April 16th

We Remember


“We are Virginia Tech. We are sad today and we will be sad for quite awhile. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech. We are strong enough to know when to cry and sad enough to know we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech. We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did not deserve it but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, but neither do the invisible children walking the night to avoid being captured by a rogue army. Neither does the baby elephant watching his community be devastated for ivory; neither does the Appalachian infant in the killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech. The Hokie Nation embraces our own with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid. We are better than we think, not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination and the possibility. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all this sadness.

We are the Hokies. We will prevail, we will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech. “

Nikki Giovanni
April 2007

A Blast From Childhood

Duck and Cover

Cilantro

I know I'm not crazy or overly picky.

I also know that cilantro is the one food I cannot eat, even to be polite.

The New York Times agrees.

Commuting-Dog Wrangling-No Knitting-- And SPF70

The Commuting Part

The Daughter is doing fine. This followed removal of an errant gall bladder two weeks ago. I did the nurse-mom thing, then came back to work the weekend, then back to Blacksburg for last week.

Following her surgery, The Daughter needed help with the usual things- like getting her meds, moving, eating (pudding, yogurt, angel food cake, chicken soup-- you get the picture.) These are things that a mother loves to do. I was busy, tired, and happy.

Then The Husband arrived for the weekend, and I returned to work,returning to The Daughter Monday night for an encore performance. It was good to see her getting better each day, and good to know that I was able to help.

Wrangling the Dog

I wrangled the dog who is really well behaved overall, but sometimes has LOTS of energy- a bit too much for someone to handle who had a bunch of holes poked in her belly.



(He's absoluteley the cutest thing on 4 legs....)

We'd talked for several months about getting him lined up with doggie day care, so that she could focus during finals, and have a place to board him for short periods for things such as the several upcoming weddings she's attending. We got him a bordatella booster, assembled the paperwork and scheduled him for his temperament test and orientation.

Said dog developed some "distress in the lower tract" following his Monday audition day at Flying Fur. He had a terrific time, and got a really good report card. Apparently he got SO excited about being with all the canine buddies (and probably ate a bunch of dirt-- his favorite snack) that I needed to let him out when I arrived back in Blacksburg at midnight, and then again at 2, 4 and 6 am.

We talked with Vet School friends, read articles online, and came up with this plan:
No food for awhile (but plenty of water)
Pepto-Bismol (1/2 ml per 10 lbs=10 ml every 6 hours for the @40 lb dog)
Pumpkin

The Pepto went in fine the first time. I remembered from my Girl Scout Animal First Aid badge that you put the syringe in the side of the beast's mouth, and hold the mouth closed while he swallows. The second time we had bright pink everywhere.

He loves pumpkin, which is, at this time of year as scarce as yellow Peep chicks in October. We had a couple of cans at home which I had tucked into my bag, so we actually had pumpkin. The Pepto went down fine when mixed in. (Aside-- we also made frozen sweet potato treats by mashing sweet potatoes into a mini muffin pan. He likes them plenty. They don't have Pepto)

Eventually he "normalized" so we sent him back on Friday (I had 2 lectures to write- not easy with canine assistance), followed by "Yappy Hour". What fun to watch all the dogs and their people playing together. He doesn't really have an opportunity for lots of running so daycare and playtime are terrific.

The Sunshine Part

I work with tiny, sick babies. Many get well enough to go home. Some do not. The March of Dimes does a lot of good work trying to prevent prematurity which is a primary cause of infant mortality and consequent conditions. One preemie I cared for was Katelyn Hall who was a March of Dimes ambassador in 2009. The Katelyn Hall Foundation and March of Dimes put on a charity golf tournament today at Lansdowne Resort. What an amazing place. I was fortunate to be able to volunteer. It was the most beautiful day I've seen for a really long time. (Usually on a beautiful day, I can be found doing a 12-hour shift at work).

My job was watching the 9th hole to verify any hole-in-one that would result in that golfer winning a car. No holes in one. However, there were many water shots, sand hazard landings, overshoots, and lots of good and respectable hits to the green. And one guy hit the car. It was pretty amazing.

I am melanin challenged. I was in the sun for 5 hours. I don't think I got burned...

Go SPF 70!