August 24, 2008 at 8:44 am · Filed under blather
- Pete and I cleaned the garage and found some stuff that hadn’t been touched for over 10 years. Nasty!
- Two days later, Pete woke up dizzy and upchuck-y. It was so bad that I took him to the doctor and he had an anti-nausea shot and some IV fluids. Diagnosed as vertigo. It’s been much better since then.
- The kids registered at high school. I have two high schoolers now. It’s still sinking in. Does this mean I’m old?
- Peter decided to check out stage crew after hearing about the first meeting from Moon. He went to the meeting on Saturday (really not a meeting, but a work session — physical labor for these kids!). He had a great time, so it looks like he’s found a school activity already.
- We’ve watched loads and loads of Olympics, and I’ve worked on my Ravelympics project whenever possible. But it won’t be done tonight. I’m like a hurdler who tripped up but will still finish. Or like a marathoner who is still working on the race after everyone else has gone home. Oh well, I’ll have an awesome pair of socks when it’s all done.
- I ordered this and sold a few of my other bags.
- We finally finished cleaning up the basement, although the computer work area is still pretty piled up with papers and stuff. Not my problem, though!
- Our vacuum cleaner shut down in protest, so we bought a canister vac to replace it. Not a Dyson, but it was $400 cheaper so I’m not complaining. Plus, I only do about 25% of the vacuuming around here, if that.
- ALF’s daughter is at college now, and that seems very surreal to me although we’re only a year away from the same thing.
August 18, 2008 at 8:44 am · Filed under blather
I saw this on Flickr and had to show you. What a skilled barista!
August 9, 2008 at 9:17 am · Filed under animals, foxxi
The past few days have opened my eyes to the important place our family animals have in our lives. I thought I knew that already, but apparently I hadn’t ever clearly imagined what a Foxxi-less home would be like. So now I have. Thanks, anxieties!
Anyway. I noticed a long time ago that one of Foxxi’s fangs was chipped, but the vet couldn’t get near her mouth during the annual exam. It had been a while (like, 3 years) since her last cleaning, so we decided to bite the bullet and have it done Thursday. Estimate: $600-800 if nothing major was found.
Actual final cost: just over $1,900. Which covered removal of three badly infected teeth, bone grafts to save the adjacent teeth, sealing of six chipped teeth, antibiotic injection, three different prescriptions to bring home, and all the related surgery costs. The vet said she’d have thought Foxxi chewed rocks if she didn’t know better. (Our dog is not a big chewer, never has been.)
That wasn’t the scary part, though. I laid Foxxi in her bed when we came home, and she literally didn’t move for the next 6 hours. No barking, no interest in food or water. When she finally attempted to get up, her back legs didn’t work. Her front half kept flopping to the floor. I heard her whining at 4 a.m., and jumped out of bed to see what was wrong. Her back legs were jutting in opposite directions, so I gently tried to straighten them out. I was rewarded with a snarl and snap towards my wrist.
I spent the night thinking about paralysis, old age, and all that implies. In other words, I was kind of a wreck.
After I got to work, I called the vet, who told me that the difficulties might be a result of going under. Foxxi already had weakness in her back legs before the surgery. That made me feel quite a bit better, but not as good as it felt when Foxxi finally pushed herself to a wobbly stand and barked for her lunch.
She’s even better this morning. I’m very, very relieved. Even with all the nipping, barking and occasional obnoxious behavior, it’s good to have her back to her usual self.
August 3, 2008 at 5:45 pm · Filed under family
We only had time and money for a mini-vacation this year. So we decided to take Moon up to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for the College of Liberal Arts preview last week.
Here are our photos of the trip, which included:
- A pit stop in Eau Claire to visit Chicken Unlimited, recommended by JM and Nichole.
- Two non-consecutive overnights at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington, because it was so much nicer and more comfortable than the much more expensive downtown Holiday Inn. (We needed to be downtown first thing in the morning on Thursday and didn’t want to mess with traffic.)
- A consumerist pilgrimage to Mall of America, where we bought a bunch of stuff from The Body Shop. I also had a chance to demo the Wii Fit (and got free socks!), and of course I want one of my own now.
- Dinner at Fogo, which is now my favorite Brazilian restaurant. The service and food were unbelieveable. We spent $275, but it’s okay because we had free breakfasts at the Embassy Suites and free breakfast/lunch at the UM the next day.
- The aforementioned preview day at UM. We ran into one of Moon’s friends from school, which was a fun surprise.
- A tour of the state capitol in St. Paul, because I have a thing about state capitols.
- Our first (but not last) taste of pie at Norske Nook in Osseo, conveniently located off the interstate.
We brought home a few souvenirs. The pecan fudge pie is already half eaten.
