27 posts from February 2009

Another year gone by...

Feb 28, 2009
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*sigh* Time is definitely moving fast and faster these days. It is nasty and raining and generally yucky out - I feel like I am back home in Seattle today. The day was spent hanging out with the dogs...Neil has other obligations for the day. I will admit, I am disappointed, but unless I do the planning on my own and make sure it gets into his calendar it is almost guaranteed that something else will come up. And I just can't bring myself to plan my own friggin' birthday.

Unfortunately, Marly has no concept of sleeping in, so we were up at 7am on the dot. I swear, I don't even need an alarm clock any more. I ran a couple errands today - picked up a heavy-duty extension cord for the treadmill so that I can use it until I can finally get an electrician out here to fix the circuit.

My dad actually remembered my birthday today, but I think only because my sister and mom ran into him last night when my sis and BIL took her out for her birthday dinner. (Her birthday was yesterday.) I got some very cute kitchen towels from my sister. And yesterday Neil played hooky and took me shopping for these:

Lucchese1

I have been wanting boots for about as long as I can remember...we found these and got a great deal on them. Either this evening or tomorrow I will condition them and waterproof them so I can start wearing them.

I still have tomorrow and Monday before I go back to work. Thank goodness I am not traveling this coming week. If you can believe it, they are predicting snow next week here....in March. Insanity.

Not much else to tell right now...both dogs are staring me down (dinner time in 10 minutes). I guess I should go feed them and maybe myself too.

Monday stuff...

Feb 23, 2009
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Still trying to wake up. I went to bed relatively early last night and did not want to get up this morning. Marly wrenched my back yesterday which is bothering me a lot today. She decided to chase one of the cats across the yard when I wasn't paying attention and whipped my arm and then body around pretty hard. At least I managed to hang on to the leash so she didn't keep on going!

I started both dogs back on the Solid Gold Seameal yesterday. I stopped the acetylator with Moo - it is used as a digestive aid, but in reading up on it, I wasn't happy with some (most) of the "side-effects" that it can have. So far so good...both dogs seem to love it. They lick it off the food before they eat the food itself! And then they both spend a good deal of time licking their empty bowls to make sure they got it all. *laugh*

I will finish out the metronidazole, though, since it is an antibiotic.

Sadie has had no problems switching back to the NV, thank goodness. Poor gal, I did it cold turkey not thinking about it because Moo was on medication that would help with digestion issues anyway and I wanted to get her off the other stuff ASAP because her system was so screwed up. They are also getting their salmon oil again and Sadie is getting her chondroitin/glucosamine supplements for her knees.

All in all, they both seem to have a ton of energy (Moo is driving me nuts this morning!) and have been playing a lot more than they had been recently. Then again, that could also be Spring Fever...it has been pretty and sunny and cold here the past several days. Actually, cold at night and in the 40's-50's during the day. I think this weekend I will get around to doing the fertilizer stakes for all the shrubs and trees and even putting down the last of the bagged red rock on the bed under the bedroom window. If I am feeling ambitious after that, I might even cut back the dead clematis vines, trim the evergreen shrubs and weed the planting beds. I think I am going to let the crepe myrtles grow another season before doing any trimming on them.

I am ready for Spring. The spirea all have itty-bitty leaves on them...they will be pretty this year. I am going to move the one in front of my bedroom window over to that corner of the house, but I will need to wait until it is a little warmer and we aren't freezing overnight anymore. That will be a few weeks. It needs more sun that it gets where it is now, and I have decided to wait with transplanting all the shrubs in that bed since I don't have the funds to replace them with anything right now.

My friend who had found me on Facebook has her own green bridal clothing design company, Conscious Clothing. It is funny, because I had heard of her company via one of the Ideal Bite newsletters that I get emailed to me, but I never bothered to click the link because I wasn't in the market or interesting in bridal gowns (this was before I knew it was her company). What a small world!! She said Ideal Bite also did an interview with her at the San Francisco show, and are planning to add video to their website. When they do, her interview will be viewable there. She is one of my favorite people ever, so I wanted to share her accomplishments!

OK, my work computer finally seems to be up and running properly so it is time to get some things finished over there.

My dogs...

Feb 22, 2009
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...are embarrassingly obnoxious when people come to the door. I sure wish I could figure out how to get them to listen to me and stop barking when I tell them to (or at least cut it to a whisper bark). *sigh*

The poor little Girl Scout that came to the door was slightly traumatized I think.

Random update...

Feb 22, 2009
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Dogs are both happy to be back on the NV (they told me so!). Both of their tummies seem to be much happier now. Moo is on medicine for a few more days, but after that things should hopefully be back to normal. In fact, I think the one medicine is actually upsetting her a little.

Cats are....cats. They are pretty much happy with life in general.

Work is a short week coming up (just Mon and Tues - YAY!).

This weekend was a lazy one and next weekend will be too. Though, later today I need to go run some errands.

My best friend from high school found me on Facebook yesterday and I am absolutely thrilled!!!

Home!

Feb 20, 2009
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Whew! I experienced the scariest plane landing of my life yesterday. (Even scarier than the time we essentially crash landed our small plane when I was young!!!) It was crazy windy here in Charlotte yesterday and as we were coming down we bounced around all over the place. That in and of itself never bothers me, but just as we were about six feet off the runway, the wind either suddenly changed direction or gusted and tipped the left wing so that it almost hit the runway! The pilot did a great job of righting the plane and then literally flying us down into the runway in order to get the wheels on the ground.

Even taxiing to the gate was crazy, we were bouncing and blowing all over the place.

I am just really, really glad to be home.

In doggie news - Moo had been having a heck of a time with adjusting to the CORE food. While she was at the Inn, they noticed that she had blood in her poop. I figured it was coming if the diarrhea didn't get under control (I am just thankful that it was just the upset causing it and not something she ate tearing up her insides!). They took her up to the vet there who put her on acetylator (to help aid digestion and tummy health) and metronidazole (to fight bacterial issues in the tummy tract). Apparently she had some bacterial giardia stuff going on! Poor girl. She seems MUCH better now. And, I am SO impressed with the company I found online that carries the Nature's Variety food! I had ordered it before I left on Tuesday and it arrived here yesterday via UPS ground! So, the dogs are now back on that.

For my East Coast friends looking for some hard to find pet items - Care-a-Lot Pet Supply is located in VA Beach and has a great selection of natural dog & cat foods and other supplies. (They don't carry ONLY natural stuff, but it seems the majority of their products are - at least in the food area.) Their shipping is very reasonable (especially taking into consideration that their prices are WAY lower than anything I have seen in a brick and mortar store around here). Including the shipping costs, I got a 30 lb bag of NV Salmon Prairie (which always makes me laugh because I picture fish swimming in a field of grass) for $15 less than it would have cost me to get it from the local pet store here - and it arrived at my doorstep! I am all for supporting local businesses, but unfortunately with the price hike on this food, this deal was too good to pass up. The health of my dogs is more important to me than supporting local business.

My only "gripe" is that their site isn't the easiest to navigate, but their search function works just fine and the food section is set up nicely (you can shop by brand).

Anyway, once Moo is done with the acetylator I am going to also put both dogs back on the Solid Gold Seameal supplement (along with fish oil).

Not much else to report - no team call today which is nice. It is sunny but cold here. My mom is coming to visit in May (YAY!) and her birthday is next Friday - need to get her a present. I still need to paint the bathroom ceiling (next week on my days off). I should have my new glasses next week (also YAY!).

OK I give up...

Feb 17, 2009
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Both dogs did so well on the NV food...this is driving me insane looking for new food to feed them. I have no true idea what the problem is, if it is environment, food, or otherwise. All I know is that constantly changing up their food can't be helping matters.

I am going to go back to the NV salmon which they both loved and did find on. I was reading back through old entries and neither of them had any major skin/itching problems until I took them off the NV. Sadie has always been itchy, but she was much less so on that food. There was the bout of really bad runs with the venison variety, but I have heard from several people that many dogs find venison hard to digest. I think Moo's ear problem was truly a result of the river water and gunk and not an allergy thing.

When I get back from PA I will order some online (unless the pet store actually has some in), and then I will work with the store owners to try to figure out an ordering cycle so that I am sure to have it on hand.

Dog-proof doorstops?

Feb 15, 2009
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I am coming up blank for ideas for door stops that would be Marly-proof. My office door tends to swing shut on its own and I'd usually rather it stay open, but the doorway area is somewhat cramped due to the layout of the room so I can't put anything too bulky in front of the door. I did have just a regular rubber doorstop, but then we got Moo and discovered she liked to eat them.

Any ideas? I will continue to scour the house for something suitable.

In other news - I got a second shelf installed in the office closet so I have more office-supply storage space now. I also have room to put the paper recycle bin in there which is how I am now able to keep the office door open (once I get the desks cleaned off).

I never made it to Home Depot to get another gallon of paint to finish the bathroom ceiling, so that will have to wait until next weekend.

Tuesday I head to PA (again). I hope it doesn't snow on me there...I am ready for spring. The week after that I am taking more time off - the excuse is that it is my birthday week, but mostly I am SO tired of work that I just need the break. Maybe I will start the last painting project...the final coat in the dining room will be easy. After that I can get started on the kitchen. Or, maybe I will postpone that a bit longer and just take the week to relax.

Doggie Dental

Feb 14, 2009
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I just did the grossest thing ever...I used the same doggie toothbrush on both dogs! Ha!

Moo had a little tartar starting to build up on her upper canines, so I got out the toothbrush. And since I was already at it, Sadie got a little brushing too. I just can't quite figure out how to get at the back teeth...I imagine I will figure it out over some time.

Both dogs totally love the doggie toothpaste (vanilla flavor). Weirdos.

According to the animals, Spring has definitely sprung. They are all shedding like mad. After spending about 20 minutes with each dog and a brush, I also brushed Bandit (for the first time ever and he LOVED it). I can't believe the hair that came off of all of them. In the morning I need to vacuum...I probably should daily, but that just isn't going to happen.

Biltmore photos!

Feb 14, 2009
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Biltmore_1

I finally figured out how to use the Flickr plug-in in Lightroom so I could upload some photos from my trip to Biltmore from last summer! These were from the trip I took up there in July with my dad. We did the behind the scenes tour (which I highly recommend - it is indeed worth the money!) which takes you literally behind the scenes...up into the attic, into rooms that are currently being restored, etc. Unfortunately, there are no cameras (well, no use of cameras) allowed inside the house.

There are hundreds of gargoyles surrounding the house which are quite fascinating. They range from traditional to whimsical like the monkey and bear below. You can see the entire set on my Flickr page.

Biltmore_12

Vision wear is where the money is!

Feb 13, 2009
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UPDATED to add links to frames:

Scott Harris - Tortoise w/ blue background
Guess - Black w/ reddish/dark pink background

Seriously! Thank goodness for Costco. The private practice wanted $140 just for the lenses and then additional for the anti-glare coating, etc. Unfortunately, Costco does not do tinted lenses. Instead, I opted to get just regular lenses in the second set of frames (which I also paid way too much for at the private practice office and next time will purchase at Costco). $75 for the lenses with the anti-glare coating...they will be back in 7-10 business days.

I decided to go this route because the other pair will have the Transitions lenses in them. Since I really do plan to work more on my photography in 2009, I wasn't sure I wanted both pairs of glasses to always be darker during daylight hours outside. This will give me the option of a pair that won't tint or change colors and such when I am looking around.

Worst case, someday I swap out the plain lenses for either tinted (to make them permanently sunglasses) or the Transitions lenses. The other frames aren't quite right to be full-time sunglasses, but this pair would do nicely for that...

At any rate, I am excited to get them both back and start wearing them. They are both very different and will be nice, fun accessories to my wardrobe. (Another goal for 2009 is to start paying a little more attention to what I look like before I leave the house...and trust me, 'a little more attention' is not going to make me any sort of fashion slave!)