What a strange and difficult week it’s been. On Saturday night, at 4:30 in the morning, we woke up to find our Harley having a seizure. We rushed him to the 24-hour emergency vet, where they were able to get the seizure under control. They told us that in elderly dogs, seizures are most often caused by brain tumors, which makes sense because Harley has had a lot of benign tumors over the years.
Harley’s temperature and heart rate were very elevated, and he was still showing some signs of seizure activity, so the vet decided to keep him under observation for 12-24 hours. That ended up turning into 30 hours before we were finally able to bring him home. Apparently he’ll be on anti-seizure medication for the rest of his life, but at least he’s home. Those first 30 hours were so frightening.
Having him back has brought its own set of struggles, but every day he gets better and better, and I’m so heartened by the progress he’s made. If he does have a brain tumor, I don’t know what that will mean in the longterm. But for now, I just feel grateful to have him home with me. ♥
I want to say thank you to everyone who reached out on Instagram and Facebook to leave encouraging messages for Harley. It meant more to me than I can possibly express. Reading those messages brought tears to my eyes and comfort to my heart. Thank you all so much.
And now, here’s what the rest of the week looked like for us:
And now, it’s time for the one, the only, the very best way to kick off the weekend — Le Love List!
I finally found a record player! I have very, very few things that belonged to my mother. But one of the most precious is her small record collection, which I inherited from an old family friend right before I moved away from Portland. I’ve been harboring it this entire time, unlistened to. But finally, I found a record player at a garage sale! // It had been such a pleasure sharing my mother’s records with Waits. Simon and Garfunkel. Fleetwood Mac. Fiddler On The Roof! All the music of my own childhood, shared with him, from my mother’s own records. It has been such a treasure. // Also, we’ve been playing Beethoven records for Harley. It really seems to soothe him. // When you walk into a work meeting and KICK ASS. Best feeling. // Making big steps towards my next book. // Homegrown goji berries! // All the iced tea all the time (apparently I quit coffee?). // Seeing all my old friends, at an art show featuring the work of one of said friends, whose photographic exhibit was composed of portraits of all of said friends. Pretty special. // Petal pink toenails. // Working a full day at Still. // Garden-to-glass cocktails for perfect summer nights. // BIG changes. Big decisions. Closing our eyes and leaping, again and then again and then again again. Lots of big changes going on right now, bringing all the excitement and fear and hope that really big changes bring. So much possibility! ♥ ♥ ♥ //
Alright y’all, now it’s your turn! please leave your own Love Lists in the comments below, so all of us can share in the gratitude and joy. It would mean so much to me, so please — bombard me with your Love Lists!!
I hope you have a spectacular weekend!
♥
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