Friday Things
1. Duke finally got over his little sickness, and then this past week I was at the vet with Einstein. It’s been like a revolving door there! Last week I noticed after he got up from a nap that his right eye was really bloodshot and rolling up in a weird way. I was terrified at first and thought maybe he had a stroke (I don’t even know if dogs have strokes??), but then it went back to normal. By the next day it was looking weird off and on, so after two trips to two different vets over the weekend, stain tests, glaucoma tests, eye pressure tests, neurological tests… turns out that he had some inflammation of the eye, which the vet said could have been caused by a number of things. A regimen of antibiotic eye drops and an eye gel was prescribed, and his eye is now finally looking almost back to normal. Poor guy! I hope my pups can stay healthy for a long stretch now!
2. I’m closing in on 23 weeks along, which is so crazy to me. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone, and how quickly January will be here. I’ve still been feeling pretty well, although I’ve discovered heartburn and indigestion, both of which are totally new to me. Not fun! And the one and only aversion I seem to have right now? Bananas. So weird! It’s not that I don’t want them, but they seem to be sitting really heavy in my stomach for some reason. Other than that, it’s been life as usual, albeit with a growing belly!
3. I managed to allow my super pretty petunias and gardenias from this summer to die during August. Oops. I righted the wrong by buying some gorgeous mums for the front door and back patio. What are your favorite fall plants?
4. Have you seen the video of the Ohio State marching band doing a montage of TV show theme songs during halftime last weekend? So amazing! I wonder how long it takes them to practice that?!
5. I’ve known for quite some time that King Arthur Flour has a Baker’s Hotline, where you can call in and ask someone your baking question. What I didn’t know is that they now have a chat function on their website, as well. It operates during normal business hours and you can just click the button on their hotline page, and get connected to one of their professional bakers for advice. I used it yesterday because I was stumped by the progress of my sourdough starter, and they were super helpful. They asked me some questions and let me know I was on the right track, and how to proceed. A truly awesome service!
6. Earlier this week, U2 released a surprise new album, Songs of Innocence, free on iTunes. I’m a huge U2 fan and loved it!
7. Speaking of music, my husband discovered Postmodern Jukebox this week. The founder, Scott Bradlee, is a trained jazz pianist and collaborates with other musicians to do vintage-sounding riffs on current pop songs. This one, “All About That Bass”, was the first one we saw, but there are TONS of videos on their YouTube page. I love the Royals song, but the weird clown singing kind of creeps me out ;-)
8. I love this article from the Today show about the last known 9/11 Ground Zero search dog. It obviously tugged at my heart strings because she is a Golden Retriever, but what a wonderful story!
9. If you have an iPhone, do you use the Reminders application? I’m trying to put it to use, but the reminders don’t always go off! Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, and when I snooze one, it never comes back on 15 minutes later. It seems like this should be a lot easier to master than I’m apparently making it, but any tips or suggestions on getting this to work correctly? (I do set a day/time for the alert to go off and activate the radio buttons next to the reminder.)
10. TGIF! I hope you have an awesome weekend and do a lot of lounging around… :)
Such a great story about the 9/11 dog. Thanks for sharing it, Michelle.
So happy Einstein is better! We definitely love our pups!
Hi Michelle your pups are sooooooo cute! I’m glad Einstein’s alright. hows your pregnacy going? Do you still do updates?
Hi Margaret, It’s going really well! I have been doing periodic updates on Friday Things when there is new stuff to share :)
Thank you so much for mentioning Postmodern Jukebox. I had never heard of them so I followed the link and instantly became a fan. How awesome they are!!
Michelle,
I know how it can be with vet bills. My dog tore her right ACL and that costs a few thousand to fix. Last year she tore her left ACL. Not fun and the first two weeks are unbelievably difficult.
Annamaria
So great to hear all is going well with the pregnancy.
With your doggies eye problems, a great natural way of cleaning and disinfecting their eyes (and also a cheaper way than trips to vets, anti biotics etc) is to buy some Eyebright Tea and make it up as a tea solution, cool it, in fact keep it in a jar in frig, and bathe their eyes with lint free pads. It is cooling and refreshing for them also.
It’s also great for our eyes as well.
Cheers
I use the “reminder” function on my iPhone all the time & it does work consistently. But anytime an app does not respond on my iPhone I power off for a few moments & the app works. I’ve discovered that these devices like to be turned off once & awhile, just like humans. This may work & I hope it does.
Thanks once gain for my Friday Golden Fix. They are so sweet!
Happy Friday Michelle! It’s so funny that you mentioned the whole eye thing with Einstein’s eye. My dog has been so itchy this past summer, in addition to a rash on his body, he had a discharge in his eye and I can tell it was itching him. He’s gone to the vet twice so far, she told me a lot of animals are getting allergies this year, (more so than in the past). They gave me drops and that didn’t help, she gave me new drops and so far that isn’t helping. She told me if he didn’t get better with this he would need to go to an Opthomologist. I’ve already spent a small fortune on vet visits and it is so worth it to make our little guys better but I can’t imagine how much more it is going to cost or why my vet can’t clear it up. I was wondering if you had to go to an Opthomologist also, did Einstein have an discharge in his eye? Thanks so much and have a great weekend!
Hi Lucy, I’m so sorry to hear about your pup, too! I did not take Einstein to an opthomologist – they did all of those tests in the vet’s office and the combination of the drops + gel do seem to be clearing it up. He doesn’t have any discharge, but both of the dogs have definitely been sneezing more in the last month than they normally do, so totally plausible that allergies are nuts this year!
Just had to comment on your lovely Goldens and your story with the lovely 911 girl…as we lost our golden on Thanksgiving day at 15 1/2 and was a Texas girl and looked sooo much like the 911 pup…Just made me smile and appreciate these sweet dogs! Love your posts everyday and especially Friday. Continued joy for your baby and good things to continue!
Hi Michelle. Glad to hear the doggies are on the mend. They are SO beautiful.
As far as your heartburn goes, there is a natural Papaya enzyme you can get at the pharmacy or vitamin store. It’s a chewable tablet and is a great digestive aid. Check with your doctor first, but if he says it’s OK, it’s a great tool for dealing with heartburn now and even after the baby is born. They are very pleasant tasting, and they work! Best of luck to you…with ALL of your babies.
Thank you so much for sharing that Ohio State halftime video! I enjoyed it so much it made me cry!
So glad to hear that both of your fur babies are doing better! And glad to hear that you, too, are doing well! I remember the heartburn with my first baby – I carried him very high, which may be what is going on with you. Tums was my best friend!
I like Postmodern Jukebox! Thanks for turning us on to them. I don’t understand the clown, but do like his voice.
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to download the U2 album! I’m going to get it this weekend if it kills me!
I was in band WAY BACK WHEN I was in school – and even simple routines take a while! We never did anything really complex, but of course that was before anyone ever thought of doing stuff like they do now!
Also, thank you for the article on the Ground Zero Rescue Dog. What awesome creatures dogs are!
I have an iPhone, but I don’t use Reminders – I used my calendar and alert feature. It doesn’t have a snooze, but it does have 2 alerts on it that you can set. I usually do the first one for the day before, then the next one for 30 minutes before.
Have a wonderful weekend, young lady – and I personally can’t wait to see that baby bump again!
My daughter goes to Ohio State and when she lived on campus, the Marching Band practiced on the field right outside her dorm. One of her suitemates was in the marching band as well. They don’t practice for as long as you would think they need to, considering they do a different show each week! Its still several hours of practice time but those kids are amazing at what they do.
The only time I’ve used Reminders is when I’ve asked Siri to remind me about something. For all my to do list stuff I’ve used Any.do. It’s a free app and allows you to assign your items to a particular day and time and will remind you at that time. They also have a calendar that will merge with your to do list but I haven’t used that one enough to say. As a list maker I love Any.do.
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out! I need it less for a to-do list (I’m old school and still use a notebook for that), but more for true “reminders” like water the plants, switch the hand towels, wash the sheets, give the dogs their heartguard, tickets I want go on sale in 15 minutes, etc.
As a mom to 4 cats and 2 dogs, I like seeing your dog pics along with your delicious recipes! My 9 yr old border collie mix suddenly stopped eating a few weeks ago, and many X-rays, bloodwork, etc and $500 later, the vet pronounced her perfectly fine, and then she started eating again… Better safe than sorry though! My other dog is a yorkiepoo, and we call her the pilot fish to my larger dog. They give us so much isent and love!
Hi Cindy, I’m so glad your border collie mix is okay! I definitely fall into the “better safe than sorry” camp :)
Our old wives tale was heartburn=babe with lots of hair. Silly, but both my kids came out with hair on their heads! ;) Hope Einstein feels better.
I lived by the Reminders app until it started acting up on me. It drove me nuts and reminders would disappear, not go off, and not sync right. Then I discovered the Wunderlist app and it’s my daily hero!! I couldn’t live without it and it syncs beautifully with my iphone, iPad, and Mac desktop. You can set reminders to pop up at certain times and it allows you to create custom recurring events.
Hi Tricia, Thanks for the recommendation – I’ll check out the Wunderlist app!
I downloaded this last night and started playing with it… it’s AWESOME! Thanks again for the rec!
Thank you for the story of the rescue Golden Bretagne.
Hope your sweet Einstein feels better soon!
I can so identify with the pet illness issue. One of my cats is going through a series of tests to determine why she is having some odd symptoms. It is both frustrating and so expensive but she certainly is worth the cost. I just want her to be better.
That said, I saw the piece about the last 9/11 rescue dog on People.com and you were the first person I thought of. It was a touching and heart warming story. That beautiful dog is very special and loving soul.
Hi Michelle
I so love your Friday Things post every week – I am a total animal nut (I have 2 Westies and a few cat) and just love to see that I am not the only one crazy about my four legged children!!
Best wishes
Leonie Venter
Limpopo
South Africa
Drinking 8 oz. of almond milk before bed helps reduce heartburn and acid reflux.
Thanks for the tip! I keep almond milk for cereal; I’ve only had a bad bout of heartburn during the night once, thank goodness! I will keep this in mind if I’m feeling iffy before bed :)
They say if you have heartburn when you’re expecting your baby will be born with hair; I had it twice with my daughter and she was born with a full head of black hair! It might be a coincidence, but it made those two bouts of heartburn amusing instead of a yucky memory. Glad you’re doing well.
:)
How did I not know about King Arthur’s Baker’s Hotline?? That’s basically the best thing ever!!
Poor Einstein! Glad he is on the mend, and here’s hoping you get a break from the vet’s office. Glad to hear you are doing so well–January does seem right around the corner! Where is the time going?!? Have a great weekend :)