Ewwwww, Yuck, Icky

Sunday morning started out peacefully enough. A cup of coffee, a good book, a puppy on my lap.
And then………………..

Blurp!

Caleb throws up.

Given the excellence of the cuisine I had to quick clean it up while fending off three hungry lip smacking dogs who wanted nothing more than to gulp it down.

And what do I see??????

Yep, moving, squirming, curling up into a curlicue barf.

OH GROSS! YUCK! SQUEAL LIKE A GIRL – oh wait, I am one……….

Yes, boys and girls, you guessed it. WORMS!

My poor little man has worms.

Ok, we can handle this. We’re an adult. So we carefully clean up the pile and then place it in a ziplock bag. And then we wash the blanket. And then we pace around thinking YUCK YUCK YUCK.

Well, no more instances all of Sunday so first thing Monday morning I call the vet. And they will see him at 4. OK, that’s good.

Then, while he’s outside he oh so nicely poops for me. So I can collect that as well.

Go to work. Plead my case to leave early. And the hubby and I head home at 3.

Grab the little crate. Open the door: In he goes. And we’re off to the vet.

Arrive at the vet. They would like to weigh him.

Alright, we can do this. Come on boy. Come on. (pry dog out of kennel)

And oh goodie, since we got him he gained two pounds!

Next it’s into the exam room.

I didn’t want to put him back in the kennel only to have to pry him out again so I laid him against my chest. And he stayed there. Calm and terrified as can be.

Then the vet came in asking me his history – this was his first visit to our vet.

Uhhhhhhhhhh…………..

Shit………………

Call the hubby. Have him find the records. Put him on the phone with the vet and they chat dates and tests.

OK, one more reason a cell phone is handy.

And so now it’s time to put him on the table. And I do. And he lays there like a cute little terrified lump. He never moves.

Examine Examine Examine

And every once in a while my terrified little man wags his tail. Not a lot. But just a little. And it made me feel SO good.

Alright, so, the poop test and barf analysis tell the vet that his case of worms is light. No huge infestation. Easy to get rid of.

So, he gets a gulp of vanilla flavored worm medicine. And in two weeks he gets a heartguard.

That’s it. Nothing to it.

And off we head for home.

And I let him out. And he scampers to the back door tail wagging. HOT DAMN the tail is wagging.

And he runs right inside. Tail still wagging.

Ok, the true test:

He bypasses his kennel and runs straight for the couch! This is SO cool. His tail is still wagging. He isn’t hiding in his kennel.

And so I sit down on the couch. And he comes over for pets.

And mom sits back relieved. Her little boy is going to be ok. And we are not back to square one with his trust and fear issues. Life is good.

Photo Monday

Help! Help!

Winter Pansies (Como Conservatory)

Spikey! (Como Conservatory)
Oooohhhh Pretty (Como Conservatory)

Lady's Slipper (Como Conservatory)

Lily (Como Conservatory)

Explain this one to the lil' kiddies! (Como Zoo)

Two-toed Sloth (Como Zoo)

Snow Leopard - she's either got one heck of a winter coat or there's going to be a lil cub soon! (Como Zoo)
Her beautiful mate who posed so nicely for me (Como Zoo)

For Courtney....... (Como Conservatory)

All Creatures Great and Small (Como Zoo)

Raising the Bar

So, after Jay's post I just have to say one thing.

Girl J and I take a lot of pride in being tattoo'd white trash.

And then they go and raise the bar higher.

And we have no hope of truly claiming that title.

All the milk cartons in my back yard (for the dogs entertainment), the cheap clothes, the shirts that show off the boobs, the tattoos, the high heeled slut shoes. They mean nothing. NOTHING!

Thanks Jay, thanks for shattering a girls dream.

Random Newt

I can't believe my change in attitude that silly ball has caused. Work is fun again. I would never have guessed that something so simple could amuse me so much. I bounce around. I try and balance, lean, and not crack my head on the desk. And believe it or not it actually does work both your ab and leg muscles just sitting there and or playing around a bit. Grant you it's not an all out quality work out but it's more than I get normally just sitting there.

Not to mention the sheer amusement from the people that walk into my office. They really do forget what they wanted to say to me. And every one of them has smiled. So, I get some unexpected happiness, exercise, AND I spread joy. Can it get any cooler????

Also - what the hell is it with people that are waiting for an elevator that REFUSE to wait till the current passengers get off? Is it rude to give them a dirty look, shake your head, and audibly sigh? Or should I just flat out shove past them, giving them a good crack in the ribs with my elbow? What would you do?????

We are heading toward a warming trend up here. Yes we are going to, dare I say, feel 50 degrees and see sunshine and blue skies???

I'm going to the Como Zoo and Conservatory with Ellie (other Girl J) on Saturday. I can't wait. It's going to be fun. I told her I totally want to "Kid" out. I want to eat corn dogs and I want to make a wax animal. Just short of jumping up and down and shouting "Look at the Gorilla Mommy" I want to have fun.

Lily just came up to me, her little paws on the edge of the laptop and gave me kisses. She's so cute. She loves to give kisses. She also will sit with her tongue just peeking out of her mouth. She does it all the time and it's cute as hell.

I just finished a Mike's Hard Berry. Good grief those things are tasty.

Girl J and I went to the mall the other night. We had a drink and appetizers before we shopped. And it wiped us out. We were tired and fuzzy headed. And we didn't laugh or talk the rest of the night. No more pre-shopping drinking for these girls. Good lord we're turning into light weights. Pathetic.................

Proof that we weren't ourselves. Neither of us bought a pair of shoes. NEITHER of us.

Thin Mints are a curse on society. And Girlscouts are cruel for getting us hooked. They are the crack of the cookie world.

I've recently become hooked on flavored lip gloss. There was a time when I couldn't stand them. But now I have 6 in my purse. Both Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body make some really great ones. Though I still can't do watermelon or vanilla no matter how beautiful the color might be. Blech.

A co-worker of Michael's has a puppy that is apparently growing quite fast. She gave us his collar that he outgrew already. It's cool as hell. It has a red light across the whole thing. And you can set it for constant or strobe. I'm excited to have it. We can put it on Caleb when we start walking again. This way if my greatest fear comes true and he gets loose we'll be able to see him. So I'm putting it on him as a secondary collar. I've never noticed them in stores. So this was a pretty cool gift.

Alright. Enough random stuff for tonight.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Hugs from Minnesota.

Newt's Got Ball

How do you make the work day fun and self entertaining?

Take the balance ball out from under a co-workers desk and sit on it.

You will discover:

You can bounce around at your desk

You can almost fall off the ball reaching for your phone

You have co-workers come in to ask you a question and COMPLETELY loose their train of thought upon seeing you on a giant grey ball

You can roll from side to side while you type

Or in a hip swaying circle

Or you can bounce up and down and get diuzy and type crappy

Bascially the 8 hour day becomes all about self entertainment

Who'd have thunk.................

Through a Glass Darkly

I've always loved that: "Through a glass darkly" I'm not sure why. I read a book by that title and I've noticed it used in novels as an expression. Like this one from a Laurell K. Hamilton book:

•I guess I don’t entirely trust God. I never doubt him, but his motives are too beyond me. Through a glass darkly and all that. Just once I’d like to see through the damn glass clearly.

Sometimes it does feel like life is seen "through a glass darkly". Where for no particular reason there is uncertainty, a strong sense of the unknown. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. But some times its as if I am seeing my life from outside myself. An observer. And it all seems very strange and disconnected.

I'm really hoping at this point someone out there says "Yeah, I know that feeling" even if you haven't - lie to me :-)

It's as if I have lost a sense of focus. Not in a bad, depressed, crying all the time sort of way. I don't really know how to describe it. I just feel disconnected. And the days seem to melt into one another.

Perhaps it is the quiet routine of life. Perhaps it is lack of sunshine and fresh air. Maybe this bear is ready to come out of hibernation and is feeling restless. Maybe I'm just done with winter and I want all the life and light that spring will bring.

Perhaps, I need to clean the windows of my house and then they won't seem so....darkly

Reinventing Newt

Who is Newt? I have spent the past two years trying to figure that out. Or maybe I should say who is the blogger Newt?

Real Newt likes change. She likes to be creative. She likes to have fun. And that has always reflected in my blog. A different look every few weeks.

Newt in real life is a restless spirit. She can't sit in one place for very long. She fidgets. Her mind wanders. She's not very good at the concept of "focus" and with the number of rambling posts in my past that too is reflected in my blog.

Every so often though Newt finds something that sits just right in her life. Something that feels grounded and permanent. Something she can grasp on to when the restlessness consumes her. It can be as momentous as finding the Hubster and moving to Minnesota or as minor and mundane as finally figuring out the right look for her blog.

Sometimes that restlessness has unexpected effects. Such as not being able to really READ a book. And since reading is one of the places that Newt thinks of as a happy place it's a surprise and a little unnerving to have that security blanket in the wash so to speak.

Despite the 2 feet of snow on the ground spring is coming. And that opens up a whole other can of restlessness. An overwhelming urge to throw open the windows and let in fresh air. To see things green and growing burst forth from the yard.

To take the dogs for a walk. Or in Caleb's case, a pull.

So, today we unveil the new look. With hope that this one will stick. Maybe, like Google, there will be the occasional celebratory change. But for the most part it feels right, it feels grounded. It fits.