It's Been a While

I am hoping to get back into this blogging thing, since I haven't blogged in almost a month. I just need some inspiration, I guess. Or a more exciting life.

We flew up to Dallas this weekend for Derrick and Tiffany's engagement party. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and hang out for a while. We also are officially preparing ourselves for our trip to Costa Rica next month. This was a practice run to see if our old bodies can still survive acting like a college student. I'm happy to say we all survived.

We started the night out at a wine tasting. Not really my thing, but it was good to see Derrick's family and meet Tiffany's. From there, we went to a sports bar right across the street. I say sports bar, only because the average person would assume a place called Xs and Os Sporting Tavern was indeed a sports bar. Well, not so much. True, they did have a few tvs tuned in to various sporting events (our only visible tv on the outdoor patio happened to be a continuous loop of a 30 minute interview with Omar Visquel). However, about the time that Derrick was nearly arrested for wearing a baseball cap inside and they cranked up the Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson and Vanilla Ice was when we realized a Sporting Tavern in Southlake, TX may not actually be the same as a sports bar in other, less uppity parts of the world. They also had a dance floor. In my world, one of the defining characteristics of a sports bar, which differentiates it from other types of bars, clubs, lounges, etc is the absence of a dance floor. That, and it is more casual (as in you can wear a baseball cap) and void of lame music. This place was more like Night at the Roxbury with a few plasma screens showing ESPN.

Nevertheless, as we often do, we persevered and managed to have a great time anyway. As the time at the bar started winding down, it was on to the after-party at Derrick's apartment.

Since the very first time that Derrick met Nancy, he has teased her constantly about the events of the night they met. Nancy was less than sober, so Derrick and Chad were giving Nancy and I a ride to her friend's apartment. Only Nancy was talking on the phone, acting a fool, and basically doing everything but navigating to her friend's apartment. And the navigating that she did provide was not exactly correct. Thus, a 5-minute drive turned into an hour, as we drove around in circles on a wild goose chase following Nancy's incoherent and incorrect directions.

Fast forward 6 years to Saturday night. Tiffany, Derrick's fiancee', was less than sober and giving her friend directions to Derrick's apartment where she also lives. Bjorn and Devin were also along for the ride. We got to Derrick's 15 minutes after leaving the bar. Nancy was sober this time and our trusty little Tom Tom One found the way. Tiffany, Bjorn, Devin, and friend, however, were nowhere to be found 30 minutes after leaving the bar. It seems that Tiffany, in her altered state, had not only gotten them lost on their way to her apartment, but had erroneously thought that she and Derrick lived somewhere just east of El Paso. Thus, they drove a loooong way in the wrong direction. An hour after leaving the bar, they finally made it. The look on Bjorn's face as he walked in the door was very familiar to me. It was the same look on Derrick and Chad's face 6 years ago on that fateful night. I only wish I had been along for the ride on this one.

It was a fun night. It is always fun to hang out with friends I don't get to see nearly often enough anymore. Luckily, this was just a warm-up for next month. I won't know what to do with myself with 5 days off of work.

Here are some pics from last night at the "sports" tavern:


















Derrick and Tiffany



















Derrick's sister Kara and her bf Ryan



















Bjorn and Devin




















Derrick's bubba David and his wife Nikki






















Me and Bubba





















Nancy and I

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to send a shout out to Mom on Mother's Day. I know all of you have great moms, but I really think my mom is the best. She is the most selfless person I know, and is a great role model to us and her grandchildren. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Also wishing Happy Mother's Day to my awesome Mother-In-Law Doris. Thanks for making me feel like a part of your family, and most of all, thanks for birthin' that hot chick I married.

Everyone knows I like gadgets and toys. Well, we just bought a video camera "for the clinic", and I have been playing with it all weekend...so don't be surprised if I start posting random videos on the blog.

Just warning you ahead of time.

Cheesiest Wedding Photo Update

We won!

Nancy went on the radio today to graciously and humbly accept our prize, lame as it may be. Can't wait for that Cosmo gift bag to come in the mail. I'll be counting the days.

Cheesiest Wedding Photo

My wife, without my permission ;) , entered a photo from our wedding reception into a contest on Cosmo Radio for "Cheesiest Wedding Photo". Somehow we ended up as one of the four finalists. I had no idea Cosmo radio even existed, but she has ordered me to get votes for her.

Go to http://www.sirius.com/cosmoradio and vote for Photo Number One- Boogieing Babes. Nancy will be forever grateful.

If the contest was "Least sober bride and groom", I am pretty sure we would win.

Bob Barker was Right (Don't open if grossed out easily)

Not a day goes by that I don't recommend to someone with a new puppy or kitten to have him/her neutered or spayed. There are lots of reasons: prevent unwanted pregnancy, prevent hormone-associated behavioral problems, prevent breast cancer, and prevent pyometra, to name a few.

There's also not a day that goes by where I don't vaccinate at least one dog or cat for a number of common diseases, like Canine Parvovirus, Canine Distemper, Kennel Cough, and many more.

And every once in a while a client will argue with me about the need for spaying/ neutering or vaccination. I think I am going to start showing those people the following two cases.

The first is a pyometra. This is a severe, life-threatening infection of the uterus in unspayed females that occurs when fecal bacteria find their way into the uterus. Bootsie decided to visit me yesterday morning because she wasn't feeling well. These are a few pictures of Bootsie's uterus during her emergency surgery. This is the uterus of a 40 lb dog, which normally should be about as big around as a pencil:




















































The second is a video of a dog with Canine Distemper. This is an easily-prevented disease, as long as you get your puppy his or her shots on time. If they catch this virus, they don't get better. It always ends in euthanasia.

Bootsie is doing well today, and she should make a full recovery. 24 more hours and all that pus inside her uterus would have been in her abdomen, and she would be a goner.

Bootsie

Beyonce, the Distemper dog, will likely be put to sleep today.

Moral of the Story: Spays/ Neuters and Vaccines are kind of important.

3 Children + Birthday + Easter = Crazy

It was another crazy weekend at the parents' house. Picture a 5 year-old, a 2 year-old, a 1 year-old, confetti eggs, Easter egg dye, and a crazy German Shepherd mutt. Now picture that scene shortly after a tornado blows through...and you have an inkling of the chaos that was this weekend.

The birthday party for Brynna was fun. They had it at a local park, so the kids got to play on the swings and monkey bars. Shelby had to wait it out in the car because she has no manners and acts like a bull in a china shop.

After the party, we went back to the house and cooked steaks and chicken. Ribeyes and New York Strips--right up my alley. Then it was time to dye Easter eggs. Logan is a mess waiting to happen and he did not disappoint. He dyed the table, then floor, his hands, his arm, his face, Brynna, and just about everything else...except of course for the eggs. Then the kids were off to bed to wait for the Easter Bunny. Since it was puring rain outside, the Easter Bunny hid the eggs inside. Nancy then found the ones with Cadbury eggs inside and attempted to hide them in more difficult places. The theory being that the kids wouldn't find them and she could go back later and "find" them herself. Logan, however, is getting really good at finding eggs, so her plan failed. Brynna held her own, and Makinley, who isn't quite to the walking stage yet, sits and points at the eggs she wants, and her mom and dad go and get them. She's not spoiled or anything.

Easter dinner was great, and then it was time to head back to Houston. Just one last stop on the way out of town so Logan could show me his bug collection. It is very impressive indeed. He's got bugs, spiders, worms, snails, a slug and other assorted tiny critters that he finds in the yard. Most of them are dead rotting carcasses, but it is a collection nonetheless. I'm just glad to see he is branching out from Star Wars.

Shelby had a great time too. She hits the jackpot with the kids around, because they drop all kinds of food on the floor. And even when they don't drop it, the food in their hands is right about mouth-high for Shelby, so it's easy pickin's. Shelby manged to get jelly beans, a corn cob, and a wad of Play-Doh in addition to her usual table droppings. We are gonna have to watch closely to make sure it all makes it out the other end okay.

Makinley likes Shelby, but only from a distance. She stares, points, smiles and laughs at Shelby from afar...but if Shelby gets within 3 feet of her, she starts crying.

It's going to be an exciting week at the clinic. No, no more hiring for right now. I am getting a digital x-ray system installed. I'm very excited to be finally entering the 21st century. Anyone need anything x-rayed? I gotta pay for this thing, ya know.

Here are some pics from the crazy weekend that was:

The three kiddos--Makinley, Brynna, and Logan

Brynna and Shelby

Reading to Logan and Brynna

Smiley Brynna and the remnants of the chaos behind her

Cutie Makinley

Two beautiful girls

Logan wrapped in tape. Don't ask.

Logan gettin' his bubble on.

Makinley at the park

Happy Easter from Shelby

Hit Me Baby One More Time

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. There just hasn't been a lot of excitement to write about. I'm sure all three of you who read this can barely sleep at night wondering about all the wild stuff that we have been doing.

Nancy started the week off with a bang by going to the Britney Spears concert at the Toyota Center downtown. Yes, that's right...Britney Spears. She paid to see a white trash hoochie lip-synch for two hours. I'm really sad that I had to miss it. Luckily Nancy has friends that support her in these sorts of things, and she doesn't make me go with her. If she did, I think that would be grounds for divorce. I once was forced to go to The Nutcracker ballet the same night the Aggies were playing in the Alamo Bowl. I promptly dumped that chick. Just sayin'. Nancy had fun, so that's all that matters. She did, however, note that it wasn't nearly as cool as The New Kids on The Block concert she went to in October. Twice.

This was the last weekend we would be spending at home for a while, so we didn't do much. I spent quite a bit of time enjoying my recliner. Nancy's mom went to DFW with a friend for an embroidery convention (who knew that such things even existed?), so we got to babysit Mr. Whiskers, her 5 pound Yorkie/ Chihuahua mix. His favorite hobby is waiting until I doze off in said recliner, and then getting a running start and cannonballing into my crotch. Good times.

Today, we went to the Shell Houston Open PGA golf tournament in Humble. Neither of us had ever been to a professional golf tournament before, so it was kinda cool. We followed Sergio Garcia and a few other guys for a while. We only stayed 3 or 4 hours, but it was really cool, except for the sunburn. You would think after 33 pasty-white years, I would have learned by now to wear sunscreen. I guess I assumed because it was 10 am and cloudy, that the sun's rays would not affect me. Now I have the ever-so-cool racoon eyes to disprove my theory.

Next weekend is Brynna's 2nd birthday party. It is only a formality, since she has already reached the terrible twos. We'll have to go shopping this week for her bribe...er, I mean gift.

The weekend after that is the annual Maroon and White game in College Station. It's really just an excuse to go hang out in College Station for the weekend, since the football is even worse than an actual Aggie game.

Finally, we will wrap up April with Brooke and Tyler's birthday party.

In closing, I would like to post a excerpt from my sister Carrie's blog that I thought was hilarious. Logan is our 5 year old nephew.

Awkward Conversation of the Day:

Logan: "Am I hot?"
Me: (feeling his head) "No, you don't feel hot to me."
Logan: "No, I mean am I hot? You know, like when a boy tells a girl that she's hot and then they date and kiss."
Me: "Oh. Ummm...."
Logan: "I think you're hot Mom. The hottest part about you is your big squishy belly. You got another baby in there?"