I'M A GRADUATE STUDENT!!!!!!!!!

I found out yesterday I'd been officially accepted into the Masters of Arts in Teaching and Leadership through St. Xavier University. It's a good thing, too, as class starts tonight. I'm trying to not dwell on it. I'm nervous and excited. It's been 31 years since I graduated from college.

School starts tomorrow. We have 2 institute days, then students start on Monday. I've moved to a new classroom, so I get to be a bit more creative with the set up. My paras will help me with that tomorrow. I'm on my own on Friday. I've got most of my paperwork set up. I need to make materials for the first couple of weeks. I guess that's what I'll do on Friday.

Where has summer gone?

This has been a very active summer! I went to Florida in June, the Wisconsin Dells over the 4th of July weekend, and to California toward the end of July. I'm finally settling in at home. I go back to work in just a couple of weeks.

Let's see, Florida was fun, except for dislocating my right index finger. I go to the hand specialist in 4 weeks as I still have pain and do not have full range of motion. I did pick up Trixie and bring her home. She has really grown a lot. She's been spayed and had her puppy

teeth pulled. Her personality is the same as my first dalmatian's. We say she's Murphy, an 80 pound dalmatian, stuffed in an 8 pound body.

I went to the Wisconsin Dells over the 4th of July weekend. We had a wonderful time despite the fact that Lake Delton breached and drained into the Wisconsin River. We did go on a Duck ride down the Wisconsin River and did see where it breached. So much silt landed in the river that it was only 7 feet deep at that point so we had to turn around and not go any further up the river.

At the end of July I flew to California with a friend. She and her brother were settling their dad's estate and had to go through his storage unit. We got to do some sightseeing while we were there. We went to Santa Rosa to the Charles Schulz Museum. That was really neat. We also spent a day in Napa Valley, visiting the wineries. I've learned to really appreciate fine wine and did bring some home for a special occasion.

Bindi, the dalmatian is now 15 years old. She's really looking old. She's basically deaf. She can hear high pitched sounds and some really, really loud sounds. She barks when the other dogs bark. She's stopped making her "mooing" sound to get my attention. That makes me sad. She still has hyper dalmatian moments, though, and makes me laugh.

Hogan, the lhasapoo, has loved being with his "mommy" most of the summer. He loved going to Florida, but wasn't happy when we brought Trixie home. He's still trying to sort out his feelings. He'll go outside and hunt bunnies with her, but has no patience for her when she tries to play with him. He still loves to go "Nigh-nigh in da bed under da bankies wid da mommy" and will gallop toward the bedroom when I use those words with him. He's come a long way since I rescued him almost 4 years ago.

Then there's Trixie Jane, the yorkie puppy. She was 5 pounds when I brought her home. She was 8 pounds when I weighed her the other day. She is 7 1/2 months old now and is probably nearly fully grown. She's a character and I love her to death!

Finger update

I went to the doctor today about my poor sore finger. It's still really swollen. The doctor poked and prodded it. It didn't hurt. I told him it really only hurt if I tried to use it to turn a key or a knob. It also hurts when it gets pushed back toward the pinkie finger. X-rays showed no problems, which is good. I have an appointment with a hand specialist, but not until September 3rd. If my finger gets better before then I'll cancel. If the swelling remains, I'll get an MRI before I see the hand specialist. The doctor tried to get me to take a pain prescription, but I have a few pain pills left from my foot surgery, so I'm fine. If it starts hurting, he'll get me a prescription.
Kathy

Poor little Trixie Jane and other ramblings

Poor little Trixie was spayed yesterday. She also had several baby teeth removed. She got her rabies shot and was microchipped. She's on pain meds and I bought her canned puppy food. She's so sweet that I hate that she's this miserable, but it sure beats the alternative.

We had a bad storm last night. It was a little humorous because as the storm was getting really bad I looked at the weather watches and warnings on television. There was nothing in our county. That's the last thing I saw before the lights went out! The electricity was off for almost 8 hours. It finally came on at 3:45 this morning. I didn't realize how much noise this house makes until it powered up again.

I made a doctor appointment for tomorrow afternoon to get my index finger looked at. I really injured it a couple of weeks ago on vacation. It's a little better, but still causing pain and tingling. I can type for short periods, then it absolutely aches.

I'm leaving for California in less than two weeks. This is my summer as a traveler, I guess. I'm going with my college roomie to help her and her brother clean their late father's storage unit. Hopefully the finger won't be too bad off so I can help.

I'M HOME!!!!

I got home from Florida a few hours ago. It was quite the trip. I left on June 11th at 5 a.m. and stopped just south of Atlanta, GA around 8 p.m. (7 p.m. central time) for a total of 14 hours of driving. Whew! However, I managed to make it to my mom's in Florida by 2 in the afternoon on Thursday. Then, on Saturday I got sick with a respiratory flu. I was miserable for about 2 1/2 days, but perked up after that. Then, last week, I injured my right index finger while working in my mom's pool. My index finger got caught as the inner part of the ladder broke loose in the pool and floated away. The finger laid completely over to the right pinky finger over the top of my hand. Then there was that nasty snapping noise. I wrapped the finger and hand in an Ace wrap. It's much better, though still does hurt when pushed toward the pinky finger. It didn't affect my ability to float around the pool, though. I did bring little Trixie home. She and Hogan have created a tentative truce. Bindi seems a bit put out, though. I'll have to give her lots of extra attention. She's looking really old and seems to have lost even more hearing in the past 2 1/2 weeks. She still is a great snuggler, though, and that's what counts.
Kathy

ONE MORE DAY!!!!!!!!!

Wow! Tomorrow is the end of the school year. I'll take Tuesday to get ready for Florida, then leave really, really early on Wednesday morning. I'd love to eat breakfast in Kentucky! There's a goal to shoot for! That would mean leaving at around 3 or 4 in the morning. It's doable. I'm taking Hogan, the lhasapoo (or as we think he really is...schnoodle apso) with. He's 8 1/2 years old and a bit of a grumpy old man. I think it's best that he meets Trixie, our little yorkie puppy, on her turf. He'll have a harem of girls. My mom's corgi mix is 14 years old. She also has a 1 year old yorkie/shih tzu mix and a 3 1/2 month old yorkie puppy. If that doesn't put him in his place, I don't know what will. I'm hoping he'll be happy when we come home with only one puppy.

My college roomie came to visit today so I managed to get the entire public part of the house cleaned up. I will clean my room and the guest room on Tuesday. I'll also clean out the fridge (normally a Thursday evening job for Friday garbage day), and get that out to the garbage cans. I love leaving a spotless house so that it will be a great start to the rest of the summer when I get home. My son will be staying home as he has to work. He'll take care of Bindi, the dalmatian, the two cats, the tropical fish, and the koi/goldfish/tadpoles in the pond. It's wonderful that he's so responsible!

Latest picture of Trixie

Here's Trixie Jane, my little yorkie puppy. She's the larger one on the left. The other puppy is my mother's new yorkie puppy, Kiki. She's about 13 weeks old now. Trixie is 5 months old.