Hawaii vacation DOs and DON'Ts

When vacationing in beautiful Hawaii, DO:

-leave the cruise ship from time to time, as there is far more to do than goof around with the murals on the walls

-splurge on a fruity beverage or twelve

-stop to admire the rainbows

-attend a luau

-go barefoot on at least one beach

-watch the sunrise from the Haleakala crater

-expect to be awed

DON'T:

-panic and flail your limbs when snorkeling with dolphins in their natural habitat (apparently a pod of 150 dolphins will avoid a small group of humans when one of those humans is thrashing about)

-fall down and cut your knee when attempting to get back on the boat between snorkeling attempts, since a) you look foolish and b) saltwater stings

-get tonsillitis (drugs ain't cheap on a cruise ship)

-fall asleep with a cough drop in your mouth, since the drool stain will remain on your pillowcase all week

Learn from my mistake

This is my yard.

This is my yard on dogs.

I loves me my Sitemeter

It's stats time again, boys and girls!

By far the most common search terms bringing people to my blog in recent weeks have had to do with dogs' broken toes. My posts about Ferris probably discouraged a lot of owners from seeking veterinary attention for their pets. One reader, from Slough, UK, googled "Putting a rabbit's leg in sling." Good luck, friend.

A web-surfer from the Navy Network Information Center in Pensacola, Florida, searched for "Kiss me" "Steven Wright." Don't ask, don't tell.

I am not flattered that an individual from Whiteland, Indiana, was directed to my blog after searching "frequent yawning boredom."

Thanks to my post about cutting and donating my hair, someone from Los Angeles, California, found my blog after googling "chop off top of hair leave rest long." That's called a mullet, buddy. Don't do it.

I chuckled when I saw that someone in Cincinnati, Ohio, searched for "dribblestop."

Last but not least, someone from Rome, Italy, googled "lacrosse I'm not afraid of you." Way to go, signore. No need to fear Canada's national summer sport.

I'm lijit

I'm a big fan of the lijit wijit, so it's nice to be recognized for spreading the love.

Speaking of being legit, regular readers know that Scott and I are now engaged. Scott picked up the re-sized engagement ring at the jewellery store yesterday before heading to my parents' house for a family dinner. Wasn't I tickled pink when he got down on one knee to re-propose! (My mother snapped a photograph but I haven't received a copy yet. If it isn't too hideous I will post it here.) Engagement is wonderful. Planning the wedding is another story. I want an un-wedding, while Scott wants a more traditional wedding. While I have grudgingly dropped the idea of holding the reception in a sand-filled indoor beach volleyball court, I still want something small, casual and low-key. I also don't want to break the bank or damage the environment. I found a recreation area that offers "green" weddings, but they make you fork over a ton of green for the privilege.

Further bulletins as news warrants.

The hardest part about having pets

I wish I had written more about Samson. Being the seemingly healthiest of our pets, he did not give me cause to grumble about repeated trips to the vet. He did give us many opportunities to laugh. He was a bright, trouble-making, kittenish little guy. Out of six siblings he was the only one who did not contract feline distemper, and we thought he was strong enough to beat all odds.

Samson would have been four this coming July. In the past he suffered from crystals in his bladder and we have had him on a special diet ever since. He seemed to be doing well. When Scott and I arrived home from work yesterday, however, we found Samson in pain, crying and not moving around very much. Throughout the evening he drank a lot of water and threw up several times. In hindsight it's hard to believe that we did not rush him to the emergency clinic, but we once had a bad experience there; as a result we have little faith in the care that such clinics provide. We decided to wait and see. We sat with Samson on the sofa for a while and pet him as much as he would tolerate.

We kept Samson in the bathroom overnight with food, water and a litter box. When I checked on him this morning he was laying down, breathing but nothing else - not even blinking. We rushed him to our vet clinic but he died in my arms en route.

Samson was Scott's favourite, there was no denying it. Part of my pain is the loss I am feeling, and part of it is the grief I can see Scott suffering. It's also heartbreaking to witness Trooper's confusion as he begins to realize that his brother (and best cuddle-buddy) is gone. It will take a long time to forgive ourselves for not taking Samson to the vet last night.

Have you ever noticed...

...how you get really, really busy after returning from vacation? That's my excuse for not posting in a while. At any rate, for your viewing pleasure, I have finally posted a selection (100) of photos from beautiful Hawaii. If you click the "i" in the middle of a photo, the captions will be displayed. Oh boy, nothing like a slideshow of someone else's vacation.

No joke

Somewhere off the coast of Maui, Scott proposed. To me, no less.

Me, stunned

More on our fabulous vacation in Hawaii later.

"It's me on four legs."

That's what Scott said about Montana tonight, remarking on the little bugger's attitude. When Montana and his cousin Kody get together, mayhem ensues. They run, they play, they fight, they growl, they compete for treats, they play tug-of-war with toys. Both dogs are more than a little possessive. Earlier this evening, at my parents' house, Montana decided to stake his claim. Kody was resting beneath the table as the humans ate dinner. Montana took advantage of this opportunity and quietly gathered the toys up one by one, placing them in a pile on the carpet. Then.... he peed on them.

I was mortified. I jumped up, apologized and tried to clean up the mess while Scott dealt with Montana. Everyone else shrugged it off and continued eating. Apparently Montana's misdeeds no longer faze them. After all, this is the same dog who once very graphically displayed his dismay at what he must have perceived as the uneven distribution of Milk Bones by sneaking down to my parents' basement and raiding the litter box. We were unsuspectingly eating dinner when Montana returned to the dining room and proudly spat a cat turd on the carpet.

While I don't argue with Scott's assertion that he has the same abundance of attitude as Montana, I do thank my lucky stars that he doesn't express that attitude in the same way.

It fell off. Again.

It may be St. Patrick's Day, but the luck of the Irish isn't with us.

A few weeks ago, Scott and I brought Ferris to the vet clinic to have his custom fiberglass splint reapplied, as scheduled. It took the two of us, plus two veterinary technicians, to hold Ferris down while one of the vets struggled with the splint, fresh gauze and tape. One week later the whole mess fell off. Scott did his best with vet wrap and medical tape to stick the splint back in place temporarily. Since we were running late for our own appointments, we had to drop Ferris off at my parents' place and trouble them to bring him to the clinic. The story they later told was familiar: it took the two of them, plus two vet techs, to restrain Ferris while his splint was reapplied. They reported that the woman who put on the splint admitted that it wasn't her "best work." I'll say.

Scott and I brought Ferris back to the clinic for a scheduled appointment two days ago. I remarked that I was concerned that Ferris had not been putting any weight on his leg since the last splint reapplication. That being the case, the vet decided to take an X-ray. Scott and I waited in the exam room, listening to Ferris whining, staff conferring, and an electric shaver whirring (?!). Finally the vet returned, without Ferris, and told us that she had "crappy news." The custom-made splint had been forcing one of Ferris' claws into his flesh, causing a painful and bloody skin infection. On top of that, Ferris had a yeast infection between his toes. The latter problem is understandable and not entirely unexpected. The former, however, should never have happened. Once again Scott and I helped to keep Ferris still, this time while his infections were cleaned and treated and his paw blow-dried. The vet supplied me with a Tupperware container full of dried liver treats to distract Ferris. When the container was almost empty I very nearly commented that I supposed I owed the clinic a bag of liver treats, but then I remembered the $1000-plus we had already spent on this one broken toe.

The vet feared that the tight custom splint would aggravate the skin infection further, so she opted for an off-the-shelf option. She told us that it might very well break, and that we would have to rush to an emergency clinic if that happened outside of our normal clinic's hours. Then she prescribed some antibiotics, we paid the $178 bill, and left. The new splint held together all day on Sunday, hooray hooray...

...only to break and fall off this evening, half an hour after our clinic closed. Grrr. Out came the tape, the gauze, the vet wrap. I left an impressively restrained voice mail at the clinic, where I'm sure Scott, Ferris and I will be yet again tomorrow evening. I have to think of a more diplomatic way to ask, "Could we please see someone competent this time?"

Kiss me, I'm a lacrosse fan

No, I haven't vanished from the face of the earth. I just haven't gotten into much trouble over the past several days. Perhaps I'll have some blogworthy news to report after Scott and I return from the Rock game tonight. One of the last times we attended a game we were caught on the Kiss Cam. My brother, my sister-in-law and my niece-in-the-making will be nearby, so Scott and I won't be able to get away with anything.