Friday randomness...

I don’t have anything terribly coherent to talk about today, so let’s see what sort of random nonsense I can come up with…

I had to take Echo to the vet the other day, so they could do a blood test to check her liver enzymes. We’ve had her on a doggie pain-reliever called Rimadyl, because she has arthritis and occasionally has trouble standing up or hopping down the steps on the back porch. But Rimadyl is known to have adverse effects on the liver, and Echo’s liver enzymes have always been on the high side even WITHOUT medication. So we started out giving her only half the recommended dosage in the morning and evening, and when her liver did okay with that, we upped it to a full dose in the morning and half in the evening. But apparently that half-dose increase was a bit too much, because the vet called after her appointment the other day and said her liver enzymes are creeping up. So we’re back to half a dose morning and evening. We’re thinking of starting her off on a rather new injection therapy – it was something they used to use for horses with arthritis, and recently they’ve made it available for smaller animals. Supposedly they’ve had some extremely good results with it – like dogs who were barely able to move are transformed into jumping, bouncing canines once more. It would be great if it worked that well… I do feel bad when poor Echo hesitates at the top of the porch steps and then waits for me to carry her down…

So Eric is in New Jersey this weekend, visiting with New Jersey people (hi, New Jersey people! :)). I’ve heard it’s been unseasonably warm in New Jersey and even Chicago the last couple weeks. I’m actually hoping the temperatures start to drop soon, because we’re planning a trip to Chicago in February and Rick should have a chance to feel what Chicago winters are REALLY like. We were up there around Christmastime last year, but I don’t think the temperature ever dipped below freezing the entire time we were in the city. So this time, we need one of those single-digit-wind-chill-in-the-negatives-feels-like-your-nose-is-frozen kinda days. Because we ARE still hoping to move up there soon, and I wouldn’t want Rick to have some kind of false idea that Chicago winters are mild and temperate…

I was rather sad to hear that Sir Edmund Hillary died yesterday. I don’t know why, exactly – it’s not like I knew the guy or anything. But of course I knew OF him, since he’s one of those people you learn about when you’re a kid, and subsequently are reminded of his contribution to Intrepid Explorer Lore repeatedly throughout the rest of your life. I’m sure there are many Jeopardy answers yet to come that begin with the question, “who is Edmund Hillary?”

Wasn’t it cool that it snowed in Baghdad this morning? I thought it was pretty cool. And they said there were no reports of violence while the snow was falling. I saw an interview with a resident who said he couldn’t figure out whether the snow was a lesson from God or not. Hmmm… I think just about anything can be a lesson from God if you think about it long enough. Perhaps the fact that the violence in Baghdad was quelled by something as simple as falling snow was a lesson in itself – the pointlessness of all that violence seems even more striking when you realize that the whole population of the city was brought together by a single meteorological event. I saw pictures of little kids with wonder and joy in their eyes – and no matter where you go on this globe, that reaction would be the same. Snow is snow and kids are kids and people are people – maybe THAT was the lesson…

And maybe Austin will actually get some snow this year… I mean, if it can snow in Baghdad, then surely it can snow in Austin, right?