Nine years can seem like a very long time, or it can fly by in an instant. While parts of the last nine years seem forever ago, mostly the memories are in a time crunch in my mind and seem so very recent.

This week is nine years that I have had Jessie. I found her at the Arlington Humane Society with Aunt Dolly and Amilcar (It was drizzling and we changed from sight-seeing in DC to checking out the dogs at the shelter that day) and I still remember seeing her laying in the pen, looking very sad and not barking. We played with her in the yard a little, checked how she did with cats, and knew then and there that she was my dog. The hardest part was leaving her at the shelter until they could check out my house the next day – but I was able to bring her home before the 4th of July and she has been my dog (no questions about it) ever since.

Jessie and I have been few a few changes in these nine years – from one old cat to three kittens, from a condo in Virginia to a townhouse in Jersey to a house in Florida. We’ve gone from walking 3-4+ miles in a day to 1-2 miles in a day;  she has gone from a single “parent” household, to “mom” doing the long distance relationship, to a two “parent” household. She has gotten use to sharing her side of the bed. With all the changes, she is still my sweet, sweet puppy, even at ten(ish) years old.

On a totally different topic, I saw an allergist this week. A woman I work with had been told she had a wheat allergy a decade ago. So, no pasta, no bread, no ice cream cones, no pizza, no anything with wheat in it for ten years. She was still having some issues so her doctor recommended a different allergist; lots of talking and a few tests later – she isn’t allergic to wheat at all. This got me thinking. For years I have thought (never tested) that I cannot eat fish or shellfish. I consume BBQ sauce with anchovies in it, I get sick; I eat Pad Thai, I get very sick, Caesar salad – you guessed it. But I have been very good about avoiding seafood for twenty years (with those few exceptions) so what if the seafood isn’t really the problem? So … off to the allergist I went and …. they did 18 different seafood tests. 18. And the results … no true allergy. I had a slight reaction to some of the fish, but nothing that is even close to an allergic reaction. Now, anchovies … there is no test for. But, we are going to get some of those little fishies and the doctor’s office will create their own test. So for now … I can experiment a little with shellfish (apparently totally safe) and maybe a little with some fish here and there. I’m starting slow (in case mom’s theory of not having an enzyme to digest it is the correct answer to this puzzle). But I’m pretty excited – I can possibly eat seafood again – Epipen in hand just in case the test is wrong and I have another reaction to the stuff!

Happy 4th of July!