Five for Friday, Edition #43: It's Way More Than Five

Is anyone surprised that this is going to start out happy and light and then the last two bullet points will be downers? Don't be surprised. This is 2026 in America. 

1) My co-workers has been in treatment for breast cancer. She'd done chemo, surgery, and TODAY IS HER LAST DAY OF RADIATION!!! Woot woot! She has been such a real light during this whole thing and she's wonderful and super and if you could just think of her today and send a smile out into the world, that would be amazing. 

2) The riverwalk is open! In just a few weeks it went from this:

To this:

It's now so dry I feel like I might set fire to the grass just by walking on it, but that's the price you pay for living in Wisconsin, I guess.

3) So, dogs can be jerks, you know? One of the things Hannah likes to do on walks is antagonize other dogs who are in their houses, behind a fence, or tied out. And she doesn't just walk by, but she'll stop to linger - to pee, to sniff, to just stare in the middle distance. I try to coax her to move along, but I have a "no yank unless it's an emergency" policy with Hannah, so other than moving myself in the direction I want to go and reminding her that we live in a society where it's not nice to be mean to others, I generally just let this happen. 

Am I jerk because of this? Particularly when it's (hypothetically) 5:47am and we're walking down a neighborhood street and one particularly loud golden retriever behind a fence sets off another unseen dog somewhere else and then another unseen dog? Is it my responsibility to maybe use the yank and get Hannah out of sight of the OG Barking Dog? We DO live in a society after all.

4) I mentioned very briefly in my April spending report that I had purchased an advent calendar. J texted me an advent calendar asking me if that was the one I had ordered. AND IT WAS. I hadn't said which one it is - mostly because I want it to be a surprise for my husband - and she KNEW. She's psychic. I am both kind of scared of J now (is she a mind reader?!) and impressed that she knows me that well. 

5) The people in the house across the street from our house used to be a nice couple with the friendliest chihuahua I've ever met. But now? That house is a source of amusement and consternation to us. A new family moved in and there are six? seven? eight? people who live there. At least one adult man and adult woman. At least two tween/young teen girls - we see three regularly, but at least five or six are repeaters. Maybe a tween/teen boy? He might just visit a lot. And then there is one (maybe two) young women who are of driving age. And then my husband said he saw an elderly couple, but maybe they were just visitors. ANYWAY. They moved in an immediately put up a trampoline, which the tween/teen girls use daily. 

But here's the rub. They have a whole flock of chickens AND at least four dogs (three goldens and a black and white goofball). AND I THINK THEY HAVE AN OUTDOOR CAT. 

(Cats should not live outdoors in the city. They kill wildlife and stress out wild animal populations. Cats' lives are much shortened because of cars and predators. And don't get me started on the spread of PARASITES. Grr.)

Anyway. Dr. BB and I are fascinated by this house. We're also pretty sure they're in violation of city regulations about the number of animals they can have. I mean, I'm actually positive they are:

No family shall keep any swine, horses, cattle, sheep, goats or mules, nor more than two rabbits, three dogs, three cats, six chickens, two mink, two ducks, two geese, two doves or two turkeys on any property within the corporate limits of the city; except, the total number of animals, fowl or pets that a family may keep under this section shall not exceed a combination of six. 

Whatever. I'm not going to turn them in, but can you imagine HOW CROWDED it must be in there?

6) At work we had these stickers we were supposed to give away to students who came to advising appointments.

I rolled my eyes, but when I started offering them to students, they took them. I had to start going to my co-workers' offices to get more.

But then I remembered that I had a series of dog stickers. Bestest Friend sent these to me and I had them in a drawer in my office. 

My students are obsessed with these stickers. No student who I have suggested look at the dog stickers has declined. Only one student has not taken one. 

Stickers are a good currency for college-aged students. Who knew?

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If you just want the Happy Things, stop reading here. It's going to get not so happy.

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7) Poor Hannah. Eating the cat food has really messed with her GI tract. Dr. BB came home on Wednesday to a mess in the house - the dining room rug may have to be replaced and she was clearly scratching at the front door trying to get out. We've had her on two courses of metronidazole, which has firmed up her stools temporarily, but it clearly hasn't fixed whatever it is long term. 

I called the vet on Wednesday afternoon and they said a vet tech would call, but they never did. So I did something I hate to do. I texted our vet's personal cell. Our vet is in my book club, we are actual friends, and I have moved vet offices to stay with her, but I hate to take advantage of it. 

Anyway, she's back on a long-term antibiotic, which sucks because it will depress her appetite and we're already dealing with Zelda's low appetite. But at least we have a plan.

8) My husband's friend group from high school is pretty tight, but one or two of the women have slipped off our radar. One of them literally has THIRTEEN children (Catholics, AMIRITE?) and the other had a falling out with someone else in the friend group and just stopped showing up to stuff. Anyway. The person with the falling out? Her husband just died. He had something called myotonic dystrophy. He wasn't even fifty. 

My husband wants to go to the funeral today, but because someone has to be with Hannah all the time, I don't think I can go with him. 

2026 is not being a very nice year, you know?

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Should I do an emergency yank with Hannah when she's setting off other dogs? Are you scared of J's clairvoyance? Do you want a dog sticker?