Reggi is doing great!

Dad called me at work yesterday to ask how Reggi's visit with the vet on Monday went. I then realized I had not posted the results here yet.

She's doing great! The chest x-rays were the best the vet has seen for her. He's almost positive that white blobby thing was just a swollen lymph node. He found all her lumps, aspirated them and they showed no sign of cancer. He said her cough is probably due to the dry winter air or dust mites or something. He even complimented her silky coat, all filled in now, from the last spot-shaving he'd done for lump removal.

Best $100 ever spent.

He said we can now wait 6 months to do the next chest x-ray. (This recent one was 3 months after the previous one.) Because she has had cancer and it tends to metastasize in the lungs, he said we should continue with chest x-rays.

Dr. Hines then went to get Reggi and this time carried her in and put her on the table so he could show us where the lumps were. Normally he walks her in on a leash and once she sees me, she skids around the corner on two wheels, she's so excited. "Mama!! You came back for me!"

This time, on the table, plus Steve was with me, she was whining and squealing so loud, we couldn't hear the vet talking! He had to stop for minute until she calmed down.

Our girl loves us and we love her.

I Love MS Office 2007

I knew there were tons of cool templates in the new Microsoft Office 2007 but I had never looked at the envelopes before tonight. How fun is this? It's a Halloween envelope, get it? (Ignore those two fruit stamps in the corner - I'm trying to use up some of the odd denominations I have.)

~ ~ ~

I took Reggi to get her stitches out tonight. She's the canine version of Norm on Cheers when she walks into the vets' office. All the front office women call out, "Reggi!"

This was the restitching that was done 2 weeks ago from taking the other stitches out too early, her healing being slowed down by the Prednisone. This was not our usual vet but another one we like a lot too. She's very funny. She was acting like she was nervous about taking these stitches out, lest the same thing happen again. "Oh well, I'm off tomorrow - Dr. Hines can just stitch her up again." She said "the girls" wanted to give Dr. Hines crap about taking the stitches out too early, but she told them not to, "That could be me some day - then I'd have to hear it from him!"

And she acted like she was hustling us out of there before Reggi's skin popped open again. But she was also telling Reggi, "You are so sweet, I love you Reggi. You are soo lovable." She tried to give Reggi a cat treat, which everyone knows are far tastier than some ol' dry Milkbone. Reggi will never accept a treat inside the vet's office. I said we'd take it "to-go" - and sure enough, I offered it to Reggi outside the building and she snarfed it up.

Reggi is so relaxed at the vet, I thought she was going to fall asleep waiting for the vet to come into the room. We didn't have to wait too long but I was wearing my sweatshirt jacket and getting a bit warm. Pretty soon, Reggi started panting. I was thinking, "Yep, here we are, a couple of overweight middle-aged females, hot flashing together!"

~ ~ ~

Steve worked late tonight and Simon is working too. So I planned to have a productive night in my studio but instead I read for a while, then messed around with the envelope templates and got stuck on Facebook for too long. Oh well. I think it was a good night to relax and unwind from a somewhat hellish day. Just one dang thing after another so you never feel like anything gets accomplished. I'm sure you know the feeling.

Thursday, November 12 - 1:00 PM-7:00 PM

Friday, November 13 - 10:00 AM-7:00 PM

Saturday, November 14 - 10:00 AM-4:00 PM

Not Your Usual Craft Sale

Brighton Town Park, Carmen Clark Lodge

777 Westfall Road, Rochester, NY 14620

(between South Clinton Avenue and East Henrietta Road)

Poor Reggi

This card looks better in person because the thread is more vibrant. I hope.

Simon and I took Reggi to get her stitches out Tuesday night, which went without incident. Wednesday morning when I got out of the shower, I noticed a pink spot on her side, about the size of half of the palm of my hand. "Why is that pink piece of paper on Reggi and why doesn't she even notice?" I leaned in closer and one, maybe two layers of skin were gone and I was staring at pink muscle or tissue or something! It freaked me out big-time! It looked like someone took an oval cookie cutter and cut her skin away. It wasn't bleeding, didn't look like it had bled and Reggi seemed oblivious. It was the grossest thing I've ever seen (and we watch a lot of CSI!)

I woke Steve up, in tears. Wednesday was his last day off before going back to work so I said I'd call the vet as soon as they opened and could he please take her. He agreed, patted my head, there, there. Later when he woke up and saw what I was talking about, he said, "Holy shit!"

I thought maybe it was a hot spot, something I'd never even heard of until Simon started talking about them earlier this year. His dad's dog gets them. It's excessive licking by a dog, to the point of bare skin, due to reasons either physical or psychological in nature. I'd never seen one but consulting Dr. Google, I read they are fairly common. So I felt a bit better.

Steve took Reggi to the vet and it turns out her sutures had come loose - on the inner layers! How gross is that? And the reason it happened is because she's on Prednesone to shrink that unknown blob near her lungs. So Steve left her there so they could stitch her back up.

Simon picked her up in the afternoon and just before they brought her out to him, the tech noticed another of her stitched sites was starting to do the same thing. So the vet quickly closed that up with about 4 stitches - with no local numbing agent or anything. Reggi never flinched, the vet said.

So now we are leaving the stitches in for 18 days, way longer than usual. And reducing the Prednesone dose.

Can you believe how much this sweet dog has been through? She's such a trooper! She acts perfectly normal - because I guess this is her normal. I should take a photo of her with her funky haircut. They shaved even more to stitch up the big hole. She's our patchwork dog.

~ ~ ~

In other news, I'm having my "colon done" tomorrow - a colonoscopy! I just had some Jell-o for breakfast - whew, I'm stuffed - couldn't eat another bite! Mmmm. It's my second one so I already know the anticipation of the prep is worse than the prep itself. Gretchen is taking me because it will be Steve's 2nd day back at work after a week off for his mom's death. He is leaving work around 3:30 tomorrow to help me take stuff to the craft show, bless his heart.

I had requested the first appointment of the morning on any Friday so I was kind of happy that tomorrow was the day they offered me, which I had already scheduled off. I'll be home by 10:00 am and should be fine by the end of the day to take my stuff to the craft show venue. I'll stay & set everything up unless for some reason I'm not feeling up to it, I'll go early and do it in the morning.

Life will settle down some day, I'm sure of it. :-)

Saturday, October 17, 10:00-6:00

Sunday, October 18, 10:00-5:00

Junior League of Rochester Holiday Market

The Fair & Expo Center, 2695 East Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY 14467

Almost a Week

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I posted. Busy, busy.

~ ~ ~

Reggi has another cancerous lump that will be removed soon. She's had a cough for about a week, plus several lumps so we took her to the vet Tuesday. I was 100% convinced we were going to be told some really bad, as in terminal, news. I think I was so shocked that the vet brought up chemotherapy last time (just in general terms, he wasn't recommending it now), so this was my way of preparing myself.

You know I love the bejesus out of that little dog - we all do. But I sort of felt I'd made peace with the notion that she will die before me. We've given her the best possible life she could have. She loves us and we love her. I wouldn't do anything differently (except not feed her scraps and treats when she was little - though she's lost weight recently - another reason I was worried, though we've all been exercising more.) Anyway.

I'm not sure if I mentioned our vet sent Reggi's information to Cornell University a couple of months ago, who for $50 will do up a report with recommendations, prognosis, etc. The result came back that this is really still a surgical case, meaning keep removing lumps and once we have had 10 lumps removed, then it's time to talk other options. This will be Reggi's 4th cancerous lump. Or mass cells as the vet calls them - he rarely uses the C word.

I really wanted either Steve or Simon to go with me to take Reggi on Tuesday. I figured I was so strung out at that point that I was likely to burst into tears whether it was good news or bad and I needed someone to actually listen to what the vet was saying. Steve went with me. I've been teary for a week, cried in the car on the way home from work to pick up Reggi, sobbed at home while talking to Simon about it and then teared up again in the vets office before he came into the room. (So much for making peace.) I was pretty proud of myself for keeping my shit together while the vet was with us but Steve said my eyes were pretty red. Nothing the vet hasn't seen before. I love our vet.

So yeah, I was a little over-prepared. The cough is just a cough - we're giving her Robitussin DM. Only 1 out of 4 of the current lumps is cancerous and it's tiny. While we were waiting for the vet to come in, I kept finding more lumps, which he needle biopsied. At one point he leaned into Reggi and said, "Kid, tell your mom to stop finding these lumps!"

I told Dr. Hines that I feel like a hypochondriac about Reggi. Not about myself ever, just Reggi.

Which brings me to today's offering from Urban Dictionary:

September 24: cyberchondriac

Someone who spends their time searching medical websites for diseases they convince themselves they actually have

Similiar to a hyperchondriac

'Then I went on this website and found out that I actually have diabetes AND chronic fatigue!'

'Dude...you're a cyberchondriac'

I can't remember if this was from Urban Dictionary or somewhere else, but another term I like to use is Dr. Google. As in, "Look at this weird rash. Dr. Google thinks it's poison ivy."

So anyway, Reggi's fine. I'm fine. I'm busily on track for the big show at Letchworth the 2nd weekend in October. The day job is going great - I'm getting to do the parts of my job I really enjoy. Life is good.

Up to My Knees in Pumpkins

Just when I thought I had my pumpkin strategy all laid out for 2009, my friend Darcy posts this free cutting file on her site! This is a strong contender for replacing my QuicKutz version, which I haven't cut out yet.

And cutting, I have been.

This is Team SLC at this June's Fast & Furriest Dog Walk to raise money for the Verona Street Animal Society. Besides Steve and me, there's Steve's daughter Lizz with Reggi, plus Bonnie, with whom Steve works, her husband and her mom. Their two collies walked and the little cocker spaniel has issues so he/she (can't remember) got to ride in a dog stroller. It was a picture perfect day and lots of fun. We're keeping our ears open for more dog walks, like our nearby Lollypop Farm's Barktober Fest.

Reggi wasn't smiling in the first picture but here, see? She's grinning her face off! She had lots of fun too, hanging with her peeps, human and canine.

Before & After

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The Before photo is one you are familiar with - I use it for everything. This is actually just a photo that Simon took with my digital camera because I asked him to and it turned out so good that I've been using it for years. Alas, I'm not so young, thin or curly anymore.

Here's the after - in my new cute glasses. I wanted a better picture in which to debut them but I could not resist playing with the laptop webcam after I finished my breakfast on the deck this morning. The dark part of the glasses is sort of a dark tortoise shell, outlined in light green. I love them. When I bought them I worried I'd get sick of them whenever I get out of my lime green phase but resistance was futile. Besides, if I get sick of them eventually, maybe that will motivate me to update my frames more often than I do, cheapskate that I am.

It was after I got my glasses that I realized my hair had gotten a little long so I made an appointment and told Maria that I needed a haircut to go with my new glasses to take me from cute to super cute. (I stopped perming my hair a couple of years ago, I think it was.)

The glasses look really spectacular when I'm wearing a green shirt. Simon told me I can't wear a green shirt every day, to which I replied, "Watch me." Turns out I was right in that green goes with pretty much everything I wear - turquoise, purple, red mostly.

This webcam kills me, by the way. I never would have gotten it except heck, it was only $25 additional - and I'm glad I did. Do I see a webcast in my future? Perhaps - but I sure can't think of anything interesting to talk about - or write about evidently.

If you look closely you can see Verona's green eyes staring out from within her black case. She loves coming outside with us. If I sit on the deck with the glass door open, just the screen door closed, she'll meow all day long. So the other day I decided that maybe it was time to try letting her loose on the deck to see what she would do. We never let our cats out, largely because we live on a rural road but cars that do go by, go by fast. Which is silly to say because even a slow car could kill an animal. They are indoor cats.

I thought, what if Verona takes to staying on the deck as well as Reggi took to being off leash at Ellison Park? So a couple of weeks ago, I opened the door and let Verona out. After she got over the shock, she strolled around like she owned the joint. She was way more bold than I thought she would be. She was originally a barn cat at Steve's sister-in-law's horse farm, but that was a lifetime ago. I let her roam around for a while then scooped her up. We won't be doing that again - too much risk. Surprisingly, she has not been trying to scoot out every time we open the door, which is what I feared - that once she got a taste of the good life, she'd be a rascal to keep inside.

I tried her on a leash a long time ago but that's never very successful, is it? Once we pulled Reggi's crate out on the deck and let Venus hang out in there - she liked it. So we'll probably do that for Verona sometime because these days she seems to like being outside far more than Venus does.

Meanwhile this black case works well. Verona started meowing the moment I pulled it out of the closet. I opened it and set it on the floor and she ran in. She sat on the table next to me meowing the entire time - until I took her picture. Now she's quiet as a mouse. Hmmmm.

By the way, I'm thrilled that this new laptop has whatever type of screen that I can use outside. It's a cloudy day but still, I could never do this with my old laptop. I always thought when I saw commercials or whatever of people using their laptops outside, it was bogus. Have I mentioned out much I love this new laptop?

One last thing, then I'll (mostly) stop being goofy with the webcam, I promise. When I first got the laptop I was setting things up, poking around. Hey, here's the webcam button - I wonder how this thing works?

A window not unlike this one popped open and scared the bejesus out of me!

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The Fast & the Furriest

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Is that a happy dog or what??

Saturday we joined one of Steve's work friends & her family with their 3 dogs to walk in the fundraiser for the Verona Street Animal Society. Steve's daughter went with us. I think we could have talked Simon into it too but he was going to his girlfriend's graduation that morning. The article in the Sunday's paper said there were 175 walkers.

The weather could not have been better. Did you notice the stylish bandanna that Reggi is sporting? There's a story. Before we left the house, I told Steve that I was sure there would be plenty of dogs wearing bandannas and shirts and the like. He looked at me like, "Oh no, please don't!" So I didn't, but I noticed after the walk as we were milling about the vendor area, listening to the live music, that a veterinary practice was giving away leashes and bandannas. I made a bee line for one of the volunteers and asked for a bandanna. So it was mostly to mortify Steve - but c'mon, Reggi is so cute!

What really caught my eye was a small dog wearing a colorful jester style collar. But even if I could, I wouldn't put one of those on Reggi for fear she'd look like an inverted hippo in a tutu, ala Fantasia.

But seriously, does this look like a fun collar!?

New Pattern

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This started out as a variation on the overlapping layered spikes I've done before. When I don't overlap them though, I'm not happy with the bare space between. So I tried filling it in with stitching, which you can see more clearly (the white) on the bottom one. I tried more stitching but it became too cluttered so I backed it off to what you see here.

I did the top one on my lunch hour yesterday - you know I love my variegated thread. It's okay but not distinct enough. So this morning I stitched the bottom one. I'm definitely on the right path but I'm not sure the dark pink thread was a good idea.

I'll give this another go, probably on lighter paper so I have more thread choices until I get the pattern worked out. And what I love happened again - another happy accident. On the bottom one I stitched the white "bottom" layer first - and my brain started thinking up ways to keep going with that. I love when that happens! What starts out as a new pattern could end up being 2 or 3 new patterns.

Little Reggi is fine. The vet will have the lab results later this week, for the growth he removed yesterday but he felt good about it - cut out a wide margin he said, so he was sure to get it all. He cut out that other cyst that kept refilling - said it was like a water balloon. (Hope you're not eating when reading this!) I spared you seeing her incision - it must be 6"-8" long, poor thing. She was pretty wiped out last night, as you can see. She's definitely doing better this morning, though not 100% yet. Sweet girl. I love her.

~ ~ ~

So yeah. I turned 53 today. So far so good. :-)

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Tina is a Fake!

You know I loves me some Twitter. And I wrote about stumbling across some celebrities who Twitter. I mentioned how funny Tina Fey is. Yesterday I read it's a fake Tina Fey. Still funny, but fake. And "she" wasn't tweeting often enough to suit me. So I stopped following her. Harrumph.

Then I Googled celebrities who Twitter to see what else I could find.

50 Most Popular Celebs on Twitter. I was surprised Ashton Kutcher wasn't on this list - he's pretty prolific. I'm not very familiar with his work, other than glimpses of That 70s Show or knowing he's married to Demi Moore. I actually seek out his tweets now. I didn't find very many on this list I was interested in except Michael Phelps and Yoko Ono. And Jimmy Fallon.

This link has a list of celebrities who Twitter, stating whether they are fake, the tweets are by their staff or by them. I would think knowing if the Tweets are by the celebrity or their staff would be difficult. Oh well. We're not curing cancer here, it's just fun.

~ ~ ~

In yesterday's comments, Vickie asked about the paper quilt that I posted. My reply seemed to go on forever, shocking I know. So I'm reprinting it here in case anyone else is interested. (I'm never sure if people go back and check the comments for answers to questions they pose there or not. I do, when I read other blogs. Quite often I'll answer the question within the comments and email the answer to the person if I can.)

That quilt image was rubber stamped - multiple times on different papers, cut apart, then reassembled. So that one is actually 3 layers deep - the 9 "patches, glued to a whole white piece, glued to a whole turquoise piece.

The Prairie Points are a nod to Gretchen who used to love the Prairie Points with which Granny would bind her quilts. Gretchen would love those points to shreds!

As much as I like tedious - they are even a bit much for me. I punch a whole mess of tiny diamonds with a hand squeeze punch, then apply them to double stick tape on the back of the quilt with tweezers. So you are only seeing the top half of the diamond. Once they are in place, I secure them with a piece of regular tape over the top. Like I said, pretty labor intensive.

~ ~ ~

The vet thinks one of Reggi's lumps might be cancerous so he's going to remove it next Tuesday. The cells look suspicious he said, which I guess is better than last time when the other lump was Stage 2. (Only 3 stages in dog cancer I guess.) What really got me is he's going to x-ray her chest because he said if it were to spread, that's where it would go.

I really thought I was going to be fine after my cry-fest of a few nights ago - got it all out of my system. I thought Steve didn't even really need to go with me. But as we waited and waited, I found myself pretty nervous. Then the vet is so nice and funny and upbeat, I was really feeling good. He withdrew some cells for a biopsy, saying how optimistic he was. Later, he came back and told us some of the cells looked suspicious and he should remove the lump.

The good news he's also going to remove the fatty cyst right next to the hard lump that keeps filling up - they've drained it 3 times now. Not worth surgery in itself, but since he'll be right there - it's not huge or visible or anything but I'll feel better when it's gone.

As is our custom when Steve or Simon goes with me to the vet, Steve took Reggi out to the car while I paid. Oops. Should have done that the other way around. I must have had a look on my face because when I saw the two women behind the counter looking at me worriedly, I teared up. It was embarrassing but nothing they haven't seen before or won't see again in their line of work.

So that's that. I'm really very confident Reggi will be fine and live the 2nd half of her life with us very happily.

~ ~ ~

Now I'm off to stooopid work early today. I had decided I was pretty much not going to do that anymore because it's more important to me to focus on Pine Tree Designs in the hours before work. But sometimes, it's just better in the long run to bite the bullet. I've been trying really hard not to become Whiny One Note about auditors - but jeez Louise. I feel that's all I do anymore is boring, tedious, unfulfilling audit-related stuff. (I'm grateful to have a job. I'm grateful to have a job. I'm grateful to have a job.)

The audit we're undergoing now is what used to be quarterly with the old flooring company - and is now just every 6 months so that's better. They will only send the same auditor 2 times in a row, I think, so I was convinced we were due for a new one. I was wrong - we got the same guy again because he'd only been with us once before. I was so relieved. He's a good guy, easy to work with - and I was really not in the mood to "break in a new guy".

And here I thought I wasn't going to whine!

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New Look

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I know, the new look is a bit jarring when you aren't expecting it. I'm still getting used to it. I made the columns wider too. I checked it on Firefox and IE only - let me know if you have problems seeing it using your browser and I'll try to fix it or suggest you live with it. ;-)

~ ~ ~

I'm actually taking a few minutes of work time to write this entry. I've been reprinting hundreds of invoices for the sales tax auditor today. I know there are more boring jobs in the universe, but at this moment I can't imagine what they are. I'm drinking water, chewing gum, taking a walk around every once in a while. Anything to break up the monotony. (And he has to read each invoice - that might even be a tiny bit more boring than printing them!)

We are not going to finish this audit today as we had hoped so he'll be back in April. And so it continues.

~ ~ ~

I didn't realize until today that Kathy's dog has a very funny blog.

Speaking of dogs, Reggi has several more lumps. One is rock hard like the cancerous one was a few months ago though it's in a different location. I'm taking her to the vet on Tuesday and I've asked Steve to go with me. I know whatever the news is, good or bad, I'm going to cry. I've gotten teary multiple times, just thinking about it. And after reading about Claudine Hellmuth's little Toby last night before I went to bed, I literally cried myself to sleep, big wracking hyperventilating sobs - at the thought of Reggi dying. I know, we all die, but, well, I just can't bear the thought of life without Reggi. We've given her the best life a dog can have - hopefully it will continue for many more years. She turns 8 in a couple of weeks, which is 56 years in dog years - 3 years older than me and Steve! Beagles live up to 15 years.

So anyway. Please keep good thoughts, pray, do whatever it is you do?

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Going Our Own Way

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Fortunately, I'm a bit happier to see Fleetwood Mac in concert than they appear to be touring. They look like a fun bunch, don't they??

I jumped online right at 10:00 and scored two tickets in section 125 - pretty great, huh? The tickets are ridiculously expensive and I wanted to cheap out but Steve said if we're going to go, let's get good seats. Other than my friend Bruce Springsteen, there aren't that many bands we want to see so if we only go to a concert every couple of years, I guess I can justify it. Steve says even with the Jumbotrons, with his crappy eye site, closer is much better. So yeah, we have a medical excuse, that's the ticket!

In fact, I was so quick on the draw, the first two tickets I had access to were section 51 - the floor. The floor?? Ewww. I threw them back and got the section 125 seats. The concert isn't until March 16 - a Monday unfortunately. But like I said, every couple of years, I guess I can stay up late like a big girl.

I think these are the only two albums I had. They are the ones that look most familiar in searching for photos for this entry. I also remembered that Sheryl Crow joined Fleetwood Mac a few years ago but I'm not sure what happened there. I'd love to see her with them. This is their greatest hits tour so if I was going to see them at all, this is how I want to see them.

Actually I did see Fleetwood Mac in concert in the mid-70s. I went with a guy that I "just wasn't into" but I really wanted to see the concert and he knew it. I felt a bit guilty about using him, but apparently not guilty enough to not go. But it was kind of a win-win for each of us, I guess. I do actually still feel a bit bad about it, he was a nice enough guy - but really, Stef, get over it! It was over 30 years ago and he's probably long forgotten your name. (I just Googled him - he has a fairly unusual name - and there's a LinkedIn page that might be his and no, I'm not going to contact him to make amends.)

And this concludes the confession portion of our blog entry.

~ ~ ~

I took Reggi to the vet last night because the one cyst filled up with fluid again and there was a new lump I wanted to have looked at. The vet found two more tiny lumps - all 3 were fatty masses - lipo-somethings. He drained everything and she's good as new. He says that cyst will continue to fill up but it's harmless and not bothering her so keep an eye on it and if we have her at the vet's for something else, they can drain it again. All of the above is exactly what I thought he'd say but I'm still relieved everything is okay with my girl.

~ ~ ~

Dymo Letra to the Rescue

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I will be posting photos of my new-to-me office but here's a quickie I have to show you. There's a wall of filing cabinets in my office that pertain to my department, labeled by someone else. We all know I'm a little tightly wound when it comes to labeling. But pullease - how could anyone live with this??

Before.

After.

Yes, I had to make a new label for this cabinet. I even made this one on my home labeler, my beloved Dymo LetraTag. Posting this photo today reminded me to look online for why the print is lighter than usual. (I can live with light ink better than off-centered & weirdly cut.) First thing recommended is change the batteries so they are recharging as we speak. It takes 6, I didn't have enough spares already charged. But that's okay, I'm not expecting any labeling emergencies in the next 24 hours.

I was laughing out loud at myself when I took these photos at work the other day. Glad no one caught me. I wasn't sure that even the people that know I have a blog would understand why I felt the need to blog about inferior labels.

~ ~ ~

Reggi is doing quite well today. She appreciates your well-wishes. She's on a painkiller and an antibiotic so she gets each one wrapped in a small piece of ham, twice a day. I think she's like a kid who got her tonsils out - just might be worth it for all the extra ice cream (ham) and attention she's getting.

October 2002

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Square Notes & Reggi

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I took Friday off to make myself a 4-day weekend. These are square designs awaiting assembly. I also cleaned up my studio a bit, ran some errands, did some laundry and threw in a bare minimum of house cleaning. In other words, I had myself an old fashioned Stefani Day.

~ ~ ~

The other reason I took today off was to take Reggi to the vet for a little surgery. She had fatty cyst on her shoulder that the vet drained a couple of weeks ago and a wart between her toes. The vet found another growth that she also tried to biopsy but it was kind of deep and she was afraid it was near a lymph node. So it made sense to have all 3 removed at once and have her teeth cleaned.

I wouldn't let Steve go with me when I took Reggi to the vet to have this stuff checked out a couple of weeks ago because he says there's a $ figure that's not okay to spend on a dog. I know that. But I don't know what the number is yet and I'm a financially responsible member of this partnership. Anyway, I didn't even ask the vet how much it was going to cost. So there.

Then . . . between the last appointment where Dr. Drouin checked her out and her surgery appointment today - another growth popped up rather quickly on the top of her head. It was hard as a marble. Dr. Campbell biopsied it yesterday morning when I took Reggi in and she said it was a cell mass, aka cancer. Dr. Drouin, who was going to do the surgery confirmed it (but they'll send it to the lab, to be sure) but said 95% of the time, surgical removal cures it. She said Reggi might have more pop up - one of her dogs has had 4 or 5. She said it's really nothing to worry about.

I made calls to both Steve and Simon as I drove home from the vet. I swear I was fine until I heard their voices. I had the tiniest of cries, was nicely reassured by both of them and went on with my day. I know Reggi will be just fine and live a long healthy life with us.

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Philadelphia

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I found the above picture on my camera. I took it in the gift shop at the museum where I bought my lamp. The stars were very cool too - 5 pointed and 8 pointed.

We got a fairly early start to Philadelphia from Virginia Beach. Good thing because there were major delays in Delaware due to - I guess we're not sure what because the actual cause took place in a different direction from where we finally got to go. But it easily added an hour or more to our trip. We arrived in Philadelphia around 4:00, by the time we got to our room at the Marriott. And look! Triple towel origami!

We walked down to the Reading Terminal Market just to get the lay of the land, because it closed at 6:00. Very cool place - a big ol' hustly bustly farmers market. The majority of vendors were food vendors. Based on what I'd read about it, I was hoping for more craft type vendors but I still enjoyed it.

We then went to the Field House for a refreshing beverage. That would be cranberry juice for me and light beer for Steve. We're wild like that.

We intended to go back there for dinner but after vegetating in our room for a bit, decided to eat dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant. We just wanted to be still and relax.

We each ordered the classic Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. When in Philly, right? I even took a photo of mine with my camera phone but I'm such a doofus, I rarely use the thing, so I neglected to save it. Duh. So this one is courtesy Google Images. (Our sandwiches weren't as big as this one appears to be!) I also took a photo of the little tiny tray of little tiny hermetically sealed condiments. Two each: ketchup, mayo and Grey Poupon. Perhaps not the best idea, environmentally speaking (too much packaging), but really, cute as hell. (Again, didn't save the photo.)

Our room was fantastic in this grand old hotel. Mom asked me recently if I really liked staying in hotels. Absolutely! And I really like staying in nice hotels, historic if possible.

These photos were taken through our window so they are really quite crummy but maybe you can see some of the architecture of some of these buildings. Great stuff!

We woke up around 7:00, showered, got dressed and packed and hit the road. Our original intention was to go back to the Reading Terminal Market to spend more time there but it didn't open until 9:00. I decided that I'd seen enough yesterday to satisfy my curiosity. Besides the Pennsylvania Dutch wouldn't be there on Sunday and if anything, I wanted to buy some of their baked goods, for our breakfast maybe. We were both eager to get home to our furry friends so like I said, we hit the road. We arrived home today around 2:00.

If you can take your eyes off those glaringly white gams for a while (yes, I just spent a week at a beach, yay for sunscreen) - please note 2 cats and a dog, all sitting near me on the couch.
Yeah, they missed us.

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Every 3 Years

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Venus (back) and Verona in a very rare moment of togetherness. Steve happened up on this scene yesterday and quietly called me in to see it. Venus is 7 and Verona is 3 or so. Venus is snuggled inside her cat case. Besides taking her to the vet in that case, we take her out on the deck with us, so she has way more pleasant memories than unpleasant ones of it. They are on top of Reggi's crate as you can probably tell. That's where we feed them so Reggi doesn't snarf up their food. (We leave the crate door open all the time so Reggi does still sleep in there from time to time. Had she been in the crate at this moment, it would have been the first time ever to get them all 3 in one photograph.)

From the moment Verona arrived, Venus turned into a growling drama queen whenever Verona is around. Verona does tease Venus once in a great while but really, all she has to do is come within 100 feet of Venus to get her growling.

This nonsense has caused Verona to every so often mark her territory around the house. Yes, she's been spayed for years. We've tried all sorts of things to prevent and treat the problem. (She did have crystals in her urine once upon a time.) We're so glad we rarely have company because we feel like we live in a kennel sometimes. I can't believe I'm writing about this on the Internet, it's such a big embarrassment to us. Verona mostly urinates around me and my things, like she's marking me as all hers. She's definitely my cat and Venus is Steve's cat. We didn't plan that, just worked out. Even Steve said the other day, other than occasionally peeing on things, Verona is really a model cat - very loving and snuggly.

In filing the top picture I found this other one of them together, dated January 2005. I think that's when we first got Verona (from Steve's brother & sister-in-law). She was formerly a barn cat. Even if this photo wasn't dated, I can tell by Verona's size that she's quite a bit younger. She's now a hefty cat whose body spills over the edges of that platform of our giant "kitty condo". It was such a monumental event, seeing them in such close proximity, even 3 years ago I found it photo-worthy!

Thanks for indulging me. We love Reggi and our cats.

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Paint it Black

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I bought this painted wood plate at the May 1 Casa Larga craft show. It's 8-1/2" in diameter. Isn't it gorgeous? I have it sitting in a plate stand on the mantle, next to another painted piece I bought at the Mercy High School craft sale. I'll show you that tomorrow.

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile I used my light box for the first time and took photos of new product to put in my Etsy shop. And I photographed every existing piece in the shop, except for the framed art. That's next but I have to take the glass out so it will be quite a project. I've been wanting to do this for so long. I hope it will help my sales. Based on the number of views I get, I would think my sales would be higher. I think these photos from different angles will give a better idea about the product than the flat scan does. I still need a little more practice. I think I need different paper on my light box. In some cases, because the lighting is so soft, I think the product looks blurry. Oh well, it's my first effort. Practice makes perfect.

~ ~ ~

We took Reggi for two long walks this weekend. Saturday we went to Ellison Park, where Steve and I both remarked it has been decades since either of us had been there. It's such a beautiful park, we'll surely return there regularly.

Sunday, we walked along the canal from Schoen Place, not towards Fairport, the other way. (I don't know what to call that direction.) They've done a very nice job of improving that area - wide sidewalks, landscaping. Reggi's back is so totally healed, we had forgotten about it. Her allergies are really acting up so she does a lot of what the vet calls "inverted sneezing". Sounds like she's coughing to death. We give her Benedryl twice a day during allergy season, which we're thick in the middle of here. I told Steve if I was "coughing" like she was, I'd be curled up in a ball in bed. Reggi just keeps coughing and keeps walking. Poor thing. But she's been a very happy dog this weekend, spending time with her peeps in the car and walking outside.

I got my studio cleaned up pretty good. I swear, this time, I'm going to keep it this way. :-)

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Ladybug

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Happy Earth Day!!!

Sticky Notes, $4.50. I love the different textures of these papers.

Remember last week I set up a table of my leftover buy/sell stuff in the break room at work? I made $66 in sales! That's a lot of items at 50 cents and 1 dollar! I'm quite pleased. Still not sure what to do with those leftovers but something will come up.

After Reggi's recent back problems and the break in weather, we've gotten serious about helping her lose weight. We've walked her 4 days in a row. She definitely wears out faster than she used to but I know we can build up her stamina again. It's not exactly aerobic exercise for us but overall, it's good. And it's certainly nice being out in the fresh air. This morning she went but she was definitely not into it. So we've decided to let her rest tomorrow. Poor thing about had me in tears today. I know it will get better. I love that dog.

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Simon & Reggi

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This is a 7" framed piece I made a while ago but I need to reframe and rephotograph it before I post it for sale. I'm not happy with the quality of this frame.

I'm hauling out the old stuff to post because I'm on the verge of finishing new stuff. I did finish a framed piece for an order from my friend Pam but didn't have time to scan or photograph it. I'm making another one very similar which I'll post in the next few days I think.

Poor Simon is sick. I did his laundry for him the other night and delivered it to him last night. He's usually one to power through colds but this one has him down and out. I think it's because he doesn't have many hours at work this week, so he can take the time to be sick. The thing is he's up for jury duty this week. He has to look online today after 5:30 to see if his presence is required. He has a relatively low number so I'm sure he'll have to go tomorrow. I'm guessing he won't be picked to serve, but you never know.

Reggi continues to improve. Yesterday and today, she's been stuck to me like glue, following me from room to room. I love her.

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Reggi is Better!

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Reggi's new dog toy arrived today just in time to cheer her up! I bought it from Janet at Bentleys Bones, a shop on, where else, Etsy.

The vet thinks what we think - that Reggi hurt her back somehow, by either a mishap on the stairs or maybe just a muscle spasm even. She shot her with some anti-inflammatory, prescribed medicine of some sort and told us to not let her jump or move around too much for a week. By the time I paid and got out to the car where Steve and Reggi were waiting, we could tell she was feeling better already. The vet said that shot would make her feel better right away - she wasn't exaggerating!

Last night we could tell she felt better and she could tell we felt better that she felt better. Seriously! I told Steve one of things that made me sad about her being in pain was that I knew she felt like she was disappointing us by not being herself. She loves us as much as we love her.

Today she's a whole new dog. Whew!

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Crimson & Pine

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I started to post this in my Etsy shop this morning but the scanned image looked blurry but I'm not sure why that would be. I've always felt inferior about my scanned images in my shop - seems like every other seller has beautifully photographed items. (Most stuff sold there is 3 dimensional so it can't be nicely scanned, but still.) So yesterday I built myself a light box. I need to get a piece of white paper for inside on my way home from work today.

Also sellers have the ability to post 5 photos of each piece, but it seems to me, some people put extra pictures, just because they can - they don't add any informational value. But I think I need to step up that part of my game too, which I can do easily if I photograph my pieces. I can show the back, the notepad in the open position. I'll have to fiddle around. All this will be more time consuming than slapping a piece on the scanner, but worth it in the long run I think.

Reggi is no better, no worse today so we're going to take her to the vet. I'll call as soon as they open at 8:00. Something is clearly hurting her in her back end, back legs region. We still can't figure out specifically what. I can move her legs, but she's clearly weak there, has trouble making it up stairs and can't jump up on the couch. It's breaking our hearts and if I let go of this tight grip of my emotions and start thinking bad thoughts, I'll be a goner. So tight grip it is. No point in getting ahead of ourselves. (She's 7 years old, in case you're wondering. They live to be 12-15.)

That's enough of that.

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Venus

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Does this look comfy to you?? Venus has jumped into my giant paper recycling box in my studio before but never snuggled down like this. I think she only did it this time because it's so darn full, she can still keep a keen eye on the door, always on the watch for her nemesis, that pesky black cat, Verona.

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I attended a seminar for work yesterday, Excel - Beyond the Basics. Steve is Mr. Excel so he said he'd like to see any materials they gave me, out of curiosity. I told him someone at work that attended this same presentation earlier in the year bought the DVDs that go with it so maybe I could borrow them and we could have Date Night, watching Excel tutorials on the big screen TV.

I was kidding!!

He wants to do it! Geeks of a feather flock together, I guess. Pass the popcorn.

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And a big hello to my new Stalker/Friend, Cheryl. She emailed me this long funny email gushing over my art, blah, blah, blah. I replied; she replied - that she has finished looking at every entry on this blog - mostly looking at pictures. I can't exactly tease her for doing that because I did the exact same thing with the very first online journal I read. (Hi Willa!) I was blown away by this new medium - online journals back then, way before blogs. And Willa writes in a way about her every day, ordinary life that makes it so real. Biographies and autobiographies have always been my most favorite genre - book or movie, even fiction that reads like a biography works for me. Everyone has a story.

So I would spend every lunch hour, reading Willa's archives, starting at the very beginning. Only later did I learn that people kept stats and could see how long people were on their site, etc. I read so much that I started having dreams that Gretchen and I visited Willa in Kansas, meeting her at the bagel place she talks about.

I emailed her a few times over the years and when she answered, or even better, mentioned me in her journal, I felt like a celebrity had noticed me. Finally, on September 4, 2001, I started my own journal. And now I know that Willa stops by here sometimes. Small world.

This, is why I love the Internet so much. It absolutely brings people together. I love that.

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