Here I am at the end of my second week back to work and I guess it's about time for an update. I've been so busy, tired, and obsessed with watching season one of Lost again that I haven't had time to write or think about everything that happened three weeks ago. The whole short trip of being pregnant and its sudden end seems like a very distant, surreal dream. I feel back to normal...Until I get an email from an old friend who hasn't heard and wants to know how I'm progressing and do I need a highchair or anything else because she's getting rid of most of her baby stuff? Then I have to tell her in an email on my lunch break and I sit and stare at the screen for a long time because I don't know how to say it. And once again, I am blown away.
But, not for long, because its finally full-blown spring. We had a few days break from the rain and I got in line with the entire population in a ten mile radius to buy some spring plants. The pond we built last year is well established, now we have to do something about the barren wasteland surrounding it. So, I went on a spree and bought coral bells, campanula, anemones, thrift, bunny grass (oh, how pro-Easter!), a fuschia some geraniums and lots and lots of lobelia. Then I got some seeds. I discovered the native plant, clarkia last summer on a camping trip at the Lewis and Clark national park (get it, clarkia?) , the sweet smell of stocks makes me swoon and will always remind me of my wedding boquet, impatiens are the only thing that grow on my shady front porch and I just love sweet peas. They are just beginning to sprout in the peat pots and now I have to do my least favorite part: selective reduction. How do I choose?
In other news, I wasn't the only member of my family that had medical issues over spring break. The limp Dexter occasionally experienced was finally getting too bad to ignore and we had to take a DEEP breath and make a trip to the vet. Why was yoga meditation necessary to see the doggy doctor, you ask? Well, my darling, sweet furry boy has some issues. He is not the most popular dog at the clinic. I'm sure his file has a big fat red flag on it as a warning to all who DARE treat him. It usually takes me, Dan, the entire veterinary staff and some very strong sedatives to hold my boy down. We knew this visit would definately include being touched by the vet and most likely some X-rays. It put fear in our hearts. This was the day we always knew would eventually come and we had been dreading for years.
But, I was proactive. I asked them for a sedative to give him the morning before and I borrowed a muzzle. Yes, sad, maybe a little cruel, but very necessary. They gave me two muzzle sized to choose from. I chose the bigger one. That was the only flaw in my plan. He was still able to snap a few inches, so they asked me to take it off. Once he had that thing off, do you think he was even ABOUT to let me get near him again with another one? Yeah, you're right. They had to knock him out. A team of three veterinary staff managed to give him an injection and they locked me into a room with him and told me to wait 10-15 minutes and he would be out. Well, 30-45 minutes later, he finally gave in and they X-rayed him.
Dexter has arthritis in his shoulders and there is a mysterious loose item rolling around his right socket. It might be a bone chip, it might be a piece of ligament. The vet recommended arthroscopic surgery. Um, don't hate me...I love my dog, but arthroscopic surgery? That definately will surpass my $1,000 limit (Dan says $500, which the last visit nearly reached). So, while I sit here in denial, hoping a miracle occurs, I remembered last December when we went X-country skiing and that whole family flew down the hill on a mattress and clipped Dexter. He was mad!! After that every little girl in a pink snowsuit on a saucer was his sworn enemy, on the same list with veterinary staff. That must have been when it happened. My dog has a skiing injury.
little fifth grade level math to figure out what can become of my pond in a just few generations. Anybody know anybody with a hungry pirhana? Any good carp recipes? Do you think I could crumble up some birth control pills and mix them in with the de-chlorinator?
