I almost missed updating today
Yesterday went south really fast.
At 1pm I got a call from KK to inform me that Pixie had broken out of her crate and had gone on an absolute rampage in my bedroom (I keep the door closed to prevent Rika from coming into my room, because she likes to poop under my bed, and also to keep the cats out because the dogs lose their damned minds when the cats walk by when they're in their crates). The whole room was upside down, and Pixie had gotten into an almost full bag of dog diapers that I got last year when Peggy had a ruptured anal glad and I needed her to not lick herself.
KK very nicely brought Pixie to the vet for me since I couldn't leave work, and I had to wait for several anxious hours until I could leave work and go to the vet myself. Luckily my local vet is awesome and was able to take us on an emergency basis rather than forcing us to take Pixie to the emergency vet, which would have cost a bloody fortune. They induced vomiting, and then waited to see what came up. The good news is that, while Pixie did help herself to every dog treat I had in the room, she didn't actually ingest anything she really shouldn't have (like, say, diapers with super absorbent materials and other toxic chemicals in them), so there's no cause for concern. She was given plain rice and a probiotic for dinner, and apart from being quite tired last night and today, is showing no ill effects from her little escapade.
I bought a new crate at PetSmart, one that's rated for travel and that won't break down as easily. Peggy already had one since she's a savant about locking mechanisms, and I decided to give Peggy the new crate because I bought it a size up, and I figure it'll be better for her hips if she has a bit more room to move around and stretch. It's actually a perfectly good size for them both, but since Peggy has hip dysplasia I figured it couldn't hurt to give her some extra room. Amusingly, she still chose to curl into the tightest ball possible last night in spite of the extra space. She does love being a tiny ball of Peggy when she sleeps, it's super cute.
My bedroom is an absolute trash heap right now. It was pretty messy before, but now if I lived in the US I'm pretty sure FEMA would be showing up on my doorstep to provide natural disaster relief. My plan originally was to clean up my room right after we visited some houses today, but then the migraine fairy decided to pay a visit and so I spent most of the afternoon sleeping it off. So now the plan is to do that tomorrow, once I'm up, caffeinated, and ready to face the day.
We ended up seeing two houses today rather than three (one ended up conditionally sold). The first was okay but the layout was not quite right. It also very weirdly had a SUPER modern bathroom that was in such stark contrast to the rest of the house that was a bit older and had had some cheap renovations done that it was actually kind of jarring. It had a heated mirror that lit up using touch buttons, with a brand new washer and dryer! It was wild. Mostly what convinced me that it wasn't the right property was that Enbridge has a gas line running right through the property, and it would require an easement that would likely prevent me from doing any kind of gardening or putting in a chicken coop or anything else. There was also a very steep slope in the backyard that would have made things a little difficult. Anyway, it was interesting, but ultimately not right for us.
The second house was a bit of a horror show. It was still occupied by a family with two small children (both under the age of 10 by the looks of it), and two very sweet cats. One was a ragdoll that was absolutely glorious but was uninterested in being sociable, whereas the other was a tabby/calico-looking one that absolutely wanted all of the pats an attention. Our real estate agent said there was a dog closed up in one room and didn't want to go in, but KK decided to try the door anyway. Inside was a very sketchy-looking dude holding an obviously super sweet golden Labrador who was in desperate need of a nail trim (the poor thing's toes were twisting against the floor, they were so long), and he told KK that they were waiting for the SPCA to come get the dog. It gave all of us the ick.
The house smelled of must and cigarettes and God only knows what else. The rooms were tiny, and the dog had been chewing on the doors and walls, probably out of anxiety (they didn't tell us this, but I know dog damage when I see it). The whole house would have needed to be gutted, or possibly even torn down and rebuilt from scratch. The main reason I was interested was because it was situated on a full acre of land, but honestly even at the price it was selling at it wouldn't have been worth it.
So, the phrase of the day is: "Disappointed but not surprised."
Anyway, it's been a long couple of days. Tomorrow the plan is just to rest, because I have a super busy week ahead of me on top of working an evening shift. I have appointments basically every single day except Friday, at this point, and I am tired just thinking about it. Blech.