Genealogy, Music

Will of Christian Meineke

Shelly

Will of Christian Meineke

I’ve gradually been going through the text file of the database for my old blog and adding those entries. It may seems silly, since blogs are ephemeral, but it’s been helpful. For one thing, I found out that I was missing a big chunk of photos. I’d uploaded them to my website but not to Flickr, and then I lost my entire image database. It’s good to have them on Flickr, too, because you can never have too many back-ups, right?

Tonight I hit a strata of entries where I was doing a lot of genealogical research and was prompted to do another sweep of Ancestry.com for information on my grandpa’s family. I found his great-grandfather’s will, which gave me goosebumps. Also, I now know where and when he died. That has been a dead-end for me for years.

Alsoalsoalso! Sleeping at Last has been on heavy rotation in my life over the last year or so. He’s got a new album of Christmas cover songs out, and it’s “pay what you want” via Noise Trade.  I’m not a huge holiday music fan (or a huge holiday anything fan, to be honest), but if you’re looking for something new and seasonal to listen to, check it out.

Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Seven Days Post-op

Shelly

Seven Days Post-op

The incision looks pretty good, I think. Frances is over the whole cone thing, but she’s being a trooper.

The histopathology report is finally back. The vet called this afternoon with the results. One tumor was malignant, but they gave it a grade 1 and the margins were good, so I’m cautiously optimistic that it hasn’t metastasized.  Frances will need a second surgery to remove the remaining tumors, and that’s scheduled for next Wednesday. 

In the meantime, we’re finding ways to entertain ourselves. There are few things more ridiculous as a dog in a cone trying to get carrot slices out of a treat ball. 

Cookie ball + cone of shame = cheap entertainment for one of us #dogs #pitbulls #pitbullterriers #coneofshame

Also, because I haven’t spent enough time sitting on my ass, waiting for other people, I got up at 6am so I could get a shower and run to the grocery store before maintenance came to fix some stuff in my apartment. And then I rushed home to put away groceries and frantically clean the bathroom and kitchen. And then I say on my ass all day and waited. And waited. And waited. 

Maybe they’ll show up on Friday?

Pets, Photography

Fruit Bat

Shelly

I asked her if she could be any cuter. Nope. #dogs #pitbulls #pitbullterriers #coneofshame #fruitbatforlife

No news on the histopathology report. I should have heard from the vet today, but I’m guessing either they or the lab were super busy because this is a short holiday week.

I am not the princess of patience, though. If I don’t hear from them by tomorrow afternoon, I expect my need for information will win against my need to not make phone calls.

Pets, Photography, Videos

Homemade Pill Pockets

Shelly

Homemade pill pocket, using peanut butter and a piece of flatbread. #dogs #pillingdogs #pillpockets #diy

I tear off a small piece of flatbread (tortillas or chapatis work just as well), place the pill(s) on it, smear peanut butter along one edge, then roll it up and seal it with the peanut butter.

Then before I give the pill pocket to Frances, I make sure she sees the knife with the remainder of the peanut butter on it. This is key if the dog is picky. You want their greed to get the better of them. Frances is so busy thinking about the peanut butter on the knife that she Hoovers up the pill pocket as fast as she can. Then I let her lick the knife clean as a treat.

Pets, Photography

Will Beg for Food

Shelly

Will beg for food #dogs #pitbullterriers #pitbullcomplaints #pitbullterriers #beggingbeggardogs #coneofshame

Frances says, “This thing isn’t funnel shaped for nothing, lady. Toss some food this way.”

I’m fairly confident that she’s feeling no pain. And she shouldn’t be, given the pain meds she’s on. I had to set up alarms on my phone, to keep them all straight and to ensure I don’t forget any.

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I also made a chart to mark off the doses I’d given her, so I don’t have to rely on my Swiss cheese brain to remember.

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