Lily had her second dose of chemo today, and so far is showing no adverse side effects, is happy and energetic (as energetic as a lap dog who has spent the last 7 years under the covers of my bed gets, at any rate), and appears to be doing well.
I’ve been trying to play the new Pillars of Eternity, but I have been busy with other stuff and my office is too damned hot to stay in it for too long. It was 84 today, and even though the majority of my house is pretty cool, with the computer running in there, it gets and stays pretty hot. I’m too cheap and it is just too wasteful to run the central air for just one room, and I have not installed the wall unit for my office yet. It’s going in tomorrow.
Steve goes to the groomer tomorrow, too. I also need to pick up some mulch for the beds, but I want to check which places have it the cheapest so that is what I am checking right now. That’s about all that is going on here. What are you all up to?
*** Update ***
“We apologize for interrupting your gaming but we are here about some very urgent business regarding snacks.”
NotMax
Conserving energy in anticipation of Thursday’s monthly bill paying and grocery shopping expedition to town
Jackie
Lily looks great!!!
And, keep in mind, cheapest isn’t always best quality – especially regarding mulch. Especially if it involves manure under windows ?
Major Major Major Major
John, it turned her into a horror movie poster
Yarrow
Lily looks strong and like she has a superpower. Love that photo of her. Glad she’s doing great.
@Jackie: Completely agree. Mulch has a purpose besides just helping beds conserve water. It puts beneficial fungi into the soil. Poor quality mulch may still need to break down and doesn’t help your soil quality nearly as much.
I don’t know about WV, but many states have zero laws or regulations governing compost and mulch. Anything and everything can go into it. Substances and things that are outlawed for use elsewhere around humans and animals can go into mulch–banned dyes, treated woods, chemicals of any sort. All allowed in mulch. They don’t degrade so you and your pets can get them all over you and track them back into your house. Talk to your mulch provider and find out how they make or where they get their mulch.
TaMara (HFG)
Bixby update: two hours with the vet (love him), 5 bottles of meds, two injections and I think we are out of the woods. I will only rest easy when we get good blood test results tomorrow morning. Looks like, for whatever reason (gee, 3 months of pure grief/stress maybe) he has a severe bacterial infection in his small intestine. Vet says stress can totally (especially in these big guys) along with a physical trigger, create this situation. He’s already looking and feeling better.
I honestly haven’t slept through the night since Friday – I am just a little touchy with the pets right now – and I’ve snapped at about everyone within shouting distance. So hopefully, like Bixby, I’m through the worst of it, too.
Let’s see – in two weeks I’ve had to have a bone graft in my jaw, the big guy decided to freak me out..oh, yeah and the orange menace is trying to start ww3. If we could just make it to the weekend without another crisis, that’d be nice. kthnx
ETA: I am SO grateful Lily is doing well, because her getting sick in the midst of all this was about to send me over the edge. Stay strong Lily-bell. We love you.
ETA2: Forgot to tell you while the vet was here, he weighed Scout and my little bit is up to 72 very skinny pounds. I don’t know where she stores it. She’s still all ribs and legs.
Jackie
@TaMara (HFG): Amen and ????
jl
That is Lily!? They made a mistake and put some kind of experimental stuff in the IV and now she looks like some kind of super dog. This is Spiderman stuff.
I’d give her an extra bedtime snack tonight. Want to keep her happy. Cole needs to let SuperLily know that he is firmly on the side of the forces of good.
Edit: if Cole gets vaporized tonight with those new fashioned super dog eyes, Cole can’t say he wasn’t warned.
Mary G
Talk about side effects! She looks great, so happy for you both. Is she still eating nonstop? She looks much more robust in that picture.
I took the plunge a couple of years ago and got an A/C window unit for my bedroom. It feels shameful, because I live so close to the beach, and all the years I was growing up we didn’t have so much as a fan, because it was only uncomfortably hot a couple weeks of the year, usually the first two weeks of school, which wasn’t air-conditioned either. But I am now a fat 62-year-old with respiratory issues, we don’t get a tenth of the fog and June gloom we used to, and the neighbor’s McMansion blocked all the breeze to my room, which faces south and gets sun all day long. It is such a help. Now I turn it on with hardly a twinge of guilt.
Yarrow
@TaMara (HFG): Yay! Glad Bixby is already doing better. Poor guy. It’s been a rough several months on all of you. Fingers crossed that the blood results come back with whatever is easiest to deal with, maybe just confirming the infection and nothing else.
Take care of yourself, TaMara. Get some sleep if you can.
Mary G
@TaMara (HFG): So glad about Bixby. I worried for you. And a bone graft on top of that, yikes! That Scout grows fast!
TaMara (HFG)
@jl: [[snort]]
Yarrow
@jl: She does look like SuperLily. She’s going to save the day AND get that last bit of food.
SectionH
Yeah, when I say “those eyes” tonight, it’s not exactly the usual sweetest doggie eyes ever reaction. It was more Whoa!!
Never mind, glad to see she’s doing so well. And as others have commented, I just love the pictures of her frog-sitting. My sweet little guy did that all his life, and when I see a puppeh doing that, I still just melt.
Villago Delenda Est
@Major Major Major Major: You beat me to it. I was going to suggest that Lily has been turned into a hell-hound.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Nah, silly jl, it’s just the doggie version of photographic red eye.
Villago Delenda Est
@jl: Spider-dog, Spider-dog. Does whatever a Spider-dog does.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: So, who’s this new troll, anyway?
Villago Delenda Est
@TaMara (HFG): YAY BIXBY!
Gex
I am so damn happy about how things are going for you two. Especially compared to how dire it seemed at first. So grateful that treatment seems to be going well.
Major Major Major Major
@jl: There’s a new troll?
MomSense
@TaMara (HFG):
Relieved to hear Bixby is on the mend – and hope you are too.
Happy that Lily is handling her chemo like a champ. Took the kid clothes shopping and then went to a pub to listen to the open mic performers. Mix of youngs with a sprinkling of gray hairs in the crowd. Musicians are good people.
I’m really struggling with my allergies this season. I just hope I can sleep tonight.
SectionH
@TaMara (HFG): Glad to hear Bixby’s “out of the woods” even if he may take a while to be fully up to speed. Best wishes for a long patch of smooth sailing for you and all your critters.
Major Major Major Major
@TaMara (HFG): Man, your dogs are heavy. Glad Bixby is recovering.
Ruckus
@Mary G:
Part of whatever it is that is my latest whatever it is makes me overheat something fierce. 60 feels good, 80 feels like hell. I thought that when I got older the cold would be my downfall but no it’s heat. I should have known, what with global warming, that I’d be forced down the other path.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Trump?
Ruckus
Glad Lily and Bixby are doing better. Nothing like having pets get better. The world just seems like a great place when that happens.
jl
@Major Major Major Major: BillinGlendale has revealed himself to be an anti SuperLily troll. Don’t feed the trolls!
I for one welcome our new SuperLily overlord.
Major Major Major Major
@jl: Whaaat!
More delicious cake for me.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Did you have a birthday cake?
Major Major Major Major
@Yarrow: My mom sent me three things from Momofuku Milk Bar!!
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: She’s gonna need a ruby crystal visor!
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Yum! What a great mom!
Adam L Silverman
When Steve’s done at the groomers, he can do a little grocery shopping:
seaboogie
“…a perfect spooky eye…”
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: That’s excellent. I love how he shows the cat the item from the case to get her approval.
NotMax
“All yur peepul fud are belong to me!”
– Lily
(Oblique hat tip to The Far Side.)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: I have super-Nikki.
?BillinGlendaleCA
deleted
spudgun
@TaMara (HFG): So glad to hear this, Tamara! Here’s to a speedy recovery.
Good progress report on Lily too—
?BillinGlendaleCA
Super-Nikki.
Adam L Silverman
Who could’ve known?
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman:
media, interpersonal relationships, business, education, religious fundamentalism
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: Pretty much.
Also, why does Hewitt always look stoned when he’s on TV?
SectionH
@Mary G: You got McMansioned? That sucks bigly. Erase “guilt” from your mind re running your ac. No, seriously, because Damn.
Planetpundit
Keep going sweet Lily. TaMara: Wow! glad to hear you’re all on the mend; what a nightmare a graft and sickly pup. Quick recoveries all around. Hope the ducks have made friends with le Petite Scout.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Ambulatory Cream Cheese Sculptures always look like they’re stoned, they’re made of cream cheese.
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: Botched botox?
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That too, he could just be carved that way.
Elie
Late to the thread but I am thrilled with how Lilly is doing and love the updates on Steve. I send you all my love for everyone… hugs, hugs, hugs
Amir Khalid
Go Lily!
@TaMara (HFG):
Glad to hear that Bixby is recovering from his infection. I hope you too are recovering well.
Mary G
@SectionH: Lawyer from Huntington Beach, major asshole. I got his property tax bill by accident one year and he pays $14,000 more a year than I do for the same size lot (I feel guilty for profiting from Prop 13, but well, if it didn’t exist I would not live here anymore.) On a 5,000 sq. ft. lot, he’s crammed a 3,500 square foot house (2 story), a pool, a jacuzzi, a giant tiki bar, a putting green, and a giant concrete maze in front so no one can come to the front door. Not one unpaved inch left except for a hole for a magnolia tree in the middle of the maze. He’s having the pool and jacuzzi jackhammered out to be replaced for the third time in twelve years, so he’s really on my list this week.
@Ruckus: I know! I lived in Alhambra and South Pasadena for years without A/C. I sweated a lot, but I survived, because I had no money. Now I’m turning into my mom, who was cold under 68 degrees and hot over 72. Getting old isn’t for sissies.
Major Major Major Major
@Mary G:
See this is why we need a land-value tax.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: He’s looked like that since he was young with brown hair and on the LA PBS station in the 80s, where he was the designated conservative/Regan fanboi, but took positions far to the left of where he is now. I remember him saying the EPA was a good thing more than once.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
To think you were preparing to say goodbye to sweet little Lily not long ago. I hope she sticks around for a very long time.
@TaMara (HFG): Glad to hear Bixby is doing okay. Hoping for an easy recovery.
Cuddling with my Iggy and Muppet tonight.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G:
He says that now too because his kid works for Pruitt.
Major Major Major Major
@Mary G: @Adam L Silverman: Wasn’t Gorsuch’s mom running the EPA under Reagan?
#draintheswamp
Mary G
@Major Major Major Major: Yup, it’s odd how all these free market fans work for government generation after generation.
Mary G
Go Cali! This’ll piss off Twitler and Pruitt (LA Times)
mai naem mobile
So this is the second night in a row that I’ve had problems getting Colbert on the teevee machine. Hiccups throughout the transmission of the show. Its not the television. 3 televisions having the same issue. We get other stations. Adjusting my tin foil hat. One of the Cox sisters is supposed to be a RWNJ.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: I saw that on my phone. That’s a really good mandate, I wish I had solar panels on the cave. Oh, thanks.
Fair Economist
@Mary G: Climate change has hit Socal pretty hard. It’s a lot hotter than it used to be, about 5 degrees on average, and air conditioning is well justified.
Manxome Bromide
OMG LAZOR LILY PEW PEW
… I always end up coming to threads too late. :-(
?BillinGlendaleCA
AAGGHHH, the news has shit midas on.
mai naem mobile
@Mary G: I heard this on NPR. They had an endorsement from some California Home Builder Association and it sounded like the regular builder association not some green builder organization.
?BillinGlendaleCA
That was interesting, Newsom is running a commercial against one of the Republicans running for Governor.
Mary G
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Bought a Milky Way pic for wallpaper for my new computer. I am very picky about them, so good job you.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: You’re my first sale.
ETA: I debating on whether to head out an shoot tonight on the coast.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Just looked at which one you ordered, that’s the 8 minute exposure up in Lockwood Valley. I think that’s probably my best one, though I like the one with the flare from the Hubble Space Telescope.
J R in WV
You guys have it all wrong, it isn’t SuperLily at all — it should be Superb Lily.
Not I hear thunder, gonna lose my connection any second, so no more foolin around.
So happy for supurb Lily! What a sweet dawgger.
Mary G
Watched the three Americans released by No. Korea arrive at Andrews. They walked right past Twitler and Melania like they didn’t even see them, but when they got down the stairs and saw Mike Pompeo on the tarmac they burst into smiles and handshakes and hugs.
New SOS is gonna be in the doghouse in the morning.
Mary G
@Mary G: Editor won’t open. Saw another channel and they did shake hands with Twitler. My bad. Now he’s saying this is getting the “best ratings ever for 3 a.m.” Uh, no, dude.
sigyn
@NotMax:Gary Larson was a genius. Good “Art” changes the world, right? I don’t know when that panel ran, but he stopped in ’95. And how many of us are still putting “cat fud” on the grocery list? I’m not alone; I know.
CarolDuhart2
Welcome back, Gex.
Origuy
In the ER waiting for X-ray. My knee went POP tonight during Scottish dance class. Only hurts when I put weight on it so it’s cartilage or a ligament. Not the ACL or I would not be able to walk at all.
Got call into X-ray while I was posting this. Naturally.
SectionH
@Mary G: I’m torn between “ewwww Pompeo” and anything that pisses off the Traitor-in-Chief.
@Mary G: Jeebus. 3X in 12 years, that dude has some srsly small hands. I’m beginning to believe that ridiculous use of jackhammers and other noise making construction equipment with Beep Beep Beep backup noises should be punishable by death. At least when they start at 7am when even SD noise regs say that’s too early. We’re densifying big time down here, so fuck anyone who’s not bright and happy at 6am?
rikyrah
@TaMara (HFG):
Thanks for the update.Sending positive thoughts ??
rikyrah
Glad to see the update, Cole. Sending the beautiful Lily some positive thoughts ??
opiejeanne
@Mary G: Anything over 68 and I’m too hot. That’s indoors. If the sun’s out and it hits 55 we start peeling off our sweatshirts and I start considering shorts.
opiejeanne
@sigyn: I don’t write it on my shopping list but I do ask the cats if they want some cat fud.
Amir Khalid
@opiejeanne:
Do you mean °C or °F?
Comrade Scrutinizer
We use wood mulch. A couple of tree trimmers around here will drop off dump truck loads if we ask just to get rid of the stuff. No fuss, no charge.
Barbara
@Yarrow: The mulch in local stores comes from WV, including organic mulch. I don’t know whether the state has rules but a lot of WV suppliers are selling to us elitist city types in DC so it should be possible to get decent mulch at a reasonable price.
PaulWartenberg
ceiling fans do a great job of keeping a single room cooled.
Skepticat
Sending strong, healing thoughts for Lily and Bixby.
I spent my day yesterday on the next island with a friend when the vet came to put her seventeen-year-old dog to sleep. Lots of tears shed, but she handled it well, and it was the right time. We were astounded that the vet (usually very matter-of-fact and almost cold; we have no idea why he’s in this profession, especially as he’s basically afraid of animals!) actually hugged and consoled her when he was though.
She has another, younger dog, and that will be her salvation, such as it is. Another friend and I took the foster puppies to play in the lagoon afterward, so we dealt with both ends of the life spectrum. That helped, but I’m still exhausted. I’ve been hugging my cats a lot.
I’ve lost two friends (not close, but longtime) in the past two weeks, but that hasn’t hit me nearly as hard as my insignificant other’s two dogs, my free-range cat, and this dog.
TriassicSands
Shaving Steve?
LAO
Keep on, keeping on Ms. Lily.
Art
Outstanding that Lily is responding well to chemo, fingers crossed.
A small ‘window rattler’ A/C unit, 5-6K Btu can sometimes save a lot of money. Most plug right into a wall receptacle and can be installed with minimal labor. Which eliminates any great need for additional electrical work or outside help ($). It’s like task-lighting compared to area lighting. A little, in just the right place, is better than a lot, spread far and wide.
Cheapest mulch. Check with your tree-trimming contractors and utilities. Down here most of them are happy to drop a dump truck load, of whatever they have. You don’t get much choice as to what it is made of, or amounts, and they are not going to disperse it for you. A neighbor pictured a couple of cubic yards of pine straw but got ten yards of finely chipped oak branches in one big pile on her driveway. But the price was right, free, and after spreading it around every bush, tree, and hedge in her, and every adjoining, yard, it sort of blended and looks nice. It saved her a huge mount of money compared to the prepackaged sacks from the lawn center.
Not quite as cheap, but with far more control over what you get, you can buy from a landscaper supply house. Around here they deliver a variety of mulch by they cubic yard at a fraction of what it costs by the bag at the big-box. Ask around with any landscaper friends for the lowest prices and best service.
Just an idea.
Hang in there. Give Lily a hug.
opiejeanne
@Amir Khalid: 68 Fahrenheit. I live in the Pacific Northwest now and have adapted. I used to be pretty heat tolerant, but not these days. and yes, 55F IF the sun is shining. If we’re working in the garden it just gets too hot to wear a sweatshirt.
thalarctosMaritimus
@opiejeanne: “cats”?
Did I miss a story about adoption?
Miss Bianca
@TaMara (HFG): oh, TaMara, I had no idea anything was wrong with Bixby! Too wrapped up in my own doggie dramas, I guess. Poor Bix! Poor you! Hope things get better for you both, really soon!