My sister sent me a postcard when she was in Italy for work a couple weeks ago.

I'm trying to not be jealous. It's not working.

Today will be day four of driving walking Miss Daisy, the dog next door. I started taking her out early last week, but had to stop for several days after my gum surgery. Even though I've only taken her three times so far, she's already showing signs of improvement. She's not pulling nearly as much and is staying focused better. I've started taking Oscar with us, which is helping loads. I take him for a quick spin around the block to burn off some of his frenetic energy, then pick her up on the second loop around. Even though he is still far from a completely balanced dog himself, he does know how to walk calmly on the leash, which serves as a great example to her. It's going to take time and a lot of practice, but we'll get there!

Mister Oscar is not feeling well today. He's got a terrible case of the poo-poos and he's had accidents on the carpet twice already. We've been taking him outside at least once every hour and it still wasn't enough. He goes every single time we let him out. His poor little bum must feel like it's on fire. If he's still unwell come morning, we'll be substituting his regular food with some plain white rice and chicken meat to see if we can get his tummy to settle. If there's no improvement by Tuesday, we'll be going to see the doctor.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 223

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My stitches popped and started unraveling while we were at the pet store earlier this evening. We were shopping for a tank for our new goldfish and working on Oscar's training, too. While I was standing there looking at filters, it felt like a spring broke loose inside my mouth. I had Mr Moo take a look and he confirmed it was my stitches coming loose. By the time we got home, there was a fairly long piece of thread hanging from around my tooth. I clipped it and even more came loose. Ugh. Since it's only been three days since surgery, I figured I better play it safe than sorry so I had the doctor paged. He said this isn't uncommon and, as long as the gum tissue isn't pulling away from the teeth, I should be fine. I have to continue to keeping the area as still and protected as possible. And, if it continues to unravel or starts to look like the tissue is in jeopardy, I have to call him again and he'll open up the office to see me.

Even though she only just got back from her business trip to Italy earlier this week, my sister is off again. This time, she and my BIL are headed to San Francisco for a week to celebrate their anniversary, which is Thursday. Here is where they're currently at:

Happy Fourth Anniversary, you two!

Tried to not take any Vicodin today, but the throbbing pain is getting to be a little too much for me. I surrender!

Maybe tomorrow I can survive a whole day without meds.

Today, I start using the antibiotic mouth rinse.

I have to use it twice daily for three weeks. I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything for at least 30 minutes after using it, not even water, even though I'm told it tastes like a**. Apparently, rinsing with water will only increase the bitter taste. Oh, joy. Guess I'll go brush, drink a large glass of water then give it a whirl.

EDIT: That wasn't so bad. The way the lady at the pharmacy went on about it, I expected it to taste like stinky feet that had been in the litter box or something. All it really tasted like was diluted mouthwash with a tiny bit of a medicine-y aftertaste. I waited over an hour then had a chocolate pudding cup. It did taste a little bitter, but nothing horrible. Let's hope it doesn't get worse over time.

Forget the printing press, the microprocessor and the light bulb. Pudding cups are, by far, the greatest invention of mankind.

I know I'm not speaking very clearly because my face is still swollen, but I didn't realize it was THAT bad. I called my mother this morning to tell her about my gum surgery. She thought I said BUM surgery. ((face palm)) Imagine her confusion when I started talking about the doctor having to work around the teeth in the area.

This afternoon, I had my third round of gum surgery.

Several years ago, my gums started receding quite drastically in several areas. I've had two previous surgeries where the dentist harvested tissue from the roof of my mouth to repair the damage. This time, we got on it early enough he was able to cut and peel back a large flap of the surrounding skin, then pull it up higher to cover the exposed dentin. I forgot to bring my camera so I didn't get any photos during the procedure, but he did let me look in a mirror after he cut the flap and it was just hanging there. I'm fascinated by medical procedures so I thought it was all very cool. I'm not allowed to do any physical activity for the next couple days, not even walking the dog, so Lord Oscar will be going to my in-laws' all day tomorrow while I wander around the house jacked up on Vicodin.

From this year's Chick-fil-A calendar, Great Works of Cow Literature:

20,000 Bales Under the Sea
After constructing a top-secret submarine from scrap barn wood, the eccentric Captain Nemoo assembles a team of bovine adventurers to hunt for the Lost City of Chicklantis. Outwitting the notorious cooktopus, Nemoo and his crew finally find the Lost City, where the streets are made of hay and there's a chicken in every pot.

Just talked to my dad at the hospital. He had his hip replaced today and everything went very well. He's still pretty doped up on the morphine so he was a little giggly, which was very amusing to hear. I'm so relieved the surgery went so well.

A couple months ago, we heard a very loud bang from here in the bonus room. We came in and looked around for a while, but couldn't figure out what it was. Once we noticed it was a little darker than normal, we realized it was the halogen lamp on Mr Moo's desk. This is what the bulb is supposed to look like:

This is what we saw:

It had gone major splodey.

Thank goodness the lamp came with that protective glass cover. Otherwise, there would have been tiny shards of glass all over the office.

Just took the neighbor's dog for her first training session. At 12 years old, she's never learned to walk on a leash because he's never taken her for a walk. Ever. I've offered to work with and walk her, not only for her sake, but for Oscar's, too. It will do him a load of good to learn to walk with another dog. It's going to be interesting.

The Moo Zoo got a little bit bigger yet again this weekend. The centerpieces at the wedding reception we attended on Saturday were bowls of water with floating candles and rose petals. I was admiring how lovely they were when I noticed there was something moving inside. Much to my dismay, I discovered there were two goldfish in every bowl. Ugh. When I asked the bride what she was planning to do with them all afterward, she said, "I knew you would be the one asking about that!" Unfortunately, she didn't have a plan and I think most of them ended up being flushed. :-( If I could have, I would have taken all of them, but Mr Moo put his foot down and only let me bring one bowl home. Sadly, one of the two fish died sometime last night. He hadn't been looking very good since we got him home so it wasn't a big shock. They're the cheap, mass-bred feeder fish and they're often very sickly. The other little guy is hanging in there.

I'm doing daily water changes and feeding him as much as he'll eat to get his strength up. If he survives the next few days, we'll sort a tank and get him into a more permanent home. We also need a name for him. Any suggestions?

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 222

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A few highlights from the wedding of our neighbor's youngest daughter earlier today.





The last one is a photo from the reception showing six dishes of the nine course meal which was served. Oy! I didn't eat much because I'm still getting over the horrible case of food poisoning which kept me up all night last night. I made a salad yesterday from a head of lettuce that had been in the fridge just wee bit too long. Note to self: When in doubt, throw it out. On a happier note, the bride was beautiful, the wedding was lovely and everyone had a great time.

My sister is on a flight home today after week long business trip in Italy. Poor baby, I know. I found a neat website which allows you to track flights in/out of the US in real time.

Looks like it won't be long before my sister's flight is on the ground.

I finally got a decent photo of Brutus. He is settling nicely into his new home.

He's eating well and his fin tips are all starting to grow back.