Husky On Board

As you know, we brought our 80-lb huskamute Pup with us to the holy land.  It was never a question of whether or not to bring him- he is part of our little family, and we stick together like the codependent nuts we are.

Regarding the logistics, the amount of time, money and sanity that I lost during the process is laughable.  Here are some notes so that others may be spared the ulcers and eye twitches that I had to endure.

Husky Pup Travel Checklist (see here)
1. Proof of Rabies Vaccination, Confirmed via Titer Test
Obviously!  What sort of pet owner doesn't vaccinate for rabies?  And surely it won't be hard to get this confirmed.

2. Electronic Microchip
Well of course if you're dragging your pup halfway around the world you'll want to keep tabs on him, so you've already microchipped him and are good to go here!  Right?

3. Certificate of Heath from your USDA Certified Vet (Endorsed by USDA)
No worries, your pup is healthy, and the certificate has to be signed and filed within 2-10 days of travel so there's no real rush.  Did you even need to start all of this paperwork three months in advance?  Probably not, but geez, better early than late!  You are so on the ball it's sickening.

4. Airline-Appropriate Crate
Done and Done.

Luckily he likes small cozy spaces, so he got used to his crate quickly.

Husky Pup Travel Checklist Reality Check
1. Proof of Rabies Vaccination, Confirmed via Titer Test
Oh, there's only one lab in the US that is USDA certified for titer tests?  In Kansas? And it takes up to 6 weeks to get results?  That's ok, we have plenty of time.

2. Electronic Microchip
Oh crap, the Pup's microchip isn't international?  That's ok, you can just get him re-microchipped.  What do you mean, he'll need to get re-vaccinated for rabies if he gets a new microchip?  Do microchips cancel out rabies vaccines?  Does the vet use old needles from the wild raccoon section of animal control for microchipping? Fine, you'll just re-vaccinate him then... WUT, then you have to wait 30 days before doing the titer test?  And then wait 6 more weeks for Kansas to get back with the results? That's cutting it awfully close.  Ugh, fine, you'll just pay $300 for a scanner and bring it along with you.  This doesn't solve the issue of what happens if your Pup makes a break for it in Israel, but whatevs, you can worry about that later.

3. Certificate of Heath from your USDA Certified Vet (Endorsed by USDA)
LOL there are like 4 USDA certified vets in South Jersey and they are all ignoring your calls!  Great, your old vet in California wrote down the wrong microchip number on the Pup's files and now the new USDA vet is like, how do I even know that these files are for this husky, the microchip number is one digit off so I can't do the health certificate and maybe we need to re-do all of his vaccinations.  Meanwhile the CA vet is like, we refuse to fix the mistake on our paperwork for no good reason!  Ha!  You eat three packages of snack cakes and cry on the couch, then call the microchipping service and both vets in infinite loop until somehow it works out at the last possible minute.

4. Airline-Appropriate Crate
Your Pup chews up all the bedding in the crate and then gets an intestinal blockage requiring surgery.  Just to keep things interesting.

Long story short... hire a pet transport service.  It's gonna be expensive no matter which way you do it, and their experience is worth way more than you're paying.  With all of the above drama, we'd have never been able to get Pups onto the plane on our own, but even if things had gone smoothly there are still so many little steps, such as endorsing the paperwork and filing with the USDA and Israel (remember, Israel has a different work week than the U.S.!), that we didn't have to worry about since we had someone who knew exactly how to fill it out, what the possible hurdles would be, and how to deal with the roadblocks as they arose.  We used Premier Pet Relocation and and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Such a pain in the ass...

But worth it! :)

Weekend of Eating All the Food

Finally, AP and I are both back to 100%.  This past weekend we celebrated our good health by going out and Eating All the Things.  Even though the weather report cautioned rain on Saturday, it was a gorgeous weekend, so we spent a good deal of time outside enjoying our last California spring.

Friday night I peaced out of work early and met up with AP at Quinto Sol for kick-ass margaritas.  I got the enmolatas which are vegan as-is on the menu.  I love their mole sauce, but I'm always afraid to recommend it to others.  NorCal folks take their mole seriously.

I could drink this sauce with a straw, mmmmm......

On Saturday morning, we woke up early and trained into Oakland for the first ever Oakland VegFest!  I'd never been to Lake Merritt amphitheater before and didn't realize it was basically a small open park- I'd been expecting it to be bigger, and enclosed.  I have to say it was a pleasant surprise; it was a very laid back setup and the view was gorgeous.

Beautiful view, crappy pics, my bad. 

We got there before the 11am start time so we were able to score one of the goodie bags they were giving away.  Free samples, whoot!  I loved the Beanfields chips- the volunteer gave me a fistful of coupons that I can't wait to try out.

WTF am I supposed to do with the coffee flavored "mylk"? Anyone?

Since it was a small event, we'd seen what there was to see fairly quickly.  AP was getting hungry and cranky, so we headed down to Jack London Square to one of his fave restaurants, Souley Vegan.

AP's plate: southern fried tofu with ranch, mac and cheese, rice and beans.  The mac sauce is a basic nutritional yeast concoction that we are both fans of, although this batch went a little heavy on the garlic powder.  Still delish though.

My plate: BBQ tofu, collards, mashed potatoes and gravy.  These collards were insanely good.  I just ordered them to get a green veggie on my plate, but I was beyond impressed.

We weren't hungry for dinner until about 8.30pm, so I threw together a salad.  Gardein chicken strips, toasted tortilla strips, southwest blend, and spicy marcona almonds.  For the dressing, I mixed vegan ranch and BBQ sauce.

A salad that AP actually enjoyed.

AP was getting pouty about the lack of vegan baked goods in our home and in Starbucks (his home away from home).  I decided to test out the Pinterest trend of soda cupcakes.  You take a box of cake mix (Duncan Hines has a ton of vegan ones) and instead of adding the eggs, oil, water, whatever, you just mix in a can of soda.  Coke for chocolate cakes, lemon-lime for vanilla cakes.  I used a Duncan Hines devil's food and a can of diet coke.  They turned out pretty good- AP liked them better than regular cupcakes.  Fluffier.

I just bought a can of frosting to top them with, because laziness.

On Sunday morning, I tried out another cheater recipe, canned biscuit donuts.  This one turned out pretty good as well!  The dough wasn't as sweet as traditional donut dough, but I counted that as a plus.

I used the recipe off the Pillsbury website, with some changes- I used the regular sized biscuits instead of Grands (so they'd be mini sized- also they cooked in about 10 seconds per side), I coated them with powdered sugar rather than granulated, and for the icing I halved the recipe and used 1/4 c Nucoa margarine and 1/4 c coconut oil.

How cute are these??

Pups and I did take a break from our gluttony to get some nice walks in around town.  We also found the time to stalk some geese.

Not pictured: six geese flying frantically into the bushes.

Soon, ducks... soon...

Lunch on Sunday was sandwiches from the place across the street.  They have a ton of veggie meats, but I kept mine simple with a veggie-only version.

Lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mushrooms, marinated artichokes and a little soy cheese.

We finished off our weekend with the traditional Sunday evening pizza.  Routine is the best way to end a week of adventure. 

BBQ sauce, Follow Your Heart mozzarella, pineapple, chopped up Field Roast patty and scallions.

Back from the Dead

Well well well, time flies when you are bedridden and doped up on sizzurp.

I've been sequestered in the house for the last two weeks, allowed out only to be poked and prodded by various doctors.

Thoroughly irritated.

Hiding my face from the paparazzi

It started out as just a virus, but thanks to my shitty compromised immune system it quickly upgraded to full-blown pneumonia.  As awesome as the Humira is for keeping my AS symptoms in check, it makes it a hell of a lot easier for non-serious shit to morph into crazy shit.

I managed to avoid hospitalization thanks to my wonderful nurse AP, who diligently monitored my breathing, but it was pretty gnarly.  I was sleeping sitting upright on the couch and couldn't go 5 feet from the humidifier.

Today was the first day I've left the house at all since Tuesday's rheumotologist trip.  We grabbed a zip car, ran some errands, and then swung by Veggie Grill for some grub.  I haven't been eating anything substantial while I've been sick, so it was super exciting to sit down to a healthy, delicious meal!

Bombay bowl!  Kale, quinoa, roasted veggies, beans and green curry sauce.  Not pictured: a piece of chocolate chip cookie and a kickass strawberry lemonade.

Tonight I'll be making lazy pizza for dinner.  Thaw some frozen homemade dough, top with sauce, vegan cheese and veggies, and you're good to go.  It's a small step but it's nice to be getting back to normal.  Once I stop wheezing and am back to my daily Pup walks, I'll be much happier.

Um... what?

Leave me alone, I'm waiting for Daddy to come home.

For once I don't ruin my mom's picture with a grouch-face.

I will miss the extra cuddles he's been giving me.  Even though they've all been a ruse to try and eat my used tissues, I've been enjoying them.

Weekend Under the Weather

It never fails.  I rarely get sick, but when I do, it starts to hit me on Friday evening, carries through the weekend and miraculously I am cured by the time I have to head to work on Monday.  As much as it blows to have a weekend ruined with no work-from-home pj time, I am hoping tradition holds firm, because I have a busy day at work tomorrow and I still feel like shit.

Yesterday I didn't leave the house at all, but I did manage to cook up some comfort food.  Lunch was rice bowls with pickled carrots, greens and mushrooms sauteed in garlic and tamari, avocado, and a drizzle of hot sauce.

Avocado makes anything good.

We were going to order out for dinner, but nothing sounded as good as chili cheese dogs, so that's what I whipped up.  Seriously, you could put staples and krazy glue on an apple-sage Field Roast sausage, and it would still taste bomb.

Tater tots are a vegetable, as is ketchup, because tomatoes.  I got no excuse for the Vegenaise tho :/

When I am feeling sicky, Pups tends to hang out and give me extra cuddles, which is nice.  Either he can tell I need a little extra TLC, or he suspects I'll be less lax in guarding my food.  Especially when I'm eating avocado and nooch on toast.  We've recently discovered that avocado turns him into a Tasmanian devil of joygasms.

He ain't dumb, he knows avocado is where it's at.

Today I was feeling a little better, so we ventured out to Veggie Grill for lunch.  I have not been there in years, and forgot how much fun it is to be able to order anything I want off a menu!

Santa Fe chicken sandwich, whoot!

We are car-less, so the round trip of walking and training tired me out.  I did manage to muster up the strength to make AP's lunch for the week, the worlds laziest bento boxes.  Nava Atlas' carrot muffins (I used cashews instead of walnuts, and did 1 cup white flour/1 cup oat flour), a cream cheese dipping sauce and an apple sauce.  Just dropped the cup right in there, too tired to do anything fancier.

Whatever, "finished" is better than "perfect".

I spent a large portion of the weekend in the tub, soaking my sore muscles and breathing in steam.  Pups parked by my side every minute of every soak.  You know, to keep an eye on things.

I got my eye on you...

 

Good thing I have such a good nurse!

The Next Step

It's Sunday afternoon. We are back from a morning at the beach. I'm curled up on the couch with a tuckered out Pups by my feet. A stack of magazines is by my side, ready for browsing. My family is making me laugh on our group text. Vegetables are being curried in my crockpot, making the house smell amazing. Pizza dough is rising in my fridge. AP has just finished cleaning the entire house and is about to pop a bottle of sparkling rose.

Today is a pretty good day.

I'm trying to slow down and enjoy the peaceful days while I can. At the end of the summer, we will be giving away everything we own, getting on a plane and heading to Israel for two years. AP accepted a post-doctoral position near Tel Aviv; Pups and I will be tagging along.

There is so much work to be done before we go. Visas, housing, job hunts, Pups accommodations. It's overwhelming but I just have to keep in mind that by October, we'll be having another day just like today, where we do all of our favorite things and eat our favorite foods and take the scenic route home and just live life. Except we'll be in a different house, visiting a different beach, using a different crockpot. Hopefully the new crockpot will have a lid that isn't broken; I can dare to dream.