how is it that i can cut my own hair, but make chaco look like frankenstein's monster?

on friday the contractor came by to fix the mess that the water damage left on my ceiling. i was showing him what needed to be done, and pointed out the sprinkler and need for the patch job, and i wasn't sure he was getting the entire message, because he responded in broken english...so i continued in spanish-which surprised him. it usually does, so i explained that i was from HONDURAS. he smiled and said his wife was from HONDURAS, so i asked what area. when he told me tegucigalpa, immediately visions from my jr. high era flooded my memories and i told him that i had lived there 2 years. (a great two years, and i still keep up with some of my friends from there!)

he said he needed to go to home depot to pick up some supplies, so i figured i had enough time to give chaco a trim and i began. well, apparently he didn't need to go all the way to home depot, because just a few minutes later, he returned with another guy; they taped off the area they were working in, and i continued to work on chaco, but he got fidgety and i accidentally nicked him in a very sensitive area on his hind leg. poor guy. and it may have been a bit of a hatchet job because i got in a hurry...so he had a couple of little patches that made him look like he had skin problems...oops. how do i know? well, a lady in the parking lot at petsmart said she had problems with her maltese, and they had her on a special diet, "and it cleared her skin right up!"...ugh.

bruno is fine with the ride...chaco-not loving life.

i took the boys into the banfield vet and dropped them off to check on their vomiting issues. i got a call from the vet saying they wanted to do some blood-work to make sure, and also they were giving an anti-nausea injection that would last 24 hours, as well as some antibiotics to help keep them from licking their paws and clearing up any skin issues. it took several repetitions for me to understand what in the world he was saying. i am just not as good at deciphering accents from india...banfield must have some sort of exchange program, because the last 3 vets i've had there have been from india. anyhoo, i told him it was my fault, i'd done a hatchet job (i had to explain that term-because nobody wants doggy cps coming after them!) i had gotten in a hurry when i was shearing chaco. sigh.

i left them and ran several errands. office depot for some office-type thingys...i was in dire need of a calendar; umm...i don't quite know how i got this far through the year without one! when i picked them up, they were fine-they didn't throw up last night, which is a plus (because it saved me from having to clean up).

it was good to see that all of the work was done, and the drywall had been replaced in the bedroom by the sprinkler! go me! after i brought the boys home and got them settled in, i went to sip-n-doodle to meet up with 4 other teacher friends. when i arrived, denise and kim were already there, so we got to do some catching up--they follow my blog, so they had a basic idea of what was going on, which made it easier to fill in the blanks with the details. we had fun painting our designs and chatting, and catching up. i'd seen nafia and nicolette at summer school, so there wasn't as much to catch up on, but kim and denise had news to share, and it was good to see what all was going on with them as well.

we searched through all the painting models for one that we were interested in, and found our places, prepared our drinks and got our popcorn! i was really wanting to do a different picture, but i couldn't locate it on my phone-boo. the owner quickly gave instructions and let us get to work! when we finished, we had our masterpieces (which will not be hanging anywhere in my apt). for real, it was all about just hanging out and being together to catch up and keep in touch. we'll need to schedule another get-together before summer ends!

the owner loved jumping in to help!

kim making one of many stops at the blow-drier station

nafia with her work of art

nicolette working her artistic skillz

fun night-something new and different

 i noticed there was a problem friday night when i got home, because chaco kept licking. well, i think he made the spot that i nicked worse, and it was pretty raw, so i had to break out the CONE OF SHAME. he was not happy about that. but i am going to have to keep the cone on because it is very red and tender right now. hopefully it will clear up a little by tomorrow and at least be a little less red...i do NOT want to have to take him into the 24hr vet care. note to self, next time: scissors around the legs (i should have paid more attention...that's a tender area for all of us!). bad mom...it's the equivalent of giving your boy-child a bowl haircut. (no offense to those of you who think that's cute...but in my book, not real cute).

today i was going to go to kaboom-town addison, with some friends, but that ended in a bust. (not like i'm going to go down and hang out there by myself-it's one thing to go to a restaurant or coffee shop alone, or a museum, but a fun event or celebration. no. not as much). fortunately i can see the fireworks from my balcony, so that's how i'll be watching tonight's fireworks. i wasn't planning on much for tomorrow, but i am slightly intrigued by the plano fourth of july event--mostly because they will have foodtrucks. i know, what's the difference between addison celebration and plano celebration? foodtrucks. but then there's also fairpark. their event was actually editor's pick. let's just wait to see if it's an out-and-about day.

alright, remember, FREEDOM isn't free-thank a vet (and i'm not talking about animal vets, like my doc from india)!
julie

chaco pulled one over on the doc!

i was pretty worried the other night when i found chaco acting weird-limping and whimpering in pain when i came back from the kitchen. so we went in to the vet the next morning and while i was waiting for them to bring him back, i could hear them talking (i wasn't eavesdropping if that's what you're thinking...it's just that they were talking loudly and the walls seem to be thinner than my apt). anyhoo, the assistant brought him back in and said the doctor would be in momentarily and left. so i put him down and he started limping around, so i picked him up until she came in.

when the doc came in, she said, "well, we didn't see any signs of the problem that you mentioned." i held my hand up to stop her and put him down again and he again limped around and held his paw up. her face took on a look of complete and utter surprise. she proceeded to tell me that he walked up and down the hall and didn't wince or anything when she was checking him.

i have no idea what the deal was, either he was showing off, nervous or just wanted to get out of there...brat. (not like the glorified hotdog, more like a bratty child). that said, she prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine, and pain killers. on the way home he kinda' chuckled and said, "woah, did you see her face when she came back into the room and saw me limp? i had her right where i wanted her! i'm tricky mctrickerson, right?"(sometimes dogs just say the darndest things...)

 i gave him the pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds as soon as we got home and i caged him-per the doc's orders. i fully expected that when we got home he would be asleep...but no, he was yelping from excitement to get out and shot out like a jack rabbit into the living room. keep him calm, she said. don't let him jump around she said...apparently she's never had a chaco. he kinda reminds me of amy poehler as Kaitlyn if you watch the link, the part that applies most is from 1:55-2:22 (first he tries to convince me that he shouldn't be left in the cage, and then he runs around in circles when he should be sitting still..ok, not the best analogy; perhaps i was just looking for a reason to include kaitlyn).

he was in his cage again tuesday, and today i left him out and he seems to be fine-we're continuing with the anti-inflammatory meds, but no pain killers. good little buddy.

in other news...we have an 'adult' bathroom near the teacher's lounge, and it has the kind of lock that lets others know it's occupied (like airplane lavs), yet either people can't read or don't know what OCCUPIED means, because they still try to open the door (without even a knock..jerks) that's scary. so i always feel like i have to double and triple check to make sure the lock is horizontal.

so i decided to make sure that it did read correctly when locked...

 one day, not too long ago while i was in this particular restroom, i noticed this little door by the toilet, under the paper towel dispenser...i wondered what it was a door to. i didn't bother to look, because i would rather stick with the story i conjured up in my mind. there is a little bathroom fairy that comes out once in awhile to clean up because the custodians struck up a deal with him. i realize that most fairies are female, but the males are the ones that live in bathrooms...anyhoo. i might try to strike up my own deal to get him to stand guard in front of the door for me...

and drum roll please.....i got a free sample of royal canin. i LOVE getting free stuff-no shame. i figure they jack prices up so high that i deserve it. the boys were really excited about it because this is what they used to eat all of the time until we changed to bil-jac.

please notice how chaco has his ears back and low as if he might be a little guilty for getting called out. well, that's because he got caught doing this:

bad little buddy.

bruno throughout all of this has been great. he's my no drama boy. i am thankful for that because he helps chaco find his balance!

thankful for healthy dogs and hoping to strike up a deal with the bathroom fairy,
julie

my dogs are not in the petting zoo...why the doggie pellets?

had to take bruno into the vet this morning (these guys are killing me this month!). yesterday when i got home, he was acting a little funny. he was trying to scratch at one eye, and he was squinting. it was too late to take him in after school, so i thought about going to the emergency health pet clinic place, but i didn't want to pay the exorbitant amount they would charge, so i took him in this morning and of course chaco had to go along. it ended up not being a scratched cornea or anything of that nature, it was probably doggie pink eye (which is what i had presumed).

everything was normal until we got home and started up the stairs. i dropped the leash and let chaco run up the stairs right in front of me and when we got to our floor, i saw a travel bag by my neighbor's door, and chaco ran right inside their apartment because the door was open. i called after him, and the guy who lives there grabbed his leash and brought him out to me. grr.. so i turned to go into my door and he got away again, so i dropped bruno and a shopping bag inside my apt and the guy came back out again with chaco on his leash. i wasn't very happy with him (chaco, not the neighbor), and we had a long discussion about not walking into strangers' houses (again, chaco and i, not the neighbor).

did i mention that on the way out of petsmart today, a man in an apron carrying some small containers stopped me and gave me some samples of dog food. he said it was great for little dogs. we'll let the little dogs decide on that.

he made me take two samples.how generous.

so i opened them up and let the boys check it out. it looks a lot like the pellets they sell for kids to feed goats at a petting zoo...but the boys seemed to like it well enough-hopefully they don't get the runs! i'll probably stick with what we've been using though, because they really have done well with it.

oh! and i might add that when chaco ran into the neighbor's apartment, they had the wood laminate flooring from the entryway all through the front room into the kitchen area! and i have the tacky old carpet! and it wasn't brand new when i got here either.

roast pork loin in the crockpot with brown sugar and honey mustard cooking up for a beautiful lunch tomorrow! woo hoo!

have a beautiful weekend!
julie

pickles eggs and ham will get you a martha's toy...

guess who went to the vet today?

yep, chaco. and he was none too happy about it. he was frustrated all day long because his name-collar was upside down..when i came back to get him, the new lady set up an appointment to check up on wednesday to get his sutures out. i said, " i'm sorry, why did he need stitches?" she looked at the computer screen, then made her way back to the doctor's work space and came back saying, "nope, you're right, no stitches." whew.

on the way out, chaco said that they gave him a pickle, eggs and ham. i wrinkled my brow and tried to think of what he could possibly mean. he said it again and then i realized he was talking about the fecal exam. remember, his doctor is from india. after i explained it to him, he said, "oh, that's why i was waiting all that time and they never gave me a thing to eat."

so, per usual, i got a toy for him for going to the vet and being awesome. i am thinking he is a trained guard dog and i should put a BEWARE OF DOG sign on the door for liability sake...

he goes for the eyes first. martha, my dog demolishes your toys...make them tougher.

i guess a visitor wouldn't have to worry unless he squeaked and bounced around and then laid very still while chaco gnawed on his extremities.

i also stopped at target because it was right there. i had to get the ingredients for a little harvest mixture my sister-in-law posted on her blog. it makes me happy! and that led me to get one last great halloween card for a friend, knowing it will be late.

i'll just call it an early thanksgiving card...zombie peanuts...umm..be thankful that you can put those zombie peanuts into thanksgiving peanut brittle!

side note: the cardinals won. but only because there was a woman in the crowd (the camera man caught her on film) crossing her fingers. i didn't really think it worked, i stopped doing that long, long ago, believing it was child's play. it's the only thing i can come up with.

if you ever come to visit remember to cover your eyes and twitch every once in awhile so chaco knows not to gnaw!

julie

bruno might be a little bit of a faker

today was half day of AVID training to wrap it all up, and it went really well. i hurried home (and by hurry, i mean i took the dart one last time and went as fast as that goes), to see how bruno was doing-he has not been himself; i thought he hurt his leg, because he had been favoring one side, limping a little and acting really strange. he's usually my shadow, but the last couple of days, he has been somewhat lethargic-almost melancholy. and today when i came home, he wasn't waiting for me, he was in the room laying on the ice pack i left for him this morning.

so i played with chaco for a few minutes and then took bruno in to the vet. so. we get into the little room and he's climbing all over me trying to get in the baby position (like burping a baby over your shoulder). when the lady came in i tried to explain how he was limping and favoring 3 legs over the one...and i set him down and walked from one side od the room to the other and he followed me back and forth without limping or anything. bruno may have been playing me!
the vet said she could tell he has luxating patella-bad knees. like owner, like dog (doesn't sound as convincing as like father, like son..oh well). anyhoo, she wanted to run blood tests again because i mentioned that he wasn't eating real well either. (she really likes blood tests, bruno asked if she was part vampire).

he asked me to hurry and take the picture because the white-coat lady might come back and the examination table was cold on his booty (he heard that term on miss congeniality-he loves that movie...sandra bullock fan)

and then she came back and pulled out the manipulatives for those of us who are visual/kinesthetic learners.

$100-some dollars later, the vet tells me that bruno's test didn't show much except that he was really dehydrated (which, in case you're curious, has absolutely nothing to do with his leg). so she gave me some medicine-stuff (gave means i paid for it). great. now i have two weeks of force feeding and trickery to get him to take his meds.

and once we got home, as soon as chaco heard the key in the door he was screaming bloody murder. he was not happy about me leaving him while we went to his favorite store. i even tried to hide the bag so that he wouldn't see, but he just knew. and not too long after that i came back into the room and:

guess who played in his water and then walked all over my spot on the sofa...and then pretended like nothing had happened, not realizing that his feet were still all wet.

chaco is the kid that eats the oreo cookies when he's not supposed to and has crumbs on his face, yet wide eyed insists that he didn't have any. but at least that doesn't cost me any money.

have a great weekend!
julie