Here Working Through Chaos

Hello! I am here, but been a little quiet lately while working through challenges and feeling a bit overwhelmed. Miko is still here too and being as cute as ever.

He had another vet checkup last week to check his kidneys after a couple of weeks on his new increased medication regimen and we’re happy to report there has been no significant decline which is good and rare for a dog with in his advanced stage of congestive heart failure according to the vet cardiologist. But this has also been a challenging week caring for him and getting him to take h is medication. The poor guy needs pills 4 times a day now and it’s been a pretty consuming task to manage all the medications he’s on and make sure taking them is a good experience for both of us for over a year now.

We had perfected a “pill mash” recipe that has been working well for him for awhile, a mixture of canned dog food, cooked sweet potato, and supplements that he is happy to eat blobs of with the pills hidden in the center. With the increase in the amount of pills, that method is not working as well and he appeared to have unhappy insides this week possibly related to the heat. But not taking his medication is not an option because things will decline quickly with missed doses, so I had to resort to a method I hoped never to need this week of mashing his pills into a fine powder, mixing them with water, and using a mouth medication syringe to force him to drink them which he hated, but seems to have forgiven me for the few times I’ve had to use it. But I still feel awful about it.

Last weekend we had a great vegan meal with friends at Pho Fresh, an amazing Vietnamese restaurant with a large vegan menu that I wish we lived closer to. There was alcohol, great conversation, and many great appetizers and dishes that made a perfect way to defeat the Sunday blues before a long work week.

But it was also sad because it was a going away party for great vegan friends relocating to another state after deciding that the drought and climate change is too much in this area.

The drought and fires in this area have been scary over the last few years and we’re looking at serious water restrictions forced soon which is very scary making us consider what the future holds here and everywhere. But on a lighter note, the vegan Banh Mi and appetizers were amazing!

Other eats have been pretty typical the last 2 weeks, more simple stir fries using up garden zucchini, salads, and Thai takeout.

More salads and finding new vegan goodies to try at Grocery Outlet.

Like this creamy vegan broth for simmering potatoes, TVP, and veggies in for a simple chowder.

We also tried the new plant-based cheese from Papa Murphy’s Pizza on a veggie pizza that was wonderful, so excited they offer this option now.

More Thai, salad, curry zucchini tofu sautés, and instant vegan meal deals from Grocery Outlet.

I also had my birthday this week, but struggled to really be in a place to celebrate it which sounds awful. We’ll go out more this weekend, but many things I used to enjoy to celebrate it this time of year are not an option sadly like going to the State Fair because it’s too hot and taking time off work for a getaway while going through a transition.

But we are planning some fun stuff this weekend, so there’s that. Ugh, sorry for the whiny post, but things have just been challenging lately and I know that’s the case for a lot of others as well. As I have mentioned before, I am working on a big job change which is not a small decision after working with the same company for over 15 years while trying to be excited about a new opportunity that has taken many weeks to secure, an exhausting decision process. But I plan to be back to a regular posting schedule soon when the dust settles.