Just Give It a Tri

What's Been Going On

2009-06-21T21:28:00.002-05:00

Wow, 3 weeks goes by seriously fast, does it not? My Dad left after my niece's graduation weekend and my Mom and Step dad came to visit for a week. My mom is doing so well I am just amazed. I am also giving great praise to God for her health and I made sure I enjoyed every minute possible of her visit instead of taking it for granted. The two young boys and my niece went back to Phoenix with Granny and Papaw for a two week visit. They will be returning by plane late Tuesday night. I think they have had a great time, but they are ready to come home too. I do know that my mom has enjoyed having them very much. Her grandchildren make her so happy and she loves to have them to herself to spoil. I am sure by the end of this two weeks she will be tired though. I am quite enjoying the noiseless and clean house. I am also enjoying spending some reconnecting time with my hubby. It is like a foresight into the future empty nest. Still, I am not quite ready for that and I look forward to their return soon.

L1 has been enjoying his time brother free. He has been busy working (lifeguard) and hanging out with friends and swimming summer league. He has had an awesome season. He qualified for the Ponderosa Invitational (next weekend) in every single event. Ponderosa is the regional invitational meet for the fastest swimmers from about 14,000 swimmers in the area. He broke 3 team records in the 100 Free. He got 1st place in the 100 Free at a local invitational meet out of about 45 boys (15-18) and he placed 2nd highest point scorer for his age group at the same invitational. He swam 7 events (2 firsts, 2 seconds, 2 thirds and 1 fourth place). Yesterday was the divisional meet and he took a first in the 100 free, second in the 100 IM and third in the 50 butterfly. Today was the team award party and he got the high point award for 15-18 boys, the highest accumulative points ever scored by a member of the team, and a very special award called the Chris Marrione award. This award was started to honor Chris Marrione who was a Gator swimmer with great enthusiasm, leadership, character and sportsmanship. He died of leukemia when he was a sophomore and still a member of the team. It is voted on by the coaches and Luke was unanimously voted to receive the award. I was so very proud of him. The real bummer is that he was not at the awards party, he was at work. We had no idea he was going to receive the award. I went to the party when it was almost over to pick up his trophy and I found out he had received it. It really is quite an honor. I only wish he and I were there to hear the announcement.

Huck, Dudley and Frankie are all three just off antibiotics treatment. Huck and Dudley acquired a upper respiratory infection at the kennel and Frankie had a skin infection and a gash in his tail from a wayward palm tree barb. They seem to have recovered well, but they are also not enjoying the heat. If they are outside, Huck and Dudley are sure to be in the pool trying to get cool and Frankie is just trying to get back in the house.

We are soon headed to Colorado for hubby's brother's wedding on the fourth. We are going to do a side trip to Winterpark to enjoy the summer activities there like the alpine slide, mountain biking and rock climbing. I am looking forward to going to get a break from the intense heat we are having this year. It has been so hot so early that it is almost unbearable to do anything outside from mid-morning till sunset. We are also quite dry and could really use some major rainfall. I don't have another triathlon until August, but still I am training and the heat is just zapping my energy and motivation.

L1 and I have 2 more college visits planned in July as well. July 18th we are headed to the University of Texas and July 30th we are headed to California to visit Cal State Northridge and Hollywood and Magic Mountain while we are there. Then it will be decision time for him as early applications can go out as soon as September.

That is about it from here. I hope you all are enjoying the summer.

Peace Out!

Tri-Vet

Where Have I Been?!

2009-06-01T21:16:00.004-05:00

Oh, I know it has been so long and just where have I been? I couldn't really tell you. Time goes by just as fast even when you are not on the computer every minute.

This past week was very busy. I spent last weekend painting the guest room and tearing down the old entertainment center and generally getting ready for my father to get here. He flew down to go to my niece's graduation last Friday. Anyway, the room had not been repainted since we first moved in, so it was definitely time. Here are a few pics of the color. It is kind of hard to tell true color from a picture, but it is kind of a golden tan and the name of it is Covered Wagon. I also bought a newer and much smaller entertainment center, as the kids use the guest room as a gaming/tv room. It makes the room look much bigger!

This is a picture of the new color and in the corner is the old color (kind of a light gray/blue).

Here are my "boys" keeping guard outside the guest room door. Dudley is in front and Huck is in back.

I was so excited for my niece to graduate. You would think she was my daughter. I don't know why, except she is the oldest grandchild and so the start of a new generation of high school graduates. She is going to attend Sam Houston State University and major in psychology. Yes, she does plan on going on and getting her masters and PhD and becoming a clinical psychologist. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the weekend.

My sister and niece.

The new graduate/college student.

My Dad and I at the graduation.

My sister, my mom and I. Can you believe how good my mom looks? She is doing so well on her road to recovery back from death's grasp this past winter.

Hubby and I also had our 22 year anniversary this Saturday. It was kind of lost in the graduation, but he did get me a hitch and a bike rack for my car. Ahhh, romantic gifts, you gotta love 'em! Anyway, it was a perfect gift for this wife of his!

I am now getting the guestroom ready for my mom and step dad to visit. My dad left today and they will be here on Wednesday. So, I have one day turnaround to have the room ready! Whew! My poor Dad lost his wallet while he was here and so he had to call and cancel all his credit cards and then he had to have his wife fax him a copy of his marriage license and his birth certificate so he could fly back home without picture ID. If any of you have ever had something like this happen, you know what a pain it really is.

L1 seems to be over his mono. Did I even tell you he had mono? Well, the fever and sore throat he had turned out to be mono. We were expecting a very long convalescent period, but he seemed to have snapped out of it rather quickly for mono (2 1/2 weeks) and he is setting records in the pool in the 100 free every weekend so far.

School is winding down and all three boys are excited. I feel like I'm not quite ready for summer yet. I just don't know that I have it all planned out and that is the way I roll, so I need to get some things scheduled. We still have at least two more college visits to make. The visit to UT-Austin is scheduled for July 18th, but I still need to set up a visit to Cal State-Northridge for some time this summer. We also want to speak with the swim coach when we go there.

I am planning a trip for my birthday already though. I have always wanted to go to Greece. I wanted to go for my honeymoon and hubby did not. Then, I wanted to go for our 20 year anniversary, but hubby did not. A friend of mine that lives in Italy was supposed to move back to the states this year, but she is not, SO, we are planning to meet up in Athens and do our own tour of the Greek Islands. I can hardly wait. I just got my plane ticket today and we are planning to spend a couple days each on four different islands. Tentatively, those stops will be Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and Crete. OMG, I am so excited and I can't believe I am finally going to get to go. I have always been in love with the pictures I have seen of Greece. I also have to say I have the BEST hubby in the world who is so supportive of me going and even gave me some miles for my flight!! Thank you honey!!!

Well, that about sums up where I have been lately. I continue to train and I have a triathlon this Sunday. I am spending less time on the computer and it really does make a difference in my family life. I am finding that I don't miss it as much the longer I stay away. I stay up to date with everyone through facebook, since I only have an hour a day, and that helps. The only thing is, people do miss me. That is a really nice feeling too. I just need to find the happy medium between the two extremes and I will eventually. So, thanks for reading and I will try and get on a more regular schedule.

Peace Out!
Tri-vet

A very Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T21:45:00.004-05:00

What a nice Mother's Day this has been. Actually, the whole weekend has been really nice and very productive. First off, earlier this week I had a revelation. In truth, I think it was God tapping me on the shoulder to remind me that I am still a wife and mother and that I have been somewhat neglectful in these areas lately. Although the Internet is a wonderful and very useful tool, it can also be addictive. Somewhere along the line I have spent more and more hours on my computer. It was as if I thought that as long as I finished work and my training, all the rest of my time was available to waste watching TV with my computer on my lap. I was neglecting spending time with my husband and my kids and I was not getting anything done around the house either. So, I decided that I am going to limit my computer time to checking my email in the morning and then 1 hour at night. I am not watching TV until everything else is done or I am watching a show with my family. I actually cooked dinner for the kids 3 nights in a row (hubby was traveling) and we all sat down together. I got caught up on all the laundry, my kitchen was completely clean every night before bed and I vacuumed every single day (because the dogs are shedding like crazy). It is amazing how much better I feel physically and mentally because of this change. I am now spending time doing things around the house with hubby or the boys, or just hanging out with them. I am loving it and I think they are too. I am just so happy that God did get me on the right path again because I have so little time left with son #1 who will be graduating next year. Also, isn't that kind of disconnection bad for a marriage as well? I have a terrific marriage and a wonderful, loving husband and I want to keep it that way. We love spending time together and I just wanted to get back to that. I know hubby was missing it, but I didn't realize how much I was too. So, I just want everyone to know, now that I am on this new and better path, I will likely just be blogging once or twice a week and I feel really good about that!

So, back to this weekend. Usually, hubby and at least one of the boys go to the lake every weekend. My request for MD weekend was that he stay home, and in line with my new resolution, help me get some much needed things done around here and spend time together. We spent the day Saturday doing yard work. We trimmed all the bushes in the front, re-mulched all the beds, trimmed almost all of the trees in back, cleaned out the pool, took down the trampoline, mowed and dug up unwanted banana trees. I have some new ideas for the space where the trampoline was and we will get started on that project hopefully by the end of the month.

Today, I was served a scrumptious big breakfast at home. Then, we headed to the rink for L2 and G's ice hockey game, which they won 2-1. I spent the afternoon organizing our office/dog kennel while L2 and G went fishing and hubby hung new ceiling fans. I can actually see and use my desk now and I am so excited! Then to top off the day, I was given this by my "boys"!

Isn't it great? I just LOVE it!! What a really nice surprise...thank you honey! :0)

Poor L1 has been sick since Wednesday. He came home from school with a bad headache. When I got home he came down to tell me and I checked his temperature. It was 101.4 degrees! The last time he was sick, when he missed regionals in swimming, he just had some random virus that gave him fever and aches for 3 days and then he was better. I assumed that was what it was again, since Ibuprofen was keeping the fever under control. But today is day #5 of fever and now sore throat. I am going to assume he has strep at this point and will get him to the doctor tomorrow for some antibiotics. Poor kid! He missed a pre-cal test on Thursday, his AP history exam on Friday (which he had been studying for, for a week) and his summer swim team time trials on Saturday. He also missed work this weekend. Even after all of that though, in between fevers, he managed to write this poem.

Poet, Don't Be Silent
by Luke Kerschbaum copyright 2009

Poet, don't be silent
You've a message to convey
Words of life that must be spoken
Words your God wants you to say.

It's a gift that you've been given
Now, you'll never be the same
Seek the Spirit's great anointing
You've a gift; now, fan the flame.

Poet, don't be silent
You must let your voice be heard
Let it all be for His glory
Every line and every word.

There are those who live in sorrow
Condemnation and in strife
Poet, don't be silent
Let your words be words of life.

Let them echo every promise
Every truth found in His Word
Let the seeds of life be planted
Where your rhyming lines are heard

Don't seek fame and don't seek glory
Seek to magnify your Lord
For indeed He's coming quickly
Poet, that is your reward.

I know I am probably just biased, but I think he has so much God given talent and I am just really proud of this one. He is such a great kid!

Well, as you can see, it was a very productive weekend around here! I am now quite tired and ready for bed and so are my babies!

Awwww, aren't they just adorable?

Hope all of you have had a wonderful Mother's Day, whether you are a mother, or you just have a mother (on earth or in heaven)! I feel so blessed and I hope you have been too.

Peace Out!

Tri-Vet

We Tried

2009-05-04T20:44:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday I had my second triathlon of the season. It was in The Woodlands, where my brother/sister in-laws live. Mary (SIL) is a great biker and a marathon runner, but she is not really into swimming. She wanted to do the race with me, so she asked if L1 would do the swim for her. He had been wanting to swim in a tri as a relay, so it was perfect. Mary had to wait in line the night before the race to get a race entry for them. Her co-worker is a great runner and she had never done a tri before either, so she decided to do the run portion. The distances for the race were a 500 meter swim, a 15 mile bike and a 5K run. L1 was a bit nervous about swimming in brown open water with a bunch of other people who don't necessarily swim that great. I told him to definitely start in the front of the pack. The start horn blew and he and one other young man were leading the pack. Then L1 ran into the pack of slower people from the wave before him. He couldn't get around the slow people and had to tread a bit to sight a way around. He ended up getting second in the swim for the relays and 10th place overall out of nearly 800 people! What a fantastic swim for his first time in open water. He complained that he would have had first if the people who were slower had just moved out, but that isn't the way it works! LOL Mary had a nice strong bike leg and Pam had a great run and they finished in first place for co-ed 2 female/1 male relays.

Anyway, despite my knee problems lately, I had a fairly good race. I had a pretty good swim and a strong bike leg. My run was slow but not painful and it was my first time running without my knee brace since my last race. I got third place out of nine in my division. I won a nice metal reusable water bottle.

Here are some pictures of us after the race.

It was really fun to do the race with family! I'd love to do more!

In other news, Dudley finished puppy class last week. He got a certificate and everything. He still needs a bit of work on the heal and the roll over, but he has perfected sit, shake, stay, down and leave it. We will have to practice on the other things, but he is a pretty good boy. Oh, and he weighed 66.6 lbs and was just 4 mos. old. That is almost 20# more than Huck at the same age. He is also completely potty trained and I am most happy about that! :0)

Huck is doing OK. He has some arthritis going on in his ankle on his good leg, most likely from putting more weight on that leg to get it off of his bad leg. But, he is happy and loves his baby brother and his food of course! LOL They are so much alike. You should see them come running when anyone gets ice out of the fridge dispenser. You would think they are getting a steak treat instead of just an ice cube.

I don't know if you watch American Idol, but I have to tell you I was quite surprised and a little scared that Adam was in the bottom two last week. I voted for him 5 times. I think there is a limit to how many times you can vote from a phone number (10 I think) so I plan on using all of our cell phones and voting for him the maximum number of times on each this week to help ensure his stay. He is meant to win....I just feel it. Check him out if you haven't seen/heard him.
Want more American Idol videos? Click here.
He is the bomb!! A lot of people don't like him because they think he is over the top. I just think he is such a great performer with a beautiful voice. He is always recreating the song to make it his own version every single week. I know even if he doesn't win, he is going to be very successful, much like Chris Daughtry.

Well, I am off to watch Dancing with the Stars now. I am rooting for Gilles (so sexy) and Melissa (so lovable).

Peace Out!

Tri-Vet

Letterman

2009-04-26T17:54:00.005-05:00

L1 just got his letterman's jacket on Friday. As tradition would have it, he had to wear it on the first day he got it, despite the temperature outside being in the 80's. He tried to leave it in his locker in the pool, but the coach saw it and called him back and told him he was not breaking tradition. He looks pretty spiffy in it if I do say so myself.

In other news, one of our cyclists in our group had a bad crash on Saturday morning and is in the neuro intensive care unit in Houston with a skull fracture, some bleeding and broken ribs. Please keep him in your prayers, his name is Dan. It is really scary to know how dangerous cycling can be, despite all the safety gear we wear to minimize it. He was wearing his helmet in case you were wondering.

My next triathlon is this coming Saturday in the Woodlands. I can't believe it is here already. Unfortunately, I am still nursing runner's knee right now from wearing the wrong shoes for my foot type in my first tri of the season. I am able to run, albeit with a brace, but I am not running as fast with the pain, and I am not too fast on a good day anyhow. Fortunately, it is still early in the season and this is just a training race for me. I still have 4 more races for the season and my 'A' race isn't until August. Hopefully, now with the right shoes and time, I will be healed by then.

It is definitely spring time around here. We are in the process of getting the pool cleaned up and ready and some much needed yard work done. The boys have one more grading period left for the year and they are all looking forward to summer. L1 is swimming his 11th year with the summer league and practice starts tomorrow and the time trials are just 2 weeks away. L2 and G have a few more select hockey games to play and should be done in May. It is about the time that A and the boys start heading up to the lake for the weekends. Hopefully, L1 and I will get more time up there this year. We really need more rain in the lake as it is down again over 3 feet right now. It really isn't very fun at a lake house if you don't have access to the water! We are starting to make some plans for the summer, but so far only know for sure we are going to a wedding in Colorado on July 4th!

Well, not much else to say on this lazy Sunday. I am headed to the track for a speed workout (almost an oxymoron in my case) and then to the Y for a swim. I had a nice 25 mile bike ride yesterday, except for the dang wind. This has been one windy bike season so far! Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Peace Out!

Tri-Vet

The Finish Line

2009-04-20T22:41:00.005-05:00

Well, I am back and here is the post I promised all about the MS 150 weekend. First off, as you may or may not know, the first day of the ride was cancelled. There were torrential rains/thunderstorms from here all along the whole route on both Friday and Saturday. Besides it being very dangerous to ride in t-storms, the campgrounds where we stay overnight were flooded. In the 25 year history of the ride, never have they had to cancel any part of the ride. The MS society was scrambling to figure out what to do with 13,000 cyclists who were here for a 2 day ride. The weather for the second day was beautiful, so they had us start in La Grange, TX where we would normally start the second day. The problem with starting there is that it is over a 2 hour drive from Houston. I stayed all night with my brother/sister in laws since there was no place to sleep in La Grange the night before, and we had to get up at 4:30 am, so we could leave by 5 am to get there and be ready to roll. Todd drove us there and dropped Mary and I off at a hotel in La Grange where our team was starting. Then he drove on ahead to Austin to wait for us at the finish. The day looked very overcast and the air was very wet and a bit chilly feeling when we started. Very quickly though, the clouds cleared and the sun came out and it was just beautiful! The first half of the ride starts out of La Grange and heads into Buescher and Bastrop state parks. They are very hilly and absolutely stunning. This is always my most favorite part of the ride every year! The hills are very up and down, and I was definitely standing on my pedals to power up the hills at times, but it's all worth it. The second half of the day is not as exciting scenery wise and it was also hilly and all into head wind from lunch to Austin. My speed definitely suffered from the combination. Mary and I made it in to the finish together at about 2:30 pm. It is so exciting to roll in with thousands of people lining the route to the finish and cheering for you! All along the route there are lots of people cheering as well, and it is especially touching to me for those afflicted with MS to be out there cheering for us and thanking us for helping. It is a great event, and even though it was a bummer that day one was cancelled, 11,000 people still rode the second day to make it a big success and a good time. Here are some pictures of the day.

Here we are with some friends of ours who also ride every year. I am on the left and Mary is third from the left.

Here is one of the many people who entertain us from the side of the road along the route. This guy was really good!

This is the top of the highest hill on the ride (fondly called suicide hill). If you don't ride your brakes and you get into aero position, you can reach over 40 mph on the way down. My max speed was 35.5 mph, which is really fun, but kind of scary!

It can also be dangerous if you don't maintain some control, as evidenced by this emergency vehicle that was picking up a "rider down". I didn't see what happened, it was there when I got there. Thankfully, this was the only accident I saw the whole day. Normally, I see several on both days of the ride.

I couldn't really ask anyone to stop to take my picture on the hill, so I took this picture of myself. This is one of my favorite pictures ever! I just think it is so cool!

This is a small lake at the beginning of the route through Buescher SP.

An overlook in the park.

This is a picture taken just before leaving Bastrop SP. Almost the entire park ride is tree-lined like this.

Mary and I feeling good at one of the rest stops.

The finish line as we approach.

Victory stance in front of the capitol building in Austin (it's behind my bike!)!

Feeling fresh after a nice shower right on the street in Austin!

I got home about 10pm last night, so it was a long day. Other than being sun-burned on my left arm (facing the sun most of the day), I feel pretty good after some much needed sleep. I love doing this ride and if you donated to the MS society in support of me, thank you SO MUCH!

Off to bed for me now.

Peace-Out!
Tri-Vet

Total Randomness

2009-04-15T22:52:00.005-05:00

Nothing much really happening here. I did take G for a very much needed and requested my him haircut yesterday. I love it when there are dramatically different before and after looks. So...here he is before you will remember from Easter.

And here he is sporting his new cool doo for you!

Now isn't he so cute? You know, now that you can see he has eyebrows and ears!

The MS 150 is this weekend, so countdown for all of you...2 more days till I do it, 4 more days till I blog about it and 5 more days till I stop talking about it already! At least till next year. Anyhoo, I was shopping for a pair of waterproof shoes that I can wear in the public shower (ewww!) and around the fairgrounds where we will camp in LaGrange. I found a cute pink pair of crocs, which are just perfect and while I was looking for my size, I looked over and saw these.

A pair of croc crocs! OMG, they are soooo cute! And since there is no way my boys would wear them, and they don't come in their size anyway, I bought them for my best friends little boy who just turned one in February! I can't wait to see him in them this summer!

In other randomness, does anyone else think that the judges being able to save someone on Idol is like taking the vote away from the people? Matt was saved tonight and so now two people will be going home next week. I think all they did was delay Matt going home for another week. It doesn't really matter anyway, because Adam is totally going to win.

And while I am complaining about reality shows, I want to complain about 60 Minutes running over EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. and so my DVR records half of it and thus only half of the Amazing Race. L1 and I like to watch that together, some of the rare time he still likes to hang out with his mom, and we have not seen one complete episode since before spring break!! GRRRRRR!

Well, I don't have any more random thoughts right now...and no organized ones either, so I guess that means I am ready for bed.

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Weekend Update

2009-04-13T22:33:00.007-05:00

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Hubby and L2 were still at the lake Easter morning, so L1, G and I went to church. I am so glad we went to the mid-morning service because about 10 minutes after we got home, there was a torrential downpour. L1 and I hid Easter eggs for G to hunt in the house! Actually, he had a lot of fun. There are some really good hiding places in a house, and we only used 2 rooms.

Here is a picture of the 3 of us after church. Sorry the quality is not that great. Not using a tripod requires some creativity and sometimes the photo quality suffers for it.

Here is L1 showing how much he still enjoys getting his Easter basket.

My (two out of three) handsome boys.

Mid-afternoon, L2 and hubby got home from the lake. They brought the dead unicycles home with them. I don't really think there is any hope of bringing them back to life, so they will be laid to rest by the curb for Wed. trash pick-up and their replacement should be here by next week.

And please just ignore the background mess that is my hubby's office.

The sun also broke out in the afternoon, so it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. After doing laundry and packing for the MS 150 next weekend, I was able to get in a nice 6 mile run. I must say, it gets easier and easier to do this mileage the more I do it. Now if only I would get faster too!

Dudley is 3 months old and has still not figured out that he is NOT a little puppy. Here he is sleeping "in" Jitter's bed.

Here he is sleeping (he sleeps a lot!)on a pile of towels in the laundry room. My foot is in the picture to give some perspective as to his size now. The spots all over him are water drops because he and Huck also think they are labs and I can't keep them out of the pool!

We are in puppy classes now too. He is the star pupil too because he is just so ~~lazy~~ laid back. There are 2 labs, a german shepherd, a pit bull and a jack russell in the class. He is the heaviest of them all (55 lbs last week), though not the tallest. But he will sit the longest and stay the longest because he just doesn't have the energy to do anything else.

So, that is the weekend update. All in all, a very nice relaxing weekend. Hope yours was equally blessed.

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

The holiday weekend so far...

2009-04-11T23:14:00.007-05:00

L2 and hubby went to the lake this weekend. Those two are two peas in a pod...seriously. Anyhow, from the sounds of it, the weekend isn't going so well. Yesterday, the lake was white capping from the wind and the weather was cold, so they really weren't able to fish. Then today, I got a text from hubby saying that he ran over the unicycles with the suburban, and then, when they were out fishing, the boat motor caught on fire! Thank goodness, my ever safety conscious husband had a fire extinguisher on board. And thankfully, nobody was hurt. However, the fact that the motor was just rebuilt a few months ago to the tune of $2000 has just about put hubby over the edge! Do you ever just have those times, when you think, what else can possibly be destroyed and need to get fixed? or how much more money can I just keep throwing into repairing things? I mean, between our dogs destroying window sills (Huck) and window screens (Frankie) and L2 breaking a window in the upstairs on Wednesday and G breaking a window in the laundry room on Friday and then the unicycles being destroyed and then the newly repaired boat motor catching fire, and then on top of all that financial burden, the tax bill that is due in a few days...well, it is no wonder hubby is about to go over the edge!

One bright spot in an otherwise cloudy week, L2, being the fantastic angler that he is, did manage to get a good catch today, in between the unicycle mishap, and just before the boat motor caught on fire.

This kid seriously needs to be on Survivor as soon as he turns 18!

L1 has spent the weekend so far with friends and I have seen him a total of about 10 minutes I think. G has pretty much done the same, only he spends quite a bit of time here with his friends playing basketball and having air soft gun wars, oh, and of course wally-ball, which is how he broke the window. I had brunch and shopping with a dear friend yesterday, and today Mary, my sister-in-law, and I did a 62 mile bike ride in Katy. It was pretty windy, but not as bad as last weekend. Anyway, the last big ride before the MS 150 next weekend. I am praying for good weather and NO wind!!

Well, I must get myself to bed. It has been a long day and I would like to go to an early church service for Easter tomorrow.

One last picture for you to enjoy!

Vet Lessons 106-107

2009-04-08T20:06:00.005-05:00

OK, so here are the other two cases that I ran out of time to show you yesterday.

Case #1 - yet another tumor

This case was a 13 yr old lab. The referring vet found a mass inside his cheek on his yearly physical exam. Upon further exam she discovered that his lymph node under his jaw on the same side as the mass was enlarged and hard. She asked me to remove the mass in the mouth, which really did not appear to be that bad (I thought it was probably benign) and biopsy the lymph node. I was very worried about the size and hardness of the lymph node so I removed the entire thing. When I was dissecting it out, I saw what looked like a deflated white balloon (like clowns use to make balloon animals) lying right over the lymph node. The lymph node in this area is right by the jugular vein and the carotid artery. I used careful blunt dissection (no sharp instruments)and removed the lymph node and when I looked in the hole left, the jugular vein was lying there huge, purple and inflated. That was what the balloon looking thing was it was just flattened out by the pressure of the enlarged lymph node. It was really cool and thank goodness I didn't cut it! Sorry I don't have a picture of it, but here is the lymph node after removal and sliced open.

Doesn't it look kind of like a brain? Anyway, it should be about 1/3 that size. We sent off the mass in the mouth and also the lymph node for histopath and it came back malignant amelanotic melanoma (bad) and of course, it had already spread to the lymph node as well. Because of the dogs age and other health issues, his owner chose no treatment, but just to keep him comfortable in hospice as long as possible. Clients often wonder if a dog really needs a physical every year, and this is a classic example of why it is a good idea. The vet totally found this tumor, the owner had no idea. You also have to remember that dogs age at a much faster rate than humans, so only having an exam once a year is like having an exam only once every 5-7 years as a human!

Case #2 - cherry eye (prolapse of the 3rd eyelid gland)

This is Roxie, a Boston Terrier. Isn't she the cutest thing? Oh, I just love this breed!

Anyway, notice the large red bulbs in the corners of her eyes? You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it to really appreciate them. These are glands that are located in the 3rd eyelids of dogs and cats. Did you know they had third eyelids? They are the white lids that come up from the bottom of the eye when they are sleeping. These glands can get inflammed and then prolapse (protrude up and out) and thus are called "cherry eyes" for their color and shape. Some breeds (cockers, bulldogs, pugs, bostons) are predisposed to this occurring, though it can happen in any breed. These glands are a contributor to tear production in the dog, so it is important to save them and not cut them out, which is the treatment some vets use. Notice how they are protruding even though Roxie is under anesthesia now.

The treatment I use is to make an incision in the third eyelid above and below the gland and then to pull the tissue over the top of the gland with suture and create a pocket for the gland. Here are Roxie's eyes when she is done with surgery. The glands are still present they are just tucked below in a pocket that will heal over the top of the gland, preventing it from popping back out.

OK class, that is all the pictures I have of the interesting cases I've had lately. I actually had many more cool cases, but I'm not always able to get pictures. But I try, just for you, cause they are just so fascinating...don't you think? Alright, so I am off to watch some American Idol and see who is going home and then I am off to bed.

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Vet Lesson 103-105

2009-04-07T22:42:00.005-05:00

Remember when I said I had all those really interesting surgeries lately? And then remember when I said I was going to post about them? And then I didn't, but then I said I was going to in a few days as soon as I got the pictures? And then, I still didn't? Well, guess what? Here they are finally. Now it is going to be primarily a pictorial lesson or three. With so many cases to show you, I don't have time to write about them all in great detail. But if you find any really interesting and you are just dying to know something about it, then just leave a question in the comments and I will try and answer it.

So, here we go:
Case #1 - intestinal foreign body
This is a case that I was called in to do on an emergency. It was a 4 yr old Golden Retriever that had eaten something it shouldn't have and it had an obstruction (meaning nothing could move through the intestinal track). The owners did not bring it in right away because it wasn't acting real sick at first and then it was a day or more before xrays showed the obstruction and the radiologist said it better have surgery very very soon or it was going to perforate. That means that the bowels would get a hole in them (from pressure of the foreign object plus infection) and then bowel contents would spill into the abdomen and cause peritonitis, which can be fatal. When I went in I found adhesions from a previous surgery the dog had for eating something it shouldn't have and then I found these.

Notice that all the loops of the intestines are all accordion like. Normally, loops of intestine are very long and loose and are normally a nice healthy pink. These intestines are a dark fiery purple red. The dark purple thing at the top of the picture is the normal spleen. The pink tubular thing just below that is normal intestine. The bowel got a perforation in it just from me picking it up and you can see spillage of contents at the bottom in a pool.

The dog had eaten what appeared to be a swifter mop head. I found part of it in the stomach and the other part way down the intestines and they were attached to each other by a string. Here are the two pieces that were attached together by the string.

I got all the foreign material out and closed the dog and we gave him anti-toxin medication and antibiotics, but unfortunately he still did not make it past 24 hours. This is a very good reason to watch the things your pet can chew on and if it does ingest something it shouldn't, you should watch it very closely for vomiting and diarrhea and take it to the vet quickly.

Case #2 - Retained baby teeth

Very often we see dogs with two sets of teeth. The baby teeth fail to fall out when the adult teeth erupt. This is called retained deciduous teeth, or retained baby teeth. It is very important to pull these teeth as they can adversely affect a dog's bite and also, they tend to build up tarter between the adult and baby teeth causing early periodontal disease. Here are a couple pictures of a dog with both sets of canine teeth and then a shot of after they have been pulled. You can already see debris building up between the teeth in the first picture.

Case #3 - corkscrew tail

Bulldogs have a curly tail, much like a pig. Most of the time they do not cause a problem, but occasionally, a tail will be recessed into the rear instead of hanging out. The area that is recessed retains moisture and debris and causes a chronic dermatitis that is quite foul smelling and uncomfortable for the dog. Here is one such case. Notice how irritated his bottom is?

The cure for this is complete surgical removal of the tail. This is the after photo. This dog healed up very very nicely and his owner was so happy that her house was not going to smell so bad anymore. I love doing surgeries like this that have a dramatically different before and after AND that make the owners so happy almost instantly!

OK class, that is enough for one night. I am off to bed. I have a continuing education lab I am taking tomorrow on fixing ruptured cruciates (knee ligament) with a new method. I am excited! I will try and post the other cases I have tomorrow.

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

NHS

2009-04-06T21:36:00.003-05:00

L1 was inducted into NHS tonight. I was so proud of him. It is a very high honor, especially in Kingwood, where competition is so high. His father is out of town on business, so I went with camera in hand to represent! Just as he was being escorted to the stage I turned on the camera and....nothing, nada, dead. I suddenly notice that it feels kind of light. I turn it over and open the door...no batteries. L2 had taken a bunch of pictures of the dogs, the fence, himself, etc. over the weekend and he ran the batteries down. He took them out to recharge them and I never noticed when I picked the camera up. ARRGGGHHHHH! So, after the induction ceremony there was a little reception. I frantically searched around for another parent I knew and upon finding one, begged for a couple of batteries so I could at least get a few shots of my charming son and his certificate to commemorate the evening. Who am I kidding? I totally wanted them for my blog and here they are:

L1 and his spiffy certificate.

L1 and proud mama.

L1 and girlfriend S, who was also inducted into NHS.

Aren't they so cute?

So, that was my evening and now, I am ready to watch some Dancing with the Stars!

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Just lounging around...

2009-04-05T21:59:00.006-05:00

Kings on their thrones...

Dudley and Huck...otherwise known as me and medium me!

Lonestar Sprint Triathlon '09

2009-04-04T20:19:00.003-05:00

My first triathlon of the season was today. It was the Lonestar triathlon in Galveston. Our friends, Kim and Jon, decided a few months ago to do it with me. This was their first sprint tri ever! Since they live closer to Galveston, I stayed all night at their house last night so we could get to the race early to pick up our packets and set up this morning. Usually, the night before a race I am a nervous wreck and I don't sleep very well, especially away from home. I don't know if it was because I was thinking more about helping them with their first race than being worried about my own, but I slept like a baby and I wasn't a nervous wreck before the race either. Anyway, we were up at 4:15 AM!!! We were at the race site by 5:50 am. Oh my, I really wish just once they held these later in the day for us night owls! The water temperature was announced as a "balmy 65 degrees"! Um, yeah, thank goodness for wet suits. The weather was great for the race, although the wind was brutal on the bike portion along the sea wall. I actually saw a lady get knocked completely over on her bike by a wind gust! Anyhow, I had a pretty good swim and was second out of the water in my division. On the bike, I was doing pretty well, and I was in second place in my division and coming back into the home stretch when I hit a pothole and dropped my Garmin (GPS/heart monitor). Since they cost a couple hundred bucks, I decided that I would have to sacrifice a better finish and go back and pick it up. So, I stopped, unclipped, ran back to get it out of the road, dodged a couple of bikers and got back on and clipped in. I don't know how much time that cost me and then to top it off, my run was not as good as last year. Gosh, if only I could run..."I could be a contender"! Anyway, I ended up with third place and a trophy! I lost 2nd place by 1 min and 10 secs.! Hmmm, wonder what would have happened if I hadn't dropped my Garmin? I was only out of 1st place by 2 mins. So, I guess overall, I am happy with my race, but I am definitely going to work harder on my running! Ugh! So, here are some pics of the day.

Melanie, Jon and Kim ready to race.

The happy "first timers" couple! Great finish you two!!

Me with my lonestar trophy!

I am off to bed now. I have a long bike ride to do tomorrow. I still have to get in the mileage to prepare for the MS 150 coming up in 2 weeks. I may sound like I am complaining...but really, I love it!!

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Hello again, Hello!

2009-04-02T21:33:00.005-05:00

Wow, has this been a crazy couple of weeks. My sister and niece came last Thursday to do some college visits with L1 and I. We went to UofH on Friday and then Sam Houston State on Saturday. My niece is a senior and she has been accepted at both of those schools. None of us were pleased with U of H (sorry if you are a student/alum). The buildings seemed old and in need of repair. The dorm courtyards had debris all over the ground, as if the hurricane just happened, not over 6 months ago! It just isn't a very attractive campus at all.

All of us liked SHSU. It is in Huntsville and very close to the state park and forest land. The buildings all seemed very nice and so did all the students we met. Some of the dorms were older but in good repair and others seemed brand new almost. The professors seemed very fun and excited about their classes. My niece, who is from a small high school, liked it very much. It is one of the top two on her short list. L1 liked it, but since it has no swim team at all, he likely will not put it on his list.

Saturday afternoon, my dad and his wife Sandy arrived from Indiana. It was good to see them after 18 months! They spent 4 days here. We watched movies, went for a long hike, played games with the kids and ate. Dad and Sandy went to visit Moody Mansion in Galveston on Monday while the rest of us were at work/school. They said the island is getting pretty cleaned up but lots of businesses are still closed from Hurricane Ike. The mansion was in pretty good shape and only suffered some flooding on the basement level. They said all the businesses they did visit were very grateful for the business. Tuesday was their 30 year anniversary so we took them out to dinner to celebrate. Wednesday they headed up to my sisters house, east of Dallas, to visit for 4 days before heading back home. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Dudley and I started puppy classes today! He is very good at the sit and the come, but kind of freaks out about the down. Here are some pictures of him on the way to class. By the way, he is 50.2 lbs. at 3 months old! OMG!! Huck wasn't over 50# till 4 1/2 months old!

And here is a picture of Huck. He is getting to be a big boy! He is such a good brother too! He is doing OK with his leg. He tries to put more weight on the good leg and his hock on the good leg has some swelling, but he still gets around pretty well.

I'm off to bed now. I have a busy day tomorrow before I head down to stay with my friends for my first triathlon of the season on Saturday. More about that tomorrow.

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Back but busy!

2009-03-24T00:11:00.002-05:00

Well, we got back from Colorado on Sunday and I just have to jump right back into things with both feet. I got in a 45 mile bike ride after we got home to get some time in the saddle. The MS 150 is creeping up on me fast and I AM NOT PREPARED! 45 miles is the most I have ridden at one time and the ride is over 150 miles and in less than a month! YIKES!!! I got up at 5:30 am this morning because Huck would not stop pacing around the bedroom. Turns out he peed all over the room and who knows why. He doesn't have a UTI, so I don't know if he drank too much water yesterday or what, but I am praying he doesn't have any more of those episodes tonight. Do you know how big the bladder is on a 120 lb. horse??? Quite large!! It takes many many towels to clean it all up!! He does have an ear infection which I am treating so that he will stop shaking his head and flapping his big ole' ears all night too!! Geesh, leave him in a kennel for a week and he falls apart. Poor boy! Frankie was fine, just FAT!! Dudley is fast catching up to Huck and will likely pass him in the next few months. I weighed him today and he was 44 lbs. at only 13 weeks!! I will have a pony and a small draft horse soon! LOL

I am working this week, trying to get in more training, getting ready for family visitors later in the week and getting ready to take L1 to visit some colleges on Friday and Saturday, along with my sister and niece. So....all that to say, I may not post for a couple of days. I should be in bed over an hour ago as it is....life, it hits you hard! Isn't that some commercial line or something?

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Lions and Tigers and Bears , oh my!

2009-03-20T18:25:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Denver Zoo. The weather was really warm and it was a LOT of walking. I was exhausted by the time it was over. I prefer to see the zoo from one of those trams that drives you to each enclosure and then the guide tells you some interesting information about the animal and then you move on. Unfortunately, we just had to ~~trudge along~~ walk. Anyway, the animals at the Denver Zoo are really close and there were lots of them that were very active, so I got quite a few good pictures.

Somehow, I just don't think that the zoo had the same effect on the kids as Boondocks, just look at these faces!

I guess we should have done the zoo first!

Dudley stayed with G&G and played with his cousin dogs. Here is a video of them.

Untitled from Melanie Kerschbaum on Vimeo.

This morning, L2 wanted to go fishing down at the lake in Evergreen, so hubby and I hopped in the car and took him down and I ran the trail around the lake while they fished. I am hoping that this high altitude training is going to help me in my race in two weeks. All this pain and hard work HAS to pay off in some way!! I ran around the lake 3 times and it was a 4.3 mile run, which is the closest thing I have had to my normal training routine all week! L2 was successful and he caught two rainbow trout. He brought them home and grilled them and shared them with Grampa and G (son 3) for lunch. Here he is with his first catch.

Gramma, my SIL, Linda, my SIL (to be), MaryJean and I all went out for a girls day out of lunch and boutique shopping. We went to Bear Creek Inn in Kittredge for lunch. It is a really rustic little place right on the bend of Bear Creek and we sat right at the windows where we could see out while we dined.

Here is a picture of us. (me, MJ, Linda, Gramma from left clockwise)

So, our week has come to an end here in Colorado. It's time to head back to the flatlands. We are going to be leaving in the morning, so I won't be posting till next week probably since it is a 2 day drive. Hope all of you have had a terrific week, and if you haven't, then my hope for you is that next week will be better!

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

It IS a Revolt!

2009-03-19T10:23:00.007-05:00

Yesterday morning I woke up and I couldn't move my neck. I couldn't tilt my head back without supporting it because my neck muscles felt like I had a severe case of whiplash. Today, I woke up and not only is my neck hurting, but other muscles that I never knew I had are in revolt! We are trying to decide what to do today, either the zoo or hiking and I am thinking I need to decide between a deep tissue massage or the hospital!

Yesterday morning, G&G had a project to be done. They needed a rotten deck torn out so that a concrete one can be poured in its place, so L2, being the hard worker that he is decided he would go tackle it.

My hubby and father-in-law went to help. They quickly got it all done. Here is a three generation picture of my FIL, hubby and L2 working hard.

Anyway, yesterday early afternoon my SIL and dogs and I did a brisk 2 mile walk (pain or not I still have a triathlon in 2 weeks) and then hubby and I took the boys to a family fun center called Boondocks, north of Denver. For those of you from the Houston area, it is kind of like Mountasia only way bigger. From 4-10 pm you could get an unlimited ticket and play as much miniature golf, go-carts, laser tag, and bumper boats as you want. It also came with a bunch of tokens for the arcade games inside. The boys had a total blast! They played several rounds of golf, rode the go-carts too many times to count, and won so many tickets, particularly L2 on the games, that they each came away with several of those cheap cheesy prizes. Hubby and I just watched and took pictures. I did ride the roller coaster simulator with L1 though. It wasn't NEARLY as exciting as the real thing, although it also did not hurt my neck like the real ones, so that was a plus. I LOVE roller coasters!! Anyway, I digress, here are some pictures of the evening.

My in-laws all think Dudley has grown just since we have been here. He did graduate to a bigger collar yesterday. Look at the size of his paw in my hand and he is just 12 weeks old.

Here he is sleeping.

Is he the cutest thing ever or what?!

So, it's time for me to decide what to do now. I am really voting for the massage, but hubby and the boys are going for the zoo. More on our adventures later.

Peace out!
Tri-Vet

Rocky Mountain High

2009-03-17T21:22:00.007-05:00

We spent the day at Loveland Basin. Hubby decided not to ski because he has already been having some issues with his back and a knee, but he was sweet enough to drive us there. L1 decided not to go at all. Skiing is just not his thing. He has broken his arm 3 times before (not skiing) but I think the thought of flying down a hill on two thin pieces of fiberglass and possibly breaking an arm is not very comforting for him. Anyway, L2 and I snowboarded and G skied. U. Steve and MaryJean met us there for a day on the slopes. Here they are with the boys.

It was a really nice day, in the 50's with beautiful sunny skies. The kids had a great day. It is amazing how well they do with only getting on the slopes once a year. I have a video of each of the boys today and just as soon as I can figure out how to upload them, I will. (grumble grumble that my video will just not ever upload!!!)

I have decided that my body is revolting against this type of activity. Yes, I have tried skiing, but I am much better and have more fun snowboarding. I also think I do a pretty good job for a 44 yr old woman who just started snowboarding about 6 years ago (which means I have been 6 times). It comes back pretty quickly, kind of like riding a bike, and I do think I have a minor amount of improvement from one year to the next. However, recovering from a fall seems to get harder and cause longer lasting pain each year as well. Ibuprofen has become my snow buddy! Anyway, here is a picture of L2 and I at the bottom of a run.

L1 stayed home with Gramma & Grampa, U. Bill and A. Linda. They went for a tour of Red Rocks Amphitheatre and just hung out. Here is a picture of him with A. Linda and Gramma. You can tell where he got his height.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. I will probably be in traction at this point!

Peace Out!
Tri-Vet

Update: OK, here is the video of G. Hopefully it works and I can do the one of L2.

Untitled from Melanie Kerschbaum on Vimeo.

And L2. Ignore the fall at the beginning, he hit a rut!

Untitled from Melanie Kerschbaum on Vimeo.

On the Road Again...

2009-03-16T18:55:00.010-05:00

Well, we made it to Colorado on Sunday, after a two day, seventeen hour trip in the suburban! What joy, what family closeness, such bonding! Yeah, right! We have a full car load that is for sure. 2 adults, 3 sons (one as big as an adult) and 2 dogs, besides all the luggage, snacks, cooler with drinks and dog paraphenalia.

Poor Dudley is not going to fit in the car much longer either. Here is a picture of him in the car, on the floor between the seats. Doesn't he look comfortable?

Jitter, at 3 lbs., can fit anywhere!! Here she is sleeping on top of L2 in the back seat.

They were both great travelers and Dudley has not had a single accident either in the car, in the dog friendly hotel, or at Gramma's house!

The first day and a half we have mostly just been relaxing out of the car and visiting. I have gone for 2 mile walks each day (up and down the mountain) to get myself acclimated to the thin air. We tried to take the kids on a 3 plus hour hike today, but none of them were up for it, so we skipped it for now. Two of hubby's brothers and their wives and 3 more dogs also came to visit. This family is full of dog lovers.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Loveland ski area for some fun. Hopefully, I will get some good pictures and post those tomorrow. Hubby is not going to ski, as his knee and back have really been giving him grief. L2 and I will snowboard and L1 and G will ski. It is hard to get really good when you only get on the slopes once a year, but it's still a lot of fun. I'm all for visiting snow, I just don't want to live in it. Do you think a day of snowboarding counts as a replacement for biking 50 minutes?

G&G live in Evergreen, on ten acres on top of a mountain at about 8000 feet elevation. They have lots of wildlife that come to eat at various feeders they put out. It is amazing how tame they are. Just take a look for yourself.

At one point, there were 17 deer being hand fed by L2.

Alright, I have to go and play a huge family game of Uno now. Peace out.

Tri-Vet

Harder than it looks

2009-03-13T21:33:00.003-05:00

I have come to the conclusion that doing a blog is much harder than it looks. I want to give big kudos to blogs I love that are updated on a daily basis, like One Breath at a Time, Big Mama and My Charming Kids. Since I have never been a journal writer, therefore, not used to writing on a daily basis, I just run out of things to say. This strikes me as ironic since I usually can't stop talking. I feel like I am letting people down when I don't post. Anyway, other than a bunch of interesting cases lately, not much has been going on other than every day life. The weather here stinks right now. It is cold and rainy. My kids are starting their spring break tomorrow and we are headed to Colorado to see the grandparents and to ski a few days. I am glad to be leaving the cold spell here. The forecast for Denver is in the 50's-60's the whole week, warmer than in Texas, go figure! We can't leave until after L1 takes his SAT's tomorrow morning. I hope he does well. I remember well that milestone in my life. I was so nervous. I only took it once and my score was far from stellar, but I got into the one and only school I wanted to go to, which was Purdue, the only college in Indiana with a vet school. Nowadays, they have prep classes, tutoring, all number of books on how to take the SAT and it is usually taken several times. Many scholarships are based on your scores and it just seems like so much pressure. I am glad to be done with that part of my life. In fact, I am really embracing the stage of my life I am in right now. I will be 45 this year, and it doesn't bother me at all. I feel great for my age. I am thankful for how active I am and I think physically, I am in the most fit shape I have ever been. I am happy to be done with kids in elementary school, and I am looking forward to the excitement L1 will have in going off to college in another year. I still love my husband, my best friend, after being married for almost 22 years. We still enjoy spending time together and I look forward to the time we will hopefully have for many years to come. I say hopefully because, now in my 40's, I do know several people who have lost a spouse to death, not divorce, and that is something you never have knowledge or control over, so all you can do is make the most of every day. I don't know that I am so successful at doing that, but when I stop and think of my life, I am thankful for all that I have right now. So, I guess this turned into a fairly "deep" post. But, now I must leave the comfort of my favorite chair and my snugly blankie (and NO...it is NOT a Snuggie) and finish the dreadful packing. The only thing worse than packing for a vacation is the unpacking you have to do when you get back. So, I will leave you with a couple of pictures of me that a technician friend of mine took during surgery and sent to me that she titled...'The different sides of you.'

This is me during a very intense intestinal foreign body surgery

This is me relaxing a bit in the recovery area between surgeries

This is me when surgery is over and the pressure is off

If I don't get a chance to post this week, have a great week everyone! Peace and blessings!

Tri-Vet

Riding for a cure!

2009-03-09T22:42:00.002-05:00

Well, it's almost that time again! Time for me to bike from Houston to Austin (180 miles) to raise money for the cure for MS. I have ridden in an MS 150 five times now. I started doing the ride to honor my surgery professor from vet school. He had the disease while I was in vet school and yet he was there every day, teaching students how to do surgery. He died about 10 years after I graduated. After that first ride, I discovered how many people I know are personally affected by MS, either themselves or a family member. So, now I ride in honor of someone new every year, but also all the others I have ridden for in the past as well. The ride this year is April 18-19, 2009.

About MS
Multiple sclerosis is a progressive neurological disorder that affects people in many different ways. It could be paralysis one day, loss of vision the next or impaired memory the day after that. Living with MS means living with uncertainty.

When it comes to MS, only two things are certain:
Another American is diagnosed every hour of every day and
Many people are joining the movement toward a world free of MS including me.

Why I Ride

I've registered for the BP MS 150 to fulfill a personal challenge, and also to help the National MS Society fund research, advocate for change and to help people with MS and their families lead powerful lives. I believe in the work they do and want to be part of it.

Let’s Move Forward Together
The Society’s chapters organize 100 Bike MS events nationwide. The BP MS 150 ride is the largest non-profit event of its kind in North America with 13,000 cyclists, 3,000 volunteers and countless supporters and spectators. They’re great fun and the funds they raise go toward research aimed at treating and eventually curing MS. They also provide education, information, direct financial aid and scholarships to individuals and families living with MS.

I’m helping the National MS Society move forward toward a world without MS.

Please join me!

Here is a link to my fundraising site if you would like to donate.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=5492450&pg=personal&fr_id=10222

Thank you for your support!

Catching Up

2009-03-08T21:29:00.003-05:00

Wow, time goes by so fast, I am just amazed sometimes. I mean we are already in the third month of 2009! Anyway, I have been so busy since feeling better! I had a busy week of surgeries, and yes, I DO plan on blogging about them, I just haven't gotten all the pictures of them in one place yet. I'm working on it...I promise!! Tuesday, I was on my bike trainer while watching The Biggest Loser. I think it is completely ridiculous that they can't finish an episode in 2 hours! The episode has to be continued!! Come on!! Really?
Thursday was the wild card episode of American Idol. And yes, that is part of my being busy, watching all these DVR'd reality shows!! Anyway, can I just say I am COMPLETELY excited that they decided to make it a top 13 so that Anoop Desai could make it through!! I just love his voice and his personality. I was also so happy that they cut Tatiana, the most annoying person in the world!! I am not really too impressed with the girl talent this season and really didn't feel excited that any of them made it through the wild card round. Seriously, Lil Rounds is THE most talented girl and Danny Gokey is THE most talented guy, so they are my picks for top two.

I wanted to wish my dear ole Dad a happy birthday on here. He was 69 on Friday, 3/6/09! Dad, I can't believe you are 69 because you certainly look great and are very healthy and active for being in the last year of your 60's!! IF I were in Indiana, I would have gone to the opera with you!! I'm really looking forward to your visit at the end of the month!! Anyway, I hope I age as slowly and I love you!!

Friday, I spent the day cleaning my house. Well, that is relative actually, because I am really NOT a good housekeeper. I don't get it either, I mean, my dad is quite clean, my mom is a SUPERB housekeeper, and my sister has her own housecleaning business. I, on the other hand, have to have 24 hours notice if I am going to have someone come to my house because that is how long it would take me to make it respectable enough for a visitor! Why didn't I get the clean gene? Now that I think about it, I am also super active in sports and none of my immediate family is into sports of any kind. I think I must be adopted! I just happen to look an awful lot like my adopted mom! Anyway, I would LOVE to have a maid! However, there are two reasons why it is probably never going to happen. First off, my hubby would NEVER let me pay someone to clean for us. He just doesn't believe in hired help of any kind. He is MR. DIY all the way! And secondly, did you know you have to clean in order to have a maid? Seriously, you have to have everything picked up first in order for them to be able to clean. That's just too much to ask!! If I could get my boys to clean their rooms enough for a maid, then who needs a maid?

Saturday was a great day!! First off, it was beautiful and sunny and warm. I think spring is definitely becoming summer very quickly here in Texas. Anyway, Saturday morning I got up at 6 am and met up with other members of the tri club to go for an organized bike ride in Baytown. We did the 43 mile route. It felt good to get back out there again. Most of the ride was pretty good, but it was rather windy, especially heading back, so the last 5 miles were a bit brutal. I came home and got some yard work done and then I had the night to myself because hubby and L2 went to the lake for the weekend, L1 was spending the night at an overnight birthday party and G was at a friends house. I love having all my guys around, but sometimes when I have the evening to myself, it is pure bliss. I skyped with a friend E, in Italy for over two hours, then I got to watch a chick flick with no background noise and no complaints. I rented Mamma Mia and OMG, it was fantastic! If you love musicals and you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it! And, even though I agree that Pierce Brosnan isn't the best singer, he played the role beautifully. I was very impressed with how well Meryl Streep sang and it is said that she even did one of the longer, solo numbers in just one take up on a Greek mountain. The whole movie just made me smile from ear to ear the whole time and it also brought back memories from elementary school when ABBA's music was very big.

Today was DST change. I HATE DST! I am from Indiana, and when I was growing up, they did not have DST. They do now of course, but I just can't get used to losing an hour in the spring forward mode. So, of course, after staying up late last night watching my chick flick, I slept in even extra late this morning with losing the hour. I did my 5 mile run today and it wasn't my best time since I am just back into my training this week, but it wasn't too bad. At least, I am back on track. The whole family spent the evening watching the Amazing Race. Thank goodness for some good wholesome family shows still being around. Anyway, L1 and I like the deaf son and his mother team (Luke and Margie) and I also like the little guy stuntmen/brother team. I am not sure they are going to be in it much longer though as they seem to get lost and have quite a few "blond" moments.

Speaking of L1, I don't think I have mentioned that he is very talented at poetry. He is very prolific and has enough original material to publish a book of poetry already. He is very, very good at it, and I don't think I am just saying that because I am his mother. His dad and I are always telling him he should publish them, and also that he could be a writer or a lyricist, but he keeps insisting that he just writes for himself and his friends and family. Anyway, I wanted to give you an example of one he wrote just this week and posted on his facebook page. Here it is.

Where I End And You Begin
copyright 2009

Love blessed spring caresses day
Slumber's shadows break away
My heart beats once, then once again
Where I end and you begin.

Soft bright summer breezes blow
Blossom's splendid gala shows
Enticing fire does passion send
Where I end and you begin.

Reluctant autumn severs all
Green to gray transition calls
A promise binds, new birth portends
Where I end and you begin.

Let winter's night my heart excise
Evening folds in day's demise
Infused my soul you live within
Where I end and you begin.

"Love is a series of feelings. All of them...wonderful." =)
Hope you liked it (L1)

So, tell me everybody, what did you think?

I'm back!

2009-03-03T19:38:00.003-06:00

Well, it has been a very rough couple of weeks. I can't say I am 100% over the bronchitis yet, but I feel better, and that is 90% of the battle right there. Not being able to work out for over a week has made me feel very anxious about where I am at in my training with regards to my race coming up in April. I rode my bike on the trainer yesterday for an hour and today, I went for my first run. I wasn't strong, but didn't have the setback that I thought I would have after being off so long. So, onward and upward and hopefully I will get squared away by the weekend.

This past weekend I slept more than I have in a whole week and I felt like a slug, but I did manage to go and watch the boys' hockey play-offs in between ~~comas~~ naps. They played Saturday night and L2 was on fire! He scored the first 6 goals of the night, plus added another one later. I don't know if they have a special name for a double hat trick, but they won 10-0 in a total blow-out! Everyone kept asking us what we fed L2 that night. He didn't want to shower or change because he didn't want to lose his "magic". Um, 13 year old sweaty hockey player without a shower....and church the next morning...I think NOT! So, they played the number one team on Sunday and it was a really good game. L2 was not quite as magical, but the game was very close and if not for the refs poor and unbalanced calls, they may have even won. As it was, they lost 4-2. G had an awesome game on defense and really helped keep the score close.

In other news, this has been going to work with me everyday.

He is 10 weeks old and weighs 31 # already! He is about 3 weeks ahead of Huck in his weight. He is a very happy guy and he and Huck just love playing with each other. I love having them and the crates continue to keep everyone safe and happy!

Even though I have been sick, I have been busy busy at work. I have had lots of interesting cases lately and I plan on posting about some of them over the coming days. I am never sure about the gore factor with the general public though. Some of the cases that I find extremely challenging and interesting are definitely quite graphic and bloody. I guess I can just forewarn and you can choose to look or not.

Last night, the final episode of the Bachelor was on. What a huge HUGE disappointment. I don't know why after so many seasons of failure, I still hope that they find true love. I was so happy when Jason chose Melissa, the Dallas gal. I thought they were a perfect match, then comes the final rose ceremony and he ditches her and asks Molly for another chance. I just wanted to throw up! Molly should have told him to take a flying leap. I can't for the life of me figure out why he did what he did to Melissa and can't help but wonder if he won't do the same thing again in another 6 weeks and decide that he should have stayed with Melissa afterall. At any rate, the good news is, that is one show I will not be wasting my time on EVER again. I'll just watch romantic comedies to see people fall in love and have happy endings.

Well, that is enough rambling for tonight. I am off to do some much needed catch up on housework and laundry! Good times, yes indeed!

Typhoid Mary Update

2009-02-26T22:34:00.002-06:00

I went to the doctor yesterday...finally, only to find out I have a viral bronchitis that basically responds to nothing and just has to run its course. She then proceeded to tell me it can last over a month!! They gave me a steroid shot to try and quiet the inflammation in my lungs and a prescription for a numbing agent to quiet the cough. Neither have seemed to do anything at all. If anything, I think I am coughing more. Although I do feel less achy than before the shot so at least that's something. Nobody at work wants to be around me for fear of catching it too. Thank goodness I wear a mask and gloves most of my time at work, so I shouldn't be spreading around too many germs. It's also a good thing that I work in a different office every day, because by the end of the day, I am sure they are all sick of hearing me hack my head off. So, I don't have anything more to post for now. I have some vet lessons in the works, but just am not up to putting them together yet. So, hold fast gentle readers...did I actually type that? Perhaps the steroids have affected me more than I thought.

Tales from the crypt

2009-02-24T20:18:00.005-06:00

I can't seem to shake this crud that I have. I feel like I have been ran over by a truck and I sound like I am dying a slow horrible death by coughing up a lung! I think it has progressed to bronchitis and I am going to have to go to the doctor and get checked out tomorrow hopefully. I haven't worked out in 2 days and don't foresee being able to for at least another couple of days. This has thrown a wrench in the spokes of my training plan, and I hope it won't put me too far behind target for my first race on April 4Th. Unfortunately, I am worried that hubby and son #3 are also coming down with something, as they both have sore throats and some congestion starting.

In other news, do you think these two may possibly be friends now?

They aren't. They just had a moment I guess, or else the fact that Dudley bothers Jitter even more than Huck she decided he wasn't so bad. Actually, he was on the bed first and he, unlike her, is willing to share.

And just a couple of pics to show you what an animal lover my L2 really is! These are so precious! The first one is of him actually sleeping in the pen with Dudley and Sassy when I first brought them home. (Sassy is his sister that went to live with my friend, L)

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have a vet lesson, or at least something more interesting than the family crud!

Come on...cough it up!

2009-02-22T21:29:00.005-06:00

Can I just say that my ribs, my back and my stomach muscles are killing me? They are, and NOT from a great work-out either, but from almost non-stop coughing for the past week. You know the saying, coughing up a lung? Well, I will be pictured in the encyclopedia next to that term's entry in the next edition of Britannica. I must say that I am well known for having a cough that sounds like an 80 yr old, 4 packs a day smoker, and it is really annoying, not only to everyone else, particularly my husband, but to me also. I was once asked to leave a meeting because I was coughing so much, nobody could speak loud enough to be heard. Pretty embarrassing really! Needless to say, I didn't make it to church today because I didn't want Pastor Al to have to stop the sermon and ask me to leave! I seem to get this cough usually just once a year, thank goodness, but it always seems to last for a couple of weeks. I don't go to the doctor for it, I just deal with it till my family and my throat/muscles can no longer handle it, then I just take Mucinex to try and clear it up. I am not a huge fan of medication, despite my profession. I think I touched on this when L1 was sick and I was hesitant to put him on antibiotics (and by the way, he was better on his own in 3 days). So, here is hoping that this will be the last week of it and that the Mucinex does its job! It's really hard to run and bike when you are coughing up a lung!!

One down, five to go

2009-02-21T22:14:00.002-06:00

L1 and I made our first college visit road trip today. It was an early start for us on a chilly Saturday morning. We visited Texas State in San Marcos and it is a 3 hour plus drive so we had to leave by 6 am. Which means we had to get up at 5 am. On a Saturday. Morning. Ugh. Unfortunately, it was an overcast, cool windy day. Neither of us had ever been to TSU before and we were pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to be a small college with a somewhat junior college feel, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The student enrollment is over 28,000 students and the campus is a pretty decent size. It is also quite hilly, so you really get quite the work-out going from place to place. The college is a pretty strong liberal arts school, which is good since L1 plans on majoring in history and at least minoring, if not double majoring in theatre. The theatre building just underwent a $2 million renovation last year and it was very nicely done. We met one of the academic advisers for each of the two schools he will be in, and they were very helpful. We found out about the swim team, the history major, the theatre major/minor, visited a dorm, walked the campus, and went to the student rec center to check out the pool and other facilities. Surprisingly, he seemed to really like the school. He had briefly considered majoring in pre-med, that is till he found out he would have to do 4 more years of sciences, including one in physics, and he absolutely can't stand his physics class. His father is disappointed, but I am glad, because I knew it wasn't his passion. He was being driven more by the decimal place in the salary than a yearning to help people. So, anyway, it was a very fun day and I am looking forward to the next two at the end of March.

A Crate Success Story

2009-02-19T16:53:00.003-06:00

Yesterday morning, I put Frankie and Huck in their crates, turned on the ceiling fan to keep them cool and the radio to keep them company and left for work. Six hours later I came home to find this.

I wish you guys could have all seen me doing the happy dance! No newly shredded walls, baseboard, windowsills or chair rail in sight. Nary a one!! No torn up crate doors, battered wire panels, broken teeth or raw noses from fighting the crate. Just calm, VERY GOOD dogs, lying in their crates waiting for me to let them out for some lovin' and of course, a potty break! Now that's what I'm talkin' about! I LOVE to give 'em some lovin' instead of screaming my head off about what they have destroyed. Hopefully, this will be the happily ever after ending I've been wanting.

In case some of you are curious, and even if you aren't, I'm explaining it anyway. The two giant crates are for Huck and Dudley. I have a regular size crate for Frankie, which right now is beside my bed for Dudley to sleep in at night. I take Dudley to work with me to potty train him (6 hours is too long for an 8 week old puppy to "hold it"). When he is completely potty trained, he will go in the other giant crate and I will put Frankie's cage in the office along with the other two. Our office is going to feel like I am at work, since it will look like a vet clinic dog ward! So, all in all, I am ecstatic about how this is turning out. And, life with 3 1/4 dogs (the chihuahua can't be counted as a whole dog) is pretty darn good now!

What a CRATE day!

2009-02-17T21:06:00.005-06:00

Dudley went to work with me today for the first time. I take my pups to work with me everyday until they are potty trained. I came home to find these at the back door.

Woo Hoo!! I was so happy, because I am really sick of doing this every morning,

yet still coming home to see this.

and no that isn't old damage, it is the new damage from today! The flash is kind of bright, but the wood from the chair rail is completely missing down to the drywall on the right side!

I decided to put them in the office since there really is no other place I can put both of them because they are so huge. So I rearranged the office a bit to accommodate both new dog garages. L1 helped me put them together lickety split and here they are all beautiful, black and wiry.

They are so big that they make Huck look like a little puppy. I could fit two of him in one, so he has plenty of room to grow! I hope that they are going to be the saving grace for my house. I will let you know! And just to remind you what it is all for...

Global warming protest

2009-02-16T16:43:00.005-06:00

Literally thousands showed up in the northern arctic circle for the million man march against the claim of global warming...

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. The whole global warming thing is such a farce!

A Puppy Pics Post

2009-02-15T18:40:00.004-06:00

Dudley is a little clone of Huck. He does all the same things he does. He pounce runs, he plays with cans, he kicks things with his front feet, he barks at Jitter then runs away when she growls back and he loves everybody. The only difference is he is much bigger than Huck was at the same age and he can hardly see for all the wrinkles! I picked both of them up the day they turned 8 weeks old. Huck weighed 15 lbs, Dudley weighs 23 lbs. Logan just loves him but keeps getting mad at Huck for being so rough. Huck doesn't understand why he can't play full out with Dudley like he does Frankie. He is still a puppy too afterall, but he doesn't realize his size (115 lbs). As you can see though, he can be gentle and loving with his little brother too!

It's pretty much this...

then this...

then this...

then this...

all day long.

He is doing well so far. Only two potty accidents in the house, both of them wet only, and just a little whining in the night. We all just love him!

Happy Valentine's Day to me!

2009-02-14T20:46:00.005-06:00

I had one of the best Valentine's Days I can recall in... well, forever. It usually is such a non-holiday in this house other than a small candy treat for the boys from us.

Last night I went and picked up my my most favorite VD present EVER and technically, since I did not get it home till after midnight,it was VD by then. Here is that precious present.

Little (big) mister Dudley, is another blog post all unto himself. More on him and the rest of the pack tomorrow.

This morning I had a training duathlon race. This was my first "race" of the season and I beat my best time of last year, so that was good.

My hubby got me this and these. Well, I should probably clarify that. I went to VS and bought those things and brought them home. Here is how the conversation went.

me: Honey, I bought this super cute sport outfit for you to give me for VD. It is already in a gift bag with tissue and everything.

him: Oh, good. (said in that dripping with sarcasm voice they seem to reserve just for us) Well, what did you get me for VD?

me: Well, that's the beauty of it honey, now you get to go shop for your own gift and you can get exactly what you want!

him: Oh, OK (rolling eyes). Well, I don't want anything.

A little while later...

me: Honey, I just love the outfit you got me. It's so cute! Thank you so much!

him: I am glad you like it so much. I rarely get you something, let alone something you like.

But my sweet hubby actually did fix us this for dinner.

complete with baked potatoes and steamed asparagus (Yum Yum). And I topped it off with this (more yum).

Just a taste of chocolate really, so as not to ruin the whole training plan.

We went to the boys hockey game in the evening and even though they lost, our boys played very well. So, all in all, it was a very memorable Valentine's Day if I do say so myself.

No swim for him

2009-02-13T11:36:00.004-06:00

Well, it is official, L1 missed the prelims of the regional swim meet today at U of H. He was still running a fever at 7 pm last night of 102.5. I called his coach and they were going to give his spot to an alternate. That kids prayers were answered and I hope whoever he is, he does well. L1 seems to be taking it in stride though I am sure he is bummed inside. Isn't it just Murphy's law that a kid who never gets sick, would catch a virus at just this time? Have I told you before that I hate Murphy? Anyway, he is feeling better today and woke up with a temp of 99.1, so yeah for that. Hopefully, he will be good as new by the time school starts on Tuesday. He hates that he missed 3 days of school already, which means lots of make-up work, but thank goodness he gets an extra day of recovery this weekend with having Monday off for Presidents Day. I will say that I was pretty perturbed yesterday at the doctors office when I called to get him in and they said they couldn't see him. No appointments, nope, not with his regular doctor, nor any of the 8 other doctors there! As a veterinarian, if we turned away a dog that was sick, I don't think people would come back to us. Especially, if it was a client that we have had for over 10 years, like L1 has been going to his same pediatrician for over 10 years! It is just like my friend J recently said, doctors treat you like a number, not a person. I miss those bygone days of small communities where everyone felt like family and you felt that you really mattered.

Taking my own advice

2009-02-12T23:01:00.006-06:00

You know, veterinarians, or at least me in particular, are like the mechanic whose own cars are overdue for oil changes or the cardiac doctor who is overweight and smokes. We just don't always practice what we preach. I always tell people with a new puppy about the wonderful benefits of crate training. It keeps a puppy safe from household dangers and it keeps the house safe from puppy dangers. But do my own dogs have crates? Oh no, of course not. My dogs will act perfect because they are owned by a veterinarian. Well, I totally realized that they are NOT perfect and in fact, were not only going to ruin my house completely but also wreck my relationship with them when I came home to see this

and this

and this

and this

Now, mind you I had talked with my friend J just not that long ago and even got the information for where she bought her giant dog crate for Gabby (Huck's sister). But, I figured I could solve the problem much cheaper with a giant dog bone for Huck to chew on instead of my woodwork. I mean look at the size of this bone!!

He could chew on it to his heart's content and leave the house trim alone. Problem solved. He would be happy to have something to occupy his mouth and I would be happy it wasn't part of the house. I even bought Frankie a smaller version, so they would each have their own bone. And that worked great...until Frankie ate all of his bone, cause it was smaller, after all, he is a smaller dog. Then, today, I came home to find Frankie hovering over Huck's bone and growling every time Huck came near. So Huck decided to chew up the woodwork instead! Mistake...BIG BIG mistake. So now, they get to stay in these whenever I am gone.

I ordered two of them today and they can't get here soon enough. I know it isn't cruel, I sing crate praises all the time. They stay out of trouble and you keep a loving, positive relationship with your dog. I just wish learning this valuable lesson didn't cost so much! The cost of replacing the woodwork, painting the new woodwork, repairing the wall, plus the cost of 2 GIGANTIC dog crates, since I am getting Dudley on Sunday, and of course, he is getting one too! Yikes! But hey, in the long run, I know the crates will at least pay themselves off in the saved damages and I can feel proud that I now truly believe in and indeed take my own advice.

Cough and Fever and Chills...Oh My!

2009-02-11T21:26:00.002-06:00

L1 is sick. Very sick. Not just that 24 hour kind of sick. He started with a cough on Monday, deep in his chest. Tuesday he came home with a serious headache. Then this morning he came home after swim practice and had a high fever and an extremely sore throat. I am probably responsible by jinxing him. I had just been commenting the other day that our family is pretty healthy, usually lucky enough to avoid the various bugs that travel around our schools and workplaces. The really sad thing for him is that the Regional Swim Meet that he qualified for is this Friday. Right now he can't even breathe when he is swimming, that is if we can even get his fever to break enough for him to get in the water. I feel so bad for him and he is so sad and scared that he won't be better in time. He also hates missing any days from school. He usually has perfect attendance because he has a good immune system and he hates to try and catch up with all that he would miss. I really think what he has is a virus but his dad always thinks antibiotics will fix any hint of illness. That is so not true! I'm not sticking this kid on antibiotics just because I have access to them. That type of misuse of antibiotics by the general public is what has resulted in super infections, which is bacteria that are immune to the most common antibiotics out there and in some cases, to all antibiotics. I am a conservative vet myself when it comes to putting animals on drugs and I am the same with my kids. I think that rest, lots of fluids, Vitamin C and some ibuprofen to help with the aches and fever will do the trick. I just pray God will speed up the process of healing just a wee bit so he doesn't miss his meet. I don't want him to have shaved his head for naught!

College Road Trip

2009-02-09T22:32:00.003-06:00

I can't believe how fast 16 1/2 years can just fly by! I find myself fast forwarded from being a young mother of one cute, sweet little boy, to a mother of a young man ready to make some major decisions about his future and where he wants to go to college. I find the whole thing exciting, but scary at the same time. That isn't even enough of a description, I am overwhelmed with so many different feelings going through me and then fleeting that I can't even name them all.

I don't remember having to do all the work that is now required to go to college back when I was going to college. I knew what I wanted to be from the age of 5, knew which college in my home state of Indiana that had a vet school, applied to that one school without ever making a trip to visit the campus, took my SAT without any type of prep classes and that was that. I went there for my 8 years and graduated being what I always wanted to be. Now, everyone goes and visits colleges because the choices are so vast, you have to take prep courses for the SAT's so you can go to the college you want and/or you have to be in the top 10% of your class to go to some of the more popular state schools. We aren't even talking the Ivy League here! We have to figure out how to jump through financial aid hoops. He has to write essays to apply. He is signed up to take an SAT prep course, he has a book on how to take the SAT. He is taking it in the spring so that if he needs to get a better score, he can take it again in the summer and still be able to meet the college application deadlines. I feel overwhelmed just trying to keep up with all the information and I am an adult professional, I can't imagine a young kid trying to do all of this on their own.

So, we will be making our first road trip to check out Texas State in San Marcos in a couple weekends from now. That will be the first of six college road trips that we will make that I know of for sure. I kind of find it frustrating that L1 isn't sure what he would like to do with his life, other than be an actor. He knows that is such a long-shot, that he is going to major in something else (his choice not mine), but he doesn't know what that something else is. I just tell him that I think the most important thing is that he has a passion for what career he chooses. I don't want him to choose something just because it guarantees a certain salary or lifestyle. I have seen that doesn't make people happy, but being passionate about what you do does. I absolutely love what I do and I want him to have that same fervor about what he will do. I also don't want him to make rash decisions based on the popularity of a particular school or where his friends may go. And truth be told, it is hard for me, very hard, not to make the choices for him. But he isn't a baby anymore and I am not choosing what I should make him for breakfast. I can only guide him and try to give him as much information and support as I can and pray that he will make the right decision for himself. Man oh man, it is hard to let go. I hope it gets a bit easier with the other two.

American Idle?

2009-02-08T16:20:00.008-06:00

I just got back from a run that nearly killed me. I decided to get a coach this year to see if I could improve on my triathlon times. I had to run 7 miles today (the farthest I have ever ran in my life) and despite the fact that the run portion of the triathlons I do are never over 3.1 miles! This was after biking 42 miles yesterday. I'm not sure what that is all about, but that is why I have a coach I guess. Anyway, when I was out running I started thinking about how many people in my community are really fit yet the percentage of obese people in the US has now exceeded the percentage of people who are merely overweight. More than 34% are obese, just under 6% are morbidly obese and 32.7% of Americans are overweight. The percent of Americans who exercise on a regular basis (at least 3 times/week) is under 50% and those over the age of 15 who exercise daily is only 16%. Around here it seems like everyone is active. All three of my sons are involved in organized sports (one swimmer and two play hockey), my hubby lifts weights (3x/wk) and I train (6 days/wk)to do triathlons! Four of my neighbors just ran the half marathon, our triathlon club has over 100 members and our cycling group has nearly as many. The gym is crowded on a regular basis, though especially now at the beginning of the year, and the local YMCA fun run this past Saturday was a huge success with over 2000 people either running, jogging or walking the route. I have other friends who are tennis players, yoga instructors, golfers, and gym rats. So where do the obese live and what is needed to encourage kids to start exercising young so that it becomes a lifelong habit? Is it that the food they intake is more than their output, even if they are somewhat active? Is it the kinds of foods they eat? Do people not exercise because they think there is no time or because they don't like to do it? I can't say I always enjoy the physical rigors of my training, but I love the feeling I have when I am done.

Steeped Shaved in Tradition

2009-02-07T11:48:00.005-06:00

L1 had his district meet for varsity swimming yesterday. This was his chance to earn his letter jacket in swimming. He had to get at least in the top 6 to move onto regionals and earn his letter. Here he is on the blocks and ready to go in the 100 Free.

You would think that I was up on the blocks to compete because I get a major adrenaline rush and feel like I am going to throw up when I see him standing up there. He was just out-touched my the swimmer next to him for 4th place, but he got 5th place, a new personal record time, his letter jacket AND he gets to go to regionals! He was so excited and I was super excited for him.

Here he is with his good friend E, who also managed to get his letter in the same event, finishing just behind L1.

After all the meets it is a tradition for the boys to go to Cici's for some major pizza chowing down time. After that they went to one swimmer's house for celebration and when L1 came home, this is what he looked like!!

My jaw dropped to the floor. I mean, he isn't even going into the military or anything. All the beautiful, crunchy, bleached and damaged swimmer hair....gone! And, oh my, the ears, and the nose. Does lack of hair always make those features more, shall I say, noticeable? I am told it is absolutely necessary to do this as it has been tradition as long as anyone can remember and of course, it helps them win at regionals. Whatever, I am just glad it will grow back soon. Until then, I think I'm going to buy him a cool selection of hats!

Daddy Day Care

2009-02-05T20:28:00.006-06:00

Hank is Huck and Dudley's dad. He is a great dog and an even better Daddy. He gives them pep talks on how to play well with others.

He spends some one on one time with each of them to make them feel special.

He teaches them how to wrestle and have good social skills.

He's just an all around jungle gym for them.

But we all know that kids just get away with a lot more when Daddy is in charge of day care!

Vet Lesson 102: It's Not a Tumor

2009-02-04T17:03:00.005-06:00

Actually, it's two tumors. Yesterday, I saw a 12 yr old Golden Retriever to remove 2 tumors from her, a huge one about the size of a grapefruit on her left thigh and one on her right ankle about the size of a walnut. Here is a picture of each of them.

Actually masses can be either cysts or tumors. Cysts are hollow masses filled usually with sebaceous (skin) debris and they are benign, though they can grow. Tumors are solid masses that can be classified as either benign or malignant(cancerous). Most people want to know when they should have tumors removed from their dog or cat. I have different recommendations for each. Tumors in cats are usually not good, so if you find one on your cat, you should take it to your veterinarian to have it evaluated and removed. If you find a mass on your dog, I recommend that you 1. Watch for it to grow. Rapid growth usually indicates a more serious tumor and it should be removed quickly. 2. If a mass is slow growing and is in an area that has plenty of extra skin, then you can just continue to watch it. However if it starts growing, changing shape or firmness, or color, then you should have it checked out and possibly removed. 3. If you find a mass in an area that has very little extra skin (i.e., feet, legs, ears, eyelids, tail, nose) you should have it removed. If the mass does grow it may be impossible to remove it completely AND have enough skin to close the incision, which is what happened in this dog with the one on the ankle. The one on the hip was equally difficult to remove because of how large it was and it was attached to her thigh muscle. In this case, both of these were benign tumors, however, they can still locally recur (come back) if they are not removed completely. It is easier to remove masses completely the smaller they are. This picture shows the size of the two masses in comparison to someones thumb.

I actually could not remove all of the mass on the thigh because I would have had to take too much skin and muscle. This would have affected the dog's ability to walk and my ability to close the incision. This dog will most likely have this mass come back in the same area because it was let go for too long. Even though it is benign, the dog will have to endure surgery again and the pain of losing some more muscle as well.

So, the lesson is, if you find a mass on your dog or cat, don't just assume

"It's NOT a tumor"!

Pushing his luck

2009-02-03T21:58:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I came home to find this face looking at me when I came in the door.

It has GUILT written all over it, doesn't it? So I went in search of what he was guilty about and I found this.

I am seriously considering giving him blunt force trauma to his posterior quarter (kicking his butt)! I didn't of course, but after much yelling, he pretty much acted like the rest of my kids and did this.

I get no respect. But I am going to put a shout out to my good friend J and plead with her to give me the number for the place where she bought her dog garage. For my sake and for Huck's.

Of course, nothing he has done makes me feel less excited about getting this one too!

You Got a Fast Car

2009-02-02T17:21:00.007-06:00

The other day we could hear something that sounded just like an Indy race car outside our house. L2 and G came leaping down several stairs at a time screaming that the neighbor has a Lamborghini! Since we don't live in THAT kind of neighborhood, I just couldn't believe it. But sure enough, they run across the street to see this.

It turns out the neighbor was picking it up from a dealer to deliver it to a friend of his in Mexico that has 12 of them! Yep, T W E L V E. Cars. That cost between $600,000 and $1 mil. EACH! That is some kind of ridiculous! Seriously, if you have so much money to blow that you can waste it on 12 cars that each alone cost more than everything we own all put together, you have way too much money. I would hope that if I were that rich I would not flaunt it to that extreme! But, the boys being boys just thought it was the coolest thing EVER! The neighbor took each of them for a ride. They loved it, but I wasn't very happy, nor were the neighbors probably, cause the car was doing about 70 mph down a neighborhood street!

Anyway, I am not all that into cars, but I can tell you that I would NOT want a car that had a see-through hood. I can't keep my glass top tables clean from dust and dog drool, I certainly wouldn't be able to keep up with bugs and bird poo!

I guess it's clear so that you can see the super cool engine....whatever! Do engines really look that different or that cool? Apparently, testosterone is required to be able to notice these things.

L2 says he could get used to driving one of those. He does look rather like a natural in it. G said he didn't want to waste that kind of money on a car, he wants a junker car that he can drive recklessly and trash. Great! I'm really looking forward to that one having his drivers license!

We Now Interrupt the Superbowl

2009-02-01T19:55:00.006-06:00

I don't normally watch much regular season football, but I like the playoffs and I LOVE to watch the Superbowl. I like the commercials and I love to root for the underdog...always (Go Cardinals)! I made sure I did my run early today so that I could be home to watch every single bit of it. Huck wanted to sit in my lap and watch with me.

Seriously, I do NOT know how much longer he is going to be able to do this!

Anyway, I loved how they honored the flight crew from the plane crash into the Hudson river. They deserved it and I was so happy that they did that for them. Faith Hill did a good job with America the Beautiful and Jennifer Hudson gave me cold chills singing the National Anthem!

I hated that the Steelers scored on their first possession, but at least they reversed the touch down and they only got a field goal instead. The first commercial that I thought was funny was the Doritos commercial where the guy has a crystal ball. He shows the ball to a co-worker and then asks the ball if there are going to be free Doritos in the office today. Then he proceeds to throw the crystal ball through the glass front of the vending machine full of Doritos. He says, "I think that was a YES" The co-worker later has the ball and then he says I want to know if I am going to get that promotion? Then he turns and throws the crystal ball and hits the boss man in the, you know. The first guy says, "I think that answer is a NO"! LOL

I was also excited to see the trailer for The Land of the Lost. Did any of you ever watch that show when you were a kid? Marshall, Will and Holly, the Sleestak and the pylons! I loved that show!! I had no idea they were going to make it into a movie. I am kind of surprised that Will Farrell will be playing Marshall. I don't think the show is really a comedy, other than the poor F/X that they had back in the day! So, I am totally going to go see the movie!

I love all the Bud commercials. They aren't really all that funny, but I just love those gigantic Clydesdales. Giant dogs, giant horses, need I say more? I love the one where the Clydesdale stallion runs across the country to the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to find his love (an Arabian dancing mare). You know that was totally a chic commercial, thrown in for us ladies who watch the game.

Back to the game and into the second quarter, Arizona has possession and then...

it thunders outside and the power went off! That's right, no power, no game, no commercials, no half-time, no nothing. Our power grid has never been the same since they fixed it after Hurricane Ike. So every single time there is the slightest thunderstorm, we lose our power. So, we sat in the dark looking at this.

From 6:28pm till 7:37pm. We were terribly excited as I am sure you can imagine!! Seething inside and complaining like crazy was more like it. I sure hope I can go back and see the half time show on the internet, but it won't be the same even if I can. And what about my 3D glasses, am I EVER going to be able to see those commercials that promised some good 3D action?

So, the power came back on in the second half of the game and it proved to be pretty exciting. Everyone predicted that Arizona was just going to be killed by Pittsburgh, but they kept it close and I thought they had it, if only they had stopped the touchdown on Pittsburgh's last possession. I do think that they called more penalties on Arizona over Pittsburgh and that didn't help any either. I also thought they might have it again, and I think that the last play by AZ was NOT a fumble, but an interception, but no matter. The final score was 27-23. Pittsburgh won their 6Th Superbowl which was a record in NFL history. I think the players of the game for Arizona were definitely Larry Fitzgerald for making some great catches and Dockett who made some pretty good sacks on Roethlisberger. So, another season over and I am sad for AZ, but they played a really good game and they should be proud of themselves.

Friday, Friends and Fun

2009-01-30T23:08:00.003-06:00

Wow, today was a super busy but super fun day. I had the day off, from work anyway, but had a full day nonetheless. L1 is on the varsity swim team and they are getting ready to go to districts, so I spent the morning at the high school with other moms painting huge banners wishing them luck, which will be hung in the pool area and cafeteria. After that I headed to the Y for a swim and then to the salon for some highlights and a cut/style. I must tell you, I was quite disappointed that I spent all that money on my hair and it did NOT look half as good as it did on the good hair day I had on Sunday! And what did I have planned for tonight? Dinner with my hubby and three other couple friends that used to be our neighbors that we haven't seen in ages.
Yep, Murphy's Law ladies...

I hate Murphy!

Anyway, I decided that one of my New Year's resolutions was to make sure my husband and I reconnect with all of our couple friends. It is so easy to put your social life as a couple on the back burner when kids, work and life happen. I didn't want those friendships to slip away because they weren't ever nurtured. So, one friend and I talked and set it up for all of us to meet for dinner! We had a total blast ~~chugging~~ having margaritas and eating chips,queso and fajitas and just catching up. We laughed so hard that my cheeks and my rib muscles (intercostal muscles, for those of you who like the medical lessons)are killing me. I am doing Bike Thru the Forest and Hills in the morning(33 miles)and I probably won't be able to breathe from my ribs being so sore. Of course, that is if I can even get myself out of bed and onto my bike that early. Have I mentioned that I HATE mornings? I may just have to stay home with my hubby for a nice Saturday morning and enjoy some tea instead!

Bigger Does NOT Necessarily Mean Braver

2009-01-29T20:50:00.006-06:00

In veterinary medicine, we often see what we call BD/LD syndrome, which is big dog/little dog syndrome, which usually means that a big dog decides to have a little dog for lunch. It usually is quite a devastating and sometimes fatal outcome for the little dog. It always makes me sad to see them come in, but in my house, I have what I call LD/BD syndrome, and the roles are reversed. I have 3 dogs, till next month anyway. But for now I have, Huck, the mastiff pup who weighs 110 lbs., Frankie, the beardie mix who weighs 52 lbs. and Jitter, the ~~little princess~~ chihuahua weighs 3 lbs. Jitter carefully navigates around making sure she doesn't get trampled by big paws accidentally, but boy does she rule the roost at this house. She controls the toys, the beds and the food bowls! She may be little, but she packs a mean growl! Just take a look.

She is pretty determined that Huck will not get the toy, nor the bed as long as she's around. They will do this several times a day and we always crack up. Sometimes, she will jump up and stand up on top of his elevated food bowl eating his food and growl if he gets near it. He will start barking to tell me to come and make her move so he can eat! Mastiffs aren't necessarily the smartest dogs around, but they more than make up for it being so darn lovable! Thank goodness for her, he really thinks he is just a little lap dog.

Vet Lesson 101: Is that one lump or two?

2009-01-28T17:03:00.004-06:00

I have thought about what I want to do with this blog, and although my primary purpose is to entertain (both you and myself!), I have decided I would also like to educate. How many of you wanted to be veterinarians when you were kids? I thought most of you might enjoy seeing and learning about some of the more interesting things I see in my career. I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do and of course I think it is fascinating! I love to teach about what I do. If you are at all squeemish, you may want to just skip this post, but if not, read on. The first lesson is learning what a cryptorchid is. A cryptorchid is a male dog or cat that has one or both testicles "retained". That means they are not in the scrotal sac where they should be, but can be found anywhere from just above the scrotum, right under the skin, to completely inside the abdomen. If one testicle is retained, he is a unilateral crypt and two retained is a bilateral crypt. Here is a picture of a chihuahua that I had yesterday that was a "unilateral crypt".

Notice that there is just one lump, where there should be two?

In this dog's case, his other testicle was completely inside his abdomen, which required a second incision next to his prepuce to go in and search for it. I found it tucked beneath his bladder. I am holding up the testicle that was inside the dogs abdomen. Notice it is still "attached" and also you can see the first incision where the normal testicle was removed.

It is very important to have cryptorchid dogs/cats neutered because the testicle that is retained is prone to torsion ( twisting so the circulation is cut off and very painful) and cancer (from the increased temperature of the testicle being in the body vs in the scrotum where it belongs and where it is cooler).

Here is a picture of both testicles after removal.

Notice the difference in size between the two testicles? The smaller testicle is the one that was inside the abdomen. It does not grow to the normal size due to the increased temperature inside the body, and it is also very reddened.

Of course, it is important to have all dogs not intended for breeding purposes to be neutered. It is done, not only to control the pet population, but also to avoid other problems like: behavioral aggression, prostate disease or cancer, tumors around the anus called perianal gland adenocarcinomas, and perineal hernias, just to name a few.

So there you have it, now you know everything you needed (or not) to know about cryptorchidism. If you have any questions, just let them fly! And let me know what you think about the lessons. Maybe it isn't your cup of tea! Pun totally intended!

A picture is worth a thousand words..

2009-01-27T23:00:00.003-06:00

or at least one blog entry. I'm running short on time today, so thought I would show a few random pictures of my boys that make me smile.

Did you know that Prince Charming had a cell phone? This is L1 as Prince Charming in Cinderella a couple seasons ago. Isn't he so handsome?

I am sending this one to Big Mama for her next Fashion Friday blog. G has always been a super sharp dresser!

There's playing in the mud...

and then, there's just plain wallowing IN THE MUD! We actually had to throw out absolutely everything on his body. He had to strip down outside, get hosed off and then go inside for a shower!

Life with 3 boys, it's never dull, that's for sure!

Of Mice and Men (or rats and boys!)

2009-01-26T21:09:00.000-06:00

L2 loves rats. He has four of his very own. He started with two females, but when one passed away, he begged his dad to buy him a boy. So, now he has a mama and a papa rat. In November, they had 8 babies. They are very very cute once they get hair. Anyway, he found homes for 6 of them and he kept 2 boys. I neutered the papa rat so we won't have any more babies. When you neuter a male, you must wait several weeks before they are actually sterile before you can put them with a female. He keeps the baby boys in a separate cage. Unfortunately, the boys keep getting out of their cage and I worry they will get in with their mom, and you know, have retarded innerbred babies. I told him that I would neuter the two boys and then he could connect the cages with tubes so they could freely go from one cage to another. At first, he wanted me to neuter them today so he could connect them tomorrow. Before I even mentioned the waiting period after neutering he says, "Oh yeah, I can't connect them yet because they will still have baby formula for a while." That kid cracks me up sometimes.

This morning he came down and told me that he woke up three times in the night, and all three times he had a rat on his face. That may just freak you out, but he hand raised these babies from birth and they just love him. They have to escape the cage, jump off the dresser, cross his bedroom floor and climb his bed to get to him. Now that is some major rat love there my friends. I have to tell you though, I do have a wee bit of anxiety when I see him with the rats and think of the movie Willard. I'm really glad that none of his rats are named Ben!

Six miles is a waste of a good hair day

2009-01-25T18:51:00.003-06:00

Today started off like any normal Sunday. My hubby and I got up and fixed a big breakfast for the kids and once they started eating I went to get ready for church. I was showered, lotioned and perfumed and then something that so rarely happens, happened. The stars were aligned, the temperature and humidity were just right, and I noticed immediately upon tossing my head back after upside down blow drying, that it was, indeed, going to be a good hair day. I had to find that perfect ensemble to wear that would showcase my superb tresses. It was SUCH a good hair day that before I walked out the door, my husband even commented, "wow, your hair looks really good today." Now ladies, I ask you, how often do you have THAT good of a good hair day? I rushed home after church to see what great things I had scheduled for the day, somewhere I could proudly display my perfectly flowing mane. Perhaps, a luncheon with some great gal pals, a business get-together with my husband and his boss, a family photography setting, an interview for the More Magazine model of the year? Alas, the ONLY thing on my schedule for the rest of the day was a long run planned ahead for me by my coach. Thanks Matt (you are a real kill-joy)! Now, knowing that I sweat like a fat man chasing a runaway m&m when I work-out, and that a run would absolutely destroy my good hair day, I did not want to go. I put it off till the very last possible moment of daylight, just hoping I would get that unexpected call to go have dinner with a long-lost pal, or meet the book club gals at Starbucks, anything. With my head hung low, I trudged to the bedroom to change into the requisite running gear and pull my hair back in the usual boring ponytail. I then proceeded to go out and run the farthest I have ever run in my life...6 miles! Though I was totally dreading the run and was just sure I would die halfway through, or at least just past the time where my hair had reached the point of no return, it wasn't too bad! Forgetting about my lost coiffure and instead proud of my accomplishment, I stepped inside the door drenched and with my hair plastered to my head. My husband had to comment, "too bad you had to run because your hair looked so good before!" Thanks honey (through gritted teeth). If only I had thought to have him take a picture of my locks before I left. A record of the fact, that I indeed, once had a good hair day since it may be a very long time before I have the cosmic karma on my side again.

The Mom Song

2009-01-24T23:26:00.006-06:00

A friend of mine recently sent me this video. It is so hilarious. I feel like this is the way I talk to my kids, pretty much every day, only louder and less pleasant! I am sure they would agree. I also seem to have memories of my mom speaking to me the same way. Enjoy!

In The Dog House

2009-01-23T19:55:00.006-06:00

I don't know exactly WHEN it happened, well, I guess it did start with my first mastiff, then I got a chihuahua rescue from work, then I got a beardie mix rescue from work, then the mastiff died and I got another one, then she died and I got another one, and now I am getting yet another one. All that to say, our house has now become The Dog House. Everywhere you look, there is evidence that dogs live here, sleep here, eat here, play here and definitely are being spoiled here! Just see for yourself:

Now, since I do REALLY love my dogs, I guess this is something I tolerate in order to have them. My house will never make the pages of Beautiful Homes. I am sure that all of you dog lovers out there can relate. But, as if it isn't enough of a sacrifice of space and time cleaning up their hair, drool, poo, toys, and the money to feed them, they have to destroy things as well. That one is a ~~little~~ lot harder to take. I guess with the hugely successful film/book about the destructive lab named Marley, nobody, especially a dog owner, should be surprised by their ability to destroy the indestructible. Over the Christmas break, since I did not want my poor dogs kenneled up in a cold, sterile concrete room without the comfort of home, I got a pet sitter to come to my house 4 times a day. FOUR!! In the 8 days we were gone, Huck, my english mastiff, chewed up 8 windowsills. One for every day we were gone I guess.

I can't say definitely it was him, but since he is the one that can most easily reach my windowsills, and he is the puppy of the three, I think it was him. Still, I love them almost as unconditionally as they love me. I love them so much in fact, that I can't wait to get another one! I mean, look at this face, how could you not want one of your very own?

Just don't ask my husband that!

An Invitation

2009-01-22T20:05:00.003-06:00

Hi Faithful Blog Readers (that's a joke since I have been blogging all of 5 days now! LOL)

My friend J, over at txmomx6.blogspot.com, is going to have a book blog discussion on the book, The Shack, by William P. Young. All of you who are already faithful readers of her blog know this already, but I wanted to extend the invitation to those of you who may not be aware.

Here is a short synopsis of the story by Windblown Media:

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, ostensibly from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever and quite possibly your own.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?” The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You’ll want everyone you know to read this book!

The book blog discussion is set to begin on Feb. 1st. You can join us here. You don't have to discuss it, you can just read along with us and read the discussion questions, or join in whenever you feel like it. I think it will be a great learning experience. I just finished the audiobook myself, but am looking forward to rereading it and finding out what others think. Hope you can join us. I wanted to let you know now so that all of you had the time to go out and purchase the book if necessary.

Happy Reading!

I Have a Screw Loose

2009-01-21T17:29:00.004-06:00

I think there is a conspiracy going on. If you have a newer model car/truck/SUV, I think the mechanic's mafia sets out to rig your car to need repair work done. I think they have undercover people in all the places your car may visit, just to ensure that something does happen so that you need to go straight to the garage and have several hundred dollars of repairs done.

For instance, I took my car to the car wash the other day. I asked for both the exterior and interior wash/clean. The only thing wrong with my car when I got out and gave the keys to the car wash attendant, was it was dirty, very dirty, ( I have 3 boys and 3 dogs, need I say more?). Anyway, when they were all done with it, it looked so pretty from the outside. Then, I got in and it smelled so clean and fresh and then I looked down at my console and saw this:

Now, not only is it not really that clean, but there is clearly a huge screw and washer where there wasn't one before, and not only that, but where was it supposed to be? and what was going to happen if I drove home with a missing screw? was my bumper going to fall off? my tire? my seat suddenly recline? It was just downright disconcerting.

The other thing that happens every single time I take the car in for the oil change at my mechanic, is that I get about halfway home and my car sputters and dies, in an intersection, when I need to be accelerating. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. What they don't know is that I am somewhat car savvy (and yes, I know that that was a bolt, not a screw, but that word did not lend itself to a good blog post title). I put on my blinkers, pop the hood, get out and reattach the air intake to the air filter. They always knock it off when they change the air filter? accident or deliberate...hmmm? But what about all those people who aren't gearheads? Of course, they go straight to the garage and pay hundreds of dollars to the mechanic to repair something that actually takes about 2.3 seconds to fix.

And what is up with the car companies manufacturing cars so that nobody but dealer mechanics can work on them? My handy dandy hubby is very mechanical. He used to be able to fix anything wrong with one of our vehicles. Until the mid 90's or so. Now, a computer is needed to run the diagnostics on a car and even simple things like a fuel pump are put in locations such as the gas tank, so that it makes it impossible to fix them yourself. It recently cost us $700 to replace a fuel pump that costs about $150. He recently told our sons that all their cars were going to be 1970's models so that he can do all the work on them himself, or better yet, teach them how to do it! I sure hope all their friends think a 1975 pale yellow Ford Pinto Hatchback is a super cool ride!

Who Knew (Yo Quiero Taco Bell)

2009-01-20T16:11:00.006-06:00

L2's birthday was last week. Having a January birthday so close to Christmas is hard. He never knows what he wants because he just got everything he wanted for Christmas! So after asking him like a billion times what he wanted, he finally told us that he wanted ...

a unicycle...

2 nights before his birthday.

TWO!

Did you realize that unicycles are coming back in? Apparently, they are because several of his friends got one for Christmas! I thought only clowns liked unicycles. Who knew? Anyway, since it was only 2 nights before the big day and Just where do you buy a unicycle, is there such thing as a unicycle store?, he was not going to get his gift on his big day. He also had never made up his mind what he wanted to do on his big day, so being the fantastic , always superfun mom that I am, I planned nothing. He gets up the morning of his birthday and I am up, which is one of his gifts, because I DON'T DO MORNINGS, and I tell him Happy Birthday with as much hoopla as I could muster at that time of the morning. I had set 2 of his other presents on the kitchen counter so that he could open them and his birthday card before school. He opened the first one, a cool rock t-shirt, then the second one, a pair of running shoes (on his Christmas wish list) and then had the most crest-fallen face I have ever seen on a birthday boy. My heart sank and my smile faded. I said, what's the matter? Don't you like the shoes? and he just sighs and shakes his head, like, oh mom, you have so much to learn about what a teen boy really wants. So much for birthday glee before school. That afternoon we asked him, where would you like to go for your birthday dinner? (Our tradition) No where he sighs. So what do you want then? Crab legs I guess. So we fix crab legs and he eats them half-heartedly. By now, his melancholy mood is wearing on us. We cut his cake and still, nothing. We print out the picture of the unicyle that will be arriving for him, because we didn't tell him we ordered one, nothing. So, his dad offers to take him shopping. No set limits, just let's go and see what you would like to have to make you feel extra special on your birthday. L2 decides on Super Walmart. They walk all over the store from one end to the other and

This is what he comes home with:

Big smiles, jumping up and down, shouts of these are so cool, where are the tortillas and cheese! Who knew all he wanted was Taco Bell? To think I could have made his whole day if only I had run out to Walmart the night before his birthday and spent a whopping $18 for a quesadilla maker. Apparently, I DON'T know ANYTHING about what a teen boy wants! I will note that for G's birthday when he becomes a teen.

Here he is with his BIG present that came yesterday. He was pretty excited about it too!

A dose of reality

2009-01-19T15:19:00.005-06:00

Alright, I admit it, I am a reality show addict. This is the best part of the year, when all of the reality shows are starting a new season. Well, now and again in September, of course. Anyway, my week is filled with watching every single episode starting on Monday nights with The Bachelor, followed by True Beauty. Tuesday nights are American Idol and The Biggest Loser. Wednesday night is American Idol again and Thursday night is Survivor, though it won't be starting till after the Superbowl...whatever! Then, whenever Dancing with the Stars starts its new season, I will be DVR'ing that as well. Of course, there are many more reality shows out there, but these are my current faves. And, yes, thank you very much, I DO indeed have a life, but this is my late-night outlet for unwinding.

Now, you out there who are reading this blog and say that you do NOT like reality TV, you are just in DENIAL. If you read blogs and/or have a blog, you are indeed into reality shows, just without running visuals, except for the occasional picture/video here and there.

So, here is my quick synopsis on what each reality show is about:

The Bachelor: Jason (this time a cute single dad of a 3 year old) is trying to ~~schtoop as many girls as possible~~ find the woman of his dreams to marry. The catch this season is that the girl who turned him down on The Bachelorette has decided she made a mistake, so she returns to get him back. So UNFAIR for those poor other women who really love him!

True Beauty: ten, supposedly gorgeous, people compete for the $100,000 and a spot in People Magazines 100 Most Beautiful People issue. What they don't realize is that they are not only be judged by their outer beauty, but by their inner beauty as well. If you ever doubted how completely caddy really beautiful people can be, then just watch one episode of this show. Hosted by the VERY beautiful Vanessa Minnillo (former MTV and ET host) and also Cheryl Tiegs (former model) and Nole Marin (fashion editor at Elle).

American Idol: Does anyone in the world NOT know what American Idol is about? I didn't think so. Back for season 8. They seem to be showing more of the talented singers this time and not QUITE so many of the total losers. So far, it seems like a very talented season.

The Biggest Loser: Super sized contestants compete for the title of the biggest loser by losing the most weight while on the ranch. They are split into groups working with two hard-core trainers, Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. One of two contestants who don't lose as much weight each week is voted out. I love, love, love to see these people transform themselves by good old fashioned diet and exercise.

Survivor: 16 victims, um, contestants will captivate and aggravate us in “Survivor: Tocantins — The Brazilian Highlands,” which debuts Feb. 12. This is one of the most “rugged locations” ever as the castaways will “battle scorching temperatures, torrential downpours, and dangerous wildlife.” This season, the castaways will be divided into two tribes from the very beginning and each tribe will immediately choose one member to leave behind. That means making a solid first impression will be essential. I personally applied to be on this show several times. They did not choose me. Their loss! Of course, there are 50,000 applicants, but hey, don't I stand out? I sent in a video of me neutering a dog, maybe that scared the male producers!

So, you now know what I will be doing every evening Monday-Thursday! Is there anybody out there more of an addict than me?

Pick of the Litter

2009-01-18T21:06:00.000-06:00

This weekend, my friend J, her mom, L, and I went on a roadtrip to pick out our puppies. At this point, I need to give you a little background. I am a mastiff dog lover and owner. Six months ago, I got a little male mastiff puppy that we named, Huck. He's my lap dog.

Anyway, Huck had an infection in his leg when he was a puppy so now he has a malformed knee. At this point, he gets around fine on his leg, but since he is going to be a big boy when fully grown (at least 165 lbs), I don't know how long he will be able to walk. Right now, there is nothing I can do surgically for his leg. So, because he is such a GREAT dog, I decided that I wanted to get one of his parents' puppies from the next litter, you know, just in case. His mom got pregnant again accidently six months later. She needed a c-section, so I did the c-section in exchange for the pick of the litter. She had 4 boys and 4 girls on December 19th. at 11:30. at night!

So, they are now 4 weeks old and boy are they oh so cute and huge!!

I chose this male, the biggest ~~pig~~ boy of the litter. His name is Dudley. I think he's quite studly!

Just look at this face! Isn't he so cute?

I get to go and pick him up on Valentine's Day!

I am so excited!

The Starting Line

2009-01-18T20:30:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my new blog. Why should I blog you may ask? I asked myself the same thing and my answer was Just Give It a Tri. Everyone else is, so why not? Of course, I don't think I am the creative writer that all of the other bloggers that I read seem to be. So, I will make an honest attempt for a time and see what happens. I'm hoping it is as fun to do as it is to read others. If you are reading this...thanks for giving it a tri. And, I spell it tri, since triathlons are a big part of my life.