what's covered? hopefully all the important stuff!

i know i mentioned that bruno was limping since we had gone on spring break. he continues to not bear weight on his hind leg, so i took him into the vet, they sent him home, he kept limping...i took him back. they took x-rays yesterday afternoon and let me know that they couldn't really see anything in the knee, they would probably refer me to an orhto- do the mri, acl...like mother like dog....

but that wasn't all they saw in the x-ray, so they thought they should probably let me know that they saw bladder stones. looks like surgery. as i sit here reading about it, i am realizing that i need to get this done, like...next week, asap. (if the stones get caught in the wrong place, they can cause blockage and become a life or death situation. ugh). so it's a blessing in disguise that he had to have the x-ray! hopefully the pet-insurance i purchased will take care of the bulk of this and the knee thing...yikes. oh, and the tech said he would be on a special diet for the rest of his life... bruno asked if it could be ice cream and pupperoni...gross. 

because of the knee, the vet said crate-rest. so this morning, i put up the fenced area and placed a pee-pad, bed and small kennel inside, then closed the pen-with him and chaco inside. when i pulled up in the parking lot, i parked my car and with the car door closed, i could hear chaco barking. i thought, 'wow, does he know the sound of my car? why is he barking so loudly?' then i looked up to the 3rd floor window of the apt and saw bruno up there in the window..little son of a gun...he had shimmied and squeezed out of the bottom of the fencing because i didn't have the bungee cord tight enough. that will be fixed tomorrow. and of course, there was chaco inside barking like he was in pain...emotional distress-poor guy! he wasn't even supposed to be in there in the first place, he was just moral support for bruno, and bruno abandoned him. how rude. and i'm pretty sure it's going to be even worse tomorrow when i take bruno in, to the surgical place for his appointment.

i've had pet insurance since he was about 1, but i have yet to make any claims on it-although i should have many times over. that said, i am curious about how much will actually be covered-fingers crossed that it will be the majority.

did i mention that i looked EVERYWHERE for my care credit health card? i searched high and low yesterday and today, until finally i remembered that i had taken out all of my cards before i went to HONDURAS last summer and placed them in a pocket in one of the pieces of luggage that i left at mom and dad's and hadn't needed it since, so there it was still where i had left it. the worst of it, or rather the part that took so long was finding other things that distracted me...squirrel!

in other news, i would like to issue a public apology to everyone who was on I35E southbound between the minutes of 11:35 and 11:40 on friday march 27. i may or may not have cut across...6 lanes of traffic to get onto loop 12...and i may have been very rude, pretending it was everyone else's fault...when CLEARLY it was the fault of the lady in my phone. gps lady was not giving timely instructions. so yes, if you thought i was mouthing mean things at you, i was. pretty sure if the lady in my phone could've talked to me, she would've said that was uncalled for! thank God there is no 'attitude accountability' mode on my gps, because i'm pretty certain that the insurance people would stop replacing phones broken by sheer road rage at some point...

i got new address labels made, and the boys are super excited...and let's not lie, it kinda' feeds the desire to write more letters...it doesn't take much!

dapper young men!

we had our garden day last saturday. we got so much done!! thank you to bank of america, they sent volunteers who cam and worked SO hard! i was pretty excited about the pea plants and that they had survived the winter, but i went ahead and pulled them up so that we can plant more-i need to get some peas to 2nd grade so that they can come out and go through the process. 

peas!

the bulbs i planted last fall came up as well! that was a pleasant surprise! i actually planted 3 varieties of spring plants, but only the tulips and the other pretty flowers blossomed...perhaps next year the 3rd will show up!

i stopped by redenta's to get our reals school garden plants, and i was able to purchase some additional plants as well-they were precious cargo, so i was able to use the boys' car seats to transport them safely-here's hoping the boys don't get jealous.

ok, so back to boa. i was really glad that they showed up, because they really were helpful! had they not shown up, it would've just been dr. hughes, mrs. perez, sean, mrs. derse, one of our faithful parents, jose, and me! ouch. so i gave them the vision, and they headed off to conquer the garden! 

what all did we get done? well, i'm so glad you ask! we moved all of the tree cookies into the courtyard to create an additional sitting area under the tree (we being not me...thank you sean and other strong man with a good back). sean also dug a hole to sink the post for our weather vane! a group of 4 built the new raised vegetable bed (remember how it took me awhile, but i put one together awhile back? well, i tried to stay out of this and let them figure it out themselves...walking away is not always easy, but sometimes it's easier than sticking around to listen). the beds are weeded and chopped to size. the strawberries and other transplants had to be planted or else they were sure to die. another group took out the dead bushes that the district 'gifted' us. (i think they were on their last leg when they were given, because they were dead within weeks), and then they put up the bedpost that i found near the dumpster last fall. in front of it, they planted 2 honeysuckle bushes that will vine up and smell sweet as ever! i strategically had them placed near my office window...honeysuckle is one of those smells that accompanies pleasant memories of branson! what else? well, we got the pallets painted white so that we can put them up to pretend they are picket fences (they will receive a face-lift with flowers painted on them). and then there are the river stones that were "painted" white. i may need to go back and redo some of them for the project that i have planned. and last but not least, i got someone to turn the compost!!! woohoo! i almost forgot two very important projects, the pond pump got cleaned out and some brick and pavers got laid. (got laid out? well, regardless, there is now a huge square of bricks and pavers....with a little fence-thing that creates the aura of a headstone...? we're working on that!)

now, there's always a story. so, while we were out there, i was doing a lot of facilitating and pointing people in the right direction.  for some reason, and i truly don't know how it began, but every time i went near this one guy, he would allude to 'unbroken'-the movie...the book...i have not seen it, i have no idea what it is about. have you ever had the pleasure of working with someone who acts like a 16 yr old boy, but they are really 50-60-ish? well...i have. comments from, "i was driving through colorado last winter and i was really worried about the other drivers-they smoke marijuana...it's the mile HIGH state!" laughs at own joke. later, i showed him how to turn compost and layer it. "wow, this looks like poop. you know, dung beetles eat poop. can you imagine that? how gross is that? eating poop!" at this point, i really didn't feel like carrying on the conversation, but i did think about the boys and the fact that when they get bored, they eat poop...but i just didn't want to open up another can of worms."wow, this is really tiring! now i understand the term back-breaking work. i feel like one of the characters from unbroken...like i'm in a prison!" but i can't complain...the compost got turned and tiered! then as things were drawing to an end, he looked over and saw three drills which had been used in the building of the raised bed, and he said, "can someone follow me home and drill two holes in my wall? i just need two holes. i lost my recharging cord, and they were going to charge me $10 at home depot to rent one! i'm not paying $5 per hole!! seriously, will someone follow me to my place to drill two holes? or lend me a drill? i'll bring it back." that's really how it went down. no embellishments. i'll let you try to figure out who in the picture you think i might be talking about. i'll give you a hint...it wasn't the young boy.

and of course, if you work in a garden in texas, there are always the fire ants to deal with. 

pretty sure fire ants are a cross between regular ants and one of satan's cousins. little jerks.

all in all, the garden looks great, it is ready for the summer veggies, and while there are still more things that need to be done, it is manageable!

i did get mail recently, and it was such a blessing! i love being in touch with some of my former kampers still! they mean the world to me! so when i got this, kamp memories come flooding back, but more importantly, it is such a joy to see how they are doing! one of my favorite erins (and there are a few!) sent this one-so creative and such a neat story going on in her life! i love that i have had the opportunity to see these beautiful friends grow up and become amazing influences on others! 

oh, and of course, i must give a shout out to HONDURAS! while i was in springfield, i stopped at mama jeans market, and i saw this before i slipped out. i was thrilled! yea for HONDURAN products!! i love the anecdote!

and last but not least, i like my avocados, but i don't like it when i use a half and then the other half gets all brown and crazy. i've seen a couple of different solutions for this. one is to use oil, another said rub onion on it... i decided to try coconut oil. i mean...it's liquid and then it turns into a solid at lower temps. so when i put it in the fridge, it solidified into a little wax-like coating. it worked overnight, and the next morning, it didn't disgust me enough to deter me from eating it-good news! 

thank you, coconut oil!

 and now it is time to get to sleep so that tomorrow i can live another day!
julie

farmers branch added a day to my life!

well. i hope ms. arther had a decent day in my classroom and that my instructions were clear enough. i work so hard to leave good lesson plans for my subs! i want the day to go as smoothly as possible; this stems from the time when i subbed in wylie, tx-i only did it once because it was that bad.

anyhoo. today was the day i was to appear for jury duty. selection. so i was able to sleep in for about an hour and a half, then i took the boys for a short walk before getting ready to go. fortunately it was right here in farmers branch, just around the corner. so i drove on up and then i turned and went through a little 'emergency vehicles only' cut through...it was too late by the time i saw the sign to stop, so i booked it and kept going hoping no cps were around (which i was pretty certain there were not because my radar-detector didn't go off).i got across, no lights, no alarms, safe.

farmers branch police and courts.

when i walked in, there was a roomful of people to my left, so i looked to the right, and there was the office clerk behind her little window and the line i had to wait in was short enough. so i went up and gave the lady my paper. i was a little surprised that they didn't ask for identification or anything to make sure it was me and not a paid substitute sitting in for me. so then i went to sit and read for a bit. i chose to take the book GUILTY by ann coulter with me to read, in hopes that it would send off subliminal messages to the counsel as they were making selections...and as i sat there for about 15-20 minutes, just getting settled into my book, another lady came out and addressed us all.

"unfortunately we are having some technical difficulties in the courtroom, and the judge is going to have to reset his docket. you are all free to go, and this will still count as a jury appearance." people almost shot out of their seats! so as i was exiting and giving her the card about the rules that they had given us earlier for our reading pleasure, i asked her, "so, we won't be asked to come back in for this jury selection?" "no, and if you are summoned by any of the county courts, you are exempt because you were here today-for the next 24 months." wow!

farmers branch courts just added a day to my life! it was 9:37 as i drove back home. i really felt like i had won the lottery! forget the powerball, i had a complete day of freedom! nothing hanging over my head! the worst part is that in the back of my mind, i was actually contemplating coming in to school. then i decided that no, i deserved this. i have not taken a day to myself, and today, it felt so good! i walked in, cleaned all the laundry and organized the closet. then i finished some painting i'd been putting off. i went to the post office to drop off some cards that my kids had made for our jr achievement person. then i stopped at walmart for some Christmas supplies.

this year's tree

got some Christmas cheer up around the apartment

then when i got home, i walked in and took the boys on another walk. it was great because it was early enough that everyone else was still at work, so i had them off leash and they loved it! when we got down to the open field-ish area out back, they played a bit, then they wanted some pics, so i gave in.

chaco

bruno

smelling the fall grass and flowers

just looking off into the distance-serious senior pic-look

when we got home, i looked down and saw a dark clump on my pant-leg. i didn't notice it until chaco came up and started sniffing. and my first thought was,"CRAP" literally. gross...another dog's poop on my pants. it's one thing if it's my dogs, but quite another if it's someone else's pup! so i looked at it, wiped it with a piece of toilet paper, trying not to smear it into the fabric, and then...yep, i smelled it. had to make sure. to my relief, it did not smell. it was just dirt i knelt in when i was taking pictures. i think...because just a few minutes later while i was sitting at the couch, bruno was walking by when his nose started sniffing at my pant legs...hmm..oh well.

now we're just settling in for the night and very satisfied..i may have to do this more often!
julie

dissecting puppy waste to ease my mind...ew.

oh praise the real Jesus (not the jesus who married juanita and works at the tire repair shop)! it is friday and dallas isd is giving me a week off for thanksgiving! i guess they think we have a whole lot more to be thankful for! (which we do). so to celebrate, i called in a togo order from chilis. traffic was terrible, and then people were doing one of the things on my top 10 'i hate that driver because' list.

blocking the intersection. jerks.

yesterday afternoon when i got home, i had an empty diet coke bottle on the couch, and bruno grabbed it and started playing with it (i don't need to buy expensive toys, they have great imaginations). well, after a bit, chaco took over and before i new what had happened, he had abandoned the bottle (sounds like he was stopping an alcoholic problem) and he was sitting by me chewing on something and when i looked down at him, he had already eaten the other half of this:

no, not shark teeth! it's the band that goes around the rim of the bottle lid.

i began to get worried. i was imagining it getting caught in his little intestinal tract or something, or that if he tried to vomit it back up it might cut his esophagus. i was worried when we went to bed, and he had not passed it by this morning when i went to school. so it was in the back of my mind all day at school. then when i got home, i saw that he had pooped (and not eaten it), so i picked it up and i may or may not have dissected it with a toothpick to see if the plastic thing was there...i never ever would have guessed that dissecting poop would be a form of extreme relief. but i was SO relieved to see white bits of plastic!! whew! dodged another one! he must have insides made of steel...maybe he's a robot yorkie...uh oh. mavis better not have sold me a robot! i wish he were more discriminant about what he eats, though..


only put things in your body that you know you can pass!
julie