Christmas 2012: We Survived (Part 2)

After opening presents, we finally headed upstairs for dinner (probably around 8:30 or so). I look forward to this dinner all year. Why? Because my mom makes some killer prime rib. Sides come and go, but the prime rib is always the star of the show. We had a minor issue during the cooking process this year that led to opening some windows to dissipate some smoke, but all's well that ends well, right?

We sat down to a fabulous dinner of prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, Brussels sprouts, baby red potatoes and a tomato dish with fresh mozzarella. A few minutes into the meal, I had a plate full of amazing food and was about to dig in when my mom reached for something and knocked over her glass. Her champagne drink landed all over the right side of my lap. Mom started apologizing and Dad started working on clean up. In the meantime, I was told not to move, so I sat there, a little cold and wet, and waited. Meanwhile, Hubby and Mam-maw were trying to situate the rest of the food on the table when my rum & coke got bumped and promptly spilled all over the left side of my lap. What did I do? The only thing I could. I laughed. I laughed hysterically. Dad told me to go change, so I put on pajama pants and a dirty shirt (just in case) and headed back up to dinner. The rest of the meal was largely uneventful, but it was tasty and wonderful and I was happy (and dry).

After we cleaned up a bit, we headed downstairs to finish off the evening. When everyone else had headed to bed, Hubby and I grabbed the puppers and headed over to pick up K  to go through the local light display. Finally, a tradition that we could uphold! We went through twice, just because, and though it was short, it was nice to spend some more time with K. I slept a little better that night (probably because I started on the couch, instead of the floor), but morning still came too early for my liking.

Per our family tradition, Christmas morning is for Santa presents, so I handed out stockings and gifts for everyone (except the pooch; she'd already gotten all of her gifts). I got some fun socks and more puzzles (yay!!), and Hubby seemed happy with his new wallet and the sweet mouse shaped like a race car. There was little time to relax, though, as Mom's family was due over around two. After a quick shower and some setting up, we had a few minutes to breathe before the madness.

I should explain that I love my family to pieces. I don't mean to say that the madness was a bad thing. I'm just an introvert, and a group that big (all 14 or so of us) in one house (or sometimes in one room - eep!) can be a bit much for me. I tried to help Mom as much as I could (and as much as she'd let me), but there's only so much I could do in the kitchen with her. Around 2:30 or so we opened presents, and though the adults don't get much, I really liked what I did get. The ornaments that my cousin's kids helped make were adorable, and the hand warmers that my aunt made are perfect for shaking off a chill while I'm working. And, of course, the money from my Grampa is always appreciated. This year, we're using most of our Christmas money to go on a mini vacation up in Door County, just Hubby, the puppers and me. No work, no school, just us and a little cabin and whatever we want to do. :)

Even though she had cleaned the oven to prevent it, Mom had another cooking incident that led to windows and doors getting opened. This one was even smokier than Christmas Eve, and when Dad opened the garage door to get some air moving through, we definitely felt it downstairs. Even so, dinner was fantastic. Mom made a HUGE turkey (24 pounds!), lots of stuffing, potatoes, etc. We had left over salad and cheese from the funeral, one of my aunts brought rolls, my cousin brought green bean casserole, and with the massive amounts of cookies in the house, I strongly doubt anyone left hungry. 

After dinner, my cousin's kids wanted to play a game, so we played Words With Friends. Yep. They have a board game edition now. Picture Scrabble with a slightly smaller board, some differences in point assignments by letter, and change where the extra score points are. There you have it. We played with partners, for the most part. Me not so much, since Hubby sat on the couch and my aunt decided we were too mean to play with. We didn't keep score, but we still had fun.

By around 7 o'clock, it was back to the 5 of us (plus Maxi). We spent a little time chatting and unwinding from the day, but Hubby and I still had to drive back to Milwaukee, so we couldn't stay too long. The drive home wasn't too bad (at least I assume; I was sleeping for most of it). We got the car unpacked, but not much more. I was pretty tired, so I lounged a bit before heading to bed. Then it was lights out for Miss Riki.

Working the day after Christmas is always a bum deal, but at least it was mostly quiet. I still have some wrapping to do, since my Hubby's family Christmas is tomorrow, but at least I'm not helping to host anything else. As wonderful of a holiday as it was, I need a break from all that. In fact, tonight I plan to be my introverted self and enjoy some me time while Hubby goes to the cigar bar to use one of his gifts. :)

Hope you all had a great holiday, and that 2013 begins a new year with lots of love, health and happiness. <3

wtf, 2012?

From what I can gather via Facebook (the source of all things in my life), a lot of people were really hoping 2012 was going to be a great year.  Personally, I didn't really have a bad 2011.  I got good grades in school.  Had my first anniversary with the hubs.  Had a house, a job, clothing, and food.  Things were pretty good.

But this year has started out with major suckage!  Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but seriously?  This is lame.

• I've already had a cold this year.  That knocked me down for 3 damn days.  Ugh.
• Puppers had/has her extra butt hole (see previous post).
• Hubby had to work from 9 AM until about 2 AM the other day.  He then had to wake up and go back to work at 9 AM and wound up staying until almost 8 PM.  
• Also, Hubby thinks he's getting my cold, which is not cool.
• Oh, and my classes are already getting the best of me!  Well, Forensic Science is, anyway.  Yikes, man.  Just yikes.
• Bestie's cat is not doing so well, and they think her time is soon to come.  :-(
• K's first week back teaching was, apparently, less than stellar and actually resulted in her singing karaoke.  Sober.  If you knew her, you'd be stunned.
• Annnnd, I just found out that my dad fell down some stairs last Monday and cracked a rib in the process.  He had to take this week off of work (which he said wasn't the worst thing in the world), and he says it hurts to laugh (which he considers the worst part of the whole thing).

That's not to say 2012 is completely without hope.  Hubby got a raise (yay!) and in less than 2 months we'll be at the happiest place on Earth with my bestie and her hubs!!  WOOOO!!!  I also got invited to join Phi Kappa Phi (a national honor society with decently high standards), so that's pretty awesome, too!  

Let's just hope that the year starts producing more good than bad.  After all, if the world really does end in December, I'd rather have fun getting there, wouldn't you? 

Poor Maxine McPupperkins or Why My Dog May Never Trust Again

Well, my dears, 2012 has started off less than spectacularly.  

On or just after Christmas, I noticed a tickle in my throat.  For the next week, I'd wake up in the morning with a little pain as well.  Nothing too bad and it went away after breakfast, so whatever.  Just around the 2nd of the month, I started having random coughs.  Then by the 4th, I had some sniffles.  I begged this cold to just manifest itself so we could all move on with our lives.  

Careful what you wish for.  On the 6th, it started going downhill, and I spent the majority of my weekend miserable and/or asleep.  Then, I woke up this morning feeling so shitty, I had to call in sick.  I work from home, so you know it's bad when I have to call in.  I couldn't focus on anything, I was barely coherent, and I'm reasonably certain that even if I managed to function enough to survive the workday, I would probably have to re-do a good portion of it tomorrow anyway (you know, so it would actually make sense).

But enough about me.  This post is primarily about my poor puppers.  As a warning, things are going to get a little gross.  If you don't want to read on, I totally understand.  If you read the rest of this, and then say, "Oh, man!  WTF, Erika?" just remember that you have no one to blame but yourself.

My dog has a hole in her butt.

OK, that seems obvious, but it's not.  Let me rephrase.  My dog has an EXTRA hole in her butt.  Better?

On Thursday the 5th I was giving Maxi her monthly meds (heartworm pill and flea/tick application).  To do the flea/tick stuff, I always sit on the couch, turn her around so her back is to me, and apply the stuff.  (For anyone who doesn't know, this type of flea and tick repellent has to be applied along her back, from her neck down to where her tail meets her body.)  It can take awhile sometimes, depending on how long ago she last visited the groomer's.  She's fairly fluffy right now, but it wasn't too bad.

Anywhoozles, I had noticed her looking a little uncomfortable earlier, and, trying to be a good puppy mama, I lifted up her tail to check out her bum.  Many people are unaware, but dogs (and some other mammals) have these little sacs/glands near their anus.  The cliff's note version goes something like this: 

Dogs produce a secretion that tells other dogs who they are, what they are, etc (thus the whole bum-sniffing ritual).  This same secretion can also be used to mark their territory, warning other dogs to back off.  This secretion comes from the anal glands, which usually empty when a dog does his or her business, but can also empty randomly (like, if the dog's super stressed).  

Unfortunately, sometimes the glands don't empty themselves.  At the very first vet appointment after we adopted Maxine, the vet expressed Maxi's glands for her.  The smell is putrid.  I can't even liken it to anything.  If you've never smelled it, count your lucky stars.  Anyway, that was back in late 2009, and hadn't been an issue since.

Until last week, when I was looking at her bum going, "Huh...  It looks swollen."  So, I told Hubby to make a vet appointment for us asap.  He wasn't working on Friday, so he made her an appointment for the afternoon.  Excellent.  I knew she'd need to be expressed, and I was fairly relieved I wouldn't have to be there.  

After work, it's almost impossible to do anything without letting Maxine out first.  Thursday wasn't like that.  "Outside?" I asked her.  Nothing.  Not good.  "Outside, Maxine?"  She managed to get up and out of her crate, but then scooted her butt all the way from her crate to the kitchen.  This isn't a long distance, mind you, but she has to do a u-turn in the process, so it's a few feet.  She wouldn't listen to me when I told her no, so, fine.  Away we went.  

When she came inside, I decided to be extra careful and I cleaned her up with a baby wipe (she had been getting a rash in the fall, and the vet had suggested baby wipes, so, why not?).  And then I freaked out.  There was blood on the wipe.  I ran to my computer and left Hubby a message.  Then I called him and left a voicemail.  THEN I texted him and left ANOTHER message.  Yes, this was a full-on Riki freakout.    

To Google I went, looking up everything I could possibly think of, reading every page I could find.  Best I could tell, she had an abscess that had burst, but that didn't make me feel any better.  Called Hubby again and finally got a hold of him.  He called the vet and we rescheduled for that evening, just about an hour from our call.  So, I got dressed, poured Maxi some dinner, and waited.  She wouldn't eat.  I tried hand feeding her, and she wouldn't take anything.  Uggggggh.  I was scared out of my mind.

When we finally got to the vet, they tried to tempt her with some canned food (Maxine gets dry food at home) as a treat, but she was completely uninterested.  In fact, she actually turned away from it.  She always takes treats, even at the vet, so this was a new concept for us.  Maxi not hungry?  What?

The vet confirmed my suspicion of an abscess resulting from an impacted anal gland, and walked us through what that meant and what we would have to do to take care of her.  Essentially, all that fluid builds up in the sac, and if it isn't released in the normal way, it finds another way: it bursts through the skin.  Thus, my puppers has an extra hole in her butt.  For now, anyway.

Twice a day we have to give her meds and apply ointment in the hole.  Yep.  In it.  Not on it.  IN it.  Assuming it heals properly, we should be done with this in about a week or so.  But if it doesn't heal properly, we're SOL and we get to start the whole thing over again.  Joy.

On the plus side, the vet did say that we were lucky it burst today.  If it hadn't, the only option would've been to put her under and lance it, which would've been way more expensive than just the shot and meds.  I guess that's good, right?  He also said it was really good that we got her in that night, so thank goodness for an awesome hubby and an awesome vet!  

As soon as we got home, she ate her dinner.  Vet said she probably just didn't want to eat because of the pain (and a mild fever), and I don't blame her, but I was so glad she had her appetite back so quickly.  She's still not back to her normal, playful self, but she seems to be getting better every day (or, so we hope).  Sure, there are some blood stains in the back seat of my car (you should've seen the splattering she did at the vet's office!) and on some towels and her sofa bed, but it's a small price to pay for her to feel better.

So, now that you've made it through that lovely story, here's hoping that 2012 gets better in a jiffy! :)

The Holidays are Over; Bring on Reality!

I guess I went AWOL for a bit there, hey?  Sorry about that.  Things have been busy.

Christmas was good to us, I will admit.  Christmas Eve Day I got to exchange presents with K at Ella's Deli (yes, we exchange Christmas gifts at a Jewish deli).  That crafty lady made me lip balm!  Seriously; she MADE it.  How cool is that, right?  Anywhoozles, that afternoon I decorated sugar cookies while Hubby napped.  Maxine, in her Christmas sweater, napped along with him for most of the afternoon, and I spent some good time with my parents.

Christmas Eve dinner was, of course, fantastic.  Mom made the best Yorkshire pudding ever, and when I found they were out of hot cocoa mix, Dad made me some from "scratch" by heating up some pieces of Dove chocolate and mixing with milk.  I have to say that my family is pretty great, and that helps make my holidays so wonderful.  Would've enjoyed some snow, but, it was still lovely.

My parents got me a 3,000-piece puzzle (which is HUGE, btw) and a Jambox (which will come in really handy for school).  They got Hubby a Gentleman Jack giftbox (so, basically, good booze and two glasses).  They got Miss Maxine a bunch of toys and treats.  Oh, and best of all, they got us a new water heater!  (Apparently I was thisclose to getting an iPad, but they decided to get us something practical instead.  Ah, the joys of being a homeowner!)

Hubby surprised me by getting us a bunch of stuff we can enjoy together, including a remote control for our PS3 (so we can watch blu rays without fumbling over the controller), season 2 of "Big Bang Theory" and season 1 of "Raising Hope," and new controllers for the Wii.  He also got me a gorilla pod (that I picked out myself) and a monopod (that was a complete surprise)!  Yes, it was a successful Christmas indeed.  :)

Christmas Day was spent with my mom's side of the family, and then watching the Packers beat the Bears before heading back home.  The day after was Christmas with Hubby's family, which, while a bit chaotic at times, was nice.  I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with my nephew and taking pictures of him (he's so freakin' cute!!), but after being exhausted from all the running around that weekend (and feeling like I was starting to come down with something), I wound up sleeping in the recliner for an hour or two toward the end of our visit.  In my family, it's not Christmas until someone falls asleep in the midst of the festivities, so I guess I was just carrying over the tradition.

You'd think a 4-day work week would go quickly, but it didn't.  It dragged.  A lot.  And while I looked forward to our weekend plans, part of me would've been content just sleeping through the whole thing.  Alas, after a bit of a struggle, we made our way to Madison for S's graduation gathering.  We spent the night at my parents' and the next day had lunch plans with a friend of mine and his wife.  I hadn't seen Mr. P since his wedding, which was in November of 2009 (they moved to Georgia the previous year), so this lunch was LONG overdue.  We actually made plans to stop in on our drive down to Disney in March, so it won't be nearly as long before we see them next!  Color me pleased. 

New Year's Eve was spent with my second family.  K, S and J (my "sisters") had all gotten new toys (iPhones, Kindle, etc) and much of the evening was spent in the same room, but each of us on our respective electronic.  K's dad and his new wife stayed around for dinner, but left around 10 or so.  See, the new wife has a rescue dog named Princess (a bichon, for those interested).  Since she can get along with Eva (J's dog), we tried bringing Maxine into the mix.  Bad idea.  Bad.  Those two were at each other's throats like you wouldn't believe!  My best guess is Maxi made an inappropriate "Yo Mama" joke and Princess was having none of it.  I'm probably wrong, but it works in my head.  So anywhoozles, they ended up crating Princess upstairs in the "other" condo, since the two couldn't play nicely, and so they left early to make sure Princess didn't spend the whole evening alone.  

We had a great time anyway.  K always makes my second favorite meal of the year for New Year's Eve: shrimp and potatoes.  Between that and all the snack foods available, I was stuffed silly.  We played some Apples to Apples and drank to ring in the new year.  Then we crashed at the condo (me on the couch, Hubby on the recliner/floor, Maxi on another chair).  New Year's Day we headed home to drop off the puppers and headed back to see part of Hubby's family for the Packers game (go Matt Flynn!).  Thankfully, we had nothing to do the next day, and we spent it like a couple of lazy bums.  It was lovely.

This week has been... interesting.  But this post is long enough, so I'll save that for another time.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... Thunderstorms?

I'm sure this is probably true no matter where you go, but we in Wisconsin are known to boast about our strange weather.  Last month there was a tornado in the state.  Yesterday it rained.  Today there are thunderstorms in parts of the state.  I'm sorry, what month is this?  December?  Yikes.

2011 is fast approaching.  Last year around this time I looked back at all the wonderful things that happened in 2009.  Allow me to recap, along with some 2010 highlights.

2009: Rang in the New Year in the Dells with some great friends.

2010: Rang in the New Year with Zach and Maxi; first New Year in the house.

2009: Bought a house with the love of my life.

2010: Still here!

2009: Finally got a dog! And she's such a wonderful pup.

2010: Still a wonderful pooch!

2009: Got photos published in not one, but TWO state-wide calendars.

2010: Got a photo published in the 2011 version of one of the aforementioned calendars.

2009: Took two amazing mini-vacations (in WI) and one fantastic long vacation (in NV/CA).

2010: Had an amazing honeymoon in Disney World!

2009: Turned 25 and had a blast on my birthday in Lake Tahoe.

2010: Turned 26 and went to the zoo for my birthday!

2009: Got accepted to PSU and completed my first semester back to school with a 4.0 GPA.

2010: Finished my Spring semester with an A and an A- and made my first Dean's List (cumulative from both semesters)!  Also got accepted to the Psychology program.  :-)

2009: Got good news health-wise at my last physical and am overall pretty darn healthy AND happy.
2010: Same, only fatter.  Who needs to be skinny when you're happy, right?  ;-)

2009: Got back in touch with some good friends (including cookie nights with Vertigo, a zoo trip with Amy, Isaac's wedding, and other good stuff).

2010: More cookie nights with Vertigo, Sunflower came out to my house for a party, LOTS of fun times with Mandy and Chadder...  So wonderful to have great friends!

2009: Sold my first photo to the owner of a car from the Power Tour.

2010: Got 4th place in the 2010 Wisconsin State Fair with one of my photos (Transportation category).

2009: Got engaged!

2010: Got married!!

I have to say that these have been two stellar years, and I can only hope that 2011 is half as good!  Hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday!  :-)