(Murphy) A Bad Day for Chevy

 

Chevy and Ashley are both boxer rescues that we adopted. Chevy was our first ( October 2007) and then Ashley followed for companionship in July of 2008.

Because they are rescues, it’s hard to know what their lives were before us. Their lives are both very good now-and they are an important part of the family.

All we know about the past are two things: Chevy was a Hurricane Katrina rescue, and Ashley was rescued by a hunter who had found her shot and left for dead. What we know about the present are two more things: Chevy is Mr Nervous, jittery, and a constant licker-and always on the lookout for anything unusual outside the house. Ashley is laid back until she sees other dogs, heavy ( despite the fact they are both on strict diets) and is the bigger barker of the two.

Rarely is there too much drama other than the occasional chewed and headless Barbie doll, or the stealth move to grab a pop tart for some gastric hell later in the day. Unfortunately this past Saturday had 10 seconds of high drama that landed Chevy at the vet.

There were more dogs than usual at the neighbors’ house this weekend, which of course peaked both Ashley’s interest and vocal chords. Really not much unusual, just doing what nosy dogs do. In fact, as nervous as Chevy can be about the exact GPS location of me and Jodi at any given moment, Chevy usually doesn’t care much about barking dogs. That is until Ashley gets really wound up jumping and digging at the fence, which he then dives in with her.

This time his jittery but swift paw landed in the wrong place. While digging under our wooden fence, he caught the chain link of the neighbors fence. I’ll spare you the details…. except to say that he did what he shouldn’t have done but what all dogs do and pulled his paw back. I immediately put him in the truck and headed to the vet while he held his hurt leg up.

A large set of stiches, and an extended stay at the vet is how he began the weekend. He’s doing fine, but needs to stay away from the excitement until it all heals-and coming home would get in the way of the healing. I hear he’s got a large bandage and one of those Victrola looking cones on his head to keep him from chewing or licking his foot.

As I walked out of the vet’s office, that heavy feeling came over me. That feeling of how we love our pets as one of the family and will do what we need to take care of them. That feeling of how when they hurt, we hurt. It made me wonder again how Chevy and Ashley were treated before we adopted them. It also made me grateful for people who so passionately love animals that they spend their college years learning how to care, treat, and operate-never knowing what emergency may come next.

Smart Prom Advice that also Saves Face

So it’s 2009. You want to be a responsible parent and not a wet blanket on prom night. And here are a few ideas:

1-Find out who’s driving, the time of the all evening plans ( dinner, dance, and post party fun).

2- Agree to a Check-in, or “Text in” schedule ahead of time. If your teen is more comfortable with either, agree up front. When they do it is more important than how they do it.

3-Have the reminder conversation up front about what may be going on around them-deflect peer pressure before it’s a problem.

4- Put key phone numbers, and even the cab company into their phone. It’s about choices. If their riding with someone and that situation’s not safe, they need to be able to make a choice of calling you, a cab,etc.

5-Plan to wait up, and let them know you’ll be waiting up when they get home.

Murphy: Keep your eye on the meat

 

They say it only takes a second – and it’s true. The guilty face you see above is a stealthy boxer who’s keen sense of smell and fast reflexes snatched two biscuits and two sausage patties in two seconds.

It was breakfast for the girls turned into a quick dog snack. Normally Jodi and I move plates up high when we walk out of the room.

But this was just for a split second….and he WAS sleeping (or so we thought).

I suppose if all I ate was bagged food whose main ingredient is “crude protein” I’d be snatching sausage biscuits too !

Murphy: My Tax Return—from LAST year !

 

For the first time ever, I got a note that I owed taxes from the previous year—AND that it is due just one week after this year’s “4/15 house party”. I’d never seen this form before, and wanted to make sure I followed ALL the rules…..

Turns out the IRS was right, and I missed a few things last year- AND what is hilarious to me are the so called options you see on the form above. I could have chosen to :

1. Contest the findings in tax court….
2. “Not agree” with some of the changes…
3. “not agree” with any of the changes…. –or-
4. Pay my debt to society like a good little American tax payer….and that’s exactly what I did.

In the year of wall street scandals, CEO’s who “earned” millions while their company’s went bankrupt, and other scams- I figured the honest route would be the best…..once again proving that we as the middle class do our part to keep the country on track J.

I caught it at a Parade

I did…REALLY !

So here’s the typical situation. I pulled into the carpool line….the teachers are getting both girls.. On the floor is an assortment of beads , cups, and other St Patrick’s Day trinkets from the parade.

Naturally the one that falls out is pictured above. It is my hope that the beads and other junk made it clear that this was parade fare and not “dad’s leftover cup.”