I'm a bit pissed and really sad today. It's about two things:
1. I do not support the death penalty.
I was beyond sad this morning to awake to the news that the State of Georgia had killed Troy Davis, an innocent man. When we went to bed last night, we heard that his execution had been delayed "1 to 7 days" so we went to sleep, never thinking that they would actually kill last night. It's heartbreaking, for his family and supporters. Also, I think that the family of Mark MacPhail have not received justice because whoever murdered Officer MacPhail is still walking around free. Americans, you have to lose the death penalty. Your justice system gets it wrong too often for this to be a practical penalty - nevermind that killing people is just too messed up for words.
2. Mean people suck.
Yesterday I heard about Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14 year old boy who killed himself because of bullying. I hate that kids don't have any perspective.
Perspective comes with age and experience. I wish that kids like Jamey could understand that bullies are assholes. From what I have read about him and from what I saw in his "it gets better" video, he was a great kid with a lot to offer. I'm deeply saddened for him and his family that on Sunday, he decided that it wouldn't get any better for him. If only Jamey could have realized that his life would have been fabulous and that he was capable of all kinds of awesome things, maybe he wouldn't have killed himself.
Some days I think that overall, humans don't care enough about each other. Why is that? What's wrong with us?
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
gorgeous gracie
So we had Gracie to the vet yesterday. Last Saturday, when we got home from the dog park, we noticed that one of her front legs was really swollen on the “wrist” joint (not 100% up on my dog anatomy – sorry!). This was the same leg she’d injured in 2009. At that time, she’d been diagnosed with soft tissue damage and was prescribed with some NSAIDs. At that time, after a few days, she’d stopped limping and seemed fine.
In March last year, she did the same thing to the same leg. She has a really bad habit of chasing the squirrels out of our yard. The squirrels don’t actually get into our yard, instead, the travel on top of the fence. To get their attention, Gracie will hurl her little body at the wooden fence and try to knock them off. Her system works pretty well and the travelling squirrels really boogie quickly by our yard.
Yesterday, after x-rays and 2 hours in the vet’s office (because they were busy – we had to wait almost 30 minutes past our appointment time), she was diagnosed with arthritis in the joint. Fortunately, it’s just in the one front leg and it doesn’t seem to be giving her any trouble (stoic girl that she is). Again, the vet gave us some NSAIDs, a prescription for shorter, more frequent walks and told us again that she needs to lose more weight. I’m also going to explore some vitamin supplements for her because I’m reading good things about them.
For most of 2011, we’ve been trying to help her lose weight. Both she and Sam had chubbed up a bit over the winter. In the spring, we started a more walking / eat better food regime which is working really well for Sammy but hasn’t had the same level of success with Gracie. She gained a lot of weight last year before Christmas when we were dog sitting Bella. While Bella was here, Gracie got really food aggressive and just plain old over ate. At first we didn’t notice it because she’s so furry. In January though, we noticed that she was sort of waddling and we cut back on the amount of food she was getting. In February, we switched from a big name “premium” dog food you could get at the grocery store to a higher quality food from a pet food store. We almost instantly noticed a difference in their energy levels, in their coats and they were pooping a lot less. This new food is made in Canada, with fresh ingredients and is quite high in protein.
Both dogs did lose some weight on it but Gracie still has a way to go. The Vet is pretty sure that with a little more weight loss and the shorter walks, she’ll probably not have too much trouble with the arthritis (which I discovered from reading yesterday is pretty common in dogs). I feel really bad that this has happened and that the poor thing has probably been having some pain with it. Fortunately, we now know what it is and are dealing with it. I have to say, I have a really bad habit of going to the worst possible place in my minds and had pretty much convinced myself that she had bone cancer. It was a relieved to find out that its arthritis.
Right now, she’s vegged out on the floor behind me. We’re listening to some Ella Fitzgerald and waiting to hear from the groomers that Sammy is ready to be picked up (they were both supposed to be groomed this morning but there is a stupid cold/flu bug going through PetSmart so we had to cancel one of them and Sam needed to get cleaned up more urgently than Gracie – she’ll get her hair did next weekend). Considering that she’s a herding girl and she’s only really content when we’re all herded together and she’s watching us, I think it’s kind of cute that we’re listening to “someone to watch over me."
In March last year, she did the same thing to the same leg. She has a really bad habit of chasing the squirrels out of our yard. The squirrels don’t actually get into our yard, instead, the travel on top of the fence. To get their attention, Gracie will hurl her little body at the wooden fence and try to knock them off. Her system works pretty well and the travelling squirrels really boogie quickly by our yard.
Yesterday, after x-rays and 2 hours in the vet’s office (because they were busy – we had to wait almost 30 minutes past our appointment time), she was diagnosed with arthritis in the joint. Fortunately, it’s just in the one front leg and it doesn’t seem to be giving her any trouble (stoic girl that she is). Again, the vet gave us some NSAIDs, a prescription for shorter, more frequent walks and told us again that she needs to lose more weight. I’m also going to explore some vitamin supplements for her because I’m reading good things about them.
For most of 2011, we’ve been trying to help her lose weight. Both she and Sam had chubbed up a bit over the winter. In the spring, we started a more walking / eat better food regime which is working really well for Sammy but hasn’t had the same level of success with Gracie. She gained a lot of weight last year before Christmas when we were dog sitting Bella. While Bella was here, Gracie got really food aggressive and just plain old over ate. At first we didn’t notice it because she’s so furry. In January though, we noticed that she was sort of waddling and we cut back on the amount of food she was getting. In February, we switched from a big name “premium” dog food you could get at the grocery store to a higher quality food from a pet food store. We almost instantly noticed a difference in their energy levels, in their coats and they were pooping a lot less. This new food is made in Canada, with fresh ingredients and is quite high in protein.
Both dogs did lose some weight on it but Gracie still has a way to go. The Vet is pretty sure that with a little more weight loss and the shorter walks, she’ll probably not have too much trouble with the arthritis (which I discovered from reading yesterday is pretty common in dogs). I feel really bad that this has happened and that the poor thing has probably been having some pain with it. Fortunately, we now know what it is and are dealing with it. I have to say, I have a really bad habit of going to the worst possible place in my minds and had pretty much convinced myself that she had bone cancer. It was a relieved to find out that its arthritis.
Right now, she’s vegged out on the floor behind me. We’re listening to some Ella Fitzgerald and waiting to hear from the groomers that Sammy is ready to be picked up (they were both supposed to be groomed this morning but there is a stupid cold/flu bug going through PetSmart so we had to cancel one of them and Sam needed to get cleaned up more urgently than Gracie – she’ll get her hair did next weekend). Considering that she’s a herding girl and she’s only really content when we’re all herded together and she’s watching us, I think it’s kind of cute that we’re listening to “someone to watch over me."
Friday, September 16, 2011
faking it?
A few months ago, I either got an email or saw something via twitter about a blogger conference in Toronto. Now, I hear about blogger conferences all the time, the big ones in the states that some of the writers of my favourite blogs go to. I never considered going to one because, over the past few years anyway, I've not exactly been "blogging it up” and thought I’d feel out of place around actual, real bloggers.
Something about the Toronto conference intrigued me though so I looked into it. The location was certainly handy to me, the price was something I could actually afford and it was for women so it held a lot of appeal. When I attempted to register (only a couple of days after tickets went on sale), I found out that it was sold out. I decided to register for the waiting list. Figuring that I would never be offered a spot, I promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward to yesterday. I get an email from the conference letting me know that a spot has opened up and they will hold it for me for 48 hours. Panic quickly hit me. Could I still afford it? Would I be able to get away from work? Should I even go considering I’ve written maybe 3 posts this year? After discussing it with Mark, I thought I’d just jump in with both feet and sign up. So I did. This morning. Yikes!! It’s called Blissdom Canada 2011 and this is the 2nd year that they have held it.
If I’m honest, I miss writing here. I did pretty regularly for a long time and then just sort of stopped. I blame twitter and facebook. Once I found facebook (I think in 2006) and twitter (again, I think 2007 so a while ago), short status updates became so easy that I got lazy and ignored my blog.
Since that time, I moved it onto blogspot for my own sanity and ease of use. I thought it was easier, I’d be more inclined to write. This has not been the case so far. I’ve been doing this, or something like it, under this banner (if not this URL) since around 2000 (I think, it may have been 2001). My hope for the conference is that it’ll inspire me to get back at it. Maybe it’s working already, after all, I’m writing today. Yay, go me!
Something about the Toronto conference intrigued me though so I looked into it. The location was certainly handy to me, the price was something I could actually afford and it was for women so it held a lot of appeal. When I attempted to register (only a couple of days after tickets went on sale), I found out that it was sold out. I decided to register for the waiting list. Figuring that I would never be offered a spot, I promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward to yesterday. I get an email from the conference letting me know that a spot has opened up and they will hold it for me for 48 hours. Panic quickly hit me. Could I still afford it? Would I be able to get away from work? Should I even go considering I’ve written maybe 3 posts this year? After discussing it with Mark, I thought I’d just jump in with both feet and sign up. So I did. This morning. Yikes!! It’s called Blissdom Canada 2011 and this is the 2nd year that they have held it.
If I’m honest, I miss writing here. I did pretty regularly for a long time and then just sort of stopped. I blame twitter and facebook. Once I found facebook (I think in 2006) and twitter (again, I think 2007 so a while ago), short status updates became so easy that I got lazy and ignored my blog.
Since that time, I moved it onto blogspot for my own sanity and ease of use. I thought it was easier, I’d be more inclined to write. This has not been the case so far. I’ve been doing this, or something like it, under this banner (if not this URL) since around 2000 (I think, it may have been 2001). My hope for the conference is that it’ll inspire me to get back at it. Maybe it’s working already, after all, I’m writing today. Yay, go me!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
first friends
When you are the first born child in a family, your first real friends are your cousins. My first friend was my cousin Kathy Forbes. She was two years older than me and she was also the first born child in her family. Eventually, we would both become big sisters to younger brothers named Patrick.
I've been thinking about Kathy a lot this week. She passed away 3 years ago today, after a long, hard-fought battle with brain cancer. She was 43 years old.
This morning when I got up, I poured a coffee and started going through some photo albums my parents had put together for me a few years ago. I had a good time looking at the old family pictures of us kids. All of us look like kids, children and parents alike.
I scanned the first of what I expect will become many batches of photos from those albums and put them on flickr. I plan to share them with my cousins because I'm sure that some of them have either not been seen in a while or not seen at all by them.
In other news, today is Gracie's birthday. She's 4. Sam turns 4 on Monday. They got to have chicken for dinner and a fancy organic dog cookie for a treat earlier today. It's a dog life around here for sure.
Via Flickr:
me and my cousin Kathy, hanging at Grandma Forbes' house during the summer of 1968.
I've been thinking about Kathy a lot this week. She passed away 3 years ago today, after a long, hard-fought battle with brain cancer. She was 43 years old.
This morning when I got up, I poured a coffee and started going through some photo albums my parents had put together for me a few years ago. I had a good time looking at the old family pictures of us kids. All of us look like kids, children and parents alike.
I scanned the first of what I expect will become many batches of photos from those albums and put them on flickr. I plan to share them with my cousins because I'm sure that some of them have either not been seen in a while or not seen at all by them.
In other news, today is Gracie's birthday. She's 4. Sam turns 4 on Monday. They got to have chicken for dinner and a fancy organic dog cookie for a treat earlier today. It's a dog life around here for sure.
Via Flickr:
me and my cousin Kathy, hanging at Grandma Forbes' house during the summer of 1968.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
not for me
I'm on vacation this week, home with the dogs. Mark will be off next week so this week I've been puttering around the house and doing some reading.
Just got back from a walk with the dogs and thought I'd put a movie on while I sorted out some papers in my office. "Eat Pray Love" was available on demand. Started to watch it, got about 9 minutes in before I had to shut it off. Admittedly, I have not read the book. I'm not big on things that have "pray" or "prayer" in the title (unless it's A Prayer for Owen Meany). I find that if I can't care about the main character in a movie after 5 minutes, I'm probably not going to stick with it. I gave this one 9 so that's four extra minutes. Generous of me huh?
Partly I blame documentaries. We've been watching a lot of them lately and after a spell of them, I find it tough to go back to movies. I may just have to put some music on while I sort and shred and declutter my mess of an office.
Hard to figure out how I will accomplish that without disturbing the dogs who are sleeping under my chair right now. They love a walk but they crash hard after it's over. I may just let them sleep for a little while before I dig in. Looks like it's going to rain today anyway, so I'm in no rush to get through it all.
Found this a few weeks ago. Forgot how awesome Fernwood Tonight had been. The added bonus of a young Tom Waits is extra fun.
Just got back from a walk with the dogs and thought I'd put a movie on while I sorted out some papers in my office. "Eat Pray Love" was available on demand. Started to watch it, got about 9 minutes in before I had to shut it off. Admittedly, I have not read the book. I'm not big on things that have "pray" or "prayer" in the title (unless it's A Prayer for Owen Meany). I find that if I can't care about the main character in a movie after 5 minutes, I'm probably not going to stick with it. I gave this one 9 so that's four extra minutes. Generous of me huh?
Partly I blame documentaries. We've been watching a lot of them lately and after a spell of them, I find it tough to go back to movies. I may just have to put some music on while I sort and shred and declutter my mess of an office.
Hard to figure out how I will accomplish that without disturbing the dogs who are sleeping under my chair right now. They love a walk but they crash hard after it's over. I may just let them sleep for a little while before I dig in. Looks like it's going to rain today anyway, so I'm in no rush to get through it all.
Found this a few weeks ago. Forgot how awesome Fernwood Tonight had been. The added bonus of a young Tom Waits is extra fun.
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