There's an interesting post floating around personal finance blogging circles today about the rising level of consumer spending on pets. Of course, the discussion has touched on the "pets as kids" debate and on how much is "too much" to spend on pets.

My take is that "too much" is relative, based on your levels of income and other expenses. And each person has to prioritize based on their particular situation. Seems kind of like a "duh" concept to me, but it's really surprising how worked up people get when this topic comes up.

I don't currently spend a lot on Rennie, because I'm trying to dig myself out of debt. But she is well-cared-for, has everything she needs and is, in general, a happy pooch. My costs for her right now run about $700/year:

• Annual exams, preventative medical stuff (like heartworm) and vaccinations, plus periodic county registration costs: ~$230/year
  
• Special "low-residue" food that keeps her tummy from getting upset (and thus, keeps her out of the vet's office!): $30 every three months (~$120/year)
  
• Rawhide, Dingo brand Bones: 1/2 bag a month, or so, at $19.99 (~$120/year)
  
• Treats and toys (~$30/year)
  
• Misc. care items like shampoo/conditioner, toothbrushes/toothpaste (yes, really) and other random things: ($25/year)
  
• Veterinary Pet Insurance, $14.82/month ($178/year)
  

You will notice that there are no "training" costs up there. Going with Rennie to classes is one thing we both really miss, but when I started to live on a budget (i.e. within my means) the cost of obedience classes was just too prohibitive. I simply had too much debt to justify it. This hasn't always been the case: when Rennie was a puppy I had to prioritize her training classes because I just didn't know enough to train her myself and, well, she was a puppy. You gotta train puppies. So I did it and I have no regrets. But she is now (mostly) well-behaved and so the need for training classes just isn't as urgent.

Continue reading "Pets and Money: Finding a Balance" »

Posted by Zee at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So I promised some shots of the house-re-arrangement, and now that I have a little bit of time to sit on my heiny and surf the net, I figured I'd post some pretty pitchers for ya'll to see.

A couple weeks back, during my vacation, I put together a plan using Better Homes & Gardens' Arrange-a-Room tool and over the course of my vacation I managed to schedule an appointment to have a new cable outlet installed, clean the house and rearrange the room. I was a bit skeptical that the plan would work - since BHG's room tool sometimes makes it look like there's more space than there really is - but as I was so tired of my apartment being arranged as it was, I decided to give the new arrangement a shot.

And you know what? It worked out!!

Continue reading "Updates of the Household Variety" »

Posted by Zee at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't think I've ever truly had a nervous breakdown. I mean, I've gotten really freaked out before, and a little bit nuts on occasion (okay, often) but completely losing my shit? Doesn't happen very often.

But, people, last week? Hands down, the single worst week of my professional life. (And I'm including in that the two-and-a-half week, cross-country press tour which culminated in my first - and so far only - bout with Optic Neuritis.) And it's not even one Big Huge Thing that happened last week to put me over the edge; rather, it was some toxic combination of too much work coupled with not enough people to do said work, topped by everything going wrong that could go wrong and sprinkled with a number of tiny little nitpicky things showing up over the course of the week adding up, all of which resulted in me working 45 hours over the course of 4 days (two of them being 13-hour days).

By the end of the day on Thursday I was near tears and, quite literally, could not string together a sentence more complex than, "I'm soooo tired," or "Umm... no." (And, strictly speaking, that last one isn't exactly a sentence...) And the saddest part was, I couldn't even take the entire weekend off: I ended up working about 6 hours yesterday as well, just to catch up on the things I should have done last week while I was busy fighting fires.

Continue reading "Losing it. For Real" »

Posted by Zee at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I am back! Back from my (unintentional) blogging hiatus, back from my mini-break to the Oregon coast with Mr. Norris, back to "real" life. And real life, apparently, includes more fatigue. And more depression. And some regular ole crankiness that stemmed from said depression and fatigue, and also from trying to vacation peacefully with one's significant other.

People, Mr. Norris is a saint. I mean, he doesn't have a halo or anything (at least, not one that I've seen), and I'm pretty sure he's not dead and that he's not been blessed as such by the Pope in Rome, but the fact that he puts up with a very cranky and depressed me, and seems to like me anyway... well, that is pretty remarkable. Frankly, I think I'm getting the better end of the deal in this relationship, but he seems happy so I'll take it.

So, the weekend:
Thursday night, Mr. Norris arrived around 7 and we hung out and talked for a little while and then opened gifts and ate some salad while we waited for dinner to finish cooking. Our valentine's day, and indeed the whole weekend, was very low key: I made herb roasted Cornish Game Hens (because those little birds are so darned CUTE!), roasted baby red potatoes and steamed green beans for dinner and our gifts were similarly small and low key. He gave me a couple of cute and sweet cards, Season II ofBoston Legal, and a yummy vegan raspberry treat. I got him a Moleskine Sketchbook, a skin kit for men by Dermalogica (my favorite skin care products ever) and some yummy little treats like PEZ and Ghiradelli chocolate squares filled with caramel, along with a card. All in all, a very quiet and enjoyable if not uber-romantic evening. (Which, let's face it, is a bit over-rated to begin with...)

Continue reading "Post-Valentine's Day Report" »

Posted by Zee at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

People, I've been BUSY! And by busy, I mean, I've been doing something besides going to the neurologist and/or writing on my blog complaining about my neurologist!

Mostly I've been spending time with Mr. Norris, which is delightful and lovely. We've continued to learn about one another and deepen our relationship. I will leave it at that for the moment: suffice to say we have yet to exit the sickeningly sweet stage and I couldn't be happier.

Yesterday we went over to his friend's house for the Super Bowl, so I got to meet several folks who've known him for long periods of time. They were quite nice and, I'm happy to report, seeing him with his friends made me like him all the more. (I don't understand how, or why, that is, so I'm just going to go with it...)

Despite the party being on Super Bowl Sunday, it could most accurately be described as a "Multi-player Halo 2 Party." This involved networking together a number of XBoxes in order to accomplish mass alien killings over the course of several hours. I only managed to rack up about 12 kills in the 8 or so games we played, so as you might guess, I was not all that well-respected for my Halo-playing skills. Still, I earned big brownie points with Mr. Norris, who earned the respect of his buddies. (Apparently, girlfriends who like to play video games are something of a rarity.)

Next weekend, for Valentine's Day, we're headed to the coast for a couple nights. Should be great to get away for a couple days and spend some romantic time together. And also, I think it'll be a good test of our ability to be together for hours on end: if we don't want to kill each other after 48 hours straight, we'll be in great shape for a long-term relationship! (I don't expect any problems in this area, but never hurts to do little experiments, right? ;-)

Continue reading "In which I actually DO something with my life..." »

Posted by Zee at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Holy cow, people ... remember this post? The one where I thought I was feeling better and boy-oh-boy this Copaxone stuff is The Shit and wow... life is great?!

Yeah, what did I know!?

On Saturday I finally got in to see my psychiatrist and - of all things - he prescribed Ritalin! Apparently there are a number of studies that have shown that Ritalin enhances the effectiveness of anti- depressants. Since I'm at the top dose now for one of my meds and he was wary of increasing that above the recommended dosage, he thought the Ritalin might work well - particularly given my lack of focus and general scatterbrainedness when depression sets in. So he prescribed the lowest possible dose to be taken up to 3 times a day (or as needed).

Continue reading "So this is how normal feels..." »

Posted by Zee at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

So I don't have time at the moment to detail all the ways this dog makes me think, "wow, that's so Rennie!," so I offer you simply this:

Go read that post. All of it. It is well worth your time.

Posted by Zee at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

And that's about the extent of what I have to say about Halloween. I hope y'all are enjoying your night of ghostly goblins and doorbells ringing and dogs barking at aforementioned doorbells. I, myself, have had a grand total of ZERO trick-or-treaters, despite the great sacrifice I made in purchasing a bag full of fun-size Twix. (Which makes me wonder: what, precisely, is fun about those teeny-weeny-sized candy bars? In my world, the more chocolate and gooey-caramel-goodness, the more fun. But hey, maybe I'm an anomaly in the candy-eating world.)

And, alas, despite the dearth of small people dressed like the undead, Rennie has, in one swift movement, jumped off the couch, run to the door and started barking no fewer than 6 times already. (It is only 7:30, dog. Let's save our energy!)

Anyway, the really fun part of my day occurred much earlier...

Continue reading "Happy Halloween!" »

Posted by Zee at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ever had one of those weekends where everything is leisurely? You get up each morning, laze about, have a cup of coffee while you eat breakfast and read the paper... Yeah?

Those are nice kinds of weekends. That is exactly NOT the kind of weekend I had this weekend.

I've been moving non-stop since 7 am Saturday morning and am only now sitting down to think for the first time in the last 48 hours. Some of the things I've done in the last two days include:

1. Made baked beans from scratch - complete with bean soaking and 4 hours of baking and ... OOPS... thought I had molasses but I don't!
   
2. Went to two meetings (one each day)
   
3. Cleaned the oven
   
4. Made roast chicken, which was very tasty but nevertheless managed to fill the house with smoke from the gunk on the bottom of the oven, despite the vigorous cleaning it received.
   
5. Tested the smoke detector (see #3 above). It works!
   
6. Scared the living daylights out of the dog (see #3 above), who went running under the bed to escape the smoky living room.
   
7. Managed to save the gizzards, as well as the bones, from the chicken so I can make my own chicken stock. I'd originally planned to do that tonight after cooking the chicken, but the idea of doing one thing more is making me want to weep!
   
8. Two loads of laundry
   
9. Cleaned the bathroom
   
10. Clipped a bazillion coupons
    
11. Went to the grocery store and used said coupons.
    
12. Bought a book about creating an online store with osCommerce so I can finish up a website for a client.
    
13. Reviewed and re-balanced my budget
    

Things I wanted to do this weekend? In no particular order:

• Practice the piano
  
• Sit on my rump and read a book. Any book - I've got three I'm working on right now and I didn't make time for any of them!!
  
• Brush the dog. (This may still get done tonight if I can motivate myself...)
  
• Catch up on my blog reading and leave comments for people I've been neglecting!
  
• Finish writing up directions for updating a website I created a couple years back and have been updating. (I'm passing that "torch" on to someone else and keeping my fingers crossed that she doesn't muck it up TOO badly...)
  
• Paint my toenails.
  

So, despite not getting some things done that I wanted to get done, I still managed to be pretty productive. And I'm not sure about the rest of you all, but going back to work tomorrow morning is going to constitute a welcome break from busy-ness for me!! :-)

Continue reading "Shades of Black, White and Everything in Between" »

Posted by Zee at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So I've got a household of visitors this weekend. My mom's dog Gracie arrived Thursday afternoon - much to Rennie's chagrin - to stay with us until Tuesday afternoon. This dog, she likes to be around people. A LOT. So much so that she starts whining incessantly if she's not getting the attention she thinks she deserves.

Thursday night she did fairly well, sleeping through the night and not making much noise at all. Last night, though, Miss Grace started whining around 1:30 am and, even with the trips outside at 1:30, 4:00 and 6:00 am, she didn't really stop with the whining until I got up around 7:30 for good. I'm considering letting her and Rennie both sleep on the bed tonight, just so I don't have to deal with listening to her!

We shall see how things work out tonight...

Continue reading "Houseguests!" »

Posted by Zee at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So, as planned, Rennie and I met up with a coworker of mine and his fiancee on Sunday morning at the dog park. Ren and I have been to this dog park before, and Rennie has been to other dog parks and has been around some other dogs - even if not a huge number at once. But none of this history prepared me for what actually happened once we arrived and the following day.

So we arrived at the appointed hour, went into the fenced area and Rennie was promptly swarmed by roughly 4 bazillion Large Dogs. Dogs so large, in fact, that they appeared to be small horses by comparison. In reality, they were all somewhere on the order of 60-85 lb dogs; not huge, not small... your standard lab-sized dog. Rennie responded to all this attention by sitting down. And when that didn't appear to solve the problem (which was, from her perspective, at least 6 large, wet canine noses in places she wasn't exactly thrilled to have them), she did what few self-respecting Yorkies would do in such a situation: she hid behind my legs and cowered.

This was somewhat surprising to me, considering that she does, in fact, know how to bare her teeth and snarl. And the reason I know that she knows how to do this is because I have frequently been on the receiving end of such tooth-baring and snarling. (You'll remember the broccoli incident?) She has also put her sister Gracie (my mom's Yorkie) in her place on a number of separate occasions.

Anyway, my point is, I expected her to take down the over-eager chocolate Lab puppy (CLP) with the enormous paws and the friendly set of boxer twins and the nearly-full-grown great dane puppy. I expected at least that she would show some teeth, but instead she backed around my legs trying to get away. If climbing had been an option I have no doubt I would still have claw marks on my legs.

Continue reading "Rennie's Play Date: Failed" »

Posted by Zee at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ya'll, I'm TIRED... I'm so tired, I can't even come up with an interesting title. I'm so tired I'm reverting to a southern accent I have never, ever had before. (I once had a fake British accent, however.)

Anyway, it has been a busy couple of weeks, culminating in my birthday/housewarming gathering last night.

In addition to getting to do a lot of visiting with a great number of people, I also received some lovely gifts, including two (count 'em TWO) gorgeous handmade necklaces from Fran and my brother and sister-in-law, a couple plants, a gift certificate to a spa, the Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and a beautiful full-color book about hummingbirds.

The most unusual gift, however, was from Scott (over at I'd Rather Be Running): The Avenging Unicorn Play Set, from Accoutrements. People, I don't know how I managed to get such a weird, twisted sense of humor, but this thing is just awesome. The front of the box boasts that the playset includes "4 magical horns and 3 figures to impale!" while the back of the box provides some more insight:

When they are not frolicking in dewy meadows or posing on windy cliffs they are helping believers do away with daily annoyances. Does the New Age lady at the bookstore get on your nerves when she starts ranting about her latest encounter with an ancient warrior spirit? Are you tired of being accosted by the creepy mime who thinks he deserves a quarter for pretending to be trapped in a box? Close your eyes, take a deep breath and summon a unicorn. If you believe in the magic of unicorns with all your heart and soul they will answer your call.

I think it's the "do away with daily annoyances" comment that struck my fancy. This puppy's going on my desk and people who annoy me are, I suspect, going to get impaled in effigy. Heh. I think, also, I might need the J.S. Bach action figure to hang out on my piano and provide inspiration.

Anyway, the party itself was very fun. I ended up going with a "tex-mex" theme. Roughly 30 people showed up over 3 1/2 hours and everyone seemed to get along quite nicely as well as enjoy the food. I broke all the rules of party-throwing, as I found several recipes on my favorite cooking sites, Epicurious and Cooking Light, and made them all up completely untried. I got lucky, though as everything turned out really well. (Well, except for the part where I nearly hacked off my index finger trying to cut open an avocado. But I only ended up with a small wound from the knife, so it's all good...)

I made:
Chunky Vegetarian Chili
Guacamole
Roasted Jalapeno-Tomato Salsa
Salsa-Baked Goat Cheese

Of everything I made yesterday the guacamole recipe turned out to be my favorite. It was wonderful and it is going on my blog's cooking sidebar as a "favorite." A number of other folks really seemed to like the salsa recipe as well as the baked goat cheese dip. They were good but I could have sat and eaten the guacamole all day long.

I had a lovely time, despite being quite tired by the end of the night, and Rennie ended up completely overwhelmed by all the people. I think she enjoyed all the extra attention, but towards the end of the night, she kept creeping over to her crate and putting herself to bed. She was so exhausted, in fact, that this morning she slept until 7:30 before waking me up to feed her. For a dog who typically gets up at 5 am on the dot, every morning, this was remarkable.

Anyway, so it was a lovely way to spend an evening - despite the running around and anxiety of making sure food dishes were filled and people were happy - and I'm glad I threw the party. The next one, though, is going to be in 2010 so I have time to forget how much work parties are... Or, perhaps, when/if I ever get married so I can pay someone else to do the worrying about food trays. ;-) But heck, if nothing else, my house is now spotless!

I am off now - and the next two days - to finish up my school project and try to catch up a bit on sleep. My actual birthday is Tuesday and while I don't have concrete plans I'm hoping that it proves to be a big improvement over last year, when I spent the entire day feeling like crap.

I hope all is well with everyone out there in Internet-land! Once this class is over I'll have a bit more energy for blogging. This has been a rough 5 weeks...

Posted by Zee at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

OK, so she's not so vicious here... but doesn't she look cute? I found a handy-dandy tutorial on fixing "pet eye" in photos and did a little bit of experimentation on this image and a couple others. (Not half bad!)

Anyway, she was carrying her chicken around this morning wanting to play and looked so cute I had to grab my camera. More photos of Rennie (and the new rug!) are on flickr...

Posted by Zee at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So today marks the completion of Rennie's third year in this grand old world... I don't have anything brilliant or insightful to say on the occasion, except that I can't imagine my life without the little pooch! Even when she's driving me bonkers... :)

In lieu of anything entertaining to write, here is a picture of Rennie with her new toy, Henrietta the rubber chicken:

Yes, that rubber chicken is wearing lipstick and a bikini. Rennie is in love and has been running around with it all evening, squeeking nonstop, while I've tried to play the piano and do some homework. I also bought her a new collar (forrest green, this one!) and a soft little pad for her crate...

Here's to embarking on our 4th year together! How time flies...

(And confidential from Rennie to Gracie, Jenny and Peluche: Happy Birthday kids!)

Posted by Zee at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I was accused recently (okay, 3 weeks ago) of not writing about Miss Rennie enough. So this here post will mention Miss Yorkie Princess. It is so hot outside (current temp at 6:20 pee em is 99F!) that I've planted my heiney in front of my air conditioner, turned up to "Mega Cool" (my very favorite setting!), with the louvers pointed directly at my head.

I should be doing reading for my class or answering discussion questions or whatnot, but I'm watching Masterpiece Theatre and writing this here blog post.

Anyway, a week or so ago it was warm out, though not quite as hot here in Portland as it is today, and I had purchased a bag of ice from the store in order to have the "iced" part of "iced tea." And I remembered that Miss Rennie is rather fond of ice cubes - to the point that she'll fish them out of her water bowl in order to bat them around the kitchen floor before chewing them up. It makes the kitchen floor a bit dangerous for walking, but when it's hot it's a great trick to help ensure she's drinking enough water.

Continue reading "Hot Enough For Ya?" »

Posted by Zee at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It occurred to me, after receiving an email from dad saying, "hey, haven't heard from you in a week! Are you ok?" that I haven't written in this here weblog in quite a while!

The reason for that is, of course, because I started back to work on Monday and, as a result, nothing terribly interesting happened all week! I mean, there was the assorted work-related interesting tidbits and fun gossip about work people, but I've forbidden myself to write about them on the Internet because... well, because I'd like to keep my job. I like my job and am very lucky to have one.

Anyway! So. I've been working and, thus have few fabulous tales to tell about my exciting adventures in the great Rose City.

Continue reading "This living thing...it's tricky!" »

Posted by Zee at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm too tired to write much now, because I've just returned from the Oregon coast, where it was clear and sunny and beautiful but thankfully not too warm. In short, it was a perfect day to go to the ocean and I have many tales to regale you all with as well as pictures of everyone's favorite Yorkshire Terrier.

Here's a little teaser:

However, as today is the 1-year anniversary of my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, I felt I must mark it in some way. I have written at length about my own experience during my first year after being diagnosed with this disease so I'm not going to write any more about that lest I lose all my audience.

Instead, I want to point ya'll to this series of videos on YouTube about Jacqueline Du Pre, the fabulously gifted and famous British cellist who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 28 and died 14 years later in 1987 at the age of 42. I was reminded of this brilliant woman on Tuesday when I had dinner with my friend Rob (a cellist, naturally) and she's been on my mind.

This documentary/video is in about 8 parts on YouTube, but the first part is below, in the extended entry. The Elgar concerto is exquisite and despite the toll MS ultimately took on Du Pre, what she gave us with this concerto - and many other works - is nothing short of genius. In light of this, I continue to hope and pray for continued research leading to a cure.

Continue reading "Happy (?) Anniversary" »

Posted by Zee at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So health topics are not something I'm terribly interested in talking or thinking or writing about today. Despite that, today I called both the neurologist's and my primary care doc's offices.

Here's why:

• I called the neuro because my MS symptoms have worsened (and stayed worsened) to the point that I think I may be having another mini-relapse. I'm getting some weakness in my hands as well as freezing feet and the sensitivities I've had in a couple tolerable areas has now spread all over the left side of my torso and down my left leg. So. Time to seek medical attention, methinks. Unfortunately, the MS doc is out of town until Monday so the receptionist/scheduler lady said she'd pull my chart and have him call me Monday to assess things. So. Status quo for now.


• For the last week and a half or so, I've been dealing with some generalized indigestion/burningish sensation in my stomach. It mostly occurs after I eat and seems to happen off and on. More on than off, unfortunately. So after attempting self-diagnosis online, I finally called my doc and talked to the nurse practitioner to see what she suggested. And now I have a box of Prilosec OTC to take for 14 days to try and get me fixed up. Apparently I should be all better after that but if I'm not I should call them back. So. Fun!

In addition to getting the recommendation for Prilosec, the NP also called in a prescription for Sudafed for me so that, at night when my allergies are making it difficult to breath, I can take something that actually is sort of effective at relieving stuffy nose.

Short digression: In most states in the union, anyone can march into any ole store or pharmacy and purchase a box of Sudafed (containing pseudoephedrine). But not in Oregon. Ohhhh, no. You have to have a prescription for it in Oregon! Why? Because people use pseudoephedrine to make Crystal Meth and the powers that be are trying to cut down on the availability of the stuff. Nevermind the fact that anyone can order the stuff from online Canadian pharmacies or drive across the border into Washington and buy it.

Don't get me wrong: I am glad they're aware of the problem (which is significant) and that they're doing something to solve it but this particular mandate seems a bit silly given the product's broad availability.

/digression

Anyway, so no sooner do I step out my door and get into the car than my nose starts to stuff up and run at the same time (talk about overachieving, I mean, sheesh!!) and my eyes start to water and I start to sneeze. I mean, seriously - ask for a prescription of something "just in case" and suddenly you need it. Stupid allergies!! Go figure!

I suppose that's better than the alternative: having the symptoms and NO medicine. But still!! I was just fine up until that point.

But that's not all... oh no, that's not all!

Continue reading "Allergies & my good friend Murphy" »

Posted by Zee at 08:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Because it worked so well during the first session of this term, I went ahead and took three days off work at the end of this session in order to finish up my final project, as well as catch up on my sleep. My hope, of course, was that the majority of the project would be done by now and that I'd only have to spend part of today putting some finishing touches on the database. I had grand visions of then behaving as if I were one of those people who lounges around during the day because they either a) are independently wealthy and so don't need to work, b) are supported by daddy and thus don't need to work or c) are unemployed and not yet looking for work because unemployment doesn't run out for another 5 months yet!

Alas, things didn't exactly work out the way I'd hoped. I, uh, have only the barest minimum of requirements for my database created at present. But, you know, it kinda looks pretty! So I'm going to have to spend the next couple days buried in SQL queries, trying to get things to work. :-P

Still, I hope to get a few other things done, at least, during this extended weekend. I did manage to run some errands this afternoon as well as go see a naturopath. She put me on a bifidobacteria supplement ("15 billion organisms per serving guaranteed!", the bottle says) that's supposed to "balance" the flora in my gut (it made sense at the time...) She also (not surprisingly) recommended I get back on my no-dairy, no-egg, no-anything-else-I'm-allergic-to diet as that will further help balance my immune system. It all makes perfect sense, of course. Eating crap that my body doesn't like can't be helping my health conditions. It's just that, well, I really like cheese. And sour cream. And cream cheese. And Doritos!

And eating a diet that avoids dairy AND eggs is like trying to avoid breathing oxygen. OK, maybe it's not THAT extreme, but darned if it doesn't feel that way sometimes. It just seems that everything in the world has either dairy or eggs in it, and finding things that are both dairy/egg-free and fairly easy to create is challenging. Aside from a slab of meat or a carrot stick or even mashed potatoes (made with soy or rice milk), most things have at least one or the other as an ingredient.

So that shall start soon... just as soon as I eat up the Totino's Party Pizzas that are still in my freezer. :-) Maybe I need to set aside some time to mourn the loss of my favorite foods so I can really embrace learning to enjoy a new type of diet? That might do the trick. I also need to head over to Jen's site to see what kind of yummy vegan recipes/tips/sources I can hunt down. :-) Also, acupuncture appointment and follow-up naturopath appointment next week!

Hopefully all these measures will create some measure of improved health!? I can only hope. Thank heavens I'm not also allergic to wheat too! (Quick, knock wood!)

Anyway, so here, without further ado (and because I need to get back to creating my database interface) are some of the things I'm hoping to accomplish this weekend:

Continue reading "Things to do over the next 72 hours" »

Posted by Zee at 07:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

And OHMYGOD they're both driving me up the frigging wall!!

Rennie is irked because there's another canine in her home who is chewing on her bones and playing with her toys and taking her mom's attention. And Gracie is just missing her people and wants some love. So, basically, I'm just going about my business, doing what I do, and Rennie's just, well, being strange. Grace, however, is pleased as punch to sit on the couch with me - curled up and cuddling - while I type on my laptop and watch TV.

But Rennie? Oh no. She is busy... running around the house, barking at the bread I've got rising in the kitchen and trying to get at the bowl of food in Gracie's pen. She can't seem to sit still for one second. If I bring her up onto the couch, she jumps off... When I got home this evening and opened the door, both of them went nuts with the barking. I don't think I've ever heard such a racket in all my life! Thank GOD the neighbors are not home!

People, I'm not sure how I'm going to get through two more days! My dog seems to have gone a little bit crazy!

Continue reading "Rennie's Got a Mini-Me!" »

Posted by Zee at 09:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

First: my deepest apologies to those of you who tortured yourself with my last post. I was truly a cranky-butt and taking it out on the Internet is no way to deal with that. I am sorry.

However, the folks who did leave comments were, as usual, tres insightful. Jen's suggestion that "planned crappiness" is superior to "unpredictable crappiness" gave me pause for thought. Obviously, NO crappiness would be the ideal but since we've got to feel crappy I'm with her: planning it is certainly better than having it show up at random, wreak havoc and then go away to some degree or another.

But I think I'd be less cranky about the Avonex-induced crappiness if it were more than 30% effective at reducing exacerbations and slowing the progression of the disease. (Check me out: rating the levels of crappiness. HA!) The sad fact is that, while it appears to be one of the better drugs on the market, it's no miracle drug. There really aren't any miracle drugs out there. Even Tysabri, which is one of the best drugs out there right now, carries risks and is only 60% effective. Yes, it's helped some people in some amazing ways but the fact of the matter is, it has not been studied for longer than two years. So while it can help, we really don't know what the longer term ramifications are. Plus, not everyone is able to take it, due to allergy or whatever.

The point is, I need to get into acceptance about the MS and just move forward and try not to get too resentful.

BUT the good news is, I think I may have hit on a dosing schedule with the Avonex that could work for me! After taking the Avonex at noon yesterday, the side effects really started to hit at around 9:30ish pm. I went to bed around 10:30 and although I was starting to feel a headache and some body aches, I was able to get to sleep fairly quickly. When I awoke this morning at 7 I was groggy but ok after I got up and moving and had a cup of coffee.

Hopefully this will work for me for a while - I'm not sure why it's taken 8.5 months to figure this out but, well, there you have it. We'll try it again next Monday and see if it'll turn into a routine! I am in a more positive mood now, with the hope that I might have found a way to truly manage this stuff.

So after working for about 6 hours today, my boss IM'd me and told me I could log off early, since I'd worked so much yesterday. And with the extra time in the afternoon - before my hair appointment at 5:15 - I transplanted my new herbs into their bigger pots. They're now out on the deck looking lovely, if a bit small, at this point! I think I'm going to pick up one more planter thingy so I can plant some cilantro. That stuff goes all over the place so it would be good to have it slightly contained.

I also discovered, while out on the deck transplanting my little plants, that Rennie no longer has any fear of running down the flight of stairs... so I need to get a baby gate or something, before the start of summer, for the top of the stairs if I'm going to be spending any amount of time out there with her.

Posted by Zee at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

So. I'm done with work for the day and ready to get started doing more homework. Only I'm dragging my feet and whining to myself, "But I DON'T WANNNNNNNNNTT TO!" just as I'm playing a few tunes on the Chickering, catching up on blog posts and chasing Rennie around the couch trying to grab her stuffed rabbit.

My life? It's exciting.

Beginning tomorrow, I have five days in a row off. I'd originally planned to take the time off to do homework and get my course project finalized, but I am starting to feel the way I felt right before my last MS relapse: completely and utterly exhausted. So exhausted that watching 24 would make me MORE tired, so Monday's episode is still sitting on the Tivo, waiting for me to turn it on. So exhausted that my ability to think clearly is impaired a bit; I have a rather scary lack of focus, as well. This morning, for example, I poured coffee in my cereal which was disconcerting because it was both disgusting and a waste of perfectly good Stumptown coffee AND Froot Loops.

I tell ya, this multiple sclerosis thing sure is the pits sometimes! I don't think it's that I'm just not getting enough sleep because, after realizing how I've been getting progressively more and more tired over the last few weeks, I have made a concerted effort to get to bed on time and get more sleep. The problem is, this is the kind of fatigue which isn't helped by more sleep. So I'm not sure what to do other than take it easy, get a lot of rest and eat as heathily as possible.

So although tomorrow's plan originally involved spending all day finishing up my final project, it may also involve sleeping in and a nap smack in the middle of the day. The good news, however, is that I did a few calculations and it turns out that I don't have to turn in all of my assignments for the rest of the term to get an A. I have to do most of them, yes, but I can skip one or two and not even drop a grade! This is good news considering I get to the point, sometimes, where thinking is just no longer an option. Sometimes having the luxury of not doing something is a nice ace to have in my back pocket.

So this weekend is that of rest and kicking Mr. MS' rear-end. Speaking of MS, though: I still have not heard from my doctor on the results of my last blood draw. He shall be getting a call from me tomorrow as well!

Posted by Zee at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Remember when I scoffed at Frosty Paws, the ice cream made specifically for dogs??

Well, turns out I'm an idiot.

The stuff is genius. I bought a box yesterday when I stopped by Albertson's to pick up some diet Coke (that store's claim to fame: cheap cases of soda and dog ice cream in their freezer) and today I decided to see what Rennie would do with it.

Well, as you might expect, she ate it. Quickly and hungrily as if she'd never been fed in her life. And there is an awful lot of ice cream in that little tub, so I ended up only letting her have half of it. But she seemed to have no trouble wrangling the little Dixie Cup and eating the creamy goodness out of it. Click the photo above to see all the shots on flickr.

She even took to guarding it a bit until I picked it up out from under her chin. But she chased me around and jumped up and down after I grabbed it and barked at the fridge after I put the partially-eaten cup back in the freezer. So I think it's a hit! Turns out it's made primarily out of fat. And soybean crud.

I'm not entirely clear on what "flavor" the stuff actually is, though, because there's an advertisement on the box for their "other" variety, "peanut butter flavor." This one was fat flavor, maybe.

So, who knew dog ice cream would be so exciting? Maybe we oughta try the pork-flavored water! (Kidding. Mostly.)

Posted by Zee at 08:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just in case ya'll were wondering.

Because I got calls and emails today from a few of you, wondering, "err... are you alright?" and "how are you feeeeling??"

I do appreciate the concern. I do! But I'm fine. I may need to talk to my psychiatrist about upping my meds on account of all the dramatic hyperbole and whatnot, but I'm really just fine.

Except for that little breakdown I had today at the post office. Moments of irony seem to hit me a) when I least expect them and b) right after I've had some happy thought about some facet of my life about which I've composed a brilliant blog post in my head.

Yeah, so on my way to pick up my mail from my post office box I was composing a blog post in my head about how I don't typically write about work-related topics (see: "dooced") but I was making an exception this time because of some brilliant reason (I don't remember what) and by the way did you see Bill Gates on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?? and blah blah blah and then I opened my post office box and it exploded.

Continue reading "I'm Fine. Really I am." »

Posted by Zee at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I know what you're thinking. I really do.

You think I haven't been writing because I've been spending every darned second not occupied by work, sleeping or cleaning up after Rennie playing my piano.

You're thinking that. I know you are. And you know what?

You would be wrong. Oh yes. So wrong.

So very, very wrong.

Continue reading "Delinquent" »

Posted by Zee at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Turns out someone in Amsterdam has created a beer for dogs.

Yes, you read that correctly: beer made from beef extract and malt. For DOGS.

It's called Kwispelbier (literally, "tail wagging beer") and is being marketed as "a beer for your best friend." Click here to read the story.

Thankfully they were able to draw the line somewhere, because the beer is nonalcoholic. But still... beer for dogs? Seriously?

Some people just don't have enough to do. And for the record, I freely admit that I wish I were one of those people. So I could, you know, think up really stupid things to make for my dog. Or sleep. Whatever.

Posted by Zee at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Miss Rennie is coming home today!! Yahoo!

Posted by Zee at 11:33 AM | Permalink

The vet called a couple hours ago. Miss Rennie is continuing to rest comfortably and, though apparently bored, she is being a good girl. She is not, however, ready to come home yet.

The diarrhea has apparently stopped and Dr. Fred is continuing to give her fluids. He has also started her on small amounts of dry food to see how her body will tolerate it. I should imagine she's starving, but whatever. (He's the one who's got to listen to her whine and bark at this point. :) Anyway, assuming nothing goes wrong between now and then, I should be able to pick her up tomorrow afternoon.

Have I mentioned I miss my pooch? Thank heavens I get to bring her home soon. It's too darned quiet around here!

Posted by Zee at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I woke up with a start this morning, after hitting snooze a couple times, to a phone call. It was mom, and nothing was wrong. But it frightened me nonetheless, because being awoken out of a deep sleep by the telephone is a bit disconcerting. There's a reason I typically turn the ringer off the phone.

Anyway, so I answered the phone - because I had to be getting to work anyway - turned on the coffee pot and fed the dog. It wasn't until I'd gotten the computers going and had gotten logged in that I realized Rennie was under her grooming table, shaking. Her tummy was distended and she looked frightened.

So I took her outside to potty and some of the most heinous stuff I've ever seen came flying out of her rear. I proceeded to find my home veterinary handbook to look up "bloody diarrhea." The book's recommendation was to call the vet immediately in such a case, which I did and made an appointment for 10 am.

Now, Rennie occasionally gets diarrhea and she typically gets over it in a few hours and all is well by later the same day. So usually I take a wait-and-see approach because she's usually fine. But in this case? Well, I knew there was something definitely wrong.

Continue reading "Rennie's "Vacation"" »

Posted by Zee at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Rennie and I awoke this morning to a blanket of snow covering the ground, trees, cars and everything else outside our little abode. This is darned unusual for this part of the country, so Ren and I went outside to find the newspaper (which was buried) and do a brief bit of frolicking before it melted off. Since it was an atypical day, I took the camera with me and got some shots of Miss Yorkie Princess. A couple turned out really cute, though it's a shame she has to have her leash on because it detracts from the photo.

What IS typical in this area are the crazy-ass drivers who can't seem to either SLOW DOWN or pay attention to what they're doing. The problem, of course, is we're not allowed to use salt in these parts, so the snow stays on most of the major streets, gets packed down from the cars driving all around and then ices over so it's slick as snot. Plus, we only have about 5 plows for the entire city so even larger side-roads stay snowy for a long time.

I never minded snowy days in New England because the streets were usually always clear. Sure, you had to shovel yourself out of your driveway, but once you got on the roads it was fairly smooth sailing.

But here? No way. I don't have (many) concerns about driving in the snow and ice itself (key is to just go slow and steady); what I worry about most is other drivers. And in this part of the country, you couldn't pay me enough to get in my car on a day like this!

As Parker Parker once said, "good in snow" is not something you buy; it sits in the driver's seat.

Posted by Zee at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Faced with a mother who refuses to feed her at the appointed hour, Rennie takes matters into her own hands...er, paws.

(Yes, that is a rubber chicken.)

Posted by Zee at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My aunt and uncle came by this afternoon to see my new apartment, drop off gifts for the rest of the family and visit for a little while. They brought the newest member of their Yorkie family with them, Miss Vivien Leigh (Vivvie for short!), and I got some good shots of Rennie and Vivvie playing. Few things are cuter than a young Yorkie puppy!!

Click the photo above to see more shots.

I'm off this evening to visit with a friend for a little while, and tomorrow is The Big Day. I'll be at my grandma's for dinner, and Rennie will be visiting her "grandpa" - i.e. she's going to my dad's for the afternoon. :)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Posted by Zee at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So I went over to my mom's this afternoon for an early Christmas dinner and to open gifts. Dinner was roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, sauteed bok choi and salad. Yum!

I got some good shots of Gracie in the sweater I posted a couple days ago. Gracie looked SO cute... Unfortunately, it was just a bit too long and Grace got her toes caught in it. But otherwise it fit very nicely.

Click the photo to see all the images of Grace in her sweater.

My mom got me a very lovely little Chinese blessing pendant made of purple jade (which says "Long Life" in Chinese) and a new Cutco bread knife, which I definitely needed. Also, my baby sister painted me the cutest little picture of purple mountains, a blue sky and a flowing river.

So, all in all, a lovely afternoon.

Posted by Zee at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So I've been knitting up a storm lately. In the last month or two I've knitted a another baby sweater, a cute little fairisle purse and this little number, being modeled so exquisitely by Miss Rennie. I've made everything with Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino yarn, because that's what I had on hand.

This sweater I just finished last night and is going to be a gift for my mom's yorkie, Gracie. As you can see, it's a bit small/tight on my own yorkie princess. Click the picture to see it larger and see other shots of this sweater.

In any case, here are some shots of the other items I've recently finished:

Continue reading "Knitting: Latest & Greatest" »

Posted by Zee at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another test post...nothing to see here... these are not the droids you're looking for.

Posted by Zee at 02:26 PM | Permalink

Another test post...nothing to see here... these are not the droids you're looking for.

Posted by Zee at 02:26 PM | Permalink

OK, I'm supposed to be napping but I'm fiddling with my flickr account instead. FUN! ;-)

So this is my first "test" post from flickr; don't worry, though, all of this is directly related my new-and-improved blog and website, which I mentioned yesterday.

More soon!
Love,
~Zee

Posted by Zee at 02:19 PM | Permalink

OK, I'm supposed to be napping but I'm fiddling with my flickr account instead. FUN! ;-)

So this is my first "test" post from flickr; don't worry, though, all of this is directly related my new-and-improved blog and website, which I mentioned yesterday.

More soon!
Love,
~Zee

Posted by Zee at 02:19 PM | Permalink

So I'm feeling better today, yes. A good sleep always provides a new perspective and I'm feeling better about things in general today. I was in the office for a meeting (and to get my laptop fixed) and spent the day there. I like going into the office on occasion and today I got to sit down with my new boss - in person, face to face - for a good conversation, as well as meet one of the peeps I work with on a regular basis that I hadn't had a chance to meet yet. Overall I'm feeling much more hopeful and much less skeptical about my ability to do a decent job.

So all is well!

In other news, my aunt sent me a photo of Rennie's (canine) mom dressed up for Halloween and, because I don't think Pearl has ever made an appearance on Rathnait's Playground, I'm posting the picture here.

So, I give you, Rennie's mummy:

Continue reading "What a Difference a Day Makes!" »

Posted by Zee at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've had one of those days. You know the kind. It's been the kind of day where you work your ass off and still the client wants something else, something different, something more, and isn't this wrong? And could you fix that? And weren't you going to...? and nothing seems to be quite right ever?

And then your big-boss sends not one, not two, but THREE emails around the team alias congratulating other teammates on how fantastic they are. That shouldn't make me feel bad - because my colleagues are great. But it does. I feel sorry for mysef because I don't like feeling like I'm doing a crummy job.

I don't know why I let it bother me so much. In a lot of ways I've taken on a "new" role in my job and regardless of my previous experience working with clients, I still have a lot to learn where this particular job is concerned. These are new clients for me, I'm doing something new and I'm bound to make a mistake or two.

I just don't like making mistakes. Or, more to the point, I don't so much mind making mistakes; I just don't like it when the client points them out. And I guess that just sort of comes with the territory where working goes. Sometimes you screw up. Sucks, but that's what happens.

Continue reading "Miss Grumpy" »

Posted by Zee at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Or, as my uncle says regularly, "I see Yorkies everywhere!"

My mom's dog (and Rennie's Littermate) Gracie is staying with Rennie and I this weekend while my mom is out of town. Rennie is tolerating Gracie, thus far, and Gracie does not seem overly concerned about this. She just keeps trying to get Rennie to play with her. And, when that proves uselessshe steals Rennie's discarded, half-chewed Dingo Bones (chicken jerky removed and eaten, natch) and proceeds to chew on them like they were God's gift to Yorkshire Terriers. (They might be, actually, but what do I know?)

After I finished working this afternoon and the girls and I returned from our walk, Gracie got a bath and a bit of a trim. And then, of course, I had to take a few pictures. One thing I've discovered is that not all Yorkies are as difficult to photograph as Rennie is. The unfortunate part of this photo session was that Gracie doesn't know how to stay, so I couldn't get a good shot of the two of them sitting together. Ah well...

Click the extended entry to see what I did manage to get. Click "thumbnail" images to biggify... Or see the whole set on Flickr.

Continue reading "Outnumbered by Yorkies Two to One" »

Posted by Zee at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mark Morford, whom I adore, has a great post up today about the anthropomorphization of pets. I quote:

It's no secret that happily childless pet obsessors eat this stuff up, even though most dogs would actually love nothing more than a romp through a garbage bin and a swim in a lake and the bone of a large dead cow to gnaw on before rolling in a pile of rotten fish and taking a long nap on the lawn.

But since capitalism always trumps perspective, who's to chastise Molli's Choice for whoring out to this demographic? And what's more, if such pampering of pets means people will require fewer children in our overpopulated, Bush-torn world, can that be such a bad thing? More spoiled Chihuahuas, fewer babies. Not a bad trade-off, you could argue. Or rather, I could.

He's referring specifically to meat-scented purified bottled water for pets which, even to an adoring dog owner such as myself, seems a bit nuts. I mean, Rennie drinks regular tap water like it's going out of style. What possible help could the meat-flavored water be? Now, to be fair, I admit that am a bit too indulgent with Rennie (as everyone knows :) and talking about her adored Poultry-Flavored toothpaste makes me giggle every time. But that truly does have a purpose: I've got to brush her teeth and she's likely not going to let me do it with Tarter-control Aquafresh. Even with the regular spoilage, though, she has been well-trained and is, under most circumstances, generally under control.

Anyway, I could blather on about this all day but I've got to get to work and pretend not to be gazing lovingly at my new Blackberry Pearl. Besides, Morford makes the point better than I ever could. Enjoy!

Posted by Zee at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So it has been one of those days where everyone comes at you all at once asking for stuff or asking questions or wanting you to do something or wanting this or that thing. At about 10:30 I practically lost it and basically wanted to tell everyone, "if you'd all effing leave me alone for 5 effing minutes I could put together the information you're all asking for! Sheesh!!!" I did manage to only snap at one person in the course of all this, so I suppose I'm doing ok... I did apologize practically on the spot but, seriously, I need to remember to PAUSE and step back for a moment when things get like this...

Apparently this is what my boss deals with on a daily basis and it makes me a) glad I'm not her, and b) in awe of her for dealing with it with such grace and calm.

Anyway, in the midst of all this, the (very cute and adorable) UPS guy showed up with my new duvet cover!! Yahoo!! I put it on my bed this afternoon and snapped a couple shots. Lookey here:

Pretty, no? I actually like the duvet cover and pillow shams much better when they're all together. The shams are nice and all but I don't think they don't work very well on their own.

And I'm not the only one around here who got a new bed... (Woudlja check out that literary transition!?) A week or so ago I was at Target and found a cute little bed for Miss Yorkie Princess. As with most things in her life (food being the only exception), it took her a little while to warm up to it. But now she has it figured out she gets into full-on lounge-mode with soft-underbelly exposed and everything:

Here she is, all pouty and sad that mom is working instead of throwing the stuffed hippo for her:

My birthday rapidly approaches. I still haven't come up with an idea for where to go to dinner with my dad and bro, et al... but I have Friday off (and have the fun and excitement of going to see my neurologist. YAHOO!) as well as Monday, which is my actual birthday. So, Saturday night is dinner with a few friends, Sunday is brunch with my mom's side of the family and Monday I'll be sleeping all day trying to recover from my weekend! Also, the Conductor is apparently in Portland that day so I'm going to try to arrange lunch or something with him. I've not seen him since my trip up north back in October. My, how times flies!

Speaking of, Sunday marks one year from the day I left Boston.

Continue reading "Crazy-Ass Day! Plus, a Story!" »

Posted by Zee at 09:56 PM | Permalink

Remember the nice guy who helped me with buying my bed a few weeks back? Well, yesterday I went out to the mailbox and sitting in it was a thank you note from that nice gentleman, along with a 20%-off coupon for my next purchase at Mattress World!! Now, it's not likely I'll be purchasing another bed before October, but STILL. How NICE was that?

The funny thing is, since buying the bed and having the very good experience with the people at MW, I've talked to several people who've had BAD experiences with them. Of course, their bad experiences were at different stores from the one I went to, so I guess it truly all depends upon where you go and who you meet when you get there.

I've been feeling pretty blah the last few days. I had to go into the office for a meeting this morning and, as it has the last few times I've done it, it totally exhausted me. Of course, I didn't get to bed early enough and thus didn't get a lot of sleep so that didn't help at all. On the upside, though, I did get to have lunch with one of my dearest friends and I picked up the docking station for my work laptop.

Of course, I had to set up my new workstation when I got home, and despite being pooped, I worked at it for a little while before dragging the laptop back to bed with me and finishing up the day's work there.

This evening, despite the fatigue, I decided to give a yoga DVD a try. My aunt had sent me 7 or 8 DVDs and 3 or 4 videos a few months back, along with one of those nifty exercise balls that's supposed to help improve core strength. I've done a lot of yoga in my time (though not with any degree of regularity or any kind of frequency), but I've never done any work with the exercise ball. So I pulled out "On the Ball with Sara Ivanhoe: Yoga Workout for Beginners" and stuck that in the DVD player. In the process of trying to follow along with the video, I discovered a few things:
1) I'm still pretty flexible, though not nearly as flexible as I once was.
2) The left side of my body is ridiculously stiff. Not surprising considering that's where most of the MS symptoms have been occurring
3) I need a yoga mat.
4) The damned ball is both helpful and hurtful: helpful because it provides a measure of stability that I couldn't otherwise get; hurtful in that it allows a really deep stretch that will likely result in me not being able to move tomorrow.
5) After doing the DVD workout, I'm feeling much less fatigued than I was earlier!!

Although discover #3 seems like a no-brainer, particularly considering I was doing the workout on hardwood floors, I am actually much more surprised and heartened by #5: if 45 minutes of easy, relatively low-impact yoga can help improve my energy level, what would several 45-minute workouts a week do??

By now I know better than to set myself up for failure by trying to do too much right out of the gate: my guess is I'm going to wake up stiff and sore tomorrow and unable to move. But if I continue to walk daily with Rennie and do yoga a few times a week, maybe I can get some strength and flexibility back along with better stamina! (Confidential to ACJ: you were right!)

And, last but not least...my dog gets territorial over cold, cooked broccoli. Last night, my friend Fran came over for dinner and in addition to a crock-potted turkey breast (the only way to cook when it's hot out!) and rice, I steamed some broccoli in one of my new pots with the steamer insert. (Worked great!) We ate most of the broccoli ourselves but I gave a couple little pieces to Rennie. She gobbled them right up, so I saved the last couple left-over stems for her breakfast today. Well, when I put it down for her this morning she started gobbling it up so fast I thought she was going to choke. When I went over to check on her she growled at me! I couldn't believe it. For a minute I thought she might be guarding the two little pieces of turkey I'd included but no - she'd eaten those. She was getting all aggressive over broccoli. Yeah, you read that right! There wasn't even any cheddar on it or anything!

Such a weird dog. :) (She ended up fine and had no trouble wolfing the rest of it down - but not before I insisted she drop the broccoli and let me pick up her bowl. She's a good girl - and I do insist she does what I say when it comes to food-bowl aggression!)

Oh, I almost forgot: the best news I got all day was that my new duvet cover should be arriving tomorrow! Yahoo!! As soon as it arrives I'll put it on the bed and snap a photo. I can't wait!

Posted by Zee at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It's a 3-blog-post kinda day! Howya like them apples??

So I'm just popping up one last time this evening to post this pic I just took of Miss Yorkie Princess in a little clip I picked up for her this afternoon. Let's call it a belated birthdy gift. Cuz, you know, this is what I intended to do on her birthday - get her a special little cookie, brush her hair up nice and take some good pictures for posterity's sake. So much for that, eh?

But this shot turned out pretty well and since I've humiliated her, in purple shoes, in front of the entire Internet today, I thought I'd make it up to her by posting a great photo as well. Enjoy!!

Posted by Zee at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On my way home from the hospital today I stopped off at a pet store, Furever Pets on NE Broadway, that I don't typically go to. Rennie was out of food so I needed to get her some of that, plus I had been wanting to check out some new pet stores since my pathetic attempt to find Rennie a birthday cookie last week. While on my way to my usual pet store I saw one of those easle/billboard things for Furever Pets and decided to swing by.

It was a good thing I did, too, because I found a set of little leather shoes - ones that I'd always wanted to get for her while we lived in Boston and her little feet actually needed protection from the cold weather and snow melting stuff - on sale for $10 (down from $35! BARGAIN!). Click here to see a pic of the little shoes.

I put them on her this evening and to say she was less than thrilled would be the understatement of the century. I put the first one on and she picked up her foot and waved it around, trying to figure out what the heck had happened to her feet! So I put the rest on and put her on he ground and it dawned on me that the moment couldn't be let go without a picture and perhaps a video or two. Here's a shot of Rennie in the shoes:

(Yes, her hair-do does leave something to be desired; she needs a bath and I just haven't gotten to it. Sighhhh...)

I ended up taking 6 or 7 videos of Rennie just standing around. It wasn't until I lured her inside with promises of treats ("yummies") that she finally started walking in the shoes. To download and watch the video I took of her trying to walk in the shoes, click here. I really tried hard not to laugh at her, but this was just TOO FUNNY. Dad and I couldn't help ourselves.

(Note: Sorry it's Windows media file - that's the format my digital camera takes. Ugh. One of these days I'll figure out how to embed video into a blog entry and then you won't have to download anything. :)

Posted by Zee at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yesterday was Rennie's second birthday. Unlike last year, when I'd planned ahead, gotten her a special cookie and then got to smell her frosting breath, this year Rennie pretty much got nothing. She didn't even get her daily brushing, though I'd intended to put her special little birthday tiara on her. Didn't happen. She did, however, get several extra cookies, including one that looked like a postman from a box I picked up at the beach last month. I did make the effort to try to find a dog bakery and get her a cake but it just didn't work out.

Anyway, the reason Rennie got neglected on her birthday was because I had to go over to the other side of town to learn how to shoot myself full of drugs.

So I got to the doctor's office and sat and talked with the nurse for a little while. She told me about all the possible side effects, how to mitigate those side effects, and about the worst-case scenario and what I should do if I feel very nearly close to death.

Continue reading "Injection Day" »