Spring has sprung

Well it is officially spring here in Valencia.  Today the high is 85!  We recently had 10 days of rain.  Which unfortunately during Fallas.  Rachelle and I did manage to make it one day and will post pics later.  We also got a second round of the stomach flu.  Sigh.

We are still waiting to see where we are going next.  If we are going.  Sigh.  I am trying to be calm about.  I really would rather stay but it is not an option.  I've pretty much got in my mind that we are going back to the US.  I'm not ready for that.  My anxiety is going a bit crazy because of all of this.  Four months is all we have left before we have to pack up again.  I really need to start getting rid of things.  We don't need all the lights from Istanbul. And if we are going back to the US, I have a TON of 220 stuff to get rid of.  I told Joel this weekend, we are going to clean out the garage.  I have everything unpacked and there is a lot of garage that just needs to be hauled to the dumpster.  The rental company still hasn't come pick up their stuff.  ACK!

We FINALLY are legal residents of Spain!  We picked up our ID cards on Friday.  I swear these relo people have really FAILED at their jobs.  But its done.  I doubt we will have everything taken care before we leave.  My friend Roz said she just doesn't feel settled here.  I'm with her.  I love it here but I'm not a fan of relying on incompetent people just to get some things fixed.  My dishwasher broke a week ago and they still haven't scheduled a repairman in.  Sigh.

My parents and brother are arriving on Sunday. Then we are going to do some traveling.  We are taking the train to Barcelona and Madrid.  I have been to both, so I'm hoping I can be a good tour guide.  Joel has to work.  Sigh.  Maybe I can convince him to take a weekend away while we have babysitters!

And the best news.... I got a nanny for the summer!   She is a UofL student and an alumni from my alumna mater.  She will be here May thru July.  Yeah!  I get a break!  Milly is full on into the terrible twos.  Man, that girl can throw a tantrum.  It makes me feel like a shitty mom.  I think there just has been so much and so many changes, she is trying to figure it all out.  Plus, her sleep schedule has been out of whack.  I'm not liking these 7am weekend wakeups.

Well I have a million things that I'm procrastinating from doing.  I better get my but in gear or I will have no clean clothes!

Be careful what you lick

After a rough two weeks of an ear infection and the stomach flu all around (yes all 4), I started to understand moms that run away.  I was exhausted and suffered two days of the stomach flu too.  Oh, and I broke a tooth some time in there.  I just NEEDED a break.  I asked God to give something good.  I got a sick dog instead.

Over the weekend, I saw some articles popping up on my Valencia expat boards.  I kind of looked at them and it was a bit scary.  Procesionaria del pino otherwise known as processionary caterpillars or pine caterpillars

Kind of cute right?

Wrong!

These things are poisonous!  And can kill dogs!  Truthfully, I didn't think much about it.  It made it sound like you had to be roaming the woods or something to come across them.  We have two pine trees in the back of our garden.  I peaked at them and didn't see anything that looked like a nest.  I was sure we didn't have to worry about it.  I walk the dogs on sidewalks.  And we will just avoid the trails until April.

Sunday evening, Joel noticed Kuş was drooling quite a bit. Çekiç had been drooling like that the night before but we know he hurt himself trying to bite a fence.  He isn't too bright sometimes.  Anyways, Kuş was having troubles eating.  So Joel looked into her mouth and there was a white patch.  It really looked like she had a paper towel stuck to her tongue.  It was really bothering her when she ate but other than that and being kind of cranky, she acted normal.  I mentioned the caterpillars but she wasn't showing any other signs.  And they are pretty bad.  I mean a swollen tongue is pretty obvious but she didn't have one.

The next morning, I had to get her into be seen by a Vet.  Her mouth smell horrible and it was starting to look a little green.  Of course, Joel is just going to send ME to the local vet alone to figure it out.  Thanks dear.  But my lovely friend Roz came to assist.  Her basic español is way better than mine.  So we pop around the corner, and lo and behold, BOTH speak English!! A huge THANKS to 

Centro Veterinarion integral La Cañada! Kuş has indeed come in contact with one of those caterpillars.  She did amazing in the office.  She got two shots and some follow up Antibiotics and steroids.  She will be making a full recovery.  While we were waiting to check out, a guy ran in with a HUGE bulldog.  You can immediately tell that his tongue was swollen.  It as HUGE!  He was having a seizure as we were leaving.  The Vet said that they get dogs in daily.  Crazy!  I had never heard of such a thing.

Later that day, Jocy told me they had them at their school and one of the playgrounds was closed.  Then Joel tells me that they are battling them at the plant.  Thankfully, they are less deadly to humans.  Well as long as you aren't dumb enough to eat one.  You just end up with a pretty painful rash from the poison.  

Kuş is back to her normal self.  That spot on her tongue fell off the next day.  It looks crazy, but looks to be healing well.  She goes in for a check on Saturday.  Now that  I have had a few uneventful days, I look back and realize it was a good thing.  Now we have a Vet right next to Jocy's bus stop.  They do 24 hour emergency care and will come to your house.  Kind of reminds me when we were having troubles finding an OB..... then we had the car accident and we ended up seeing Dr. Canam!