Typhoid Mary Gets a Haircut

I don't think I've written here about our newest addition, Schazi.  She's an adorable little poodle puppy we got for Ted (Ted picked her out and everything), and while house-training has been maddening a challenge, Schazi's cuteness goes a long way in getting her forgiven.

We had only had Schazi a few days when we took her to the vet for her "well baby" check up.  This involved a fecal sample, of course, and when the results came back, she was positive for giardia.  >sigh<  Five days of treatment and three weeks later, we took another fecal sample in just yesterday when she finished her immunization series.

On a side note, I remember taking a fecal sample in to drop off a while back, and sure enough, there were three or so other people there with little bags of dog doo.  I wondered aloud, "What is this, feces day at Cinder Rock Veterinary Hospital?"  and the tech behind the counter replied "EVERY day is feces day at Cinder Rock" ha!  Anyone else remember the Thrifty-Mart jingle:  Every day's a special day at Thrifty-Mart!

Anyhoo, today was Schazi's first grooming appointment.  Beyond the usual trepidation of leaving her all by herself (with only three groomers, one shampooer and lots o'dogs), we were really curious about what she'd look like groomed.

Here she is, pre-cut:

Look at that little mustache!  And the lovely black tips!

and here she is after I gave her a flat top by mistake:

Now, after we had dropped her off at the salon,

Doggy Style

and after we had eaten lunch and returned home, we found a voicemail from the vet.  Schazi was clear of giardia, but positive for hookworms.  Jeez.  Three months old!  Where is this crap coming from??

Off we go to pick her up from the groomer, and give them the bad news.  As soon as we walked in, I told our Kim about the hookworms, but she didn't seem phased by it.  I barely recognized Schazi!

Schazi in her new do, with Kim

Hookworms or no, Kim takes a kiss.

At Cinder Rock, we picked up medication for Schazi AND for Nigel, and I've started the course this afternoon.  It's only  a three day thing, but we can't take another fecal for 3-4 weeks.  I've also alerted Andi to this new epidemic, since Molly and Stevie were both over here for puppy face kisses just the other day.

So.  More poop patrols in my future.

Such innocence.  Ha!

Greatness Thrusts Itself Upon Me. Again.

I'm a very proud grandma, as you can see from previous posts, and while I've written about my younger grandkids, I didn't have a blog when the older ones came along (heck, I don't think there was that tube system called the internets then).

While I've never regretted my decision not to have children, marrying someone with kids who then had kids turns out to be pretty neat, even though I think I was the world's youngest grandma at the ripe old age of twenty-three.  The subject of this post came along when I was the ripe old age of twenty-six - my first granddaughter, Jamie.

How cute is she?

And not a bad looking Papa, either.

Jamie was born in Arizona, but soon enough her parents moved her back to Las Vegas for the whole family to enjoy, and we certainly did.

What a trouper!  Her Papa and I truly dragged her (and her older brother, Tim) from pillar to post, almost everywhere we went.

San Diego Zoo

Sea World where we saw Shampoo the Die-er Whale

Yosemite

A golf course that was in Vegas, despite the fact I bundled her up like we were in Juneau, 

and Hawaii, which was extra special because Jamie used to want to be a dolphin trainer.

We have lots of memories of family gatherings, from weddings

to just fun days together,

even though Jamie occasionally hung out with a certain red-haired wannabe hoodlum.

Jamie's best friend used to be Henry,

but now I'm quite sure that honor goes to her husband, Adam.

Of course Ted and I were thrilled to be able to attend Jamie and Adam's wedding in Virginia this past year.  My eyes still sting when I think about that day. >sniff<  Our little girl.

And now, greatness thrusts itself upon me once again in the form of this,

Jamie and Adam's new baby.  I'm to be a great-grandma once again.  I can hardly wait to meet you, little one.

Jamie my sweetheart, I will love you all your life, and I will love your children all their lives, too.  I wish for you the joys you once gave me, whether they be daydreams in the pantry looking at the Celestial Seasonings tea box illustrations, or refusing to wake up to see a giraffe that was a mere ten feet away with, "Can't you see I'm sleeping?"  May they too get stuck in dolphin-shaped strollers, and make funny faces for your camera.  May you share all the love you have within you - you will be a wonderful mama.

A Rant

When I retired in Las Vegas, one of the great perks was being able to volunteer my time with groups such as the master gardeners.  I love gardening, and going through the training was terrific because I learned so much about gardening for our area.  Once I was certified, I enjoyed putting in volunteer hours at community projects and getting my continuing education hours each year to keep my knowledge base current.  I really missed that and my gardener friends when we moved to Oregon.

I miss you peeps!

I figured I could continue as a master gardener here in Oregon as a great way to learn about this very different climate, and make new friends among the gardeners and the community at large.  After a rocky start (my first inquiry was rebuffed as there were "very few volunteer opportunities" ), I enrolled in the 2011 class and became certified here.  I started working in the plant clinics answering questions, and volunteered with the local organization helping with adminstrative duties.  I loved meeting people and helping where I could.  I met so many great people, I decided to certify as a master food preserver to learn about food safety and share that with the members of my community.  I finished that training in the 2012 class and volunteered my time giving presentations, helping at classes, and continuing to meet good friends and share ideas.  You can read about all the fun to be had here

Our awesome class of MFPs.

Me giving a food preservation talk at Hollinshead Community Garden.

Alas, this year Oregon State University has implemented a new Requirements of Volunteer Service form which not only requires me to accept their insurance coverage (without telling me what it is) if I want to continue volunteering, but also requires me to give up my constitituional right to sue OSU even if it knowingly or negligently sends me into an unsafe situation and I am injured as a result of their deliberate or negligent conduct.  I say again - even if their conduct is deliberate.  This is new, by the way - in the past I could opt out of whatever their medical/accidental death and disability coverage was and thus avoid the waiver.  No longer.

Page One of the offensive document

The offensive language

So I'm up here in rural Oregon - who cares, right?  What possible situation could arise where I or my heirs would want redress against OSU for something that happens while I'm volunteering?  I mean, I could just avoid doing presentations on pesticides (which I don't think we're allowed to do anyway) or pressure cookers, right?  That's not the point, not for me.

Here's the point:  Oregon master gardeners in 2012 alone  GIFTED 194,898 hours to OSU - for free.  A value of  $4.2 million dollars, or the equivalent of 95.5 additional full time employees (read about it here).  I have no  numbers on what the master food preservers have gifted to OSU, but I can tell you just in our small group here, during fair week those numbers added up.  In these times of furloughed employees and budget constraints, one would think OSU would encourage volunteerism in its ranks.

Adding insult to injury, master gardeners this year received new instructions for the plant clinics, which includes walking through the left door instead of the right, so the buzzer doesn't sound and presumably disturb the front office staff or make someone in the back get up out of their chair to see who's here  (I'm not making that up - try remembering something like when you're right-handed), and a requirement to greet front office staff when going in the door. This confuses me because if the reason for going in the left side of the door is not to disturb them, then wouldn't saying good morning be just as distracting?  Jeez.

So yes, this is a rant against OSU for trying to  force a ridiculously overbroad waiver of liability on me as a condition of volunteering, which I love.  I'm angry because I can no longer contribute in this way to my community, and because I truly loved the learning process, sharing that knowledge, and meeting all the great people I've met through my volunteer service.  I loved volunteering for OSU.

But I love myself more.
Go Ducks.

A Lesson in Humility

I'm not always abnormally self-confident, but ever since I stopped playing with my nephew Adam (who routinely trounced me from a very young age), I've considered myself a good monopoly player, especially when playing with kids, haha!

Until I played with Stevie, my ten-year old grandkid.

After a few turns around the board, here's my money pile:

Notice the mortgaged properties.

and here's Stevie's:

I figured I could count on passing "Go" and replenish my cash fund that way, but alas, it was not to be because I landed here four times in a row:

It seemed whenever I did manage to amass enough money to pay rent, I landed on Stevie's big winner:

She did a great job also of being the bank, making change and handling titles like a pro.

Thank goodness bedtime came, or I would have been completely bankrupt!  As it was, I could graciously concede the game and praise Stevie's strategizing!

What you're favorite board game?
I think grandkids are the best - how about you?