Friday was a beauty day! Amanda got a hair cut and colored. She was a few weeks overdue since we were in the hospital for her last appointment. She loves to get her hair done and has been seeing her stylist for a long time. No need to explain how she needs her hair done, either. It is a low-stress time for her. Before she found this stylist, she would be so stressed trying to get a cut done right sometimes. Tears were shed over a lousy haircut more than once. I never understood that feeling until I got a terrible haircut a couple of years ago when I had long hair. That cut led me to cut my long hair off completely and cut my beard off! I went incognito for a while, which was fun for a bit! I planned on getting a beard trim and haircut while Amanda got her hair done, but I got a wild hair, pun intended, to grow my hair out again. So it was just a neck and beard trim for me. I’ll be flipping flowing locks out of my face by the end of summer!
I had planned to go to work when we got home but took some more vacation days. Amanda had the chiro and hair appointment. Also, a good chunk of our support system was gone. YJ is one of my go-to for quick help since he’s right next door, but he’s down. There are many others on our street from church that I can also call on. But there was a women’s conference, so many of our support group were gone for the weekend. I could tell Amanda was a little uncomfortable with me leaving, so we both thought it best that I stay. It’s always hard for me to return to work for both of us; never knowing when the right time to leave is.
Tank has been super itchy, so I took him to our local vet for a shot that usually helps him. He has also been super anxious, as well. This morning, he was following Amanda around, whining. The vet mentioned his not eating when we returned was likely from anxiety. He is a rescue, and when we first got him, he had terrible separation anxiety. Zoey now gone, our prolonged absence and the back-and-forth to Houston have messed with him. So, he is going with us and required a beauty day before out trip, as well!
Saturday morning, Amanda was working on her nails. It’s usually a long process, but she did it in stages to avoid getting so tired. She got a nosebleed while taking a break. It was the dry heater air; we didn’t have our humidifier running. This happened because of the horrible nose bleeding during the transplant. She ended up having a biopsy and needing the problem area cauterized years ago and followed up with an ENT for a while. I told her we should probably get a consult from an ENT while we were in the hospital. Hopefully, it won’t be the last one we saw in the ER there. Amanda accidentally coughed blood all over that man’s face in!
Tank was getting ready in stages as well. I gave him a good brush to get all the hair off before his bath. I also got the dog seat protector from my Suburban to move to the Yukon. It has a rigid foam padded bottom and protects the back of the front and second-row seat backs. It works well to protect the seats and make a solid surface across for them to lay on since we have rear bucket seats. He was riding in mama’s car, so I needed to get all the hair off both the seat protector and him!
Amanda needed to get some work done, so I dropped her off at the church, got her settled, and headed to take care of some stuff myself. I needed to move a few things my mother-in-law gave me from their old shop. I called a friend to help me, and we rummaged around and grabbed an old toolbox and a few other things. It was like a scene from American Pickers; we climbed through a hole in the fence and fought through the brush, looking at old cars from the spot’s towing days. He was saying maybe keep this or that and showed me a few specialty tools he noticed, telling me what they were for; all while we got the items I was taking out. Just as we pulled up to our downtown place to unload everything, Amanda called and needed to go home. Since the suburban was hooked on a trailer with everything on it, we hopped in my friend’s old 80s model single-cab Chevrolet pickup to get Amanda. It reminded me of our high school days. I had a similar truck but a 90s model when we were kids. Amanda would slide over on the bench seat in the middle next to me. I always liked to downshift that manual transmission to rub up against her leg!
We got all of the stuff unloaded after dropping Amanda off. We hung out for a bit while I showed him around our 1870s building and how we plan to change it and eventually remodel and live in it sooner or later. We chatted until Amanda called again with a rumbling belly! I went home to cook us dinner, a Mediterranean bowl. I was going over things I needed to do before we left: clean up a bit, wash dishes, pack, wash clothes, and so on. I forgot I needed to give Tank another brushing, a bath, and a nail trim. I got his bag all packed, too with Lambchop secured with the blanket straps. I told Amanda she better watch out. If any ladies were to see Tank and I going into the hotel, they’d fall in love with that cute setup and him!
Amanda took it easier this morning. She was up early, showered before me, and then took a break. After I got ready, I went to the church for worship practice to adjust a few things with the sound system. I talked with a few but left before service started so we could get on the road. Amanda was ready to go by the time I got home, loaded all of our stuff up, and set up Tank’s car bed.
I noticed on Facebook memories that we had medical posts from three different years on this day. One year ago, Amanda had her Lasik eye surgery done, 11 years ago, she had a heart cath in San Antonio, and 13 years ago, she had a pacemaker procedure in Austin. At this time of year, we are always busy, I guess. Tomorrow, the 27th, is my birthday; I knew we spent that in the hospital before but didn’t remember all of those!
Tank was too excited when I grabbed his harness. He already knew he was going when I packed and took his bag to the car, but it was a done deal when he saw the harness in my hand. It was service time when we left, so we watched online as we drove. On the way, we stopped for some veggie sushi from HEB, and Amanda had a Walmart curbside order for us to grab. She’s retaining fluid badly in her belly area, and the steroids make her gain a little weight, too. She is not happy about either and needs some comfortable pants for traveling. Tank was getting mad at all the stops. I roll the window down when we go slow, then back up when we get going again. He’ll keep his head out as I roll the window up till it almost pinches his snout!
It was a rainy trip after leaving San Antonio, and it got really bad once we got closer to Houston. We stopped in Katy outside of Houston for a pee-pee stop, and when getting back on the interstate, we hit a deep spot of water and hydroplaned a good bit, scaring Amanda badly! We chose a vegan Chinese place we found on Doordash for dinner. I thought the address sounded familiar, it was a mobile food mall to-go only for a few different restaurants. We’d picked cauliflower wings up there back in the transplant days. I was a little confused when I walked in to get our food. It wanted me to scan my order but didn’t have a bar or QR code. All it needed was the order details with my name and order items. I scanned just that, not even showing an order number and a locker door popped open with or food inside; it was pretty technical and fancy setup!
We ate at a new medical building close to the zoo with a nice grass patch I could take Tank out after we ate. Tank licked the back of his seat setup, mad he couldn’t have any lo mein and Mongolian tofu! After that, I dropped Amanda off, and Tank and I parked and took our stuff to the room. Amanda had a room in the ER quickly, and by the time we got to our room. I tried to get Tank to eat, but he wasn’t interested. Then, I took him out to go potty in the rain. After we came in, he decided he’d eat; I hung out with him for a minute, watching cartoons I planned to leave on for him while I headed to Amanda’s side.
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