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Molly Visits the Vet…Again

Posted on April 4, 2009 by auburnchick

Sigh…

Whatever am I going to do with this adorable dog of mine.

Molly, my escape artist, decided to jump over the fence on Monday.  No problem…regular thing with her.

Well, I heard her and ran out the garage to intercept her.  She usually starts running down the street after clearing the fence; however, this time, she ran straight to me…limping along the way.

Great.  She landed funny, I guess, and she knew she was hurt.

I kept a close eye on her during the next few days.  She would usually limp after waking up from a nap.  No problem.  She’s stiff, I thought.

Well, yesterday (Friday), I took a look at her leg, and it was almost twice the size it normally is.  It was hard as a rock too.

I quickly googled “swollen puppy legs”.  My search led me to the conclusion that she’s probably got an infection of some sort.  Her leg was very warm when compared to the other leg.  Another sign of infection.

This morning, I called up a vet that’s open on Saturdays and made an appointment.  When I got there, I noticed a red spot on the back of her leg…it was oozing.

Ewww…

Apparently, Molly has an abscess.  It chose today to bust through the skin.

The vet wanted to x-ray her leg, but at an additional cost of $300, factoring in the anesthesia.  I was torn.  I love her, but I do not have the money to go to such lengths to diagnose what might only be a sprain.

I made the difficult decision to just start her on the antibiotics.  If the limp doesn’t improve after a round of antibiotics, I’ll let them do the x-ray and put her in a splint.

Meantime, the doctor cleaned up her leg and, in the process, discovered several bite marks…probably the cause of the abscess.

Now, I haven’t allowed Aubie and Molly to be together.  So, I know it’s not due to that.

Nope.  I think the culprit is Pele.  He’s almost 80 pounds but thinks he’s about 10.  He has a ginormous jaw that probably accidentally tore into Molly’s leg when they were playing this week.  They place rough but not mean.

Sigh…

It’s always something, isn’t it?

Now Molly is sporting a fancy shaved do on her leg…another shameful walk out to the car walking the length of the store because the vet is located in the back.  At least her tongue wasn’t hanging out of her mouth this time.

Sigh…

On another note, I’ve made progress on my Shetland Shorty:

Shetland Shorty

Shetland Shorty

I just finished shaping the front and will now begin the 18 repeats for the back.  Oy…I’m tired of k2tog’s and double yarn-overs.   What a gorgeous texture though!

Oh, and one other thing.  I started going through a bag of clothes that Chicky put together from her room…stuff to give away or sell.  It would seem that I’m going shopping…for me…out of her pile of clothes…

There’s an assortment of clothes.  I hope I can fit into the blue jeans.  I wear a smaller size than her (because she has muscular thighs that require a little bigger size).

It’s kind of sad when you have to borrow from your kids’ closets to enhance your own wardrobe.  Oh well, I’ve never minded hand-me-downs…no matter the source.

Filed under: Knitting, Pets | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Day 5 of Spring Break

Posted on April 3, 2009 by auburnchick

After the day we had yesterday…

Today’s sunshine is very much welcome…

The kids ventured out to the beach…a MUST during Spring Break.  They didn’t stay too long because the water was cold.

While they were gone, I had the house to myself.

Ahhhh…nice and quiet.

I opened all of the windows and sat contented.

I decided to do a bit of cleaning…sweeping the floor for Rooster.  Chicky was not amused at my having completed his chore.  While I swept, I listened to a new CD that Rooster gave me for my birthday…

A New Hallelujah - Michael W. Smith

A New Hallelujah - Michael W. Smith

What powerful songs!!!

I did a few other little chores and am now ready to sit down and knit.  Work is progressing on my Shetland Shorty, although I had to tink three rows (at 240 stitches per row).  Oy!  It was painful but necessary because I did two extra k2tog’s on one row.  Now my stitch count is right, and progress can resume.

Spring Break has lived up to its name…a wonderful respite from the regular routine.  I accomplished my goals…sleeping and cleaning.  Real life will resume on Monday.  Until then, I’ll simply enjoy the weekend.

Filed under: Knitting, This-n-That | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Day 4 of Spring Break

Posted on April 2, 2009 by auburnchick

Wow!  What a wet start to the day!

I had heard that we would be having storms, but…WOW!

Here’s what my porch looked like when I crawled out of bed at 10am…

The back porch

As I peeked out of different windows, here’s what I saw…

The back yard

The back yard

The front yard

The front yard

I guess it’s safe to say that Chicky will not be going to the beach today; nor will she be going to the mall as our roads are prone to flood.

I’m thinking that this is a good day to sit and knit.  I have chicken cooking on the stove.  It will be turned into Chicken Creole.

Rooster is washing a huge pile of dishes…ever the procrastinator.  Chicky and Guy Friend are finishing up with spring cleaning her room.  She’s pretty much gutting it in preparation for painting.  She’s thinking of a shade of blue.

Rainy day, lazy day.  In a twisted way, I love it.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Day 3 of Spring Break

Posted on April 1, 2009 by auburnchick

Day 3 of Spring Break began by a leisurely stretch in bed.  I don’t think my feet hit the floor until 9:30.

Ahhhh…the life…of unpaid school employees, that is.

In my defense (a weak one, at that), I had stayed up until past 2am catching up on old episodes of 24.  Every Monday finds me torn as to what to watch.  I had to begin with Episode #11 because your’s truly didn’t know that the network pulled older episodes off of the Internet.

Gee Whiz.

I armed myself with a new project…the Shetland Shorty…a skein of my South West Trading Company Bamboo, purchased in Las Vegas last year…and began work while enjoying Jack Bauer’s antics.

Here’s what it looks like right now (minus the one pattern repeat I’ve since completed):

I placed stitch markers every 25 stitches to keep from losing count.  The picture above also shows where I’ve used extra cables as stitch holders.  I’ll be working on the back from this point forward.

After dragging myself out of bed, I showered and headed out the door…on a mission to find Bernat Softee Chunky in a grayish color.  I had a 50% coupon for Michael’s and a 40% coupon for Hobby Lobby.

Of course, neither store had the yarn.

Ugh.

So, I called my friend, Rabbit, who has the largest stash of anyone I know (and probably anyone you know) and asked if I could buy a skein from her.  Being the good friend that she is, she quickly said yes.  I should receive it in the mail in a few days.

My shopping trip was not a total failure, though.  I couldn’t pass up Spring/Summer issue of Knit Simple.  It has a good picture tutorial on Hairpin Lace and some gorgeous beach blanket/coverlet patterns.

On the way home, Chicky called me.

“Mama, I decided to clean my room.  Can Guy Friend come over after you get home and help?”

Now, how could I turn her down.  She had gotten in the mood to really clean her room after helping Guy Friend’s mom clean his yesterday.

When I got home, she had two big bags of clothes and a few boxes of miscellaneous items…soccer trophies, CD’s…typical teenager stuff.  Guy Friend came over and helped her finish.

Wow!

I quickly got in the cleaning mood and began work on the light fixtures in my house.  I’ve known about, but chosen to ignore, the layer of dust that has steadily grown thicker over the years.  Yeah, I said years.  I’m not that into cleaning, but this icky stuff has gradually gotten on my nerves.

Armed with a ladder and screw driver, I took the fixtures apart and carried pieces to the kitchen sink.

Before:

After:

It might be a little hard to tell the difference because the glass is frosted, but the dirty water was evidence enough.  I even took time to clean the light bulbs!

One other thing that had been bothering me was the dust on the fan blades.  Every time I sat on the couch and looked up, I saw a layer of dust hovering just beyond the edge of each blade.

Ewwww…

So, I climbed on the ladder and cleaned those up as well.  Which led to my having to sweep the floor after.

Ugh…the cleaning domino effect.

One last thing I did was clean the light covering of my fluorescent light in the kitchen.  You know the kind…long and plastic.  A while back, I had noticed dead bugs in it.  Yucky…especially given the location in the kitchen.

In the process of cleaning it, I cut my finger on the stupid plastic edge.  I mean…sliced the top of my pointer finger.

Rats…I always knew that cleaning was bad for your health.

I still managed to finish cleaning…bandaged finger and all.

After that, I needed a rest and finally sat down.

Chicky and Guy Friend hung out, making Mexican Lasagna for dinner.  It was a yummy treat!

They also went fishing at the pond across from my house.

Guy Friend thought he was All That when he caught his fish:

Rooster walked out, and within 30 seconds, caught this:

Guy Friend was not amused, nor were the fishies.  They were mercifully thrown back into the water.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful.  The kids went to church and then the shopping plaza at the beach.  I worked on my current knitting project and watched American Idol (I totally agreed with the voters today).

It’s so nice to be able to relax and just enjoy “being.”

The dogs are enjoying the break as well…

Especially Pele…

Filed under: children, Knitting, Pets | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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