The shipwreck continues….

If it hasn’t been a shipwreck week, it sure has been a week of ups and downs. We began yesterday with a birthday breakfast for Jacob—his dad’s eggs in a tortilla, balloons—and, of course, presents. One happy kid, newly a teenager.

Then Jacob and I continued the celebration by taking my Sophie to the vet for her annual checkup. Amazing to see my spirited, feisty dog so cowed, but the vet’s office really gets to her, even though he did the entire exam, shots and all, sitting on the floor with her. Hats off to Dr John Minnerly of University Animal Hospital. Sophie is healthy but will need her teeth cleaned mid-winter next year—in eight years, she’s never had that done, and Dr. Minnerly said it’s time. I’m spooked about having dogs anesthetized, but I’ve also lost a dog to untreated gum infections, so I understand what I have to do. Sophie also has the beginnings of doggie cataracts—a sign of her middle-age status. Nothing to do except understand she doesn’t see quite as well as she once did. Makes me sad to hear such aging news about her, because I still feel like it was just yesterday that we brought her home as a squiggly, wonderful puppy. Now she’s a middle-aged adult with a fully developed personality of her own—mostly good, but sometimes difficult.

I asked Jacob to go with me, because I can’t drive the car and handle the dog. I suggested he go in, give Sophie to an attendant, and come back to help me. “I can do both at once,” he protested, but I held firm. As it turned out, he was right, and I needed little help—a ramp from the parking spot and an easy, one-step doorway.

Then we went to pick up the shrimp he requested for dinner, with Sophie, now anxious from her trauma, panting and drooling in his lap—the final indignity was when she sneezed all over his leg, and he said disgustedly, “Gross!” when we got home, Sophie was wound tight and absolutely frenetic for about two hours, barking at me for I don’t know what. She had water, turned down a treat, had access to outdoors, but she wanted something I didn’t understand. She finally calmed down enough for a nap.

Jordan and Christian took Jacob and a friend to Top Golf in the afternoon, and Jacob left them all in the shade. Fittingly, he marked his entry into the teen-age years by swinging his golf club in his room and taking out the chandelier.

This morning, someone discovered that Jordan’s car had been broken into during the night. She always locks it, but thinks it must have been unlocked because there was no broken window. The would-be thieves rifled through everything in the car, opening all the glass holders in the ceiling, but the took nothing—just left a mess. Over family protests, I called it into our Neighborhood Police Officer because I know they need to have records of such for their statistics.

Today, the family continued Jacob’s birthday celebration with a four-hour fishing trip, with a guide, on a nearby lake. I’m not sure I expect to see them until tomorrow morning.

Meantime, I had adventures of my own. You know the feeling of accomplishment you get when you do something that worries you? I did that today. Put off installing my new remote keyboard and mouse because I was intimidated. But finally I came o the point that I needed it if I was going to get any work done. And like the trip to the vet, it went so smoothly that I was astounded and grateful.

The rest of my day was odd jobs at the computer and a dinner of leftover steak and mashed potatoes from the birthday dinner, brightened by a happy hour visit from good fiends Phil and Subie green. Looking forward to a weekend with a good book.