November 22nd is my birthday.  In my head, I’m about twenty-five, but in real life, I’m 58.  When did I get so old?  It seems like yesterday I was in college, but it’s been forty years.  Did I say forty years?  Holy cow, that’s a long time ago.  I’m not fond of my birthday, not because of the aging thing, but it’s just not been (historically) a good day for me.  I’ve probably mentioned this in the previous two years, but my first memory of my birthday was in 1964, when I turned four.  President Kennedy was shot and killed and my first memory is of my mother and her two friends crying, while their two kids and I sat and ate cake while watching the news coverage.  Since then, many birthdays have not been good..my sister had a major seizure, my mother an emergency hysterectomy, my hip dislocated, I had a major infection that couldn’t be cured, and the list goes on and on.  So I hold my breath and hope I’ll get through the day unscathed.  I know it sounds silly, but I really fret until the day has passed.

Thanksgiving on the other hand, combines my favorite foods, carbs, carbs and sugar, into a wonderful day.  We had some friends over, and it was a really nice afternoon.  I was so exhausted, I went to bed at 9PM and woke up this morning, at 11AM…I’m not even embarrassed to admit that.  It was funny, when I looked at the clock, I thought there was something wrong with it,  it couldn’t possibly be 11, but it was..

I spent a lot of Thanksgiving worrying about Aggie, as she’s not fond of any commotion, or changes in her routine.  She wandered out, figured out there were more people here than usual, and went back to bed.  I love how dogs handle stress…just sleep it off until things get better.  Aggie’s new favorite meal is vanilla yogurt mixed with peanut butter and her dog food.  She probably wouldn’t eat her dog food without it, as she’s now decided she’ll only eat what she wants.  And don’t try to sneak any medicine in there, as she’s got a nose for meds…and won’t eat  it.  She’ll just walk away.  Thus the peanut butter and yogurt, because she loves anything sweet, and she’ll eat her pill when she knows it’s going to be hidden with something sweet…Smart dog.  We were giving her chicken and rice mixed with dog food, but she figured out really quickly that her pill was in there,  so now she sniffs it and walks away.  I had been making frozen treats with vanilla yogurt and melted peanut butter combined, and she loved it…I figured if she liked it frozen, she’d love it cold, and does.  So far, it’s been a real winner for us.  I’ll feed her anything she wants, in order to keep her eating.  It’s only fair.  If I was approaching my 16th birthday as a dog, I’d hope my family would feed me whatever I wanted too…

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