Tag: happiness

Worry. Vacation. Relief.

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Guys! Mom and Dad left us! Can you even believe your ears? It’s been like 3 days. Zuc and I love our Uncle Luke and his girlfriend Emily but they are not our Mom and Dad. On Sunday when Mom got home she, Dad, grandmom and grandpup packed some bags. Naturally Zuc and I got all hyped up excited because we get to go everywhere but then they said those dreaded words: “you’re staying”. It has never been a good day when we hear that. I started to panic. When I panic I have accidents. Brown puddle accidents. Can’t even help it..

Thank goodness for Emily though. She cleaned it all up so Uncle Luke didn’t puke. Then they stayed with us all night. I even got to snuggle up between them like I do with Mom and Dad. Zuc slept in Mom and Dad’s bed to keep a look out in the chance that they got home during the night.

We went to the park the other day and didn’t even play. It was our personal mission to find a way out for search and rescue Mom and Dad. We didn’t get too far.

And then, they came back! Mom was in high spirits and didn’t seem like she hurt too much. Dad spent the next day with us while Mom was at work. As soon as she got home we ALL got in the car and went for a ride to other grandmom and grandpup’s house!

Work. Exhaustion. Love.

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

In my last post I mentioned Mom is working 12 hour nights. Well she works 2 nights in a row and then gets 2 nights off except for sometimes she has to work 3 and then she’s off 3. Sounds great, right? Wrong. All she ever does now is sleep. She comes home at 6am, sleeps. Wakes up around 3pm (when dad gets home) then goes to work at 6pm unless she has the night off. If she has the night off that means she goes back to sleep at 9pm with dad. Zuc told me she wakes up around 2am and goes into the living room until we all wake up!

I sleep too soundly to know when mom wakes up but Zuc knows all so I trust him.

On her weekends Mom tries to stay awake and play with us but she almost always has to take a nap around 11am until who knows when.

She tells Dad all the time how tired she is and apologizes. We can all tell how exhausted she is so we let her sleep as much as we can. She says her medications for narcolepsy don’t really help and is scared about if she can keep doing this job even though she loves it.

Sleep. Bark. Hike.

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

I know I haven’t been on in a while but Mom started a new job.. again. This time she’s working 12 hour night shifts. Seriously. The woman is insane. But now either her or dad is home ALL THE TIME! I loooove it. Except when they should be home but go out together without us. Like why, why wouldn’t you bring us every single place you go ever?! I live for walks and car rides!

Speaking of walks and car rides, we got to go on one the other day! We went to this place called the Erie Canal and walked along this awesome long water. So many fish and birds and sticks! I tried to jump in a few times but Mom was seriously against it. I wanted to keep coming back so I listened like a good girl.

And speaking of being a good girl: Mom sleeps during the day now. Like allll day. Well I, being the good girl I am, cuddle right up next to her in bed and sleep my days away. Sometimes I get bored so I’ll go out in the living room and watch the field but I’m always quiet. Zuc on the other hand enjoys barking at stuff and pissing mom off. She gets upset so I bark and then nobody is happy! That’s when we stop and sleep again. It’s a weird life but we’re adjusting!

Summer, Sun, & Sleep

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories, Dogter Zuc

I love the summertime. I get to play outside and swim! When I get tired out from my shenanigans I flop down on the grass or couch and nap my face off until I’m primed to go again. Usually when that happens, Mom’s ready for one too, so we cuddle up together. Speaking of Mom, she’s doing pretty great right now. A lot more tired than usual but we’ve been going for walks and having a lot of fun. Zuc even seems to be super hyper and loving life! He loves the summer even more than me. His favorite pastime is definitely sunbathing, weird, I know.

Mom is switching jobs yet again. We’re all going to miss The Lodge but things were getting out of hand. Now she works at the same place as Dad! For now they get to go to work together. It’s easier for us since they come home at the same time. Mom says not to get used to it though because pretty soon she’s going to switch to nights.

Uh, Mom, hello? You’re narcoleptic!

Dogter Zuc had to clear this one up for me… Narcolepsy doesn’t just mean Mom falls asleep randomly during the day. It actually means that Mom has no sleep cycle! Can you believe that! She’s sorta like me and can sleep all day or all night or even both sometimes. I do get cranky if I don’t sleep at night though. Anyway, in Mom’s case, the neurotransmitter thingies in her brain that tell her body when to release melatonin and other chemicals like it are being destroyed, most likely by her own body. She falls asleep all the time because her body is crazy confused. So, if she just switches her medications and routines, working the night shift should be a breeze!

Then we just have to watch out for Fibromyalgia. We’re not sure how this is going to fit into it all but we’ll see I guess.

Let’s Get You Up to Speed

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

While I was gone:

  • The Dog Lodge LLC happened
  • Mom changed her last name, and mine.
  • We ditched nursing school

It’s been an interesting few months!

The Dog Lodge

What an amazing place. I’ve only been there a few times but mom brings home all kinds of smells! When I go we mostly stay in the training arenas. I’m going to be an agility competitor!

Last Name Changes

We’re Peets’ now! Mom and Dad got married in October. It was the best time! I got to dress up and be the life of the party. Everyone loved us. I’ll give you more to dig into later.

Nursing School

I’ve decided to dedicate an entire post just to that. It involves a lot of fibromyalgia and mental health so there’s a lot to talk about.

 

FIREWORKS ON MY HEAD!

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Indepence Day is an important day, I know this. My mom and dad make a big deal out of it. There are people everywhere and the smells of delicious food. Mom loves to decorate and set up the patio. We play games and drink and its all fun.

But then there are the loud bangs that come from nowhere and the crazy lights in the sky that show up after the noise or even with the noise sometimes! CRACK and then these shiny weird colors show up CRACK, SIZZLE, BOOM and there’s more! Then they’re raining down toward us and what seems like at the last second they fizzle away into nothing! INTO NOTHING! How do I know they won’t show up next to me and I’ll go boom! How can I make sure the next one won’t show up on mom’s head and then she’s gone forever. And where in the world is that BOOM noise even coming from? And why? And why does it have to be so loud!?

These past few days have been horrifying for me. I’m losing fur all over the place and my body won’t stop shaking sometimes. The only place I feel safe is in the bathroom because there are no windows! Mom wraps me in blankets and sits with me so I feel a little bit better but it’s still terrifying. I get these treats that taste kinda strange a few hours before it gets dark. Mom says they have chamomile and melatonin in them, they taste like fake beef. After a while I start to get kind of tired. If I fall asleep before the fireworks and other noisy things start I can sleep right through them. I like when that happens. If I don’t fall asleep before they start, it’s worse! I fight sleeping and stay awake but I’m even more scared and tired out. Zuc looks at me like I’m crazy, sometimes I wonder if his senses work very well. He’s a good sniffer but when it comes to sight and sound I’m just not sure about him.

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On July 4th, Mom went to bed early with me. She gave me some of those treats and then we snuggled up in bed. I snuggled into my bed next to her. She pet me until I fell asleep. When the fireworks started the treats didn’t work all the way because they were so loud. I would wake up scared and then fall back asleep only to have nightmares and wake up again to more loud noises. Mom laid in bed while everyone else watched them. She held my paw and talked to me in her sweet voice to help me stay calm. I love my mom.

I’m curious, what are some ways others cope with fireworks? Mom has tried all kinds of things but none of them seem to completely work. I also do this with thunderstorms so any ideas could help us a ton!

GUESS WHAT!!

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Mom has been feeling so much better lately that we’ve been going on walks everyday plus I get to play soccer in the backyard with her after dinner! The soccer ball is my favorite ball out of all of the balls I have! We do cool tricks where mom boosts it up in the air and I volley it with my nose. Mom and dad get so excited over that. The one I like most is when mom tries to dribble it passed me but I stop her. I can read her body like a book, she doesn’t stand a chance. I love love love playing soccer! Zuc always gets upset because he just doesn’t seem to get it. He only ever wants to wrestle. How in the world do you want to wrestle when there is a soccer ball in the yard!?

Volley action shot!
This ball is MINE!

Anyway, I still give mom annoyed faces because we basically wake up, go for a walk, do yoga, and then she sits down with like a million envelopes (which taste pretty good) and writes on them and puts little stickers in the corners. She’s been doing this ALL WEEK. Oh, and then after she does that for what seems like eternity she goes and falls asleep, sometimes with envelopes in her hands still! For like two or three hours at a time! That’s why she gets annoyed faces. I think she brings us outside for soccer to make up for sleeping so much. At least they work for something. She’s always slept a lot but never this much. It’s actually kind of strange now that I think about it. She is narcoleptic but she takes medicines that prevent her falling asleep like that. We also get tons of sleep at night. Bedtime is around 9 and then we wake up at 5 to help dad get ready for work but then we sleep in until like 8. That’s a lot of sleep for a human, right? Well, whatever is wrong with her it can’t be too bad because at least she’s playing soccer with us again!

The millions of envelopes that are tasty- even though mom says no..
Mom and I cuddling

IT’S FRIDAY! AH-WOOO WE’RE SO EXCITED!! (Dad gets to stay home tomorrow!)

Back At It! 

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Mom brought us back home on Saturday. We were all ready to be home and back to normal again. Especially Zuc, he was starting to freak out a little bit being away from dad for so long. I missed dad too. Mom and her mom and dad, along with Auntie and her boyfriend, Uncle and his girlfriend all left as soon as we got back! It was okay though, Zuc and I got to cuddle with dad alllll night! When they all came home it was really late. I could smell Aunt Steph on them. I could also smell foods, delicious alcohol, and a yummy plant smell that sometimes wafts in from the neighbor’s house. 


Mom neverrrrr stays out late. The next morning I could tell she felt bad but she was happy. It was weird. She stayed in bed almost all day! We did address a whole pile of wedding invitations but even just doing that she had to take rests. Monday she was still sore. We went for our walk but barely. She took all kinds of medicines but we still didn’t do much. Hopefully today will be different and she’ll be okay enough to play! Then again, I’ve been recovering from playing so hard with Flash, Sampson, and Bandit I haven’t done much other than sleep too! 

Grrrandmom and Grrrrandpup’s House! 

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

We went to mom’s parent’s house for the week! Mom wanted to be able to meet with her mom and dad’s mom to plan the wedding. She also picked out the most beautiful dress! I can’t wait to get dirt on it! While she was out dress shopping and whatever else you do for a wedding I got to play with Flash, Sampson, and the new puppy! 


Flash and Sampson are sorta my age so we’re all big but Bandit is a new puppy. Mom says I have to be careful not to hurt him but he’s the same size as Zuc. I pummel Zuc all the time and he doesn’t hurt. Bandit cries a lot and is reeeally clumsy so I made sure I was careful anyway. We played every day! He even likes to chew sticks with me! First I make him chase me for it because he can’t catch me and it’s fun but then I always chill out and share. 

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Zuc doesn’t like him much. Bandit always jumps on his face and it freaks him out. I try to buffer the two of them. Sometimes I think I make it worse. 

Anyway, dad had to go back home for the week to work. I miss him. 

Engagement!! 

by Alfredsson Jane, posted in Alfie Stories

Sorry we haven’t been able to post in a while. On Sunday we went hiking. I looooove hiking! There was all kinds of water and even some waterfalls. Mom was supposed to go with us and dad’s sister Steph but at the last minute dad decided he wanted to go too. He doesn’t even like hiking so we thought he was crazy since it was 90 degrees out but we let him come anyway. On the hike back down the trail we stopped to see a waterfall for the second time. I jumped up on the rock wall so I could see better but jumped back down because I thought I’d get in trouble. Turns out mom wanted to get a picture like that so dad bent down to try to boost me back up. Instead of picking me up though he asked mom if I had a tick! A tick!? Can you believe that?! I don’t get ticks anymore, I take medicine for that. When mom bent down to check, dad held up the shiniest tick I’d ever seen! I’m starting to think it wasn’t a tick though since mom grabbed it out of dad’s hand to put it on her finger and was smiling and laughing. Dad asked her if she would marry him and mom was like “uhh, yeah”. I’m not really sure what or who  marry is but they both seem excited and happy. Mom’s been wearing the tick on her finger everyday and now we’ve been planning something called a wedding everyday this week! She keeps saying we don’t have a lot of time because she wants a fall wedding but doesn’t want to wait more than a year.The pictures look boring but mom says it’ll be fun. Plus, I get to be in it!