Good Bye Julius

Patty has had Julius long before even Hunter was born. Smart little sheltie who adored her and was her constant companion all these years. But at age 13, it was downhill all the way after he ingested rat poison which made his inner lining bleed. Came the prognosis of cancer, and poor Julius. But such a brave dog, no whining, no moaning. When Patty went down that fateful Saturday, when she came to the store, she was pale, sweaty, out of breath and enough to make me ask dawn to take her to the emergency room which became a 3 day stay in the critical care unit because she lost a lot of blood and they had to pump 4 units of blood into her, Julius had to stay with Dawn and kids. By the time she got out, her concern was for him and not for herself. I told him not to leave her, to hang in there for her.And so he did. The mag-amo were both bleeding and losing blood together. He did wait for her. Allowed her a week more of his presence but he was fading fast. She made the ultimate gamble of chemo for him but this was the final straw. on Friday, January 22nd, when Kylie and I got to the vet hospital, Patty and he were in a visitation room. He perked up and looked so alert that I had that little queasy feeling that we could be making a mistake. But after our petting hands lifted off him, he immediately slumped into Patty's chest. He just waited for all of us. He was gone even before the 2nd shot was done. I'm outta here. He looked like he was fast asleep. I remembered mom when she sneezed twice and was gone. The crying came, and the sadness. Hunter. Maddie, Kylie, Dawn, Anamite and I wailed along with Patty. But I know Julius was glad to rest, he knew Patty was ok, and now he's out there with Mom.
I know it will take Patty many months to heal. She came for dinner and the moment I heard his little collar ringing, i thought he was in the room. I feel the sadness of loneliness settling in on my sister. but she knows we are here for her. But we cannot have the same effect as Julius did with her.

Lasagna & Pizza

One Thursday night dinner, I made pizzas for everyone. Rigo made the dough and I got all the accoutrement , from freshly sliced mozzarella, mushrooms, sliced pepperoni, spinach leaves, basil, fresh plum tomatoes, shredded junk cheese aka pizza cheese by the bag, italian sausage. Each pizza was different and I had them in sheet pans aside from the required 13" rounds. You'd think this would be easy but instead, what a mess, and to bring them in and out of the oven so they were freshly hot.

The next week, I continued my Italian streak and this time got Ricotta and shredded mozzarella/provolone to make lasagna. And yes, I used diced tomatoes, ground beef and Italian sausage for my sauce, Oh and sam, I did make the bechamel sauce, it does make a difference. Layering the cooked lasagna, sauce, cheeses, bechamel sauce and spreading the ricotta was a bit tiring but I did end up making 5 assorted trays. Kudos to me, I still had it in me to come out with a decent lasagna. I usually get lazy and buy the GFS or Stouffer brand of lasagna because I almost think there's no difference, oh wait, mine's not that salty!!! And richer with the amount of stuff I put in it. Another TND done.