Flapper Hat

Hat
Originally uploaded by jillio76

It was so cold and windy today but I was determined to get out and test the camera. What do you think?

Just a Tuesday Night Update

So we've kind of had a lot happening lately but my camera has been an issue. I finally bought a new one today so I'll be obsessively taking pictures again soon, I'm sure. Let's see...my car kept claiming that it was having transmission and brake failures but the problem was solved with a new battery. Avery had a fever for a solid 5 days and was a very miserable little lady. The only good thing about it was that we were able to sit for hours on end and read books. We had a whole stack of "big girl" books waiting for us in the closet and we found some new favorites. She's decided Santa is her hero since it's January. She was introduced to him multiple times in December but she didn't think he was very cool then. The idea is just now sinking in. Her monkey books are still number one but Santa is running a pretty close second right now. She was pretty pitiful but with a gallon of Motrin and some bed rest, she's back in full force now. Dixie is still being held captive in the pack 'n' play in the living room. She's pretty pitiful too but the dang dog actually pulls on the leash and tries to run, even with her knee bone cracked in two, when I take her outside. So, bed rest for her too for the next 8 weeks. The playpen setup isn't bugging me too much now but ask me again at the end of this recovery phase. Here's a video of Dixie, Avery and Snoopy on a pretty average day here in Houston.

Doggie Prayers - Please Begin

So after a false alarm today, Dixie is at the vet (all alone!) awaiting her surgery first thing in the morning. She went in this morning and was all psyched up but two emergency fractures came in and they had to go first. So, I asked if we could go get her but they said it was best just to let her sleep there and be the first surgery tomorrow. Don't worry, she's got her sleeping bag with her.

It is so quiet around here without her. This morning Avery asked where Dixie was and I told her she'd gone to school with Dada. Sure enough, as soon as Mason walked in the door Avery said, "And Dixie, too?" Not sadly, just matter of factly since that's what I'd told her. Dang. I keep forgetting about that ever lengthening memory of hers.

Anyway, please send kind wishes to Dixie in the morning and, as soon as I replace my camera that died on Mason's China trip, I'll post some pictures of the recovery.

Our Other Little Girl

Our friend, Dixie, is the sweetest dog in the whole world and about the craziest, most active girl we've ever met. She goes nonstop and greets people with her whole body. (This is a positive post so let's not mention the piercing barking that goes along with the greeting.) She is only about 6 and loves to swim and play fetch a million times a day if we let her. We noticed last year that she wasn't moving quite as fast anymore and that she'd yelp sometimes when she'd go get the ball. We took her to the vet and they said it was just hip displaysia but not severe enough to do anything about. I was heartbroken because this hasn't slowed down her enthusiasm to play and I couldn't explain to her why I wouldn't throw the ball for her anymore. Now things have gotten so bad that she won't even put any weight on her left leg and will hop around on three legs. Even still it doesn't slow her down and she brought me the ball again today. Well, the bad (and good) news is that the problem is actually a knee problem (Avery calls it Dixie's "ouchie knee.") and it's going to require surgery. The vet (where we went for a second opinion) said she's actually torn the ligament in her knee and her bones rub together when she puts weight on it, causing her pain. It requires an 8 to 10 week recovery time which will mean that she's kenneled for that entire time, at home, and taken out to pee on a leash. That's going to be tough for us (just cause we'll be sad) but Mason and I have both agreed that we'll do that for her, of course. The good news is that, the surgery, which requires a metal plate, a few pins in her leg and one night away from home, is 85 -95% effective, so by summer she should be back to her old self! I CAN'T WAIT! I've felt so terrible for her not being able to play and I'm so relieved that there's a solution and an end in sight. We'll keep you posted on the surgery so you can say a little doggie prayer for her.

Why I Don't Cook

I made calzones. From scratch. With flour. It was one of the few times in my life I've actually used flour for something and not a boxed mix. I used a package of yeast to make the dough nice and doughy and I even let it rise overnight. The next night I was preparing the innards for the calzones with my mom and Avery in the kitchen over a period of about 30 minutes. Avery was toddling around at our feet minding her own business as we minded ours. We weren't paying too much attention to her because she's pretty self-sufficient these days and is usually so busy taking care of her Baby Katie that she doesn't do anything else. That night was different. We were browning the sausage when we looked down and found Avery walking away with a large box of Cascade. Yikes! We stopped her in her tracks, giggled to ourselves about our poor babysitting skills and went back to cooking. We were mixing the cheeses when from around the corner came Avery with a large jar of Miracle Grow tucked casually under her arm like a football. Again, we stopped her, chastised ourselves and moved on. Not five minutes later Avery had a scrub brush on a stick and was really scrubbing on the breaker box with the door to it wide open. She was on a mission to clean that thing right up. Not sure who installs a breaker box that low but at my parents' house it's right at Avery's eye level and it must have been dirty. We realized that in order to get dinner on the table at a decent hour we needed backup so we yelled for Pops. He was on his way down the hall to hang out with Avery when he said, completely seriously, "Who put the golf tee in the electrical outlet?!" Oops.

Lost and Found - Then Almost Stolen

Tonight we're in FW (note previous posts about never ever being home) and we were heading back from dinner when we found a very cute Spaniel sort of a dog standing in the middle of a residential intersection. It was a 4 way stop, no crazy traffic or anything but still. He was standing out there and his mom was nowhere to be seen. So I got out of my car to ask him where he lived and he very willingly hopped right into my mom's lap in the backseat. We drove around for a few minutes looking for someone who might look like they lost their dog (you can always tell) to no avail. He was wearing a bark collar type thing but no tags. (PEOPLE, PUT TAGS ON YOUR DOGS!) My mom had the genius idea to take him to the 24 hour vet nearby to see if he had a microchip. Voila. He did. (Avery's will be put in next week.) Meanwhile he and my mom had gotten to know each other and she was even showing off his excellent behavior to a bystander in the waiting room. We were given the phone number and address to his mom's house. We had jokingly discussed how it was very possible that the dog lived right where we picked him up so our valiant rescue efforts could have just as easily been a kidnapping. He ended up living about 4 blocks from where we found him so he actually had gone on quite a stroll. We find the house and it's totally dark. I knock. No answer but the TV mutes. (Please keep in mind that the microchip people who gave me the address said that the owners had already reported him missing so I'm thinking we're dealing with frantic, loving parents who are beside themselves and wouldn't eat or sleep until their pup was safe and sound.) I knock again. Nothing. The house is creepy. I yell, "Hello?" Still thinking that they must be so worried that it's good for me to persevere. I start walking around to the back wondering what my gravestone will read if I'm shot in someones dark, spooky backyard trying to do a good deed. Suddenly, a guy around 20 walks out in his white socks and Rob Zombie t-shirt, clearly unconcerned. By this point, Malvey (so named for the street where we had found our new dog) had very comfortably lounged his filthy, smelly, very cute self onto my mom's brand new jacket and it hadn't taken us long to decide we loved him. I ask if he's lost his dog and yes, he has. He walks to the back of my car and greets the dog by saying,
"Luke, you're in trouble."
What?!
How about "Luke, I missed you! I'm so sorry I'm a jackass and I left the gate/fence/door open and you got lost and spent your evening cold and scared. I'm so happy these people were able to bring you home! Let's go sit on the couch together, eat some Beggin' Strips and talk about what happened."
Suddenly we were very sad. We wished we had just kept Luke because he was a very good dog. The hour we spent together was a happy hour. My mom claims that the owner was stoned. (She thinks anyone who walks outside in a black Rob Zombie t-shirt and white socks is stoned.) The phone number we had to call for Luke's mom had a voicemail with an older, momish sounding person so we're making ourselves feel better by figuring that it was the mom who called the microchip company to report Luke missing. Then, she had to work the night shift to pay for her son's drug habit and had no choice but to leave for work to pay the bills. The son then got baked on the couch, as usual, and totally forgot about Luke. He couldn't answer the door when I first knocked because he was hiding his stash. Now, as the story in my head goes, Luke's mom is home and has showered Luke with the love (and hopefully soap and water) he deserves and she's forever grateful to the generous strangers who spent an hour helping Luke get back home. We miss you, Luke.

I fixed it!

Okay, I'm getting better at my pictures but it's taken me two hours and it's 12:15. My kids had better thank me someday for this blog thing. I finally figured out how to put the pictures in the middle of the text by copying and pasting the HTML. See Christmas. If you girls know of an easier way please do share. Seems like I should just be able to drag them where I want them to go but that's not the case. Guess I can't complain since the people at Blogger are a whole lot smarter than me. Any input would be appreciated.

Testing My Audience

Robin and Jason

Robin and Mason

你好

That says "hello" in Chinese. Since Mason is there for 10 days we're hoping he gets the message. We got one email from him saying that he ate duck tongue. He said a lot more but I lost my concentration after reading that part. What's the point of eating duck tongue? It can't be big so I'm not sure why you'd even pay enough attention to yank it out and cook it.

I'm not sure if I have no news because I'm tired or because I really have no news. The most exciting thing I can think of is that Megan changed the sensitivity on my mouse and I'm a new woman. I can fly through my tasks like never before. No more dragging across the screen. Zip zip and I'm done.

I think Avery has spent a total of two nights in her own bed since mid-December because we keep dragging her out of town. She's here for one night tonight and tomorrow we're heading to Fort Worth. With Mason being gone for so long we're trying to keep ourselves occupied and I think we're actually a little too good at it. We went to Austin for 3 days and helped Maggie and Katherine eat, drink and be merry over their baptism weekend. Now Gram and Pops are awaiting Avery's arrival with a battery operated car Gram found on super sale. I guess they've already tested it out and they said that she's going to need a helmet. Seems like most activities with Gram and Pops require helmets. Should make for a wild and crazy weekend.

Cute Christmas Girl

New Year's 2007!

Happy 2008! We had a great trip to Austin and spent a very cold night at the lake for New Year's. Shannon, Kevin and Beckett joined us and we had a very relaxed evening. We were able to get a few smores down the hatch before Kevin made the executive decision that it was way too cold to be outside by the fire. He was right. We went back in for a little Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve (where Shannon made the executive decision that Dick should go ahead and call it a day) and then played some intense Sequence until 3 am.

In other (and very tragic) New Year's news, we learned during a New Year's Dinner trip to Trudy's on South Lamar that it's going to be moving. Where it stands now, it's only a couple of minutes from Matt and Megan's house and we all visit it regularly. As of January 27th, it's moving further down I-35 and Matt has declared that they'll no longer be going. We won't either. Dang! We'll miss you, Trudy's!

Home!

So we're back home after a whirlwind few weeks of eating and visiting and opening and eating and visiting. Our holiday started with Mason taking me on an awesome surprise birthday dinner date to Fleming's. Avery went to the Hamlins for the day and night so we also got some shopping done. Then, it was off to Montana with the whole group. We flew up with Mason's parents and my parents and Matt and Myra were there waiting for us. Megan, Matt, Maggie and Katherine joined us soon thereafter and we had a great time. My mom had the house decorated with lots of things to get us in the spirit and they were even able to have a lot of snow ready for our arrival. It was COLD! There were stockings for everyone (including Kelly and Big P who had to stay at home awaiting their baby) and lots of good food. The Hamlins got a tour of the town, we had great meals at home and in Whitefish and got lots of sledding in too. A few of the highlights were...

the girls sledding

Maggie skiing (she's only 2 1/2!)

a great Christmas Eve dinner

Gram's daily drawer presents for Maggie and Avery

Avery's obsession with Baby "Kafferum" and babies in general

and everyone getting to spend time just hanging out.

There was also a cute little set of blocks that was supposed to read "Merry Christmas" and other such appropriate messages, unless it was Friday.