Checking In

With everything going lately, I've been too busy to blog. So here's the latest:

Met The Future In-Laws
With J and R's wedding coming up in October, it was decided that we should meet with J's future in-laws. So we met for dinner at J and R's house last Sunday evening. Nice folks. Not surprising since they have such a nice son. Got to see the grandson, the future granddaughter, the grandpuppy, and grandcat also. It was a grand evening.

The Grandpuppy Visits
We got to see Zoe again on Monday evening. Zoe had some surgery on a fractured front leg recently, and she now seems no worse for the wear. I think Princess can attest to that. Zoe has grown a bit since she last visited and is probably two or three times bigger than Princess. When I got home, I was being told to go rescue Princess from her "mauling" - and indeed she was pretty wet around the neck and sides from all the dog slobber. But closer observation of their antics revealed that Princess was the chief instigator (gotta love a little dog with attitude) and Zoe was just being a puppy. Princess, as usual would let Zoe chase her around and around the chair, then turn around and get in her face. Zoe's usual defense was body-slam Princess and sit on her. Funny and cute.

Nice BBQ at Church
For the Memorial Day weekend, it was decided by our Congregational Care Committee (of which I am now a member) to hold a barbeque. I was volunteered to flip burgers on the church's new charcoal grill. Hmmm. Standing by an open fire on a May afternoon in Phoenix. Actually, it wasn't too bad - we were in the shade (although it was just a palm tree). Lucky, the church cat, layed in the grass next to us - no doubt hoping for a handout or an accidental drop. The food turned out great. The best part of it was the fellowship with my fellow griller and our kitchen helpers. I'd do that again in a heartbeat.

Princess Goes to the Vet
Princess was overdue on her shots so I took her in Thursday for her exam. All is well with her, although she seems to have allergies (which I've noticed whenever she's been out on the grass for a while). I don't think she was too traumatized, but between the thermometer, two shots, and (pardon my sharing of TMI) an expressing of her anal glands, Princess didn't seem to appreciate the extra attention toward her rump. I made it up to with a trip to Petsmart.

Camp is Coming Up
A week from now I shall be packing for my week at summer music camp. Should be fun as always, even with the challenges one normally faces when dealing with that many kids. Mingus Mountain is my favorite "God place" and I look forward to spending some time up there.

Pet Food Crisis: Why Are We Exporting Wheat From China?

This whole thing related to the pet food recalls has gotten quite messy. We're finding now that the tainted stuff has been fed to livestock, so now it's in the human food supply. And now there have been two arrests in China of those thought responsible. They'll probably end up getting shot or hanged or something. Not that the Chinese necessarily care that they've tainted our food supply. They're more concerned about saving face and possibly losing some export business.

Which begs the question: WHY ARE WE EXPORTING WHEAT FROM CHINA?

Meanwhile, I've attached a link to the latest recall list from the FDA.

Thursday Report

Thursday Report
The idea for this title comes from a former coworker of mine who has quite a wit about her, and whom today I was reminded of one of the things she would do.

Every Monday we used to receive an email sent by my employer about things that were going on in our center and in the company in general. It was called the Monday Report. Then the next day, our coworker W would send out an email to our team which was essentially an amusing commentary about the Monday Report, as well as other amusing anecdotes. It was called the Tuesday Report. The Tuesday Report was not so imformative; but it was definitely worth looking at each week.

We no longer get the Monday Report. And since W has left the company, we haven't been getting our Tuesday Report either. But since I was reminded today of the Tuesday Report, I have been inspired to write a blog article each week that had some not-so-in-depth commentary just for fun. And I work half-days on Thursday. Hence the Thursday Report.

Don't worry, I will continue to comment on other topics as I am inspired to do so.

She's Baaaaack...
Over the past weekend, one of our grown children has moved back in with us. We love her dearly, though, so it's okay. Besides, it gives us an excuse to clean the garage again (always a work in progress). Our little dog Princess is thrilled to have another people in the house as well. Granted S & I have had to make some minor adjustments, but it's nice to have E home with us for the time being (whatever that will be).

Speaking of Princess
We've had some other adjustments in our household since the passing of our last cat, Snoopy. We now have a doggy door. Woohoo! I can't tell you how much that makes us happy - no more getting up to let the dog out, let the dog in, let the dog out, let the dog in, etc., etc. Princess can go potty any time, go sun herself when she feels like it, come back in and sleep whenever. It's great. Princess also no longer has a problem with jumping onto the bed at night knowing she won't accidentally land on the cat (always a plus).

How 'Bout Those Suns!
The NBA's second season - the playoffs - have now started. Our Phoenix Suns are now leading the Lakers 2-0 in the first playoff series. The first game was a bit shaky, but the Suns won in a fashion typical of their regular season. In the second game, though, the Suns absolutely demolished the Lakers. In fact, Charles Barkley, who is frequently critical of the Suns, was pretty quiet Tuesday night.

Sir Charles has been somewhat right about the Suns. After great seasons the previous two years, the Suns could not get it done. This year, many - including myself - have a sense that the Suns may win that elusive NBA Championship. We shall see.

The D-Backs: A Different Story
The Arizona Diamondbacks have certainly had their struggles this past week. Not even the ace from yesteryear, Randy Johnson, could eke out a win in his first start of the season. It's just a matter of slow offense. But they did manage to win it last night with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th with two out. Wow.

Spring Weather Ending?
I sure hope not. Although we did barely touch 100 degrees last March, we've had quite a nice spring. We've actually had a bit of rain, too. Enough to delay the fire season by - oh - ten days. But this weekend is the time we may actually hit 100 for the first time this year. Let the hot times roll.

Snoopy, 1991-2007

Often with a 16-year-old cat, it's just a matter of time. For Snoopy, his time came today.

The circumstances had an odd timing. Almost two weeks ago, I bought a new cat food for Snoopy. His appetite had been downright voracious, and so I thought I'd find him a cat food formulted for his special diet (he had an early history of urinary blockage). He ate some of the new food for the first few days, but he did get sick (and vomited) and never really liked the new food. It turns out that some of the cans I brought home would be part of the Menu Foods pet food recall.

We quickly reverted back to Snoopy's regular brand of cat food. But he never really seemed to get his old appetite back. On Wednesday night he was pretty sick and definitely not sick. I thought for sure he was suffering from kidney failure.

After a visit to the veterinarian and some blood tests, it was determined that there was no urinary blockage, no kidney failure, and no diabetes. However, the vet had felt around Snoopy's belly and thought it didn't feel right, and that perhaps one of the kidneys was quite small. Also, the white blood cell count was too high - indicative of cancer. Even with antibiotics, however, Snoopy's prognosis was not good. The vet said even though Snoopy couldn't really tell us, he probably felt like crap.

With our vet's full support and understanding, and given Snoopy's advanced age, S and I made the very difficult decision not to treat him, and to end the suffering which was only going to get worse anyway. And the cat food? Probably just a coincidence.

We already miss Snoopy very much.

Catch Me If You Can!