I don't make monkeys, I just train them

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Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006 - 7:42 a.m.

'06 : The Summer of Dog Poo

Sometimes I love being wrong.

Suki returned to the vet last night for another test for the parvo virus, and another giardia test, to be sure my little protozoan enemies hadn't made a comeback - neither was present. For the first time al summer, I was starting to feel dumb for bringing her in "but what would explain the mild runs, tummy ache, and itchy butt?"
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another poo analysis . . . .
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(Colorful banner falls down, confetti twinkles in the air)
TAPEWORMS!

At some point, my flea-free dog who lives in a flea-free house ate a (you guessed it) FLEA!

I'm relieved it's something simple this time, and I'M COMPLETELY THROUGH WITH SPENDING ALL MY MONEY AT THE VET"S OFFICE. Suki has been immunized for everything under the sun, and I've been dog-proofing the house obsessively.

I hope to dig myself out of the credit card swamp by Thanksgiving, which will leave me with no extra money for Christmas presents.

SO . . . . I NEED to know what kind of homemade presents you have received in the past and genuinely liked. Worst case scenario, everyone is getting hot chocolate mix in cheap mugs. I use hot cholocate powder in my coffee all the time, and will see to it that my friends and family also get hot chocolate pudge - bwaaa haaa haa haaa . . .

And now my dearies, I'm off to the fair again, forsaking Suki and Mr. Hubby as I visit junk food nirvana, do some primo people watching, and hopefully take a few decent photos.

3 comments

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Friday, Aug. 11, 2006 - 2:18 p.m.

Parvo check #2 is tonight! Wish me luck!

Howdy all -

Thanks for all the comments, it was really great to return home to cheerful blips from my 'net friends! I think that sporadic blogging, and visiting blogs has become my escapism entertainment of choice; it's interactive, frequently thought-provoking, and almost always leaves me feeling better about life in general. If I didn't have a mental boogie-man aversion filter in place, I'd probably drive you nuts with commentary about work and private life, and possibly cause you to question my sanity by typing out my mental ramblings. As is, I'm not unhappy with the bits and pieces I've allowed to escape censorship, and other than the whiny posts, I think/hope this blog isn't shabby at all.

I'm tempted to apologize for the whining, but feel like giving myself a break; this has not been my favorite summer ever. The point of this post is to genuinely thank you because I'm sure this summer would have sucked even more blue mud were it not for your participation.

You don't mind that I forgot or don't know your birthday, you don't care that my (16 year old) car is filty dirty and coated in dog fur, you don't give me crap for having a job that doesn't really make use of my college degree, and I don't worry about not being wealthy/sane/clever/pretty enough for you. You're like the fleet of imaginary friends who constantly guarded me as a child, supportive, comforting, inspiring, and guilt-trip free. Again, thank you.

That's quite enough sap, and now it's time for me to share my
* * * FAVORITE DIRTY JOKE * * *

Are you sure you're ready for this?

Three tampons are walking down the street
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One smiles and waves
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The other two are stuck up bitches.

1 comments

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Tuesday, Aug. 08, 2006 - 3:54 p.m.

(an early) Elvis Wednesday

I'm going to be out of town Wednesday and Thursday, forsaking my cats, my dog and my husband so I can attend the State Fair with my parents on Wednesday and recover from said adventure on Thurdsay. I have lots of sunshine, walking, junk food, sight seeing and photo-taking ahead of me, and I can't wait!

I've got my hopes up that I'll see something ELVIS WEDNESDAY worthy to share with you next week. Until then, I present:

Wing!

If you check it out, tell me what you think!
(I haven't had the chance to listen yet, I've got banking to do and elepaht ears on my mind!)

On Wednesday, go visit Nikki for a guaranteed great Elvis fix!

3 comments

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Tuesday, Aug. 08, 2006 - 3:45 p.m.

may Darby have mercy on me - it's been a long day

In other news, guess who dropped another half-week's pay at the vet office this morning?

Recently, there has been a parvo outbreak in my community - and on Saturday, Mr. Hubby and I took Suki for a long walk and let her play with a puppy recently adopted from my county's (parvo-infested) animal shelter.

Of course I didn't find out about the outbreak until TODAY - and suddenly minor details came in to sick focus: Suki has the (mild) runs, has been lethargic, is being overly clingy towards Mr. Hubby, and has been walking around with her ears clamped to her head (rather than perky, smiling ears) - ALL signs that she isn't feeling well. (I had attributed all of it to heat, since my AC is set at 78F - and Suki just goes on Daddy tangents sometimes). So I immediately called the vet office and asked them to check to see if she was up to date on all of her inoculations.

She had not been immunized for Parvo/Distemper, because we were waiting on her to recover from her previous bouts of illness before doing anything out of the ordinary to her immune system.

I freaked out the calmest way possible: I walked to my manager and told her I had to immediately take my dog in for a test to determine if she had contracted a deadly stomach virus. Bewildered, my manager just said "well, give me a call and let me know what happens". Have I mentioned lately that I appreciate my job and my coworkers?

Usually, I let Suki joyfully introduce herself other animals at the vet's office; she has excellent manners around all sizes and ages of dogs, and knows that "Behave" means "sit down or that cat/dog is going to teach you a lesson". This time, I wouldn't/couldn't let her paws touch the floor. Suki was either on my lap, or happily on the lap of a polite 7 year old country-bumpkin girl who shyly asked "can I hold her?"

"Sure, but it's important that she doesn't visit with Sammy [their 4 month old poodle puppy] because we need to be sure they don't give each other the flu - lots of dogs are sick right now and it would be really sad if Sammy caught it" She nodded her head with the somber wisdom many girls that age have, then lose, or misplace when boys become facinating and authority figures become annoying. I felt calmer about the possibility of loosing Suki knowing this little girl was going to be busy playing with Sammy.

Fast forwarding through lots of poking, prodding, injections, blood and stool sample retrieval - Suki is currently testing NEGATIVE for parvo, but should be tested again on Saturday to be absolutely sure. I was horrified to find out exactly what parvo involves, and how dismal chances of survival are for even well-attended dogs - but I actually, blissfully, comfortably believe Dr. Dale telling me "we won't let her die of parvo if she has it". Well DUH, they should build a new exam room and name it after me - or my credit card company. At this point, everyone who works at the office knows Suki and I by name the instant we walk in the door.

Ahh yes, the vet's office . . . where everybody knows your name.

2 comments

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Monday, Aug. 07, 2006 - 2:31 p.m.

lame excuse for a post

click on the pic above to build your own charater!

She has better hair than I do at the moment - I had lovely bangs like that a few months ago, but since then have decided to grow out my hair. Long hair is inexpensive hair, short hair means parting with $30 ever six weeks. For the purposes of maintaining my sanity and my tight budget, I came to the conclusion that $30 is best spent on vodka and generic diet lemon-lime soda.

*GRIN*

2 comments

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Wednesday, Aug. 02, 2006 - 8:49 a.m.

Elvi Wednesday / *BAD HAIRCUT CLUB UPDATE*

How does the Death Star travel move from system to system?
A real big rubber band.

Why does Death Star have that trench around it?
That's where the rubber band fits.

(I can�t remember what website these (bad) jokes came from, or I�d share).

IN OTHER NEWS . . .

Chris Cactus probably doesn't know that he's made a warped dream of mine come true - he's posted a picture of his WORST HAIRCUT EVAH.

You've GOT TO GO LOOK AT IT.

Beth Cactus (Chris' lovely, sassy wife) got in on the action too!

aaaaaack!! Beth's pics aren't behaving, but I'm sure it's just a temporary problem. Check back later!

I may just have to post a picture of myself from 1991 for comparison; I too was rocking a hideous hairdo. How 'bout you?

5 comments

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