Sweet Cali

Poor Cali has gone and hurt herself again. It's my fault- I was playing ball with her and now she has a lot of pain on her lower back. I don't know what she did exactly.  She won't go up stairs or get on the couch. When the doctor pushes on her the sides of her vertebrae at the point where her rib cages ends she winces and can't support her weight. Right now we have her on Rovera (NSAIDs) and hope it will reduce the pain and inflammation. 

Merry Christmas!

It was a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas morning here.  Last night Mike and I went out for dinner to a local Italian restaurant.  Normally we have excellent service but not last night (of all nights).  It took us 2 hours to eat.  From the time we sat down to when we go our entrees it was 1.5 hrs!  We are pretty sure that either our waiter never put in the entrees or the order got lost.   A couple sat down 45 mins after us and got their meal 10 mins before us.    It was still a nice evening because we didn't have any other place to be.  After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights.

This morning we opened our stockings and then our presents.  My stocking had a new red travel mug, lots of chocolate, fuzzy socks, and a magazine to read.  Mike got wool socks, mints (he doesn't like chocolate), and dental floss (he flosses at least twice a day).

Our big present from Santa was a new vacuum!  A Dyson Animal.  Our current vacuum has slowly be breaking/losing suction so it was time to replace.  Santa knew that Cali sheds a lot and that we could use a really powerful vacuum cleaner.  Mike put it together and then proceeded to vacuum the entire house (Merry Christmas to me!!).  I'm not going to lie-I was shocked at how much dirt is sucked up.  Even though we vacuumed on Tuesday, we filled that canister with dog hair and dirt pretty quickly.

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Visit with Grammy

My Grammy lives about 3.5 hours away but we haven't had a chance to get down and see her.  My Uncle was visiting her but flying out of Chicago so we drove down to see Grammy and brought him back up with us for his flight.  This allowed us some time with her and we got to spend two days with him-win, win!

Here are some pictures of our trip.  For almost 98 Grammy is doing really well health-wise but does have some trouble with her memory.  For example, she couldn't remember my dad, her oldest son, and also couldn't remember my brother.  Overall she had moments of clarity but doesn't seem to let her memory loss get her down.  I can't imagine keeping 98 years of memories in my brain!  The picture of me next to Sallee Hall is a building named after my great-grandfather Roy Sallee.  He was a biologist (!!) at Western Illinois University and they named this building after him.  When we were kids, every time we went to visit Grammy we would get our picture taken.  I was a little sad that I wasn't there with Tom and Laura this time around...

Mike, me and Grammy.

 My Uncle Jim, me and Grammy.

 Me and my grammy.

 Maybe North Central College will name a building after me?  (likely only if i donate Millions of dollars.....)

Oh Christmas tree!

This year we decided to put our tree in our tiny living room on the main level.  This was due in part to our optimism that we will finish painting the family room over break (but so far we haven't touched it).  My mom made us the Christmas tree skirt last year.  I'll post an update on Christmas morning with all of the gift (most of them for Cali).

Vacation

Mike and I are both on vacation!!! How crazy is that?  I'm still doing work to prepare for the winter and spring terms and Mike is still answering emails but he isn't traveling until after the new year.  We haven't spent this much time together in a year.  Hopefully we don't drive each other crazy :)

Old owners

We met the previous owners of the house last weekend.  There son is selling popcorn for the boy scouts and they were making their way around the neighborhood (they liked the neighborhood so much that when they bought their new house, it is only 1/3 of a mile away).  The husband, David, was very nice (we didn't meet the wife).  We painted all of the trim on the main level and he said "Oh man, this looks great.  I tried to convince my wife to let me paint the trim white for years but she wouldn't let me".

You are never sure what previous owners will say about changes you make to the house since taste is so subjective but it was nice to hear that he appreciates (at least some of) the changes we made.

My Buddy

I moved Cali's bed into my office while I grade. She likes to be near me and I like to have her close by. 

Truthfully, I just ordered her a new bed specifically for my office. It should be here next week. It's orthopedic. I spoil this dog.