Happy 101st, Cornelia

Did you imagine you'd be 101 some day? That you are today - December 1st, 2010!

You died at 97. You nailed your departure from this world on the day of your birth, 2006. How many people can manage that?! You had style, Lady Cornelia.

You style maven! I still wear your jewelry as often as I can. There is plenty of it -- much of it, as you know, was costume jewelry. But now, 50-60 years after you bought it new,  it's the hottest thing: crystal earrings and necklaces and bracelets. People are always commenting on my jewelry, and I think, thank you.

You celebrity in waiting! -- I still think of you sitting on my living room couch, in front of a roaring fire, holding your martini glass just so, digging the atmosphere and reveling in the moment. "I'm just a party girl," you insisted. At age 95, you were the ultimate party animal. I loved your spirit. Still do.

Happy birthday, Cornelia. I miss you terribly so. I pledge to carry your torch.

La Quinta Quandary

We're still quibbling over the La Quinta quest. Not to say that our quibbling is anything like the *nitpicking* type of quibbling. More like outright querulous quandary: what was I thinking?

For me, at least, the trip to La Quinta (aka, the "new" Palm Springs) to scope out a vacation home was not really a waste of time, because I learned that...well, it's just not the lifestyle nor setting I prefer. Put another way, I'm both astonished and disappointed at my seeming ability to dive head first into a shallow pool. And now, I need to carp and niggle a little, just to work it all out in my mind.

You see, my big dream of finding that quiet, affordable mid-century design desert hideaway with a pristine, sparkling swimming pool suddenly faded as we  were shown vacant house after vacant house after vacant house in both open communities and walled developments, all of them built on or near well-watered golf courses. (Never mind there was no sign of a natural water source within 150 miles.) This is a community that flies in the face of reality: its main features are man-made lakes, waterfalls and other Disneyesque water features. It boasts hundreds (maybe thousands?) of acres of private thirsty golf courses, walled  developments and members-only clubs, fancy restaurants and fast food eateries with no drive-thrus (how tacky is that), and building construction regulations that prohibit unique designs outside the ubiquitous sandstone-and-cream colored faux mediterranean and adobe rip-offs.

The "new" desert lifestyle -- with its casinos, clubs, golf carts and cantinas -- is not for us.  Will we go back? Perhaps, but just to visit. And if we do, I won't be looking for the impossible dream. And Elliott promises not to say, "I told you so."

Another hospital adventure!

Today, I got up extra early in order to take my daily walk in Chelsea. I caught the sky with my cell phone camera at a wonderful moment. Then at 8:30, I drove El to the University Hospital in Ann Arbor for his surgery to replace his ICD (Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator). The one they replaced had lasted 11 years! The operation took about 2 hours, and recovery another 3 hours.

He's resting now, still a bit loopy from the versed and fentanyl (versed creates amnesia, while fentanyl is used as an analgesic). He woke up from surgery proclaiming that he was my "brother from another planet". Seriously. He also kept raising his eyebrows and opening his eyes very wide and saying in very slow and measured speech, "isn't this peculiar?!"

At any rate, the operation went smoothly and now he has a brand new device to pace his heart and deliver any necessary shocks if his heart decides to slow down or speed up. Yay!

Back at the ranch -- Lusso is improving day by day. He touches his foot to the ground now when he walks slowly, and seems to have gotten back some of his lost energy. He loves the stroller ride I take him on in the early mornings -- this could become a tradition!

Just one week before we leave for California! Wheeeee!!

Summer update!

Wow, I just realized I hadn't written anything on this blog for almost 3 months! Where does the time go...? So here's an update, complete with photos of the latest news.

First - since my last update - Elliott has recovered from his melanoma surgery, with an uncertain prognosis. The best the oncologists can do is cite statistical data that predicts he has a 10% - 50% chance of survival to 5 years. As El says, he's too curmudgeonly for any malignancy to reside for very long in his body. So we think he has some time left to enjoy.

Speaking of which! El's 65th birthday celebration was yesterday, and we had a great party here, complete with flamingoes on the lawn and about 25 people -- both relatives and friends -- who helped us celebrate.

El got calls from several family members and friends in California, and he had a wonderful day. Both of us were exhausted at the end of course -- it was over 100 degrees and the humidity was high, so everyone was properly sapped.

Lusso apparently stepped in a rabbit hole recently, and ended up in surgery where they re-attached his kneecap and inserted pins to keep it in place. Now he can't go for his regular walks for 8 weeks while he heals. So to give him his daily dose of sniffing, I bought a used stroller and walk through Chelsea with Lusso sitting where a baby normally would. I truly look like the crazy dog-lady with my dog all tucked into his little bed on wheels. Elliott says next I'll start making baby bonnets for him.

We're looking forward to taking a two-week trip to California from July 15th - August 2nd. We've got an interesting (and full) itinerary that includes several days in Palm Springs, several days in the Pasadena / Altadena area, several days up the coast in Cambria, and then a couple of days at Big Bear Lake where I'll be meeting up with some of my high school friends for a casual reunion.

Sane people might wonder why we're going to Palm Springs in July? Well, we've decided we want to spend time out in California during the cold, cold winters -- and what better place to do that than in the California desert. We've hooked up with Kathy Schowe, a realtor there who is lining up prospective houses to buy for a vacation home. Prices there are really quite good right now, so we're hoping to find one before this coming winter.

While in Pasadena, El plans to visit the Caltech faculty lunch tables, and I plan to do some window shopping in Old Town. We're both going to visit the latest exhibit at Art Center's Williamson Gallery, courtesy Stephen Nowlin, and we'll have dinner with the Nowlins on their patio. We'll also be joining the Andrews-Munoz clan for El's mom's 89th birthday at Villa Gardens, and on Saturday the 24th, we'll host many of our old friends for a pizza party at Sylvie and Nick's house.

In Cambria, we plan to see John and Laylon, and immerse ourselves in the art and culinary culture of the central coast. We'll stay in the same place we did while on our honeymoon 18 years ago -- San Simeon Pines Lodge. Can't wait!

Time for some updates!

Since February, our lives have been topsy-turvy. First, Lola came to stay, but only for about ten days. Lola's picture is in the blog previous to this one -- a very smart, very bitchy little Chihuahua who just absolutely despised Lusso. Our hope was that Lola would become friends with Lusso, but she just wouldn't go there. She wanted us all to herself.

So, after much painful deliberation between ourselves, and then a couple of painful bites from attacks by Lola on Lusso's neck and back, we decided to throw in the towel. Lola went back to her foster home, but then was quickly adopted by a nice couple, and all is well with her in her new home. Lusso, on the other hand, took weeks to recover. He's much more docile now, and that's kinda nice, actually.  He began to perk up and become more of his playful self just recently -- here are the "before Lola left" and "after Lola left" photos. Judge for yourself.

Then March rolled around. Shortly after celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary, Elliott learned that suspicious lump on his neck was metastatic malignant melanoma. The roller coaster ride from Hell soon began, as we scrambled to get the medical attention he needed, and as quickly as possible. The full story is on another blog I started, Once Again, With Feeling. At this writing, we still don't know what the prognosis is, but we are trying to live each day as it comes. Life is good.

Sylvie and Nick came to visit in early April, and they gave us a huge assist with yard work and spring cleanup. We were having a roof replacement done at the same time, so there was lots of activity at the house -- and we had just beautiful weather too. In fact all the trees and flowering shrubs and flowers have exploded in all their glory, a full five weeks early this year! Both Sly and Nick rode motorcycles -- and I think they now have "the bug". We'll see.

Tomorrow, Rodney and Rosemary Miller arrive for a short weekend with us. We're looking forward to their visit -- they always cheer us up!

A new coat for Lola from recycled sweaters

Lola is much smaller than Lusso. So the pattern I made for his sausage body was too big for her. I cut it down quite a bit, then pieced together a little brown and yellow coat from an old sweater and polo shirt. For the ties, I used a piece of ribbon I'd had lying around for what seems like centuries. She likes the coat, and is sitting in front of the heater vent in the kitchen to pose for a photo. The heater vent is her favorite spot.

Progress with Lola and Lusso!

Well -- thanks to online instructions from the Dog Whisperer (Cesar), we're making good progress here. We've had 3 visitors to the house since Lola arrived. The first one didn't go so well -- our good friend John Deikis, who's about 6'4" and has a booming voice, came for dinner last night. Both Lola and Lusso went berserk. We ended up putting the dogs in the guest house for the evening just so we could hear ourselves talk!

Then this morning, Ariel arrived with Elliott R -- Ariel's running a 5K this morning out in this area -- and again, Lola went nuts. After about 20 minutes, she calmed down, but continued to growl in a low voice at Elliott R.

So I got online and checked with Cesar to see what to do about aggressive behavior when a visitor arrives. It turns out you're supposed to exercise the dogs vigorously, like running them up and down stairs, then run them through a series of commands. That will tire them and get their attention. Then they also know you are the one in charge and will be much better about listening to you.

So after Ariel & E left, I ran the doggies up and down our stairs about 10 times. Each time when we reached the top of the stairs, I made them sit and stay. They both loved it, and they were both so exhausted at the end that they flopped into their beds and have been sleeping quietly for an hour!! Here are pictures of what they look like right now!! (They each have a bed on either side of my chair at the table, and that's where they stay when I'm working at the computer.) 

Other stuff: they are getting along pretty well, especially when I walk them together, or when I take them outside to "sniff". I remove reasons for them to be territorial with each other, and give them room to get used to each other. Lusso is a bit bewildered at this new development but he seems to have accepted that she is here, and he's doing his best to cope. Lola acts like she has lived here for years!

Whatever Lola wants...Lola Gets

Introducing Lola, the feisty little Chihuahua who survived a near-death experience and was saved by Guardian Angel Animal Rescue here in the Detroit area two months ago. I found her on the Petfinder website that links to GAAR. Apparently, she was brought in to be euthanized by someone who claimed to have found her on the street after having been attacked by another dog and left for dead. But the vets on staff that day saved her, stitched her up, and gave her another chance at a long life.

I worked with the foster mom who was taking care of Lola for about 6 weeks -- put in an application, talked on the phone regularly to follow Lola's progress as she healed. When she was almost ready to meet me, her foster mom discovered a lump that turned out to be a tumor on one of her nipples. To be on the safe side, the vet removed it and ran pathology to make sure it wasn't cancer. I waited another 3 weeks to find out whether I could go ahead with the adoption.

Then last week, I got the call from Lola's foster mom that we could meet and see if Lola could come home with me. We met at a neutral place -- Petsmart in Ann Arbor -- so Lola could me both me and Lusso. I was nervous, because Lusso tends to be quite snarky with some dogs and I didn't know whether it would go well. And at first, Lola was really snappy and growly. After about 30 minutes, though, she began to calm down and we decided to take her to my house so the foster mom could see our place and make a decision as to whether Lola could live with us.

We spent the afternoon together, with Lusso and Lola checking each other out, but not fighting or showing signs of rejection. Whew!! The foster mom said she was satisfied  all would be well, and left Lola with us that evening.

Since then, Lola and Lusso have been working out who's in charge. It's really interesting to watch the process. Lusso won't budge on some things, like letting her near his bed; but in general, Lola has the upper paw. Lusso gives way and leaves her alone when she growls at him, and vice versa. During the day, they do play, and seem to get along fine. I'll be uploading more pictures today -- stay tuned!!