Last Day of NaBloPoMo!

Whoopee for me, I did it. Feels a little like the triathlon this year, though - no one did it with me. Except Sinda! even though she got way-laid by thanksgiving.

I can't believe tomorrow is December. Here's where the roller coaster goes into turbo mode. Anna and I are in Houston, ready for Steph's annual Christmas Tea. Watch this spot for fancy photos. Although, I might take tomorrow off of blogging...

Funny Colinism from this weekend, trying to make the sleeping arrangements with lots of houseguests

"Lyra, why won't you sleep with me? Is it because you won't marry me?"

Extreme canine makeover

Unfortunately, I had to work today, and we were quite busy. I felt a little sneaky, because in addition to the scheduled surgeries, I added in my dad's chihuahua, Patches. After my dad left for his big cruise, my mom mentioned how bad her breath had gotten, and I could see it was time for a dental cleaning. I offered to take her to work the next day and take care of it. The thing is I didn't specifically discuss doing the procedure with him, and I felt a bit like I was doing something unauthorized.

I found the source of her halitosis (an abcessed molar), pulled it and cleaned the rest. She did great, and now is in recovery at my house, until I take her to Houston Sunday. I also did her toenails and anal glands, so she is like a new dog!

Happy Thanksgiving

Rub-a-dub-dub, 4 friends in the tub!

Thanksgiving table, almost ready to go...

Anna insisted we all play Monopoly. She got all 4 railroads and both utilities, then loaded up her properties with houses and hotels. She happily bankrupted us all.

Under the wire post

Tonight we are having too much fun to post - having an UnThanksgiving meal of steak, tiny green beans, roasted potatoes, and gougeres! Oh, and a few bottles of wine. More fun and feasting tomorrow.

Having Too Much Fun

Every morning Colin wakes up, eyes me suspiciously, and asks, "Is Emily still here? She didn't go back to New York?" Fortunately, she is staying through Saturday.

Tonight we took her to eat some good TexMex at Chuy's. We all tried to consume our yearly allotment of queso. Anna even ordered her burrito "flooded in queso."

Tomorrow, Lisa and co. arrive for a visit, and my parents come, too. There will be lots of visiting, wine drinking, and food preparation. Then its turkey day - more feasting!

Someone at work (who doesn't spend much time with her family) asked me, "Do you really like having all those people around?" YES. It will be crowded and messy, and I'm sure we'll get on each other's nerves at some point, but to be around all these wonderful people, and to see my kids enjoying their extended family -- totally worth it.

What time is it?!?

Celebrating Auntie Emily's visit here...

Success

Anna noticed this at the edge of the yard when she was drinking her morning milk.

He's really tiny, so I don't think he's the same possum terrorist. Anthony relocated him to a more rural area later. He said the guy at the feed store has caught two opossums and one raccoon in his havaheart trap. He shot them the next morning. Kinda havnoheart, don't ya think?

Can't Go

We had a brisk Saturday at work today. I had an emergency work-in -- an elderly lady brought in her beloved cat.

"She vomited three times this morning, and she's been in and out of the litter box, like she's trying to poop. She peed, but I think she's constipated." Sometimes cats will vomit from constipation, but when I palpated this girl she didn't have any stool in her colon.

Often owners will mistake straining for constipation when in fact their pet is straining because of diarrhea, the opposite problem. This lady was sure there was no diarrhea. Also, straining sometimes happens from a bladder infection, but again, she said the cat was posturing for defecation.

My client was so sweet, so concerned about her feline companion, and polite and friendly in that old-fashioned way. The cat was short and stocky. "Maybe I just can't feel the stool. Let me take a lateral Xray to make sure she's not constipated," I said. Meanwhile the poor cat vomited again.

Her colon was truly empty on the Xray, but there was a large clump of stool in her rectum, between the pelvic inlet and the poop outlet. So we were both right- she was constipated, but it wasn't in her colon. I took the cat to the back, put on a glove, and quickly helped the cat get rid of the two wide compacted turds in her rectum. Whew!

I gave her an antinausea injection when I returned her to the owner. "I just knew something was wrong," she said, "and I was worried about coming up on the weekend. Thank you; I am so glad to have met you!" So kind! She seemed as relieved as her cat.

Colorful character

I saw a cute little cat today. She had a sore on her side and the tip of her ear was gone.

"Was she a former stray that got her ear tipped?" I asked. This often happens when feral cats are caught and spayed or neutered; that way you can tell if the cat is altered from a distance. Sometimes the "feral" cats are so nice, they end up in homes.

"No, the parrot did that," the owner said. "She tried to get into the cage and he lopped her ear off. You have to be careful with those yellow-headed amazons. They can take your finger off!"

The cat had a nickel sized opening in her skin that had been there for about a month. It wasn't healing because of infection, and was probably due to another cat's bite. She needed oral antibiotics to heal this one.

"Yeah, I cleaned it and put some Monkey Blood on it!" Not real monkey blood. My technician informed me "monkey blood" is a country colloquialism for Iodine. Not nearly as exciting as clindamycin.