Little did I know when I titled the last post, “When It Rains it Pours” what was to come…

So yesterday I got home from class around 4, and let the dogs out of the laundry room (where they stay during the day), as usual.  I was annoyed to find several runny poo and vomit piles as well, but I didn’t really give it too much though, as they are both known to have occasional upset stomachs.  I let them out, checked my email, and then noticed that Huey had come back inside, and vomited yellow goo all over the guest room – lovely.  So now I at least could identify which dog was sick. 

Huey continued to throw up and act sick for the next few hours.  I was worried about him, but not overly freaked out since he’s been through this many a time.  But he really didn’t seem to be getting any better, and was also refusing his food – not normal.  Right around 9pm, suddenly Indy started acting funny, and got off the couch and proceeded to vomit all his dinner up.  Okay, now I’m worried.

I called my doggie-expert mother-in-law for a third opinion, and while I was talking to her, both dogs proceeded to have massive vomit attacks.  Clearly it was time for a trip to the emergency vet.  To keep this post to a minimum, I will spare you details.  But we were there for four hours, did fecal test, blood work, and everything else imaginable, while our poor miserable dogs trembled on the cold floor and continued to vomit and poop all over the place.  Around 1:30am, and several long conversations with the wonderfully nice doctor, we decided to have them both hospitalized for IV drugs, fluids, and 24-hour monitoring.  They were both in really bad shape. 

We left the vet at 2am without our dogs, and with a $1,300 (minimum) estimate.  Wow.  I couldn’t even think about it, or I would have started vomiting on the office floor too.  You never plan to have to take pets to the emergency vet, but in my wildest worst-case-scenarious, I never envisioned having to take and admit them both.  And let me tell you there is no double dog discount.  Just double the emotional hysteria and financial suckerpunch. 

I got in bed around 2:30, and set the alarm for 5am to go to class.  Not the recommended way to recover from a week-long flu.  I’ve checked in with the vet several times today, and it sounds like both dogs are slowly getting better.  Indy is perking up faster than Huey, but Huey was much worse off from the very beginning, so I’m not too surprised.  We’re waiting to see if they will eat their lunch and keep it down, and hopefully they can come home tonight with take-home meds. 

Here’s the real kicker. 

The vet couldn’t figure out what was causing them to be so sick – none of the tests gave any indication of what they might have ingested.  They both went to a doggie daycare yesterday for a “preview day” for this weekend, so it’s possible they picked up something there (and they will not be going back!).  We wracked our brains to think of something that could have happened, and we mentioned that we have a big woodsy yard that they are always prowling around in.  And guess what she thinks might have caused all this?  Yep…

TURTLES.

Apparently they are major carriers of salmonella, and she thinks they might have come into contact (or eaten, ew) turtle poop, which apparently can make them very very sick.  Un-freaking believable.  So basically we moved to Charlotte looking for houses with the perfect yard for our dogs who like to run.  We found them a huge one-acre wooded yard we thought they would love, and now I never want to let them out again.  Assuming they both pull through this and can come home safe and sound, the plan is for a lot of WALKS, until we figure out the next solution.

Tomorrow afternoon I am getting on a plane at 2pm for my big sister’s wedding.  I am unbelievably excited for the wedding and the weekend, but am also dying with anxiety about the dogs being here in Charlotte while they are so sick.  Luckily this hospital also does boarding, so i think we’re going to take that option so that they are in good hands in case something else goes wrong.

Such a scary and emotional evening, and all I want is a nap and my doggies back home with me to snuggle with.  Crossing my fingers for a happy ending, going into what should be a very happy and festive weekend.  I wrote on facebook earlier this week, “you never know how annoying your dogs are until you have the flu.”  I’d like edit that – “you never know how much you love your dogs until you have to drive home without them.” 

Here’s hoping they are home safe and sound tonight to annoy me all night long.

 Hurry home, boys.  :(

You know how when you move into a new place, there are certain quirks and things you don’t discover until you are actually living there? 

At our old house the faucet in the upstairs bathroom was leaky, and if you didn’t notice it was dripping down the faucet, it would eventually spread across the vanity, and start dripping onto the bathroom floor.  From there, there was some sort of leak where the flooring met the wall, and the water would trickle all the way down the ceiling, and eventually drip, drip, drip it’s way down through the living room ceiling.  This happened several times while we lived there, the first being only a few days after we moved in.  I came downstairs to find that there was literally a shower pouring out of the ceiling in the living room.  It is those exact moments that remind me why we rent.

It happened a few more times over the course of the year, because the faucet was super tricky and totally silent.  You couldn’t actually hear the drip, you had to watch for it.  The ceiling was yellowed and flaking and gaping for oh – ten months – until our landlord decided he wanted to put the house on the market, so he finally came over to fix it.  He said he would replace the faucet, but didn’t, and instead just painted like ten coats of paint over the yellow to mask all the water damage.  Casey and I have had many laughs since we moved, sitting and wondering how long it took the new suckers that bought that house to figure out that the faucet can basically single-handedly destroy the living room.  Poor silly homeowners.

Anyways, so when we moved to Charlotte, it was inevitable that there would be certain weird things in the house that we would discover once we lived here.  Things you can’t possibly know when you tour as a prospective renter.  While those things definitely exist, the number one discovery is something I could not have predicted…

TURTLES.

Yes, turtles.  Here’s a fun little fact about our house.  There is a creek that runs behind our lovely park-like backyard.  Waaay beyond the trees and the fence, this little creek runs all the way down to the big McAlpine Creek.  Well that’s all fine and great, right?  We can’t even see it, and it has nothing to do with our house – nooo big deal.

So apparently this creek is home to a large turtle population.  And when it rains, the turtles climb up from the creek to…get away from the water?  I have no idea why.  But when it rains here, our backyard becomes a turtle sanctuary.  Oh, so cool – turtles are so cute, right?  Not so much, when you have two turtle hunters that go completely ape-shit when they discover one.  And we are talking lots of turtles.  No sooner do I do a rescue and release turtle mission, that the dogs are back at it, sniffing out another. 

So when it rains, we basically can’t even let the dogs into the backyard.  They have become expert turtle hunters.  And they don’t actually know what to do with the turtles since they are city dogs.  They just bark and snap and create a huge scene, so proud of their amazing hunting abilities.  Every time, I have to go find my shoes, go racing outside, and save the turtles with my bare hands.  Seriously.  I have to pick these things up and carry them over my head, while the dogs jump and leap around me trying to get it, and then I release them in the front yard. 

It rained all day yesterday, so I’m off now to take the dogs for a walk, since I can’t actually let them out in their one acre backyard – ridiculous.  Here’s hoping for a dry fall season.  No telling what the turtles are capable of if it snows!

So I’m still feeling like a big blob of poo, but at some point you have to decide to rejoin the living.  What should have been a fabulous 3-day weekend of sunshine and running and doggie walks, has been 3 days of laying in one place, pumping drugs into my body, and alternating between sweating profusely and bundling up in hoodies and sweatpants.  Not fun, and I’m really ready for it to be over.  The sneezes and cough I can handle, but the body aches are what’s sending me into bed every few hours.  Unbearable.

Okay my pity party is over now.  Thanks for all your comments and well wishes to get better.  My wise cousin Sarah left a comment on my last post that I thought was worth addressing, because she was totally correct.  I know many of you were horrified to hear that even with the flu, I’m expected to be in class – no excuses.  But in reality, kitchens don’t close and restaurants don’t take a day off when someone gets sick.  You are expected to get your job done – end of story.  Obviously sanitation is a concern, and if you are vomiting or pooping uncontrollably, you are supposed to let your Chef know so that Health Services can evaluate you.  Otherwise, buck up!  :) 

Also, having now been in my classes and understanding what we do each day, I understand why they drop you if you miss two classes.  Our classes are seven hours long, and I can’t even imagine missing one.  The amount of information and learning you would miss would be impossible to regain afterhours.  It’s going to take a lot to make me miss class! 

Okay so backing up, I never got to tell you about the end of my first class – Fundamentals of Food Production.  For our final day of class, and our big project (and bulk of our grade), our glass was responsible for producing a Grand Buffet, to be held out in the lobby for students and staff to enjoy.  We started prepping for the buffet on Friday afternoon, and we pulled it together in time for service first thing Monday morning.  Here is the final product (pretty good for students who have been in school for nine days!)…

Gigantic salad bar!  Obviously the highlight of the buffet for me.  I was so excited when Jessica told me that her group was doing a mega-salad spread.  FYI – I did all the table skirting and linens. 

Ice sculpture from the Garde Mangier class!  A fun addition to our buffet.  We also had this omelet station set up (thank god I didn’t have to do these!), where you could get omelets made to order.

Cute fall decorations.  I rolled all the silverware into napkins to make it look nicer.  I tend to find that when we have down time in class and other students stand around or take breaks, I find fun side projects to do to fill the time.  I think it comes from being older and having more work experience.  I also found a cute pumpkin basket for the cornbread.

Mylan and I made this cheese tray.  She cut up all the cheese, while I arranged it.  My teacher showed me how to make these awesome roses out of tomatoes – can you believe  that I made those?!?

The gigantic fruit tray.  Can you spot the melon turtle and fish?  I was super bummed that most of this was gone by the time I got through the buffet line.  I scavenged for a few bits of melon.

We even had a ham carving station (hi Jay!), and lots of homemade sauces.  Here’s a shot of the buffet in its entirety.  I didn’t want to post ten million pictures, but in addition to what you already saw, the chafing dishes were filled with chicken spanakopita, Moroccan cod fish (made by yours truly!), biscuits and gravy, bacon and eggs benedict, rice pilaf, and bacon Brussels sprouts.  Definitely a wide selection of foods to choose from!

Our guests arrived and we filled up their plates!  Once everyone went through the line, our class could eat.  I just had some salad and some scavenged melon, and ate a snack when I got home.  And of course after lunch was the daily dessert delivery – chocolate lava cakes.  These were hard to resist – chocolate is my weakness.  Especially when it’s gooey.  But I walked away and had no regrets once it was out of my sight.

Now the big buffet was Monday, but before that was one of the highlights of our time here in Charlotte – a visit from LINDSEY!  I spent all day Friday running around like a ten year old, so excited for her to get here.  I was literally outside on the porch when she pulled up.  She got here around 4:30, and after a quick house tour and doggie welcome, the three of us headed to Zada Jane’s for an early bird dinner.  We hurried home and changed quickly because Linds and I had big plans to go to the Indigo Girls concert at the The Fillmore!

The Fillmore was an amazing venue – I wish I’d had my camera!  The concert was wonderful, and the crowd was really into the music.  Maybe a little too into the music actually.  I can’t remember the last time I had gotten dressed up and headed out on a Friday night – it was a great time, and even better spent with my bestie.  Saturday morning we were up early for oatmeal, and headed over to the mall for a full day of shopping.  It is soooo much better to shop with a friend!  I finally found a dress for my sister’s wedding thanks to Lindsey’s helpful advice and patience while I tried on every dress in Anthropologie.  Being able to call Linds and have a spontaneous girly shopping date is something I really took for granted before I moved away.  Sniff. 

We had a great day, and then rejoined Casey for a delicious sushi dinner on Saturday night (thanks Leah and Greg!).  Sunday morning came way too fast, and Linds had to hit the road to get back to Cincinnati.  I threatened to lock her up and not let her leave, but she reminded me that she would be BACK in just a few short weeks for Mary Ann’s DLO Bachelorette Weekend – can’t wait! 

I love my school, and I’m really starting to adjust to Charlotte, but you never get used to missing your friends and family.  I’m glad that fall is here, and there are lots of holidays, celebrations, and visits to come in the next few months!