Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Wednesday

Here it is Wednesday. It has been a very full week.

Monday, I went to an Adobe Catalyst class at TecHead. Although the software is still in beta it was great getting a jump on the pre-release software. Can't wait to get the released version. There will be so many things that can be done with it. Although we don't use very much flash on our websites, there it will be nice to be able to produce some pieces, especially for photographs. I'm working on figuring out an Air application that I could make. Too fun!

Tuesday, put me back into the office with loads of computer issues to clean up. There had been a software update, but not done quite right that had to be hammered out. It took a while to figure exactly what had happened but once that had been taken care of the rest just took the time necessary to get it fixed.

If that wasn't enough, we had a Dental Implant Seminar in the office that evening. Which went wonderfully! Dr. Martin did a fantastic presentation. But...and there always seems to be one, we had some software glitches that almost blew the big finish. Stupid software wouldn't save out a file to a jpg, so in lieu of that I downloaded IrfanView, did a screen shot and saved out that way. IrfanView saved the day!!

That brings us up to today. I've been working on a new website - all day - it's coming along, but it is sure being a royal pain. Working the layout has been challenging. In the end I sure hope that it comes out the way that it has been envisioned.

Sometimes things just work my nerves and get me all frustrated. There are some days that you get that feeling that you are not appreciated for what you do. I think I'm in need of a few mental health days. Ah, almost forgot, vacation is coming up in a week or so. It will be nice to get out of the fluorescent lights and into the sunshine.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Laid Back Sunday

Ah, I had the opportunity to sleep in a wee bit late this morning. It was so nice.

Walt & I hopped out and had breakfast at iHOP, not the best food, but it was a good opportunity for us to catch up on everything that has been going on.

Being so close to Home Depot we did a little shopping through the garden shop. A few new houseplants definitely add a breath of fresh air in the house.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

A New Gadget

After the conference ended, Reid Winick caught me to share his new gadget that he had gotten at Christmas. I was the coolest pen, it's a Lightscribe Pulse Smartpen, the darn thing digitally records your written notes and records audio that can be synchronized with the notes!!! It is just frickin' awesome!!

I can't wait to try it out on Monday during my Adobe Catalyst class. It will be the perfect field test. Until I just may have to play with it for a while. It is just too much fun!

Dental Volunteers For Israel

Dr. Michael GoldbergDr. Goldberg, belongs to one of the coaching groups that I work with. I just found out this past weekend what awesome work that he is doing outside of his own practice and thought that it was worthy of sharing. The following is a brief synopsis of how he began working with Dental Volunteers for Israel and a letter of a success story of one of the children who received treatment in the clinic.

Dr. Goldberg, first met Trudi Birger in 1984. A friend had spent the previous summer on a Kibbutz, working 3 days a week as a Dentist. I thought it was a great opportunity. When he looked into the program, he was told it was discontinued. Following a suggestion that a newly formed children's clinic in Jerusalem may be interested in his services, he contacted Trudi. That summer, he began doing volunteer work for DVI. Today he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Friends of Dental Volunteers for Israel as the Vice-President.

_______________________________________

February 18, 2010

Last Thursday, I had a most entertaining and inspirational meeting with Dr. Nedal Alayyan in a café in Jerusalem. Nedal, now 33, as a child was a patient at DVI. He was inspired to go to dental school by DVI, his older brother who is a Surgeon and by is Mother who encouraged him. He went to school in The Ukraine, where his education cost about $2,000 a year. The whole family chipped in to help pay his way.

Nedal loves DVI and whenever there’s an opening in the clinic, he comes to volunteer. He told me that he received the best dental treatment at DVI and that many of the fillings he had placed there are still in his mouth. His only complaint regarding DVI is that he would love to volunteer more but because of our successful Volunteer program, he’s not needed that often. Nedal said that if he could, he would love to volunteer once a week!

Nedal told me that when he came back to Jerusalem from Ukraine, he told his mother that he wanted to go to Practice in the US, where ho could make a lot of money. His Mother nixed the idea, saying that he’s not to go and should stay in Jerusalem with his family. Nedal, now married and with an 18 month old daughter doesn’t regret his decision to honor his Mother’s wishes. She passed away a few years ago and he thinks of her often as he named his daughter after her.

Nedal’s story is the essence of DVI’s success. Nedal embodies the success that we have as a dental program. Not only have we inspired thousands of volunteer Dentists and friends, we’ve also inspired patients to become Dentists. Nedal’s story also tells of the diversity of the DVI family. This story is less well known to those who have not worked in the Clinic. This story needs to be told. During these difficult times stories such as this give hope for the future. Only through interactions stimulated by places such as DVI can we hope to foster understanding and friendship between peoples of diverse backgrounds, religions and nationalities.

Nedal’s story, which embodies the true nature of DVI, its diverse patients and volunteers needs to be told. In the Middle East such stories are all too rare. As the Chairman of DVI’s 30th Anniversary Gala this coming March 28th, I have invited Dr. Alayyan to be our guest and to receive special recognition for his efforts on behalf of the children of Jerusalem. Please join me and the DVI family in welcoming Nedal and thanking our other honorees, Steve Kess of Henry Schein, Ran Tuttnauer of Tuttnauer Int’l and Dr. Allen Helfer, President of American Friends of DVI at the Gala Dinner on November 28th 2010. Please log onto our website at americanfriendsofdvi.org for information and to make a reservation or email me the office at americanfriendsofdvi@gmail.com.

If you are willing to join the Dinner Committee, please email me directly at cadcamdmd@aol.com
Michael Goldberg, Chair, 30th Anniversary Gala

DFD Day Two - Conference Wrap Up

Dr. Martin covered a lot of ground today during his presentation. Marketing was the topic of the morning. Dr. Martin kept everyone on their toes with group exercises interspersed throughout the presentation.

Dr. Martin shared his new book, Are Your Teeth Killing You? with the group. This book is all about the mouth-body connection before has implications and applications in everyday life.

During the we found out that a couple of our doctors have been doing some outstanding volunteer work:
  • Dr. Michael Goldberg, New York, NY - works with the American Friends of DVI
  • Dr. Peter Lee, San Jose, CA - special project with green energy in North Korea.
Dr. Martin presenting to the DentistryForDiabetics doctors, Richmond, VALunch was fun, everyone was immersed in conversation sharing ideas with one another. It is amazing the diversity of non-dental interests that the group has overall. Dr. Cobble was telling us about a small plane that come equipped with a parachute for the plane. Now that's making a small plane really safe. I could only image driving down the road and seeing a plane that had experienced trouble parachuting to safety. What a visual!

There were a couple of things that I felt that I could almost come up with a how-to video on the way to do things. Hmmm. I feel a possible project coming up in the near future.

The presentation in the afternoon was focused on referrals. Everyone was having a great time participating in drills and exercises. The practice a good way for them to put into practice what they were learning during the lecture.

Friday, March 26, 2010

DentistryForDiabetics Conference

Dr. DelBoccio cutting up for the cameraIt has been a great day! Even though it started off overcast with rain coming into the area, we've even developed quite a chill. Hard to believe that it had been in the upper 60's - lower 70's for the past few days. Only to drop into the 40's today, burr.

It is has been very nice catching up with the doctors. Hard to believe that it had been almost a nearly a year since I had seen a few. Everyone definitely looked like they were in good spirits.

Dr. Martin's presentation has been quite interesting and everyone appears to be getting lots from it. The doctors have been enjoying the drills and meeting with one another.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tuesday

Woke up this morning to a bit of a nip in the air, I'd slept with the windows open and it was just a wee bit nippy in the house. I had everything closed up before I headed out for the day, but even when I came home at lunch it was still a little cool. I broke down and turned the heat on so Walter wouldn't freeze while he was sleeping.

I spent the afternoon working on converting a website, so many pages to do, seemingly so little time to get it done. So many more to do, so little time.

Stupid stuff always makes me crazy. I hate getting in the middle of stuff that I have absolutely no control over. It makes me want to just bang my head on the little circle on the wall in Brian's office. (I'll have to get a picture of this to post.)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Monday Happenings.

Great news. Bounce's recovery is coming along nicely. The bump on his side is down to half of what it was. He had a visit to the vet today, this time for a rabies shot. Carla had to go as well for one of those annual shots that she was due for. The both of them had their nails clipped. Bounce could care less about having it done, but Carla on the other hand - would whine from now until next week if we even tried.

Miss Carla had to have one of her teeth pulled as well, it was just barely hanging on. I'm sure that she feels much better now. The vet said that she is doing terrific for a dog of her age (15). She's just plugging along.

This evening the two of them have actually settled in on the sofa to sleep. A slightly amazing event. Carla isn't growling and Bounce isn't picking at her. Yeah!

Today started out under gray skies, but after a fairly big downpour, the clouds parted to reveal blue sky. At least it wasn't nasty this evening on the way home. I sure do enjoy getting to ride with the sunroof open.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

This & That

This and that's that have been hanging around in my email.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

"'We allow the insurance industry to run wild in this country,' President Obama declared [last] Monday. 'We can't have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people.' Yet Obama's plan to tame health insurers would boost their business, protect them from competition and guarantee their profits, all at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. It is therefore not surprising that the insurance companies, while they object to the president's rhetoric and quibble over some of the details, are happy to be domesticated. ... As he himself notes, 'They're going to have 30 million new customers,' thanks to the government's mandates and subsidies. To distract us from the favor he is doing for insurers, Obama claims to be getting tough with them by demanding that they take all comers and charge them all the same rates, without regard to health. While abolishing risk-based pricing contradicts a basic principle of the insurance business, the industry has to weigh the loss of that freedom against the gain of government-guaranteed revenue. Despite his talk about reining in 'excessive' premium hikes, Obama's plan commits him to keeping insurers financially sound so they can provide the coverage he is promising. ... In essence, then, Obama's plan would use money forcibly extracted from taxpayers and policyholders to keep insurers healthy." --columnist Jacob Sullum

Neither Blonde nor Female!

These guys are installing the steel pillars in concrete to stop vehicles from parking on the pavement outside a Sports Bar downtown. They are now in the process of cleaning up at the end of the day and anxious to go home.

How long do you think it will be before they realize where they parked?

MOLES

A papa mole, a mama mole, and a baby mole, all live together in a little mole hole.

One day, papa mole sticks his head out of the hole, sniffs the air and said, ' Yum! I smell maple syrup!'

The mama mole sticks her head out of the hole, sniffs the air and said, 'Oh, Yum! I smell honey!'

Now baby mole is trying to stick his head out of the hole to sniff the air, but can't because the bigger moles are in the way. This makes him whine, 'Geez, all I can smell is...

MOLASSES!

Irish Festival

Yesterday afternoon turned out to be a bit more adventuresome that just yard work. Walter & Kelly headed off to the Irish Festival on Church Hill and gave us a call to meet them there. Sean & I had finished ripping up the patio and wooden sidewalk, so we headed out to join them.

We finally caught up with them on 26th Street, there were loads of vendors and two different stages with bands. St. Patrick's Church was open for a harp concert. Then there was the food, it was absolutely everywhere.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Super Saturday

What a terrific day for working out in the yard or just being outside in general. I got out early this morning with Walter and went to Pleasant's to pickup a couple of items for the house. He decided to pick up some grass seed as well to at least have some grass growing in the yard for now, to keep erosion down, since we only have dirt in the yard. The previous owners must have had some aversion to grass.

A new haircut and color was also in the schedule for this morning. Turned out that it was almost like going to a class reunion. Wanda Nash and Molly Adcock who had gone to cosmetology class with me both worked at the salon. Linda who did my hair, is the grandmother of a boy that Sean had played baseball with a number of years ago. It was great catching up with everyone.

I picked Sean up and he has been helping out in the yard this afternoon. We've been tearing up the makeshift patio that was on the Southside of the house. The ground had filled in all the empty space between the foundation boards. We're also demolishing the wooden sidewalk on that side of the house as well. A number of the boards are rotten and a hazard. Turns out that some of the drainage issues that we have will be resolved by just taking out this patio and walk. Of course, we'll be reworking it in the future.

Tim brought over a 10x10 dog pen. We put it up so that Bounce can spend sometime outside without being on a leash and at least be somewhat safe from the monster next door. Carla even had to get in it as well, which was really funny since we originally purchased for her back in 1999. Then she wouldn't have anything to do with and would absolutely complain the entire time she was inside. I guess she doesn't want Bounce getting to do anything that she isn't.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Terrific Thursday

The weather has been terrific all day. The windows are open again this evening. I'm taking advantage of it as long as I can.

Carla and Bounce have been enjoying getting out and about during the middle of the day. It also gives me a change to take in just a bit of sun in the middle of the day. In addition I'm taking the opportunity to put warm compresses on the swollen area of Bounce's side. They tell me that it will go down in a little over a week or so. He's suppose to wear the 'cone of shame' until Saturday, but we've given him a bit of reprieve since he's not licking the surgical site. He's so much happier without it.

Walter's left out of early for work this evening. Alice & I were talking on the phone and he heard that Cassie was making brownies, of course, this caused him to get the urge to have one. I sure hope that Sheetz has one for him.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Daddy Long Legs

Stories about children and their views of the world are always touching.

A father watched his young daughter playing in the garden. He smiled as he reflected on how sweet and pure his little girl was. Tears formed in his eyes as he thought about her seeing the wonders of nature through such innocent eyes. Suddenly she just stopped and stared at the ground. He went over to her to see what work of God had captured her attention.

He noticed she was looking at two spiders mating.

'Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?' she asked.

'They're mating,' her father replied.

'What do you call the spider on top?' she asked.

'A Daddy Longlegs,' her father answered.

'So, the other one is a Mommy Longlegs?' the little girl asked.

As his heart soared with the joy of such a cute and innocent question he replied, 'No dear. Both of them are Daddy Longlegs.'

'The little girl, looking a little puzzled, thought for a moment, then lifted her foot and stomped them flat.

'Well', she said, 'that may be OK in California, but we're not having any of that stuff in Wyoming.'

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It has been a glorious day. The temperature hit 70-degrees this afternoon. How wonderful! I had the sunroof open in the car today and opened a few windows in the house this evening. It was fantastic! Can't wait till the evening temperatures come up just a wee bit so I can keep them open all the time.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bounce Update

Good news, Bounce got his stitches out today, they also drained the bump on his side. He still has to wear the cone of shame until Saturday. Then he'll be free to scratch his ears at his leisure.

Monday, March 15, 2010

A Monday Visit

This morning started out pretty normal. I gathered up the dogs and headed out for, what I thought was going to be a short ride. We ended up out at Mom & Dad's house for a short while. Turned out that Danielle & the children showed for a visit as well. What a surprise!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A Rainy Sunday

Bounce has taken to sitting in the sun room and watching the birds outside the window at the feeder. They really do entertain him, even if he can't go out and try to play with them.

Walt & I went out for lunch this afternoon at Yamato Steakhouse & Sushi Restaurant. We had a great time watching the chef cook, and the sushi was to die for. I really enjoyed the time out.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

CHHS Get Together

We had a very enjoyable get together this evening. There were about a dozen of us that got together at Giuseppe's. It was nice getting back together with everyone. The kids were a great addition!

The things that we do for fun!


Bounce is back home from the vet and seems to be quite happy to be here. I don't know what he did while he was gone, but it looks like he may have taken up a bad habit while he was away. LOL.

Here he's relaxing with his eyes closed chewing on his rawhide bone, at least he's making use of the 'cone of shame' for good.

Day Two - Conference Wrap Up

I popped out the front door this morning to be greeted by a brand new crop of white crocus'. It was amazing the number of new plants that seemingly just 'showed up' over night. WOW! The residual rain on the blossoms was so pretty, and the color looks great amongst the field of monkey grass.

I hope that I get home this afternoon while the blossoms are still open. It would be great to get a shot of all of the flowers. Yet there is a prediction for more rain this afternoon/evening so I may have to wait until Sunday or even Monday.

We got started at the conference right on time this morning. It was tough being all bright and shiny after such another long day.

Nancy Simmons, from Silver Lake, Ohio, announced to the group that she has been selected as Woman of the Year by the National Association For Professional Women. She is a truly remarkable woman with a tremendous story. I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. As soon as I have a link to her bio I'll add it here.




BOUNCE UPDATE:

Bounce is still at the Veterinary Emergency Clinic, they have been swamped this morning and his ultrasound was pushed back until later this morning. I'm hoping to hear something from them around noon.

Word is in from the Vet - Bounce is okay!! His ultrasound showed that the area is just a little fatty tissue. The bump that we are feeling is a 'pucker' where they closed the body wall up during surgery. The swollen looking area should go down in two or three weeks. YEAH!!!!

Conference Kick Off

The conference kicked off this morning at 8 a.m., Dr. Martin's presentation has been very good thus far even with the sneak peak at the PowerPoint, I've enjoyed it. It's great to see everyone getting so much out of the lecture.


Update on Bounce:

This evening, right after the conference concluded for the evening, I headed back to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic with Bounce. The puffy place on his belly had gotten too large for our comfort.

He tolerated the car ride fairly well, but doggie dramamine is something that maybe a part of his future. Poor thing drools buckets when he's in the car. He did great at the office, I really think that he remembered being there last week. In fact, he sat at the door waiting to be taken into the back.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Happy Thursday!

What a wonderful day outside! It was quite pleasurable getting out this afternoon at least for a little while to enjoy the wonderful Spring-like weather. I was equally surprised by the multitude of Crocus' that are now populating the Monkey Grass at home in the front yard. (I have pictures coming.) Just a couple of days ago there were only three plants up, but today...wow!

We have been a couple of busy beavers at the office, making copies, putting together document packages, making CD/DVDs, and printing a multitude of documents. I thought that we were going to have to go out at one point and cut down another tree for paper. Thank goodness for double-sided printing.

This evening promises to be one of the largest pre-meeting meetings that we've had. It will be nice to see all the familiar faces and do a bit of catching up before we all settle down for the conference in the morning. The conference promises to be quite informative.

More Spring Flowers

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Could It Be, Spring??

While I was home at lunch today, I saw that crocus' had poked their heads up through the leaves.


More Spring Flowers

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Bounce Is Home

After our little adventure at the river this morning, we headed up to Carytown to pick up Bounce. He was all ready to leave by 8:30. After an uneventful ride back home, he definitely seem excited to get back to the house.

Once out the car, he took a tour around the yard - almost like he was getting his bearing. In the house he sniffed just about everything in sight. I think he was checking everything out to make sure that we hadn't changed anything while he was gone. The 'cone of shame' seems to be giving him a little trouble sleeping, but he is sleeping nonetheless.

I had opportunity to check out his incision - 35 staples. It is going to take them a little while to get them all out on his follow-up visit.

Richmond In the Morning

Richmond Sunrise, by Judy SmithWe were up early this morning and out heading to the Belle Island. We made a drive through Krispy Kreme - Walt was looking for some 'hot' donuts. No hot ones but they were surely quite warm.

Once we'd park near the Tredegar Ironworks, we headed up to the footbridge under the Lee Bridge. We picked out a nice spot about mid-way across the river and waited for the sun to make its appearance. It was a spectacular place to set up to catch sunrise photos of the city.

It was a wonderful morning to be out and about. The temperature, although not warm was tolerable by just a light jacket. We watched the sun come up over the city and then crossed the footbridge over to Belle Island.

Morning Swim, by Judy SmithThe birds were everywhere. I even got a shot of a hawk. The geese were almost oblivious to our presence. Walt threw a rock into the river to try to scare them into flight, but they just ignored us entirely. The Southside of the island was much quieter than the Northside. The wildlife seem to gravitate toward the rapids.


I ran through two sets of batteries for the camera while we were out this morning. I had a third, but they didn't work when I put them in the camera. Darn battery failure, there were a couple of extra shots that I could have gotten on the way back to the car.

by Judy Smith by Judy Smith

Canadian Geese in Flight, by Judy Smith by Judy Smith

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Just Too Funny

Words for Women to Live By in 2010

1. Aspire to be Barbie - the bitch has everything.

2. If the shoe fits - buy them in every color.

3. Take life with a pinch of salt.... A wedge of lime, and a shot of tequila.

4. In need of a support group? - Cocktail hour with the girls!

5. Go on the 30 day diet. (I'm on it and so far I've lost 15 days).

6. When life gets you down - just put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

7. Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality.

8. I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here.

9. Lead me not into temptation, I can find it myself.

10. Don't get your knickers in a knot; it solves nothing and makes you walk funny.

11. When life gives you lemons in 2010 - turn it into lemonade then mix it with vodka.

12. Remember where ever there is a good looking; sweet, single or married man there is some woman tired of his bullshit!

13. Keep your chin up, only the first 40 years of parenthood are the hardest..

14. If it has Tires or Testicles it's gonna give you trouble.

15. By the time a women realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she's wrong.

A Visit with Bounce

I went out this morning to visit with Bounce at the Veterinary Emergency Clinic. When they brought him out to me, I couldn't decide whether to cry or laugh. He looks so pitiful. He tried to play with the leash end, but the 'cone of shame', kept him from being able to. I couldn't even rub his ears for the darn thing.

I got a good look at his incision which runs from his ribs almost to his private parts. It is all stapled shut and looks simply evil.

He tired out really quickly, so I had them take him back to rest. I really just wanted to see him for myself. Just from what I observed with him this morning, it is going to be awhile before he's back to his old bouncy self.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Three Years

Has it been three years already? Time sure has flown. I've been at my job now for three whole years. Looking back it is hard to imagine stepping into where I am now without having the last three years to look back on. It would truly be tough. We've done so many things at the office, the projects, trips, video and audio productions, let alone all the things that we've done in print. The upcoming year promises to be just as jam packed with conferences, magazines and practice events.

News from the Vet

Bounce came through surgery wonderfully. He had a 3 1/2 inch rip in his abdominal wall and some of his intestines and part of his spleen had to be put back in place; and there was a pencil end sized hole in his diaphragm that they easily repaired. With luck he will be able to come home in the morning.

Walter took this photo of Bounce just before we dropped him off at with the vet.

Afternoon update from the vet:


Bounce is still doing just fine. They called to give me his post op instructions. We just have to watch the incision for any excessive redness. No baths for two weeks. The poor baby is going to have to wear a "cone of shame" for 10-14 days to keep him from licking his incision. I feel so sorry for him. Pictures to come.

Evening update from the vet:

Bounce is still on the road to recovery. Definitely sore - they've given him morphine for pain, so I'm betting he doesn't even care that he's at the hospital. Hoping to get to bring him home during the day tomorrow. It's quite quiet here without him around.

Looks like the optimism isn't going to pan out. They want to keep him for observation for a full 36 hours. So it appears that we'll be able to pick him up on Sunday morning. All subject to change - we're on wait and see mode.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Unwanted Excitement

After a very full day at work, I was all ready to get settled in at home and put my feet up and let the dog snuggle up for awhile on the couch. This was not to be. I let Carla and Bounce out to potty, and the next thing I know I heard a yelp from the side yard. At first I thought that it was Bounce picking at Carla, but it didn't sound 'quite right'.

I ran out to find that the neighbor had tackled his dog next to our deck. Carla was near the side door, and Bounce had taken off to hide under the tool shed. Turns out that what had happened was, the neighbor had let his 100 lb, pit bull (type) dog out and it had taken off and tried to bite him. Once they got their dog put into the house, I spend about 20 minutes trying to coax him out from under the tool shed.

A few dog treats on the ground managed to do the trick. I'm not exactly sure how the other dog bit/hit him, but his stomach was distended and there was blood on his leg. I got the little fellow into the house and wrapped him up in a towel; got Walter and headed out the door to the Emergency Vet Clinic. (Why is it that thing like this never happen during regular business hours?) The poor thing did fairly well on the ride, but he's not all that hot on riding in the car yet, and he started drooling. When he does that he reminds me of the dog on "Turner and Hooch" all drool all the time. Just when I thought we were going to make it to the office, he couldn't take it anymore and threw up. All over me, all over the car door. It was just lovely.

They got him in, gave him some pain meds and checked him over. The initial diagnosis is torn abdominal muscle (a hernia), which is definitely going to need fixing relatively quickly. So...he's spending the night at the Emergency Vet Clinic having x-rays; getting an iv; having blood work; antibiotics and more pain meds. We're picking him up before 8 a.m. to have him to the main vet hospital first thing in the morning to be evaluated by the surgeon.

We called to report the attack once we got back, they said that Animal Control would be out shortly. I was in amazed. Animal Control after 5 p.m., wow! The amazement was short lived. They called around 8:30 to say they were going by the emergency clinic to take photos of Bounce and that they would get with me on Friday afternoon to follow up on the report.

Tomorrow promises to be very long and tiring. Up early to pick up Bounce, over to the surgeon, and then back to deal with Animal Control. Not to mention all the lovely fun that we're going to have with the neighbors over this.

On an odd note, Carla has been pacing around looking for Bounce since we got home. Now normally she acts like it's killing her for him to be around, but she truly looks like she has missed him this evening. She doesn't know how to act not having him around to pester her.

I'll post an update on Bounce's condition after we find out something tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Mid-Week

Hard to believe that it's already time to put together another magazine for the office. The Smiles of Richmond has undergone some design revisions this quarter, the new look will show up in mailboxes around Richmond sometime towards the end of March/first of April.

I got this cute photo of the dogs, quietly sitting on the sofa together. A truly amazing event. As you can tell from the photo, Bounce is getting larger almost on a daily basis. Carla is beginning to look like the puppy instead of him.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic." -- Justice Joseph Story

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Snow Again???

I wasn't expecting this when I left the office today. It had started raining at lunch time, but then the surprise as I left.

I got the nicest gift this morning from Brian, The Encyclopaedia of Fonts, by Gwyn Headley. This is going to be so cool. Loads of fonts to browse through, what a great way to get a visual on what typeface that you may want to use in a document. Thanks so much.

I didn't think any of the snow would actually stick, yet here it is sticking to the grass, cars, sidewalk, driveway. We'll have to see how this mess plays out overnight.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day:
Women are angels. And when someone breaks our wings, we simply continue to fly...on a broomstick. We are flexible like that.

Monday, March 1, 2010

March RAUG Meeting

Sean put on another great presentation at our March, GoGreen, RAUG meeting. We had a hands on demo where we created a newsletter with a subscription form in InDesign, then used Acrobat to create a fill-able form that would be automatically emailed back once the submit button was clicked. The possibilities are endless.

Be sure to watch for the April meeting notice and be sure to attend. Easter Eggs and secret program trick will be on the agenda. IF you aren't already a member of RAUG, be sure to sign up and join us.

Thanks to TecHead for sponsoring the event!