So apparently Cootiehog had a couple plug-ins that didn’t want to play nicely this week, resulting in the blog going down yesterday. I only just got it fixed this morning after contacting my host company to find out what was going on. The offending plug-ins have been removed and so the site should be back to normal. If you noticed slowdowns over the past week, hopefully those will come to an end as well.
Today is “prep day” at the Cootiehog household. Tomorrow is the annual party and so Denis and I both took the day off from work to begin the arduous (but fun) task of prepping all the food for tomorrow night.
This morning while also trying to fix Cootiehog we had the housecleaner come do a major deep clean on the first floor, and we had a handyman in to fix a crack that appeared in our kitchen ceiling right where the addition meets the original part of the house. That’s to be expected because of the newer foundation settling, but still an eyesore. So he came in and fixed it right up – you’d never know we even had a hairline crack! He warned us we may get another one in a year or so, and recommended we wait until it’s more pronounced before calling in someone to repair it. Duly noted.
This morning I also took the dogs to their babysitter for the weekend. I found someone here in town that watches dogs regularly at her house. It’s actually a cabin right here in town – a town not known for charming, quaint cabins. But that’s exactly what it was when I arrived with the dogs this morning. After staying to make sure the dogs would settle in and be comfortable there (Chilly was ready for me to go as soon as we arrived, but Dobby freaked out a bit the first time I went to leave). I’m hoping they have a good weekend. When I was driving the dogs over to the cabin, I passed by a house that has outdoor decorations very similar to ours. They have a few more, but overall their pieces are smaller. They are also very brave because they are corner house and were comfortable enough to have things stretch out all the way to the front of their lawn. If I was a corner house facing a PUBLIC street I would not make it so easy to have stuff get stolen. Of course, I never thought OUR stuff would get messed with or stolen either.
As for the White Elephant party, our menu has changed slightly since the last time we posted about it. We tested a couple recipes and swapped them out when they didn’t work. We now have 14 hors d’oeuvres we’ll be serving and one dessert. So far I’ve made two of the dishes and the dessert. In a bit I’ll start on my third dish. Then I’ll begin prepping the fourth dish which I can’t actually finish until we’re ready to serve them at the party. Denis has the bulk of the work this year – he chose a lot of things that I can’t make or help him with.
The rest of the week has been fine. I took the animals (all three!) to the vet for checkups, bloodwork and/or vaccinations. Unfortunately, Dobby STILL has heartworms despite being on meds since we adopted him. And so we continue with the medication and he’s still not allowed to get vigorous exercise. Mini’s hyperthyroidism has improved with her medication and she went from 5 lbs 12 oz in July to 6 lbs 13 oz this week. Huge victory there because that cat was getting WAY too small. Chilly is now taking anti-inflammatory medication to help with his arthritis. So yes, our vet bill WAS very large this week. Thank you for asking.
Okay, let me get back to party prepping stuff.