Welcome, Little One!

Welcome to the world, Mia Olivia! Can't wait to meet you. You are one lucky girl to have such wonderful parents as Nichole and Kasey! Take care of them, won't you?
Love
Aunt Lauren

A Walk in the Park

Last Sunday we met up with George, Emily, Krishnan and his mother for a hike at Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge. What was supposed to have been a fun walk in the woods turned into "Attack of the Wood Wasps!" when Adam, Krishnan and his mother were swarmed by angry wasps after someone tripped a log hiding a wasp nest. Adam was stung once on his finger and once on his ankle; Krishnan's mum was stung once; and Krishnan was stung four or five times. No one thought much of the stings until the next day, when Adam's ankle blew up to massive proportions. Only then did we realize that he had actually been stung a few times on his ankle and foot and had a pretty bad reaction. We've been packing it with ice and he's been popping Benadryls. Below are a few pics of what happened.


The hiking gang, post-swarm, but still all grins


Adam's swollen ankle; he was really milking the sympathy votes


I played the nurse to Adam's pitiful patient and kept his ankle wrapped in a cold compress. Kika obliged and kept Daddy company during the time he was off his feet.

Good News, Bad News and Other News

So we've been keeping some of our news on the down-low for the last few months, just to make sure that everything would go well and we wouldn't have to retract any celebratory statements. Our little bundle of joy will arrive in April! Just kidding, I'm SO not pregnant. Sorry, Mum! Actually, Adam found out a couple months ago that he was selected for a position with the Army Judge Advocates General (JAG) program. So he will be soon flying planes and solving mysteries like they do on the 90's hit tv show. In actuality, he'll be behind a desk like the rest of us, processing cases and filing paperwork. It's his dream job and he's been working hard for years for this moment. The day that the official paperwork came in the mail, he also got word that he was promoted to Chief in the Navy. He has also been waiting years for this honor. While the Army JAG position is a) going to allow him to practice law and b) more money, Adam's been in the Navy for 19 years and so being selected for Chief means an awful lot to him. It was a day of odd reality to find that after finally being promoted in the Navy, the same day he finds out that he'll be leaving the Navy to become an Army officer. But still, it's GOOD NEWS.

Also GOOD NEWS was having Little No Name's owner call in response to the advert I put in the newspaper. The woman described the dog to a T and walked from around the block to collect Little No N---I mean, "Sasha". She said her kids had been calling the dog's name for days hoping she would come back. I asked if her kids had red hair, and sounding surprised, she answered yes. So the kid on my block wasn't making stuff up after all. I surprised myself by being more than happy to release the dog back to her family; while she was a joy to have around, I'd hate to think that there were little kids out there crying for their dog. Besides, there are more than enough wonderful dogs waiting at the shelter to be adopted. But I think we're going to have to consider doing it sooner rather than later; Kika's health drastically improved while the dog was in the house, and I'm afraid now that the dog is gone, Kika will re-enter a state of depression and lose her pep again.

BAD NEWS. I found out via letter today (I had started to suspect it when I didn't get a phone call last week) that I was officially not selected for the Oregon position. In fact, they are doing a second round of interviews and I didn't even make that cut. Janice, my roommate from Oregon last summer, had found out that they had interviewed 13 applicants for this job, so I knew my chances of getting it were slim. But I was at least hoping to make the second round of interviews. Either my personality or experience (or both?) were lacking. Oh well. Back to the proverbial drawing board.

OTHER NEWS. My next-door neighbor and good friend Mrs. Gonzalez took pity on me this afternoon and made me some tasty pico de gallo and homemade tortillas. She also gave me a cupcake. Despite my new mantra to avoid carbs, I was feeling low because of the Dear Jane letter from ODFW and let myself dig in. Actually, I should change this section to GOOD NEWS because those tortillas were damn tasty.

Have a good weekend, all.

Fallin'

I keep on fallin' in and out of love with her....

I posted a notice in the local newspaper about a found labrador retriever mix, hoping that her owners are desperately looking for her and will call to claim her. Of course, since neither the humane society nor animal control has responded to the report I filed last week, and I haven't seen any fliers in the neighborhood about a lost dog, the "deperate owners" theory is quickly becoming a laughable musing.

And, to be honest, I'm becoming more okay with that. I'm starting to find that I dread taking Little No Name for walks for fear that someone WILL recognize her and want her back. The idea that a week of investment into her would be long forgotten once her real owners walk back into the picture is not very appealing. We've settled into a nice ritual now of late-night walks around the neighborhood once the temps have cooled off and the neighborhood folks have settled down. I love it.

However, I'm also falling OUT of love with her. She reminds me too much of Shabbi and it's hard to separate them from each other. I find myself making all sorts of comparisons and have to remind myself that she is not Shabbi. This is why people wait a good long while to get another dog after one dies. I'm not ready to think of "replacing" Shabbi, even though her kind and generous heart would have loved knowing that we were giving another dog the same kind of love that we gave her. It's just so hard to be without my Shabbi girl. This new dog makes me laugh and cry all at the same time as I remember Shabbs.

Shabbi would want us to take care of this girl. I really do believe that.
G'night.

All My Children

Life is becoming routine now that Little No Name has learned to go potty outside instead of in our basement, Kika has happily adjusted to the cat focusing on the new dog instead of her, and Greg House is still less than content with a happy-go-lucky pup in the house. Adam has no clue what he's coming home to.

Here are a few pics of life over the last month.



Little No Name in all her nameless glory



Gregory House, happy before big dog entered the picture



Kika keeping her eyes on the situation



Oops! How'd that picture of Vince Clarke get in there???

It's 10 O'Clock...Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?

For awhile there, I didn't. Little No Name got away for a good while tonight whilst on our nightly walk, and she managed to run all over the neighborhood (alongside the busiest street in town) and evaded all of my attempts to call her back. I was scared for her safety, peeved at her insolence, and eventually resigned that she might not come back. I finally gave up and started walking away, only to find that she tracked me home. She knew exactly where the house was, making a few stops along the way (and making a bunch of neighborhood dogs bark madly at 10:45 pm), and she finally leapt into the house as I held the back door open for her.

As I was walking back toward the house with her, a kid on my street yelled through his window that he knew who her real owners are. He said something about some red-haired kids he knows being her owners, but I told him they'd have to prove to me that she is their dog before I give her up. I'm not giving her to just anyone.

Crazy dog.

Crazy me for keeping her.

You Gotta Keep 'Em Separated

When I got home from the Lugnuts game on Saturday night, I took Kika and Gregory House outside for a potty break. Out of the night air, a quickly approaching figure was running toward us. I immediately picked up Kika and House, waiting for what was apparently a dog to descend on us. Before I knew it, a golden beauty of a dog was sniffing me, Kiks and House and begging for love. House started spitting piss and vinegar, and scratched me up in the process of getting away. I took both him and Kiks inside, then returned to the front sidewalk where this stray dog had remained, waiting for me to come back.

After determining she was friendly and that she had no collar or tags on her, I got out Shabbi's old collar and leash and took this mystery dog for a walk around the neighborhood. I figured someone, despite the late hour, might be out looking for their lost dog, and I might be able to find them. After 45 minutes of walking, however, I had no luck and we returned to the house. Since I had no history on the dog, I didn't dare bring her inside that first night; instead, I put some blankets, water and food into the garage and played NPR to calm her down. There were still neighborhood assholes exploding their fireworks, which made mystery dog, in addition to Kika and House, quite frantic. Once she settled down, I left her in the garage and went to bed. I was quite overwhelmed, especially by the fact that I seem to find stray animals whenever Adam is away. It never fails that they come to me when they know I'm alone and have no help in taking care of them

The next day, Sunday, Emily came over and helped me give mystery dog (also known as "Little No Name") a bath. Then we took her for a 2-hour long walk around the outskirts of the neighborhood, hoping we'd find someone who'd recognize her, or at least "Lost Dog" fliers hung up. Nothing. But she did really well on the leash. At least once that day I told her that I wouldn't let just any dog use Shabbi-girl's collar. I think my Shabbi is panting with happiness somewhere, though, knowing that her mum is continuing to give love to doggies.

Sunday night I decided Little No Name should come inside because the garage is getting hotter as the days go on. I set her up in the basement, where she cried and whimpered for a few minutes before settling down. She is so GOOD. She sits, lies down, stays, and shakes on command. She won't disobey you and she hardly ever barks. The only thing she doesn't do is tell me her name. Little No Name is cute for now, but it would be nice to be able to call her by a proper name.

Today was the test. Emily and I called all of the shelters and humane societies in town but they were closed yesterday and today, meaning that Little No Name would have to be left in the house all day long while I was at work. I didn't want to keep her holed up in the basement where she couldn't really move around, so I decided to give her the run of the house. But that meant that Kika had to be put away (Kiks has been snipping at her so I didn't want them together without supervision) and House ended up in the basement since his litter box is down there. I didn't want him hissing or clawing at Little No Name. Gotta keep 'em separated, ya know.

Got home today after a long, hard, wet (got torrentially rained on) day at work, and was in no mood for trouble. Luckily, there was none. Little No Name had not moved a hair in the house, had not destroyed anything or had any accidents. She was just very very excited to see me, which was sweet. This evening was the official introduction of the three kids to each other. It was stressful at first, but now, several hours later, they are in a respectfully distant peacefulness from each other and I'm happy about that. Tomorrow I'll put out some more notices (newspaper, shelters) to try to find her owner. She looks at every single person she passes on our walks, so I know that she is keeping a watchful eye out for her human family and I really really want to find them for her. I'm sure they are devastated to have lost such a wonderful girl and I hope to bring them a little joy very soon.

Adam claims I'm becoming the crazy animal lady and that I'd better not save any more strays. I say that if the animals are choosing me, then I must have something to offer them. And if they happen to stick around for awhile, then there's plenty of love to go around.

Woof, meow, bark, g'night

Anal Retentive

Woooooooooo, what a week! Last Wednesday Lansing got hit with a series of violent storms that left us with tons of rain (and flooding in some areas) and wind damage. No tornadoes came from these storms, but they were strong nonetheless.

Wednesday was also the day of my phone interview for the Oregon job. After weeks of studying up on the OR Dept of Fish and Wildlife's wildlife issues and policies, I felt there wasn't much more I could do to prepare. My coworker held a 1 1/2 hour mock interview to help me prepare for any questions that the interview panel might ask, and I rounded off the last few hours before the interview by boning up on the priority invasive species in Oregon.
By the time the interview came around, I was more concerned with the storm than the questions themselves. I was afraid the wind damage might disconnect the call. Luckily, everything went well. They e-mailed me 6 questions 10 minutes before the interview started and I was able to take some quick notes on how I'd answer them. The panel consisted of 3 people, 2 of whom work for the agency, and one of whom works for a nearby university but would work closely with me if I were to get the position. The only thing that jarred me was when Adam's cell phone rang in the middle of my interview. It was sitting right in front of me, and since I had the interview panel on speaker phone, they heard it too. I was trying to turn his cell phone off in the midst of answering my question, but ended up becoming so distracted that I just chucked his cell phone into the next room. Otherwise, though, I think the interview went well, although you never can tell when you can't see their faces. I should know whether I got the job in the next week or so.

Yesterday was a nice day. We've finally finished work on our office (new floors put in and we painted the walls) so we were able to move the furniture back in. Adam did a bangup job of cleaning things up so I have a workable space (and living area) while he's out of town. I'm hoping to get some more painting done while he's gone, but we'll see how productive I feel during these increasingly hot summer days we've been getting.

We spent the 4th working on the house and then visiting with some friends at a bbq. All was normal until the end of the party, when one of the party guests mentioned his dog had been scooting around the house on her butt. I asked if she'd ever had her anal glands expressed and he looked at me like I was crazy. I used to be a dog groomer so I'm pretty familiar with the procedure. I explained the method of relieving the dog of excess anal fluid (which is often why their butts itch to the point that they drag them on the floor) and I offered to do it for the guy's dog. He couldn't believe that I'd do it (in my white dress no less) but I've done it a million times so it was no big deal to me. He went to get his dog and I instructed him (in the yard, away from the guests) how to squeeze the glands along either side of the anus. He was fascinated, and the dog only winced a little (most dogs do if they've never had a person pinching their butthole before). What I failed to realize was that many of the other party guests were disgusted, despite the fact that I did it far from the picnic table, out of view, and I washed my hands thoroughly after handling the dog's anus. When the guy (and a couple other people) continued to ask me questions about what I'd done and I answered them, one of the guests (who'd I only met that day) came up and told me to "drop the topic". It didn't help that people kept asking me questions about it, but of course I was the one branded as "anus girl" in everyone's minds. When I asked Adam on the ride home if relieving the dog's anal glands at a bbq had been inappropriate, he looked thoughtfully out the window, and said, "You're just a different type of girl, Lauren." Damn right I am.

Now I'm off to go to a minor league baseball game with some friends. It feels like Sunday today since I had yesterday off, too, but I am SO glad work doesn't start back up tomorrow. I'll have to bike to work the next two weeks while Adam is away, so I will be in major buff shape when he gets back. He'll have to take me to the beach because I'll probably feel secure enough to get into a bikini again...

Happy 4th of July everyone!