Thanks so much for all of you who chimed in on my ‘feeling down’ post. I wasn’t looking for sympathy, I’m the last person who needs it. You know, sometimes venting is good for your soul so you can move on.

We’re making progress on the pool work.

Can we add this to the list of jobs that I would never want to have?

It’s hard work. It’s hot. It’s hot hard work.

The men that have been here (4 weeks) doing the demolition and then setting the waterline tile, coping tile and the stair risers are in their 40’s. I mean, I think they’re in their 40’s. From all the cigarettes and cokes they drink, they might be in their 20’s. Who knows. They don’t speak much English, but are very nice when I try to make small talk with my non-Spanish speaking self.

We noticed that Callie was very interested in the dumpster area as well as anywhere these men might have their lunch/break time. I knew she was smelling and looking for scraps.

You can take the dog out of the junkyard, but you can’t take the junkyard out of the dog.

Kidding. She’s not from a junkyard, but she has JYD tendencies. I’ll not share all the details but I found quite a bit of vomit on Monday afternoon; mostly on our new wool rugs. Thanks girl.

We were in a vomit and diarrhea cycle which is my least favorite cycle. She was drinking water, then losing it. I thought we should take her to the after hours emergency hospital, Coach thought we should wait till the morning and see if she recovered on her own as the Vet stresses her out.

Callie and I got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep Monday night. She was uncomfortable, restless. I was following her around outside more times in the middle of the night than I can remember; inside she moved from bed to bed and at one point climbed her large self into Lillie’s tiny crate. My heart was breaking for her.

If you recall, we were told in February 2020 that she would only have 2 weeks to 2 months; so she’s been on borrowed time.

Tuesday morning Coach took her to our vet as he knew I was irritated with the decision from the night before; they gave her an IV with fluids and anti-naseua meds. Her bloodwork showed nothing alarming aside from low blood sugar. After a few hours she was improving and ravenous. He brought her home that night and she seemed like a new person dog.

Our vet left the IV port in just in case we needed to bring her back again the next day for fluids, you know, to save us the $100.00 reinsertion fee. Nice, but Callie was obsessed with it so I removed it.

NOTE FOR SUZ: add Veterinary Tech to your resume and scratch Pool Construction.

We’re not 100% sure, but we THINK she might have gotten into some discarded human food or wrappers from the workers. Or maybe this is just her body getting ready for the end?

Wednesday morning: She’s feeling much better and I had to drag her old ass away from the dumpster. *sigh*

My next post will be lighter and cuter. I promise!

XOXO

I had a very nice birthday weekend; thanks for all the well wishes. I started my 54th birthday morning with a cartwheel.

*She’s still got it!*

But she’s probably losing it.

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NEXT!

Several years ago I noticed the tile on the backside of our hot tub was cracking. I mean, we all crack at some point, so why not do it where no one really notices? I had asked my pool maintenance people about it a few times but they never followed through. Finally, I decided that not only did that part need to be replaced/updated, lets do all of the spa tile and the pool waterline tile too. The pool is almost 19 years old and just like our hair styles, it needs updating. 

I called a few pool renovation companies back in February to help us update the spa and waterline tile. Turns out, we also need to redo the pebblecrete surface throughout the entire pool and spa. 

Do you call it a spa or a hot tub? I use both interchangeably. 

Never is there a time where a project doesn’t roll into 3 or 4 more.

When you redo the pool surface, you also need to update the drains to meet the ever changing codes for safety. The cage, while it still serves its purpose (to keep the bugs and critters out) is really overkill with the amount of aluminum; you can get away with less poles and better views with 2021 engineering. The pavers? They are in good shape, but they don’t match any of the pool tile selections that we liked. The house color doesn’t match the new decking material we selected, so painting will commence in the not-so-distant future.

And if you’re updating the deck pavers, you have to remove the outdoor kitchen as it SITS on said pavers.

Th hardest thing for me to chose was the waterline/spa tile. I walked into the showroom with one criteria:

I don’t want blue tile; everyone has blue tile!

Also Suz:

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I told you I was losing it.

A few friends will be taking a good portion of our pavers to reuse for projects at their homes.

The pool cage was taken down last Thursday and all the aluminum will be recycled. I love to update things, but also NOT add too much to the landfill.

_{Lillie: WTH Mom?}

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Friday morning I was walking by the glass doors and noticed something scooting across the naked pool area: A baby box turtle. Wait, did you happen to hear me squealing? HE IS SO CUTE!

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It took all the strength I had to set him free in the yard. I pray he doesn’t come back onto the lanai because he isn’t a swimmer. I’ll forever worry about him.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

XOXO