Rumpus Update

Office Space Game

Pick up file folders while avoidingthe boss in this too-real video arcade game. Makes work look like play. Start game.

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

If you have not yet seen this video by OK GO, you really must. It is just delightful.

The Ceiling Has Been Painted

Who knew one could get so excited about paint? After oh, probably 50 years of a red ceiling in the family room (aka rumpus room) we have changed the color to oyster. The ceiling looks 3 feet higher than it was 2 days ago. We still are not certain that we have the right color up there - we might repaint it at 50% color so it appears lighter. I never felt like I had a weght on my head, but with the ceiling paited I feel like a weight has been lifted. The ammount of light that was absorbed by the old ceiling was incredible. Now when we are in the room at night, our two dim little lights light up the entire room no problem.

Photos from Boulder

Click on "See it Big" to see these pictures full size in your browser window. Just click the "Back" button to return.

Blogging Buddies

My blogging circle is ever widening.
Fred's blog: An outlet for his narcissistic tendencies.
Dirt Kids: A window into the harsh life in the Sierra foothils.
SCRC Blog: A "running club" for those who know the value of a good walk.
Boulder Marchi's: An insight into the Boulder, CO lifestyle. (coming soon!)

Rumpus Room Revival

Soon our Rumpus Room will get a much needed makeover. I've collected some before photos as you can see. I'll be adding photos to this Loop as we go through demo and reconstruction. You'll be reminded to look at the Loop from time to time.

FilmLoop has a new feature, "See it Big". If you click on the Loop above you will see all the photos BIG within your browser. Just click the back button to get back here. You no longer need to download the player to see the Loop, but you do need to download the player if you want to create a Loop.

The Mafia Wedding

We went to a wedding the past weekend. It was in Half Moon Bay - one of the most beautiful days I have ever experienced there. The ceremony joined together as one, two very Italian families, one from New Jersey the Abbondanalos, one in the concrete business in Half Moon Bay the Fontanas.

I had never met the bride or the groom. I know the bride's mother through my husband's work. So I was really an outsider looking in - or so I thought. Immediately upon arriving I get a BIG hug from the father of the bride. Apparently we are old friends and I didn't know it. Two kisses on the cheek and off I go to meet the rest of my new circle of best friends.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say I have never seen so much hugging, dancing and kissing between a group of very obviously heterosexual men. I thought it was all a lot of fun. The 90 year old grandfathers on both sides got up to sing and dance - when I say dance I mean like Zorba - and toast the happy couple. Those Italians know how and love to have a good time.

Gallery Looplet

World Cup Mania

Every four years I retreat into my cave with my remote control and my web sites and my printed schedules and brackets. Those who know me know not to try to reach me unless it is to discuss the poor showing of the Czech Republic or the unbelievable referee that nearly cost the United States the game of the Cup. I'm simply unable to talk intelligently about anything else. I don't even know if we are still at war with Iraq, though I think it is a safe assumption that we are.

Brazil is my team. I love the way they play. The have such a tremendous love and respect for the beauty of the sport. Ronaldino plays with pure joy and delight that is so infectious I catch myself smiling at the TV. I envy their attention to detail in their skill. I always wanted to dribble like Pele did in his movies.



I love the World Cup.

Aloha!

As it turns out, I still love Kauai. Poi Pu beach is still wonderful. The monk seals enjoy the sand in the early morning hours. I saw several sea turtles - one group I think was a family (large and small turtles). We saw them while we were geocaching (very fun).

While there we toured through a time share right on Poi Pu beach. As is always the case with time shares they are priced just a bit too high, but still somehow competitive. I swear I feel like just a complete moron when it comes to time shares. I always walk away thinking that there is something I am missing or a question I didn't ask or a catch I didn't pick up on. I'm the perfect person for them. I'm like chum in the water. I walk around a beautiful property and imagine myself there and I'm ready to move in. My saving grace is this nagging feeling that there is a catch. Thankfully, Roy likes to "run the numbers" and figure out what the real story is.

So my question, do you have a time share? Where? For how long? Has it been valuable to you? Have you traded for other properties? Tell me everything.

Twenty Years Later

I just received my first notification of my upcoming high school reunion. That's right I am a card carrying member of the Palo Alto High School Class of 1987. Go Vikings! Yeah! It is all so surreal. Twenty years! Ouch.

This is one of those areas where I don't get any sympathy from friends and family. My shock and dismay at the fact that I have been out of high school more years than I had lived when I left falls on deaf ears. My mom is being notified of her 50th reunion, my husband just passed on his 40th. Most of my friends have already either dealt with or happily ignored their 20th high school reunion.

Here is the thing: I LOVED my 10 year reunion. I was stunned at how much fun I had. There was nearly 500 in my graduating class and about half came to one of the three events we had. I think I may have talked to every single one of them. What is so strange about this to me is that I have almost no memories of high school that don't involve actually attending class or playing some sort of sport. I honestly can not recall how it is I seemed to personally know all of these people. But there I was, "Sally! Hi! So you went to Brown and I think you majored in subterranean mammals, right? How is that working out for you?". This will largely be funny to those of you who know me today and know that I can't remember the details of a story you told me 30 seconds ago.

So what advice do you have for me? Lose 10 pounds? Change my hair style and color? Botox? I suppose I'll have to go shopping...

Flash Looplet

Sophie is on the mend

We call the vet on the morning of day 3 to casually ask, “Should there be this much swelling?” and she says no, bring Sophie in right now.

She looks Sophie over and says that she really doesn’t like what she sees. She wants to send us to an orthopedic specialist. Roy asks if this could be cancer and the vet says that she can not rule that out at this time. I, of course, fall to pieces which makes Dr. Blount start crying and the 3 of us are a complete mess. It would be just too much to lose Sophie especially so close to losing Sammy. She says that it may not be cancer, but it is something they have to consider. Anyway she tells us the “worst case scenario” which is that the swelling is due to bone cancer, osteocarcoma, which is very aggressive and not curable. The treatment is to amputate the leg, do chemo therapy and maybe get 6-8 more months of life from Sophie. She reminds us that it may not be cancer and sends us home to wait for our ortho appointment. That was one sad, stressful afternoon.

The orthopedic specialist took more x-rays and did a pain test on Sophie. He found the arthritis, but he did not find any fractures, dislocations, tumors or odd bone behavior. It is his opinion that the swelling is due to an infection probably due to a cat bite (one of my mom’s cats attacked Sophie last Sunday and got a few swings in before I could pull her away and trap him in the attic) and he recommended rest and antibiotics. Whew! He did say that she will probably need surgery on her shoulder to restore the support that she has worn down through the years.

I still don’t know what I would have done if Sophie had bone cancer. I don’t know if amputation is the best option for a dog that lives to run, swim and play. I just don’t know. Lots of dogs do really well. Anyway, I’m grateful we didn’t have to decide. She has been resting and getting better each day. She and I just started taking walks again, she is eating normally, and she picked up her ball yesterday and dropped it at my feet. The swelling is going down, but is not completely gone and her arm still hurts.

Whew!

Sophie - Little Trooper

My poor little Scoo.

Yesterday morning Sophie and I went on our usual 6am walk. Everything was normal, there was absolutely nothing – even looking back – that could be reported as odd. I wasn’t feeling well so I went back to bed for about 90 minutes. When I got up, Sophie was having a tough time walking. Clearly her left front leg was bothering her but it looked like she didn’t really want to walk on either leg. We thought maybe she was stiff from her nap or she jumped of “her” chair and landed funny. I was sufficiently worried to call the vet and get an appointment @ 3pm

We left her to rest while we ran some errands. When we returned, she didn’t meet us at the door, nor had she moved from the spot she was in when we left. I took her outside to relieve herself, which she did, and let her wander around the back yard. Well she limped right into a dark corner, dug a small hole and lay down in it. I called the vet back to say that I didn’t want to wait ‘til 3, they said I could bring her in, drop her off and the doctor would check her in-between her other patients. I was relieved to get Karen Blount’s call saying she saw Sophie and thought she would step in and check her out (the original appointment was with a different doctor). She prepped The Bean for x-rays and called us when they were done.

We have known that Sophie was developing arthritis in her left shoulder for probably 5 years. The x-rays showed that it has progressed. Dr. Blount is sending them to a specialist for further review and it might be that Sophie Ann Marie will have to go to San Mateo to see an orthopedist. We picked her up yesterday with a bottle full of anti-inflammatory and a bottle of pain relief medicine. Right now Sophie is a sad little pup. She is VERY swollen in her left should/elbow and can not walk at all on that leg, nor will she lie down on that side. I finally got her to eat something about 30 minutes ago, which was a huge relief since I didn’t want to continue to give her the medicine on an empty stomach, but she is in so much pain I didn’t want her to NOT have the medicine either.

Dr. Blount said the first 48 hours would be tough, so I’m trying to not freak out completely until tomorrow afternoon. I am worried about the swelling and Sophie doesn’t even want us to lightly touch the fur around the area. I got an appointment for tomorrow morning, just in case the swelling and pain don’t subside – or get worse.

That’s the scoop.

Simmer is Sensational!

Have you ever raved about a club sandwich? How about macaroni and cheese, have you ever considered it to be mind blowing? Probably not, because these are considered "basic" foods - anyone can make them. I do not believe that anymore. Nope.

I had the chicken club sandwich at Simmer. It was so good, I may never again be able to eat a club sandwich again as I will always be longing for the day I can enjoy such a simple yet perfect confulence of tastes. Roy enjoyed the macaroni and cheese. Let me put it this way, once I had my obligatory taste he did not even fake like he would offer me another taste. It was clear he wasn't sharing.

We also enjoyed mimosas which went down like a bubbly glass of juice but had a really nice kick. And if you know us you know we did not pass of dessert. I focused in on the pecan pie and was unable to listen to the rest. The owner was kind enough to bring us a sample of the key lime parfait which was fantastic. As an added touch, on your way out you are gifted a small sack of cookies (also wonderful).

Though the food was phenomenal, the real treat was the time that the owner spent with us.

Sammy Succumbed to Cancer

Sammy's surgery revealed that she had cancer in her abdomen. The cancer was a cluster type that presents as lots and lots of tiny, pinpoint size white "tumors" and they were all over her abdomen - so much so that the surgeon had difficulty identifying the organs. There is no treatment for this type of cancer. Roy and I had discussed prior to Sammy's surgery that if something like this was found we would elect not to wake her from surgery and that is what we did.

Although we are absolutely heartbroken, we know we did everything we could for her, not only in the past three weeks but for the entire 2+ years we lived with her. We miss her deeply. She was an absolute joy to be around and taught me a lesson or two about the effect of a positive attitude. Sammy was one in a million.

We can not thank all of you enough for your support, kind words and high hopes.

Sammy Goes in for Surgery

Roy and I took The Whammer (that is Sammy to those of us in her inner circle) in to consult with the surgeon this morning. We expected that we would hear the pros and cons of the surgery, and what exactly they would be doing while they had her open. We also were prepared that they would take her today and perform the surgery if that is what we decided. Which we did.

They are going to go into her chest to look and feel for things that we can't find in the testing that we have done (which is everything available). They will also remove the pericardial sac or at least create a window in it. Assuming they don't find anything (i.e. a tumor, a foxtail) in the chest to explain her situation they will explore the abdomen in a similar manner. They will take samples of everything that is safe to take samples of and have a pathologist look at them.

Her surgery is roughly 3-5pm today. We will hear from the vet after the procedure unless they find something during surgery that they need to discuss with us. Keep your fingers crossed. We are very nervous for Sammy but feel confident in this surgeon and the vet that has been working on Sammy's case. Sammy will have to stay the night and possibly a 2nd night depending on the speed of her recovery. She is very strong, healthy and brave. AND she is very motivated to get home to be with Sophie.

FilmLoop Version 1.1 on the way

Are you in the Loop? Get the FilmLoop player now and start sharing your photos today. FilmLoop is coming out with version 1.1 soon (no more beta!). You can be sure I will give you a link when it is available. Fee free to click a link below and play with the beta version.


Another Looplet:

Sammy might need surgery

We have an appointment Thursday to find out if Sammy needs surgery. Sammy continues to retain fluid. She has turned from a stuffed sausage to a barrel in the past few days. We called a spoke to the vet about what we should do and she said that exploratory surgery is the next step. We have exhausted all non-invasive methods of diagnosis and if we don't stop the fluid retention she will eventually die.

I'll know more after the appointment Thursday. What I understand right now is that the surgery is exploratory. They will likely remove the pericardial sack, take samples of the lymph nodes, and look for other abnormalities. The two causes they are hoping to find evidence of (either one ofr the other) are constrictive pericarditis and immune mediated vasculitis (article relates to humans but gives you an idea of what vasculitis is).

Poor Sammy. She is so brave.

Sammy seems pretty good

Sammy has decided she has it too good here and she wants to stick around for a while. She still has some abdominal fluid, but we don’t think she is getting larger (or smaller). She has her great Sammy attitude and she loves to track Sophie around. She has bright eyes and is quite enthusiastic. She has also decided that she doesn’t care for dry kibble anymore. She prefers roast chicken, broccoli soup, hamburgers, etc. So we are in discussions on that point. If she would just get rid of the fluid I would swear she faked the whole thing just so she could get more table scraps.

We are hopeful she has turned a corner and is heading towards good health. We'll continue to think that until the vets can diagnose where the fluid is coming from.

The Test Results are in and...

We still know nothing.

Not really, but close. We now know that Sammy does not have a mass in her chest cavity nor her abdomen. Which is great news. She does not have any pericardial fluid around her heart. Also great news. She does seem to have some swelling in the web-like tissue that surrounds her abdominal organs (there is a medical term for this stuff) and that could be from all the fluid in her abdomen or it could be cancer. She still has been accumulating fluid in her abdomen and we don't know why or from where.

Right now the vet says we just wait and watch. When she fills up with fluid we are to take her in to have it drained off and to have another ultrasound to check for pericardial fluid. We are not left with the impression that we can expect to repeat this process for years and years. I'm not sure at what point we move on to other options. We do have the option to do exploratory surgery took look for a cause. For now we will wait and watch.

Roy and I are exhausted. This cyclical life of high anxiety followed by great relief has been taxing. Thanks again for all of your kind words and I'm sorry to keep jerking you all around on the roller coaster too.

CT Scan Done Today

We took Sammy to VMS in Concord today for her CT scan of her chest and abdomin. We won't know any of the results until sometime tomorrow. She is home and she is hungry and thirsty. I imagine she will be napping for a while... her eyes are quite bleary.

We don't know what to expect. The chance that she has a heart base tumor is unchanged from the last time we spoke to a vet. The vet we spoke to today said that her symptoms didn't really add up to one diagnosis or another conclusively. She is considering the possibility that Sammy has pericardioitis (misspelled I'm sure) or inflamation in the pericardial sack. If that is the case then removal of the pericardial sack would be an option. She gave us a small ammount of hope to cling to.

I'll post the study result when we hear.

Sammy's time is short

It’s taken all day for me to have the energy to write this. Today at the vet’s office Sammy had the same two procedures as the last visit; ultrasound, echocardiogram. Still no fluid was found in the pericardial sack however they drained 2.5 liters of fluid from her abdomen and chest cavity. That’s quite a lot.

So the vet sat us down and told us that she is very concerned that Sammy has a tumor on her heart. This is the same tumor that we felt probably wasn’t there. The problem is if it exists it is high up on the heart and can not been detected by the tests we have done thus far. The vet is only able to guess that is it there based on the return of the fluid yet not finding any in the pericardial sack. Following this? View the vet's letter.

Our options:
~ Opt for surgery. They would go in through the rib cage to investigate the heart and look to get a visual on the mass. If they found one, they would call us (during surgery) to discus options since most elect not to wake the pet from surgery. There doesn’t seem to be any type of mass that is operable.
~ Get a CT scan. That would be a non-invasive way to see if there is a mass, and as mentioned before, there doesn’t seem to be a “good” mass.
~ Do nothing. If we do nothing, she will continue to retain fluid. We can have the fluid drained again.

We are going to have the CT scan, and we will do it on Wednesday. We feel we need to have conclusive evidence there is a mass. Plus we are on some level still clinging to the hope that she doesn’t have a mass (yet then we have to do more tests to figure out what the issue is.) No one really thinks this is at all likely, but we still hold out hope.

Bottom line, barring a miracle, the best case scenario is she has a month to live. What we are likely to see is increased fluid, and increased difficulty breathing and a loss of appetite. At the same time she will not be in any pain or discomfort other than that associated with the fluid and breathing. This is so hard because her personality, vitality and spirit are as they have always been. She is playful, enthusiastic and energetic. It's hard to imagine she is so sick. I'm sure all this is confusing since previous posts indicated no tumor, no cancer in the lab results. All I can say is that the vet was clear with us that these heart tumors are sometimes hard to find and the cells don't always flake off into the blood.

Thanks again for all of your kind words. We are going to spend the next days with Sammy doing all the things she loves to do and spoiling her rotten. Though we feel the two years we have had with her is not nearly enough, we are lucky to have had any time with her at all.

Incredible, Expanding Sammy

I don't know who this is harder on. Clearly Sammy is uncomfortable, she looks like she might pop at any minute. But this is torture for me too. Sammy has an appointment Monday morning for another exam and ultrasound. I was told to wait 'til then to bring her in. I'm at least thankful that the appointment is tomorrow and early. Think she really would pop if we had to wait until Tuesday.

She still has her personality though!

Sammy is a puzzle

I don’t know what to think anymore. Sammy’s sonogram showed that there is NO fluid surrounding the heart. Really good news. It means surgery is not indicated and it suggests that she does not have a tumor on her heart (which in turn supports the conclusion that this whole situation is idiopathic).

Her ultrasound showed there is still fluid in her abdomen. This is puzzling news. When she came home a week ago, she really slimed down in the first few days, suggesting the fluid had dissipated. But then she has increased in size in the past few days, suggesting the fluid has returned. Since we now know that there is no fluid surrounding her heart that either means her abdominal fluid is the “old” fluid that hasn’t gone away yet, or there is fluid coming from somewhere else. They sent a sample of the fluid to a lab to see what it consists of.

She goes back Monday for another exam just to be sure that her heart stays stable. I still think (hope) she is constipated.

Another Ultrasound for Sammy

Sammy is at the vet today for another ultrasound. She had gotten bigger in the past few days, but still not as big as she was when we took her to the ER a week ago. Over the course of this week I have become quite a bit more adept at the medical terms… though I’m sure I’ll still mess them up a little.

A week ago Sammy’s diagnosis was pseudo pericardial effusion; the cause was thought to be idiopathic. Translated, that means that the sack that surrounds her heart was filling with fluid and pumping the excess into her abdominal cavity resulting in a bloated appearance. The cause is of unexplained origin. The fact that she has again started to retain fluid does not change the diagnosis at this point. She will have another ultrasound this morning and a complete exam. If the vet confirms that she has the same condition as a week ago and does not see any signs of a tumor then she will speak with the surgeon about scheduling Sammy to have the pericardial sack removed. This would probably happen in the next day or so. She tells us that Sammy would most likely stay at the hospital for 1-3 days and then can come home – good as new. Removing the pericardial sack is curative for idiopathic pericardial infusion.

So now we steel ourselves for surgery on our precious Sammy’s heart. I'm still holding out hope that she is just really constipated.

Sammy's Puffing Up Again

It saddens me to report that Sammy seems to retaining fluids again. Over the past few days she has (to our eyes) gotten bigger and when we took her over to visit my parents, they both thought she looked bigger too.

We can't figure out what the problem is. While we were going through our ER experience and ultrasound experience last week, ironically we were going through the same set of testing as another couple and their 9 year old mastiff. The short version of the story is that the mastiffs tests revealed a tumor on her heart and that couple elected to put her down. Sammy isn't acting ANYTHING like that mastiff... no lethargy, no vomiting, no dehydration, just bloating. Yes, they checked for Bloat first thing at the ER last week.

We will keep an eye on her and probably schedule an ultrasound on Thursday if possible.

A Whole New Sammy

Sammy continues to get better and better. She was a bit sluggish yesterday, mostly napping and lying around. She made me a little nervous when up came her dinner two hours after she ate it. She did keep a couple of her cookies down though so that was hopeful. We wrapped her in a blanket in her bed (remember I said she was oddly shaven and there was a lot of cold wind last night). I woke up at 3:30 and she wasn't in her bed. I found her asleep in the Rumpus Room and convinced her to come with me back to the bedroom where she stayed the rest of the night.

This morning she was slow to get out of bed, but I think that was mostly due to having no food in her system. She enjoyed her walk as she always does. I gave her a small breakfast of rice and broth and she is a whole new Sammy! She pouced on the toy box, pulled out a toy, rolled on the floor with it and growled happily. She participated in a game of ball with Sophie and I and she has been wagging her tail like nobody's business. She is even begging to be rubbed. Now THAT is the Sammy we know and love.

No Cancer Detected

Good news! The Vet called to report that the cytology on Sammy's fluid showed NO CANCER CELLS. As you might imagine we breathed a huge sigh of relief upon hearing that news. She has to go back in for another scan in 2-4 weeks (presuming nothing else presents itself before then). Considering what happened to her, this is the best possible outcome.

Thank you all very much for your caring, concern and kind words. They really have meant a lot.

Sammy is Home!

We just picked Sammy up from VMS in San Mateo. You can see they gave her a pretty bandage for where her IV used to be. She is a little groggy and oddly shaved but she is very Sammy.

We don't yet know the results of the cytology for the fluid that was removed - that should be later this afternoon so check back. The results could show evidence of a tumor or cancer that the vet was unable to see on the sonagram. Hopefully not, but even if there is no evidence of a tumor that isn't 100% conclusive at this point. We will be taking her back in 3 weeks for a follow up ultrasound. If they find more fluid, they will drain it and remove the sack that surrounds her heart that trapped the fluid this time. At that point we have to talk about exploratory surgery to see if there is a tumor that wasn't detected in earlier tests. The fluid in the abdomen should work its way out of the body in the next few days. Already I see most of it is gone.

We have been instructed to let her rest for the next 2 days then ease her back into her regular routine of activities. As you know, the hardest part of that will be getting Sophie to chill out for two days as Sammy has to be right on Sophie's heels at every moment!

For those of you interested in the report with all its fancy medical terms, I've scanned it for your reading pleasure. It is large enough to read at 100%. You might have to double click it to enlarge it.

My Courageous Sammy Bear

Though this is posted on February 14, it was all written on the 13th.

I noticed Sammy was bigger, as in she looked pregnant, this weekend. She was also heavier. But Sunday I looked at her and got scared at how large she had become. She looked like a barrel on stilts. I was afraid (unrealistically) that she would pop! We took her to the emergency vet, who took an x-ray and found that her abdomen was full of fluid. She took a blood sample and a sample of the fluid and really was not able to tell us what the issue was. She recommended we see our regular vet and get an ultrasound ASAP. I faxed all the information to Dr. Blount (our regular vet) Sunday. She called Monday at 8:05am to tell us she got Sammy an ultrasound appointment at 8:45am.

These are the email updates that followed…

Sammy's ultrasound revealed that she has a lot of fluid in the sack surrounding her heart and essentially the heart has been pumping this fluid into her abdomen. That's why she was so big.

She is going to have a sonogram of her heart this afternoon to determine the cause of the fluid. It is expected to be one of two things:

1. A tumor on her heart. If this is the case we will have some big choices... We can put her to sleep today, we can take her home and spend some time with her, we can drain the fluid and spend more time with her, or we can surgically remove the tumor and have maybe 3 months with her.

2. a spontaneous and unexplained event in which case we drain the fluid and it is likely she will not have the problem again. As you can imagine, we are hoping for option 'B'. The odds are literally 50/50.

I’ll let you know more when I know more.

UPDATE 1

The vet just called. She does NOT see a tumor on Sammy’s heart at this point or any cancer. She is going to drain the fluid and call us this evening with an update. We are still not out of the woods as this procedure has some serious risk, but this is REALLY great news. Sammy will have to stay overnight at the vet’s office.

I’ll let you know more as I know more. WHEW!

UPDATE 2

The vet called this evening to tell me that they removed 150cc’s of fluid from around Sammy's heart. That's a lot. Dr. Joe says that's almost 2/3 of a normal glass of water. She came through just fine and she enjoyed going for a walk (no great surprise there). She is going to stay overnight at the vet’s office so she remains calm and the doctor will call us in the morning with an update and to discuss the plan for follow up treatment. They are sending a sample of the fluid through various lab tests and we should know the results in the afternoon sometime.

Whew.

Denver for the Day

I don't want to sound like I'm from the 1800's (though sometimes I feel that I am) but it amazes me that I can, and have on several occasions, commuted to Denver for a day's work. I caught the 8:05am flight out and was home by 7pm. It just seems like a commute like that would involve a longer day. Granted I only worked for around 4 hours of that day and spent 6 ish hours traveling, but it is still remarkable.

What's that about people in glass houses?

Every year there is a Dog Show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. It has been something we have attended for the past 5 years or so and we've had a great time. It's fun to see the "best" of each breed and to hand out with really cool... dogs.

Now this is a tough event to attend with others. It's one thing to go and be a "weird dog person" if noone knows you or you are with the one person who accepts your dog-ladyness, but to go with people who think they are your friend... can be tricky. Anyway, we arranged to go with another couple who said they go every year, they love it, and they hope to get a dog soon. I know the him in the realtionship better than the her. We get to their house, they have the baby in the car and she is just getting one last thing from the house. "I'm going to lock up, OK?" she says to him, then she puts her foot down on the edge of the cheery welcome mat, rolls her ankle quickly and severely to the outside, tumbles to the ground with an unbelieavable wince and smashes her head on the large pot to the left of the door. I, being the jackass that I am, start laughing. I mean really laughing - out of control. Her husband starts laughing (not good) and she starts laughing and sort of crying. It was a mess. She ended up being fine, a bit of a sore neck and a bruised ego. We went to the dog show and had a good time. I came home with an embarassing amount of samples and toys for Sophie and Sammy.

The next morning, I leash up the dogs for our walk, open the door, put my foot half on and half off our dog paw laden welcome mat and twist my ankle. In the process of falling I throw my back out so as not to land on Sammy before landing squarely on my hip and elbow.

What do they say about people in glass houses throwing stones? I suppose it was pay back for laughing so hard the day before...

Babies, Babies and MORE Babies!

I suppose I am in that stage of life where my peers are becoming parents. My niece and her husband welcomed thier first baby, a girl, to the world on Christmas Day 2005. Hannah is very healthy and clearly is enjoying her parents and new home. The best man at our wedding and his girlfriend are expecting their first child this week, also a girl. They, being a bit older than the average parent, decided to use a surrogate to carry thier daughter to term. She, Mia, is expected to show her face this Thursday. A good friend from Boot Camp has a 9 month old, another good friend and her husband are working on their first pregnancy. There might be something in the California water supply...

No need to wonder, Roy and I STILL don't want to be parents to anyone other than our furry children. :)

Midwesterner in California

My cousin Tom came out to ole CA for a work related jaunt. He was here for all of this week (leaving as I write this). He has some surveys to complete and feedback to discuss with the managers at Albertson's in the area. As far as all that goes, I think the trip was a sucess!

It was a blast to have Tom around. Since he lives in the midwest and I live in the far west, we have not had much opportunity to get to know one another. It was fun to just hang out and learn some key phrases. "Aw ish" for one...

Holiday Wrap Up

On Christmas Day, 2005, Roy's niece (and my niece too) gave birth to her first child, a girl, Hannah Beth. That makes me a Great Aunt. Of couse since Owen's arrival I have been The Greatest Aunt (as in fabulous) but now I have the official title of Great Aunt. Hannah Beth was acutally due to be a New Year's baby, but she had other things in mind. She arrived happy and healthy and handed to two very happy parents with practically their entire immediate family at the hospital.

New Years Eve. Rain, rain and more rain. We had unbelievable rain and wind come through in the early morning. Mom called to tell me that her street was flooding and the police and fire department were calling for voluntary evacuations. Yikes. The creek was at 15', the bridge at my parents' street is at 16' and the creek's banks are at 20' - not to mention high tide was just starting. We go sand bags on the grates and the cats upstairs. Luckily, the water never got highter than the curb on their side of the street. on the south side of town, our in-laws had a 300 year old oak tree break in half and land on their house. Again, luckily it only punctured the roof in 2 places. No injuries and tarps were a quick fix.

The family came over for dinner. My nephew was feeling much better and was back to his old self. He had a ball playing with MHP and the dogs in the "Hanging Room" (this is where we hang out). They all left quite early (by 8pm) and we went straight to bed knowing what was in store for us... 11:30 came around and the first fireworks began. Sammy freaked out. She paced and paced, jumped in and out of the chair, wadded the bath mat into a knot. There was nothing we could do for her. She finally wore herself out at 12:30. Poor Bear.