rootofnewt | (no subject)

i slept in today. i had trouble falling asleep at midnight because i did not know how loud the ductwork was in this house. it sounded like someone was rifling through pots and pans in the hallway on the other side of the wall. or like a snare drum. once i convinced myself that all would be well, i fell asleep. i woke up around 9am. nice sleep. :)

okay, after reading this, i feel i need a cast of characters. so i'm adding one in.
grandma = my dad's mother
great-grandma = my dad's maternal grandmother
grandpa = my dad's father
great-uncle = my grandma's brother-in-law
aunt = my mother's little sister

after getting showered, fed, and dressed (not in that order), i went over to chit-chat with my great-grandma. we chatted for awhile, she invited me out for lunch, but i demurred as i didn't know what dad's plans were. i stayed with her for awhile, as dad was helping (okay, he claims he was only providing a bracing support) my great-uncle and a neighbor pull down a tree. after it was down, i said goodbye and found dad in the duplex next door, trying to fix the sink.

he wandered back and forth between the house (grandma's) and the duplex (great-grandma lives in one-half), fetching parts and tools. i followed him for a bit, plugging in things and throwing valves when necessary. he asked about great-grandma (he never visits his grandma unless i ask him because he has little patience with older Southern women) and then suggested that i take her out to lunch.

mind you, this means i have to drive the enormous tank of a car that belongs to grandma--a sage green crown victoria.

we went to taco bell, which is safe for my health and safe for her budget. then i asked if she needed anything else and she asked to go to Aldi. it's a discount grocery shop, so we pulled in and i helped her around the store. she waved at a friend as we were leaving, but didn't stay to chat. as we were driving back to the neighborhood, i asked when she'd last been to see her husband's grave. turns out it had been over a year and she was thrilled when i suggested we visit. so i took her over to the grave (it's near the gravel path). we then drove up to see my grandfather's grave. the memorial day flowers were still on both graves and we'd normally remove them in november, but it was such a pretty day and they were all in relatively good shape, so great-grandma didn't have the heart to remove them. after that, i took her home and took her groceries inside. i put the fridge and freezer items away and then hugged her and set off to find dad.

he still wasn't ready to go see his mom because i promised to bring her a pizza and it was too late for dinner, too early for supper. so we tooled around and then went to see my aunt.

when we got there, i saw only two dogs outside. mind you, my aunt's "boys" are boisterous and big. i knew that charlie was sick, but i didn't know how sick. when we got inside, this big, lean mutt was sitting very still against the wall, behind my aunt's chair. i went to pet him and saw that his breathing was labored--he didn't even move to acknowlege me. his eyes were downcast. this--from a dog who has ALWAYS greeted me with a lick on the top of my head. while we were talking with my aunt, dad tried to convince her to take him to the vet right away. she was hesitant, because he'd just been in for xrays that morning about a spot on his lung (cleared up with antibiotics over the previous two weeks) and he'd been fine then. he's been having these depressed episodes and the doc hadn't managed to see him during one.

this was bad. when he tried to move, he just whimpered. he wouldn't eat, drink, take a treat, or stand up. dad convinced my aunt to call the vet, who said to bring charlie in right away. i think he felt my aunt was worrying over nothing. my dad went to move his car and bring my aunt's jeep around by the door while my aunt called her husband and looked for charlie's lead. when the car pulled around and my aunt went out to open doors, charlie stood up slowly and came to me. she managed to get him in the car.

my aunt thought charlie weighed 50 pounds. dad's a heart patient.. my aunt can't lift, either. and i'm not supposed to lift. nevertheless.

i went around back to let the other two boys in the house and to lock up. jed came racing to the front door. my aunt said he just wanted her... but he was looking straight at the jeep. lucky just looked worried.

i rode with my aunt and charlie, calming him as we went around corners. my dad followed us. when we got there, my aunt made sure a room was available. i carried him in.

i don't think he weighed 50 pounds. poor thing was so skinny.

i put him on the floor and he just collapsed. the vet pulled up charlie's lips and his gums were white. :(

charlie was in shock.

my aunt said she was okay. we could leave. the vet went to get steroid injections.

dad and i went to the nursing home (stopped for pizza for grandma). i saw that there was a message afterwards, but dad didn't know how to check the cell voicemail. he called my aunt and my uncle answered, told him charlie had died.

later, we found out that charlie had a tumor on his spleen that ruptured, which they found during emergency surgery after the vet found blood in charlie's abdominal cavity. my aunt chose to let him die under anaesthesia, which i think was certainly the most humane ending for charlie. my poor aunt. :( she loves her boys so much.

anyhow, that put a dampener on my day. after leaving grandma (we visited for awhile, chatted while she happily ate her pizza, and called her sister-in-law for a family convo), we visited some friends of the family. they are renters (grandma owns some property) who do odd jobs and collect rent. we chatted with them, got some gossip, and came home. i just ate my mac and cheese.

dad's red popsicles taste like cough medicine.

and not in a good way.

i think i'll go lose myself in irc for awhile.