Archive for September, 2010

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More on Jake

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Jake at the vet on Friday. Dr Thomas was very surprised at how well he was doing--that he was still alive at all really. We just want him to be able to enjoy the things he loves as long as he can.

I guess I should have kept my trap shut. Jake took a turn for the worse this weekend. We took the dogs to the Dog Splash (more on that in another post), which we knew would be hard for him physically b/c of the gigantic lymph nodes making it hard to breathe. But we strongly feel that quality of life is what we are shooting for here and Jake CLEARLY had a ball swimming.

Last night he was having a really hard time breathing and we considered taking him to the emergency vet to have him euthanized. Paul laid on the floor with him for awhile and Jake’s breathing finally calmed down and Jake was able to fall asleep. This morning he was just lying around and we had a plan set for Paul to take him. Paul told the kids about it and Tyler got Jake some ice (one of Jake’s favorite treats that he gets… legally at least!). After eating about 10 ice cubes, Tyler gave him cheese, which he snarfed in 1 swallow. [[time out: spell check knows the word "snarfed," but not the word "euthanized." What's up with THAT?!]]  Then Jake turned around and snatched Anna’s bagel out of her hand while she wasn’t paying attention. Paul and I just looked at each other stunned.

So we decided to hold off and watch him for now. I have plans to travel to Cincinnati to see Sydney and the rest of my family for a few days. Worried about leaving Paul to handle all that by himself: he will have the kids T, W, Th (read: homework those nights, plus getting on the bus on W, Th, F). If he needs to put Jake down in the middle of all that, wow. But knowing Jake, he will probably be “helping”  Paul make lunches every morning for many more weeks to come.

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Is it the shoes?

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

Tyler saw them in Omega Sports and headed straight for them. We ordered his size from another store, but he insisted on those. Not like most kids (and me too) who change their mind when they can't walk out of the store w the purchase. AND they were on sale!

Remember when Air Jordans first came out? There was a commercial w Spike Lee where the tag line was, “Is it the shoes?” Like those shoes really made Michael Jordan THE MAN. Welp, it didn’t work for Air Jordans. It didn’t work for ruby slippers. Could Tyler’s shoes be the exception to the rule?

Today was Tyler’s first soccer game. He has been pretty excited about the 2 practices he has had so far. He and Paul have played in the backyard quite a bit. I usually crack a beer and bring my Droid out and launch the vuvuzela app for sound effect.

The kids (ages 5-6, Tyler is 6, will be 7 in December) play 4 quarters. Q1 he played in the back field (can’t cross half field line), Q2 sat out, Q3 played goalie (we thought he would break the goal swinging on it he was so bored), then came Q4… He played ?forward?–where he could run and try to score on the other team’s goal. These are not the greatest quality photos, but he really was impressive. I think he gets that from me:

Tyler is #5, on the left in this pic

But alas, no matter how much ass Tyler kicked, soccer still sucks. We ended in a 0-0 tie. What the hell kind of sport ends in a tie? In the words of the great Vince Lombardi: Ties are like kissing your sister.

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I am the other woman!

Friday, September 10th, 2010

It’s weird how quickly you can go from “inside” to “outside” in a relationship. Kind of like high school clicks I guess.  Sort of goes along the lines of “2′s company, 3′s a crowd” kind of thing. Here is what happened:

Today Paul and I took the kids to Subway for dinner, then we decided to try to do our part to stimulate the economy by buying ice cream at the new Summerfield Creamery. We were getting back in the car and I noticed today is September 10 [you don't pay much attention to the date when you are not working]. I said to Paul, “10 days until our anniversary!!” Paul confirmed with a, “Yep!” [you know he is a man of few words]. I had a few beats of silence to contemplate the past 2 years of marriage–wow, TWO YEARS!! Good for me! Good for us! Good stuff, we can do anything as long as we have each other!”

Then from the back seat, Anna pipes up, “What are we doing for your anniversary!?” Isn’t perspective funny?! I had not even considered this would be on their radar! What is even funnier is that Paul and Tyler will be at Tyler’s soccer practice, and Anna and I will be going to her school for a Parent Night thing.

Cheers!

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I have become “That Girl”

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Yep, the one w the smart phone in line in front of you who is reading something on that tiny little screen and not paying attention. But I am reading the E! channel news about Hollywood, Manic Mommies blog posts, or even NPR updates, not checking my email. Ok, sometimes I am checking email. Smart phones can be evil, EVIL things.

But they can be used for good also. For example, when the GPS Paul bought me for Christmas a couple years ago (our first Christmas together–how romantic!) cannot find a location, my phone CAN find it! Also, if you have seen the movie, Despicable Me, you know the cute little worker things that don’t speak our language?

This is the minion that I just created. Note he looks a little like Paul, especilaly the hair!

Welp, there’s an app for that (if you are not smart phone savvy, that is kind of the catch phrase, “There’s an app for that!” meaning there is a way to make your phone help you do that). If you log onto the Best Buy website, you can download a translator so that at the end of the movie your phone will hear them and run closed captioning on your phone. Sure makes me want to see the movie again. Brilliant marketing idea!

What are YOUR favorite apps?

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Collateral damage

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

There are little things you don’t think about when you go to make transitions. One of the little things I think about when I decided to quit my job is dry cleaning. The dry cleaner I used was in Burlington, while we obviously live in Greensboro. The cleaner was very convenient to work and they had a 24 hour drop off service where you just stick the bag in a drop slot. I liked having the bag b/c I just hung it near the washer/dryer and when I had something to go, I just put it in the bag. When the bag is full, off it goes.

But now I need to take the bag back since driving 45 minutes away to just drop off dry cleaning is crazy. Then I need to find a new one. Do I pick closer to the house? Risk relying on Paul to drop off and pick up (love you Bixby!)? Wait until I start my new job and get a dry cleaner near there? If I do that, what do I do with the couple things I have now?

It kind of makes me laugh that now that I am on “sabbatical,” this is one of my most pressing “worries.” Local peeps: any recommendations for dry cleaners?

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Posted in Sabbatical, Vacation | 2 Comments »

Dear Mr. Body Snatcher Alien Man…

Monday, September 6th, 2010

…do I need to be worried about the alien you have left in Paul’s place?

Not sure when you snatched Paul and left the substitute, but I just realized it last night when he took a side trip insisting on shopping for shoes in two different stores. I thought that was bad enough, but then we got home and he started reading. That is not the surprise, but when he was still reading 3 hours later…WHOA.

THAT is how I knew he was a droid of some sort. But will he still cook for me?

Hmmmmm—he did suggest going out for dinner last night, that was weird.

Uh oh….he also didn’t clean all morning yesterday while I was at triathlon practice!!!!!

BRING BACK MY HUSBAND RIGHT NOW!!!!!

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Jake update

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Jake is hanging in there like the stubborn dog he is. We still give him the max dose of prednisone that the vet originally prescribed. That makes him eat lots and pee more. When we let him out in the morning and after work, its about a 2 minute steady stream. No wonder he is panting when we get up.

He has good days and bad. Yesterday he was running after the ball and the Frisbee some when we were in the back yard. But then when it was time for bed, he had a hard time climbing up. There is a small section of my brain that thinks that he is playing us. Because we are not sure how much longer he will be with us, he pretty much gets what he wants. He gets a can of soft food each morning (also b/c he can’t swallow the hard food so he wasn’t eating much), he doesn’t get yelled at as much when he tramples the garden and eats the tomatoes off the vine the day before Paul was going to pick them, and he sleeps on the bed with us at night. Most nights Jake and I are sacked out before Paul even starts practicing guitar so a couple hours later he has to wiggle in between us. That is always funny b/c he either does it in the dark or leaves the light on , then has to figure out how to get the lamp clicked off.

Often times there is a milestone that dying people hang on for. We are wondering if that might be the Dog Splash for Jake. Each year the city pool in Burlington closes for a week for cleaning and draining the pool. Before they do they let dogs come swim for $5. We took Jake, Maggie and Katie last year and had a BLAST.  The only reason we left was b/c the dogs’ paws were bleeding from running on the concrete and climbing out of the pool (they were not interested in the zero gravity entrance). The 2010 Dog Splash is next weekend (September 11) and we have our reservations set. Here is a picture of Jake at the 2009 Dog Splash:

COWABUNGAAAAAAA

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‎”You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

This is the entry on Facebook for Pema Chodron today. She is a Buddhist teacher and quite frankly, just makes a lot of sense. There has been a crapload of weather lately, people. Welp, the sun came out today (proverbially–it has been 100 and sunny all day in NC lately).

I am no longer employed by A—-Regional Medical Center (don’t want to be found by searches). Originally my last day was going to be Sept 24, but my (now former) manager and I decided that it would be best if it was today, Sept 2. We discussed it originally yesterday and I was unsure. Paul and I talked about it and he boiled it down: When else would I be able to get paid to take a month off. Man, he cuts to the chase, eh? I feel good about my decision and you can imagine how exciting it was to come home and take a nap with the dogs!

So I left at noon, took myself to lunch at Moe’s Southwestern Grill and then bought a pair of black boots I was looking at in Kohl’s.

October 4th I start as the Team Leader for Wellness Coaching with Active Health Management. Bottom line: 1/2 the number of employees, 1 dept instead of 6, 10% more money. Paul didn’t even have to summarize that one. I am really excited about the vision the VP has and the contract that I will be working on is a HUGE opportunity. I am not sure it is public knowledge so I will keep you posted on that one.

SO! I am on sabbatical for a month. So far my list has workout, nap and scrapbook every day. Besides that, what do YOU think I should do?

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