Pellet's Vet Visit

Since Pellet's last vet visit I have refused to be the designated parent to take him to the vet. With that out of the way we can begin.

Norm took Pellet to the vet today for his annual check up! He is doing great (although they are still afraid of him, and therefore give him his shots at the back of the office... now that I think this through, I hope they are actually giving him the shots and not just telling us they are giving him the shots...). He's lost more weight, he's at 93 pounds which is right where the vet wants him to be.

Back to the reason for me refusing to take him to the vet... in November Pellet had that nasty cyst and due to the pressing issue, I had to be the one to take him to get checked up right away.

When we left the house Pellet was hyper as usual and I was nervous (as usual I was trying to keep cool, but apparently, as usual, I was not being successful). We got to the vet and they took us to one of the exam rooms right away (as usual) where Pellet and I waited. Pellet was sitting straight up right at my side when the vet came in the room - moment in which Pellet SNAPPED. Everything happened so quickly. The vet reached out to pet Pellet. Pellet tried to eat the vet's arm as a horrific loud growl came out of  his mouth. I pulled the leash to get Pellet to come back to me. The vet and I made eye contact. His eyes were wide open. The vet left the exam room.

About 10 minutes later (maybe it was 1 minute later, but it felt like 10) the assistant opened the door slightly, peeked in and reached in with one arm to hand me a muzzle. I put easily put the muzzle on my Pellet. Then with the door closed she yelled something about "let us know when he's ready!"... so I followed orders (still with a pounding heart, I was still in shock). They came in, took him to the back and fixed his wound and brought him back. I was so embarrassed and kept apologizing profusely (I guess this is how parents feel when the teacher breaks the news that their child bit a classmate at recess).

These things don't happen to Norm. Today apparently Pellet pranced in the vet's office, ran over to the scale and sat straight up and proper. Then they casually went over to the exam room.

The vet seems to think that Pellet's reaction was more of a protective instinct - he was sensing the stress and protecting me from the vet... I guess.

Pizza

The other night Norm made pizza. From scratch (including dough). At the house.

We ate it - and it was delicious!

Fun While it Lasted

We got a frisbee for free over the weekend so today we went out on the backyard and played with it. For five minutes. Until I accidentally threw it over the fence and into the woods. Leaving two puzzled dogs giving me blank stares.

When Pellet was a baby we used to throw the frisbee for him until the vet told us that due to his potential weight and size, that it wasn't good for him (his hips) to be jumping up in the air (the weight landing back was the issue). Since, whenever we throw the frisbee or tennis ball, we throw them close to the ground (Norm does, I try and sometimes fail)... with that said, they are not very good "catchers".

Enjoy the video anyway!

I think it's hilarious how Cali quickly turns to look back at Pellet after she steals the frisbee from him...

Pollen Season

Here in the South we have 5 seasons: Fall, Winter, Pollen, Spring and Summer.

Pollen Season comes around as soon as we start seeing 70-degree weather for about a week straight. And it hangs around for about two weeks or so. Two weeks in which you breathe, eat and drink pollen. You sit on pollen. You wipe pollen off your hair. You wipe pollen off your butt. You wipe pollen off everything. Not to mention your car. You have to turn on the windshield wipers and run water on your windshield if you leave your car still more than 10 minutes at a time.

Ironically, the weather is so beautiful right now that you want to be outside (grab a drink, sit on the porch), however, due to the pollen invading your life you choose to hang out inside and look through the window instead.

It is difficult to describe the constant haze in the air during pollen season. So I'm not going to try. I guess you can just imagine smoke, but it's pollen instead.

This is a picture of a tree at my house. It is full of pollen - the pollen is waiting on either 1. the wind to blow it off the tree or 2. the rain to wash it off the tree.

As a side note, my allergy medicine has stopped working. Therefore I'm a constant sneezing machine. Going on sneeze number 13 I think since I started typing up this post.

And It's Finally Here

Warm weather is finally here!!! (for the most part) Many moons ago we were trapped in the house for 3 days due to the ice storm - I thought back then that days like today would never - ever - get here.

I absolutely love this weather. I love the hot sun. I love being outside. I love looking forward to coming home from work and spending the afternoon hours outside with the dogs, doing yard work (as we did today) or simply sitting outdoors enjoying the blue sky, nature and their company. I love the fact that come 6:45pm it is still daylight outside and therefore days are so much more productive. I love the feeling that all these things bring.

Spring (and soon-to-be Summer) I'm so happy you are finally here!

We Are Back!

We are back from Florida and finally back into the daily routine (work, dogs, dinner, facebook games, blogging, bill paying).

While visiting Norm's dad in Florida we had the opportunity to go over to the Atlantic coast of Florida and witness the Discovery shuttle's last launch - it was amazing. We were several miles out from the launch site up on one of the bridges, and the shuttle looked like a ball of fire shooting through the sky. It was unbelievable to think of the fact that the shuttle was carrying astronauts that were about to leave this planet in a matter of moments (it took 2.5 minutes for the shuttle to completely disappear).

Here are some pictures of the trip and a video of the launch (if you turn up the volume what you'll hear is the wind... it's not shuttle noise).

Grilling out at the RV Camp

 In case you are wondering - this is at the Harry Potter world at Universal Park