Home Alone

My Daddy had some friends visit from Florida last week and I had to be on my bestest behavior.  No sofa surfing without permission, no prewashing plates and bowls before they went in the dishwasher, no jumping up on the humans for attention, no digging through the trash and leaving random treasures under the coffee table, no booty scootin' across the living room floor, no begging, and no licking my privates.  If you are having difficulty trying to figure out who is writing today, it's me, Kiva the Wondermutt!!  (the last no-no should have been a dead giveaway, but some of you know my Mommie too well!!)

My poor Mommie!!  She did her darnedest to keep up with the company, but RSD is a bitch (sorry Mommie's Mom)!!  On Thursday I got to ride in the backseat of the company's car with my Mommie and Daddy ... all the way to the Chalet ... where I got dropped off.  Mommie told me that it was because the Chalet missed me, but my keen canine senses told me that there was another reason ... or 2.  They were going sightseeing and Mommie was too paranoid to leave me alone at the Oasis.  I have a tendency to ruin blinds, curtains, and trash can liners when I'm left unattended and Daddy's house wasn't Kiva-proofed enough for her to feel comfortable leaving me there, home alone.  At the Chalet I have full access to the big front window and the back yard ... and Mommie usually remembers to put the trash cans out of my reach.  She lined up the 1st season of Glee on Hulu so that I had something to watch besides the squirrels and the leash-training-woman with her 3 freaks.  She made sure I had plenty of food and water even though she knows I don't eat when I'm alone, and she put the trash cans on top of the washing machine.  Then she and Daddy gave me hugs and kisses, locked the door behind them, and returned to the backseat of the company's rental car.  I guess they went to and from and around Estes Park ... and I stayed home ... with Finn, Rachel, Santana, and Puck as babysitters. (Great role models, Mommie!!  Not!!)  When they had first dropped me off, Mommie was still walking normally, but by the time they came back to pick me up 5 hours later, my Mommie was moving as fast as a herd of turtles and her face had Shar Pei creases all over it.  Company, meet the Beast, RSD.  

On Friday the company wanted to do more sightseeing.  This time they were going to Red Rocks.  And this time, Daddy convinced Mommie that I would be ok at the Oasis ... all ... by ... myself!!  AARROOOOO!!  And I was a ROCKSTAR!!  I didn't get into the trash, I didn't crinkle the blinds, I didn't shred the lace curtain, I didn't go potty on the floor.  Mommie was so happy when they got home that she cried and cuddled with me in bed for 13 hours.  Come to find out, it was not because of me that she was crying, and they were not happy tears either.  It had been windy at Red Rocks and there was construction going on.  Mommie got pelted with dirty wind.  I think she'd have had more fun visiting a masochistic acupuncturist, but, for the most part, she kept her cool until they got home.

The trouble with RSD is that it's never just one thing.  It's more of a domino effect disease.  She started to feel the wind in her bones first.  Then she added the vibration of riding in a car for hours and the twisted mountain roads that turn her into a pinball in the car.  Next came the dirty wind which ignited a skin flare.  Then came the sheer determination of not crumbling in front of new friends which led to pinched nerves and muscle spasms in her right shoulder and arm.  <big dog sigh>  So today Mommie and I are home alone where I can keep an eye on her.  She's still having trouble with her shoulder and arm and I need to be at her feet to grab every morsel of easy-food that she drops.  I just hope she remembers not to eat chocolate or raisins today.

I have faith that my Mommie will make a full recovery from this recent exacerbation (such a big word for such a little dog).  I also have faith that more RSD awareness was spread last week, even if it wasn't through the greatest of means.  With or without RSD, life goes on.  I see my Mommie stay strong more than I see her crumble into a pile of poo.  I know she's gonna regroup and win this round ... she just has to!!