Computer Issues

Sorry for the lack of posts lately (I know you're just dying to see more pictures of the Cayman Islands, especially with all the snow and cold weather we're getting!) but I am having computer problems. Hopefully all will be well soon and I'll update the blog. In the meantime, have a very happy and safe holiday season!

Seven Mile Beach

There is a long beach on the west side of Grand Cayman called Seven Mile Beach (although it's actually 5-6 miles or so). Beautiful fine white sand and gorgeous blue water. This is the roughest the water was during my trip. Walks along the beach were a daily activity. It was so relaxing to listen to the waves and soak up the sun.

Island Time

So I came back from California, worked for 3 days, and then left for a vacation in the Cayman Islands! A technician Isla, that used to work at VCA Aurora is going to vet school down there, so the other ER vet here (Dr. Donalyn Sauser) and I planned our vacations to visit Isla, and we were able to overlap our vacations by a few days so we could do stuff together.

Hurricane Palome blew through a day or so after Donalyn arrive, and a day or so before I was due to arrive, which delayed my trip by a day. But no major damage was done.

Here is a photo of Donalyn and Isla when we went out to dinner. There are some fabulous (and expensive) restaurants on Grand Cayman.

Retirement Plan

So here is my new retirement plan. Buy a yacht so I can spend winters in the Caribbean, Mexio or the South Pacific, and summers in California, Alaska, and the Great Lakes. The yacht in this photo might be a titch too big, but I do like the helicopter.

Boats, Boats and More Boats

It will become obvious I know nothing about boats, ships, whatever, but I found these interesting.

An aircraft carrier

A racing boat kept near the convention center.

Sail boats. Pretty.

Dole!

The Bay

The conference was at the San Diego Convention Center. I was able to walk to and from my hotel, and enjoy the beautiful southern California weather. During the lunch breaks I would often go outside and walk along the embarcados and around the marina.

The marina view from the convention center

Looking back at the convention center from the embarcado

Coronado Bay Bridge

Looking across the bay to Point Loma

Hotel Room

I went to the CVC West conference in San Diego. The conference was okay. There was way too much down time between sessions. And I was saving money for my "real" vacation, so I didn't do anything fun.

I stayed in a very nice (for me at least) hotel. One of the best parts was the king sized bed I had all to myself - no dogs or cats. It was really nice to spread out and have some space instead of being curled up in a ball, smothered by pets.

Okay already!

I know I am way behind in updating this. I am very lazy. I did not stay in California. I came back and then went on vacation to the Cayman Islands. While I wanted to stay there, I did not. I came back to Illinois. Then I went back to Minnesota. Now I am back in Illinois. I will regale you over the next weeks with the stories of my trips.

San Diego

I will be in San Diego for the Central Veterinary Conference West for the next few days, so no exciting updates for about a week!

Max

Here is a recent picture of my nephew Max. He went to Duluth with Mom, Dad, Nana and Bumpa (Jo, Nick, my mom and dad). He'll be 5 in January.

Things Rabbit Destroyed

1) my sofa & love seat
2) 2 sets of sheets
3) pair of eyeglasses
4) mouthguard
5) 3 pairs of shoes (2 of which I had only worn once!)
6) a camera
7) several remote controls
8) battery pack and charger for my video game controller
9) multiple DVD and CD cases
10) seat belts in my truck
11) upholstery in the back of my truck
12) ceramic cat food dish
13) about 200 tennis balls to date (I swear, those things are like crack cocaine to him)
14) laptop power cord
15) Dad's sauna door
16) Jo's rabbit statue
17) Nate's pillow (he pooped on it)
18) floral wall decoration I made
19) 2 closet doors (folding mirror door and folding wooden door)
20) Jo's and Mom & Dad's front doors (not destroyed per se, but scratched up)
21) multiple window screens
22) wood pile (he dragged the wood all over the yard)
23) holiday collar and leash (I guess he didn't like the candy cane stripes)
24) several blankets
25) 2 eyeglass cases
25) several contact lens cases
26) a bra
27) a book about labradors (no kidding)

Farmer's Day

Labor Day in Bovey, MN is known as Farmer's Day. There is a big parade and lots of people come home for the weekend.

Max got a lot of candy from the parade.

I met up with my friend Kelly, who lives in St. Michael

They had a scarecrow contest. Creepy! Unfortunately this is the display we ate lunch by.And in case you can't read the fine print, the baby's pjs say 'Product of Redneck Love". Gotta love the Iron Range.

The Winkleblacks

The family went to my cousin Tim's wedding in Aurora at the end of August. The reception was at Giant's Ridge. Here is a photo of my sister Jo, her husband Nick, and their son Max.

Non Sequitur

Here is a picture of some cactus in my downstairs bathroom.

Things Rabbit Dragged Out to the Yard

This is by NO means a complete list; just the things that I have found or know about

1) 3 spoons
2) multiple bowls
3) eye glasses case
4) cat litter box
5) water bowl
6) pizza cutter (it's still missing)
7) knives (including a cleaver - I actually found that blade-up in the sofa one day)
8) various pieces of garbage
9) pieces of clothing
10) telephone
11) entire Entemann's chocolate cake :(
12) beverage cans
13) box of nails
14) shoes
15) houseplants
16) carton of ice cream

Grazing on the Green

Mac invited me to a concert at Ravinia, which is a big outdoor park north of Chicago. They have a bandshell and large lawns, and people "picnic" for outdoor concerts. I say "picnic" because a lot of people had tables with fresh flowers and candelabras, rugs, multiple pieces of furniture, etc. We went as part of an event for Heifer International (a GREAT charity). We saw James Blunt and Sheryl Crow. It was a great concert for a great cause, and the weather was perfect.

Sheryl Crow (not James Blunt)

Baseball Game

This summer I went to a Kane County Cougars game with my good friends Mac, Dan, Danna and Jack. The Cougars are sort of like the St. Paul Saints, but they are a farm team for Oakland As. The game we saw was against the Peoria Chiefs, which is a minor league team for the White Sox.

There was lots of entertainment between innings, and a great fireworks display after the game.

Big Nate

My little brother Nate is now living in Aberdeen South Dakota. He got a job as a heavy equipment operator there. I went out to visit him a few weeks ago, and here is a picture of him at work.Actually, that's him at work on Max's toy that my dad made for him. Here is an actual picture of him at work. You might not be able to see him, but I saw him with mine own two eyes, and he really seemed to know what he was doing. At least he didn't appear to ruin anything in the 10 minutes I was watching him. Way to go Nate!

Guess what these are?

I found these on the floor of the kennel I kept Remi & Rabbit in one night. Hint: they used to be on Remi's collar. Where is the collar, you might ask? In Rabbit's tummy. Yup - he ate the whole darn collar - the beautiful black Duluth Pack leather collar I bought. Not a piece of it left. At least he didn't eat the hardware.

I am going to have to compile a list of things that Rabbit 1) consumed 2) dragged into the yard and 3) just plain destroyed.

I'm baaacck!

I guess I didn't realize that people actually cared about my blog, and now that I haven't updated it for 2 1/2 months I am finally getting around to it. So ya'll quit complaining! Don't worry - I have plenty of mundane, only slightly interesting stories about my life to share with you. Today is a grey, rainy day so I will try to get at least several posts ready to keep you all busy for a few days anyway!

Two very important messages: 1) Get well wishes to my uncle Jack, who sustained an eye injury; I wish him a speedy recovery and all good wishes! and 2) congratulations to Nina who is now an honest-to-goodness professional illustrator of children's books! I am so proud of her.

Long Time, No Blog

If anyone is still paying attention, I will be updating the blog soon. Nothing exciting happening to keep me from posting; I'm just lazy!

The top photo is a lily that appeared in my back yard - I thought it was just a big area of weeds, but I was surprised! Good thing I didn't cut them down yet. I think it'll have to be transplanted to a safer area in that corner of the yard.


The bottom photo is one of the hen & chicks I planted in front of the house last year - I've never seen one bloom like this. I have to say I am a bit sentimental when it comes to the flower garden - I like the flowers that my grandparents had - lilacs, lily of the valley, bleeding hearts, hen & chicks.

Rabbit's New Toy

I broke down and bought an automatic ball launcher for Rabbit. It's not that I don't want to play with him, because it can be fun to play fetch with him. But if you've ever seen Rabbit and a tennis ball, you'll understand why I get tired of it. That dog is OBSESSED with the balls. He will run all day fetching, and when he lays down for a break, he'll only stay there until you go in the house, and then all of a sudden he's ready to go again. He will play with the ball until he chews it up, and then we play with the pieces of the ball. He gets crazed if he loses one under the couch or furniture - it's scary.

So . . . I plunked down $150 for the GoDogGo automatic ball launcher. It works well - he has to learn to put the ball back in the bucket, so it will keep throwing it for him (you can fill the bucket with like 20 balls, but Rabbit is one of those dogs that will only play with 1 ball at a time, no matter how many you offer him - he knows which one was the first one that day, and that's the only one he wants). The only complaints/problems are that it only launches 30 feet, which is about 1/3 of the length of the yard, and it doesn't work when balls get really wet. The instructions say some dog saliva is fine, but Rabbit likes to drop the ball in the nearest puddle or wading pool and get it soaked as a sort of intermission in the fetch game. At least this will keep him entertained for a little while and let me do something in peace!

The Back 40

Here's part of my back yard, which kind of grew into a meadow this spring. This is after 1 pass with the lawn mower; I have to rake up the grass and mow again. I did use the bag on the lawn mower, but it would fill up really fast and then the grass would push the bag off from the mower, and then the mower shuts down. So I stopped using it because it was too annoying.

The reason the lawn got so over-grown in the back in the first place is that I am apparently not smart enough to operate my lawn mower. I bought it last year, and it worked great until late in the summer when all of a sudden it stopped working. I couldn't figure out why; I guess I hoped it would correct it self in time, so I didn't do anything about it. It wouldn't start this spring, and when my dad came down he couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. So off the the small-engine repair shop it went.

About 2 weeks later, a guy from the shop called and said I was going to be mad, because there was nothing wrong with the mower. Turns out the mulch plug or bag wasn't pushed down enough into it's slot, and there is a safety mechanism that stops the motor from working if the plug or bag is not SECURELY in place, so you don't get grass and things shooting back at your feet. I wasn't mad - all I could do was laugh. So since I had already paid the deposit, they did a yearly cleaning and tune-up. It reminded me of the time I thought my computer was malfunctioning, and after talking to my sister on the phone about it for a while learned the "L" key was stuck down, and that's why it wasn't working. See, I'm not as smart as some people think.

Kitty Kitty Kitten

Here is Davey, my cat. He doesn't really know his name is Davey - he is always called Kitten. I got him almost a year ago, when a good Samaritan dropped him off at the hospital. He had seen a car drive by and throw two kittens out of a car window - one didn't make it. He brought this one in. He had a broken tooth, but otherwise has been fine. He's a very affectionate cat, although shy around other people (at first). He has a loud motor! He loves to cuddle (ie sleep right next to your face). Rabbit loves to chew on him, and I used to separate them when he did that, but Davey kept going back for more, so he's on his own.

Davey's favorite activities are playing/hiding in the basement, sunning himself in the yard, and watching the birds at the feeder outside the front window. He also enjoys eating anything he can get off the counter or table, and chewing on bones with the dogs. (They don't enjoy that too much though)

Oops! I'm An Author!

I found out that a short case report I submitted has been accepted by Veterinary Forum for their "Most Unusual Case" column in their monthly journal! I don't know when it will be published, but it was a funny case that I hope people will enjoy reading about. Not as prestegious as a scientific article, but still . . . They want a photo of me to publish as well - someone took this one at work - do you think it's acceptable? (That's technician Ali photobombing me). I'll let you know when it will be published in case anyone is interested in reading it!

Mulletude

Earlier this month I went to the Fox River Fest in St. Charles, about 1/2 hour north of Aurora. I went with 2 techs from work, Claudia and Ed. The weather was beautiful; unfortunately, the hairstyles were not. It was an interesting mix of young suburbanites, bikers, and mullets. We enjoyed some tasty adult beverages, tasty snacks, and the musical stylings of Hi Infidelity, a classic-rock cover band (think REO Speedwagon, Boston, etc.). We also enjoyed some drunk people dancing and falling over. Good times!

Good news

Congratulations to Kristi & Corey Maier who welcomed their daughter Rylee Lynn on 6/16 - almost 2 months early! Kristi writes that the baby is doing well, breathing on her own and should be out of the NICU in a few weeks. She's super-cute!

Also congratulations to Toni for getting her clot rotor-rootered out of her arm and only losing a piece of a rib and having some muscles rearranged in the process. Hopefully no more weird medical problems, Toni!

Planter

It took me a while to figure out what to put in the space above the dog door, but I think I finally got it. I found this planter at Hobby Lobby for less than $20, and it seemed to be just the right size and I liked the style. So I got some impatiens and some trailing plants at Wal-mart, and here you go. I suppose I could put other things in it for fall and pine boughs, etc. for the winter. What do you think?

Weeds

Can anyone identify this plant? I have a TON of them growing in my yard. When they first come up, they almost look like rhubarb. Then they start growing at an astronomical rate - they end up about 8-10 feet tall. The stem/stalk is hollow when you cut it, very fibrous and leaks a milky fluid.

I have not found any chemicals that kill it - I have sprayed it with at least 3 different things and the leaves I spray (on the small, young plants) curl up & die but the plant keeps growing. If you cut it down, about 15 more grow up around it. I have tried digging up the smaller plants, but they have a very large, fibrous rhizome/tuberous root that is about 20 x the size of the plant (a small, 4" plant could have one that is larger than an ear of corn), so digging them up is not feasible.

I have been searching the internet, using weed-identification programs, etc. and haven't found anything that quite matches it. I think it may be pokeweed, pigweed, knotweed or some type of sorrel, but these are just speculation. I really just want to get rid of them because they are everywhere! I call it the malignant rhubarb.

Dogs Outside

Isn't Remi handsome? He isn't too thrilled about the warmer weather. He likes it cool and shady, and unfortunately he doesn't like the wading pool. He will lay in the lake at my folks' house for hours, but won't go in the pool, doesn't like the rain or snow falling on him, and has taken to avoiding wet grass - and will tiptoe through it when he can't avoid it.

The next picture is an example of the type of photo I USUALLY get of Remi. As soon as you say his name, or he sees the camera pointed at him, he moves closer to give a kiss, so I often just get his nose in the frame.

Rabbit love the pool, and will take brief breaks from chasing the tennis ball to jump around in the water, drop his ball in, and bat at it for a while. Now if only I could teach him to sit still to be toweled off before we go inside . . .

Davey's Bird Feeder

Someone had given me this bird feeder (the right side of the photo) a few years ago, and I decided to buy one of those shepherd's crooks to hang it in front of the house. There are some boxes piled up in front of that window (in the house) and Davey likes to lay on top and look outside. Maybe we'll attract some of the cardinals that I've seen around the house. I figured it'd be something interesting for him to look at (me too) and will keep the bird seed away from the dogs.

Toni

Best wishes and get well soon to Toni, who has a blood clot in her arm and is undergoing angiography and clot dissolution in the hospital in New York. I hope everything goes smoothly and that Cleo (she named the clot) leaves without incident!

Dad's Light Fixture

This is the new light fixture my dad put up over the side door. I really really like the style, but am not so in love with the color (that can be changed, thanks to Rustoleum Spray Paint!). Plus the door doesn't hit it, like it did the old, huge, brass light fixture. Thanks Dad! (Notice how I didn't mention that you dropped it when you were putting it up and broke one of the panes of glass? Oops - I guess I did mention it :)

Rabbit's Barking

I'm gonna try posting a video . . . This is Rabbit barking. He is incredibly annoying, and when he barks he even irritates himself because he will stop and shake his head, flapping his ears. I tried everything I had heard of to get him to stop barking, including withholding attention. He barked like this for an hour before I gave up. That's when I went and bought the bark collar. When it's on, he is much quieter. He will try whining and a quieter, higher pitched bark, but in general is quiet. I worried at first about hurting him, but he barked one day when I had the collar on and was holding it in my hand, and it was more annoying than painful. I think I get even more frustrated with him because Remi is so quiet.

A special hello to Dawn & Andy - I'm so glad to hear from you! And congratulations to Jade R. on being a therapy dog (Jade is Remi's best girlfriend from MN - he misses her!)

House Face Lift

Here are pics of some of the work I've been doing on the house. The next one is the paint I put on the front steps, which were that horrible bright blue. I think this gray is too light; it needs a second coat anyway so I might get a darker gray for that. At least it's an improvement. Eventually I would like to put flagstone on the sidewalk and steps, but that will cost a lot more money than I have now.

The doorknob is on the new back door - I admit I wasn't sure about the oval doorknob, but I love it. Much easier to open than the traditional round ones, especially when your hands are wet. I love the silver color with the dark blue.

The bottom one is the newly painted light fixture by the front door - there were brass, which I hate, and now they're dark hammered bronze. I really like the color, but I think it might be too dark against the dark blue. What do you think? Maybe I should go with color more like a brushed nickel or something like that. I also painted the front step railings that color, and am painting the light posts at the end of my driveway. Eventually I would like to have all matching light fixtures on the exterior, but that will be a while.

New Dog Door

I was lucky enough to have my dad come visit this past week to help me out with some things on/around the house. Most importantly, he put in a dog door for the boys. This photo shows the new back door and the dog door. I need to put some finishing touches on it (like paint!) but I think it looks really good. The dogs learned pretty quickly to use the door, and Rabbit would rather use the dog door than the human door! The cat doesn't like it too much because the flap is too big for him to open, so he can't go outside whenever he wants to. I like it because I don' t have to get up when I'm sleeping to let the dogs out.

My dad and I also got a lot of other stuff done - some photo-worthy, some not. I will post some before and after photos of the front of the house once I'm done with it. We also did some things just for fun - we went to the Sandwich Antique Fair, and saw a lot of cool (usually refinished) furniture - when I am in the market for a dining room table I will be looking there. We also went to downtown Chicago for lunch, a boat tour and the Sears tower. Thanks Dad!

Remi

This is my best boy. Remi is almost 3 years old. I got him when he was 4 months old; he had fallen down the deck stairs and shattered his elbow. His family couldn't afford surgery to fix it, and they did not want a 3-legged dog, so they were going to euthanize him. I came back to work after my lunch break and saw him sitting sadly in the kennel (his ears were already this big at 4 months old!) and just couldn't let it happen. I couldn't affort surgery either, so I amputated his leg, and he's done fine ever since. He loves to swim (he has a life jacket because it's hard to keep his head up out of the water with only 1 front leg!). When he first started swimming, he'd go in a circle, but now he's figured out how to steer and go straight. Oddly enough, even though he loves swimming and laying in the lake, he wants nothing to do with the wading pool, is afraid of the rain and doesn't even like to walk in wet grass. His favorite activities are cuddling and giving kisses. He is a very calm, sweet dog, and has always been very good (he did chew up some shoes and sunglasses as a pup, and also chewed up the gear shift in my truck, but NOTHING compared to Rabbit). He tolerates Rabbit (I think he misses his girlfriends Jade and Ursa in Minnesota!), and doesn't seem to care one way or the other about the cat. He does enjoy chewing on bones and rawhides, and has to go on daily rounds of the yard to see if there are any holes in the fence he could get through. Last summer, he and Rabbit got out of the yard and went to a parade in town while I was at work - he really loves people, kids especially. His nicknames are Rem, Remri, and Black Dog. To sum up, I'll quote my nephew: That's some nice Rem.

Rabbit

Here is Rabbit, my younger chocolate lab. The first picture is right after I got him last year at 3 weeks old. He had a broken lower jaw (his mom bit him when he was 3 days old). Several people had tried to fix it before I got him, and it didn't work. He was going to be euthanized and (luckily?) someone knew I wanted a friend for Remi, so she called me up and said, "Do you want a 3-week old lab with a broken jaw, and eats through a tube?". I said, Sure! Right after I got him, I had a veterinary surgeon fix his jaw (the lower picture shows the grey external fixator on his lower jaw). He ate through an esophagostomy tube for several weeks. Today, he is 74# of pure crazy lab. His lower jaw is shorter than his upper jaw (so he has a huge overbite) and he's missing about 1/2 of the teeth on his lower jaw, but it doesn't slow him down in the least. He eats and drinks just fine, and has no problem chewing things up (shoes, clothes, cans, boxes, bags, bottles of medicine, nails, bird seed, dead mice, bars of soap, bottles of shampoo, glue sticks, and on and on. He also ate both passenger seat belts and all the upholstery in the back of my SUV). Puppies that are hand-raised as young as he was can be prone to behavior problems; Rabbit does not like to be restrained (he has to be muzzled and put in lateral for blood draws, etc.) and he does not like being separated from me when he can still see me (he's fine in the kennel when I'm at work, but if I'm in the front yard and he's in the back, he will scream and throw himself at the fence or claw at the windows). He loves to chew on Davey the cat, play in his wading pool, eat anything he can get his mouth on, and he is absolutely CRAZED about tennis balls. He likes to play with Remi, although I'm not sure how much Remi likes playing with Rabbit. Rabbit also has several nicknames: Rab, Rabbie, Rarebit, Stinky, Monster, Monster Puppy, Puppers . . . and "Rabbit, that crazy bastard". I also like to call him the anti-Remi.

My Office

This is my office at work. I don't actually spend much time here though. As you can see, I have lots of photos from former clients and artwork by my nephew, as well as a fish painted by one of our technicians, Shannon. What you can't see is the sleeping bag and pillow I have under the desk for those slow nights when I can take a nap. No, I don't nap under the desk like George Costanza. I share the office with the neurologist, Dr. Barnes, and one of the dermatologists, Dr. Matousek. Dr. Barnes has a small fridge that she graciously lets me use, so I can keep snacks in there. I also have the bottom desk drawer entirely filled with snacks. Sometimes I don't get time to sit down and eat a meal, so it's nice to have granola bars, etc. that I can take with me. Another nice thing about the office is the view - it overlooks part of the lawn and a creek, and there's a pair of geese nesting out there now. Unfortunately I don't get to see it much since it's dark for most of the time I'm here.

My House

So this is the front of my house. It's a 1940's Cape Cod style home that has had 2 owners before me. The original owner was a jeweler from town and his sister lived with him; they lived there for over 40 years. Then the next owners (from whom I bought the house) did a lot of stuff by themselves that they shouldn't have. So there is a lot of stuff to keep me busy - everything from painting to replacing floors. One thing that will be painted soon (I hope) is the blue on the shutters and awning. Electric Turquoise is just not my idea of a good house color, so I hope to replace it with a more navy-type blue. It certainly makes the house easy to find though.

Spring is here in Illinois. It's amazing what a difference moving a few hours south can do! My lilacs are blooming, the daffodils and hostas are out, and the peonies are Lab-height already. Of course, that means the creeping Charlie, thistles and dandelions are doing well too. I was pleased to see that squirrels left a few of the tulips I planted, so I look forward to those.

I have a couple of days off work, so I'll get a chance to do some yard-work. I'm focusing on the front yard, partly because that's what most people see, but partly because the dogs don't spend any time there, so there's no chance they are going to dig up and/or eat anything. So this week it'll be spraying the weeds (better living through chemistry!), mowing the lawn, and hopefully planting some flowers. I got some bleeding hearts, lily-of-the-valley and hen-and-chicks - those, along with the lilacs, remind me of the plants my grandmothers had, and I really want them in my garden too.