Egon the Dachshund

Posted on October 26, 2011 by KO

If you already follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you already know about this (and if you don’t already, why the hell not?!), but I have news to report about Egon.

He’s currently spending the night at the university veterinary school’s animal hospital where he just had emergency surgery for a ruptured disc in his spine. This is not an uncommon problem for dachshunds, but it’s one that I hoped would never affect my little dude. He’s very lean and, now that he’s almost 6 years old, not terribly rambunctious (the two risk factors are being overweight or jumping a lot). Nonetheless, he managed to injure his spine.

I’m not sure what happened, but I took him to the vet for a suspected UTI on Monday, which he tested positive for. The vet also determined that he had a strain in his back, so he was prescribed antibiotics for the UTI, anti-inflammatories for the strain, and tons of rest.

At some point Tuesday night, while I was out, he managed to hurt himself. He’d been feeling better and had been okay with staying voluntarily in his crate (crate door unlocked) in my bedroom, where there’s no tall furniture for him to jump on. It seemed safe enough to me, especially since he used to panic a lot when I’d crate him with the door locked. With the crate plus his favorite blankets on the floor, he hadn’t even tried to climb on the (low, platform) bed all day. I would have noticed the little dents he leaves in the down comforter, so I know he never went up there. What I found after the fact was that he’d apparently gone in my closet, climbed into the laundry basket, peed in it, and climbed out. He’d had some incontinence issues from the UTI, and I think he didn’t want to pee on the floor. Poor guy. That must’ve been when he really hurt his back.

I came home to find him hiding under the blanket on the floor (his usual burrowing M.O.), and when I lifted up the blanket to peek at him he yelped in pain and tried to move, but he wasn’t able to use his back legs at all and was dragging them behind him. In about 14 seconds I had called the emergency vet at the university and was on my way there, with W. (who was in bed and nearly asleep at the late hour) awake and arranged to meet us.

Emergency visit to the vet last night for my dog's injured spine. He's still there today.

They kept him last night and the neurologist saw him today, confirming after tests that he did have a ruptured disc. He underwent surgery for it today, but I haven’t spoken to the doctor yet. It sounds like he went home without remembering to call me (MOTHEREFFER), but the front desk tells me Egon is out of surgery and in the neurology ICU. Hopefully I will get to talk to the doc tomorrow and possibly even come in to see Egon.

The financial aspect of all this is a whole other matter and is almost equally as stressfull. The estimate was for between $3000-5000, and I had to put down half of the high end before they would take him (which I was — barely– able to do). In order to give them the go-ahead for surgery I had to make sure I could come up with the rest, and I did manage to get financing for that after begging my dad to cosign for it. I may be 33 years old with a nice middle-cass job, but I am only a few years out of grad school with student loans and credit card debt (It was almost paid off until today, but now I’ve more than doubled it!) and I guess I wasn’t a good enough candidate for the stupid financing on my own. Anyway, I’m more than covered, now. Oof. Many thanks to my unfailingly kind and generous father.

And this is all the news I have at the moment. I will update with more when I can, but I wanted to post something here for all my friends who don’t follow my every move in 140-character bursts. Thanks so much to everyone who has gotten in touch with me to offer words of support — you are very much appreciated.

Asheville!

Posted on October 25, 2011 by KO

This past weekend was the now roughly annual get together of The Triumvirate, aka my group of BFFs from the college days. Last year, Claire and Mel and I wound up going to small-town Missouri on a work conference, but this year the trip was all pleasure and no business at all. Just the way I like it! Mel and her family recently moved to Asheville, NC, a lovely little mountain town that at this time of year is full of fall foliage and tourists and sunny-but-crisp weather. It was a lovely destination and not even too far away from where I live in Alabama.

I was excited to see Mel, especially because this time last year she was oh-so-very pregnant with her daughter, who is now about 10 months old and is cute as a button. As you can see. Her son is now nearly three, a fact which blows my mind. I guess when you only see people about once a year, this is what happens!

At any rate, C. drove to stay with me in Auburn for one night to break up the trip and then we both headed up to North Carolina together on Friday morning. Between my 12-mile run that morning, the 5-hour drive up to Asheville, and the long evening of cooking, drinking wine, and talking, it seemed like a super long (but lovely) day.

We headed into town Saturday for lunch and shopping, and the downtown area was positively bustling with tourists (and, I assume, locals, too, but fall foliage season = tourist season in NC). There were buskers on almost every street corner and the sidewalks were packed.

We ate at Laughing Seed, an all vegetarian/vegan cafe. I have to tell you, it is such a wonder for me to be able to eat at a vegetarian restaurant where I can choose anything I want from the menu. There wasn’t anything there that I couldn’t eat. At most places here in Auburn, there is usually either zero or one item on the menu. Usually you just take what you get and don’t complain. But in Asheville, in Asheville! I got to CHOOSE my meal. Amazing.

I had this vegan bahn mi, which was so motherloving delicious that I am still thinking about it. Claire had a veggie burger made with hemp and Mel had a tempeh Reuben sandwich, and we all tried each other’s food. It was all awesome. I was in love with Asheville already, and no, that wasn’t just the local brews talking.

A trip to Malaprops, a local bookstore, and then to French Broad Chocolate lounge for truffles only cemented my joy.

Books. Vegan truffles. Good lord.

That night, Mel had suggested we try a new restaurant called Plant, that was completely vegan — no animal products whatsoever. I am lucky to have friends who are game to try things like this with me, because it really is so rare that I get to eat at restaurants like this.

This pinot noir was described on the menu as being light, haunting, and “like a zephyr.” Obviously we had to order a bottle.

We tried a little of everything, from the cheese plate (house made cashew cheese that — unlike any vegan cheese in a store — actually tasted great), to the entrees, to the desserts. To the brut. Of course the brut.

It felt like a truly indulgent day, not only to be eating and drinking like kings (DAMN HELL ASS KINGS), but to be spending the day with my two best friends, doing whatever we pleased, and just enjoying each other’s company.

Asheville, let’s do this again some time.

Mad [Wo]men in Atlanta

Posted on October 25, 2011 by KO

For some reason, October is always a month full of travel and busyness. The middle of the semester brings a lot of work, and then there tend to be lots of social events going on, too. I feel like I have so much to catch up on, so I’m going to back up a little bit and tell you about my recent trip to Atlanta to celebrate my friend D’s birthday.

She is a stylish lady who happens to be a big fan of classic movies, cocktails, and good fashion, so she had a Mad Men themed party and we all dressed up in glamorous early sixties clothes and mixed up Manhattans, Martinis, and so on. As you might imagine, the prospect of glamming myself up Betty-Draper style, teasing my hair, drinking whiskey, and celebrating my good friend’s birthday delighted me to no end.

I brought a bottle of Canadian Club whiskey, just like Don Draper drinks, and I think in my excitement I perhaps had a little too much (if my making it home with one fewer earring than I’d left the house with is any indication). I might have over-imbibed, but isn’t that in keeping with the style of Sterling Cooper [Draper Pryce]? I submit to you that it is. You just can’t get ahead on Madison Avenue unless you’re prepared to knock back a few in the office with the rest of the creative team. Just ask Duck Phillips.

Anyway.

Here are a few snaps I took that night:

And a couple I totally stole from the birthday girl’s flickr (these get the atmosphere better):

It was a really fun occasion, and was (as all great parties are) made even greater with the consumption of a big, potato-based breakfast at Ria’s Bluebird Diner. That place is wonderful, and has tons of vegetarian/vegan options!

Great weekend out of town with the ladies! Thanks, D., for hosting such a fun night!

Five Kilometers with Friends

Posted on October 10, 2011 by KO

Saturday, after a day of watching the live video stream of the Ironman World Championships in Kona (how about the incredible come-from-behind win by superstar Chrissie Wellington?! Amazing, as always) I headed into town to race a little local 5K with a few friends. It was an odd evening race with a 5pm start time, and if I may be permitted a bit of foreshadowing, that is not an ideal situation for someone like me who prefers to race in the cool of morning with a mostly empty stomach.

Big Dog added photos on facebook, which I completely stole for this post. Thanks, Big Dog!

At any rate, it was a so-called “skirt-chaser” 5K, in which the women got a three-minute head start on the men, and we were all competing for the same age-group awards (normally women race against women in their age group; men against men, and so on). Brunbec, Jenniac, and I all came dressed for success in running skirts and bright colors. We definitely took the theme as an excuse to have a little fun with our outfits. Somewhere there exists a pre-race picture of the three of us together, which I’m hoping the running store will put online sometime, and if they do I’ll add it here.

We also ran into our friends L. and A. at the start — they are training for a marathon together and had their 20-mile long run the next morning, but still came out to race like a couple of badasses.

The race started out well, going downhill all the way to about the halfway point, and I hit mile one in just over 8 minutes and mile two just a touch slower than that. The last grueling mile, however, nearly effing killed me. It was all steep uphill and it was so hot I kept dumping water over my head and praying not to puke. I took quite a few short walking breaks just to get my stomach to stop cramping. Mile three was barely under 10 minutes. Uh, OOPS.

I was following just behind another woman for the last half mile, and as I saw I was going to finish just steps behind her, I momentarily considered sprinting to pass her, but I was already so far off what I’d consider a fast time for myself that I didn’t even bother. I finished in 28:05 (ish – Garmin time) and managed to hold onto the contents of my stomach, but not without extreme effort.

I waited at the finish for my friends, and everyone basically confirmed that the hills and the heat and a day’s worth of food in their stomachs was making them feel like death on that last mile, too. I would normally feel like a wimp to complain about such matters, but I think the course and the time of day were pretty universally painful, so I’m sticking to my story.

We hung around for some post-race food provided by a nearby deli. I cleverly fashioned a veggie sandwich out of spare parts since no vegetarian sandwiches were offered. OOPS. (Note to race organizers: lots of athletes are vegetarians or are health-conscious enough to appreciate a veggie option — It would likely be cheaper, too.)

While we ate we watched the awards ceremony. Because of the “skirt chaser” theme with the women’s head start, men’s and women’s awards were mixed, and the 30-39 age group had a woman take first, a man second, and another woman took third. The third place woman was the one who finished just steps ahead of me, beating me by literally one second. Had I sprinted to pass her (or had the men not been mixed into our AG awards), I’d've had third. In the official results, I am actually listed as 3rd in women’s 30-39. OOPS.

I didn’t expect to be able to PR during this race due to the heat and the evening start time, so I was fine with the way things worked out, but I can’t help feeling like this little 5K was full of what-ifs. What if it had been a morning race, or a different course, or I’d paced better, or I’d been more competitive in the end? What if it hadn’t been a “skirt chaser” theme?

Cell-phone pic snapped by my friend's mom. Sorry for the fuzziness!

Well, if it hadn’t been a “skirt chaser” theme, I would likely not have worn this ridiculously awesome outfit and all of my town would have missed a chance to appreciate the Quad Squad reporting for duty. So there is that.

Either way, I got to spend the evening with my friends and check out our town’s new running store and a generally good time was had by all.

Homebody Weekend Goings-on, Books and Movies

Posted on October 1, 2011 by KO

Yesterday was my nine-mile training run, the longest so far in my half marathon plan, and it went exceptionally well. I’m pleased that I’ve been able to meet the longer distances again with no problem and to keep my long-run pace just a smidge ahead of where the McMillan pace calculator says it should be.

After my long run, however, the business hit the fan. I don’t know what it was for sure, but something I’d eaten at happy hour the night before did not wind up agreeing with me. (And I wasn’t alone! We’re blaming the deep-fried pickles.) Luckily the angry backlash didn’t strike during my run, but rather well afterward. Nonetheless, DAMN. I spent the rest of the day lying pathetically in bed. The only thing that sounded appetizing was a real-sugar Mexican Coke, which I happily downed while picking at some various lackluster selections from the Earth Fare deli case.

While it surely is miserable to be stuck at home all day when you’d planned to be doing Other Things (even if said Other Things were merely working at a coffee shop while grading papers and running a couple of errands), it wound up being OK. I am still borrowing W.’s supersized TV with the internet apps built in, so Netflix and Hulu were streaming their way into my living room in glorious high definition. When I didn’t feel like watching, I read a bit on my Kindle. Hooray for technology!

I started Bret Easton Ellis’s Rules of Attraction, which I picked because I wanted a sort of slightly hip, contemporary campus narrative à la The Secret History. And he and Donna Tartt both went to Bennington together, which inspired the college settings in their work, and such, so I thought this seemed like a reasonable thing to reach for. Uh, that is not what this book seems to be. I’m not sure I’m a fan of his prose style at all, but I am going to keep on reading and just see. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just re-read Donna Tartt for the umpteenth time, you know?

Today I felt much better so I made my way to the coffee shop and began grading papers in earnest, did some grocery shopping, finished today’s quota of papers at home (Eegs helped out again, as seen above), and I decided to reward myself. Since my gentleman friend is out of town this weekend, I made it the girliest night possible: chick flicks, wine, and a DIY manicure & pedicure. (Fire-engine red and dark grey sparkles, respectively, because I know you are curious).

Movies I have watched since dinner:

1) Love and Other Drugs – Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are both adorable and charming and charismatic in general; the movie is clever and funny and totally predictable. I giggled a bit and got a little misty, too, but I have no need to ever see it again.

2) Charlie St. Cloud – I watched this mainly for the sailboat porn and secondarily for the love-story possibility, but it was so eye-crossingly awful that I spent the entire film texting, browsing the internet, and editing photos while only 40% paying attention. Oh well!

3) A Summer in Genoa – This one is interesting enough to make me want to watch it. It’s sad and compelling and personal. It’s also one of the only times I’ve noticed a hand-held camera in a negative way. Normally I like that style or just don’t notice it, but in this case it was a bit disconcerting — especially as the Netflix thumbnail and description made this seem more like a Hollywood B-movie with slicker production values if not a great story. It’s good — better than what Netflix suggests –, but not what I expected. Also, I prefer to think of Colin Firth as he was in, oh, any movie in the pre-jowl years.

So what’ve you been up to? If you have any 1) hip, contemporary campus narratives; 2) sad/funny young romances; or 3) charming Colin Firth flicks to recommend, please do so! Other media recommendations are also being accepted, though at a lower priority at this time — thank you for your consideration!

Effing the Ineffable

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Monthly Archives: October 2011

Egon the Dachshund

Asheville!

Mad [Wo]men in Atlanta

Five Kilometers with Friends

Homebody Weekend Goings-on, Books and Movies