Charlie and Clematis Planting

Returning this afternoon at two I let Charlie out and proceeded to plant 4 clematis, 6 hostas and quite a few primroses out front by the "Frogs". Charlie proceeded down our driveway, got shocked and decided with encouragment from me to come back quickly. Katia went through the shock zone across the creek; perhaps a new battery is in order. Charlie also tested the zone near the raspberries and across the creek and then was content to follow me around as I did my planting. She is in good spirits, but coughs repeatedly when she and Katia are fighting. I think her throat is still sore. It rained some but since I have fertilized the lawn I would like to see some "real" rain for a day or so.
Mom is looking at barbecues for a birthday idea. We checked out the two at Costco; I think I will go to Consumer Reports, eat some dinner, and start on my Calculus before I get too far behind. Love, Dad

Near Death Experience

With Charlie, whatever could possibly go wrong will most assuredly happen I have learned. I had asked Mom to retrieve another roll of PetSafe wire from the garage while I continued stapling the wire to our fence. I heard a strange sound behind me, turned on my knees and took in the sight of Charlie lying next to an apple tree, motionless and quiet. I ran to her and worked feverlishly at removing the string leash and removing the slip collar that was holding her down and making it really awkward to help her. She was limp and not really seeing anything, her tongue was out slightly and her mouth had bits of dirt and barkdust in it. I was beyond scared because it seemed that I was just too late. When I finally got the collar off I watched her chest carefully and she began to move ever so slightly in my hands, but it was a kind of slidy movement of her body. I would have given her artificial respiration in another two seconds but her chest began to slowly move.
For the rest of the night she was slow, shakey and shivering, and retreated to her rug whenever she wasn't being held by Mom. All of the fire was gone from her eyes and the bounce had run away. I slept with her last night and this morning she was pouncing on Katia and getting scratched by Mina.
Charlie is curled up on the fur rug here in the computer room. I need to bath, eat, and read the next section in Calculus before departing at 10 so have a good day, kiss the wife and pet the dogs and cats. Love, Dad

Bigger Fence

Well, I read Mom's post. Charlie has been running across the road to many of our neighbors, followed a Golden Retriever down the block to the corner, has gone under the fence into two yards across the creek, and has started running up the hill to the chain-linked fence to bark at the two hunting dogs, and has tried repeatedly to get through the chain-link fence by the raspberry plants to play with the kids next door. Their little girl is afraid of dogs so Charlie can only stand on two paws and plead to get in. Mom has wanted me to fix this problem with a fence, but the cost for an appropriate and property enhancing fence would be really expensive and the physical layout of our yard would require and awkward partitioning of space, etc. I wanted to use our underground fence and had just replaced some components trying to solve problems started by my breaking the wire out by the apple trees in front. We decided to get Charlie an Ultra-light receiver at Coastal Farm Supply. I was worried that I might not have enough wire, but it turned out I had three 400 foot rolls. Anyway, I put wire up to the chain-link fence in back, stapled it to the fence out back, pinned it to the ground along our property line, and included the rock garden, before reattaching it at the driveway. Last night I showed Charlie the flags that Mom put in and she got three short exposures to the fence ( I really should have waited a day but was really worried that even one day might be too late given her running away behavior). This morning I took both dogs out, Katia had been exposed last night; she crossed the bridge while Charlie was investigating the creek this side by the rock garden; heard the warning and shot back. Charlie then took off towards the bridge at a full run and was rocketing towards an escape point under the fence when she hit the shock zone. There was a yelp, a turn around, and a bee line back to the house.

Irresponsible Pet Owners

We had a very near tragedy yesterday. I tied Charlie to a small fruit tree near where Dad was working while I went to the garage to get some wire for him. She ran around the tree and choked herself nearly to death. As I was coming back out of the garage I saw Dad running to her. She was limp, not breathing and tongue hanging out. When he got the collar off her, she gasped and began to breath again. I pretty much held her the rest of the evening and she was a very sad, shaky puppy. This morning she seems okay. You can imagine, the owners were pretty sad and shaky themselves.

Diet is going okay. I ate a little too much this weekend but didn't totally blow it. I am fairly determined and mostly into a routine now, packing my lunch, etc.

For me birthday, a visit would be very nice. As a gift idea, how about a not-too-expensive pedometer. Just something that would remind me that I need to walk in the evening if I haven't moved around enough during the day.

Other big news - we are getting DSL. They were having a good deal so went for it. Will be nice to get a little more speed on the old Internet.

Jennifer never blogs, but they have bad pet news. Brody has bad joints, but worse than thought. Probably won't last long. Also Chloe died after convulsions.

Must go to work.

Don't know who I signed in as, but this is Mom (aka Janice)

Mom's birthday

So mother, what do you want for your birthday?? Any ideas for us?

I will be gone for your birthday, mother, but I was wondering what you were doing on the weekend of Mar 19th. I get back from my trip on the 18th and Greyson will be in Lousiana so I will be hanging out alone. When is your spring break?

Diets and Exercise

So I also want to know how the dieting and exercising is going? Greyson said he and my mother were making some sort of pact or support group or something. I was terrible on my last trip. I brought a bag of chocolate Easter candy from costco with me for everyone in the trailer and I definitely ate my share of it. I will need to find a healthier snack for this trip.
I also have a hard time finding anyone that will go for a walk with me on my trips and often find myself heading back to my room and vegging out each night after work. I need some inspiration. I thought about bringing my bike but I already have a ton to pack. How is everyone else doing, swimsuit season will be here before you know it.

Are you blind??

So I need to know if I need to work more with Ada on her guide dog skills? How did it all come out dad? Did your eye get better, are you still having problems, how long did it last??

Back to the guitar

I decided to get started on the guitar again. I haven't played really for about 6 months and figured I needed to get going again so I didn't lose what I have already learned. I started up the dvd that my sister got me and found that it was a really good dvd but somewhat technical and advanced. After about an hour of playing Ada got up and came over to lick my hand and the guitar. This is her way of telling me that she has had enough guitar playing for the day and wished I would finish up. Greyson said that she also will do this to him when he is playing the drums. I do think I will take my electric guitar along with some headphones on my next road trip.

Speaking of my travels, my last trip was uneventful. The weather was beautiful and allowed for the trailer door to be opened every now and then for some fresh air throughout the day. I have become quite the tagger and now feel competent with the ear piercing gun that we use and would like to volunteer for any piercing needs you may have. I can also help out with radio tagging of your children for tracking purposes if you like.

I avoided all of your sickness thus far. However Greyson was complaining about a scratchy throat. But he always gets stressed out towards the end of a term and is prone to illness. Hopefully I will be gone on a trip if he does come down with anything so I can avoid coming down with it myself.

straight for jugular

Ada has a knack for finding the soft underbelly of both man and machine. I may have told you, but I received our refurbed Eureka the other day. I couldn't wait to get started sucking on our beautiful carpet. The thing fired up with a roar. Thought there was a 4 banger in there at the very least. Slow and low, that is the tempo. The brush pulls so strongly. Had to reign in the power, show it who's master and creator. On thrust #2, the wheel rolled off, and with that the mission failed. I went today to purchase a new hubcap for my baby, and tapped her into place like a seasoned mechanic. It's on now. So with the flip of the switch, ada goes absolutely nuts. Having been roller burned on the kisser, she immediately lunged for the air hose, a shark in national geographic attacking the man in chainmail. Didn't notice any "bleeding", but I think for the safety of all involved, Ada needs to stay outside during the operation of big powerful scary machines.

More germ spreading

Just for the record, the Porters saved some germs for Sweet Home. Tim arrived Wednesday evening pretending to be well. He declared illness midday by returning early from work (watching wrestling tournament).

I've returned to my obsessive hand washing routine.

My secretary at Holley School also declared illness today and stayed home. I feel the viruses edging every closer.

We had a small flood at Holley yesterday. The HVAC guys were working up in the attic and accidently turned water on -- not their fault. A pipe had been left without an end cap. It flooded down into a classroom and onto 2 fairly new e-Macs, keyboards and a scanner. We are drying them out and will see if they still work!

Should I renege?

My darling sister, Traci, called today and asked if her family could come visit. And I said of course I would love to have them. And then she starts talking about how she just took India to the doctor and came back with a strep throat diagnosis. She then mentioned that she hadn't read my email because she had been in bed sick the last couple of days and that it seems to be making its way through the family.

And now she wants to come and bring all her germs over to my house. Are sister's required to get sick for there siblings?? I would appreciate any advice.

No further germ spreading

Dad is definitely better and definitely still sick. He has a terrible cough and stuffy nose now. He is getting frantic about being so far behind in calculus. So even if he were not contagious (and I don't think we want to risk trapping Grandma in a car with him for hours), he wants study every minute he is not in bed sleeping.

Reno is looking like a no go for us. Dad couldn't find any direct flights or good deals, and we really should put all our tax return in the car fund. Maybe we'll do an overnight somewhere closer to home.

reno anyone? CJP's report card

"Christian is an example of a student who sees a friend in everyone. When conflicts arise, he tries to resolve them peacefully and equally for all. He is a great friend to his peers!"

Mrs. Deboodt sent home test scores which he did well on, but not as good as last year. Perhaps Christian should tutor India on this area. The only problem is that India prefers to tell her tales and not make more friends. We discussed it last night. She said she thinks people will like her better if she sounds "famous and rich" but she doesn't seem to mind school, likes to go even. I think she's dramatizing her lack of friends to her teacher since everytime I visit her, she is all smiles, usually playing with someone. She says "Most kids aren't like me." And that's about all she wants to discuss on this subject.

So, is anybody going to Reno any of the dates we're there?? Mel, we can book a double queen room and you can pitch in $25 or $30 a night and stay with us. We can pick people up from the airport although I think they have a free shuttle very nearby.

Online prescription drug prices

Having always had insurance pay for all my medical/drug costs I always figured that it didn't matter what pharmacy you went to here in the US. But now I have a prescription that insurance isn't covering. The first month it wasn't a big deal, I was fine with paying the $30 myself. But then this month they doubled my amount needed and accordingly the cost doubled up to $60 a month. And while that is not too bad, it may need to be doubled next month to a $120 prescription.

So I went online last night to see what Canadian websites might have to offer just out of curiosity. And what I found was that there were a couple of US based online pharmacy that you can use. One in particular is partnered with Riteaid and called www.drugstore.com .They only charge $25 for that same exact prescription that I spent $60 on, and if I need the double dose next month the cost would only be $38 instead of the $120 that Long's drug was charging.

I just thought that it was interesting and might be of use to someone else in the future. If you don't have complete prescription drug coverage I would give this site a try. They will mail it to your house for $1.50.

Puppy Tales

Greta is such a good dog. We had just bought her a new bed from Costco and were allowing her to sleep on it for the first time Monday night. Things were a little chaotic at first as she was unsure of where she should be sleeping but she finally settled in for a good nights sleep. When Traci came into the bedroom she immediately noticed a wet spot on the new bed. Yes, Greta had decided to mark her own bed. We cleaned the bed and decided to let her sleep there anyway. At about 2:30 in the morning I heard some strange noise coming from inside our room and reached over to turn on the light by my bed. I will be forever grateful that I have that light since if I had walked over to turn on the bedroom light I would have been greeted with something squishy and wet between my toes. Yes, that strange noise had been Greta squirting out diarhea while turning circles as to get the most coverage possible. Needless to say we spent the next hour cleaning our carpet and airing out our room.

report cards

India Rose Porter: India is making good progress in 2nd. grade. Her reading is very good, both in oral fluency and comprehension. Her grasp of math concepts and skills is excellent. She has two missing assignmentsd in writing, but what she has completed is very good. My only concern for India at this point in the year is a social one. India has a wonderful imagination, and she has been know to "share" these stories that are very dramatic and patently untrue. I have asked her about these stories, and she says that her "life is boring", so she makes it more interesting by making things up. She has a huge vocabulary and a great deal of ancillary knowedge that lend credibiltiy to her tales. I hope that we, together, can curb some of this drams so that India will know what is appropriate to share with others. She tells me that she has almost no friends in school. I hope that we can work on this situation and that India will be happier at recess and in group situations. I did change her seating arrangement just Friday and she seemed happier with that. I enjoy working with Inda very much. She always has a good attitude toward learning.

Hmmm.

I'll report on Christian when he gets home from practice.

Mel's schedule

In case anyone out there cares, here is my spring schedule:

Home............................Gone
Feb 2-14th.....................Feb 15th-25th
Feb 26th-Mar 3rd..........Mar 4th- 19th
Mar 20th- 27th..............Mar 28th-Apr 12th
Apr 13th-24th................Apr 25th-May 10th


As you can see my gone time greatly outweighs my home time. So I will need nightly blog updates to keep me in the loop. I am hoping to save half of my per dium to go towards a quality (used) treadmill. Probably a precor. If anyone sees a deal I can't miss let me know.

So far it looks like I will be home for some of the spring birthdays, however please let me know if there are any other dates of importance I should try to save.