wanted attention.   I pet him, talked to him and shortly after he peed.  We were stunned; I mildly scolded him.  I certainly didn’t want him to think it was OK. 

Above: One of the four incisions.

Beth had us over for dinner/BBQ.  Tasty burgers, tasty salads.  What more could we want?

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Tuesday:

Lunch at Olive Garden.  Yes, we’re eating out a lot.  We’re on vacation.  We had the soup/salad/breadsticks combo.  Mmmmmm.  Most of the day we spent shopping.  Bed Bath and Beyond, Garden Ridge and Kirkland’s.  We’re looking for a centerpiece for the dining table.  Also rods for the drapery panels we bought.  So much stuff.

Dinner at Dressler’s with a Half Off Depot.    If you’ve been paying attention, you’d know that I’ve not mentioned this site before.  It’s similar to Groupon, Living Social, etc.

For a Memorial Day special, it was another 28% off that.  So, for the mathematical challenged – that’s $14.40 for $50 worth of food.

Above: Appetizer

Above: Jim’s.  He opted out of the “blackened”.

Above: Mine.

It cost a lot of money and wasn’t really worth it.  It was all “just OK”.  The food didn’t wow us.  The ambiance was great.  The dining room was elegant, and the views of Uptown Charlotte were nice.  We walked around the area afterwards.

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Wednesday:

I had a dentist appointment for a temporary crown and then a cleaning.

Above/Below: I got to wear cool shades to, as the doctor said, protect me from Paparazzi.  It worked.  No one bothered me for an autograph.

Below: My doctor and friend, Dr. David goes to work crafting my temporary crown.  The light from his headband spot light created a cool photo.  He said, “It's shiny because it's made from spun gold and ground unicorn horn...”  I put a call into PETA to report him for unicorn abuse.  I was on hold a very long time and eventually gave up.

After lunch I met up with Jim at a Salvation Army in Huntersville.  What a huge, neat place.  Wednesdays is half off day.  For $31 we got a huge bag of clothes.  The sign at the entry way was amusing to me:

Jim said maybe the “k” is supposed to be like that?  Coincidence?

For lunch we went to a place called Harvey’s off of a Groupon.  They weren’t open yet so we went to Lupie’s Café instead.  Lupie’s wasn’t all that great.  My burger was severely over-cooked and the tomato slice on the bun was sadly thicker than the burger patty itself.  Jim and I both had the mac and cheese that they said was homemade and delicious.  Well, homemade doesn’t mean delicious.  It was bland. 

Next up was a Swedish massage at Zen Massage.  Yes, another Groupon.  It was so relaxing.  I almost dozed off a few times.

For dessert we went to TGI Friday’s. 

Jim worked on hanging some curtain rods up.  Here’s the sheers we got for the dining room.  The colors are totally what we’ve got going on.  We got the panels on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I take a shot of the dining room after the sheers have been washed and pressed.

We later went back to Harvey’s for dinner.  This time it was Jim’s chance to get an overcooked burger and I had a croissant club sandwich. 

5-26-12 Saturday (Castles And Evil Queens)

Saturday, our first day of our staycation, vacation.  We shopped here and there.  We ate lunch on a Groupon at The Original Italian Pie.  We’ve been there once before.  We liked the food but hated the ambiance.  This time, being 11ish on a Saturday, we were the only patrons and it was nice and quiet.

We decided to head over near Carowinds to around Plaza Fiesta, an indoor, dying, Latino fleamarketish mall.  We hadn’t been there in a long time.  Over 2 years ago.  Truth be known, we went there for a tasty Churro. 

Ummmmmm is that a sweat shop?

Let’s look closer…  The children must be on break…

We drove around, stopping at various Goodwills.  On the way to the Carolina Place Mall, we spotted a castle.  The GPS had taken us up all these back roads.  We explored the area.  Jim thought since we were in Fort Mill that it might be the old Heritage USA site.  You know, that whole PTL campus thing that was HUGE.  I took some photos, we walked around a little. 

Above/Below: King’s Castle.  I think it was an arcade and go-kart building.

Below: A 501 room hotel tower that was never completed.

On Sunday Jim and I researched a lot of this online.  We found articles, youtube videos and such.  Very interesting.  What a waste.  The video below is shortly after it closed in 1989.  I can tell you that during Saturday’s visit, it all looked very different.  The water park is gone, filled in with dirt.  Many buildings are still there but closed off.

Another link to the Heritage USA backstory.

For dinner we went to Zada Jane’s (with a Groupon of course) and then to the cheap seats movie theater to see Mirror, Mirror.  We liked it.  It’s a great adaptation of Snow White.  I’ll also be looking forward to Snow White and the Huntsman.

All and all we were up till 1 which is odd for us.

5-25-12 Friday (Growth Spurts)

For quite some time Dasher has had 4 growths here and there.  Vets have always said to leave them alone anytime we inquired.  Poor guy, one on his chest, on his penis, right at his asshole, and the last on his leg.  The one at his butt has grown over the years.  I’d say 4 or so different vest have checked out these “moles” and said not to worry about them. I spared you by not providing photos.

Thursday night I noticed some blood on one of Dasher’s pet beds.  I checked him out and found the actually the one on his chest seemed to have quadrupled in size virtually over night and was bleeding.  I (Jim was working a little late) took him to the Petsmart’s Banfield.  The doctor checked all 4 and said they should all be removed and sent out to the lab for diagnosis.  He was in serious need of a teeth cleaning and that the $400 to clean his teeth included the anesthesia and then he’d remove the growths.  He told me I should buy the Wellness Plan because it included a cleaning, discounts, vaccinations, etc.  I did the math and found it to be a good deal in my situation.  The plan will cost me $430 in payments for a year.  I agree and still get a bill for $500.  Huh?  The $400 he “quoted” didn’t include the cost per growth removal, the biopsy lab work, the pain pills, the collar, etc.  I was a little disappointed in the new estimate but after looking over the breakdown of the estimate, I was still content that the Wellness Plan was a benefit.  I signed on the dotted line and left Dasher behind for the night.

I got to thinking about the various vet opinions and perhaps the moles would still be fine if the one hadn’t gotten so big, gotten scratched or whatever and started to bleed.  I’d like to believe that my pet’s healthcare has been in good hands over the years.  They are professionals.

More thoughts came to mind.  My aunt lost a dog to anesthesia years ago.  It could happen.  If Dasher didn’t make it, Jim never got to say goodbye.  Did I make the right decision?

After work on Friday, I picked him up.  The operation was a success.  Even though I totally neglected his dental care, he had no teeth removed.  Care instructions: pills, soft food for a day or 2, collar/cone on for 10 days, return visit in 10 days for inspection of sutures.  We’re on vacation this week so the timing is good.

Poor Dasher was so groggy.  He was so sad.  The fur under his eyes was wet in lines where tears would have flowed.  I felt so sad.  I wanted to hold him but stitches on his chest made that impossible to do.  His surgical collar seemed to hit every doorway.  He couldn’t jump up into the Jeep or on the couch or bed because the collar got in the way.  He eventually got used to it by day 2.

His first night was kind of rough.  He seemed constipated.  He tried several times to go.  He got out of bed several times in the middle of the night.  I let him out at 1, 2, 3 in the morning.  He whimpered here and there. 

Saturday he did much better.  He seemed happier.  We now call him “cone head”, “cone of shame”, “funnel face”, etc

5-22-12 Tuesday (Birthday Celebrations)

On Monday, Jim used a Groupon for a massage.  On Wednesday I redeemed mine for a massage.  Heavenly.

Thursday we left work a little early, packed up the car and drove to Atlanta for the weekend.  Jim’s nephew was celebrating his 1st birthday.  Jim’s mom and stepdad flew in from Florida for the occasion.  It was a great time.  Very relaxing.  Our nephew is so well behaved and so darn cute.  What a personality this kid has. 

We didn’t have much of an internet connection there so at best I played Words with Friends.  I honestly didn’t miss the internet access as I thought I would.  It was a relaxing weekend of socializing.  We did get to the Georgia Aquarium where we caught a dolphin show.

Saturday evening it was gift opening time!

Sunday morning we departed Atlanta and stopped in Augusta to check out a campground where we’re thinking about spending weekend getaways.  I know, last we were going to sell the RV.  We can’t make up our minds.  We’re like that you know.

Jim was out sick Monday with, let’s just say, tummy problems and leave it at that.  He went to the doctor and is on the road to recovery.

Sometime Monday afternoon, my throat became sore while at work.  I had that “oh shit” moment.  I got home, took some meds. 

Tuesday morning, Jim was back at work.  I felt disconnected from my body; I could barely feel my legs.  I felt zombie-ish.  I took some Day Quill and went to work.  By mid morning I felt pretty damn good.  I hoping to continue that feeling.

This upcoming week will be our staycation.  We’ll probably see a movie, get another massage, shop, do some projects around the house, etc.