15 minutes late

As the time shows, I had a bit of difficulty working in my 15 minutes yesterday - I didn't actually get to it until now, 15 minutes after midnight. Several jobs came in this morning which consumed my day into the early afternoon, then I had an appointment with the chiropractor, came back to do some more work, then had a dog ownership workshop this evening, after which I came back home and finished the rest of the work on my plate for today. A number of things have been on my mind though. One thing in particular is my frustration of not hearing anything from the HOA about my fence request and wondering whether a neighbor's call objecting to fences in general will sabotage my request for a privacy fence. I've also been thinking about the "When Harry met Sally" concept and contemplating whether I can actually have real friendships with heterosexual men - I'm leaning towards thinking no. Sadly I'm already extremely exhausted and have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. More on my thoughts and perhaps elaborations of them later on when I have more time. I need to get some sleep for now, so goodnight!

Reasons for rejection

Now that things have more or less gotten back to normal, I can devote some of my writing to things other than dachshunds - such as dating and dating disasters. I was at the Greek Festival today and a friend asked me if I liked dates - I said I love them, as long as they are the fruit variety as opposed to the people variety!

I had to issue another rejection today, this time to the person who gave me the idea to start writing for at least 15 minutes a day, which in fact gave birth to this blog just one week ago. So what was wrong with this guy? I could tell from our e-mail correspondence that he would be a bit of a stiff intellectual. I absolutely love brains and intellect, but not when a person feels the need to flaunt it in your face in every sentence. Like me, this guy had also spent a year teaching English in Germany on a Fulbright, but I think that might be the only thing we had in common. His German was not at the level I would prefer in a future partner, but that is besides the point. He is a PhD student in Classics and I simply could not relate to his interests, nor did I feel inspired to learn more about them. I believe that you can tell within 5 minutes of meeting a person whether there is a potential for a spark, and in this case there was nothing there. If anything, he only made things worse by trying to boast on his intellect, which further alienated me from the conversation. I found myself wanting to look at the watch to see how long I had already endured and was relieved when he finally said he had to go. I also don't like it when guys wear huge class rings, which he did - I find them obnoxious. Since meeting for the first and last time last Saturday, he wrote two e-mails, to which I finally responded today to let him know that I just didn't think we had enough in common to hang out again. In addition to the fact that I sensed absolutely no connection, he is nearly 7 years younger and lives almost an hour away. If there were some sort of a spark, I might not even have a problem with that, but given that there wasn't, why waste time, gas and energy? I'd rather just be honest than drag someone along just to keep from hurting their feelings. He'll get over it.

Another reason I'll never go out with a guy again is if they don't pay for me on a date. I call this the "litmus test". According to John Grey, author of Mars and Venus on a Date, the man should always pay on dates until the couple has reached exclusivity, in which case the woman may also treat her man. This may sound a bit old-fashioned and for my European readers perhaps a bit strange, but in American dating culture this is the way things work and the way they are supposed to be. My litmus test goes like this. On a first date I always offer to pay for my portion. A gentleman either a) never even gives me the opportunity to offer and takes care of the bill when I go to the restroom or b) refuses to accept my offer to pay my portion and says "I've got it". If a guy takes my money, he can be assured that he will never be hearing from me again. This also happened recently, but since that particular guy wasn't my type, I was actually OK with it. I wasn't planning on going out with him again anyway.

More on rejection reasons another time. For now I'd like to relax and enjoy what's left of the weekend. I'll also be posting another picture recipe soon.

Getting back to normal

Of course, Jewel's favorite car was the one with the
drive-in attachment! Shown with my mom.

It's been an exhausting past couple of days thanks to Jewel's little ordeal. I stayed at my parents' house until this morning, when I decided to come back home and get on with things. However, once I got home and saw my vitamins on the counter, I realized that something else had been in that bag of pills that Jewel had eaten. It wasn't just Omega 3-6-9 and L-Carnitine, there had also been 4x 100 mg 5-HTP pills. I immediately googled 5-HTP and dogs and found this: 5-HTP Toxicosis in Dogs. That was what was responsible for the neurological problems and temporary blindness. 400 mg was half the minimum fatal dose for a dog of her size. I called animal poison control to update the case as well as the vet to let them know in case there was anything else that needed to be done. They said that since she was doing better to just keep an eye on her, but not to worry. She's one lucky dog. Thanks to everyone who had her in their thoughts and was praying for her. Today she was 100% back to herself so my mom and I took both dogs to the Harvest Festival in my little town where we strolled around the farmers' market and looked at the antique cars. I took lots of pictures of the cars for my best twin friends in Berlin, who are both fantastic photographers and avid fans of old cars.

Baby spinach salad with sauteed shiitake mushrooms,
onion and cherry tomatoes, local cucumbers, NC mountain
apple (super sweet), raisins, pecans,
truffle Crema di Balsamico and olive oil.

Jewel woke me up at 2 AM last night to go outside and I never really managed to get a good night's rest after that. Needless to say I've been tired today. Took a 2 hour nap around 5, then made Watermelon Salsa (will post separately) and a delicious salad featuring fresh apples and shiitake mushrooms for dinner. I have a good bit of work left to do this weekend, but think I'll be going to bed early tonight. The dogs have already plopped down in their beds since the Harvest Festival wore them out. They got plenty of attention with lots of people wanting to pet them. I can't even count how many times I heard people of all ages say "Ohhhhh cute, wiener dogs!" They definitely always prove to be the best little attention magnets (except when barking at other dogs!). Bedtime is calling! Goodnight!

Jewel is home!

On the way to get Jewel. Quintin was really worried.

Quintin and I went to pick up Jewel this morning after getting a clean bill of health from the vet and eye doctor. She's tired and smells like fish, but otherwise is doing well.

Happy she's back home.

The duo together again. Jewel has a bandage from her catheter.

Jewel update and previous mischief

We had to leave Jewel at the animal hospital overnight, though thankfully all of her blood tests came back normal. We got to see her before we left, though she was unable to see us. She gave kisses to my mom and stepfather, but none for me! Maybe she's mad at me for leaving the pills in my purse - well I never told her to eat them!

I spoke with the vet at the animal hospital this morning and apparently Jewel is getting back to her old self. She's wagging her tail, standing at the front of her cage wanting to interact with everyone, and the GI issues seem to be gone such that she actually is eating again and keeping it down. Her vision seems to be back, but the vet is concerned because she is squinting, so she'll be having an eye exam before we can pick her up. She's never had vision problems before, but we just want to be on the safe side. Spontaneous blindness is nothing to mess around with.

You would never suspect that Jewel could even get into trouble. Most of the time she just likes to sleep, but more than anything she likes to eat. Despite taking her on regular long walks (to which she regularly protests), she seems to remain a bit on the plumper side - maybe it's just her body type. She's even on a grain-free diet and the only snacks she gets are carrots, apples and grain-free Omega 3 dog treats. Though she was actually named after my great-grandmother, she has literally grown into her name by costing us nearly her weight in Jewels. In July she was sick for almost a week refusing to eat and suffering from unexplained dehydration and abnormal blood values. As evidenced by her round figure and recent consumption of 16 omega 3-6-9 and 3 L-Carnitine capsules, this is a dog who will eat anything so when she refused food we knew something was wrong. We were in and out of the vet for most of that week, which cost over $1000 only to find out that the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, though they ruled out everything they thought it could be.

When she was just a puppy, she had a shoe fetish and destroyed more pairs of shoes than the average dog, most notably my stepfather's leather Harley boots. Yet her worst and most expensive act of destruction occurred when she was around 9 months old. My mom and I were sitting in the living room when we noticed that Jewel seemed to be missing. I went into my parent's room and heard a crunching sound. Jewel was under the bed chewing something, but what would make such a crunchy sound? When we pulled her out from under the bed, we saw that she was chomping on my stepfather's hearing aid! A $2000 chew toy! It had fallen out of his shirt pocket when he put it in the laundry and instead of falling into the laundry basket it had fallen on the floor, just waiting for a curious dachshund who happens to like the smell and taste of ear wax to come and get it. Either way I guess the hearing aid was doomed for destruction - either in the washing machine or by the dog, but the latter got the better of it. She didn't eat the battery, but by the time we got it away from her, it was no longer clearly recognizable as a hearing device. The worst part was figuring out how to tell my stepfather - since Jewel is technically "his" dog. My mom started by asking how much he loved her, then by asking how much he loved Jewel. His reaction: "What has she done this time?" Then she unfolded her hand and revealed what was left of his hearing aid. He took the news much better than we expected, though I think the greater punishment for all of us was his inability to hear for several months until I could get him a new pair of hearing aids in Germany (where a basic set costs only around $600 as opposed to $4000 here).

Let's not forget about Quintin in all of this. When we came in the door last night he barked excessively as if to try to tell us how upset he was that Jewel wasn't there. He then looked all over the house to try to find her. As an exception I let him sleep with me last night and to my surprise he was extremely calm and went right to sleep - I never even noticed him. He woke up at 5 to go outside - first stopping to look for his best friend - then went back to bed, waking up at 6 again for breakfast. He didn't want to eat at first. He barked when I asked "Where's Jewel", but then ate after I reassured him that Jewel would be home soon. Right now he is sleeping next to me and is much calmer than usual. I know I won't be the only one glad to have Jewel back home later on today - but I think that a certain canine will be the happiest of all.

A dachshund disaster: please keep Jewel in your thoughts

Pictures taken right after eating the pills - she knows she
did something wrong

I am not where I am supposed to be right now. I was supposed to be in Baltimore visiting my best friend from college, but at around 2 PM while I was packing, Jewel - my black dachshund - got into my weekend supply of vitamins in my purse and ate 16 omega 3-6-9 (fish, flax and borage oil) capsules and 3 L-carinitine/magnesium capsules. I immediately called the vet to see what I needed to do and they said she would probably be OK, but that if she started vomiting or experiencing diarrhea to bring her in. She seemed fine at first. But at around 3 her eyes got glossy and bloodshot and smelled like fish. I called the vet again and they said it was probably a normal reaction and that it would take a few days to clear up and for the fish odor to go away. I continued getting ready to go on my trip and took the dogs over to my parents for the weekend. On the way there, Jewel became more sedate and when we got there she wouldn't move and didn't react to my stepfather's greeting. She wouldn't get out of the car and when I opened the door to lift her out she had had an accident in the seat. I got her out but she wouldn't move - she was shaking and tried to vomit. My stepfather insisted that she would be OK and said that we should just leave her so that I could get to the airport on time. I felt so horrible and guilty leaving my sick baby. I got to the airport, checked in, went through security and about 30 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off I spoke to my mother about what had happened and we agreed that I needed to cancel the trip and get Jewel to the emergency animal hospital immediately. I canceled the trip (Southwest is nice enough to give full credit towards another flight for one year), got my luggage and my mom picked me up so that we could meet my stepfather and Jewel at the animal hospital. Animal poison control said that I shouldn't be too concerned, that she would probably just need fluids and anti-nausea medication. However, after getting her checked in and evaluating her, Jewel is experiencing neurological problems and is apparently blind for the time being. Dear readers, please pray for my little puppy. She gets herself into more trouble than a dog of her size should, but is a real sweetheart and brings joy to everyone she meets. I'm waiting on her blood results right now to get a better idea of what is going on. My poor little baby.

Today's Produce Box!

My Produce Box just arrived! Look out for recipes soon using ingredients from my box. Plus I still have several tomatoes, a ton of butternut squash, and 2 mini watermelons to use up. This week's box included TONS of huge sweet potatoes, lots of cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a couple of NC mountain apples, peaches, fresh thyme and oregano and 2 HUGE sweet onions. I also ordered an add-on of shiitake mushrooms, which are sure to be in one of my delicious salads soon!

The bounty of this week's Produce Box!