Thursday, April 30, 2009

grover!

the countdown is on! tomorrow evening, after work, we are going to pick up our new puppy! his name is grover & he's a scottish terrier born on 2/23/09. the deposit has been paid and vet appointment made for saturday, along with a potty training seminar at petco. too bad he won't have his rabies shots by then because one of the local banks is having $5 microchipping on saturday as well. my pet lease has been signed with my landlord, s has a spare key so he can feed the little bugger and let him out during the day while i'm gone. yesterday after my infusion i went shopping with my friend who has a doggy (sprocket!) and we picked up a leash/collar and then she showed me this awesome locally owned pet store where i got a couple treats and toys. last weekend i moved all my furniture and took the rug-doctor to my carpet for the first time since it had been put in when i moved in 7 1/2 years ago. boy, did it need a good (not as thorough as i would've liked) cleaning. i've wanted a puppy for years and specifically a scottie for a couple. done lots of research, on all dogs and the breed specifically. i am so excited & so is s! i couldn't do this without him. i would've gotten a dog a long time ago, but for my work schedule and being away from the house for 9-10 hours on workdays. s will be indispensable because he's in school and can let the little fella out during daytime hours. if need be, i can rush home on lunch & let him out for all of ten minutes before running back to work at the hospital, but this way, he'll get all the attention he deserves! when i get home from work on my own laptop, i'll post the pics i have of grover (if you're on facebook you've already seen them), but expect more to be featured in the future after friday night. 31 more hours. i'm almost down to counting the minutes!
edited to add grover pics!

Labels: ,

Saturday, April 18, 2009

free roxana!

this morning, while checking my e-mail on yahoo i see an article titled "us journalist sentenced to 8 years in iran" or something similar. my first thought is 'oh no! please don't be roxana!' as i click and a new window opens to reveal a familiar face.
roxana saberi graduated from my alma mater, concordia college, a couple years ahead of me. it's not a huge school & i knew of her while we attended, but don't know her personally. over a month ago, i was led to a facebook group, release and return journalist roxana saberi from ir custody.
this seems to be the classic case of a country that trumps up whatever charges it wants to convict someone they deem a 'threat'. she had been living in iran the last 6 years as a freelance journalist, with dual citizenship (her father is iranian and her mother japanese & live in fargo, nd). as i understand it, roxana was initially charged with purchasing a bottle wine, illegal in muslim iran. then, they charged her with illegally practicing journalism after her press credentials were revoked in 2006. this morning reports of her trial, a one-day affair behind closed doors that her father was not allowed to attend, say that she has been convicted of espionage, spying & reporting back to the us government, and sentenced to 8 years in prison. she has already been held in evin prison outside tehran since january and is understandably deteriorating mentally and emotionally, if not physically. she has been talked out of a hungerstrike once. i cannot imagine being held in an iranian prison, let alone being a woman imprisoned in these circumstances.
this is truly a travesty of justice. her father says roxana told him that she had been coerced into confessing and recanted the charges. both senators from north dakota have expressed their concerns and hilary rodham clinton is involved as well and presented a petition to the iranian government. roxana's lawyer (thank goodness she has a lawyer!) has stated that he will appeal the conviction.
please, please, please if you are so moved, say a prayer for roxana or contact your own congressperson. i will be.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

water, water everywhere

i guess my parents' house is flooding. last night, mom said that it was predicted to crest with another 3' by tonight & the house could only withstand another 1 1/2' before the basement filled with water. in the 30+ years since my parents' built the house, they've never had water get into the basement. despite the fact that the river is directly across the road from the house, the foundation is built up enough to keep all but the worst flooding out.
my brother is activated with the national guard, so he can't help out much as they're sandbagging other places besides the folks' house down in that area & stationed at the armory 10 miles away. dad is running all over helping other people out, but not bothering about the antique dressers in the basement, the bedroom sets from my grandma's house, etc. as if mom could hoist a full size mattress up the stairs or the dressers on her own. she's already pooped from numerous trips up & down the stairs over the last week, trying to move things as the water threatened. her knees aren't that great to begin with & 100 trips up & down the stairs isn't much fun for the strain.
yesterday my dad was interviewed by the local news about the flooding and my mom had to one-up him by walking to the bridge nearby and running into the nd state governor inspecting the area. they had a nice chat.
my bff of 25 years sent me some pics her mom e-mailed of their place and the bridge near ours. you can see them on my facebook page. we all live within half a mile and then next door is the family business for the past 40 years. good luck selling that now once it's completely flooded.
the last flood i remember in that area was during my junior prom in 1996. almost didn't make it out for the banquet because water was running across the roads. and not that i remember it, but the spring after i was born, in 1979, my folks' had to bring me to my aunt & uncle's place in town rather than stay in the valley. in 2001, my college town flooded and then last summer iowa city. maybe s was right in that he told my mom last night that i'm a jinx.

Labels: ,

Sunday, April 05, 2009

furballs

last night we stopped by petland to play with the puppies. when we got in we cuddled the bunnies (oh suzanne! i want one! there was an adorable brown one who was so docile & had about 3 strands of white on the top of his head.) then we walked to the puppy area & strolled up the windows checking out what breeds they had. i have never heard of a chiweenie (chihuahua & weiner dog/dachsund?) it was actually pretty cute, despite s's complete disgust over chihuahas. it looked more like a doxie with a little chi in the face, but more weiner dog in the body, too.
s had to get out this tiny white puff of a pomeranian to play with. in the play area he was holding it in a ball & i told him it wasn't a popple. what's a popple? gah, then i did feel old because he doesn't remember them. hello, 1985. (you know, when he was two.)
next up was the love of my life, a 10-week old scottie boy. he had the sweetest disposition, possibly because it was almost bedtime. the worker was so short & he was in the top enclosure & the cairn terrier & the other pup in with him were all bouncy and wanted to go more than he did, but she finally rangled him. they didn't have any scotties the last time we went in to play last summer, so as much as my love for them, i'd never actually held one. he had such intelligent eyes & they're so noble looking, even in puppy form. he nibbled in camaraderie on s's beard. i think i like their beards more than schnauzers. they're so squat and solid for little dogs. and the black curly/wavy hair wasn't coarse yet because he's still young.
then i had to put him away & s asked for the shiranian (shih tzu/pomeranian), which is what the sales girl had at home. she said if her landlord would let her, she would've already taken that little girl home to be a companion dog to her 1-year old pup. the thing was a hyper terror, but cute with the little black curly tail brushing the hair on her back & giving her a flat top. she nipped & chewed on my hand and she was a climber, a little daredevil. when she wasn't trying to dig up the paint spot on the floor of the playpen or escape by digging out of the corner of the play area.
on the way out we played with the bunnies again. i couldn't get over how they don't smell at all and yet the guinea pigs & hamsters right next to them are so smelly. and this morning i still want to take that little scottie home with me. (i'd never buy from petland, but there's a scottie breeder a few hours north of here that has 2 black little boys left, 13 weeks old & i may have to contact them to see how much they are. i was going to replace my 13 year old tube tv this weekend, but who needs a tv when i can be entertained by a puppy?)

Labels: ,

blarg!

so this has apparently turned into a whiny, medical blog. if and when i deign to post. it really feels like there's not much going on, even though there occasionally is. work is sapping my energy, so that i barely feel like functioning or doing anything when i get home. i'm lucky if i get around to picking up my dirty laundry & putting it in the new hamper i bought last month to replace the one i'd had since i was 10.
last monday i went to the gi doctor for a 6 month check-up because his nurse had called to tell me it was time. when i got there both the doc & the nurse asked what i was being seen for/why i came into the clinic. uh, you tell me? i only set up the appointment because i was told it was time & i figured it'd be good to discuss the weird lab results from the rheumatologist.
okay, so i hopped up on the table, he taps my belly & listens with the stethoscope, tells me he thinks i should continue on the remicade infusions since it doesn't seem i've developed any antibodies to it.
wait! but i do have an allergic reaction, which is why dr. f at the cancer center only lets me infuse at 60 (mg/mL- i think that's the right measurement).
at that comment dr. t looks at me like that's the first time he's ever heard that. so apparently, dr. f doesn't dictate anything about my every 7 week visit or when i had an allergic reaction to the freakin' benadryl or breaking out in hives when they sped up the infusion on 4 separate occasions, which is why they no longer go above 60. not to mention the fact that i had told him myself when i was feeling so sick all of last september & they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. he just shrugged & said that there didn't seem to be any reason to stop the remicade.
then he told me the good news. oh happy day. because i've had colitis for 10 years (diagnosed in june of 1999), i'm due for a colonoscopy. after 10 years, people have an insanely higher risk of colon cancer (something like 50 or 60%, i'll have to look it up because i can't remember the exact number). i've had my share of flexible sigmoidoscopies over the years, i think 6, but never a full colonoscopy. and after having a sedated flex sig when i was in the hospital in september 2007, i am never going to get another unsedated one. they are extremely painful in comparison. not that they usually do unsedated colonoscopies. at least at mercy, unlike the gi clinic where i work, they only use half-lytely instead of the whole gallon bowel prep.
i scheduled it for september because there's so much going on in the next few months: at work, blogher, s moving, my brother's wedding, possibly getting a puppy in that timeframe (squeee!!) probably should just get it over & done with, but there's no real rush.
what a thing to look forward to in the very near future. lucky me!

Labels: , ,

Counter
Free Web Site Counter