Merry belated Christmas!
We are in Little Rock taking care of Elder Daughter's pups while she and family visit her in-laws in Dallas. Christmas Eve was wild and crazy at The Son's with duck gumbo, chili, ham, turkey, and 3 "grand crazies," as Pepper's first wife calls them. Christmas morning was calm at my Daddy's with Younger Daughter and SIL#2 with traditional Christmas Brunch Casserole, cheese grits, fruit, and cinnamon toast (since I forgot to buy Pillsbury cinnamon rolls). I think we may stick with toast in the future -- it was pretty good!
Then we hot-footed it back to ED's house as the freezing rain and sleet began to fall.
It changed over to heavy snow (even some thunder snow!) in late afternoon and kept falling steadily until the wee hours of the morning. There were already a good six inches at 9:00, when the power went out. All told, we have between 10 and 12"! A genuine White Christmas!
That was 2 days ago. There is a huge snowball fight going on across the cul de sac as I type. In my car. While I charge my phone. Because the power is still out and not expected to be restored for days yet.
The thermostat now shows 49. At least there's a gas fireplace and a full propane tank on the grill. I built, and Pepper cooked, tomato soup and grilled ham and cheese for dinner last night. It was pretty good! He warmed water this morning for coffee and spit baths. Not quite so good.
I've decided to decree that 2012 is now officially Moogie's Grand Multiple Power Outage Extravaganza. I'm not sure which is the less pleasant: post-hurricane steamy hot power outage or post blizzard frigid, blustery outage.
We have friends who have offered showers and spare bedrooms, but we wouldn't take advantage of the bed hospitality with four dogs in tow. Maybe a shower!
Ah, the adventures in Moogie's World!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Idiocracy 101
We're taking care of Elder Daughter's pups and house while she, SIL#2, and Baby Jack spend Christmas with the in-laws in Texas. We got to have Thanksgiving with them, so I suppose I begrudgingly understand that sharing is only fair. Sort of.
So, tonight is what my Mama called "Garbahj" night -- emphasis on the second syllable -- when one hauls the trash to the curb so it can be picked up at some point the next day by city sanitation workers. I just now schlepped the big green trash can to the curb. It was only about 1/2 full, whereas last week it was close to overflowing. I suspect that's because there was no need to schlep it at all the week before, considering that a small family lives here at present. Even so, the re-cycling cart was seriously overflowing last Monday morning.
Tonight when I rolled the re-cycling cart out, it was nearly full -- understandably since there have been a whole lot more folks around this week. Once I was at the curb, it hit me that I'm not in New Orleans, where we accept fewer items for recycling, but pick it up weekly. Noooo, I'm in Little Rock where almost everything is accepted for recycling, but it's picked up only every other week. So, I rolled the re-cyclables back into the garage, and anticipating the holiday schedule, took two bags of re-cycled materials from the re-cycling cart and transferred them to the garbage cart where they will be collected and sent to the landfill. Like we try to avoid by participating in re-cycling.
What's wrong with this picture?
Yeah. I agree. Waaaay too much.
*sigh*
So, tonight is what my Mama called "Garbahj" night -- emphasis on the second syllable -- when one hauls the trash to the curb so it can be picked up at some point the next day by city sanitation workers. I just now schlepped the big green trash can to the curb. It was only about 1/2 full, whereas last week it was close to overflowing. I suspect that's because there was no need to schlep it at all the week before, considering that a small family lives here at present. Even so, the re-cycling cart was seriously overflowing last Monday morning.
Tonight when I rolled the re-cycling cart out, it was nearly full -- understandably since there have been a whole lot more folks around this week. Once I was at the curb, it hit me that I'm not in New Orleans, where we accept fewer items for recycling, but pick it up weekly. Noooo, I'm in Little Rock where almost everything is accepted for recycling, but it's picked up only every other week. So, I rolled the re-cyclables back into the garage, and anticipating the holiday schedule, took two bags of re-cycled materials from the re-cycling cart and transferred them to the garbage cart where they will be collected and sent to the landfill. Like we try to avoid by participating in re-cycling.
What's wrong with this picture?
Yeah. I agree. Waaaay too much.
*sigh*
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Christmas Miracle, the 2012 Edition -- UPDATE with Pic
Remember last Year's Christmas miracle? When Moogie left her purse sitting in the middle of an aisle at the grocery store and no one stole, or even ransacked, it? That was pretty unbelievable.
This year's miracle makes 2011's pale by comparison.
We still have Bouie, and he's healthy, thanks be to God and a couple of skilled, kind veterinarians.
We arrived at Elder Daughter's home last Saturday and got to play with Baby Jack while ED's family, both canine and human, got to know Mysti. Bouie had fun playing with ED's pups, Tyson and Pippi. Sunday was pretty uneventful, until Pepper and Bouie came back from their evening walk at about 8:30. Bouie was not himself.
Halfway through their walk, Bouie began to get shaky. By the time they got back to the house, he could barely hold his head up and could hardly stand.
SIL#1 had treated an ant hill in the front yard that morning and Bouie had seemed very interested in it. We wondered whether he had gotten into the poison, so I called the emergency number noted on the container. I got some information from their hotline, but that didn't seem to be the source of Bou's problem. After he could barely get up, we decided to head to the emergency vet clinic across the river ASAP. And thank God we did as quickly as we did!
Vet#1 examined him and ran some blood work.
The tests revealed that he had ingested antifreeze!
50 to 70% of dogs who ingest antifreeze do not survive, especially when the levels are as high as Bouie's were. Their kidneys and liver are destroyed.
Treatment for antifreeze poisoning includes oral administration of activated charcoal to coat the intestines and IV administration of, in essence, pure grain alcohol. The PGA chemically binds with the antifreeze and causes it to be eliminated through the urine.
We had to leave our Bouie in a strange place that night, in the care of strangers.
I slept maybe 1 1/2 hours.
He did well overnight, and his kidney and liver values were strong at 6:00 Monday morning when Pepper picked him up, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.
When our former Vet's office opened at 8:00, I called to explain what had happened, and they said to bring him in, along with any records we had from Vet#1. We took our drunken sweetheart in before 9:00 and, once again, left him among strangers.
We had a very quiet breakfast, and both of us spent most of the day trying to stay occupied. I called the vet at midday, and he told me that Bouie was doing well, and could probably be discharged Tuesday afternoon, barring complications.
Complications, thy name is Bouie.
Monday night, he pulled out his IV. Vet#2 didn't know how much of the drip he had gotten, so, to be safe rather than sorry, they kept him another night to keep the drip going.
Then, Wednesday -- which just happened to be Pepper's birthday -- dawned, and Pepper got a call while he was in the duck blind from the vet. Bouie's blood work was great, and he could be released at 2:00 in the afternoon!
I arrived at Vet#2's at approximately 2:01.
My boy looked pretty rough, and he had a blood alcohol content of about 80 proof, but he was happy and alive!
Vet#2 took pictures to share with colleagues who were very interested in the lab who beat antifreeze, and let us leave after advising me to bring him back in a week to double check his kidney function, just to be on the safe side. And, also advising that Bouie would likely have the mother of all hangovers for a day or so.
I have never been so happy to have a dog in my backseat in my whole life.
There are other heartwarming details, but the upshot of this post is that I got everything I could ever want for Christmas when Bouie staggered through the door that afternoon, and to see the expression on Pepper's face when he got home from a Bouie-less hunt to find his bestest buddy waiting for him.
There are good, and miraculous, times in Moogie's World. And I wish the same for all of you.
This year's miracle makes 2011's pale by comparison.
We still have Bouie, and he's healthy, thanks be to God and a couple of skilled, kind veterinarians.
We arrived at Elder Daughter's home last Saturday and got to play with Baby Jack while ED's family, both canine and human, got to know Mysti. Bouie had fun playing with ED's pups, Tyson and Pippi. Sunday was pretty uneventful, until Pepper and Bouie came back from their evening walk at about 8:30. Bouie was not himself.
Halfway through their walk, Bouie began to get shaky. By the time they got back to the house, he could barely hold his head up and could hardly stand.
SIL#1 had treated an ant hill in the front yard that morning and Bouie had seemed very interested in it. We wondered whether he had gotten into the poison, so I called the emergency number noted on the container. I got some information from their hotline, but that didn't seem to be the source of Bou's problem. After he could barely get up, we decided to head to the emergency vet clinic across the river ASAP. And thank God we did as quickly as we did!
Vet#1 examined him and ran some blood work.
The tests revealed that he had ingested antifreeze!
50 to 70% of dogs who ingest antifreeze do not survive, especially when the levels are as high as Bouie's were. Their kidneys and liver are destroyed.
Treatment for antifreeze poisoning includes oral administration of activated charcoal to coat the intestines and IV administration of, in essence, pure grain alcohol. The PGA chemically binds with the antifreeze and causes it to be eliminated through the urine.
We had to leave our Bouie in a strange place that night, in the care of strangers.
I slept maybe 1 1/2 hours.
He did well overnight, and his kidney and liver values were strong at 6:00 Monday morning when Pepper picked him up, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.
When our former Vet's office opened at 8:00, I called to explain what had happened, and they said to bring him in, along with any records we had from Vet#1. We took our drunken sweetheart in before 9:00 and, once again, left him among strangers.
We had a very quiet breakfast, and both of us spent most of the day trying to stay occupied. I called the vet at midday, and he told me that Bouie was doing well, and could probably be discharged Tuesday afternoon, barring complications.
Complications, thy name is Bouie.
Monday night, he pulled out his IV. Vet#2 didn't know how much of the drip he had gotten, so, to be safe rather than sorry, they kept him another night to keep the drip going.
Then, Wednesday -- which just happened to be Pepper's birthday -- dawned, and Pepper got a call while he was in the duck blind from the vet. Bouie's blood work was great, and he could be released at 2:00 in the afternoon!
I arrived at Vet#2's at approximately 2:01.
My boy looked pretty rough, and he had a blood alcohol content of about 80 proof, but he was happy and alive!
I have never been so happy to have a dog in my backseat in my whole life.
There are other heartwarming details, but the upshot of this post is that I got everything I could ever want for Christmas when Bouie staggered through the door that afternoon, and to see the expression on Pepper's face when he got home from a Bouie-less hunt to find his bestest buddy waiting for him.
There are good, and miraculous, times in Moogie's World. And I wish the same for all of you.
Friday, December 14, 2012
A Little Holiday Cheer, and Welcome!
I've been incredibly pre-occupied lately, with the house and Christmas and something else kinda exciting that I'll share in a few weeks, so I've been kinda neglecting Moogie's World and the blogosphere. I'll try to do better, but I can't make any promises, seeing as how I have done very little shopping, and we're getting ready to travel for the holidays, and we have a 10 week old black lab girl puppy!!!
This is the visual definition of cute (and hell on four large paws!):
Say hello to Mystic Roux (her mama's name was Roux), more commonly known as Mysti (or other "colorful" pejoratives, e.g., "you little fill-in-the-blank"):
She's getting the house training idea insofar as piddling goes, but we're still working on the poop angle. Bouie is very good with her -- he plays so gently with her. Perhaps he understands that she is his email-order bride and he needs to treat her right if he expects to wed her in a year or so.
She has gained over 3 pounds in two weeks, so she has an insatiable appetite. It's been pretty much a sleep-deprived, multi-ring circus around here since Thanksgiving (we picked her up on the way home from Arkansas). So, this video that appeared in my Inbox today was a calming, welcome pleasure. Just look at the children watching in awe.
I think the puppy needs to watch this. Often.
This is the visual definition of cute (and hell on four large paws!):
She's getting the house training idea insofar as piddling goes, but we're still working on the poop angle. Bouie is very good with her -- he plays so gently with her. Perhaps he understands that she is his email-order bride and he needs to treat her right if he expects to wed her in a year or so.
She has gained over 3 pounds in two weeks, so she has an insatiable appetite. It's been pretty much a sleep-deprived, multi-ring circus around here since Thanksgiving (we picked her up on the way home from Arkansas). So, this video that appeared in my Inbox today was a calming, welcome pleasure. Just look at the children watching in awe.
I think the puppy needs to watch this. Often.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
From Today's Inbox -- Cutting the Deficit
Pepper forwarded this to me today. It really puts things in perspective:
object: I'm cutting back and you may want to also!
I'm cutting back and you may want to also....
I'm going to bite the bullet, too!!!!
President Obama ordered the cabinet to cut $100,000,000.00 ($100
million) from the $3,500,000,000,000.00 ($3.5 trillion) federal
budget.
I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same
thing with my personal budget. I spend about $2,000 a month on
groceries, household expenses, medicine, utilities, etc., but it's
time to get out the budget cutting axe, go through my expenses, and
cut back.
I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio (1/35,000) of
my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of
spending $2,000 a month, I'm going to have to cut that number by six
cents. Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1999.94, but that's what
sacrifice is all about.
I'll just have to do without some things, that are, frankly, luxuries
- six cents worth.
Did this President actually think no one would do the math? Please
send this to everyone on your list so people understand how idiotic a
$100 million cut is in a $3.5 trillion budget - ludicrous!!!!!!!
"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation...
One is by sword...
The other is by debt."
John Adams 1826
*sigh*
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