The four of us scored VIP tickets to the taping of the Jeopardy! College Championship semifinals, so this afternoon we clapped and cheered through three back-to-back shows. I learned that there really are APPLAUSE signs that flash on and off so we know when to pump up the enthusiasm. And Alex Trebek is a very funny guy. We were in the third row, right behind the contestants who had already finished competing. I’m pretty sure we won’t be on camera or anything. The UW Band got lots of well-deserved screen time, as did the audience members who had brought signs to wave around.

It was almost like a sporting event, actually.

Yesterday I took Foxxi to the vet for her yearly exam. Third time’s the charm — the doctor was finally able to give her a real exam and get a blood test from her. Of course, they had to give her morphine to accomplish this without being bitten. (Which is why the first two visits failed miserably. Foxxi turned into Cujo when anyone tried to handle her, and it was impossible to put a muzzle on her. I even tried using the cat gloves to do it, but no go.)

I picked her up at noon, and she was pretty out of it the rest of the day. I was glad that I had let Peter stay home from school. (He had missed Monday and Tuesday, but had gone back Wednesday and Thursday.) Moon went back to school Friday because the antibiotics for her ear infection had kicked in. After lunch, I called Peter’s doctor because he’d had an especially nasty coughing attack when I was home. And I brought him in a few hours later.

He’s on antibiotics now, too. Because he has a bit of pneumonia in one lung. Neato.

This is so weird for me, because I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times my kids have needed antibiotics. Both kids. We’ve gone years without needing to see a doctor for anything but regular checkups. What’s with this winter?

Nonetheless, Foxxi was the most expensive by far. She’s also mad at me. She wouldn’t look at me yesterday, and nipped me if I reached over to pet her. I tried to tell her that hey, none of this would have been necessary if she would have been a LITTLE cooperative, but she’s not listening.

Category: Moods
Answer: The vet wrote this next to “disposition,” but it could have described the human as well as the dog.
Question: What is “Grumpy”?