Monday, July 23, 2012

Staying Busy

I love theater and I can't believe that with the great venues we have here in Charleston I don't go more often.  I've seen a few productions here and there, but when looking for something to do it never dawns on me to go see a play or some improv.  I need to keep up with what's happening in Charleston theater more often.

Friday night Mark and I went to dinner at the Early Bird Diner.  I had their meatloaf again but this time I tried the cheesy mashed potatoes with it.  They were okay... not great, just okay.  I added a bit of salt which livened them up a bit.  I also had the collards, which are always good!  I've never had anything bad there.  I only wish it were closer to my house!

After dinner we went downtown to PURE Theater to see their new production 'Love Song' by John Kolvenbach.  We grabbed a beer for Mark and a glass of wine for me and made our way into the theater.  It reminded me so much of the theater productions I used to go see in the East Village.  You were so close to the actors that you could practically reach out and touch them.  Of course in the East Village most of the time you really didn't want to touch them!

The play was quite good and the first half of it was pretty funny.  The last half was a bit dark, thought provoking and intense being that it dealt with mental illness.  I really like the whole experience and can't wait to go back to see another show.  I definitely need to see more theater in the near future!

Saturday night I had plans to have dinner with James.  We met at Northwoods Mall because he just dropped off his kids.  I never know what I want to eat or where I want to go and I'm glad my friends don't bitch at me for that.  We spoke earlier about pizza so we headed over to West Ashley to Andolini's.  We were just about there when James asked if I'd rather go to the Mellow Mushroom in Avondale.  I had never eaten there so I was totally game.

You wouldn't know it from the outside but the place is huge inside.  Even though it was a Saturday and quite busy we were seated within minutes.  I was surprised at how big the menu was!  I really thought it would be smaller with just a few pizza's.  We started with some cheese bread and I decided on the 10" Funky Q Chicken which is made of BBQ chicken, BBQ sauce, caramelized onions, mozzarella, cheddar and applewood smoked bacon.  I ordered it without the bacon.  James got the Mighty Meaty.

The pizza's were the perfect size for individuals and really tasty.  I was glad the crust wasn't thin.  The only thin crust pizza I like is New York style.  We ate and chatted for a while and I spotted a really cute girl that was working there.  She was serving the upstairs tables and would walk by occasionally.  I tried to catch her eye but she was in the zone.  I immediately sent Mark a text that we need to frequent Mellow Mushroom for our dinner dates in the future!

I came home after having dinner with James to check on Jake.  He's been pretty sick since being diagnosed with diabetes.  I've been giving him one unit of insulin twice a day and it's just not enough.  Last week I had to have Traci bring him to the vet because he looked like he was on his deathbed.  He was weak, could barely meow and his body was lifeless.  They ran some tests and gave him fluids and also gave him more insulin.  The vet told us to monitor his blood sugar and he would give us a call back to get the results... which he never did.

Jake was okay for a while but we had a really hard time getting any blood out of him.  On Friday he took a turn for the worse and wouldn't come out of the bathroom.  I think he was comfortable on the cold floor.  Normally when he's okay he sleeps with me but all he could do was lay there.  I put some extra glasses of water (yes, he likes to drink out of glasses!) in the bathroom and also some food.  The doctor made us switch to this cat food that is $40 for a 10 lb. bag!  I spent as much time as I could with him.  It was so obvious he felt horrible.

On Saturday I was talking to Traci about how pissed I was that the vet hadn't called back.  He ran the tests and we know what is wrong.  We really needed him to call to let us know what to do!  I finally took it upon myself and increased his insulin to 2 units.  Finally, today he was feeling better.  My sister called the vet and he wasn't in but she spoke with the other vet in the office who was mad that I increased the dose on my own.  Well, whatever!  What was I supposed to do!  They dropped the ball by not calling and advising us and also, the increase worked!  I really hope he's on his way to a full recovery because if I lose Jake it will not be a pretty sight! 

My boss told me that I should put him down since we were spending so much money to make him better.  I could have kicked him!  He said "If it was a dog it would be a different story!"  He was half joking.  What an ass!