kate

Every time I sat down to blog in June, I didn't have the time to write out what I wanted to say.  I'm going to just list a bunch of stuff that happened last month, with the hopes that maybe at some point I'll be able to say more about things.

• Toivo had surgery (the only thing I addressed last month)
• Had a job interview
• My in-laws came into town (with about a week advanced notice)
• Got bit by a dog
• We had Zac's command picnic
• Had a meeting with one of the family support staff members I will be working with as an ombudsman
• Went to my first ombudsman advanced training in San Diego
• We went to Zac's other command picnic
• Found myself getting snippy with Zac, and he with me
• Bought a new camera to replace the one that got run over
• Zac left for a week to work at the gun range
• Had an eye appointment to figure out whether I wanted/needed to get my Lasik updated
• Went down to "my" command with my co-ombudsman so we could start putting names with faces and get stuff done
• Did a lot of introspection, trying to figure out what my goals and priorities are
• Finally got a sorely-needed new laptop
• After three weeks, I got a response that I didn't get the job
• Spent a day on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson
• Returned the aforementioned camera because the battery-life was terrible and took poor quality shots in low lighting
• Kitchen was finally completed
• Took the truck in to get the transmission fixes
• Purchased plane tickets to Minnesota
• Housemates moved out
• Had our couch taken away to get repaired

So here I sit, on the floor of our living room in the bean bag, trying to figure out what to even blog about.  There are a few topics up there that could do with some fleshing out.  I'd kind of like to address all of them, but I know that I'm really bad at following through when I say I'll blog about something later on.  Here are some quick thoughts about some of the events listed above:

My in-laws came into town (with about a week advanced notice)

It was great having Zac's parent come and visit us, but it was a little stressful, honestly.  We were so happy that we didn't have any guests on the horizon and we had our housemates still staying with us.  When they announced that they would be arriving in about eight or nine days, it took a few seconds to be really excited.  I didn't know if our housemates would be able to find a place to stay while Zac's parents occupied the guest room.  They were coming in on the same day that I had a job interview.  I felt guilty prepping for the interview instead of cleaning the house for their arrival.  Then when I worked on getting the house in order, I would stress out about not being prepared for the interview.  I felt rushed.  Of course it worked out - our friends were able to spend a few days in a hotel while Zac's parents were in town.  (The Navy gives you a few days to stay in a hotel when you transfer duty stations.  They hadn't used theirs yet.)

We had a great time hosting Zac's parents.  They weren't able to make it out to visit while we lived in Hawaii, so this was the first time since Zac and I have been a couple that his parents have seen "our" home.  There was a certain amount of self-imposed pressure I felt.  I wanted them to see that Zac was happy and that we had made a good home together.  Of course they really like our house, and Zac's garden.  We had a good time showing them some of the sites in San Diego and sitting around playing cards.  

Got bit by a dog

The only low-point of Zac's parent's visit was the dog bite.  Our housemates were able to stay at the hotel, but their two dogs were not allowed so they stayed back at the house with us.  As the weeks have gone by, Zoe and one of their dogs started getting after each other when one (or both) of them thought that there was food available.  There were a handful of snapping contests but usually hollering at them to knock it off took care of the situation.  

So one of these aggressive altercations took place while Zac's parents were here.  (Maybe their dog was stressed that they had left.  I don't know.)  I hollered at them and instinctively put my hand on their dog's back to get his attention.  Their dog whipped around and bit the ball of my left hand and I jerked it back in pain as I yelped.  I looked up at Zac and I knew instantly that I needed to get the dog away from him.  I scooped up their dog, hand dripping with blood, and locked him up in his traveling crate.  I let everyone know that I was fine, that I just needed to go clean it up and went into the bathroom.  That's when the adrenaline started to wear off and the pain started.  I rinsed it off in the sink and tried not get nauseous.  I was a little surprised at myself.  I didn't think I was the type of person to get queasy at the sight of blood and shredded skin, but I guess I was that day.  

I opened the bathroom window and got some air while I found some hydrogen peroxide.  I cleaned the wound up and covered it with some gauze and tape.  I walked back out to the dining room, because we had just put dinner on the table when the dogs went at it.  I sat down, my hand throbbing, knowing that Zac, his mom, and his dad were staring at me.  I put on my best smile and said I was fine.  I looked at the steak on my plate and tried picking up the fork in my left hand so I could hold the knife in my right and cut up my meat.  I couldn't grip the fork, it hurt too much.  Zac's dad offered to cut up my dinner, but Zac said he'd do it.  So for the first time since I was five years old I had someone cut up my meat for me.

The next morning my hand was bruised and swollen.  It took a couple of weeks for it to heal, but I can feel the scar tissue where the dog's two canine teeth cut into my hand.  I'm not sure if you have any experience with wounds on the fleshy part of your hand, but it's a tough location to bandage.  Luckily I did a decent job keeping it clean and covered and it didn't require any outside medical attention.  Of course our friends were absolutely mortified when they got home and learned about the bite.  They tried their best to keep their dog away from Zoe for the rest of their stay with us and we didn't have any other issues, well, except when their dog nipped at Toivo and got Toivo's ear.  Which bled.  *sigh*  Poor Toivo.  He's having a rough 2012.

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I will come back to some of the other topics listed above.  I promise.  I've got a few things to say about the job interview and subsequent introspection that came from it.  And I'll post some pictures of the completed kitchen.  Hopefully nothing interesting happens in the next few days to derail those plans.