Calvin's Close Call

Our roommate moved in last April and followed most of the rules pretty well.  One afternoon, probably Friday, she bought some plants or brought them home from work...I'm not too sure.  I just knew that plants entered my home and I thought since she knew we had pets she would put them outside or leave them in her room with the door closed.  Nope.  She left them on the floor for the pets to have full access to them.  My cat was still a little weary of the dog since he moved in at the end of July so he still didn't feel comfortable hanging out in the living room all that much.

I've learned since I got my cat, about 9 years ago, he can not go outside because he will just eat grass, come in and barf it up somewhere in the house.  Same goes with the Christmas tree and plants that people leave sitting around the house.  We told her not to let him outside or let him eat anything green when she moved in.  We thought that would have stuck.  Plus, has she noticed our plethora of plants scattered all over the house?  No.

I went to work, suffered through the day with lack of sleep, I don't sleep well in the summer time because I want to cram everything into three months due to the nice weather so we treat our summers like we will never get one ever again.  Seize the summer!!  Fall and winter set in too soon!  Anyway, I got home, we had dinner, we relaxed a bit and I played on my computer for a while until it was time to take a shower and get ready for bed.  This next weekend was going to be busy and days leading up to it was going to be really busy.

Right after my shower, brushing my teeth and putting my clothes on, I noticed this green blob of plant cat barf just inside our bedroom door.  I panic because my cat seemed different almost lethargic unlike he does after eating grass from outside.  I run into the living room where the plant was (she had taken one somewhere) and took the tag out of it.  I immediately get online and check if the plant was toxic to pets.  The plant was called Kalanchoe and I've never heard of it before.  I checked the symptoms and the possibly outcomes that could happen if the said pet did not get medical attention right away.  One of them was cardiac arrest depending on how much was ingested and what was left inside after it was puked out.  I scooped up the barf on the floor with a wipie, wrapped it around the plant tag and put it into a plastic bag.  I knew I would probably need it.

I got pissed immediately and told Ben we would have to take Calvin to a vet that is open 24 hours which meant we would probably have to go to Tacoma or somewhere similar to that this late at night.  I checked the clock and it was around 9:30...almost time to go to bed so I could get up at 6 the next morning.  Ben called vets and got information while I prepared the cat carrier.  I did not want my cat to die from a plant that shouldn't have been brought into the house and we had just gotten over Harvey dying from being poisoned.  My emotions were running high and I wanted to save my cat.

Ben got a hold of a place that would do it in Lakewood but we had to go through a pet poison place for a consult which would cost us $65.  Ugh, I had a feeling tonight was going to cost a lot of money and I was stressed out about my trip next month to Ecuador.  This couldn't have come at a better time.  The person on the phone basically told us to get him in as soon as possible because we didn't know how much he ate or how long ago it was.

Our roommate sat in her room pretty down on herself for not using her brain and she knew she was going to have to pay me back for all the money I was going to have to spend.  I got Calvin into the cat carrier and we were on our way to Lakewood.  Meanwhile, Calvin was meowing a little bit in the carrier wondering where we were going.  Ben was having a text conversation with her about getting that plant out of the house immediately and never leaving anything like that for pets to get at ever again.  She said she was sorry (which didn't take back any of this) and that she would pay me back (probably through small payments which was going to kill my bank account) and that the plants will be gone when we got home.

I tried really hard to keep it together and it was exhausting.  When we got there, we chatted with the front desk lady and told her the story, handed her the evidence and gave her Calvin.  I told him that he would be okay and he was just getting checked to see if he was okay.  He was so confused and scared.  We sat for about a half hour while they did a few tests.  Then we were taken to a room with one of the doctors on shift.  She explained what they were going to do and they would have to monitor and flush out his system to make sure all of the poison was gone.  I gave consent for them to do whatever they needed to do to make sure he was safe.

We sat out in the waiting area again and then was called up just before 11:30.  I was getting tired.  For them to do all of the treatments I had to pay up front $1301 that night!!  What?!!  It was a good thing I had saved a lot of money this summer or I would have been tapping into my reserves which meant more stress for next month!  I was so pissed off.  I paid and she printed us our itemized bill so our roommate could see what the actual price of that plant cost her.  The lady told us we could pick Calvin up on Wednesday.  Ben asked if we could see him before we left and she took us back there.  He was hiding in the corner of a silver probably a 3x3 cage wondering why we were leaving him there.  I petted him and told him that we would be back to get him in a couple days and these people were making sure you were okay.  Ben did the same thing.  I thanked her for letting us see him and we left and went home.

I had a hard time leaving my cat behind.  I've never had to leave him at the vet for anything since I've had him.  When we got home it was weird not having a cat to snuggle with or lay next to over the course of the night.  He also wakes me up in the morning wanting to be fed around 4:30 and I tell him to wait about two hours.  I was not woken up for two days and I kinda missed that.  There was definitely a void in my life.

Ben went and picked him up on Wednesday and brought him home  There was an additional $37 to add to the final bill.  He gave him so treats and kitty did a lot of resting the rest of the day until I came home and gave him some snuggles.  He had a partly shaved tail and all four of his feet had shave spots on them.  It was probably going to take about two months until those grew back in.

I ate the $65 consultation and we made the roommate pay the 1338 back in bimonthly installments so every month I got $200.00 which sucks.  I really needed that chunk of money back for my trip.

I am so glad kitty survived our poison scare and it shouldn't happen again and it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Next Adventure:  SE Thurston County Relay for Life and Blitz!

Seattle Seahawks Training Camp

That Thursday Del, Nicole's boyfriend who has Seahawk season tickets, contacted Ben and I to see if we wanted his tickets.  He said he's gone several times and didn't want to go this year, one of the many perks of having season tickets, and he was offering them to us.  I called mom to see if she wanted to go because I know she has never gone to anything like this before.  She said yes and we arranged our Sunday accordingly.  We still had one extra ticket and Ben's mom was going to be out of town so he asked Josh, even though Josh really isn't into football or the Seahawks.

I had so many questions so I consulted the website to see what we could and could not bring.  Ben talked to Del about parking spots, when we should get there, what we should expect, etc.  I wrote down a few things to keep in mind and made sure we followed the rules.  I also checked to see if mom's camera was allowed in the VMAC and it was thankfully.  We were to go to The Landing in Renton, find free parking lot nearby and walk to get in line where the busses came and got you.  We had to check in and ride a bus to the VMAC.

I told everyone to come over around 7 a.m. on Sunday because we had to get up there because I heard the line takes a while to get through and to bring a chair and whatever else you needed for the day.  Everyone agreed to come over at that time.

That morning, Ben and I got up around 6:30, I hate getting up that early in the morning on the weekends.  Luckily I had most of the stuff ready the night before so getting ready involved bathroom things and putting clothes on.  I was driving the Escape so I went out and put all the chairs in the back and made sure all the seats were up and cleared off.

Everyone arrived around 7ish, we loaded everyone up and headed out.  I was hoping for a quick drive there without traffic.  We got onto I-5 north and got off at the 512 interchange and followed that until the 405 interchange.  Traffic kept going the entire time.  I truly expected some traffic.  Along the way we talked about an array of stuff.  When we got to our exit I was looking for Fry's because Del said he always parked there but I saw the signs about not parking there for training camp.  We had to figure out something else quickly.  I saw the Boeing lot and parked there because it was free and not too far away from The Landing.

We made sure we had everything before we made the few block walk.  I had my chair, my see through bag, my phone and my cards and money.  The last time I was at The Landing, I was here with Bob and Bev years ago geocaching.  We were here for an event and did some caching around the Renton area.  When we got to The Landing I saw the line.  It was huge!  I wonder how long we would have to wait.  We stood in line and found out it actually moved faster than I thought it would.  Mom forgot her phone so she walked back quickly to go get it.  We actually moved pretty far by the time she got back.

When it was our turn to go inside the building and show our tickets and get our wrist bands, it was about 9:20.  We had 40 minutes until training camp started.  I went to go check my stuff and they said my wallet was too big and I had to go check it in.  I was pretty upset because it was millimeters off.  I tried to convince the lady but she said no.  I went back in the building and checked my wallet and I wasn't happy about it.  I came back out and walked through the metal detectors and rejoined mom, Ben and Josh to get on a bus.

I haven't been on a school bus in years.  It was a short ride to the VMAC, we arrived, Josh bought a football just in case we were able to get autographs and quickly walked to where the spectators were allowed to go and watch. 

Of course we got there later than I anticipated and most of the spots were taken and everyone did a very bad job of making room for everyone.  We found a row we could squeeze our chairs and ourselves into and of course when you are in a public place with lots of people someone is going to complain at you.  The strip we found was big enough for us and the people in front and behind us.  The guy sitting behind us had to open his fat mouth.  In a nutshell, he assumed we were going to be in the way of the people he was saving spots for.  Ben nicely told him that we wouldn't be in the way and there was plenty of room.  He didn't say anything else to us the remainder of the time were there.

Practice promptly started at 10.  The first part involved stretching, jogging and calisthenics.  The next short chunk of time involved the different groups of players running, catching and juking with the football.  Everything was timed and it was perfected down to the T.  I was impressed how all the players went from one thing to another, like a well oiled machine.  They worked on some offensive drills and some defensive drills, split the teams up and worked on plays with a full defense and a full offense while the kickers were off to the side working on their kicking scenarios.  There was a lot to watch.

I went and took a few pictures around the place because I have never been inside...just the outside.

Practice lasted for two hours so the second hour were a lot of offense and defense sets that they worked on.  They swapped guys in and out and since this was training camp a lot of the new trades and rookies were thrown into the cycles.  It was fun to watch everyone get playing time and to see what the new guys could do.  We really liked a couple of the rookies we drafted.  We were hoping they would keep at least one of them.  I guess we will see once preseason got underway and the results once the actual season started in September.

I noticed some people got Seahawk signs with the schedule on one side and "More Seahawks" on the other side; they were sponsored by Q13 FOX.  I really wanted one for our Seahawk wall at home.  I had Ben go and see if any of the tents were giving them away.  He went and was gone for a few minutes and came back empty handed.  He then asked the couple in front of us where they got theirs.  They said the first like 1,500 people inside got one as they got off the busses.  Sadly we weren't one of those people who arrived first.  The guy spoke up and said that I could have his because they had both got one and they really only needed one.  We thanked him for being so kind and he said not a problem and to enjoy the sign and we told him we definitely will.

Practice wrapped up pretty quickly.  The families of the team, the media and the fans separated by the fence patiently waited to see if anyone from the team would sign autographs.  It would have been impossible for us to get down there plus the guys giving out autographs were really the guys no one really wanted autographs from.  Players like Sherman, Bennett and Wilson were not going to stick around to sign autographs in fact, they went inside the VMAC as soon as practice ended.

We grabbed our chairs and put them away and started for the gate to go get in line for the bus to take us back to The Landing.  We didn't have to wait too long and we were on our way back.  We should get there before one.  We were dropped off, I went to where I had to check in my wallet and got that back, I asked everyone if they wanted to go into the team store to get our free posters.  We had to spend $20 to get the 2 posters but it was worth it.  I bought a few stickers, shoe laces and a Sounders bag and got by posters.  Meanwhile, Ben and Josh messed around with a guy who was dressed up like a Mexican wrestler a few stores down from where we were.

Mom and I started walking towards Red Robin and told the boys to meet up with us when they were done.  We were lucky to get a table as quickly as we did and ordered drinks while we waited for them to join us.  I usually get the tavern double because it was cheap and delicious.  The ended up joining us about 15 minutes later and we ordered immediately because the place was hoppin' and we didn't want to wait that long for our waitress to come back.  Our food finally came and I scarfed mine down.  I was pretty hungry and ended up eating my fries and part of the free basket that was given to our table while we waited.

We paid and walked the short distance back to the Escape.  I'm glad we grabbed lunch right away so we didn't have to wait in traffic with everyone else.  Getting back onto the 405 was pretty painless.  We got onto 167 and started to slow down before Emerald Downs.  Why are we stopping?!!  I realized there was an event at Emerald Downs but it wasn't horse racing season.  I piped up, "wouldn't it be funny if all this traffic was for Wiener dog races?"  A few minutes later I heard laughing from the back.  Ben and Josh looked it up on their phones and said Corgis are racing!  The purse was $50,000 to the winner.  That is insane!

We got to Lacey around 3ish and both mom and Josh thanked us for the tickets and fun, got into their vehicles and headed home.  I needed a nap really bad.  I started some laundry and went and laid down for a bit.  I got up way too early.

We paid Del for the tickets, which were $10 bucks each.  I gave Ben my money for myself and mom.  We thanked Del for asking if we wanted to go because none of us had gone to training camp before.  Just like the Super Bowl parade from a few years ago; I think I'm good just going to training camp once.  I hope the Seahawks have a great season and do well in the playoffs so we can have a chance at another Super Bowl title.

Next Adventure:  Calvin's Close Call

The Week of Smoke

The beginning of August and everything in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia and even northern California was on fire.  Not just one fire in each state but multiple fires everywhere.  It was also suppose to be the hottest part of the summer places reaching 95-100 degrees plus.  I was looking forward to the hot weather so we could spend some time at the many lakes around our area.

Majority of them were caused by lightening strikes unfortunately some were also man made fires.  Perfect timing I said to myself.  I was really looking forward to the hot weather just because we never get it and if we do it's for a really short amount of time.  I was just disappointed our weather was going to be gross for a few days in the smoke.  I hate being outside when it's smoky and when it's raining and windy.

We had to make sure our roommates didn't leave their windows open at night so we didn't have to smell it in our house.  I had to constantly remind people which annoyed me to no end.

We started seeing it August 1.  I had just gotten out of the chiropractor's office on the west side.  I looked outside and was like, what's on fire?!  Someone said Ft. Lewis and another person said Capitol Forest.  I had to find out for myself.  I watched the news that evening and the confirmed it was British Columbia that was on fire really bad and had already burned thousands of acres. This was shaping up to be a summer of fire.

I woke up the next morning to a crazy sunrise.  I knew the next couple days were going to look like this.  Because it was smoky, it dropped our 100 degree weather by about 10 or so degrees depending on where you were.  I was so upset because I wanted to go swimming in that 100 degree weather.

When I got off of work that afternoon, I hustled home and got Ben motivated to go to Lake St. Clair for some floating.  When we got there you could see the smoke hovering above the lake.  Ugh.  This really sucks.  We only stayed out there for about an hour and headed back home.

The next day the sunrise was very bright and smoky.  Another yucky day.  Ben messaged me at work asking if Josh and Heather could come with us to the lake after work.  I said sure.  We all met up at the same lake as yesterday and hung out on our tubes.  It was fun chatting with Josh and Heather for over an hour.  They brought some pulled pork sandwiches Josh had prepared prior to them coming to the lake.  I opted not to have one because I wasn't that hungry.

The smoke eventually went away on Friday after, of course, the hot weather went away.  The rest of the month the air quality was alright even though the entire month of August and into September everything was on fire.  The worse fire was the one in the Columbia Gorge.  Some stupid teenager was throwing fireworks in the forest and caught the entire area on fire.  He was charged and found guilty of the whole thing.  It's one thing for mother nature to cause the fires but willingly causing the fires because you are a stupid idiot is another.

I sure hope we are better prepared for next summer's fire season because there is no shortage of stupid people.

Next Adventure:  Seattle Seahawks Training Camp