Vetmommy -- Taking care of the small creatures in my life

My favorite pasta

2012-01-10T21:25:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite pasta dish, referred to in our house as "Peasant Pasta." It's made with fresh spinach, asiago cheese, and white beans, dressed with olive oil, balsamico, and fresh garlic. And this is my favorite shape of pasta for it, because sometimes one bean will lovingly fit inside.

But last week when I made it, the pasta kind of reminded me of Admiral Akbar.

"It's a trap!"

December Post

2011-12-31T09:36:00.000-06:00

Seems like after that binging of posting in November, I couldn't manage much posting in December! It was so full this year - Anna sang a solo in school choir, then she and Colin had a great piano recital, followed by the weekend of ballet performances. There were church choir rehearsals, which culminated in a nice Christmas Eve performance. We had a super holiday weekend with feasting and family. And I created a new drink for the holidays:

The Figgy Pudding

1.5 oz mulled vodka **
1.5 oz golden rum (I like Bacardi)
1.5 oz pear nectar
0.5 oz triple sec
0.5 oz port

Shake all ingredients over ice and pour into a chilled martini glass.

** Mulled Vodka

Combine 1 cup vodka with 1 tsp of premixed mulling spices -or- 1 star anise, 4 cloves, 1/4 stick of cinnamon, a few allspice berries, a shaving of nutmeg, etc. Let sit at room temperature for ~1 hour then drain.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Last NaBloPoMo for the Thankful Month

2011-11-30T21:50:00.001-06:00

This is our Thanksgiving Tree from last Thursday. Anna made the construction paper leaves, and Colin got the branch from the tree in our back yard. Everyone, young and old, took a leaf or two and wrote something they were thankful for.

The good health of my husband

My mom and dad. I miss them.

For my dogs, Ruby and Gus

I am thankful for living, talking, and friends.

My wonderful family

For Life: God, Family, Friends

All my nieces and nephews - Anna, Colin, Paige, Graham, & Evelyn

For my Niece and Bro who saved me

I am thankful for the wind

For the whole world

I'm thankful for NM in July and August!

I am thankful for friends who are more like family!

I am thankful for fun!

Music

having a great family

all our pets!

I am thankful for my family and friends

My five grandchildren

The Food

I am thankful for Harry Potter

My family's love and support

All the good food

I am happy for the rain

For a job I love

For everyone here today

Is November over yet?

2011-11-29T21:11:00.002-06:00

I'm single this week: Anthony is in Ohio. I need to iron 12 ruffled collars for Sugarplum ballerinas. And catch up on some Glee.

I'll be on the couch.

Mystery SOLVED

2011-11-28T20:10:00.000-06:00

Anthony told me he heard the rooster crow over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a good news/bad news kinda thing: it confirmed I wasn't crazy, but also confirmed that someone is crowing.

He said, "You're right, it was definitely a rooster crow, but it was soft and far off sounding." Yes, that's it! "Anna heard it, too!" More witnesses! "Then she told me, Daddy, that's my phone."

She has the "rooster crow" as her text tone. If it's in the living room and you're in the kitchen, and the windows are open, it sounds just like its coming from the coop.

Put away the hatchet!

What I did today

2011-11-27T22:04:00.000-06:00

1. Slept in!

2. Sang with the choir

3. Did grocery shopping for the week

4. Made individual pizzas for everyone

5. Helped the children practice piano

6. Cut Anthony and Colin's hair

7. Taught Bollywood aerobics

8. Made chef salads with smoked turkey (yum!)

9. Tested Anna and Anthony's chocolate chip cookies. So sweet how he showed her all his secrets to making perfect, moist, chewy cookies. She was very enthusiastic. The results were good. I tasted at least 4 oven-fresh cookies...

Becoming

2011-11-26T21:19:00.002-06:00

We ate dinner tonight at an Indian restaurant. There was some fish on the buffet, so I made sure to get some for Colin since he's a fish lover. He ate a few bites then stopped.

"Did you like it?" we asked him.

"Yes," he said, "But it became spicy."

News

2011-11-25T22:13:00.000-06:00

So often, I call owners with bloodwork results and get to say, "Everything's normal: kidneys and liver, electrolytes and glucose, thyroid level, blood count, heart worm test..." and they say thank you, and I say, "Hey, I love giving good news!" It's so great to be the bearer of good news, the reassurer of good health. Fortunately, that is the case more often than not.

Other times, it's not good news. Like when I had to call a client and tell her the lump I took off her dog was not a lipoma (a benign fatty mass) but instead something sinister, so we'd better send it off for pathology. Then the pathology came back neurofibrosarcoma, a tumor very locally invasive (so it will probably regrow) and only 5% of cases metastasize. But we'd better take chest X-rays before I refer her for radiation therapy. Then on today's X-rays, there are little dots all through the chest.

I'll have a radiologist review the films next week, but meanwhile, no referral is indicated. And this brave woman, who runs marathons and hikes the Appalachian trail, hangs her head and cries. Then says, "This is a really bad design, these dogs that live lives so short, when there are all these ugly, evil people who live 80 years." I can't argue with that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T22:37:00.000-06:00

The Menu:

Greenburg Turkey
Ham
Herb Gravy
Mushroom Dressing
Creamed Greens
Roasted Winter Vegetables
Homegrown Tomato and Arugula Salad
Marinated Homegrown Peppers
Wild Rice
Aunt Sudie's Potatoes
Roasted Acorn Squash
Brown-N-Serve Rolls
Steamed Asparagus

Dessert selections:

Pecan Pielettes
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
Buttermilk Pie
Cranberry Muffins
Cheesecake

Entertainment:

Piano by Anna and Colin
Walking the dogs
Scrabble
Football

(Colin suggests we do it all again next week)

Thanksgiving Eve

2011-11-23T21:54:00.000-06:00

Sadly I had to work today, even though all I wanted to do was stay home and cook and prepare for tomorrow's big feast. We are looking at 15 guests this year - both our parents, despite recent health crises on each side. My kids are pretty excited, too, and helped me chop vegetables and make pie after dinner. Everything is done except for making the stuffing/dressing, and setting the table.

We can't wait!!!

Happy Hour Colinism

2011-11-22T20:51:00.000-06:00

I came home today and Anthony and the Manny were enjoying a cocktail together. Yeah, really.

Then Colin said, "Daddy, why don't you open a shop called 'Big Bellied Bagels for Big Bellied People?"

2011-11-21T20:29:00.000-06:00

It rained AGAIN today, and we are still riveted by it. Anna went out to feel the rain on her face this morning. I noticed lots of birds taking baths in puddles. Then, driving home from Zumba, I was struck by this:

A large buzzard sitting atop the old Lutheran church from the 1800s. So Texas Gothic. Here's his close-up:

Ikea

2011-11-20T10:53:00.001-06:00

We really love Ikea, and went again today to get towel racks for the bathroom, handles for the cabinets, and another set of drinking glasses. Emily came with us, and I think she may have gotten more than she bargained for -- we were there for 3 hours! Of course, we first had lunch in the cafe, then walked the maze. Then over the intercom we heard them paging "Shane and Nancy" to the Smaland, and Emily rightfully said, how many Shane and Nancys can there be? (the last name matched, too). We were close to Smaland, so I peeked in an saw their 7 year-old daughter, who I recognized from Facebook.

They live in Ft Worth and we rarely see them, but we all were at college together. Anthony and Shane were roommates for a while, and he was in our wedding. Before that, Emily dated Shane when she was finishing high school.

Their daughter was shy until she saw my kids, then they were immediately playing chase and whispering secrets. Extra bonus at Ikea to see friends we haven't seen face-to-face for at least 5 years!

Preparation

2011-11-19T22:25:00.000-06:00

Hey, it's less than a week until Thanksgiving! We are planning on having another big feast, with lots of extended family from both sides. Today we are getting things ready - tidying up the larder, emptying out the fridge, trying to finish the bathroom remodel project.

Anybody need an extra set of gently used towels?

Yay! Anthony's home

2011-11-18T20:38:00.000-06:00

I was gone last weekend for the Dental Forum, came home late on Sunday, then Anthony left early Monday morning. We spent about 9 hours together, most of them sleeping. He finally came home tonight. We are all glad.

I'm gonna go hang with him on the couch.

More Hen Talk

2011-11-17T22:19:00.000-06:00

Three of the chickens were out when the kids and I got home this afternoon, which means it's time for another wing trim. (BTW, no more cock-a-doodle-doos heard.) We trim our chickens' wings so they don't fly out of their little enclosed yard behind the shed, because otherwise they invariably ruin the garden with their raking feet.

Colin really loves the chickens, and volunteered to help me catch them because he's "the best chicken catcher." He also claims they understand him. Colin also feeds the chickens for me everyday. It's the one chore he doesn't complain about (now that we moved the feed onto the porch and out of the shed where we rarely find snakes. Colin is afraid of snakes.)

He is really fast at catching those chickens, who very much do not want to be caught. He holds them lovingly like a baby as we take them to the picnic table, then holds their body while I extend a wing and trim the long feathers. He has a name for each of them (Goldy, Big Blacky, Copper, Reddy). He looks like such a farm boy with his flock.

Dentistry

2011-11-16T21:39:00.000-06:00

I saw two dogs today with very advanced periodontal disease -- caked on tartar, receding gums, mobile teeth, death breath -- all the things that make a normal human pull back with horror. It gives me itchy fingers, because I can't wait to get in there and CURE that disease. Teeth will be lost, but domesticated dogs don't need teeth to live, and besides, teeth that abscessed aren't being used to chew anyway.

For both cases, I sat down with the dog's owner, listing the reasons its important to restore good oral health (for pain relief, for heart health, for longevity), and going over an itemized estimate - preanesthetic bloodwork, IV fluids, anesthesia, X-rays, local dental blocks, extractions. Bone grafts to preserve jaw strength after the teeth and infected bone is removed. Suturing the extraction sites so that they heal with a simple incision instead of a big hole that has to fill in. Antibiotics and pain meds to go home.

It's not easy to do it well, nor is it cheap. It is going to take several hours of my time, and technical support, and a lot of good equipment. It will make a huge difference in their quality of life. Sometimes I want to help these dogs so badly, I wish I could do it for free. I said that to one of the owners who said, "No! I want you to stay in business so you can take care of my dogs!" I so appreciated this, especially since I know the estimate was much higher than he anticipated, and he'll have to do some "juggling" to get it done. And I was so pleased that both procedures got scheduled. Good oral health, here we come!

Keep falling on my head

2011-11-15T21:10:00.000-06:00

One thing I don't like about the clinic where I work is the lack of windows in the back where I spend all my time. Today it rained, solidly from about 10 am until noon. A group of us when up front to gaze out at the soggy scene. Raindrops and and puddles and dark skies. It was a great sight.

After nearly a year of drought, we are stopped in our tracks by precipitation.

Fall Harvest

2011-11-14T21:22:00.002-06:00

I know we're having an Indian Summer, but I'm a little embarrassed by this haul I got from our garden today. Please note, this does not include the prolific basil or any jalepenos. This is just the bell peppers, tomatoes, and anchos/poblanos that were easily reached. That's what 82 degrees will get ya!

Musing in Maryland

2011-11-13T17:29:00.000-06:00

Right now I'm in the Baltimore airport on a layover. I'm eating some crab and shrimp at a local restaurant. It's reminding me of the time when I worked at Ft Hood. I met people from all over the country then, including a big huge army guy who had a cat that he loved. He was asking me what cats could eat. Specifically, could they eat some human food?

"That depends," I said. "They shouldn't eat a lot of things like butter, or bacon fat."

"What about crab?" he said.

"Crab?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm from Maryland," he said, "and I love crab. Sometimes after I go home I bring some crab back and I share it with my cat."

Suddenly I got a vision of this big, huge guy sitting at the table sharing his crab with his cat. And I thought, crab is mostly protein, a little bit of fat. Perfect food for a cat. Plus the thought of him sharing this delicacy with his cat, who is also from Maryland, was too much to bear.

"Yeah, there's no problem with that," I said.

And I stand by that statement.

2011-11-12T20:57:00.000-06:00

While I've been at the Dental Conference, I've been keeping in touch with my family with Face Time every night. The kids respond so much better with video, and it's great to see their gorgeous faces.

That's all I've got for now. Been in lectures all morning, all afternoon, and this evening. Starts again tomorrow at 7 am. Damn Nablopomo.

2011-11-11T21:14:00.000-06:00

I had a great day today at the dental conference. In my lab I learned how to make an incline plate-- its an orthodontic appliance to move out canine teeth that are erupting too close together so they hit the hard palate and cause trauma and pain. Then after some lectures I went to dinner with two other ladies who are also vets from Austin. We all left our kids with our husbands and were enjoying a night out. After we even went to a restaurant that just serves desserts, called Finale!

Here in Boston!

2011-11-10T20:14:00.000-06:00

I am here, in the lobby of my hotel because this is where the free wifi is. I don't understand why the most expensive hotels also charge for Internet. If I'm paying this much they should throw Internet in, too. Can I get an amen? There was a large and delicious selection of hor doevres at the opening reception, enough to fill me up for dinner. I said hi to some friends, had some FaceTime with the family. Time for bed -- orthodontics lab in the morning!

Traveling

2011-11-09T21:48:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I'm going to Boston for the Dental Conference. It's my one big business trip of the year. Unfortunately, Anthony can't go with me, so I'm traveling alone. I enjoy traveling on planes alone; I just get immersed in my book. Three full days and evenings alone will be different. I always have a good time, though, learn something new, and get enthusiastic about my special quirky interest.

Next post will be from the road...

Simon & Martin

2011-11-08T20:43:00.000-06:00

Paul Simon was great, btw. ( But since nobody commented here or on Facebook I guess none of you care!) His band large and talented, and they all had great voices. Paul played lots of old 70s stuff, lots from Graceland, and all my new favorites from the new album.

I loved the big, complicated, jamming pieces, but was most impressed when Paul Simon took the stage and sang "The Sound Of Silence," just his voice and his beautiful guitar. Anthony recorded it on the iPhone (isn't it amazing how now that everyone has this ability no one seems to care if you record these events?), and hearing it later I realized how much Anthony and I were singing along. I think I sang "backup" on all his songs, but I couldn't hear myself. It was loud. But I guess my neighbors could hear. Anthony said the grumpy old guys next to him groused, "You'd think they could just listen and not sing along!" Sorry, neighbors, we sang, and danced, too.

***Watch this space for future video upload.***

Eye of the Beholder

2011-11-07T20:17:00.000-06:00

I'm still teaching my Bollywood class on Sunday evenings, and still really enjoying the music and the exercise. I have a group of regular students that I look forward to seeing, and I also love seeing new students of Indian descent smile when we dance to a tune that's familiar to them.

But now I follow that class with Zumba on Monday mornings, taught at our local rec center by my long-time friend Regina. Our lives have moved in parallel paths for decades now: first college choir, then vet school, then moving to the Austin area, having babies -- now teaching ethnic workout classes in our 40s! She has a terrific class on Mondays with women of all sizes and ages, and there are some good dancers in there.

A few times Regina has let me jump in to lead a song or two. That's when I notice that the lights in there are really awful. My skin looks so ghastly white, with blotches, then I notice the permanent wrinkle in my brow, and my pot belly... Blech!

There is a friendly woman who usually takes a spot next to me. She is older, and doesn't jump around or grind her hips, but she is moving (slowly) the whole time. "How are you?" she asked me between sets. "You just look so perfect, with your blonde hair, and your smooth skin, and your cute figure. You know what you look like? You look just like Barbie. That's what I'm going to call you: Barbie. 'Cause you just look so perfect." And she does, every week.

What?!? I am no Barbie doll. My boobs sag, my waist is not narrow, I'm getting jowly, and my skin is not smooth or perfect. My hair is a sweaty, frizzy, blonde mess. But I realize I look in the mirror and see my imperfections and loss of youthfulness (especially under those lights) -- but to her perspective, I am still youthful, and jumping around with enthusiasm even if I can't roll my hips and shake my booty at the same time (like Regina).

When we're 13 we wish we were 17, and when we're 40 we wish we were 25, and when we're 70 we wish we were 40... So today I tried to be happy to be fit at 41, injury-free and able to dance with abandon.

Manga

2011-11-06T18:07:00.000-06:00

My kids are "into" Manga, a Japanese animation. They watch a lot of the cartoons on YouTube - most are in Japanese with subtitles. I love them being interested in another culture. Anna has even learned some basic Japanese words, and she can sing the entire theme song to one of the shows with a dead-on accent.

However, a lot of the characters have high-pitched syrupy baby voices. And now my kids are talking to me in baby talk. And I cannot abide baby talk!

Going to Graceland

2011-11-05T16:59:00.000-05:00

I'm going to the Paul Simon concert tonight with Anthony and a work friend. She is a serious Paul Simon fan - she's seen him live at least 6 times before!

I grew up with the harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel. I just about wore out my cassette tape of Graceland in high school - it was in constant rotation in my Jeep as I drove around Midland. His new album released this year sounds good, too - there's even an Indian influenced song! Should be a good time.

My Ranking

2011-11-04T20:43:00.000-05:00

Anna and Colin are at the age where they love to go to work with me. Before they were too little to keep themselves occupied. Later, they may be too disdainful of the whole thing. But now they love it, they love holding court with all the people I work with, seeing the cute animals, snacking in the break room.

Colin went with me a few Saturdays ago, and wandered up front, petting dogs and chatting with one of my clients. "My Mom works here," he said.

"Oh, really?" she said.

"Yeah, she's the second best vet here," he confirmed.

Apparently, since my name is listed second on the door, he decided I was second best.

At least I'm not the fourth best.

Crowing

2011-11-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

Ah, the weather is glorious at last, and all the windows are open, letting the fresh air in. But today I heard a sound from the back yard that chilled me.

The sound of a "cock-a-doodle-doo!"

People who are long-time readers of this blog or know me in person know we have a small backyard flock. Hens are allowed in our little burg, but not roosters. We have a lot of old hens, and added two chicks this spring, hoping that by the fall they would start laying. After a long, hot, dreadful summer without eggs, the days are now cooler but shorter, so we still have no eggs.

But maybe we now have a rooster.

I inspected the flock, and the pullets (nearly grown hens) don't look like roosters, except one has a raised tail. We can't have a rooster. Even if he is gentle (since Colin has been lovingly carting them around for months) the noise would be intolerable to us, never mind the neighbors.

A friend of mine recently raised a passel of hen chicks, and one turned out to be a rooster. She slaughtered him, believing in knowing and raising your own meat, but cried the entire time. She did say he was good eating. I don't know if I'm strong enough to kill my own chick, not if my children aren't starving. Plus, the two chicks we got in the spring are very attatched to each other.

My hope is that, in the absence of any male presence, one of the old hens has gotten butch. Apparently this does happen. It could still be noisy, though. So far, it wasn't very loud and it was just once, in the afternoon....

Here's another Halloween post

2011-11-02T21:09:00.000-05:00

This is my Grandmother, Dulce Maria. She's in her 90s but has the spirit of a 6 year old girl. She is a 5'2" dynamo of energy, the life of every party. She put this on and prowled around the senior center where she lives and WON the costume contest.

Everyone who lives this long should live life with so much zest. Thanks to my mom for sending this excellent photo.

Corpse Reviver

2011-11-01T20:26:00.001-05:00

Here we are, Saturday night at a neighbor's Halloween party. We partied all weekend - neighborhood kiddie parade Sunday afternoon, kid Halloween party Sunday evening, trick-or-treating last night.

So, the title is in regards to this blog. Can someone who only posted once in October post every day in November?

NaBloPoMo. We shall see.

Pacific NW

2011-10-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

All of hot August we looked forward to our vacation planned the last week of September in Washington State. My cousin was getting married, and we made plans to extend our stay to 10 days. The trip did not disappoint. The weather was cool and showery up there, while it continued to be in the 100's down here in Texas.

There was a blue color I had not seen in so long, a lavender-grey-blue, in the moist clouds, in the mountains, even in some of the spruce trees. Ten months with no significant rain and soaring temps have left Texas brown, yellow, and washed out of color, like an over exposed photograph. We spent many days happily tramping around in the drizzling weather, not getting soaked but definitely rehydrating!

Notably, it did not rain on the days that we went hiking. It did shower briefly before the outdoor wedding, then stopped, so we could all enjoy the garden ceremony.

It is so nice to drink coffee and hot tea when its cold and damp.

Someone's seen too many Geico commercials

2011-09-19T20:00:00.002-05:00

Colin: Mommy, what is the world's most dangerous animal?

Me: Uh, hippo?

Colin: What? Gecko?

This Fall

2011-09-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

Its a whirlwind of back-to-school activity around here. Colin, who had been dreading school since the first day of summer, is on track to have a great year. No complaining about going to school, homework, or his teacher - in fact, the opposite (touch wood). Yesterday he brought home an exemplary progress report. (note: we are half-way through the first 6 weeks already!)

He is, as always, fascinated by weapons. Which I took as a sign of doom until several thoughtful, intellectual guys I admire (including my husband) told me at that age, they were too. It's the testosterone, apparently. Recently, he's interested in WWII Japan, as in Pearl Harbor and my reading Unbroken. He asks, "Why did Japan bomb all our ships in Pearl Harbor? Why did Japan want more power? Why did Hitler want to rule the world?" Good questions, son.

Today he came home with a Pearl Harbor book he purchased with his own funds from the Book Fair (for me to read) that answered some of these questions.

Then he asked me, "Mommy, were you born in 1914?"

No.

"I mean, 1941?"

No, Grandad (my dad) was born in 1940.

"OHHhhhh! So he was 1 1/2 at Pearl Harbor?"

Anna's having a great year scholastically, too. This year she has stepped up the seriousness in ballet and is taking classes THREE days a week. That's a lot of schlepping back and forth to the ballet studio. However, Anna has her eyes on the prize: if she can keep it up for about a year, her ballet teacher may let her graduate to pointe shoes. I love her teacher, for keeping the bar (barre?) so high, and requiring commitment as well as strength and technique before taking this step. I thought Anna would become bored with the more rigorous, technical classes, but she confessed to me yesterday she likes them better than her regular class.

She and I have also been singing in a church choir. It's a small, adult choir, and Anna is BY FAR the youngest. It's very informal, but I can see her learning so much being there. Also, I realized how very much I missed singing this way. For a person who spent at least an hour (often more) nearly every day in high school and college singing formally in a choir, getting back in touch with this part of myself has been so rewarding. I don't have time to sing focused daily like I used to. But a few hours on Wednesday evenings and then "performing" on most Sundays is great. Getting to share that joy with Anna - and now Emily!- is awesome.

There's only one thing that's as good as BACON and that's BACON!

2011-09-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I was not working, so I cooked my family a nice breakfast. I pulled out that package of Niman Ranch Bacon and made eggs from my hens. I like to cook the bacon in the oven, but it takes some minding, and turning. The last time I put it in the oven, I forgot to set the timer. My nose reminded me to check, too late.

"Damn it, I burned the bacon. Anna! Open the back door!" I took the smoking pan out to the patio and let it cool on the grill. I came in, steaming myself. "I've been working on that bacon for 20 minutes! I can't believe I let it burn!"

I looked at Colin, and his face crumpled. Then he ran into his room, crying. Crying, because of the loss of bacon. I think I yelled something about me being the one who was working so hard on it. But he couldn't hear me over the wailing.

As it turned out, a few minutes later I checked on the bacon, and only the ends were burnt. I broke them off and put the extra crispy bacon in Colin's breakfast taco. He found some solace in that.

Anna ate the burnt bits despite the carbon texture.

Back to School

2011-08-31T21:48:00.001-05:00

Colin brought home a worksheet about himself. Here are some highlights:

My favorite place is New Mexico.
After school, I like to play vido games.
My pet peeve is Toby.
When I feel sad, it helps to play piano.
If I could change my name, I'd call myself Ash.
I wish I were as tall as myself.
I'm good at math.
If I could rule the world, I'd give candy.
My favorite possession is my fish.
If I lived in another country, I'd like it to be Cloudcroft.
On my birthday I'd like to give donuts to my friends.

Anna brought home a computerized reading assessment. Seems she reads on a 11.5 grade level, and we should be sure to have her check out books at that level to keep her challenged. Sheesh.

Hoarders

2011-08-15T19:22:00.000-05:00

Summer, the school vacation, is nearly over for us. Summer, the season, has lodged itself here and won't be leaving anytime soon. Our part of Texas is in a severe drought, and its been over 100 nearly every day since the end of May. It's awful; we hide inside the air conditioning from the sun all day.

My children, my parents, and one of my sisters are cooling their heels in Cloudcroft, NM. We video chatted last night and they were wearing hoodies. The humanity!

I told my kids that they needed to get their rooms in shape, because I was going to clean them while they were gone. I spent the past day and a half in their hovels, and confirmed that they are terrible hoarders! I threw away a bunch of paper and plastic junk. Also, there are four boxes in the attic full of stuff I am betting they will never ever miss HOWEVER if they specifically ask for an item in one of those boxes, I will retrieve it for them. After 6 months, I am sending the boxes to Goodwill. Unopened.

Do you think they'll notice something that is missing from their tidy rooms?

Good Question

2011-07-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

Most pets come to the vet hospital brought in by the "lady of the house." She often brings her young children with her.

I won't lie. There are some children we dread. But most are shy. I usually try to engage them all - the shy ones with what I'm doing, and the poorly mannered ones with stickers and coloring books.

My favorite are the precocious ones, they might be a little shy but are very enthusiastic about their pets, and happy to talk to me. Like the little 4-year-old guy I had today with his two young kittens. He remembered that last time I showed him the proper way to pick up his kittens (support them under the hind legs, don't pick them up by the arms). He also remembered that I let him listen to the cats' hearts with my stethoscope, because he scooted up on the exam table, getting in position nice and close for the stethoscope hand off.

At the end of the visit, I asked Mom if she had any questions, and after I answered her, my little friend said, "I have a question for the vet." Big, long pause.

"How do you keep them from getting upset when you pick their boogers?"

Mom and I squelched giggles but agreed it was a good question. Certainly, one I've never been asked before. I told him I didn't think you could keep them from getting upset, but if you sneak up on them with a soft tissue, you can probably get them off. Besides, cat boogers aren't as big as ours.

But, apparently they are big enough to flick across the room at your baby brother.

Scenes from a Cell Phone

2011-07-11T20:47:00.000-05:00

Here is a boy who hates to go to Costco with his parents. Even if there are lots of samples. Doesn't he look miserable? This is actually his least favorite part - when his dad browses for wine. Even if there are cheese samples right next to it.

He also refuses to let me take any pictures of his adorable snaggle-toothed grin. His last upper central incisor FINALLY fell out, and the results are adorable, temporary, and not yet captured on film.

Here is beautiful Lake Pflugerville! It is so hot here, and this is the closest thing we have to a beach. 100 degrees doesn't feel quite as bad when you're in the water. Anna and Colin are the 2 figures on the left.

Today was Toby's first day to go swimming! He was so much fun. Slightly apprehensive at first, then enthusiastic and overwhelmed! Then palunk-palunk-palunk-palunk, he was swimming. Toby seemed to think he could walk on the water. But unfortunately, he is not Jesus Christ, he is Toby Sebastian. Still, his front legs kept plunking above the water, making him sound like a paddle boat. Then, exhausted, he'd let me hold him suspended in the water, and he'd rest his precious head on my shoulder. He is so sweet. After an hour, he finally figured out how to dog paddle streamlined, without lifting his forelegs above the surface of the water. By then, he was tuckered out!

We can't wait to take him again!

Ode to the Tomato

2011-07-05T21:42:00.002-05:00

Homegrown Tomato,
How do I love thee?

Let me count the ways we've eaten them:

Caprese Salad
TexMex Salsa with homegrown jalepenos
Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salsa
Tomato and Cheese Sandwich with Truffle Oil
BLT
Pasta Pomodoro
Migas and Huevos Mexicana
Pasta with Olive Oil, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Garlic
Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes, and Basil
Moussaka (Homegrown eggplants and tomatoes)
Guacamole
Arugula salad
Bruschetta
Tomato and Cucumber salad

I now realized that I haven't made Panzanella yet! Better get on it! This is one part of summer I don't ever want to end!

True Grit

2011-06-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

After watching me do so many triathlons, Anna has really wanted to join in. The age limit for the Danskin is 14, but for the Pflugerville Triathlon it's 10. After her birthday this year, Anna insisted she wanted to sign up. I warned her the training would be tough, but she was quite determined.

She hung in there on our training sessions, too, even after we decided that she had really outgrown her bike. At first she insisted she loved it and didn't need a new one; by the time she was OK with replacing her bike it was too late. In May, she didn't walk during our local 5K at all except at the water breaks.

Her confidence held until 2 weeks before the actual event, when she started to get cold feet. Plus we didn't train as much as we'd like those last 2 weeks, due to Choir camp and a visit to Nana and Grandad's place.

Since she is so small, and we were planning all along to do it together, the race organizers said she should just go in my wave (40-44 year olds). Unfortunately, since this event has all the men go first, then the women go youngest first, oldest last, we were in the water in one of the last waves.

Also, the wind that morning was wicked and strong. The swim is nearly a half mile, out and back. The waves had white caps coming towards us. Fortunately, we had done a swim in this lake on a similar windy day. Still, it was tough.

We started, Anna bravely plunging headlong into the waves. Around us, many people were literally bailing, crying out panicked for help, hanging onto the kayaks steered by lifeguards, who brought them back to shore. Anna didn't notice, but she did hang on to my arm twice while coughing, and took a break at the outermost buoy.

We were some of the last out of the water, onto our bikes. The bike ride is 14 miles, and is Anna's weakest event. We had practiced the hardest 12 miles of the course, but not with this kind of wind. Anna complained of tired legs on mile 2. She was afraid she couldn't finish the course since she hadn't actually done 14 miles. I explained to her that she had done all the hard hills before, and told her about a friend who had done a 150 mile bike race, 75 miles per day, even though he'd only practiced 20-30 miles a day before that. She quietly absorbed this and kept pedalling.

The bike course was basically a big square, and the second leg of the course, the one with all the hills, is the one where the wind was straight in our faces. It was so strong, some gusts stopped Anna dead in her tracks going up hill. Then she fell on mile 5, bloodying her knee and elbow. She cried on the side of the road for a little bit, then got back up on her bike and kept pedalling. Poor little thing, she had to pedal continuously. There was almost no coasting on such a little bike.

Finally, we turned the corner, making our head wind into an easier cross wind. "Mile 7!" Anna said triumphantly when she saw the sign. "Halfway done!" Then, quickly her face started falling, "Oh, only halfway done..." I assured her that the worst was behind us, the rest was nearly flat. She was silent, got a determined look, and kept pedaling. It was a look she kept for the next 5 miles.

At the end, an inconsiderate cop tipped us off that we were the last competitors on the course. ("Hurry up!") "Oh, Mommy, I think we're the last. I didn't want to be last." I assured her that at least she was still going, and I was proud of her. She was so tired and spent, but I really wanted her to have a successful finish. Soon, a race volunteer pulled up behind us on his bike, and confirmed that we were both competitors, and radioed back that he had the last two competitors and was bringing them in. He must've seen how dejected Anna was about this, because he told her, "I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you, but I was dealing with two people who dropped out. Otherwise I would've been here sooner. You should be proud that you are finishing. I can't believe you went all that way on that little bike!"

The bike ride took us 2 hours.

We came into the transition area, which was busy because many competitors were finished and were exiting. Some race volunteers helped escort us through to the portopotties then out to the run course. Many people saw me and my little athlete and cheered, which gave Anna a burst of energy. We started out running, then walked for the vast majority of the 3 mile course. The wind was hot and the sun was intense. There were two water stops on the way with great volunteers who had waited for us and encouraged us to finish. Anna looked up at me as we started mile 3 and said, "Mommy, thank you so much. I couldn't have done it without you. I really wanted to quit, but I'm glad I didn't!" I was glad, too. I know she was too small and young to have self motivated herself to finish, but with very little encouragement from me, she found the strength in herself to push on and make her goal. We fantasized about the post-race meal we had planned. "I'm going to have THREE pancakes!" she said. I assured her I didn't know anyone who deserved 3 more than her.

Finally, we could see the end in the distance, then we recognized the specks that were Anthony, Colin, and Emily. Colin ran with us for a while, and Emily helped us over the finish line. Anthony recorded the happy event. Anna was elated, exhausted but happy.

She ate all 3 pancakes.

New Addition

2011-06-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

For Anna's 10th birthday, we told her she could get what she's been begging for forever - a dog of her own. Specifically, a golden retriever. Since then we've been working with Gold Ribbon Rescue, getting approved, then waiting for a match.

As it happened, they got a mom and a litter of puppies. "They are 95% Golden Retriever!" they told me. "Are you interested?" Hmm, not sure how they came up with that percentage, but we were mildly interested. There is a new DNA test available to find out what breeds a dog is made of. Its quite accurate on mildly mixed dogs, not so much for very mixed mutts. I asked if I paid for the test, could we DNA test the litter? They decided yes, and I met the mom (a Golden looking sweet female, but only 40lbs, muzzle too short to be all Golden Retriever) and the adorable fuzzikins that were her litter. I drew blood from one of them, and sent it to the lab.

Three long weeks later, the results came back -- 75% Golden Retriever! Of the grandparents, 3 were purebred Goldens, and one was a very mixed mutt, with markers for Basenjis, English Wolfhound, Spinone Italiano -- but none of the breeds I wanted to avoid. With summer vacation upon us, we knew there would be no better opportunity to get a puppy.

I mean, how could you resist this?

Anna did not actually know she was getting a puppy until we actually went to pick him up. It was love at first sight!

She has named him TOBY, and he's won all our hearts. Well, Francesca (my 5 yo catahoula) is still a little grumpy. And Anna is learning just how much work a new puppy really is. We've had him for 3 weeks now, and he's grown quite a bit from these pictures.

But he's still very precious!

My Hands Hurt

2011-06-07T22:34:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I did the Danskin Triathlon again, along with my sister Emily and a thousand other women. Its hot here in Texas, so we start early. I was driving to the event at 5:30 am.

I could see a large, slow animal crossing the road ahead of me. It was a turtle, in my lane, 3/4 of the way across a divided 4 lane road, and there were a couple more cars coming behind me in the lane it was approaching. I slowed to a stop and waited for the cars to pass, then hopped out to help the turtle.

It was a snapping turtle. He was about 18 muddy inches across. I nudged him with my shoe, but he only moved 2 inches. I knew if I picked him up on the sides, he could reach around and bite me. So I picked him up in the back 1/3 of his body and hauled him to the safe grass.

As soon as I hefted him up, he pulled his back legs in and swiftly scratched me. I fairly tossed him into the grass and hurried back to my car. Sure enough, I had a deep bleeding scratch across each of my last 3 fingers. I'm sure he thought I wanted to eat him. Oh well. Hopefully the lake water was cleansing. I finished the Tri at 1:47, 2 minutes faster than my best time ever.

After migas, a beer, and a nap, I had to teach my evening Bollywood class ( I couldn't find a sub). I kept it low impact. After the last student left, I started the lock-up process, and ran into the bathroom before driving home.

The lock stuck, and I couldn't get out. I locked and unlocked, tried again and again, and couldn't get out. I tried not to panic. My phone and all my stuff were still out in the studio, all the students were gone, and there wasn't anyone in the whole shopping center who could even hear me yell. Anthony wouldn't even expect me for another half an hour, probably wouldn't worry for an hour, then might call me and I couldn't answer -- maybe he'd call the police or come looking for me? I kept working at the doorknob, and eventually broke the handle off, cut my hand, wiggled at parts inside - still couldn't get out. Then I found a bobby pin, and was able to laboriously use it to unscrew the long two screws. When I finally got the last one out, the knob fell away, and I was free. I was trapped for about 30 minutes.

I had a nice glass of wine and a good sleep after that.

New Flavah

2011-05-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

Work has been busy. I was late coming home Saturday afternoon, and so I called. Anna was at ballet, Anthony was working on the solar panels, so Colin answered the phone. That is still a new thing in our house, kids answering the phone. Colin is particularly precious.

After we established where everyone was, I asked him what he was doing. "Making my lunch," he said. That boy is always hungry. What are you making? "A sandwich. It's raisin bread, and butter, and those round red things, you know?" Um, no, you mean strawberries? "No, Mommy, those round things, you know, that are red, they are like, you put them on, um, you know..."

After a few more minutes of this, he remembered what they are called. Pepperoni.

"You are making a raisin bread and pepperoni sandwich?" I asked.

"Yes, Mommy, I made a new flavor," he said. "It's delicious."

Lookee here

2011-05-03T21:59:00.000-05:00

Its the first tomato of the season! A Porter, a small, pinkish, reliable producer.

I picked this one on May 1, 2011. It was 91 degrees. A few minutes later, a cold front came through, and it plunged to 66. Today it was rainy and cold, in the 50s all day. I loved it -- we need the rain, and I opened up the windows to air out the house.

Still, a tomato, already! Eat your heart out, Colorado and Maine! (jk!)

The Lesson of the Grasshopper

2011-04-25T21:29:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all your kind comments. I really do have a great job, even if it is stinky and messy and exhausting sometimes.

There was another super-cool case last week I have to tell you about. The Tuesday I was so busy with surgeries, my co-worker saw a cat who was gagging and had a change in her voice. She was hoarse and vocalizing a lot. She wasn't eating and was quite dehydrated. She had a full work-up (bloodwork, Xrays, etc) but nothing was obvious. Her signs were so non-specific - did she have a gastrointestinal problem? a tumor in her oropharynx? a neuro issue? She was sent on IV fluids to rehydrate at the emergency clinic, then back to me the next morning.

She was doing better, but definitely hoarse. "MRAHhhh- Owwhh," she rasped at me. The plan now was to anesthetize her for a complete oropharyngeal exam. Once morning appointments were over, I gave her an IV sedative, then grabbed a laryngoscope to anesthetize her.

These exams usually reveal nothing, then we have to refer them for endoscopy or CT for a more thorough look. If we do find something, its usually a tumor - unhappy news. However, as soon as I peered over her epiglottis, I knew there was SOMETHING! "She's got a foreign body!" I hollered. "Quick, someone get me a swab!" Under a large clot of mucus, there was something crossing horizontally over her larynx, under one laryngeal fold and over the other, like a toothpick skewering an hors-d'oeuvre. I grabbed it with a hemostat, and revealed........

a Grasshopper leg! A disarticulated leg, in its full chitinous spiny glory. It looked a lot like this:

Except it was more yellow. It was incredible. We all did some high fives. I called the owner, and she was relieved to have an answer and that the ordeal was over. The kitty must've caught the insect while hunting, then go this appendage stuck. Grasshopper's revenge!

2011-04-21T21:48:00.000-05:00

Last week was a pretty amazing week at work. Hectic, but one that makes me so happy to be a vet.

On Tuesday, we had a full schedule, but I saw an emergency before I got started on surgeries - a very sick pit bull who had not eaten anything since Thursday, and had lost a lot of weight. The owner told me he had taken this dog in 3 months before from his dad who had passed away. He loved the dog, a last living remembrance of his dad, but he didn't know any vaccine history. However, one feel of his abdomen and I knew: this dog didn't have parvo, he had an obstruction. He needed an expensive surgery, and I knew this owner had money issues - he told me when I walked in the door. We called a charity clinic, and they said maybe they could work him in the next day, but by then the dog would be dead. I pared down the estimate as much as possible, and took $100 off the top (we're allowed to do that once every few months), but it was still too much. One of our hospital managers raided our charity fund, and that lowered it to a level the owner could make a deposit and then leave held checks for the rest. We were on! We were going to save this dog's life!

I put the dog on fluids to rehydrate him before the surgery, and then got started on getting my scheduled surgeries out of the way. Meanwhile, a hypoglycemic puppy was rushed to the back. I was giving orders for the technicians who were taking care of her while I was pulling a tooth, just until the other doctor could see her... but clearly that was not going to happen in a timely manner, so when I was done I took her case over, too. I placed an IV in her tiny vein, gave her a dextrose injection, and watched the limp deflated puppy come back to life.

Then a technician told me about a case that was dropping off for an afternoon appointment -- it was a cat who could not pee. Seriously??? This is a medical emergency, not a case that can wait until the late afternoon slot reserved for it. Sure enough, this male cat had a total obstruction. So, as soon as I finished the current surgery, we anesthetized him and I started the procedure to catheterize his urethra and relieve the obstruction.

An hour later, he was still stuck. I had tried 7 different kinds of catheters and many techniques with no progress. For the first time in 16 years I was unable to get the catheter in. I called the specialty surgeon, and he said yeah, if you can't get it catheterized with all that you've done, something is wrong. He needs the surgery to open up his urethra and turn it into a short, wide one. He said he could see the cat immediately. I had to call the owner and admit defeat, and explain that her cat needed a surgery done at the specialty hospital, and could she please pick him up and take him there now? She was disappointed but came and got him.

Finally, after one last spay I was ready for my big exploratory on the pit bull! I opened his belly and found that most of his small intestine, which is supposed to look like a flat, pink hose instead looked like a bloated swollen purple summer sausage. I found the obstruction and removed it - a pungently rotten corn cob. Unfortunately at least a foot of intestine in front of the obstruction was dead - it was blackish purple and was not squeezing and moving like the rest of the intestine. I removed the dead section, but the proximal portion was dilated about 3 times the distal portion, and I have to connect these two ends perfectly so that they seal and don't leak, because that would cause peritonitis. To fix this, I have to cut the healthy, skinny end at a steep diagonal, until the two circumferences are equal. With my assistant holding the two ends, I suture them back together with tiny knots all the way around. As I am finishing, the proximal edge of my anastamosis is starting to look purple. I am so worried that it has lost its blood supply and is going to die. Its not leaking, and most of it is moving with normal peristalsis, except for this one bit... Now we've been working on this dog for nearly 2 hours and his blood pressure is dropping. I decide the repair is good enough, flush and suction the belly, then close him up.

Now I have 3 appointments who have been waiting for me; they did not want to reschedule or see the other doctor. This is extremely complimentary, but also very stressful, because I hate that they waited for so long (over an hour), and it means more work for me. I finally finish the last appointment at 7, an hour after closing. I send the pit bull to the emergency clinic for overnight care, asking them to please keep costs as lean as possible, and explaining the less than ideal appearance of the gut at the end of surgery. The doctor there seems to have a poor opinion of my decision to leave gut like that in the belly, then breezily says, "Well, I guess if it (the intestine) dies, you can open him up again tomorrow." Sigh. I really really don't want to do that, but I will if I have to.

The next day the pit bull is back in our hospital, and his belly hurts but he's eating, and his temperature stays normal all day. No vomiting. I send him home with some donated medications and a prayer. I called him twice the next week, and he was still eating and keeping it down. Apparently everything must have healed back together after all. The referral surgeon called to tell me the cat had a long 1.5 inch section of his tiny urethra that was impacted with grit. There was no way he could have been catheterized, and surgery was his only option. The hypoglycemic puppy went home and so far, with small frequent meals, has not had a recurrence. What a great, but exhausting, day to be a vet.

This blog is not dead!

2011-04-14T21:08:00.000-05:00

I've just been writing other things. Specifically, papers with titles like Surgical Extraction of an Upper 4th Premolar in a Dog or Endodontic Therapy of a Fractured Maxillary Canine Tooth in a Dog. Riveting stuff. I am required to write four journal-quality papers on some of my cases for the Fellowship in Veterinary Dentistry that I am pursuing. They were due on April 15 for pre-approval. Can I just say, writing these things so far away from school was painful. I'm far from school in years and distance, and these things needed references! Anyway, I worked on them for months and months. They needed medical records, photographs and Xrays attatched, and had to be submitted on 5 different CDs in separate folders. I got it done.

I hope they are good enough. Four veterinary dentists will review them, and they need to get a 80% to pass. My mentor (the dentist now in residence at Texas A&M vet school) said he did not pass the first time he submitted. Fingers crossed! Then, I can submit a large packet of my case logs, CE hours, equipment, library, etc etc, in July. If that passes, then I can sit for an exam!

Loads has been happening around here - Anna had a birthday, both kids had a great informal piano recital, Anna did her fourth Royal Academy of Ballet graded exam, Anthony put in a fabulous summer garden, and we've been pre-approved to adopt a dog from the Golden Retriever Rescue group.

To be continued...

I love the ShopVac. And Anthony.

2011-03-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

Did you know that if a brand new, unopened bottle of ultra-concentrated laundry detergent falls off the washer while the first load is going and I am jogging, and if the cap breaks, all the contents will efficiently empty itself onto the floor, coating the ENTIRE floor of my laundry room with a 5 mm thick ooze?

As I stepped into the laundry room to change out the loads, I discovered that, because it was quite SLICK!

120 loads worth of ultra-concentrated laundry detergent.

Fortunately, my husband is quite handy with the Shop-Vac (love that thing! it really sucks!) and a Squeegee. It took hours, but now I have the cleanest laundry room floor EVER. You could eat off of it.

Also, small silver lining - not a bad smelling mess to clean up. "Its better than cleaning poop," Anthony astutely observed. Indeed! Then he went outside and readied the recyclables. Awesome.

Volunteerism

2011-03-07T18:16:00.000-06:00

In addition to all the other things taking up my time, keeping me from posting, I have been volunteering at our elementary school. The first year I did this, I was directed to the teacher workroom, where I sat in a windowless space and cut things out, or stapled things together. Thank goodness I brought my iPod! Although several teachers breezing through stated their appreciation, I only lasted twice. Surely, I thought, there was a better use of my time and talents.

Then, Colin's first grade teacher approached me about coming once a week to help her students take AR tests. I eagerly agreed. I loved it, showing up and taking students 2 or 3 at a time to the computer lab, then to the library to get new books. Colin loved it, too, showering me with hugs when I arrived, and trying to gross out his friend F. by kissing me on the lips! I got to know lots of the students in his class, and they still wave at me in the halls.

This year, I signed up for a reading program that helps slow readers gain more "fluency." Once a week I meet with two students, 30 minutes each. They read a short piece aloud for 60 seconds, and we count how many words they can read, plotting it on a graph. Then they practice reading aloud with a tape (the woman on the tape has a strong Minnesota accent - they think it is so funny), then answer some content questions. After that, I time them again. Of course their word count is higher, sometimes much higher, and then they graph that. They can see their improvement that day, and over the weeks.

They are supposed to meet with volunteers 3 days a week, but the librarian tells me often the other volunteers don't show up. I can't imagine not keeping this commitment. I have one girl then one boy I work with. I like them both, but I am especially fond of the little girl. She is chatty, and tells me about playing with her cousins, her dreams, her mom leaving on a trip. I have to direct her back to the work, although I love talking with her, too. "Next week I'll wear the new shirt my mom got me in Vegas! Then you can see it," she told me. OK, see you next time.

But then, I got an email this week from the vice-principal, telling me I would have 2 new students starting next week. The girl is moving to a different reading program. I suspect she needs a more comprehensive program than this one. The boy is moving to a higher level at a different time. I am a little bereft about not seeing the little girl again! We didn't even get to say goodbye! At least I know that I will see her sometimes in the halls, and I will get a special smile and wave.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T09:56:00.000-06:00

Anna got a special card for her special boy friend at school, the one who got her a tiny box of chocolates and a tiny Teddy bear last year. We asked Colin if he wanted anything special for anyone at school, and he said, "Why? Valentine's Day is for showing the people in your family that you love them."

Sigh. Does he really have to grow up to be a sullen teenager who dumps us for his peers?

In the end, he made small handcrafted valentine's for his classmates (with help from Anna and me), then made 2 big decorated cards with envelopes for Zoey AND Janna!

When I got home from my jog around the foggy lake, this message was on my home answering machine:
"Jenn. I left my Valentine's day cards in my mom's car. And I need them. (pause) Bye."

Even though there was no please or thank you in that awkward message, I gladly brought him the cards. Because I love him. I love my whole family! We'll be celebrating with sweet, spicy Thai food tonight.

Luscious Lemon Food Porn

2011-01-31T21:06:00.001-06:00

After much research, I found Whole Lemon Tart at Smitten Kitchen. Boy, did it fit my requirements for finding the ultimate recipe for my lone lemon. She actually calls for a Meyer Lemon, but a small one, about 60% the size of mine. And it uses the entire lemon - rind, pith, fruit, juice - everything but the seeds.

I'm not much on desserts, but I do love pastry. I even made the tart crust myself and left it in the freezer overnight. Then I finished the pie today, and prayed that it would not disappoint my very high expectations.

It was splendid! We all loved it! Sweet but not overly so, and fragrant as the blossom the lemon came from. "I've had this before!" Anna said, but I think that is because it is so similar to the lemon curd I usually make - its really just lemon, eggs, butter, sugar. A little flour for the crust. Perfection.

I also made Lemon Vodka -- super easy, just add rind only in little strips to good vodka, agitate once a day for about a month. Fabulous for martinis. I like mine with half lemon vodka, half Hendrick's Gin. The last little bit of juice I used in my sauce for Provencal Chicken.

It was a good day in our Ikea kitchen.

Unidentified floating objects

2011-01-31T16:24:00.000-06:00

Thirsty Colin asked for some of my water. I passed him the bottle and said, "Try not to get any backwash in it. I don't like floaters."

He took a swig, looked at it, then handed it back with a sheepish grimace.

"Did you get floaters in there?"

He said, "Only four."

Solo Uno

2011-01-27T11:02:00.000-06:00

Last year we had BUSHELS of Meyer lemons. It was grand (as Uncle Ken would say). I made batches of lemon curd, lemonade, lemon vodka, and preserved lemons.

Then we had a long, HARD freeze. When we planted the lemon tree, we put it in a protected corner of the house, and Anthony vowed not to treat it specially. I half heartedly draped some sheets around it, but it got bit. Many lemons froze and rotted. I prayed.

In the spring, Anthony trimmed back the damaged tree. In the summer, it made many sweet, frangrant blooms. But I did not see any fruit set. I decided it would be a recovery year.

In the fall, Anthony brought me two large "limes" that some neighborhood kids found and liberated from the tree. (I know Stephanie understands my pain) Apparently they were in the back, about at child eye level. They were far too green to ripen, and were picked in a way they tore the peel, guaranteeing spoilage. The stages of grief: first I cried, then I got angry. Of course, no one admitted to being the picker. I called ALL the neighborhood kids over (they were playing kickball outside). I told them, "If you see ANYTHING in my yard: peaches, limes, lemons, flowers, leaves --- DO NOT PICK THEM! Come and ask us first! When you pick things off our plants, it hurts them. When you take things off our trees, you are stealing. Don't pick anything!"

"Yes, ma'am!" they all earnestly said. I put one green lemon on the counter, and one in the refrigerator crisper. They both stayed green as they quickly rotted.

But then! Around Christmas time, a lone Meyer lemon revealed itself with its yellow hue! I left it to ripen unmolested, then picked it (properly) before the first baby freeze of our mild Texas winter. It smells heavenly.

So, if you had ONE Meyer lemon, what would you do with it? I am not a big fan of lemon bars, and its not enough to make lemon curd. I want some peel to make a small batch of lemon vodka, and I can't waste the pulp and juice. So many recipes called for just using that divinely scented peel (a great option last year), but those are out - I need at least half the peel for vodka, and I'm not wasting the insides on lemonade.

There it is in all its golden massive glory, next to a puny store bought lemon.

I hope we get more citrons next year.

Itinerant Blogger

2011-01-20T21:15:00.000-06:00

I used to be unable to go more than a few days without posting. Now I'm too wiped at the end of most days to get a round tuit.

Anthony is gone for his second entire week this month. I get a little extra energy when he is gone, enough to make sure I get up early to put the kids on the bus and do all the little chores that we share, only to find there is nothing left at the end of the day. Here's some things I considered blogging about, briefly.

I was off on Saturday and we had a great day where we all hung out in our pyjamas until about 3 pm. It was a rainy day and by then the cooped up kids were a little stir crazy, so I took them to the rec center where they both ran/walked 3 miles! Then we were back home for more family time. We accomplished nothing but hanging out together.

Yesterday at work I had one of those experiences that was "only in the life of a vet." My first afternoon appointment was a home euthanasia (an 18 year old cat in heart failure. Still feisty! But suffering, it was time to go). That was followed by a scheduled c-section on a tiny Yorkie with 4 puppies. As luck would have it, the Manny came by with both my kids right after delivery (he had a gig to go to) and the mom's owner is actually a co-worker, so Anna and Colin both got to hold the little newborn pups, squirming with tied off umbilicus cords, smaller than Anna's big hamster. I heard someone speak recently about polar opposites (good/bad, heaven/hell, light/dark) and how some cultures don't think of it as an either/or, that life really is about embracing the pull of both. Having a day of immediately experiencing death and birth, and seeing your kids in a different setting than you usually do, can make you feel pretty philosophical.

New Year

2011-01-04T22:46:00.000-06:00

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Taught Bollywood Aerobics! So much fun!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I resolved to buy myself no new clothing until my birthday, and I succeeded! Then I bought a great dress for my birthday party, and then I didn't really think about it much. I haven't come up with any resolutions this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No, not this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My sweet great Aunt Sudie passed in November. It was expected, she was ready, and it was still such a loss.

5. What countries did you visit?

Chile and Argentina! We've been watching the photos on our screen saver. What a memorable trip!

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

More organization, more free time (ha!)

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

My 40th birthday was fabulous - what a party! Exactly as I wanted it.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Helping two friends finish their first triathlon this year (Luis and Sandra).

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not making the minimum case requirements for the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry. Still a work in progress.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing more than a cold, touch wood.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A new kitchen! From Ikea!

12. Where did most of your money go?

Food. Travel. New kitchen.

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

I've Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. I don't love it, but it was everywhere.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about this year?

Emily moving back to Texas! Sadly, a few months later my other sister Stephanie left for California.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Reading. Cooking.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Being stuck in traffic. Picking up the kids' things.

18. What was your favorite TV program?

Glee!

19. What was the best book you read?

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Vergase.

20. What was your greatest musical discovery?

All those great Bollywood tunes! I have a great playlist.

21. What did you want and get?

A new kitchen!

22. What did you want and not get?

Not much. New carpet? (its an area of contention between Anthony and me)

23. What was your favorite film of this year?

Toy Story 3. It clobbered my heart.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I was gifted an amazing Scrub + Massage. I could have used one every month.

25. What kept you sane?

Regular exercise. The wonderful support staff at my clinic. Red wine.

26. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

You can be a generous, quiet, kind person and leave a huge impact on friends, family, and your community (see: Aunt Sudie Pearl)

27. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"Bring it on! Bring it on! Bring it on!

Ab to Forever! and Ever!"

(its Bollywood)

Merry Christmas to Us

2010-12-28T21:00:00.001-06:00

To take the pressure off the spousal gift giving, Anthony and I go in together for a big gift. I'm totally happy with this arrangement. This year I got a new kitchen. (and an Apple mouse).

I love my open kitchen, but have always hated the color scheme - grey laminate countertops and white-washed cabinets. It was colorless.

Oops, in this picture you can see we started the deconstruction of the kitchen - the cabinets over my desk are gone. We almost forgot to take BEFORE photos.

See the big black dishwasher, and all the clutter. There is a corner on the right that is completely wasted space. (now filled with a "lazy susan" cabinet for all my pots & pans!)

We had to live a few days with a gutted kitchen. Hello, eating out! However, one must have morning caffeine. See above, my temporary tea station, and below, the coffee station on the up-ended microwave!

The cabinetry was installed moments before Thanksgiving dinner, and the bellisima countertops a few weeks later. Behold! The newborn kitchen! (be sure to click on it to view it bigger)

Here's a close-up of the amazing granite. Its Yellow River, from Brazil. But we were really picky about our piece. We wanted one with lots of movement, lots of drama, lots of red. They shipped a special lot to Austin for us.

All those little specks of red? Those are garnets.

A word about this peninsula of gorgeous granite: previously this area was squared off. This is the area where everyone congregates when we have meals, get togethers, parties, etc. Anthony's brilliant idea was to extend this area with a graceful curve. Now there is more square footage for partying!

We didn't need any new appliances, but we did get a new dishwasher, see above. What, you can't see it? Oh, that's because it has an integrated cover so it matches the cabinetry. Hint, it's just left of the sink. And here's my gorgeous countertop again...

And, my new desk area, from whence I write to you. Note, the backsplash is also granite...

And even the coffee station is restored!

Its beginning to look...

2010-12-08T21:22:00.000-06:00

Anthony is a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas, in regards to our energy usage. He won't let me keep the Christmas tree on too long because it uses so much electricity (1,080 watts -- like a hair dryer continuously on while its lit). He frets while he watches our meter. He's not a miser, he's just green. Like the Grinch!

My tree is in our front room, but we mostly live in the living room. I have a live wreath in there, and I hang a lighted garland on our mantle. "I'd let you leave it on all the time if it was LED," he said. My old garland was looking ratty anyway, so after a google search, I made a speedy stop at Sears for this nice LED garland:

At 2.4 watts, its been spreading Christmas cheer 24-7 since I bought it.

A busy week

2010-11-27T20:44:00.000-06:00

Just over a week ago, we all went to Aunt Sudie's funeral in Waco. My grandmother asked for my sisters and I to sing a piece we perfected back in high school, one we haven't sung together publicly in 16 years. But we found it hard to say no. We only got to practice together the morning of the funeral. I was pleased with how our harmonies still could ring. No way I could have done this by myself: we could do it only because our sisters were up there with us, and for our heartbroken Grandma Dulce, and with the help of our dear Aunt Sudie's spirit.

At the graveside we were asked to sing "Amazing Grace," and with my sisters' blessing we decided to include Anna. She loves to sing, and when I told Anna she was included, she was duly honored and happy to give something back to Sudie, too. This arrangement of Amazing Grace was cobbled together via many emails and some YouTube videos, and I'm proud of it, too.

After the interment we went back to the church where a team of kind church ladies had prepared a nice lunch for the family. This was so welcome, because we all wanted to visit with family members, and the meal and dining room provided space for this. Amazingly, there was a Spice Cake with real RUM in it. I had to eat it, just to say I had rum at a Baptist church! One lady confided that although she doesn't drink, her favorite cake has JACK DANIELS in it, and its her favorite cake!

That weekend, we started demolition on our kitchen. That saved us several hundred dollars, and it was quite cathartic for Anthony. Cabinet installers arrived on Monday, assembling our gorgeous new cabinets from Ikea. They finished mid-day Tuesday, and Anthony reinstalled our microwave, stove, new dishwasher, and placed the old countertop on top of the new cabinetry. (Granite countertops come in 2 weeks.) We got all our kitchen debris replaced in the new cabinets (fabulously organized by my engineer) late on Wednesday night.

See, we got this kitchen remodel scheduled a few days before hosting a large group for Thanksgiving! So I did no pre-cooking. However, I had so much help - first, a precooked smoked Greenberg Turkey arrived that week, and my MIL made pies, side dishes, and a ham. The meal was completed with rolls and green beans from Emily, cranberries from my mom, and pie-lettes from my dad. All I had to do was make Alice Waters' Mushroom Dressing, and herb gravy. Also, there was a fabulous team effort in the kitchen by the above parties. We started with 13 guests, which grew to 16, then 18! We had plenty of food and room. There was lots of visiting, some football throwing and wrestling, football watching, performances on the piano, team dishwashing, wine opening and coffee brewing. It was an epic day.

Late that night, in a freak accident, my sister's elderly cat slipped in the bathroom and hurt her leg badly. Emily called me in a panic, and I drove down there to check her out. Clearly something was wrong, so we went to my clinic and took an Xray. She fractured her femur! We gave her some pain meds, and got her in to see an orthopedic surgeon the next day. She is 17, but did well with the anesthesia, and got to come home today. It will be a long 8 week recovery, but we are all glad that Sabrina is on the mend.

There was plenty to blog about in recent days, but I didn't have time or discipline to write every day. Instead you get this monstrous tome.

Family Reunion

2010-11-15T20:55:00.000-06:00

Last week we had a big reunion of my mother's family in Waco. Pictured above is the five brothers and sisters, with their spouses and many of their offspring, as well as the matriarchs, my Grandma Dulce and her sister Sudie. What I love about this photo is my two children, who look so comfortable and confident in the love that they get from coming from this family. Everyone is excited to see them and talk to them, and they definitely respond to that. It is how my sisters and I felt growing up in this loving extended family. (sorry for the small image; I'll try to get a larger one in its place)

That is the post that's been rattling around my head for about a week. Today I found out that my great Aunt Sudie, pictured in the wheelchair, passed away. We knew it was close, and we were all thrilled that she was able to participate in this reunion. She never had her own children, but she was super special to all of us. She gave us many gifts, especially by the example she set. Mostly I'm feeling sadness, but most of all for her sister, my Grandma Dulce, who had been her roommate for the last 2 decades, and her companion since she was born.

Spelling

2010-11-11T20:45:00.000-06:00

Colin said tonight: "Anna! That is rude. R, O, D, E, --rude! Stop it!" I laughed so hard, I forgot what offended him so much.

Work hazard

2010-11-09T20:01:00.000-06:00

I spent my lunch hour unblocking a tomcat who could not pee. He was a huge 17 pounder with a tiny penis. Many jokes were made. Fortunately the patient was asleep and could not hear them.

Of course I wore gloves, but afterwards I kept smelling cat pee. I washed my hands repeatedly, but still. Washed my arms. But now I figured it out - its in my watchband.

Halloweenie Pics!

2010-11-08T20:01:00.000-06:00

Better late than never. Here is me, as a Crayon. Yes, this costume is a reprise.

Emily as the fabulous Lady Gaga. Anna is wearing her Jr. High cheerleading uniform, with jingle bells in her pony tails and her feet. This uniform is as pristine as the day Emily wore it, thanks to ever-living polyester. You know, back when cheerleaders wore big bulky sweaters, not midriff-baring tops and microminis!

Colin was a fabulous Harry Potter. (with a blonde mullet)

There was an adorable 3 year old (a Lyra look-alike) who LOOOOOVED Francesca in her skeleton costume, and helped me walk her the whole time, repeating, "I walking the dog! I walk the dog! I hold the leash!" So cute.

Sadly, no picture of Anthony, who donned blue scrubs and went as Dr Troy, plastic surgeon from Nip & Tuck. His shoulders looked great in those scrubs!

I guess this NaBlo isn't working for me

2010-11-07T17:16:00.000-06:00

So that's not bad, right, posting two days in a row? Sheesh. Well, Wednesday I was sidelined by a migraine. Thursday I hosted five members of my extended family for dinner. Friday I had a miserable cold and went to bed early. By the time it was Saturday, I knew it was a lost cause.

Saturday I took the kids to Applebees for a pancake breakfast. The only reason I went was that it was a fundraiser for ballet. I brought my own butter from home, because I knew there would only be margarine. Sure enough, only Country Crock was offered. My butter was still a little cold, so Anna whined for the easier spreading transfat kind, but I held firm. Like my butter!

Career Day

2010-11-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

Anna and Colin's school doesn't allow them to dress up for Halloween. The week before Halloween this years was "anti-drug propaganda" week. After days of dressing up in red, wearing crazy hats, and wearing crazy socks (as in, sock it to drugs!), the grand finale was to dress up as what you want to be when you grow up on Friday.

Anna said she wanted to be an actress, and needed some crazy sunglasses. I told her that was fine, but if she wanted to be a surgeon (another career she is interested in), she could wear the adorable scrubs my mom got for her. She was sold!

Colin said what he always says lately. "I want to be an ocean scientist." I had anticipated this, and suggested he wear a lab coat, a long pair of swim trunks, and a shirt with an embroidered shark. He decided to add some tools - tweezers, a mini wrench, and his giant squid model - and he was set.

They were pretty psyched on Friday morning, walking out the door with nametags (made with the label maker and old nametags of mine) that read:

Dr. Anna M. Dr. Colin M.
XYZ Animal Hospital Ocean Scientist

They looked so good, the principal even took pictures of them. I was so thrilled that they both chose science careers! Well, except for that brief flirtation with acting.

Don't Know about NaBloPoMo

2010-11-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

Its November 1st? Should I do it? Feeling unsure. Last year I crashed and burned, but then again, Fran was in town and ALL my free time was spent having crazy fun.

I don't know that there will be much more free time this year. There are ballet rehearsals every weekend. Incoming relatives and a family reunion. We are planning an kitchen remodel. Right before my favorite food holiday.

At least there is lots to talk about. I may give it a try. But Anthony's out of town all week, so I'm already driving solo. And writing in incomplete sentences!

Halloween Mask?

2010-10-25T21:13:00.000-05:00

I have a lovely client, one of the best when it comes to her pets. She is attractive and generous. She drops them off twice yearly for comprehensive wellness checks. She sends us trays - no, PLATTERS of delicious food from our local gourmet grocer at Christmastime; just when we are about to die from sugar overload she sends us cheeses and kabobs and spinach dip, etc. The entire staff loves her.

She's been dropping her cats off for the last year and a half, so I haven't actually seen her in a while. When she came in last week to pick her newest kitty up, I ran up front to say hello.

I didn't recognize her. Her upper lip was puffed up like a duck's, her brow was creepily smooth. She was supernaturally tan with white skin under her eyes. Her hair had been uber-highlighted, and perky breasts cleaved under her V-neck.

"You look so tan!" I sputtered. She said she's been hanging at the pool with her friend and a new baby. I tried not to stare at her lips as she spoke. Why would such a beautiful woman - beautiful inside and out - do this to herself? The puffy upper lip was especially distracting. Everyone agreed she looked not younger, but scarier.

I will never understand why women choose to mutilate themselves this way. I hate growing older and losing my youth, too, but botox and restylane et al don't fool anyone. I think most women just go in for a little injection, then pretty soon they're checking out with a full meal deal. Those plastic surgeons are good salesmen.

Just say NO!

On again, Off again

2010-10-14T21:17:00.002-05:00

Saturday I saw a dog who had eaten a bunch of pillow stuffing the previous Sunday. Throughout the week, his appetite and came and gone, as well as some intermittent vomiting. But Friday night he refused to eat, then vomited a lot overnight. So Saturday his concerned owners brought him to me.

I took some abdominal Xrays, and saw what I expected: a very full stomach, empty gassey intestines. For the stomach to be full in a dog that had not eaten in 24 hours, I knew something was amiss. I diagnosed a gastric obstruction - much better overall than an intestinal obstruction, but still, a surgical problem. I told the staff to prepare for a surgery.

The owners asked me if it was still in the stomach, could it be removed endoscopically? Clearly, this would be preferable to an open abdomen. There would be fewer complications and a faster recovery. But we don't have an endoscope, so I called our referral surgical center.

"Yes! We can do that procedure! Are they coming soon?" was their first response. Then I got a call back requesting the Xrays. Since I can send them digitally, they soon called me again. "You know, with something fibrous like stuffing, and with the way those Xrays look, I think we'll work on this patient for 3 hours, pulling little bits up, then send them to surgery anyway. It will be much longer and more expensive than surgery alone." The owners understood, and asked if instead we would do the surgery. So we were back on.

I was excited about doing an exploratory gastrotomy, even if it was after close on a Saturday. "Couldn't we just give this dog something to make it vomit up all the stuffing?" my technician asked. "Silly Susan," I said, "He's been vomiting all week. It's not coming up."

Our pre-anesthetic medication contains morphine, which makes a lot of patients vomit. The dog urped up a little stuffing. "Oh, well, I guess now we know we're doing the right thing with surgery," I said. Then he HEAVED about 4 times, bringing up a stomach sized amount of disgusting polyfoam stuffing.

We took another Xray, and sure enough, empty stomach. I called the owners. "Wow, you are fast!" she said. "No seriously, did we forget to sign something?" When I told her about the very productive vomiting, she was very happy. I sent the dog to the after hours emergency clinic for some monitoring, but he went home that evening, free from stuffing AND surgery.

While I was gone

2010-10-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

I was gone most of last week, at the annual Veterinary Dental Forum. Its my conference, my people, all teeth, all the time. The week before Anthony was gone all week; he left again this morning, back on Friday. It's the new normal.

While I was gone he sent me this great group of pictures. Colin, after sticking to his scooter far too long, finally learned to bike on his tiny heavy beginner bike. Once he had that down, he soon took to stealing Anna's 5-speed. Even though it is pink, it was far superior to what he'd been using. Anthony got him his own bike -- in blue, much better -- and left it for him in the garage with a note saying "To Colin, Love Mom and Dad."

After Colin got home on Friday, a beautiful Texas fall day, he ditched his school things and went out to the garage. He started wheeling Anna's pink bike out when something caught his eye.

Now he's jumping up and down and squealing.

He's a pro already!

Can't you feel his joy?

Chewy the Hamster

2010-09-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

On Sunday Anna asked me to look at her little hamster, Chewy, because her eye was tearing. There was a swelling on the right side of her face/neck causing the problem. The swelling was pretty soft and movable. I figured she had an abcess or a cheek pouch impaction - that hamster is always shoving huge things in her cheek pouch. I promised to take her to work the next day to lance the abcess.

When I got there the next day, the hamster's swelling was worse. I gassed her down, then explored her cheek pouch with an otoscope. It was empty and otherwise normal. I felt this swelling, which felt much firmer now, not so fluidy. I aspirated it with a needle and no pus. Clearly this wasn't an abcess; it was a tumor.

This was going to be a big task, so I decided I needed to bring Chewy home and talk to Anna about it first, and also let her see her hamster before the big procedure. "Yes, do it, if it will keep her from dying!" Anna said earnestly. Well, maybe it will keep her from dying, and maybe not. She might die under anesthesia. Anna was tearful but still gave consent.

The next day after all my regular surgeries were done, and during my lunch hour, I sedated Chewy again. The tumor had grown significantly again overnight. Now it was pushing her mouth to the side. With one technician holding a miniscule mask to her face, and another monitoring her heart and respiratory rates, I cut the skin over the tumor.

Sometimes there are benign, well-encapsulated tumors that peel right out. A few times, when people are willing to spend money on their pocket pets, I have done these surgeries with great success. This was not going to be one of those surgeries. This massive tumor was irregular and had adhesions to everything. It was extending under her eye and ear, into her oral cavity, down to her shoulder, shoving her trachea up and over like a snaking river.

Delicately I teased the tumor away from the vital structures. I feared that if I hit a big vessel beneath (the carotid or jugular) she would rapidly bleed out. My technician noted her heart rate slowing. We added heat support and adjusted her gas. It was frustrating that I could not intubate her and ensure her airway, or give her IV fluids, but of course that would be impossible with such a small creature. After 45 minutes I had the mass about 3/4 of the way free, but Chewy developed a lot of edema (swelling) around her contorted trachea, and she expired.

The whole clinic was sad, for the little hamster and the girl who loved her. When I got home, Anna burst out of the house, and I gave her the bad news. She cried, hard, for about an hour. When she had regained some composure, she said, "I know its not your fault, Mommy, I know you tried. I'm glad she died while she was under anesthesia, so she wouldn't be in pain." Anna never ceases to amaze me. She also asked me to thank the technicians who assisted me and helped Chewy, and for the coworker who had made a precious clay momento with Chewy's pawprints. She held her pawprint clay to her heart, and asked me if I would have her cremated ("I want to have her burned.").

Poor Chewy certainly couldn't have lived more than a few more days before that tumor would have choked her. I was surprised how well Anna understood that. Chewy was a "rescue" hamster that we got from a girl who basically ignored her once she became a teenager. Skittish at first, she became quite friendly and curious, and let all kinds of children hold her. She was in our home for only 4 months, but I think they were good ones.

My passion, my pup

2010-09-10T20:21:00.000-05:00

Sunday Francesca was chewing her nightly "boney," her rawhide chew, when she suddenly stopped. She kept bringing it to me, which was annoying. "Go eat your boney, I'm watching a movie," I told her. But she wouldn't eat it, and kept nudging me for attention.

She went to bed with her boney. And carried it around the next morning. "What is wrong with you?" I said as I lifted her lip. Then I saw that she had broken her big molar, and there was a large red spot where the nerve was exposed.

AAAAaaaahhhh!

I am collecting cases as I work on my dental fellowship, but I did NOT want to practice on MY dog! Poor Francesquita, no wonder she couldn't eat her boney.

Fractured teeth are very common in dogs, and this tooth is the most commonly fractured. If the fracture exposes the pulp, or nerve, of the tooth, there are only two choices: extraction, or root canal. Do nothing, and eventually the pulp will die and fill with bacteria, and the tooth will abcess. Meanwhile, its painful and unhealthy.

I got myself mentally prepared to perform the root canal. Its a complicated, 3 rooted tooth, and I don't have as much experience with fixing it as I do single rooted teeth (like the fang). Also, it is awkward working on your own dog, if you think about it too much. Anthony put it in perspective for me, though, when he said, "What is the worst that could happen? She could lose a tooth?" Right.

So today, I fixed it, and it was the best I've ever done. Just like in a human root canal, fils are introduced into the pulp chambers in each root:

Then, using progressively larger files, all the organic material/pulp is removed. Once its cleaned, the pulp chambers are filled with an inert material called gutta percha:

Then the holes you made in the tooth and the rest of the crown is restored with composite. The tooth is dead but functional. Once it fractured, it would have died anyway.

Francesca is woozy and drunk from the morphine, but she is painfree tonight. That is my gift to her; she gave me a great case to work on and a little more self confidence.

Treasure

2010-09-07T21:09:00.001-05:00

Lots of good bloggy ideas in my head. Little time or energy to get them out.

But look at this gift I got today! I have a wonderful client who has gifted me with some of her gently used things, like a Waterford crystal bowl, Italian table linens, and a Lladro figurine. (Can you tell she doesn't have a daughter?) But today she gave me a gift I will really treasure:

Those are hand knit socks! Merino wool with just a touch of cashmere! Such beautiful tiny stitches!

I can't wait for chilly weather!

(PS these are NOT gently used. They are brand new, never worn, knit just for me!)

The Next Installment

2010-08-26T22:09:00.001-05:00

In Chile, we met another vet friend of Fran's, Catalina. She was vivacious and friendly, and when she heard we were interested in going skiing, instantly volunteered to take us -- any excuse to hit the slopes. She also had two daughters very close in age to our kids, and could loan us clothes and equipment. She made it hard to say no. So we made plans, and pre-bought lift tickets to get a discount.

Then, Colin started vomiting at around 3 am and continued every 45-60 minutes thereafter. Anthony took one for the team, and stayed home with the sick boy while Anna and I went up the mountain. Here's Anna in the car:

It takes about an hour to get up to the slopes. We were so high! Above the tree line! Los Andes were SOOOO beautiful. Here's Anna and I, just before her lesson.

Anna did not get taught very much in her lesson. However, it did give Cata and I some time alone on the slopes. I hadn't been skiing in nearly 15 years, but was pleased to learn it was like the proverbial bicycle. I forgot how FUN skiing is!

And this resort was incredible. Efficient, modern lifts, and so many runs! We had access to 4 large areas of trails. And no one was out there -- usually I skied right onto the lift. The longest line I encountered was 4 people long.

Look at those beautiful mountains! No trees makes for safe, wide runs, but it was so very bright. I was grateful for the goggles Cata loaned me. After lunch we had a few slow runs down the bunny slopes with Anna, and Cata tried out her snowboard. Here's the only picture I have of her that day, my ski angel, taken by Anna after our last run.

I also forgot how very uncomfortable ski boots are, and how great it is when you take them off at the end of the day. Skiing in July! Incredible!

The next day Colin was BTN (back to normal). He wasn't sad about missing skiing, just sad that he missed the snow. Fortunately, Fran's mom, Carmen, and her uncle, Felipe, planned to take us to his rustic little cabin in Cajon de Maipo. There was snow!!!

I love this view of his adorable cabin, with the mountains reflected in the windows.

Felipe lit the gas for his oven, and we heated up the empanadas we'd brought and opened the wine. Felipe and Carmen speak about as much English as we do Spanish, but we had a lovely meal together, and a lively conversation. Colin and Anna went outside to have a snowball fight, then we all went on a hike around the area. It was a beautiful day.

We were also invited to be the guest speakers at Fran's niece, Elisa's kindergarten class. The kids were supposed to ask questions in English, but they asked in Spanish. They loved Anna, and asked her what her school was called, and what her friends were called.

Anna said, "Heather... Katherine...Benjamin...Vannida...Christina... umm..." A little boy said, "Tienes solo cinco amigos?" (you only have 5 friends?) It was hilarious. We also sang them a little song we knew from her school in English and Spanish.

What else did we do? We ate out a lot. One of Fran's favorite restaurants is Tip y Tap, a little Chilean restaurant that we loved for its dining room with windows that overlooked a play ground. One wall had a forest scene, so here's Fran and I, correr en el bosco!

Here's what Fran liked to order: tartar. Fran! Someone forgot to cook your hamburger!

Here we are eating in a Patagonian restaurant with Catalinda.

This is from a high-end steak house where we ate with Fran and her brothers. Oh man! that grass fed beef is good! We started with Pisco Sours, then had wine, steak, and salads. At the end of the meal, every table got a complimentary plate of cotton candy. It seemed hilarious to us to get circus food at such a fancy place. Good thing the kids weren't there to get so silly on all that sugar!

There is one last thing I have to post about, the amazing tiny winery we visited. Until next time...

They're back from the wild West

2010-08-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, I hear ya, clamoring for a post. Our children returned from their 2 week visit in New Mexico with my parents. They had a great time, going horseback riding, hiking, visiting Carlsbad Caverns, the El Paso zoo, and Peter Piper Pizza four times. They also brought back this gem of a picture, which we LOVE! There are more great photos and videos on Grandad's blog.

My kids had a great summer: swim team, choir camp, and ballet camp in June, South America in July, and New Mexico in August. I can't believe its over; school starts tomorrow. Summer's over, but the heat goes on....

As we return to the school routine, hopefully I will get that post finished.

Hopefully this post was worth the wait!

2010-08-09T17:08:00.001-05:00

We have returned from our long adventure in South America, leaving Santiago at 38 degrees, flying to DFW at 102 degrees, bringing many happy memories of a beautiful place with kind, polite people, amazing food and wines, and striking scenery:

However, the coffee in Chile was really terrible. I can survive fine with my tea, but Anthony is seriously ~~addicted~~ devoted to good coffee. Starbucks are ubiquitous, but they don't even make drip coffee there, and what they do put out is awful. Apparently franchises in Chile don't have to follow any rules or standards from the franchisee. Don't worry, we didn't try any of the other American chains we saw (KFC, McD's, Burger King, Domino's, etc). We also did not try Starbucks ever again. Look, they can't even get Anthony's name right!

On our first weekend, we traveled to the coast, Valparaiso, with Fran and spent a few great days there. It was cold, but my kids are suckers for the ocean and a beach. OK, me, too -- although I was cold I could not resist taking my socks and shoes off and walking in the lindo Pacifico.

The light and views at sunset were amazing.

The next day we back tracked a little into the Casablanca valley, where large wine producer Veramonte is located. Fran's sister got us a special tour of the winery. Wine touring and tasting is a relatively new concept in Chile, but they are quickly coming up to speed. You do have to make an appointment for it, and although I've done the tour thing before, this one was superb. An animated local girl with excellent English skills enthusiastically described their wine making process and what makes their terroir special. Even Anna and Colin were engaged. THEN she let us taste some of the recently fermented wines directly from the enormous stainless steel barrels.

It tasted great, but had not yet been aged in oak barrels. It was exciting to taste the future potential. Then she invited us to go inside one of the empty tanks - a big hit for the kids.

Then it was time to taste some final product. Also known as time for Anna and Colin to watch videos on their iPods. They don't enjoy wine tasting as much as we do.

This was a great tasting. As we talked appreciatively about the wines, our host opened a special bottle for us to taste, not usually part of the tour (Ritual - a pinot noir). Then a special cabernet, too. Neither is available in the US, so we made our purchases, then we went to the place they recommended for lunch - Botha's. This was a gorgeous restaurant where the chef/owner (a retired South African who fell in love with Chile selling mining equipment) greeted us, went over his oral menu (mostly Italian), then figured out what to fix us based on our conversation. We started out with this lovely antipasto:

and what he promised would be the "best tuna you'll eat in Chile," and it really was. He also matched it with a fabulous local pinot from a local vineyard. Unfortunately, no pictures of the trio of pastas he put on each of our plates, but there is this stunning picture of Colin tucking into his spaghetti bolognese.

As we prepared to leave Valparaiso, the owner of our hotel gave us the idea to go to the beach and into the mountains to see the snow on the same day. It was hard to talk the kids into this plan (not).

We took a different route back into Santiago, aiming for a place where our friend told us he'd hiked in fresh snow a few days before. We got a little lost approaching the mountains, but got to see the beautiful agricultural lands that send us so much summer fruit during our winter months. This time of year is their winter, and we stopped at a little farm stand and got 8 lbs of oranges for $4, plus inexpensive walnuts, almonds, and palta (avocados). Finally we started our ascent into the mountains, and the roads got windier and tiny. Unfortunately, most of the snow was melted. We did manage to find a little bit of icy pelleted snow in the shadows, and the kids made the most of throwing it at each other.

As we paused here, a guy came out of a gate in a pickup truck, and rolled down his window to talk to Fran. "They have great eggs at that farm," he said, showing us duck-sized chicken eggs. "You should go get some. Ask for Don Alfonso." So we walked up the little dirt road, and asked three little girls who stared at us like we were aliens where Don Alfonso lived. They pointed up the hill, and eventually Don Alfonso's wife came out and sold us some eggs, then invited us to see her little farm, with many chickens, cherry trees, and olives on a steep hill. Don Alfonso himself came out to wish us goodbye. Back in Santiago, we ate those oranges and eggs for days.

Eventually, Fran's brother Paolo needed his apartment again for a few days, and we heard about a sale on last minute airfare to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Everyone said it was a beautiful city, and much cheaper than Chile due to the exchange rate, so we booked our tickets and said goodbye but see you soon to our Chilean friends.

We arrived in Argentina, and had to pay a hefty "reciprocal fee," just to get in the country. Apparently, since our country makes citizens from South America apply for a visa just to visit the US, and you even have to pay to make an appointment to ask for this visa, they return the favor to US citizens and require payment when you arrive, before you can pass through customs. Then you get a certificate in your passport that is valid for the lifetime of the passport. We knew we'd have to pay it to get into Chile ($130 each of us, even the kids). We did not realize we'd have to pay even more to go to Argentina ($150 each). Man, what a terrible way to start your visit to a new country. I renewed my passport this year, so now I can enter for free for the next 10 years, but Anthony and the kids have less than 2 years left on theirs.

Anyway, with that horrible just-been-violated feeling, we finally found a taxi to take us into Buenos Aires and to our hotel. The ride takes about an hour, and the sun was setting. It got darker, and more crowded, and the traffic in the center of the city slowed to a crawl. Finally our taxi driver halted in front of our hotel, in the "Microcentro," on a crowded one-way street with two lanes of angry traffic, narrow sidewalks with rapid foot traffic, and it was a little treacherous getting our kids and our bags into the hotel. The hotel was rather crummy, too, but was all we could find the first two nights of our stay after we'd booked the airfare. For example, we had a room on the 6th floor, but the elevator only went up to the 5th floor. We dropped our bags and headed back on the streets to find dinner. The sidewalks were very narrow, grimey, occasionally the sidewalk was broken up, and crowded with many smokers. We tightly gripped our children's hands as large buses barrelled down the lane next to us. This was supposed to be a good area of tourists, and I didn't feel unsafe like I'd be robbed, but I did wonder why we left beautiful Santiago for this dirty, smokey, crowded city. It didn't look anything like Paris, as was promised.

Fortunately we were just a few blocks from a great steak house. Argentina, with its vast plains, is known for its grass-fed beef. The place we went had an inground charcoal barbecue up front, with a few lambs and goats "crucified" and roasting in front of the coals. In the dining room were many professional waiters, all male and over 50. Some good Argentine beef and Cabernet did wonders for our psyche. Colin had an omelette with queso y jamon, and Anna had a big skillet of eggs, jamon, and fries. Also helpful was the considerate demeanor of our waiters. Although we are very slow to order (since it takes a while for us to navigate a menu all in Spanish) and then we order in our marginal Spanish, we might be a server's worst nightmare. However, the waiters were kind and helpful, never rushed us or even seemed impatient. This actually was our experience throughout Buenos Aires and Chile. Americans, not even in the South, are this friendly or kind.

The next day we explored the city, stopping in the Plazas to enjoy the sunshine. Here the kids fed the pigeons, and maintained this still position for about 20 minutes, trying to get the pigeons to eat directly from their hands.

I didn't know they could be this patient or this still. Finally Anna had success! You can't see her face but she was beaming. A few moments later, they ate from Colin's hand, too.

Here they are in front of the Casa Rosa (pink house, like our White House) where the President still works, and where Evita gave her famous speeches to the people, and where Madonna filmed the reenactment of that scene.

We had lunch in a great little cafe overlooking Plaza Martin, and Anthony finally had a good cup of coffee, thanks to the Italian influence on Buenos Aires. The next day we moved to a better hotel in a much nicer neighborhood (the Recoleta), and finally I could see why people said it was like Paris. This area was filled with shopping and residential buildings with tiny but ornate iron work. You could actually walk the sidewalks safely.

We visited the Cemetery, filled with amazing and ornate mausoleums. It is a tourist destination, like the cemeteries in New Orleans or London. Evita is buried here, but I was mostly moved by this small grave, of a young girl who died in 1968 at the age of 24. Her father placed this statue of her and her canine friend, and a poem (all in Italian) which mourned her. "Why are you gone, and why am I still here? Why is there this pain in my heart? I believe in destiny, but why must I go on without you? Per che? Per che?" It was so poignant. Anna and Colin liked the many friendly cats who make the cemetery their home.

We also went to the Evita museum, which was quite good, explaining her life. Anna was impressed by all the dresses, shoes, and hats of hers on display. The Museo de Belles Artes was also superb. We toured the Buenos Aires Zoo. It was an old fashioned zoo, where they sold "Comida para los animales," food that you could feed all of the animals, apparently. ("How can they have one food that all the different species can eat?" Anthony wondered.) Mostly people were just throwing it at the animals, which was disturbing. Except for the llamas - they really loved that animal chow and would reach for it. They did have some beautiful big cats in large enclosures, and some monkeys that lived uncaged on small islands in the middle of a man made pond. There were also lots of large free nutria, those massive rat-like rodents, that roamed the place and swam in the water, getting fat on the animal food. It was cold, so we waited in line to go in the reptile house for some warmth. Sometimes, you have to hold your baby, no matter how big he is.

We did enjoy Buenos Aires in the end, especially the beef and the kind people. They were easier for me to understand than the Chileans with their crazy accent. Our last meal was at a Chinese restaurant recommended to us by our hotel. It was terrific, and we were the only non-Asians in the place, but it was a little tricky figuring out what to order from our Spanish-Chinese menu (we did fine, though). One day I realized Colin had eaten nothing that day that wasn't bread, cheese, butter, or jamon. I made sure we got some apples to crunch on while we walked the next day! We also did some shopping - I got some beautiful leather boots, and the kids got some leather coin purses. Anthony picked out a great leather bag for work, but just couldn't bring himself to buy it when he saw it was made in China. We did enjoy using our travelers' skills, and practicing our Spanish more than we did when we were around Fran. However, we were all looking forward to returning to Fran and her family, and the kids wanted to go "home" to our (Paolo's) apartment.

Fran picked us up from the airport, shouting, "I missed you guys! We are going to have a party tomorrow, and you're invited!" The next day she picked us up and he hiked up a cerro (steep hill) for some fresh air and beautiful views of Santiago.

Then we descended to go eat Lomitos - sandwiches of sliced pork roast, filled with palta (guacamole), sliced tomatoes, pebre (their version of pico de gallo, heavy on the cilantro), and mayonnaise. They are incredibly delicious! Fran's dad is a great cook. Her entire family was there (she is one of 5 brothers and sisters), and they welcomed and included us like we were members of the clan.

It is their tradition to all gather for a huge family lunch, nearly every Sunday. Anna and Colin happily played outside with Fran's four neices (aged 6-9) while the adults chatted and tried some of our wines inside. It was a great day, and an honor to be included.

On Monday while Fran worked, we took the metro into downtown Santiago to explore. The kids loved the free postal museum, mostly because there was an old telegraph machine and a chart of Morse code. They had never heard of it before and spent a long time tapping out their names and other words. We visited the beautiful cathedral and had a "hot dog completo" for lunch. We also hiked up Santa Lucia, a park on a steep hill in the middle of downtown Santiago. It had great views of the city, air pollution not withstanding. There were about a million steep and uneven steps to the top of the "castle", and Anna and Colin decided they needed to get to conquer it, racing to the top. I'm sure if it had been our idea, they would have complained the whole way up, but it was fun when it was their idea.

Collecting daisies at the bottom of the hill.

Hard to believe after all of that we still had a week to go. I'll pause here and finish later. Right now, in real time, Anna and Colin are in New Mexico visiting my parents. To escape the heat of Houston, my mom and dad rented a cabin in NM, and were starved for some grandchild-attention after being gone for 6 weeks. A&C were also thrilled to continue their adventures, and to go on their first airplane trip alone. We can iChat with them every night, and clearly they are all having a blast. Anthony and I are also enjoying a kid break after all of us being together all the time for three weeks. Our kids are good travellers, and great to be around in general, but we sure are enjoying going to dinner/movies/Ikea without worrying about a babysitter. The house is quiet and stays clean! So, to be continued...

Hola from Chile

2010-07-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

All I can say is this country has totally exceeded my expectations. It is fabulous here! Its really cold but dry and sunny -- we even eat outside sometimes. The countryside reminds me of Colorado or El Paso. The people dress very smartly, like Italians, but they dont wear a lot of make-up. Everyone is polite and friendly.

And the food! Like the US, there is local food, but also lots of ethnic food -- Italian, German, Thai, Sushi -- and its really good. Wines are fabulous, of course. There is a strong English influence, which we can see in the tea and the round-abouts and gardens. The only thing they dont have that is fantastic is.... coffee. Its pretty poor, and Anthony is suffering a little.

Mi amiga, Fran, is having so much fun proudly showing us her country, and her family is so kind and welcoming. In Santiago, we are staying in her brothers beautiful apartment [he stays with his girlfriend] which is spacious and stylish and has a kitchen worthy of the Ikea showroom. They have taken us places and had us in their homes. We feel so lucky.

This weekend we are on the shore, in Valparaiso. This is a crazy town with tiny darting cobblestone streets up and down the hills above the Pacific and ramshackle buildings. There are lots of funiculars and sleeping stray dogs. We have had more good food and wines and hate to leave tomorrow. Anna is begging me to play Uno, more later...

Midsummer bountiful dream

2010-07-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

That had to be the fastest June on record. I can't believe the summer is half over (practically). I am really quite perplexed at how busy my life has gotten. Anthony is working more, and the kids are in more activities, and I guess that is enough to push me past the blogging point. I don't even watch TV anymore. When will it get better? Probably when Anna starts driving!

June was full of lots of fun, especially with a visit from our family's BFF family. Do you have a friend that you love to talk to, whose husband is loved by your husband, and who has two children exactly the same age as your two who likewise totally get each other? Well, you should, because its great. They came back into our lives, and we all picked up right where we left off. We ate, drank, talked, swam, and lived together in happy chaos. They left somethings at our house: liquor, wine, chocolates, bamboo mats, peanut butter, and many happy memories.

Incredibly this month, we have homegrown peaches. We have had a peach tree for about 6 years, and in that time we've seen a total of three (3) peaches. Of those peaches, we've collectively eaten half of two of them, the remainder of those 3 were stolen by birds or squirrels. Other years, there have either been not enough chill hours in the winter to set fruit or hail storms in the spring, knocking all the fruit off our tree. Ah, but this year, our tree is groaning under the weight of at least 200 tiny fruits, growing rosier by the day. The squirrels and worms have claimed their share, but I don't mind when there's this much to go around. We've had quick peach jam, peach margaritas, peach cobbler, and tonight, peach gelato (sorbetto, really). OMG it is so good! The tomatoes are also giving us decent yield, enough for lots of bruschetta and insalata caprese. I will never forgive the squirrels, though, for eating every. single. unripe. pear. of the tree last weekend.

We've also had a bounty of rain, keeping summer not quite scorching, thanks to the hurricane. Swim team is over for us, and Colin won lots of ribbons -- he is in a small age group (6 and under) and is one of the oldest since he turned 7 right after the cut off. Anna has been a little jealous since she is one of the youngest (birthday right before the cut off) in a huge age group, and although she has beautiful form she is not one of the fastest swimmers. Colin even qualified for the regional invitational meet in backstroke, which we'll have to miss because....

NEXT WEEK WE GO TO CHILE!!! I am so excited and cannot believe our trip is upon us! We will be seeing my friend Fran and her family, and hope to go to the wine country, the coast, the lake district, hop across to Argentina, maybe even Patagonia. Anna and I have been listening to our Spanish podcasts, and we're all reading up on our destination. It is winter in South America (maybe go snow skiing?), and I can't wait to see the water go counter-clockwise in the toilet. So I may not post here again until we are on the trip. Lo siento!

Tragic twists and turns

2010-06-21T21:24:00.000-05:00

Last week one of my best clients said he was sending his dad's cats in to see me. One of the cats had teeth trouble, and his parents' regular vet just kept giving steroids and antibiotics with no improvement, stating he was unwilling to anesthetize and take care of the cats teeth. Since I am unafraid of anesthetizing older cats with our very safe protocol, and I love taking care of teeth, I encouraged him to send them in.

His sister ended up bringing in her very elderly father to the appointment, with the old cat, and the old cat's mother. The cats had belonged to some neighbors who moved about 2 years ago, leaving the cats behind. The old man had the cat in question sitting on his lap, and seemed delighted to meet me. He grabbed my hand with both of his and smiled warmly when I introduced myself. He was terribly hard of hearing, and seemed not to know exactly what was going on, but still enjoyed meeting people and connecting with them, especially if they were interested in his cats.

The cat in question was very friendly, but dried drool was all around his mouth. His teeth weren't terrible, but there was a large mass under his tongue, with a necrotic center. I relayed this information to the man and his daughter, continuing my exam. The old man said, "Oh," and the daughter came close to me, and whispered, "His wife just died two weeks ago. I don't know if he can handle this."

I finished my exam, reeling from this information. Well, I'd better examine the cat's even older mother. She weighed only 4 lbs (!), and had a pronounced heart murmur. She seemed to have some labored breathing. Oh, great. The daughter and I left the old man with his cats to confer in the adjacent exam room.

"I am 95% sure that is a tumor under the cat's tongue," I told her. "The only way I can be 100% sure is if we do a biopsy, but it will come back something bad like squamous cell carcinoma." How I wished it was just a dental infection, something I could fix! After conferring with me and her brother, we decided to euthanize the cat. We sent off labwork on the older mother cat, and took a chest Xray, which showed an enlarged heart but no problems in the lungs.

The daughter thought it would be best to just leave the cat with us for euthanasia, and she would take her dad and the mother cat home, and let him know later what happened. I brought her the permission form for euthanasia. "Just initial here that he hasn't bitten anyone in the last 10 days," I said.

"But he has!" she said. "He bit my dad last week, really bad, on the arm."

Oh no. I checked the records faxed from their previous vet. No history of a rabies vaccinations. This was not good.

"Could you just look at his arm, and tell me what you think?" she asked.

"No," I said, "but here's what we're going to do. After the euthanasia, I'll have to send the head to the state lab for rabies testing. We can send the rest of the body for cremation." Truly, since I am not a physician, I cannot give my opinion on a human's condition, and no one can tell by looking whether a bite has rabies or not. But I do have to help protect public health, and by law this cat's brain had to be tested.

"What will I tell my father?" she asked. I told her not to say anything; likely this cat had been vaccinated at some point in his lifetime, and in 24 hours we would have the rabies testing results. If it came back positive, we'd let him know and deal with it then.

While the poor overwhelmed daughter finished the paperwork (remember, she'd just lost her mother two weeks ago, too), I went back into the room with the old man. "You're going to go home with L. (the mama cat), and I'm going to take care of this one here," I told him. "Okay," he said, "what was your name again?" "I'm Jennifer," I said, dispensing with the dr. title, and we shook hands again. He was so sweet and kind, and I felt terrible for him, but I knew it was the right thing for his poor cat.

Then, I humanely euthanized the cat and had the gruesome task of cutting off its head, and double bagging it for the lab. Fortunately for us the lab is here in Austin; other parts of the state have to put it on ice and send it via Greyhound.

The next day the results came back negative, and the mom's bloodwork showed some hyperthyroidism, a disease that is relatively easy to control with oral medication. And there is talk of getting the old man a new cat, perhaps an adult cat from the shelter, one that also likes to sit in laps.

Summertime, the livin' is easy?

2010-06-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

So apparently life is not getting less crowded now that school is out. At least there isn't any homework, though! The weekend after school finally let out, we had our first swim meet (5 am! yuk!) followed by the annual Danskin Triathlon. Emily and I have been doing it annually for some time now. It is a great way to make yourself get in shape for the summer. This year we followed it with some spa pampering and massage. That's the way to relax!

Last weekend was another super-birthday weekend. My nieces and nephews and Anthony's birthdays are all in May. Anna had choir camp all week. She is such a little song bird, always singing in the shower, car, dinner table, hallway.... Also her parents met in college choir. This was her first formal choral experience and she loved it. Of course, she's a first soprano, and has been singing at the top of her new-found range ever since.

Anthony has been out of town a lot, and so has Wesley, our usual babysitter (he deserves a brief summer vacation, too). This makes juggling the schedule extra complicated for me, with pinch-hitter babysitters and friends to the rescue. Don't forget we are also doing daily swim team practices (not at the same time), ballet and piano. Next weekend is another swim meet, another triathlon.

Don't worry, we are going to take a vacation. In July, we run off to South America. Hopefully I'll catch my breath before then, and the next post won't be a catch-up-here's-what-I-did-when-I-wasn't-blogging.

That was May

2010-06-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

So my birthday weekend was enormous, amazing, overflowing with celebration and feasting. Nearly everyone I invited came to my party (a few key people were there in spirit). It was great to turn 40 and feel surrounded by love.

There was some singing, which I had not planned on but made me deleriously happy.

I made a vast 80s playlist for the party, and some guests went beyond the call of duty, dressing in vintage 80s clothes! I loved it. Unfortunately, there aren't tons of pictures because Anthony was doing an amazing job hosting the thing. My entire family pitched in to put on an amazing event for me.

The next day we had to get up for Colin's birthday party. Luckily for me he wanted a Harry Potter party just like Anna. Therefore it required very brain effort or preparation. However, Colin wanted to "Slay the Basilisk" with the sword of Godric Griffindor - and I lucked into getting a chinese dragon basilisk pinata two days before.

Also he chose to have a "Quaffle" cake instead of the Golden Snitch, which was pretty simple for Anthony once he got the color mixed.

Then my dad deserved a celebration befitting his septuagenarian status, and we had a 3rd rousing good time.

Anna performed well the next weekend in the ballet extravaganza, earning a Gold medal in Performance Awards and shining as usual on stage in the recital. Hopefully I'll get links to videos of her Vocal Solo at school and the piano recital. They both performed so well, even on their duet. Anna is one of those rare souls who does better in performance than she ever does in rehearsal!

I also spoke at career day at a friend's school. I am so lucky because my vocation is always the most popular. Anna and Colin were jealous, so I also spoke to their classrooms last week. I tell them about how important math is, how I use it every day, and writing, and reading, etc. Then I show some Xrays, pass around some bones, and gross them out with the dog heart with worms in it. Its really fun to do, and I love all the predictable and surprising questions.

This is our last week of school, then a full summer starts, bolting out of the starting gate this weekend: first swim team meet Saturday morning, Danskin Triathlon Sunday, Choir camp for Anna starting Monday, another birthday weekend after that.

And its already wayyyyy too hot.

Too Busy to Post

2010-05-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

I think I have to rename May. NoPo-NoMo.

Tonight was Anna's school music program. She had a small solo. Her sweet voice lifted up everyone.

Thursday is the Piano Recital. We're having a special on music this week!

40-7-70

2010-05-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

We had an epic weekend. Huge celebrations, customized to the birthday boy or girl's wishes. First Emily came to town Wednesday, Steph and her crew on Friday, my parents on Saturday, my in-laws on Sunday. My 40th birthday party was on Saturday night, an enormous fete produced with much group effort by my family. Colin's 7th birthday party was on Sunday afternoon. Sunday was actually my dad's 70th birthday, and we took him out for a great dinner celebration. Colin's actual birthday was on Monday, celebrated again with cupcakes at school and a sushi-Thai dinner (his choice).

I am still exhausted and giddy and still cleaning up. More later!

Spell check

2010-05-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

I work with some great people. But a few misspellings last week stopped me in my tracks.

The first was, "Scab on dog's right thy."
(ie thigh)

Then, there was a cat with a problem on one of her nipples, or teat. The receptionist asked, "How do you spell teats? T - I - T - S?"

Uh, no, and please don't put that in the medical record!

It's May. Yay.

2010-05-03T20:35:00.001-05:00

May means:

Hot weather
Mother's Day
My birthday (this year its a big one!)
My dad's birthday (ditto!)
Colin's birthday (7 years!)
Our Anniversary
Emily's birthday
Ballet recital
Piano recital
Swim team practice
Time to seriously get ready for the Triathlon season

I am not very excited about many of the items on this list, but I will try not to get over-extended like I did last year. We'll see how that goes.

Last month, I had a toe ring party. Like a tupperware party, except with custom fitted toe rings! I went to one of them years ago and got my cute little toe ring that I have worn continuously since then. When my friend Susan heard about that, she forced me to host a party.

Susan loves jewelry more than anyone else I know. That's why Anna loves her so much.

Susan is very stylish and even wore a cute shrug designed for her by Bridgette. (her dog)

Do men wear toe rings?

Only if they have a lot of tes-TOE-sterone!

Finally it was my turn. Getting a toe ring is easier with lots of input from friends.

The salute at the end of a successful toe ring party!

Too Much

2010-04-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

Last week I saw a cat in sad shape. He'd lost a LOT of weight - 6 lbs off a formerly 18 lbs cat. He was ravenous and drinking lots of water. Worst of all was his fur coat - it was falling out in huge clumps, revealing thin, dandruffy skin under the orangey fluff. He was friendly but looked terrible.

"He always loses some fur in the spring," the owner told me, "But I went out of town for a couple weeks and I came back to him looking like this!" My techs were pretty concerned. "What do you think is wrong with him?" two of them asked me. Could be diabetes, hyperthyroidism, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal lymphosarcoma... any number of things. But my money was on diabetes based on his symptoms. I even watched him walk around the room to see if he had diabetic neuropathy. I sent blood and urine to the lab.

His results the next day confirmed Diabetes. I called the owner, explaining the basics. I asked her for a pharmacy so that I could call a prescription of insulin and needles in for her cat, and asked her to bring the prescription and the cat for an appointment later that day so we could go over insulin administration. "Can I bring my children? My son is 10, I think it would be good for him to learn so he can help me," she said. Of course, I encouraged her to bring her kids to learn more about what was happening with their cat.

At the time of the appointment, I went into the room to find the happy cat on the table. Also sitting on the table was a 6 year old girl looking at me with solemn eyes, and a chubby 10 year old boy who was avoiding all eye contact. He really looked like he didn't want to be there. Nevertheless, I think this stuff is cool, and started enthusiastically describing how insulin is the hormone, the thing that gets glucose into the cells, and without it the cells feel like they are starving. That's why their cat was losing weight and hungry all the time. Now he needed injections of this hormone that his pancreas was no longer producing.

"I'll give the first injection of insulin, then you can practice with a syringe of saline," I told the mom. This is the standard training scenario to get owners familiar with giving little injections to their cats. The needles are super tiny, so that the pet usually never feels it. In fact, many cats seem to associate the injections with feeling better, and I recommend people give them at meal times so the cat is distracted anyway. It is serious stuff, though, and overdosing on insulin can be rapidly fatal.

"Here's how you pull up two units," I demonstrated.

"Honey, you need to watch this," the mom said to her son.

"Mom, I don't want to," the boy softly whined, and suddenly tears coursed down his cheeks.

"You need to do this when I am out of town," mom said firmly.

"Mom, I can't..." he said. His little sister looked at him, and tears welled up in her eyes, too. He punched her, hard, on the knee.

Woah. I give injections all day to animals, but I remember how nervous I was the first time. Now I'd rather give an injection than a pill to a cat, but I don't want to force an unwilling little boy to give a "painful shot" to his sweet pet. As mom continued to tell her son that he needed to do this, that remember its a small needle he probably won't feel, it will make him feel better, he'll die without it... all I could think of was the large number of ADULTS that balk at giving their pets shots upon hearing the diagnosis of diabetes. This was too much to put on this poor kid.

"You know, giving these shots is a big responsibility," I said. "It needs to be done by an adult. You said his grandparents will be staying with the kids when you're gone, and maybe they can be the ones to do it. We can train them if they'd like. We also have staff members who will come to your house and administer medications. As a last resort, we also have diabetic patients who board with us, and we give them their injections here. If he wants to help you, that's great, but its too much to trust to a kid."

"Oh, okay!" mom said, seeming flustered. Then I demonstrated the insulin injection. Mom had a turn with the saline; she did fine. Then she asked her son if he wanted to try.

He seemed like he did. So, I gave him a syringe of saline, repeated the steps of tenting the skin, burying the needle, then pushing the plunger. He tented the skin, poked in the needle. Then the cat shifted his weight, and the boy nervously bobbled his hand, the needle came out. No big deal, but then he lost it. He started crying and did not want to try again. I thought over all he did great, but felt terrible for helping put him in this scary situation with needles.

Again, I offered to mom to have a technician come out to give the injections or board the cat, and repeated it was too much for a child. "Oh no, I'm sure their grandparents can do it. They are not old. They are actually pretty young!" she cackled. I walked them up front and scheduled a recheck in 5-7 days. I hope that she heard me when I talked about how dangerous and immediately life threatening hypoglycemia can be, and that this is too much to entrust to a child.

How Much do I Love You?

2010-04-19T21:28:00.001-05:00

My mother-in-law, Marion, made Anna a Queen-sized Afgan for her birthday. Anna chose the colors months ago, and Oma's been hard at work. She made one for Anthony years ago in totally 1970s colors: yellow, orange, and brown. It is a favorite whenever we are sick with fever or just need serious warmth on a cold night.

It came with this poem:

How much do I Love you?

Let me count the ways.

320 double crochets per row.

4 rows per color stripe equals 1280 double crochets per color.

32 color stripes in your Afghan equals 40960 double crochets.

20 minutes to work a row, 80 minutes per color stripe.

There are 32 color stripes for a total of 2560 minutes or 42.6 hours.

16 balls of yard at 7 ounces equals 112 ounces or 7 pounds.

Each ball is 364 yards times 16 equals 5824 yards which equals 3.31 miles of yarn.

That is how much I love you.

Enjoy your Afgan for a long time and think of me some time.

Happy Birthday. Love, Oma

Anna and Henley put it right to work, snuggling under it to watch a movie. Anna has slept on it or under it every night since!

Celebrating Anna's Birthday

2010-04-14T21:27:00.000-05:00

Anna started her birthday weekend by going on an adventure with Auntie Emily to get her ears pierced. It's something she's wanted for a long time, but she's been too afraid of the pain. Talking to Emily, she got courage, and they decided to go spur of the moment.

She was so chuffed, and I think she picked the most adorable pair of starter earrings!

Then, it was time to party! The theme was Harry Potter. Anna finished reading the entire series the Tuesday before the party. She asked her dad to make a "Golden Snitch" cake.

Anna dressed like Hermione, even with the wild hair! All the kids got "robes" to wear but Anna had an entire English school uniform.

Anna requested lots of crafts, so the kids decorated wands with glitter glue and notebooks for all their Hogwarts classes. We also repotted Mandrakes.

Mandrakes are a magical plant that can make a potion which cures people who have been petrified. They scream, though, when repotted, so the kids stuffed cotton in their ears and covered them up when the transfer occurred.

Then we had potions. A like-minded dad stepped in as Professor Snape and read the ingredients for The Draught of Peace. That's me in the limp wizard's hat.

The Draught was really just a root beer float. Colin approves.

Emily models the Griffyndor scarf I knitted for Anna (she was too busy to wear it), and my mom shows how windy it was!

Happy cousins after another successful party. We've had 8 parties in a row at that park, and each one of them has had glorious weather!

After the party, Anna also got her new bike. Fortunately she loves it, and has already been on some long bike rides!

Sweet Anna, Poor Anthony

2010-04-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

Anna turned 9 last week, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around that fact. We had a fabulous party for her at the park -- this year she chose a Harry Potter theme -- and although you are clamoring for pictures and I do want to show them to you, Anthony has been gone most of the past 3 weeks and hasn't downloaded the great photos from his fabulous camera. So no birthday post yet.

Anthony has been traveling a lot for work. He recently got a promotion (yea!) which means more money (yea!) and more responsibility (boo!). The kids and I have found our stride, and can manage decently through the week while he is gone. It is becoming harder and harder, though, to maintain the blog when I have to feed the kids, clean the kitchen, administer the bedtime routine, make the lunches, get dinner ready the night before Wesley comes, answer emails, check Facebook.... oh, forget it. By then its usually 10pm, and time for bed.

Poor Anthony got a terrible virus on one of his plane rides last week. Although he was home for the weekend, it mostly was like he was still gone. He spent most of the time either on the couch or in the bed, and all of the time he was miserable. I know he really wanted to get out and plant tomatoes in the garden, help Anna ride her new bike, and have nice conversations with me, but none of that happened. Today he got back on a plane with a clogged, congested ear, fearful he might blow out his eardrum. I miss him a lot, and we are all looking forward to his return.

But back to Anna, who has grown so tall and remains beautiful inside and out. Several moms said to me in the last week, "Anna has such a cheerful attitude, she's always positive, she brings all of us up!" The ballet moms were telling me how at their last exam practice, Anna's smile was huge and radiant, and how they wished their girls would smile like that. I felt a little bad for the other sweet, quiet girls, whose moms were wishing they were different. Then I thought how often I wished Anna were different, more organized and tidy, and how I often squash her sunny attitude when I am trying to impress upon her the gravity of some transgression she has made. Is it a mother's curse to want a daughter to be different, to constantly point out to her where she could improve, especially compared to others? Argh. I will try to see Anna as the sunny, creative, loving, generous, free spirit that she is, and love her simply, and wholly, as I did when she was born nine years ago.

Some images of Spring Break

2010-03-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

This week is not looking any better than last; Anthony is out of town again this week, and the next, and the next. At least he is home on the weekends. Nevertheless, we did have a good break. The kids were just thrilled for a break from school. We planned a trip to Ft Worth on the first weekend to see friends. Since Anthony was in Dallas the entire week before, I decided to take the Amtrak from Taylor to Ft Worth, thus avoiding the dreaded Spring Break traffic.

I love love LOVE traveling this way. It is so civilized, especially for traveling with little kids. Only 2 bad things about it: there is only ONE northbound train and ONE southbound train PER DAY. And its invariably late. Anna passed the time by, of course, reading:

And Colin quickly made a collection of iron track implements:

At long last and with much excitement, the train pulled into the station. We heard its whistle before we saw it. So awesome.

The kids and I had lunch in the dining car, which was such a treat -- dining on NON fast food, no worries of getting ketchup all over my car, beautiful pastoral scenery. I actually had a spinach salad with grilled salmon. Service was excellent. How fun! Eating on a train!

Anthony picked us up at the Ft Worth station, and we went to our friends' house. They have two wee ones, and we all get along swimmingly. We went to the Science Museum, which at first I was sad to go inside a museum on such a beautiful spring day. But lo! they had OUTDOOR exhibits, like this popular water one:

Colin and another like-minded boy built dams, then opened the locks to let the "fish" go, over and over. Cute panchos, eh? These girls enjoyed it, too (Audrey, Deedra, Anna):

But their best exhibit was the Dinosaur Dig - a HUGE sand pit filled with actual dinosaur bone castings. The kids had a scraper and a paintbrush, and spent hours discovering the bones. The docents surreptitiously covered the bones with sand using their feet when the kids moved on to the next one. Then you'd hear again, "I found a bone! I found a fossil!"

Plumber-butt Colin gets in the action, too.

We also went to the Butterfly Garden at the Botanical Gardens.

Colin would get his nose so close to the butterflies, so he could get a good look at the proboscis. Anna's hair turned fairy-curly in the humid mist.

We also feasted on pizza, sushi, pancakes, and played lots of baseball and soccer.

A good time was had by all!

Love ya, wish you were here!

2010-03-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

The kids are on Spring Break and Anthony got called out of town.... will be back to post later!

Time Warp

2010-03-10T21:05:00.000-06:00

I saw a geriatric cat for ADR - that's "ain't doin' right." Nonspecific decline. On physical exam, I found she had a heart murmur, advanced periodontal disease with multiple abcessed teeth, weight loss with muscle atrophy, and poor coat quality. She was weak and circling to the right. I recommended a full work-up, but the owner declined due to financial limitations. The owner decided to take her home without any treatment and just monitor. I figured she would continue to decline, from heart disease, dental disease, and probable kidney disease and/or hyperthyroidism and/or cancer, too.

On Saturday I euthanized her. She'd lost more weight and stopped eating. She was covered in mats and was disoriented. I totally agreed with the decision, but I was surprised. It was five years since I had previously examined her, and she was now 20.

Five years ago, I would have bet large sums of money that she wouldn't have lasted another year. I really thought she'd be back for euthanasia within a few months. I can't believe she was able to hang on for so long. I wonder what those five years had been like for her. The man who brought her in was quite emotional and sad about saying goodbye to her. He probably wished she would die on her own, but she didn't. At the end, she looked and smelled like a kidney failure cat. I'm really glad he brought her in for euthanasia when she stopped eating. Untreated end-stage kidney failure is a terrible way to die.

Oscar Party

2010-03-08T20:40:00.001-06:00

Last night I had a small Oscar party. This is something I always wanted to do, with movie themed food, and finally got around to it when they decided to up the best picture list up to 10. We didn't have ballots or ball gowns or anything. It was just my family and the two girls I go to Bollywood class with on Sunday evenings, sitting in our work-out clothes, discussing designer dresses and fancy hairdos.

Here was the menu:

Hurt Locker Salsa
Precious Fruit Salad
"My Elbow Hurts" Pasta Salad from Up
District 9 Prawns
Up in the Air Airline Peanuts
Serious Man Broccoli
Blind Side Baked Beans
An Education Brie and Baguette

and

Na'vi Blue Martinis from Avatar!

And hey, did anyone else think that crazy montage dance of movie themes was totally mismatched? All that seriously energetic breakdancing to this lyrical music? Like the winning theme to Up? Dee dee dee dee... In dudes wearing grey pants and red sweaters, a few girls in flowing grey dresses? Like the choregrapher was thinking, 80s flash back! and the orchestrator was thinking, Night at the Pops! and the wardrobe person thinking, West Side Story! We laughed a lot at that one, over our blue martinis.

How Well Do You Know The Princess Bride? Colin-ism edition

2010-03-04T21:05:00.001-06:00

Last night we watched the beginning of the Princess Bride. Colin said, "Does it have a princess in it? Is there a prince? Is there sword fighting?" He reminded me of the young Fred Savage character. Actually, minus the big dark hair, I think he looks like him, too.

We only watched until the part where Wesley and Buttercup roll down the hill. This morning, the kids were discussing the movie over breakfast.

Colin said, "Play-Doh. Soccer ball. T-shirt." Then I fell over laughing, realizing what he was talking about. Its about 49 seconds into this clip:

Happy Ending

2010-03-01T21:16:00.001-06:00

This weekend a little dog wandered up to us while we were working outside. She was obviously lost, and Anna was determined to save her. She grabbed an extra leash and got the dog, an older female rat terrier.

She had a collar with a rabies tag, but that was all. Of course the clinic that issued the tag was already closed for the weekend, so we had no other way of tracking down her owners. Anna and Colin made a small FOUND DOG sign that we hung near our mailboxes, and set up the extra kennel for our new foundling.

Anna kept the dog in her bedroom, and got up early Sunday morning to walk her outside. Later we all took her for a short walk in the neighborhood and then hung out at the park, hoping someone would recognize the dog. She didn't like to be held, but she loved following Anna around. At our house she was a polite houseguest.

Anna said a sad goodbye to her this morning, knowing she would probably be gone back to her home before she got back from school. She liked the little dog and hoped that if her family couldn't be found, that she could maybe keep her. Once Colin realized that she'd be gone, he actually burst into tears briefly before heading off to school.

A few phone calls this morning and she was returned to her family. Her name was Mattie, and she was 9 years old. She had accidentally been let out by an electrician, and she ran from him, scared. He chased her, trying to get her back, and even had animal control chase her, but no one could catch her. She ended up at our house nearly 2 miles away. They had been very worried about her all weekend but hoped she would be returned via her rabies tag or microchip. Anna relished all these details later, especially when she heard how their teenage daughter went to her room and cried when she found out Mattie had been missing overnight. Mattie greeted all of them excitedly when she got home, then slept all day. I know Anna enjoyed having a little dog to care for, but she was happy to know she helped return her to her grateful family.

I think Darth Vader has finally been defeated

2010-02-22T20:45:00.001-06:00

Anna has been tearing through the Harry Potter series, and she and Colin watched the first movie. I had to started re-reading them myself, since Anna would ask me questions about so many details. I read them all when they were first published, and for some books that was 10+ years ago! I must say I am enjoying them nearly as much as the first time through, and although I am also enjoying the Twilight series, it doesn't hold a candle to Harry Potter.

***SPOILER ALERT***
After Anna finished the 2nd book, her school friend (the one who always causes problems; thank goodness they aren't in the same classroom this year) actually told Anna how the series ends. "H. told me that Harry Potter marries Ginny Wesley." I guess she didn't notice my furrowed brow, because she continued, "So I looked at the end of the last book, and their kids are named James, Lily, and Albus Severus." That is when my jaw hit the floor.

I was so shocked and hurt by this TREASONOUS act, started by H. but compounded by Anna, I hardly had to say anything to Anna because she knew how upset I was. Anthony, not a reader himself, did not understand what the fuss was about. I had to wait years to find out what happened, and until the end I wasn't sure if Harry would live or not. The ending of the big finale did not disappoint, but now Anna would not have that experience of reading and experiencing the wonderful ending...

Anyway, that was over a month ago, and I'm over it now. I even let Colin watch the first movie without reading the book first. I am amazed at how he knows so much Hogwarts lore, and not just from the movie -- Anna talks about it all the time.

She is finishing book 5 and I just finished 4 (both 700+ pages). And both kids are wanting a Harry Potter birthday party. Better than the previous idea of a second Star Wars party each...

Weekend recap

2010-02-17T20:25:00.000-06:00

So Anthony and I really enjoyed our quiet weekend. We went and heard our Manny, Wesley, play on Friday night. He came over to our house after with a new band member to continue the party.

We slept and slept and slept on Saturday morning. Mmmmm. Got up for a lazy breakfast, lazed around the house, went to Costco. We had a few friends over for a get-together in the evening. All that lying-in makes me stay up WAYYYY too late.

Valentine's Day we snoozed again, then did some gardening in the warm morning sunshine. Good thing -- hours later a cold front made it all grey and chilly. I cleaned up Anna's room (more on that later), did some Bollywood dancing, then met my sweetheart for sushi and Thai food (our V-day tradition, this time without kiddos).

Anna and my sister Emily cleaned out her room a few months ago when she painted it. It was already a disaster area, again. Anna is a pack-rat extraordinaire, and unfortunately inherited her organization skills from me. I told her several times to straighten up, and in the past I have sat with her and tried to help her clean up and cull the detritus - an exercise that lasts many hours, and results in much frustration on both our parts and very little clean up. The girl simply cannot bear to get rid of ANYTHING, not even to make room for new birthday presents.

I told Anna if she didn't clean up her room before she went to Houston, I'd do it when she was gone. She was very worried I'd get rid of precious treasures, so I told her I'd put everything in a box, and anything in it she asked for I would return to her. "But what if there is something in there that I love but I can't remember?" she wailed. Well, then you enjoyed it and don't need it anymore. She wasn't convinced.

Going through Anna's room, I removed 2 trash bags of verifiable junk and one large box of possible treasures. Anna had saved every scrap of paper, things that said "Colin 5 pts, Anna 8 pts" were saved with certificates of achievement, all of it crammed into drawers, shelves, under furniture, etc. Every plastic necklace and hideous bauble from China was there.

But also there was this: at least a dozen books written and published by Anna on the StarWars movies, and a screenplay for Episode 7: Four Friendly Faces Return. These are hand written books, most illustrated, stapled together by the author herself. One has an author bio on the back: "Anna Martin is 8 years old, she enjoys ballet and playing with her brother, Colin...." Also, there is an entirely original book, based on a brother-sister pair who meet some new neighbors; it is not finished but is written as maturely as the Tree House series are.

I was really impressed. And I am determined to remember all these amazing books she has made, and I will try to forget all the many Ziploc bags filled with random magazine clippings, with blank pages also titled "My Favorite Magazine Pictures," just waiting to be filled. (seriously, found 3 versions of this future project.)

And when Anna got home, she LOVED her new tidy room and thanked me. She has not asked for anything from the box.

When it rains, it pours...

2010-02-10T21:29:00.001-06:00

So, last week was really crazy and I'm still catching my breath from it all. Anthony was in Chicago all week for training, but that part wasn't too bad. The kids and I did our parts, and I was able to keep the homefront together with big help from The Manny. The days I work he is here when the kids get off the bus, and by the time I pull in at 7pm, they have done homework/piano/dinner/showers/toothbrushing. All I have to do is help with the reading and put them to bed, and that really is the best part.

The insanity was at work - on Thursday the other doctor I was scheduled with called in sick with the flu, so that meant I now had to juggle appointments and surgeries. One of the first appointments I saw was a cat that obviously had an intestinal obstruction from a foreign object, which meant it would also need surgery that day. The only good thing about being the only doctor is that I have the entire staff at my command, and they were wonderful about pitching in and doing everything they could for me. In addition to the exploratory surgery, there was a neuter, an amputation, an eye enucleation, and a dental with unexpected extractions. They ordered me a veggie stromboli that gave me fuel between surgeries, and I got them all done by 3 pm when appointments started again. That was when one of my techs came in with a latte for me, and another doctor came in for the afternoon, and we got through it. Although I was invited, I was too tired to go have a margarita after work.

Friday is a usual surgery morning for me, then my first afternoon appointment didn't show, which was fortunate because an emergency walked in -- one of my favorite patients had collapsed with a bleeding mass in her spleen. Which required immediate surgery, again. The staff once more was amazing - clearing my schedule and prepping the surgery pronto.

Sadly, I had to work Saturday morning, and my colleague had a cat with a foreign object that also needed surgery right then. I was very happy to pass the surgery baton, except I got all the medical emergencies that came in, and I was not feeling mentally at the top of my game. Also, we each got an emergency euthanasia, just for more fun. Still, I felt it wasn't so bad since I only left 2 hours late.

I enjoyed a short do-nothing weekend with Anthony and the kids, then looked forward to laundry on Monday (my day off) when I got a call early that morning. This time TWO doctors called in sick with the flu, anyway I could come in? Since Anthony was actually scheduled to work in the home office and could do the after school duties, I went in. Fortunately, I got to leave early on Tuesday, ensuring I made it to Colin's music program at school. And I didn't get called in today. And my parents are taking the kids on Friday for a long President's/Valentine's weekend in Houston, and I am not working that Saturday.

I will enjoy the quiet.

A round of dentals for everyone!

2010-02-03T21:07:00.000-06:00

This week my parents brought their little chihuahua, Patches, to my work for a dental cleaning. Poor Patch: every time I do her teeth she loses some. This time it was just two tiny teeth. It is so important to her overall health, though. Plus it makes her breath so much better. She was a little swollen afterwards and bleary eyed, but enjoyed her recovery being held by my dad (her preferred state of being).

By coincidence, my sister Emily's old cat was having a dental done in NYC. She gets tooth resorbtions, a common problem in felines, and last time I did her teeth I pulled three. This time she had three more gone. This cat has been with Emily through thick and thin since college, so she was pretty nervous. I'm happy to say that she did fine (even earned herself a "Caution!" sticker). Emily also realizes its important to her overall health and well-being not to have pain or infection in her mouth. Emily emailed me a copy of her dental Xrays, which I loved looking at! Also, I could tell they did a great job.

Today, Colin got his dental cleaning. Fortunately, no extractions (or cavities!). Colin had seen his sister get the fluoride treatment before but this was his first time. When the hygienist wedged that big mouth piece into his gob, his face was a mixture of surprise and disgust. Then the gagging began. The hygienist talked him through it, and he breathed rapidly, fingers compusively squeezing the arm rests. When it was done he was still nonplussed, but perked up when he got his token for the toy vending machine.

End of Day

2010-01-27T21:42:00.000-06:00

We spent the weekend at a Bed & Breakfast with old friends. We were so looking forward to the break, although I think they needed it more than us, since they are dealing with an almost 3 year old and a 10 month old who hasn't been sleeping much since she's been sick the past few months. Anyway, it should be called a Bed & Dinner & Breakfast, since it includes a chef prepared 3 course meal at 6 o'clock for all the guests.

My clinic stays open until 6 pm, and my last appointment is scheduled at 5 pm. But, you know, its medicine, and stuff happens, and I'm not always out of there on time. However, if I get all my records done as I go and end up with a softball of a last appointment, it is totally feasible that I could get out of there by 5:30 and be toasting the weekend with friends by 6.

My last appointment was "blood in urine" which certainly is straightforward. The patient, an older cat, had two previous bladder infections in her history. Piece of cake.

"She's been incontinent for a few days," the owner told me. "She is constantly making small puddles everywhere." Of course, the discomfort of infection makes for frequent small urination. It all fit; I could get a urinalysis, confirm the diagnosis, dispense antibiotics.

Except. On exam her bladder was enormous, full like she hadn't peed for a day. She was dehydrated. And although she was quiet, when I listened to her chest she was grunting with every inhalation.

This didn't add up. I took her back and confirmed by ultrasound that it was indeed her bladder that was huge, then collected a sample with a needle. Then I took her out to manually express her bladder, but even when I squeezed as hard as possible, I only got five drops out. That meant she was obstructed - either with crystals and infection (common in young male cats) or had a tumor obstructing her.

Back into ultrasound, I looked again at the bladder wall. It was all stretched thin, except going down toward the urethra - there it was thickened and irregular. Another vet came by, confirmed what I was seeing, and said maybe I could hit the wall and get a little sample with a needle. The ultrasound helped me guide my needle to the right spot. I looked at the sample under the microscope -- cancer cells, everywhere.

I explained my findings to the owner. As she realized how grave my words were, she turned in front of me so that I saw the back of her head but she faced her cat. I know she was hiding her emotions, but I had to give her the rest of the bad news to her back. "The tumor is inoperable where it is. She's suffering, and I likely won't be able to catheterize her. I really think you should euthanize her."

"Oh no," she said quietly, "I can't do this. My husband always takes care of this part, and he's out of town, just got a new job out of state. I can't handle this. Can it wait until Monday?"

"No, she's much sicker than that, and I'm sure she's vocalizing because of her discomfort. The best I can do is drain her bladder with a needle and you can take her home overnight, and bring her back in the morning. But I think it is better to let her go now."

I felt so sorry for the woman, who clearly wasn't expecting to make this heavy decision. She, too, thought she was bringing her cat in for a simple infection. I left her alone to make some phone calls. She couldn't reach her husband, but did reach her adult daughter, who helped her make the right decision. We took care of the paperwork, and then I gave the cat a sedative. Usually I leave the pet and owner alone during this time, but she kept asking me questions until I finally realized she did not want to be alone. Once her cat was unconscious, she said goodbye and left, then I administered the final injection.

Sigh, 6:10 pm. It was not how I intended the end of my day to go, but I know the owner didn't think her day would end with the loss of her cat, either. It is not the kind of decision that you can rush, either. Fortunately for me, I only missed the salad.