19 Mar

Memetastic True Story Revealed

Posted by DOGKISSES in Announcements, blogging, fun, writing personal stories. Tagged: , , , , , .

I wrote five stories about myself in an earlier post, MEMETASTIC BLOG AWARD. Only one of the stories is completely truthful.

I confess –this does feel like a confession and one which I hadn’t expected — Story number THREE is the whole truth.

I have an authentic Mile High Club button.  I earned it in college.flying free a mile high, image of mile high pin, nightlights on a plane

I couldn’t believe I found the button, or pin rather, when I looked for it yesterday.  It’s a shiny little pin that one would wear on a shirt, but I don’t think I’ve ever worn it.

It’s as shiny as it was when it was given to me by the professor, who eventually became my long time friend and mentor.  We went on several flights together, but that was the only time we did anything like we did the day we earned our pins.

The only bold-face lie out of the five stories I wrote is number four:  “I love Comic Sans, Oprah, and Dr. Phil.”

I didn’t know what Comic Sans was until several days ago when I received the Memetasic award from Deb, at DorkyDeb.com.

I’ve never watched a daytime television talk show, unless it’s a PBS special or something of that nature.  I read an article in Oprah’s magazine a couple of years ago, which I enjoyed, but I never watched her show.

I didn’t know who Dr. Phil was until I saw his face on a magazine, while standing in line at the grocery store, which was around about 2004.  I asked my friend who was with me to tell me a little about him.  She was altogether shocked.

The other stories are mostly true.  I’ll likely write about the truth in those in a follow-up post.

About my little wheel-chair in story # 1.  I actually loved the chair because it was the only way I could get around.  And the day I could walk again, which I remember vividly, I was a very very happy little girl!

I have a history with pilots and airplanes.  I don’t know why.  As a result, I’ve flown in old planes, small planes, huge planes and a few in the middle.  A few times, I’ve flown the planes myself, but have never attempted to land one.

My dad took me on my first plane ride when I was about eight years old.  He and his buddy, Carly, who had a plane, but I’m not sure about a license, were quite the pair together.  We lived in the country and Carly had a landing strip on his land.  One time they took one of my sisters and me on what my dad’s friend called the, “roller-coaster in the air.”  We did, “donuts.”

I had great fun, but my older sister has since told me that she was scared.  I was surprised.  She says she didn’t want me to know when we were flying. She was always doing what she could to make me feel safe.

The best times I ever had in airplanes was with a man, Rick, whom I once loved very much.  Flying was a hobby for him.  Sadly, he died in a motorcycle accident not that long ago.  As you may have realized if you’ve read parts of my blog, there is usually an element of something hard in my stories.

The funnest flight I ever took with Rick was when he rented a Cherokee plane for my son’s eighth birthday.  My son is part Cherokee, so this was very special.

Shortly after we were in the air, we looked back to see my son sleeping in the backseat of the plane.  At first, I was afraid that Rick would be offended, but then, he was never offended.  He was the most peaceful human being I’ve ever known.  He laughed.  He knew my son fell asleep whenever he felt safe and relaxed.

“I guess he’s really enjoying himself,” my friend said chuckling.  We had a peaceful quiet trip.  We landed at a great little place where we walked across the road to a country southern home-style restaurant.  My son got to fly the plane for a bit on the way back home.  My friend laughed about my son sleeping on his birthday flight from then on.  He said it was the greatest compliment a pilot could ever receive.

I guess, looking back, I’ve had lots of fun in the air!

Thanks for reading my stories.  As always, thanks for visiting Dogkisses’s blog!


17 Mar

MEMETASTIC BLOG AWARD

Posted by DOGKISSES in Announcements, blogging, stories. Tagged: , , , , , .

I was recently given the MeMetastic blog award!  This award is a fun guessing game for my readers.  Read on…

A fun guessing game for readers!

The award was given to me from Deb, at DorkyDeb.com.

THANKS DEB!  I think 🙂

Once you receive the award you must do a few things:

  • You must proudly display the award in a post.
  • You must list 5 things about yourself and 4 of the 5 must be BOLD FACE LIES.
    (your readers must guess which one is the truth)
  • And you must then pass this prestigious award on, to 5 deserving bloggers.

Below are my five stories.  The five blogs I chose are listed at the bottom of the page.

Remember, only one story is the whole truth!

1) I was confined to a wheel chair, as a result of a childhood bone disease when I was a toddler.  The doctors told my mother I might never walk again.  I hated that chair!  My brother, who is ten years older than I am, used to take me and my little chair on wheels to the top of our steep road, which was deep in the mountains.   My two older sisters would stand at the top of the road, holding my chair, with me in it of course, until my brother made it to the bottom.  He would count to some number, which was their clue to let me go.  I would fly down that mountain in my little chair!  It was great fun!  The best I can remember, my brother always caught me.  My mother didn’t mind this game.  I wasn’t happy the day I put my foot on the floor and was able to walk again because I had to give up my little flying chair.

2) When I was fifteen I skipped school one day.  It was the first time I had ever done anything like that.  In fact, I never broke rules.  I was always trying to be the perfect student.  Anyway, it was raining that day.  I was driving my boyfriend’s truck.  My brother saw the truck.  He began chasing it because he didn’t like my boyfriend.  The road was curvy, but lucky for us, I had learned to drive several years earlier.  I was wearing a pair of, “Candies,” which was a style of high heel shoes popular in the ’70’s.  The heel got caught under the gas pedal.  We both wrecked.  I drove straight into a brick building at 80 mph.  My brother’s car slid into the building too.  The truck I was driving only had a small dent in the corner and I didn’t have a scratch on me.  My boyfriend had serious cuts and bruises.  My brother had to have nine stitches and it totaled his car.   I realized my brother must have done that out of love, so I stopped dating the guy and never saw him again.

3) I have an authentic Mile High Club button, which I had a great time earning.  A professor at a college I attended was also a pilot and ask me if I wanted to go flying.  Sure I told him.   He told me how he had always wanted the button, but never knew a woman brave enough to help him earn it.  I was young and daring!  In order to get the button and become a member of this club, we had to put the airplane in the hanger a mile high in the air, which we did, but not without turbulence.  The plane nose-dived.  I wasn’t the least bit afraid.  I thought it was great fun!  Shortly afterward we were flying normally again.  The professor, whom I obviously had great confidence in, couldn’t believe I didn’t get scared.  “I trusted you knew what you were doing,” I told him.  “I do, but I lost control of the plane.  We nosed-dived!”  he exclaimed.  “We did what?” I asked him.  “We are very lucky,” he added.

4) I love Comic Sans, Oprah and Dr. Phil!

5) I got caught speeding when I was 20 years old.  I had driven my dad’s car to a city an hour away.  It was raining hard and I had decided to see how fast I could make it back home.  I pulled over when I saw the blue lights, rolled down the window about two inches, just enough so I could talk to the officer without getting wet.  The officer asked if I’d been drinking.  I told him all about the wonderful drinks I’d enjoyed earlier.  He said he clocked me at 124 mph.  He and four other officers had chased me for five miles.  I laughed and told him that wasn’t a very long time at that speed.  I went to jail, lost my license and my father didn’t speak to me for a several months.  I learned some important lessons and never drove like that again.

Which story do you think is entirely true?

The Five blogs I chose as recipients!

Seeking Equilibrium

Jessie causing a calamity

Autoimmunemaven’s blog

planetjan

licoriceroot

You can visit the MeMetastic Hop to add your name to the list of recipients of this fantastic award.

I’ve heard that I’ll be hunted down by the creator of this award, pronounced meem-tastic, if I do not correctly follow the instructions.  I’m scared!

I hope you enjoyed my stories.  I also hope you will leave a guess in the comments, as to which one you believe is the whole truth!

Thanks for visiting Dogkisses’s blog!

Michelle.

16 Mar

Jack…

Posted by DOGKISSES in personal, pet loss. Tagged: , , .

The Crowntail Betta fish, Jack, died this morning.  This time, I know he is gone.

I now know the difference between a sick fish and a dead fish.  What a horrible way I had to learn and I am not buying any more fish.

I had driven back to PetSmart, which didn’t do any good.

The young woman who sold him to me was there.  The first thing she said, in front of my son, was, “Let me ask you what you might have done wrong,” and she giggled, saying she knew that sounded bad.

When she learned that I had done exactly as she had instructed, she said maybe Jack was depressed and starving himself!

I couldn’t believe it.  Why would my fish be anymore depressed than any other fish if her instructions on how to care for him had been correct?

She said it may have been the real plant I used, instead of the fake one.  She sold me the real one.

She finally said maybe he was sick when I purchased him, that he would most likely die and that they would reimburse me for my expenses.

I returned home with hope for Jack.  He had started swimming a little and hadn’t lost his beautiful colors.  I gave him dried blood worms, but he wouldn’t eat.

I thought about him being depressed and starving himself.  I understood this all too well.  I stared at him and thought he must be a pretty smart guy, because that is surely one way to get out of a fish bowl.

I barely slept all night.  I had night sweats and finally got up after drying off for the fourth or fifth time.  Yesterday was a stressful day and Jack was only a part of the story, so I guess, stress did me in.

I looked in the bowl after finally giving up on sleep and knew, for sure, that he is gone.

Jack was a beautiful fish and had a lot of personality.

 

 

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15 Mar

Update About Jack

Posted by DOGKISSES in pet loss. Tagged: , , .

Jack is still alive.  I can’t believe it.  I almost buried him.

Earlier today I posted on a whim, feeling quite emotional about this fish, thinking it had died.  I tagged the post pet loss, because he had become our pet and I thought we had lost him.

I took him out of the bowl and his body jumped all around.  This poor fish!  Owned by someone who can’t tell if he is dead or alive!

He is lying on the bottom of a different bowl, which I wish I hadn’t put him in because I just learned it changed his environment too quickly, but he swims a little if I stir up the water.

Now, I don’t know what to think.  Jack must be very sick.

I had no idea owning a fish could bring so many emotions.

The girl at the pet store said it would be sooo easy.

It was certainly not easy when I thought I had frozen him and then almost buried him alive.

I’m not feeling too good about it.

They say he is a great fighter fish.  I hope the little guy makes it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 Mar

Bye Jack…

Posted by DOGKISSES in pet loss. Tagged: , , , , .

King Crown Tail

Image by J-Joyce via Flickr

The woman at the pet store pushed him on me.  I told her I had never cared for a fish and she said they were sooo easy.  She said all they needed was a bowl, some rocks, a small plant and some food.

Well, that is total bullshit!

I was crying, but now I feel angry, which honestly is easier to feel.

Poor Jack.

I could see he was sick yesterday, but I didn’t know what to do.  My son thought he was fine, but I didn’t.

I was going to get a real tank after having gone online to discover that Jack needed at least 2 gallons of water and a few more plants.

I didn’t have time yesterday and today, when I woke up, well… He is still over there in the bowl.

I can’t believe how it hurts.  I can’t just throw him out.  I guess I’ll put him in some paper and bury him.  I guess.  I don’t know what people do with a dead fish, at least, people like me, whose heart is as tender as my little Ruthie Mae’s is.

Jack made my son smile from ear to ear.

I took my son home yesterday and I’m glad he doesn’t have to see Jack now.

I’m mad because the pet store shouldn’t sell those fish telling folks they will live in a bowl!

Then too, like everything in my life that is sad or goes wrong, I feel like it’s my fault.  I must have turned the heat down too low last night.

Poor Jack.

I wonder if I should give up my idea to give my son a fish tank.  I was thinking about just buying another Betta, with a tank, a filter and a heater of course, and not telling my son that Jack died.  I think he would know.  He’s like me.  We feel lies like we smell onions.  Clearly and strongly.

I know it’s just a fish, but I am not ashamed to say, that I will likely cry again when I go over there to get him out of that bowl.

Jack was beautiful and when we first got him, he felt great.  He would swim the very short distance to the side of the bowl and stare directly at my son every time he walked up to him.  He was an iridescent black, blue, and red fighter fish.

Honestly, I loved him.  I know my son did, or does.  Sigh…

My son doesn’t like his apartment.  He is lonely.  I thought if he could have a pet that he might like his apartment, but he hadn’t taken Jack over there yet.  He didn’t want to either.

Maybe a rabbit?

I wish we could afford another dog.  I would go to the shelter today if we could.  I’d take my son and let him get a dog that would be good to have in town.

Our older dog is my son’s dog, but he’s aggressive to other big dogs, so he stays with me.  He also has terrible seizures.  Ruthie and I take care of Tiny.  He’s been with me five years now.  He’s been our family member for ten years now, since he was a baby.

We are able to care for our two dogs because we have Care Credit.  We use it to pay for the vet visits and then we pay monthly.  It is a great credit card to have.

I wish so much my son could have a pet in his apartment.  I can’t imagine living without one, particularly a dog.  I lived without my girl Free-girl for a month and that was before my son’s dog, Tiny, came to live with me.

It was one horrible lonely month!  I would go somewhere and then realize I didn’t have a dog at home, so I wouldn’t come home.  I’d wander around like a lost child downtown.  I began helping homeless drug addicts.

I helped a few get to a recovery house, but it was not my calling in life.  I needed a dog.

Fortunately, I had a friend who had been Free’s very good friend.  She knew more than I did what I needed, which was a new dog.  She talked me into going, “just to look,” at the shelter.  I met Ruthie that day and we haven’t missed one night together.

But now, I am sad to have lost Jack.

My gut is churning and my heart hurts.  Over a fish, I know, but it is true.  I feel awful, especially because I think I may have killed him by turning the heat in the house down last night.

Normally, I try, believe it or not, to offer readers something positive in my blog posts.

In this post, I can’t do that, other than to say, Betta fish need more than a bowl!

I’m sorry Jack.  I really am sorry.  I didn’t know what to do.

Bye Jack.

We love you.

~~~~~~~~~~

About Betta fish:

Along with the fact that they need way more than a bowl of water to live in, they also need an entirely different environment than what he had, which is why I feel angry at the pet store.

“They also need a filter and heater to ensure a long life. Betta fish like warmer waters, upwards of eighty degrees, so they can not live at room temperature.”  (Source:  See Related Articles below)

Well, after reading that, I feel worse.  I did let it get too cold in the house.

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14 Mar

Weekly Photo Challenge: Home

Posted by DOGKISSES in dogs, family, life. Tagged: , , , , .

Good food, family, dogs, love, a little art and a digital camera…  Sounds like home to me.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

one of my son's several childhood-art-trees

I LIKE THIS TREE

 

The Daily Post, Weekly Photo Challenge theme — “Home.”

Thanks for visiting Dogkisses’s blog.

13 Mar

My future is now

Posted by DOGKISSES in being human, life, reflections. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

“After a certain age, there is no future.” Joseph Campbell


I’m forty-seven years old.  For the past couple of years, I’ve had acute realizations that I’m living my future.  The one I imagined when I was a child, the one I thought was so far away in my twenties and the one that in my thirties, was largely shaped and formed by turbulence and ensuing illness.

past meets presentThese acute realizations happen out of the blue.  I’ll be doing something, such as watching television or talking with my son and the feeling hits me.  I look around my home, taking note of the sentimental items I’ve kept over the years, the most special of which are displayed on the fireplace mantle or my desk.  I look at the pictures I’ve hung on my walls.  I look at my life and think to myself, This is it.  This is my future.

There is a sense of peace in this experience.  I like knowing that I’m here in the moment, instead of waiting to be somewhere else, in the future.  Then too, there is the realization that I didn’t prepare very well.  In fact, I may not have prepared at all.

“Every decision a young person makes is a commitment to a life course.  And if you made a bad decision of that angle by the time you get out there, you’re far off course.”  Joseph Campbell

I did get off course.  I made choices that landed me where I don’t think I would have chosen if someone had shown me a crystal ball.  A few people tried to show me, but my life was demanding.  I couldn’t get past the day, yet I still made it to the future, which is now.

“I’m not now participating in the achievement of life.  I have achieved it.”  Joseph Campbell.

I hope you enjoy this video.  The late Joseph Campbell was a great thinker who shared his knowledge and wisdom with joy and an obvious love of humanity.



Joseph Campbell Foundation

Video from YouTube, “Joseph Campbell–Myth as the Mirror for the Ego”

Thank you for visiting Dogkisses’s blog and feel free to leave a comment.

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4 Mar

Pain, Fatigue and Dogs

Posted by DOGKISSES in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, companion animals, fibromyalgia, healing, health. Tagged: , , , , .

dogs know how to fight fatigue, just look...

Sometimes I think I forget or am in denial of having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.  I go and go and go and then I crash.  I try to keep a balance, but some days life demands things and I do more than I should.  That’s the way it’s been lately.

I have a pretty bad infected foot, which I thought was fibromyalgia pain, until I pulled my little toe away to look.  I saw what was NOT fibromyalgia.

A month or so ago, I bought a pair of boots.  I wore them around the house, just for fun, and also to take the dogs out in the mornings.  My foot began hurting after several days.  I’ve had foot pain before after wearing a new pair of shoes, which is why I didn’t do any close inspections of my foot, especially beside my little toe.

Well, it sure didn’t look good so off to my doctor I went.  He gave me antibiotics and cream, made a joke about me wearing boots around the house asking if I thought someone was going to come by with a camera and did I want to be ready.  Very funny while my foot was swollen and infected, but I’m used to him.  I like him.  I don’t like that sometimes I think he lets things go, like my foot!

It only got worse.  A round of antibiotics started to help and here’s where I went wrong, I guess.  I missed a few doses.  Now, I have a hole in my foot.  I went back to the doctor.

“Do you think I need some more antibiotics?” I asked him.

“No,” he responded confidently.  I would like to send you to a podiatrist with your permission.”

Well, duh.

So, off I went to the fancy foot doctor who didn’t have any manners at all.  I don’t know where he’s from, but I bet it ain’t North Carolina.

I told him how I had thought it was fibromyalgia for the first several days of pain.  Maybe that’s why he had a dismissive attitude towards me, but then I am so tired of trying to figure out why people who act weird act that way.

He kept saying what I hadn’t done or what I was doing wrong.

He sent me to the x-ray room where they took several images of my foot.  Fortunately, those looked good.

“How long have you not been taking antibiotics?” he asked when I returned.

“Since I finished the ones my doctor gave me,” I told him.

“You do know you have a hole in your foot don’t you?”

I told him that I most certainly did.

“I’ve been to the doctor twice already.  I would have gone to the emergency room if I hadn’t known I was coming here.”

“You’re wearing closed shoes first of all,” he said in a tone that I didn’t like.

It was cold outside.  My family doctor had complimented my shoes.  Why had he not put me on another antibiotic I wondered.

The foot doctor explained how serious the infection is because of where it is and I’m too tired to describe it, but I took heed!  It can go up and into my leg if it gets worse.  He says if I do everything he told me to do then it should be getting well within a week.

So far so good.  Ten days of a very strong antibiotic.

I’d told my family doctor how my son said I was going to lose my foot and later, my leg when he saw it getting worse.  The doctor joked again saying not to let him get near any knives.  From what the foot doctor said, my son wasn’t far off from being right.

The good news is that hopefully, the antibiotics, along with soaking it in vinegar water will heal it.  The soaks hurt like crazy.

I dislike antibiotics very much and this one is kicking me down like a sick dog.

Tiny love hereSpeaking of dogs, mine are once again being very good nurses.

Yesterday, when I finally returned from the hospital, I lied down and put my foot up.  I know they felt how stressed I was.

Our big guy, Tiny, (the cutie with the big head) whom I’m going to write about soon, well, he crawled up beside me on the sofa and lied down on barely enough space for his wide body and put his head on my belly.  That’s what he’s been doing for the past few months whenever I don’t feel good.  He lies there looking at me with his big beautiful hound dog eyes.  Yesterday, just for extras, he gave me a kiss.  He doesn’t give many.  I felt very special indeed.

My pretty little girl curled up at my feet in her soft ball of silky fur.  She is absolutely the softest dog I’ve ever petted in my life.  Absolutely!

Dogs Rule!!!

They were incredibly sweet with both of their heads resting on me and their eyes saying, “OH WE LOVE YOU!”

cooking for mom

I’m also grateful to my son for the many meals he has cooked for me lately. I’ve gained a few pounds, which is a very good thing.

However, he is staying with me and it is driving me a little nuts.  I’ll be glad when he wants to go back to his apartment.

Just the truth.

I’m going to give in to the fatigue for a little while, which means I’ll have to be alone.

I think I’ll finish a good novel I started weeks ago, The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler.

I’m tired.  Too tired to think much.  I’ve been writing, but have nothing ready to click publish.

With that said, I’m offering a few links of interest I found today about pain.

“I am here to tell anyone who suffers from pain each day, whose life is circumscribed and whose goals are slipping out of reach, that you are at last being heard. We are in a pain renaissance.”

Read more: “The End of Ouch” –TIME


–“an adaptive mechanism in which severe pain in one area of the body inhibits pain in another is impaired among women with fibromyalgia. Normally, this system works as a check on the amount of pain the brain can handle; if your arm is sore and someone steps hard on your toe, your arm will temporarily feel better as all of your brain’s pain attention is focused on the new insult. In chronic-pain patients, this mechanism is faulty or nonexistent.”

image of sleeping dog via OLX, Tiredness Disorders



we love mom
Thanks for visiting Dogkisses’s blog.


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