The stitches are out!

Yippie! The stitches are out...finally!

Shae finally got the stitches taken out of her ear. And, since then, the scratching she'd been doing has ceased. I guess they really itched before.

On the downside, her ear looks like she has some kind of skin lesions. Hopefully, those patches of hair will grow back. In the meantime, her new nickname is Spot!

She smells better now too. With the stitches, she wasn't able to get a bath. When they were removed, I had her go for a day of beauty at the puppy spa. So now she smells good, shorter nails, has no stitches, and is a fluffy dog again.

Let's hope that's the end of these ear issues.

Happy Birthday to John

Yesterday was John's birthday. (If you see him, wish him a happy 52nd birthday!) I had a hard time shopping for him as he really doesn't need anything. And if he wants something, he just buys it. Good for him, not so good for me. Gift buying is such a struggle. What's a girl to do?

I asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner on his birthday. Since it was a school night, and he had to have all his grading done by 9:00 Friday, he said he'd rather stay home and go out Friday night. So I thought the least I could do was fix his favorites. For dinner we had spaghetti...his favorite! We don't usually eat dessert, but it was a special occasion. I made strawberry shortcake! That's another favorite of his. So all in all, I think it was a happy day for him.

Oh yeah, the gift. I know you're wondering what I got him. Well, as I said, he's tough to buy for. I ended up getting him a nice pair of sunglasses...he needed a pair that had the darker lenses. He liked the ones I got him so that was a good thing.

I also got him a new computer chair. The one we have is ok, but we've both been having some problems with leg and lower back pain and have attributed part of the problem to the uncomfortableness of this chair. He actually mentioned something about getting a new chair about two weeks ago so I thought this was the perfect opportunity. Kind of a two-fer gift!

This chair is a high back, black leather chair. And it's a Sealy Posturepedic chair. When I sat in it at the store it was sooo comfortable. In addition, since it doesn't look like a regular office type chair, it can pass as "furniture" and will look good in the family room.

Tonight we went for dinner to Longhorns Steakhouse. It was pretty good. John's brother, Jim, and his wife Beth and their son, Steven, joined us. It's always nice to get together with family. After a good meal and a nice visit, we're home to relax and chill out in front of the TV.

Happy birthday honey.

Happy Spring!

The sun is shining. Lizards are zooming. Flowers are blooming. Birds are singing. Spring has finally arrived! And what better way to celebrate the first day of Spring than taking the day off? Well, that's what I did. Of course, it being Spring was just a bonus. The day off was to take my puppy to the vet and have her ear checked...again.

Last week when I took her, she had an ear infection. They ended up giving me more meds to help clear that up and delayed removing the stitches until the swelling went down. Friday when I went back, some of the swelling was gone and her ear looked much better than it had the week before. Dr. Hicks still didn't like the idea of taking out the stitches and, instead, gave me some prednisone to help reduce the swelling of her ear even more.

Let me just say, that prednisone is working wonderfully! What was once a thickened, puffy ear, now appears to be almost normal. She's only been on it a couple of days, but it has truly done a great job. As for the infection, she still had a little left so we are continuing the regimen of antibiotics and benedryl for the itching.

One more Friday ought to do it! So next week, I'll be taking Friday off...again. The suffering I must endure for my baby!

Ear update

Friday was the day that Shae was supposed to get her stitches out. Well, that didn't happen.

Once she got off the antibiotics, she started scratching and itching like crazy! As a result, her ear became inflamed. By the time I got her to the vet, her ear was so thick, that the stitches looked like they were embedded in her ear.

The doctor cleaned her ear, gave her a mega shot of antibiotics, and a prescription for more. Plus I have to put the cream in her ear at least once a day and rub it on the inside and outside of her ear. The swelling has since gone down and the redness has disappeared but she still has to wait at least another week. I take her in again next Friday at 9:30 for a follow up and they'll decide then when the stitches should come out. In the meantime, she is back on her meds plus benedryl for itching.

Guess I'll have to take next Friday off too.

TV repair

You know, it's true. You can do anything if you put your mind to it.

Yesterday, the TV kept going out. The power would still be there, but the picture and sound would stop. It did that several times in the morning, but I had to go to work so I didn't think about it. Then I came home and turned on the TV. Everything was fine for about 30 minutes when suddenly...no picture-no sound. I went to the set and stared at it because, as we all know, giving your TV a quizzical look when it's not working properly will cause it to revert back to normal. Nothing happened. So I turned it off and back on. Walla! Picture and sound again returned. Off I went busying myself with other things while the TV played in the background.

After a short time I realized there was once again silence coming from the TV. Again the quizzical look did nothing. So once again I turned it off and back on. Ta Dah! I'm getting good at this!

Again I'm minding my own business when the (stupid) TV went black. No more quizzical look...now I'm getting pissed! This time I pulled out the big guns. I walked over to the TV and gave it...the EVIL EYE! It too had no effect.

Not willing to let the TV win, I smacked it hard upside its side panel. WHACK! And guess what? It has been working perfectly since!

I now have a fall back career...TV repair!

Pug Bowling

I'd try this with Shae, but she's just too big. But this looks like it could make the cut for the next Westminster Dog Show!

(If the link doesn't work when you click it, try holding down the control key then click!)

pug_bowling

FCAT

It's that time of year again. In Florida, this time of year is very stressful for teachers. We are about to embark on the mother of all tests...the FCAT. That stands for "Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test". (That is not what teachers call it...) It is based on this test that the state determines the quality our of education programs. It is based on this ONE test, that they determine how well we do as teachers. Based on this ONE test, they assign a "grade" to each school so everyone in the state will know if their child is attending an "A" school or "F" school (or some other letter designation in between). Now anyone who knows anything about education will tell you to NEVER base a child's ability on ONE test score. However, when it comes to giving schools money, programs, supplies, materials, TEACHERS, it all hinges on how well your students score on this ONE test.

Needless to say, the pressure on teachers to make sure your students have learned EVERYTHING there is to know about Math, Science, Writing, and Reading is overwhelming! We are often told "do this" on Monday, only to find out on Wednesday that we should be "doing that" instead. And by Friday, "the other thing" is a much better idea, so let's just drop everything else and try this new way. This goes on throughout the entire year. From the moment we are out of the gate on the first day of school, until FCAT, we are jumping through hoops!

We do what we can but undoubtedly, some of this pressure will trickle down to the students. Some will be so nervous about the test that they almost make themselves sick about it. Others could care less and will most likely end up "Christmas treeing" their answers sheets giving little or no thought to their answer choices. And no matter how many times teachers remind them to check their work, many are still done in 20-30 minutes with an 80 minute test. And, in most cases, they will swear up and down that they have checked their work THREE TIMES!

And parents will feel some of the pressure. They know their child will not do so well on the test so they begin to invent reasons for them not to take it or to have accommodations made available to them. One child brought in a perscription form (supposedly from her doctor, but I could read every meticulously written letter...so how likely is it that a doctor wrote that?) that stated this child should not be timed on the test. Really? A medical perscription? Hmmmm..

Another child has "fainting" sickness. He faints without warning. When this happens, don't touch his neck, but start plowing him full of Lays potato chips. Ummm, he's unconscious. How do I get him to eat the chips? Do I just open his mouth and jam the chips in hoping he doesn't choke? What if we only have Tom's potato chips? Will these have the same desired results as Lays? Would a salt lick help prevent fainting from happening? He could answer a question, take a lick, and repeat as necessary.

"Don't give them a new pencil they've never seen before the day of the test. The shock of something new could disturb their thought patterns and they will fail the test. Don't wear something new you've never worn before. If they haven't seen you in it before, it could be too much of a distraction."

I know, you're laughing. And quite frankly, we teachers do the same. You have to otherwise they'd be coming for us with little white jackets and taking us to a little padded cell. And although solitary confinement might sound good right about now, I have to wonder if I'd be able to pass the tests that they will administer while I'm in that cell? And if I don't, will I have to go through electroshock until I get it right? What if I faint? Who will shove potato chips in my mouth?