Expensive and exhaustive weekend

I am here at work this week doing Wed thru Friday, since my DH had dental surgery yesterday.  After he was finished, we got our smoothies and I took him home, fixed soup and some yummy zucchini bread for him (soft foods).  We were so concerned about how quickly our elderly male dog had deteriorated in past 3 days, we took him to vet.

She confirmed he was in congestive heart failure.  Had fluid in lungs, around heart/heart enlarged and in abdomen.  She suggested a medicine for us to see if we can get him to breathe easier and give us some time to accept we are in process of losing him - but more likely to be a more peaceful decline and little longer.  W/o medicine he was struggling to breathe.

That, plus dental surgery + several household problems - was an EXPENSIVE weekend.

Thursday night I got home from work in the city.  I took this cool picture of the moon and planet/star? with the train.

We caught up, I enjoyed a show to relax and then we went to bed.  I heard an owl outside, so I went to open the blinds so I could open the window and the blind broke the bracket.  We could have just replaced the one blind hardware - but they were the ugly thin (and yellowed) cheap looking kind - so we just went ahead and replaced all 3 windows plus door - yikes, cost like $370 and was a LOT of work for DH.  I mostly just handed tools and provided moral support.

Then next morning our dryer broke.  So we googled what might be wrong and DH watched a couple videos on You Tube and off to the appliance place we went!  We got the small part and DH put it it - viola!  Saved $1200 there!  So happy, we went ahead and went to a 'junk' festival in a pretty town about 30 miles away.  SO glad we went, we found a metal trellis that perfectly fit in between our garage and detached carport-turned-shop.  Looks very nice and prevents people from just creeping in there (I watch too many Dateline - type shows!). 

I got some more landscaping finished in my yard.  Some I was NOT planning.  We got over 6 inches of rain on Sunday, washed a bunch of my mulch out - so I will now gradually switch out the mulch to river rock.  Since it is pretty expensive, I will have to do it gradually and perhaps over time, the time saved not always having to replace mulch from a portion of our yard that has drainage it will pay for itself.  You can sort of see the water flow under deck from right and go out the far side.  I need better pictures.

Next day I was going to vacuum but my $600 Dyson (about 4-5 years old) just quit.  We tried getting it to start again, just not working.  So we bought a Shark this time.  Hope it works well and lasts a while!

Now I am tired and broke!  At least this is my last week of work for a while, which makes me have anxiety.  I just hope that my DH and my sweet boy do OK for 3 days without me. 

D for Debt

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/?m=1
I realized I am a letter behind.  I will catch up Monday.
Debt is a symptom.  Maybe people go into debt because they don't know anything else.  Maybe people go into debt to avoid dealing with something.  At the basic level, debt is spending more than you make.  Or, at least choosing to pay later instead of sooner. 
Speaking of debt, now my girl Chihuahua is sick.  In the last 2 months, between getting cat all her shots so she could live safely with my friend's cats for a few months and my 2 dogs being sick, I think we have spent over $1300.  All of it charged...then the usual expenses confronted in the first part of a year...taxes, continuing education, professional licenses, HOA...then the bathroom tile...I am on a strict no spending plan now.  Which means I have to work to earn...so after being up most of the night with my sick female dog, I sure did want to stay home today.  But I managed to get up and in on time.  I am glad DH has a work from home day, he can keep an eye on her.  All she did was whimper last night.  We took her to emergency vet, they ruled out anything obvious/life threatening, so we brought her home.  She has been increasingly uncomfortable last 3 days, culminating in extreme discomfort and vomiting last night. 
Also speaking of debt, the opposite of it.  Before I got home to find my little girl sick, I spent time with my dear grandmother.  She and I went through a coin collection of hers and counted it all out and catalogued it so that DH and I can liquidate it for her.  it was $70 and some change face value but included some old coins, steel pennies, some Mercury and Liberty dimes and other silver coins, like some old quarters.  She will be happy to get that done, she said she might as well do it now and enjoy a treat - I wholeheartedly agree.
How will you treat yourselves today?  I am going to say some prayers and breathe deep and go to 2nd hot yoga this week, tonight and bed at 8:30pm!  I do have a man that saw my "coming soon" house listing.  He wants to see it when we are ready to show it.  That is a little treat, even if nothing comes of it.  I realized a certain number of people going to have to see our listing before we find "the one".  Have a great Thursday!
Psalm 50:10-11 “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.”