Bad pic of my mom, great pic of the dog. It always seems to work that way!
This week is the last full week of school for me before finals. Everything is due this week which means that everything is done. It feels so good to have most of the work behind me. This past Saturday was the NCE certification exam. I think I did well enough to pass (I hope!). It’s nice to have that behind me too. Things are winding down, thank goodness. Jered’s sister is coming to visit us in 2 weeks, and my grandma is coming from Germany on May 12th. Graduation is the 14th, summer classes start the 15th.
It’s going to be a busy busy summer, but it will also be a nice change. My supervisor said something really neat today which I think rings true: A change can be as good as a rest.
Awwww April 24, 2006
This reminds me of someone not me April 21, 2006
Find your own pose!
This is the sleeping position I came up with when I took this quiz, which I don’t think describes me much at all, but it does remind me of a certain someone I am pretty close to!
My expensive habit April 17, 2006
This dog has been ridiculously expensive! Thank goodness he’s well behaved and good natured, it makes me feel like I am getting my money’s worth 
No really, though. This whole epilepsy thing means that he has to have bloodwork done every 6 months to a year, and he is scheduled for his initial bloodwork in a month. I am sick of giving the vet my money! I love little Oscar, but this is really getting to be a bit much. We have had Oscar just over two weeks and he has been to the vet 5 times. You can only imagine what that amounts to!
Other than getting nickle and dimed to death, life with a new dog has been pretty good. We bought baby gates this weekend to section off the downstairs so that he can hang out with us when we are home. The cats are slooooowly getting used to him. Floyd still runs away, but Jinx isn’t really all that scared anymore.
What are you supposed to do with a dog on a rainy day? Do you take them for long walks even though its raining? Any tips from dog owners? I’ve never had one before, so I’m still learning. I’ve been having him go back to the back yard and come back in and get toweled off.
I finished another paper this morning which brings me just a little bit closer to finishing this semester. I’m looking forward to finishing the semester out and getting the summer stuff going. It’s going to be a pretty big transition period since I will be moving my families around to fit my new summer schedule. Jered’s sister is coming out to visit us sometime at the end of May or beginning of June, my grandma is coming to visit from Germany for graduation, and my friend Liz is also coming down for graduation. I will also be teaching a human sexuality class at a local community college starting May 22nd. It should be an interesting summer! Hopefully it will be a little bit of a break.
He may be epileptic… April 10, 2006
But he’s the best darn dog I’ve ever had!
Last night Oscar had a pretty big seizure, but now that he is on phenobarbital the seizure wasn’t short and quick like it has been, instead it was long and drawn out and it took him a longer time to fully recover. The vet said that the drug will take up to two weeks to get into a steady state in his bloodstream. Hopefully by then we will see less seizures and more of Oscar’s great big personality.
I’ve got four families back to back tonight, so I’m glad that I’m feeling better and a little less stressed than I have been the past week!
I can’t wait to get home tonight and crash. I am exhausted, but in a good way 
Oscar the (possibly) epileptic dog April 8, 2006
He’s gonna be okay. We picked him up from the vet yesterday at 5 and they said that there is a 95% chance that he is epileptic. We hadn’t observed him having any seizures until after his surgery on Wednesday, so I still think the two are somehow related. Maybe he had an allergic reaction to the meds? Who knows. It could also be a corn allergy. All I know is that Oscar is acting fairly normal again. Knock on wood- he has not had a seizure since we brought him back from the vet yesterday. They gave him some phenobaribitol to control the seizures, which we are picking up today.
Oscar is the sweetest dog, and when he’s not seizing things are just about as good as they could be with a new dog in the house.
On the knitting front (for once!), I am officially re-committing to Madli today and am going to try to get her done by graduation at the beginning of May. I have my counselor certification exam coming up at the end of April so I’m pretty busy studying for that and getting group projects done, so I think May is a realistic goal. I honestly have not knitted since the beginning of March! It’s hard to believe, but life has been pretty darn crazy.
Thanks for the kind thoughts, I’ll post more about Oscar as we learn more. And of course, there will be more pictures
Sadness… April 7, 2006
Well, Oscar was neutered on Wednesday and everything was going fine until Thursday afternoon. He had a seizure at the vet’s office yesterday and they told us to watch him as he might be reacting after all the anesthetic. He had another seizure last night at 6:15, and another one at 11:05 that was terrible. He convulsed and lost complete control and didn’t come out of it for minutes. It was the most terrible thing I’ve ever seen happen to an animal.
This morning he had another small seizure at 7:30. So I decided to take him back to the vet. They are running tests on him all day today to try and figure out what is going on. Apparently his glucose levels are fine, so we are now just waiting on the bloodwork to come back.
I started crying at the vet’s office. I couldn’t help myself. I never cry! Seriously, only when I am really really upset, but here I was crying because I’m stressed over the bills and how quickly they are adding up (first a neuter and a teeth clean and a full physical, now bloodwork and bajillions of other tests). He started as a $50 dog, and now has already cost us upwards of $600. Needless to day, we don’t have that kind of money. I hate to bring money into a discussion about my feelings but it has been extremely stressful knowing that he might be really sick and we might not be able to care for him.
The SPCA didn’t tell us anything about the fact that he might be epileptic! The vet is saying that there is a 95% chance that he is. I just want to get everything figured out so that we can get him well and start to enjoy having a dog.
Today has been extremely stressful. I didn’t sleep much last night because I wanted to be sure to hear him if he had a seizure, and then today has been very very emotional. I’m feeling sad because the poor little guy is just helpless when he has these seizures and there’s nothing we can do but wait for him to come out of it and clean up after him afterwards (they can be very messy), guilty for indulging my impulsive side and adopting Oscar, and ashamed that I’m even worried about money…
It has been a rough day.
I think I will be doing some therapeutic knitting this weekend. I haven’t picked up Madli’s Shawl in over two months, and I think now is a great time to focus on something that really will grab my attention and put my mind on something other than worrying.
I also was able to get through the first 5 pages of a 10 page paper. I guess worry has fueled me to get things done. Might as well do something with the nervous energy. We pick Oscar up tonight at 5. I’ll try to post an update later. Keep him in your thoughts.
Oscar Part Two April 2, 2006
The first night of having Oscar at home went off without a hitch.
We are keeping him in our upstairs bathroom for a few weeks to get the cats accustomed to the scent of him and to get him used to the smell of the house/cats/us. We have a little fenced in back yard that we let him out in for a few hours today and we’ve been on lots of walks. The cats were pretty upset when they saw him in the back yard, lots of hissing and growling! It is going to be a while before we’re going to bring him in the house and introduce him to the cats face-to-face.
I’ve read a lot about Cairn Terrirs and most of what I’ve read says that they are hunting dogs, which worries me a little because I don’t want our cats to die! I think the slower we go with the introduction the better things will work out in the long run.
Oscar pees, a lot. All over everything. When we walk him he pees on every bush, every patch of grass, everything! We’re having a hard time with him in his “den” too since he misses the newspaper sometimes. He’s an adult dog (as far as we know) and he’s not housebroken which is anxiety producing. Tomorrow is his vet appointment for his “snip” and rabies shots etc. I’m hoping after his alteration he’ll cool it a little with the peeing on things. Maybe we just need more toys?
No Joke… April 1, 2006
I can’t frickin’ believe it! We got a dog!!! We picked up this little guy (we’ve named him Oscar) at the SPCA. He’s an adult Cairn/Westie mix terrier and he is the sweetest little guy!
I’ve never had a dog before so this is a big deal. Right now he is out in the garage because our two cats probably wouldn’t take too kindly to him hanging out in the house right away. Any tips for bringing him in? He is very mild mannered and calm, so I’m hoping it won’t be a problem!
Going to go out and play a little
