Health Insurance

Happy Halloween! We survived 3 mos without insurance! Woohoo! After 2 bouts of the flu and a root canal later, we are now once again insured. I'm actually not sure whether I should high five someone or crawl into a hole. Because of the new coverage I now have to make an obligatory appointment for the gynecologist and have a yearly physical. Trick or treat!

Tomorrow is Jon's dreaded root canal. I hope for his sake he gets the gas.

Sick, Sick, Sick

Gross. That's about all I can say for the last few days.

Friday morning I woke up for work, and Jaime is always gone by the time I wake up. This time she was still in the bed.

"Bug, WAKE UP, you are late!" I say.

"Not going, I am sick," she says.

Unbeknownst to me, my wife was up all night with it coming out of all places. Not good.

Later that day she is checking in with a 103.1 fever. Honestly I thought I had gotten away with it. I went out Friday night, felt fine all day Saturday. We got some pizza and I still felt ok. Until about 8 o'clock Saturday night.

Same thing almost to a tee Jaime had. I think the only difference is that she had a higher temprature, but I threw up more. Really a pretty nasty thing. Today my fever has broken, but I still feel like I have been hit by a truck. Soreness from the upchucking, my head is pounding. Ick.

I am alive (I think)...

The last three months of my life have been consumed by the Las Vegas Super Adoption event.

IT IS NOW OVER!

An insane amount of stress, but 332 animals with new homes.

It was an interesting week. I got to Vegas on Wednesday of last week, driving in with a toothache. Not uncommon especially in that area of my mouth because my sinus cavity apparently sits very low on that top row of teeth. So for them to hurt when I am congested is no big deal. But this is one toothache that would not go away. It just got worse, and worse and I actually thought at moments I was going to pass out from the pain.

Going to the dentist at any time is not fun, but going in a town you don't know very well is definitely not fun. So I opened the phone book and found someone who would see me.

The place was actually really nice, and the Dentist seemed competent. By this time the whole side of my head was in pain so I could not answer the question of which tooth was hurting. They ALL hurt. So he picked up the air blower and blew cold air on each tooth. As he hit the one I started to cry. He then says he thinks he knows which one is the problem, and grabs a can of liquid ice, and hits that same tooth. I then really start to cry. I chose the temporary fix which was 200 bucks, but not the full root canal I need. The appointment for that is now a week from today.

But it is good to be home, and it feels good to have helped put together a really successful event.

Happy Birthday! And by the way, Southern California is on Fire

Got a surprise phone call yesterday morning. Apparently no network staff was available to cover the usual beats, and the devastating fires in So. California needed some attention. The result is my first front page network article. Not really that big a deal in the scheme of things, but a slightly different endeavor for yours truly. I actually enjoyed it, and while it's missing some elements (like an interview with anyone??) we were in a flurry at the time to get something, anything posted that it ended up very simple and to the point. Not to mention every agency or person I attempted to call yesterday was (not surprisingly) already out in the field.

Tonight we went to dinner at the Rocking V to celebrate Jon's birthday. We love Victor's place. If you come and visit us we will take you there. The food is great for Kanab, and desserts are even better. We shared the hummus appetizer, and I had the rissoto cakes; Jon the Rocking V shrimp. Of course we had to have wine, and for dessert I had the key lime pie, Jon the bread pudding. Their bread pudding with whiskey sauce is just about Jon's favorite food on the planet. Is this guy British or something?

No Place Like Home

Well, to start off this was a monumental trip to Las Vegas. I did not have one sip of alcohol, nor did I gamble one cent. But I digress.

I have giant blisters on my feet, a sunburned face, aches and pains, stupid tan lines, (burn lines, really) and could take a week to recover. But what a success. Three hundred and thirty one dogs and cats went home this weekend. Almost 100 animals from the Las Vegas shelter (whose time had run out if you get my drift) were adopted out. There were about a dozen or so dogs from the shelter that did not find homes by 4:00 yesterday. But between Best Friends and group Adopt A Rescue Pet of Las Vegas, those that were left behind were taken in, so that they, too will have the chance to find a forever home.

Read about the course of events on Saturday and also Sunday.

This event has been a long time coming; much of Jon’s time at home and work has been consumed with the organization and logistics planning. My role this weekend was Dog Tent Captain, which was a lot of long hours and hard work with animals, volunteers and potential adopters. We are very excited to have a mellow week as we celebrate Jon’s birthday Wednesday, and a (hopefully) quiet weekend home with all our babies.

I didn't want to forget about Jon's exciting visit to the 24 hour dentist on Thursday night. It's exciting for several reasons. For starters, he was in excruciating pain from a toothache, although the dentist was able to patch him up temporarily. The real exciting part is that he was informed that he needs a root canal, which is probably around $1500 and we do not yet have dental insurance. Super exciting.

I got in late last night and Jon arrived home this AM. When I was dropped off after 11:00 last night Kona & Moki were so excited to see me that they jumped on the back of the couch in the front window and ripped down the curtains -- rods and everything.

More later as we decompress from the eventful weekend.

Gobble Gobble

I felt compelled to write about the turkeys. First off, check out Ted Brewer's article here. These guys are gigantic, and so majestic. There's a flock of them that have been hanging outside my office window for a few weeks now. As Ted's article references, they really do soar down to lower canyon from the ridge up here. I saw it for my own eyes about a month ago. It's quite the spectacle.

And now a word from our sponsor. Actually, I won't get on my soapbox about how we really shouldn't be factory farming them for consumption on Thanksgiving. Or how we really shouldn't be factory farming anything but I have been enjoying the company of these guys too much to cause harm to one. So while, at this juncture, I choose not to proselytize about a cruelty free Thanksgiving, I will constructively suggest an alternative. Tofurkey, anyone?

What Happens in Vegas...well, who really cares? I'm tired of Vegas!

I am beat and the party hasn’t even begun. Not even close.

First of all, get acquainted with our event this weekend. Yep, that’s right, Super Adoption heads to Vegas. Jon left this afternoon with a truck full of nonsense, and Jen & I will leave Friday morning with a van full of nonsense. The fun begins Friday afternoon when we set up, then continues early Saturday. That is when the fun really begins. For starters, they made yours truly a dog tent captain. Yep, I return to my volunteer roots, which is a double edged sword of sorts. After all of the years of establishing myself as a capable person they decided to put me in charge of something. Sort of.

Frankly I don’t care what I’m doing as long as I’m getting a walkie talkie. Except I found out there are rules against goofing around on the walkies, so we’ll have to devise some code words. Either that or I need to get a life.

Since becoming a vegetarian again, I have given up eating meat, wearing or purchasing things made of leather, and using metaphoric expressions such as the well known but particularly vile “running around like a chicken with its head cut off”. And while I don’t condone using such expressions, or eating chickens for that matter, I will say it does rather aptly describe the state in which I and the fellow staff will likely be by the time Saturday morning hits.

I think I’m getting a cold. Actually, in all seriousness I had a few good sneezes this afternoon and my throat is starting to hurt. Feeling a little feverish, too. Oh, the good news is I completed the Pet First Aid & CPR class this morning. Amid all the chaos, and as I retire to a warm bath, I wonder, where the hell did I put the echinacea?

The Laziest Blog Ever

Check out the Tiger Salamander we found in our window well. It was SO cool. But you don't have to take my word for it. Check out Daron's entry from Septemer 25th.

Produce

Or shall I say, lack thereof?

Tonight I was really craving a salad. I wanted a crispy little lettuce ditty with a light balsamic dressing, maybe a little gorgonzola; a nice tomato. Not so much to ask, right? Wrong.

So I trek over to the grocery store. The produce selection was so heinous I couldn't believe it. There was not a leaf of lettuce in that place that looked appetizing, let alone edible. Not to worry, we have two -- count 'em two grocery markets here. So I went to store #2. They had a larger selection, but the condition of the greens was actually WORSE than store #1. I wandered home in disbelief and wondered, "What the hell is this?".

You'll be pleased to learn my craving was later satiated when we broke down and went out to eat at the Italian place in town. I guess lettuce is like sex, which is like air. It's not really a big deal until you can't get any.

I work out?

Apparently I work out. I didn't think I did, but what I did tonight certainly FELT like working out. I certainly hurt like I might have raised the ol' heartbeat to working out levels (although for me that means walking ten feet).

I was once in the Army. The US Army. I actually became quite healthy at a lifetime low of about 160 pounds (I say lifetime, I mean I used to weigh 160 but it was the fourth grade). I ran everyday. During my time in Korea six miles a morning was not unusual at all, and we occasionally went out for a ten mile plus.

So as you can imagine as soon as I didn't HAVE to do it, I didn't. Relaxing and sleeping in once I was no longer a soldier seemed right. Like being a completely inactive human was my duty at that time.




Then the weight gain took hold, and I have no idea anymore, but i'll bet I easily clock in at about 230.

But anyway I did play racquetball tonight. Daron and I went down to the local fitness center, which for a small town like this is pretty damn nice. I had to take an aspirin halfway through the first game because I am pretty sure I was in the midst of a myocardial infarction. I got sweaty and actually looked like some sort of jock. I mean a fat jock, but a jock all the same.




I can't say it feels good, I mean I hurt like hell. But I can say there is no reason why I shouldn't do something every now and again. Might even lose some weight.