Odds & Ends #11
The other day I had a serious craving — for something, I don’t know what — so after I rooted around in the fridge, I found a jar of pickle spears. That pickle was probably the best pickle I’ve ever tasted. So I ate another, and it wasn’t as good. Note to self: stop at the one pickle.
Speaking of eating: I may have found the secret to Piper’s not eating. I hesitate to say that, because I’ve been wrong many, many times after trying many, many things, but this time I think I’ve got it. She won’t eat out of a bowl! I can hand-feed her. I can free-feed her on the floor. I can place her dinner on a nice crystal plate (“theoretically”). She will eat. But I put her food in a bowl — ma’am won’t eat. She is a funny little thing.
You ever get stuck in a hand-washing Chicken War with the person next to you at the restroom sink? I had never until this week at work. It’s always a little awkward to exit your respective stalls at the same time and meet each other’s glance in the mirror, but it’s even more weird when you both reach for the water spigots in tandom, squirt some soap in tandom and start washing your hands at your respective sinks IN TANDOM. Then comes the test: who is going to wash their hands longer? If I quit first, I’m dirtier. So I scrub and scrub and scrub, and this woman is not backing down. We both go way past the requisite singing of the national anthem or reciting ABC’s forth and back. I finally have to give up first, because I’ve got a meeting coming up, and she apparently has all day to wash her hands. Lady in the Restroom: 1; Shasta: 0. Well played, ma’am.
The Melina gestation continues. We finally met on a Zoom call this week with her academic counselor, Mrs. Nelson. (Apparently I need to get in the habit of calling people younger than me by their titles/last names, because this is how we do it in the school system.) Melina is as adorable as can be: shy, quiet, tentative with her English and with the sweetest little French accent I’ve ever heard! I think she is so brave to do what she is doing, and her parents are rock stars for letting her come all the way across the world to live in this country. I know I wouldn’t let my Precious Treasure out of my sight for a moment, let alone let her do something like this, so I get it. It’s a Big Deal.
Speaking of a big deal, I’ve got big vacation plans coming up. SOME BEACH some where with my friends from Big Sandy. Instead of camping this year, I decided to go to the Gulf. MUCH less work: no pitching tents, no schlepping equipment and no pooping in the woods. But before that happens, I’ve got a friend from college coming into town for a quick fly-by: speaking of pooping in the woods, Clivus Moltrum will be in town! (My SEP friends will get that reference.) Anyway, June is shaping up to be a great month for ol’ Shasta.
P.S. I once again spoke too soon. Piper has refused to eat two meals. The plate doesn’t work. ARGH. Stubborn Westie.
