December 11, 2014 Thursday Afternoon

I first off want to thank you for the comments from my last post.  It is because of comments like that I have been able to write this blog and will continue going forward.   Thank you.  You help me more than you know.

Not adjusting well to the cold here in Wisconsin.  Winter started very fast and we were below normal in temperatures for a long time.  We now have average December temperature but that is still below freezing and cold.  Thankfully the sun did come out today since we have not seen it since Sunday morning.  I still am fighting this lung infection thing.  Some days it is better than others.  Got my chest xray results back and they did not show anything / they were negative.  I still have a dry couch and feel tired most of the time.  In fact I spent more time in bed today then out of bed.  The inhaler I got as a prescription also helps.  I am so glad I quit smoking cigarettes going on a year and half now.  I still have this little voice telling me there is more going on with my lungs and I am wishing there was a way to check for lung cancer.  Most would say I am nuts but I am more in tune to my body than most people are due to the HIV.  When I finally MADE my doctor give me an HIV test I knew deep down something was seriously wrong and even had a feeling it was HIV from all I knew of the disease.  I feel this way with my lungs.  Something keeps telling me to go the next step.  I couch most of the day and my shoulder blades and chest hurt.  Lungs sometimes feel raw.  Not really couching up much.   Oh well, time will tell.

The dogs are doing great.  I could not be happier with the way this fostering of Rose and Casper has turned out.   All the dogs are together now all the time except for feeding.  Bo has taken to eating with the big dogs since he wants to be with and like them.  So I feed Rose, Casper and Bo in the kitchen and Vito and Kali in the dining room with a door baby gate closed while they all eat.  I can not express enough how much these two dogs have done for me, and for Tony.  I can not help but look at them and smile with a tear in my eye knowing how they came here, and now how happy they are.  They show us all day how happy and grateful they are to be here.  Tony still takes Rose to work in the morning and his brother walks her to the dog park rain or shine.  When I pulled up in front of the auto body shop to pick her up today Tony's brother came out with her  unleashed.  I just shook my head and told him I didn't appreciate it, and would rather she be on a leash due to another dog or a squirrel or something.  He was trying to show me just how good she is and I saw that.  She has come so far because of him so I just have to accept what I can and make sure I voice my concerns and hope for the best.  If I honestly though my dog was in danger due to any one's action I would step in.  Rose loves Tony's brother and goes nuts whimpering and tail wagging when he arrives each day.  She cries for him.  It is very sweet.  I think it has worked out well for the brother since his divorce just became final this last few months and he has not taken it well.  Rose and him have bonded and it is really sweet.  Tony and I now touch base each day around 11:30 AM to figure who is going to bring Rose home.  So the dogs have even helped Tony and I get closer.  The house is so different now with no fear of anyone getting hurt and all the gates down.  Honestly when it comes to the dogs, life couldn't get any better.  Kali still makes it from day to day but when she sleeps she has a hard time breathing and she is going on 17 years old.  I just feel blessed each day to still have her and know each day could be her last.  When Rose is at work I let Casper and Bo play - supervised.   Have to keep saying 'not so rough' and 'be good, no hurting each other'.  Casper is still learning how to play with a small dog, and Bo is learning how to play with a big dog that is not his Stella. 

We started binge watching the HBO show Getting On last weekend and I recommend it.  It is in it's second season and each season is only six half hour episodes.  So it is easy to binge watch and get caught up.  Very good show.  Lots of stars and each show is sad, happy, and funny weird all in one half hour.   My favorite new TV show this season is the show Stalker on CBS.   I love this show even more than How To Get Away With Murder.

I put the massage chair we bought months ago on Craigslist again yesterday and got a call on it today.  A guy came and looked at it and put $200 down.  I sold it for $700 so we only lost $100 on the bad purchase.  If you remember we bought this and was one of our most miscommunicated mistakes in 25 years, both thinking the other wanted it.  Tomorrow the guy comes to take it and pay the balance.  Will be so happy it is gone.

Picked up my monthly HIV meds today at the AIDS resource center downtown.  I feel very comfortable going to the center and never have felt like I have to look over my shoulder as I walk in the door.  The staff has always made me feel so welcome.  I am glad I quit the client board I was on because it just was time to move on and it gives me more time at home with the dogs. 

I am almost done Christmas shopping.  Tony and I have gone a few times to stores like Target and Big Lots.   Bought a few things to wrap but for the most part we have everything we need so there is nothing to buy.  I buy more for my family and Tony's than for each other.  The only things we buy for each other seems to be underwear, socks, flash light for at work ..... things we could buy any day.  I just wrap anything we buy for ourselves between Thanksgiving and Christmas and that is what we open on Christmas morning.  I will go to the mall the week of Christmas for the afternoon just to listen to the music and feel Christmasy.  I'll find an item or two for each of us.

Thanks again for any and all comments.  They are appreciated more than you know.  Nice to know I am not just talking to myself.  If you aren't already following us on Facebook check out our page named:   Rose and Casper.