A fond farewell

It will be a long time before I will be able to look at this, or any other picture of Murray without spontaneously breaking into tears.

Last Wednesday we had to say goodbye to our dear Murray. He has been slowing down recently, but heck at over 10 1/2 years old- that is allowed. Randy commented on Tuesday night that he would walk Murray on Wednesday when he got home from work. He attempted that walk but found him too weak to even return home and subsequently took him to the vet. I just "knew" that there would be something wrong. I called Kyle at school who left his class and met Randy at the vet. I left work early and drove as quickly as I could to the vet. When I entered the room about 45 minutes later the vet had made her diagnosis and recommendations. It appears that Murray had one or several tumors in his abdomen. Of particular concern was one in his liver, wrapping around organs and compressing the bowels. He was uncomfortable and we knew what we had to do. The cancer was inoperable and the most humane thing to do was to let him go. Fortunately we were with him, hugged him, reassured him and loved him as he passed.

I don't know what your belief system is, and I don't really care. I am sure Murray is in heaven now, chasing squirrels and waiting for the rest of us to join him.

I love you Murray.

The best dog . . . ever.

Second post of the day

De Quervain's tenosynovitis. Can you say this? It's my latest "issue" Also known as "washerwoman sprain" (clearly not me) or "Mother's wrist" which new mom's get from the repetitive motion of picking up a baby (who's weight increases daily).

from the Mayo clinic website:
In de Quervain's tenosynovitis, the sheath of the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist becomes inflamed or swollen, restricting the tendons' movement. The result with de Quervain's tenosynovitis is discomfort and pain every time you turn your wrist, grasp anything or make a fist.
Treatment for de Quervain's tenosynovitis may range from immobilizing your wrist and taking medications to surgery in more serious cases. If you start treatment early on, your symptoms of de Quervain's tenosynovitis should generally improve within four to six weeks.

From personal experience I can tell you that it also interferes with sleep.
I haven't had an uninterrupted night of sleep since Saturday when this flared.
Today I was fitted with a large splint, and a smaller wrist splint. So NYC here I come, splints and all.

Looks like my knitting will have to wait for now!

The perfect color

Yesterday I had my hair cut.

Oh yes, big news (not)

what is funny was my hairdressers comment.

She said to me, "I know I don't color your hair, but I LOVE the color and highlights, how do you do it" She went on to say that in this current economy her clients are electing to do home color and save a few dollars. If I could possibly share my secrets, she would gladly pass them on.


well, here it is. Be sure to follow exactly or I cannot guarantee the results.

PLUS

So, what you have here. Use "perfect 10" by Revlon- I favor light brown. Swim in a public swim pool, you may use a cap. Be sure to apply the latter 5-6 times per week.

It will work. You should have a nice light brown color which is insanely shiny like Barbie hair. If all fails, contact Mattel to see if they have some spare hair for you.

ringtones

What did we do before technology?
As you know (if you have been reading) I have a new I-Phone.
With all me previous phones I have had the kids make me ringtones which I assign to different callers. Randy has the theme from Sanford and Son, Ashley a Cake song called Opera Singer etc.
It's so helpful when you can hear who is calling, run in a sprint if its family and let the phone mail deal with strangers!
Well, the i-phone only lets you have personal ringtones if you use their music. HUH?
So, last night I started a new project.
I found a resource on you-tube and using both of my computer screens put the video on one and worked the other to create new ringtones.
Now the dilemma is what song to assign to who?
Randy is still Sanford and Sons.
Ashley is now Frank Sinatra "New York, New York"
Ingrid is Lady Marmalade "hey sister, soul sister"
Oma and Opa have John Mayer's "Daughters"
and now I'm open for suggestions for other songs. If you suspect you are in my address book- please suggest your own ringtone!

good Karma

From Sanfords lips to God's ears.
I had called the pool twice . . . no bag.
I despaired, but finally gave in and ordered a new swimp3 and new fins . . . my swim essentials.
I went off to the pool in a foul mood.
The swim was cold and rainy . . . I was still grouchy.
I came in from my shower and noticed a bag hanging on a hook behind another woman midway through dressing.
"is that your bag?" I asked
"no" . . . quickly I grabbed it and ta-da , my bag was found.
"that's amazing" commented the woman. I told her I would be most amazed if all contents were intact.
They were.
she commented on my good Karma and wondered if I had given a parking spot to someone.
Now I see what my reward is for letting people ahead of me in the grocery line.
This is far better payback than I could have imagined!

sad . . .

second post of the day, yippee- but kind of a whining one.
Yesterday I had a wonderful swim. As I said before I'm trying to make up for some lost time and have been hitting it as hard as possible whenever I manage to make it to the pool. Yesterday I put in 4200 yards- no slouch swim to be sure. I must have been exceptionally tired when I left the locker room after my shower because I left my mesh bag behind which contains my goggles, fins and paddles, gloves and beloved Finis swimp3 player which allows me to swim and listen to music during those long swims.

The problem was discovered when at lunch time today I went out to the car to find and recharge my swimp3 player. I quickly placed a phone call to the pool, not yet too nervous as I was one of the last to leave yesterday and it was only 11:30 am this morning. The desk clerk looked but found nothing.

My heart just sunk to my stomach.
I can't swim without my cap or goggles.
I don't really want to swim without my music
My shoulder requires I use the fins as part of my workout.

Insert a long string of epithets here.

Randy, always rational reminds me this isn't a huge issue. "just replace everything"
Oh, I will . . .
and this time I'm going to bedazzle the SHIT out of everything.
I find it hard to believe anyone is going to want to swim with fins or goggles with all kinds of bling on them.

I'm doing it. Imagine this hello kitty bedazzled all over my swim stuff.

something tells me my bag would still be in the locker room.

a different kind of love

I would like to put politics aside and wonder aloud, just what is gained by breaking up these families?