a week with a lot of life

We really did have a great time in NH. We did everything on our list: We saw waterfalls! We went on rides! We went out to breakfast! But, as a lot of things do right now, the whole thing felt so shaky and precarious. We are in one of those weird seasons where everything feels so wrought with meaning because it’s all the firsts – our first NH vacation where we didn’t have to wait for a call about my mom or have me on the phone with an ER or nurse. It puts a weird “supposed to” energy on things because we no longer have this elephant in the room, but we also are still finding our balance in this next part of life.

So, when the boarding place called to say Bella might have a UTI but they weren’t worried about it, it was like muscle memory to start worrying. 

 

<<this part isn’t too graphic, but it just talks about pet ick a bit, so SKIP THIS NEXT PARAGRAGH if you need to, but know Bella was sicker than a “don’t worry about it”, sigh. 

 

A few months ago, Bella had accidentally eaten grass with fertilizer on it and had gotten dehydrated and ended up hospitalized because she was throwing up blood; Lil Momma fell apart and we had a feelings-filled few days until she rallied. 10-years-old is no spring chicken for a small dog – these things hit her hard! When the boarding place texted us that she was peeing a little blood, I just knew something was wrong. The Mr. found a place with reception to pull over and we called to ask more questions, but they didn’t know if she had been drinking water at all and then said she could be seen by their vet so we shouldn’t rush back. An hour later, they let us know she could see a vet DAYS later and we knew we needed to make a move. We drove home the next morning and went and grabbed her. When we got home, she peed on the floor and it was all blood so our regular vet took her as an emergency appointment within an hour.

 

<<back to the story only!>>

 

We rushed Bella to the vet and it turned out she had a raging bacterial infection. With a lot of antibiotics and a lot of rest and a lot of tummy rubs, she’s slowly getting back to her usual energy and attitude. PHEW!

 

That Saturday was supposed to be my solo-trip test drive. We lost my godmother a few weeks ago and they were having her celebration of life in Waterville, Maine. My original plan was to drive up for the event and stay in a hotel overnight and then head on Sunday am. However, the traffic on my way up was WILD through Boston and even into NH – weekends in the summer, oof. I was an hour late! But it was lovely to see my god sister and her brother and their families and my godfather, most of whom I haven’t seen in person in almost 20 years. I even found a booklover to chat with! 

 

A lot of our reflections were on making the most of time we have with family and living life while we can… When I drove to this dilapidated hotel after, I took a beat and realized I wanted to be with MY little family and in MY bed (maybe timing this after being away for days was the mistake??) and I didn’t want to get caught up in Sunday southbound traffic. So, I drove home and made record time, haha! I pulled in around 9pm and then was just a sore hot mess all day yesterday.

 

Not the week I had in mind, but the week I got! Back to our regularly scheduled end of August programming as Lil Momma navigates 2 more weeks of camp, her birthday week (11 – yikes!), and then back to school and I keep plowing through this oof work situation, getting back to movement post-walking boot, and hopefully wrapping up some of my summer projects…

 

Do you have calm vacations or is your life frantic like mine? Even when I try to relax, it can feel like the universe doesn’t want me to, haha!