I just finished a nice long blog note, only to have it disappear when I went to the image library to add a picture. Of course, I neglected to copy it first so now it's gone. Boo hoo. My second try, I managed to save first but when I tried to save it onto the blog, it disappeared. So---I'm pasting in what I wrote on my second try. I'll also try to add a picture. Sometimes, computers are simply not friendly to me. Here goes again:
---Great shot of Diana running.
---Tom got lectured by his knee surgeon, Dr Kam. When laying on the examining table yesterday, Tom couldn't do a straight legged leg lift with his left leg and he couldn't get his left leg to lie flat. "I had your leg perfectly straight when you were on the operating table, there's no reason why it should be crooked now---if you don't get full extension now, you'll be lame the rest of your life. Isn't your physical therapist working with you? Why aren't you able to lift your heel off the table? That's terrible!" Poor Tom. He went in, thinking Dr Kam would be pleased with his progress. So, a highly motivated Tom really went to work yesterday afternoon--ending up being able to do 5 leg lifts and forcing his knee much flatter than before. Of course, Jack the physical therapist was highly motivated too, after getting Dr Kam's lecture relayed to him by Tom. Naturally, Tom suffered a lot last night from aches and pains.
---Tornado's definitely ready to wean the pups completely. This picture is from this morning. She stood about 2 or 3 minutes and then walked away (while the scampered frantically after her). This afternoon, she visited with them but when they tried to repeat this morning's performance, she growled at them. Oh oh babies---I think you've had your last meal at the milk bar.
You can't see all nine puppies because some are blocking others from view, but they were all there--probably their last meal at the milk bar.
Diana you are not insane. The whole point is that you do trail runs and whatever other runs to avoid becoming insane!! My running buddy has a pin that says "running is cheaper than therapy." I think the trail run sounds fun. I am glad you were able to avoid bears. I guess I am not accustomed to wildlife yet. I have to say that seeing bears and coyotes and "scary sounding" creatures gets me running scared. I am not afraid of deer. Does that count as being courageous?? Aren't I pathetic.
How is Tom. KC you have probably been taking such good care of him that you have had no time to write to us and tell us how wonderfully cared for he is. I think you are going to Corvallis this weekend. Sid will be outnumbered. What will he do with all those sisters. Hmmm I don't think he will win all the arguments this weekend.
I thought that my little kitty "Zuki" was the only member of the family that constantly needed to be rescued. But as it turns out, Alex is in need of rescue once in awhile too. The other day he was at a friend's house across the street. Alex is fairly coordinated and a very fast runner. Thinking he could handle it he climbed up a tree and then found that he could not get down. The friend's father had to get a ladder and rescue him. Can you believe it? Poor Alex.
I hope you all have a very good weekend and make sure you write in. I want to hear about all those debates with Sid - just kidding.
Bev and I did a trail run last night - well, after work anyway. It started at 6:30 p.m. and it was a 5 or 10 mile run. We wisely chose the 5 mile run. It had a 750 foot vertical, supposedly, but it seemed about the same level of difficulty as Bald Hill, which had a 500 foot verticle. It was also muddy, rocky and exhausting! I was staggering after I finished, but remarkably I feel pretty good today. Not good enough to walk to work, however.
I leave for Corvallis tomorrow. I will call you and let you know when I am on my way. I may stop by and see Jess on my way down. I'll keep you posted on my plans.
Sid, my guitar teacher said the following to me last week:
I have 3 tomatoes on my upsidedown tomato plant and my cucumbers plants are finally starting to look like real growing plants. A little more sun and I just might have a salad.
Watched Noah play a great game last night (well, he did have 4 teammates - but my eyes are always on my boy). He and his team played long and hard against a very good team. Beef Mayo (Noah's team) lost by 4, but it was exciting up until the last 30 seconds.
Would love to hear how Tom is doing.
I am headed to Corvallis on Friday and plan on coming back to Mercer Island on Monday. Can't wait to see everyone.
The sun is out again today, for the third amazing day in a row!
We got lots of yard work done on Saturday. Not finished, but then ... it never is.
My next trail run is Wednesday evening. Bev and Kari (from my office) tried it out on Saturday morning. Other than the bear warning signs, they said it wasn't too bad. Gulp!!!
Kay, the coyote viewing sounds so cool! Hope the young turkey escaped their hungry jaws.
KC, how's Tom doing?
Sid, how's farming? Ha ha ha ha!
Mother, I hope you sprayed all the mud off Sid with a garden hose - if he tracked all the mud into the house ... well, let it be said I will get my revenge.
Sid and crew got the tractor unstuck by the time I arrived at the farm this morning. I am sure that Sid is very relieved.
I parked my car by the chicken pen and when I was getting ready to leave, Judi and I saw a young turkey fly to the top of the chicken pen and then drop down and head into the field. I climbed into the car and Judi and I were talking when she said "quick get out of the car there are 3 deer in the field." I climbed out and we looked and realized it was 3 coyotes probably after the young jake. They were out of the woods in the field adjacent to the road going into the woods. Finally they ran over the road into the neighbors tree farm. What a thrill to see 3 coyotes in the wild. This is when we needed some of your good cameras with a telephoto lense.
Sid, Murry and Tory left the farm to go visit Bopcha and then they will hit the road for home and Sid is going back out to the farm to finish mowing.
I'm in my pajamas, sipping my second cup of coffee. Noah and Bill are still asleep.
Today will be errands and yard work (a Mercer Island estate such as ours requires much upkeep, and sadly our groundskeepers are on strike so we have to do it ourselves). One just can't get good help these days!
I am coming to Corvallis on Friday the 18th. If I get a certain brief written in time, I may not head home until Monday the 21st. Jessica and Noah will be home on the Rock, celebrating Father's Day with Bill.
My heart goes out to you, Tom! Ouch ouch ouch!
Love,
Dee
This is a picture of some property in Black Diamond (east of Tacoma) that is involved in one of my cases. To the left is a surface water retaining pond. The gravel road is on top of a 6 foot berm that absorbs run off from the retaining pond. The neighbor to the south claims water runs into the wetlands and causes trees to fall.
Wow KC you really have your hands full. I am so sorry to hear that Tom is having such a terrible time. I don't think the year 2010 is one that he will look back on fondly. Those puppies are really going to give you a run for your money.
Saw Bopcha this morning and she was getting one of those wonderful messages that made my body tingle just to watch.
Alexis is home and her MRSA is getting much better. According to her mother, she is really glad to be home.
Tina got an email from Theresa saying "the safety of our country depends on magazines and sour patch kids." So, I will go pick up some books and magazines to send her and sour patch kids. Seems to me that KC also liked those horrible things at one time. Just saying sour patch makes my mouth water (and not nicely).
The 5 chicks that I hatched are still residing in a box in Judi's bathtub but next week I think she is moving them so another environment. Keep expecting them to feather out until I realize how young they are. The ducks are beautiful.
All this time I thought you all could read my mind, staying absolutely up-to-date on the results of Tom's surgery, the progress he's been making, the growth of the puppies, and all that stuff!! Instead, I got polite little notes from sister Kay and daughter Tory, both telling me that the mental telepathy wasn't working and I should get off the duff and start using less rapid but more reliable means of communication.
Tom's surgery on Tuesday went just fine--he went into the pre-op room at 10:15 scheduled for a 12:15 visit to the operating room and a 2-hour knee replacement. Instead, it was 3:45 into the operating room and about 8 pm by the time he got out of recovery and settled into his room. The anesthesia wore off at 1 am and by 5 am, Tom was looking for a way to get his old painful knee re-installed. The new one HURT. It was late Wednesday PM before the medics got the pain under control (morphine does wonderful things). Of course, pain meds on top of the meds Tom's taking for his trigeminal neuralgia keeps his blood pressure so low (like 85/50) that standing without falling from dizziness is a challenge. Thursday went by with tiny steps from bed to chair along side and then finally (with a walker and a 5'3" physical therapy specialist along side) a round trip of about 50 feet. Today Friday, I'm bringing him home.
The doc says Tom needs daily shots into his belly--errk, be hooked to a passive motion machine 6 hours a day, and be attended to when he walks (that is, someone to be ready to steady him) for the next few days. I belatedly realized there was no way I could safely leave Tom home alone so soon after surgery. He needs me to be here. Hopefully in a week or two, he can get by with Melissa popping her head in a few hours a day to take care of the puppies. I will reschedule this weekend's flight home. I'll post on the blog the new itinerary as soon as I can get the flights rescheduled.
Puppies seem monster-sized. Unbelievable that little Tornado could produce these critters, much less have provided sufficient milk to have them grow so fast. They are at the in-between stage of almost being weaned with lots of mobility and totally no sense. Two days ago two escaped from the whelping box--I had to seach for them. Today, half suddenly overcame the heightened walls of the box and were dropping to the floor around my feet in the most disconcerting fashion. I have the deck off the kitchen set up as their transition point. Unfortunately, storms have begun rolling in over Pike's Peak and they are too young to handle extremes in weather. A week or two will make a big difference.
I'll try to do better with updates. Love Dee's look in the office picture (and the whippet's head is an additional charming touch). Sandra's right: she's the best looking, most vivacious of the group. Not to nag but it would be nice to hear how Kay's little granddaughter is doing. MSRA is scary. Love to all.
Bopcha, I hope Sid is cooking up some good food for you. Sounds like you are getting to eat lot of vegtables, hoping you are enjoying them!!
I was at the gym the other day and came across a magazine called "Luxury Real Estate" which features very high end luxury properties that only millionaires could possibly afford, or alternatively a person from Poverty Rock. Anyway, funny enough they featured a bunch of properties on Mercer Island of all places. And yes it did break my heart to see such squalor concentrated in one place (that of Mercer Island). Diana, I looked for your house in the magazine, but I could not seem to spot it. Perhaps in the next edition they will feature your estate! Anyway, I smiled to myself when I looked at those photos and thought of you calling Poverty Rock.
Diana, I love your office photo by the way, and I still think you are the best looking person in your office. I love the fact that there is an office dog. Does he/she have a home to go to in the evenings? He is a cute dog.
Take care everyone and best of luck to Kay with her eggs/chicks. KC, definitely let us know how Tom is doing.
By the way, we just got a real morale booster around here; just found out that the President of the University will receive a 4% merit increase. Did I mention that all staff and faculty at Vet School will be getting 0%???!!! I guess it really is lonely at the top huh. I know this probably sounds really petty and "unprofessional" - but it is public information (published in the University newspaper) so why not spread the good news around.
Kari & Barb (paralegals); Mike and Diana (lawyers);
Front row:
Bev (lawyer who is leaving); Carolyn (Mike's wife - her business shares our office); Nelson (office dog); Jill (Carolyn's business partner); Adriane (legal assistant who left and took another job).
KC, I'm sure you have told Bopcha, but I am trying not to bug her too much right now, so how about you tell me (and the rest of us out of the loop) how Tom is???????
