12/22 Funny funny funny

One of the best dog videos I've ever seen. This dog is amazing.

Snow Dog

11/2 Waiting for Jan and Tim

They'll be here later tonight. In the meantime I'm having friends over to play cards at 7 and they'll leave after meeting Jan and Tim. (That doesn't sound nice, does it? Didn't mean it that way.)

Today I went over the bridge. I got choked up but still couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was slow, only 35, and crowded--because lots of people are going across just because they can, but it was still wonderful.

Went to a house blessing today and it was so moving. It was a house our construction crew rebuilt. Lovely, and the owners were very grateful.

Met a dog there that I fell in love with. Her name is Honey. She's a seven month old golden retriever and is so calm and sweet. She's trained already as a therapy dog. Her owner is one of our staff and she had to get trained too. Amazing. Just amazing. This puppy was not distractable at all. She'll make a great therapy dog, and will work in nursing homes and at disaster sites. A welcome addition.

Gotta go--have to finish cleaning the kitchen and then I'm (finally) done.

6/23 Fat, fat, fat

So my body is finally sending me a big message--LOSE WEIGHT!

A routine blood test found that I'm pre-diabetic. My only complaint when I went to the doc was that I'm always tired. That is from dehydration perhaps. She said that in hot and humid climates we need to drink 1/2 of our weight. If someone weighs 180, pounds they need to drink 90 ounces of water a day--not tea, not soda, not juice, not beer, WATER. She said that this type of climate is really different and our body responds differently.

But anyway, pre-diabetic. When the nurse called she said the doctor would put me on meds or I could do it through diet and exercise. I want to try without meds, but it's a little scary. If I fail, I could develop diabetes. This news is difficult for me because I can't blame heredity. I gained weight. I did it to myself. What an awful feeling.


(Part of my tiredness, I'm sure, is that my dog gets me up in the middle of the night almost every night to go outside. The good part is that she's housetrained pretty much, and doesn't have accidents. Last night was a different story. She had diarrhea. All over the dining room rug. Why can't animals use tile? Why must they use carpeting? I felt bad for her, because it was obvious she couldn't help it. But I felt sorry for me too---3 AM, shampooing the rug.)

6/17 A wonderful Fathers' Day

First of all my brother, Joe, wrote a funny and wonderful tribute to Dad on his blog. His blog started as a blog to make fun of other ones--mostly mine. But it's turned into so much more. It's a place where he honors (and teases) everyone on their birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions. We all love it! If you want to check it out, be warned that there are tons of inside jokes. Some of which I don't even understand because I've been gone so long from Quincy. :)

Today's been good in other ways too. Q woke me up at 5:30--nothing different about that. I lazed around a bit (nothing different about that either). Then cleaned up the dining room and emptied four more boxes. Afterwards Quincy and I went to the beach. We went to Ocean Springs because it's not as crowded or "touristy" as Biloxi beaches. I knew Q wouldn't go into the water (after watching her yesterday--loving the swimming pool but refusing to go in the Gulf).

Then I saw a young couple with two big dogs. I asked them if Q could play and their dogs teach her to go into the water. Before they could even say, "Sure," she was chasing the other dogs into the surf. She ended up swimming like a fiend and seemed to have a great time. I know I did.

Rachel and Kevin both work at USM Gulf Coast Research Facility, right on the water. What a cool job. He's a toxologist and she's a biochemist--and from Stevens Point, WI. A nice surprise.

The dogs (and us) played for over 90 minutes. It was a great way to spend part of the afternoon. I know I'll see them again. Nice folks.

On the way home Q slept (of course), and I talked to my kids on the phone. A nice treat for me. Jill, Todd, Kayla and Hunter were in Santa Monica having lunch and then were going to take a bike ride along the path that runs by the beach. Sounds like fun. Rob and Beata were napping. That sounds like fun too. (Hope "napping" wasn't a euphemism for something else.) :)

Anyway, it was super talking to them. Miss them all so much. Beata and Rob are going to try to visit sometime this summer. In November Jill is flying to NC to spend time with Rob and Beata. Maybe I'll drive up so I can see all of them at the same time. I'd love that so much.

Guess that's enough for today. Nap time, and then more work. Love to all.

6/15 Posting while lunching

Peanut butter sandwich and Campbell's "Soup at Hand" Velvety Potato Soup. Not as bad as it could have been. At least it's filling and will last me until dinner.

Q was thrilled being back at Doggy Day Care. She flew out of the car. Looked like a dog version of Superman. Really cute how much she loves it there. No rules; just playing and spoiling and treats. Just like a kid going to Grandma's house.

So much work to do here. I've lost our office manager and am doing much of that work because our deputy is off for several days. In the future I'm hoping for an admin asst to help us out. We'll see if that pans out.

There are major changes in the offing and there's a lot of organizational work to be done in preparation. I believe things will go well; and am praying to that end.

As I was driving to work today I thought again about how much I love the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I don't think I've seen more beautiful beaches in the continental US, and I've seen a lot of them. If we don't get any major storms this year, the recovery phase will keep going full bore. This past week, they planted at least a hundred big palm trees along Beach Boulevard. The new ones add so much to the ambiance. This place is gorgeous!

Plus, I've decided to finally go to one of the casinos. Was going to wait until I have company because I really don't want to go by myself, but I want to go--so will. There are some beautiful casinos here in Biloxi. Haven't really noticed the ones in Gulfport and points west...but I'm sure they're nice too.

Okay. Done eating. Back to work. Will pick up Quincy about 5. As happy as she is to get to Doggy Day Care, she's even happier to see me. That's a good feeling. (I must get my camera connected to the computer to charge it up, so I can take pictures.)

6/8 Another Quincy

Just found out that a group from Quincy, IL is coming to Camp Biloxi. They'll arrive tomorrow and stay until next Friday. I'm so excited to meet some folks from home.

Today was a really good day. I spent most of the morning at a client's home--at least their property. They are living in a FEMA trailer because their home was completely destroyed. BUT their land is right on the Gulf and is so picturesque and perfect. It's exactly what I would picture the Gulf Coast to be like. Lots of live oaks, a dock leading to the water, a catamaran tied to the dock. Everything is perfect except they lost everything else.

It will be my privilege to work there the week after next with 12 youth from the midwest. I'm looking forward to it, even though I know I'll complain about sore muscles.

Tonight was great too, with another group of youth. We formed a partnership with Youth Build, an organization that trains youth in construction jobs. These youth will then volunteer for our construction projects, but Youth Build will pay them. It's definitely a win/win/win situation. We had a BBQ with this group tonight. Most people are still there because there's a DJ, but I had to leave because Q was in her crate and I don't like to leave here there for longer than 3-4 hours. Her bladder still doesn't last a lot longer than that.

I'm looking forward to being home with Q for the weekend.

5/19 New....

Yesterday I bought two plants, two ceiling fans, and a refrigerator. Yep. It'll be delivered today after 4, so I have to clean my kitchen. The guy who lived here had an old refrigerator in the kitchen. It doesn't match anything else--it's black and all the other appliances are white--plus the freezer door keeps popping open. So I bit the bullet. It'll be great because I'll get filtered water and ice in the door as well.

I hope I've spent the big bucks and that everything else is small. I bought a refrigerator, washer, dryer, fence, lawn service (to get rid of the weeds, fire ants, and mole crickets), and various other smaller items. The house is new so I don't expect too many repairs and things like that. So here's hoping....

Oh, and big news--Quincy slept eight hours straight the last three nights. I think my little pup is growing up. It's made a big difference in my energy level, that's for sure.

5/15 I learned something

At the meeting this morning with FEMA and some of our construction guys, I learned that if a structure is estimated to have less than 50% damage then it doesn't need to conform to the new elevation requirements. That's critical when it comes to an organization such as ours. If a house needs to be elevated, then we basically have to start from scratch and do a "build" rather than a "rebuild." Lots of complications, not to mention lots of money.

I also learned a little about flood zones. AE means that it's a special hazard flood area. A plain X means it's not a flood zone. An X in a shaded area means it's a 500 year flood zone, so we're still okay there (as long as it's not the 500th year). :)

Quincy slept well again last night, and is at doggy daycare today. She was thrilled to arrive and see her buddies. Hope I can afford to keep this up. It's hard to keep her at home when I work since her "condition" requires she goes outside every hour and a half or so. I'd leave her in the fenced yard but she's a digger and would be to China by the time I got home from work. That worries me--she could easily dig an escape route while alone and bored. Doggy Daycare is $1.50 an hour or $10 for the day (and night). So I'll give up something else to be able to keep taking her there. What can I give up? DSL? Nope. Digital cable? Nope. Fattening food? Nope. Cleaning team? Nope, don't have one here--yet. Lawn service? Nope--gotta get rid of those fire ants and mole crickets. Hmmm...I'll have to think about how to economize.

(Am taking a few minutes this afternoon to post since I only took a 2o minute lunch....)

5/14 I'm slow...

...but I'm learning.

There's so much to know here. So many details. So many people on the Gulf Coast I haven't met.

It's getting better however. The major piece I have to set in my addled brain is how the construction process begins.

I know it starts with case management and the Long Term Recovery Committee of the respective county. But I haven't been able to attend the LTRC meetings yet. My education there will start next week.

This week is full of meetings. My next one is at 1:30. I took a break and ran to McAllister's Deli to pick up a Spud Ole--a HUGE baked potato with cheese, jalapenos, onions, and veggie chili. (You can have regular chili as well.) Oh my it was great. But my office now smells like a Mexican restaurant. Not a bad smell as smells go. But the onions are STRONG. When I walk into the next meeting people will notice I'm there. My breath will enter before I do.

Quincy is sleeping by my chair. She's been just about perfect today. Just a few little barks but nothing to blog about (except I already did). When I go into a meeting I close my office door and she sleeps while I'm away. Works great.

Tomorrow she'll go to doggie day care, but they're closed today, so I have my buddy with me all day. Not a bad thing at all.

(Editing to add that Quincy slept 7 hours last night--got up, went outside and did her business, then let me sleep another hour. Life is so good.)

5/12 Nothing

Nothing going on today. Q and I are enjoying our time at home. Early this morning we walked on the beach. Quincy doesn't like the sand much, so we spent the most time on the sidewalk. Now she's been sleeping most of the day. That's okay with me because I'm able to get some work done without a puppy underfoot.

She loves the fenced yard, but still doesn't want to be outside without me. I'm kind of forcing her to be out there alone for a few minutes. She'll get used to it soon.

5/11 Quincy and I are home

After a long, challenging meeting in New Orleans, I picked up Quincy from Pampered Pets. They'd given her a bath because she and her puppy friends had gotten really "crusty" while playing. She apparently had a ball. I'll be happy to be with her all weekend, but will take her back to Doggy Day Care a few days next week. Gotta run now, but will post more tomorrow.

5/7 Not about Quincy

I forgot to write that Friday night I went to Backwater with Jane and Jan, and some of their colleagues. When the manager found out that I was a comic, she asked me if I wanted to introduce the second comic and said I could do a few jokes. Of course I said yes. The first joke didn't go over well, but the second one killed. That felt good.

She doesn't like to emcee, so I'm sure the next time I go home I can get a gig being the emcee there.

It was fun.

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be in Pearl, MS at the EOC (Emergency Operations Center). I've heard it's underground and is ultracool. Can't wait. We're doing a hurricane preparedness exercise. A huge fake hurricane will hit and we'll direct the response from the EOC. Since it's 3 1/2 hours away, I'll have to stay overnight, which is why Q is staying at Pampered Pets. Then Friday I have to go to New Orleans for the day, so I won't pick her up until Friday night. I'll sure miss her, but she was so happy to see that she could e with a bunch of other puppies. They are all in the same room and spoiled rotten. It made me smile to see her cavorting. She didn't even notice that I left.

I'll report about the EOC later this week.

5/7 Medical update

Short version: Quincy has a congenital defect affecting both bladder and kidney.

Long version: She has a pelvic bladder. Instead of her bladder being near her stomach, it's in her pelvis. This causes all kinds of problems, including incontinence and bladder infections. First course is to see if she'll "grow out of it." If not, then we go to medicine which has some rotten side effects. Then finally surgery. The professor at Mississippi State said something else about one of the kidneys, but my vet and I didn't quite get it, so she's going to wait for the written report and then will tell me about it. They advised that I have Quincy spayed because it wouldn't be good for her to get pregnant. Would be too hard on her kidneys and bladder. I'd already decided to have her fixed, so that wasn't a problem.

For right now, I know she "leaks" like some women after they've given birth. And they might have to do a bladder tuck to fix that. So if you come to my house and it smells like pee, remember that it's not this old lady who did it (yet), it's my beautiful, semi-incontinent, puppy.

She's so beautiful and sweet. I sure hope she gets better--for her sake.

5/4 Last day in Quincy with Quincy

Since I returned from Chicago I've been having such a relaxing time in Quincy. It's hard not having internet access all the time, but my Blackberry works pretty well. Right now I'm at my niece Kris's house, pirating wireless from my brother Joe's across the street.

Last night more than 20 of us gathered at Tower of Pizza for a great meal. Jeff and Deb even drove in from Carthage. I loved the noise and the chaos (and the margaritas). Thanks, Jane, for organizing it.

Tomorrow Q and I will head for home. I'd like to start by 7 or 8 since it's such a long drive and I want to do it in one day again. I'm anxious to get home...so much to do there. Plus my fence should be up by the time I arrive. Hooray for that.

5/2 Happy Birthday, Kayla!

I'm in Chicago so I can't post any pictures of my sweet granddaughter, but she's a very grown up seven years old today. I remember the day of her birth. Todd called me and said, "Hello, Grandma." And I started crying.

Kayla is not only beautiful and smart, she is funny. Isn't it great when kids can make you laugh with their wit? She's great at that!

Her birthday present is sitting on the front seat of my car, parked at the train station in Quincy. Sigh. Late again.

Hope your day is as special as you are. "You're my girl, Pearl."


Got up at 4:30 yesterday morning to catch the 6:15 train in Quincy. The train ride was nice and smooth, but had to take another train from Union Station to the western suburbs, then take a bus, and walk a few blocks to the hotel. I'm glad I only had luggage for one night. :)

The gathering was interesting and fun yesterday and we had an ejoyable meal last night. I was beat and didn't join the group at the bar afterward--I hit the sack, so of course woke up early this morning.

We'll finish up around noon and then I'll reverse the travel procedure to get back to Quincy, IL. My brother-in-law Tim will pick up my dog Q at the kennel and will have her waiting for me. :)

My sister, Jan, is a saint. Meant to write that yesterday. And I promised her I wouldn't visit again until Quincy is housetrained. :)

4/29 Quincy in Quincy

Will post pictures as soon as I get them from Jane.

The trip here was 13.5 hours instead of 12. Q was in the back seat, with her doggy seat belt on, and barked whenever she had to go outside. The only problem was that people kept making over her whenever she was out. It was sweet but slowed down the trip home. :) I finally had to tell some bikers that they had to quit the baby talk because I needed to leave.

She acts like she feels fine but was urinating a lot. Not in the car, and not in the guest bed at Jan and Tim's. But everywhere else. Last night though she only had to go outside one time during the night, which was very nice. And it wasn't even Quincy that woke up--it was me. I had to go, so woke her up accidentally. Ah, well, it worked out fine. She's on this antibiotic regimen for 14 days this time. Hope it all works out well. I hate it when she acts sick. Luckily that wasn't often.

In early June we're doing the Avon Breast Cancer Walk again. Jan, Kris, and Beth are walking. Jane, Deb, and I are crewing. They are on the medical team and I'm incident response. Am looking forward to spending time with them. This is our sixth year and it's such a pleasure to do it. I even love sleeping in tents. Today we went walking. The walkers are going at least five miles. Jane, Sarah, and I walked Quincy, Bailey, and Max about six blocks total to Quincy University and back. Q was absolutely done at that point. She's passed out now near my feet. I'm typing from Kris's house. Unfortunately I can't get online from Jan and Tim's. They have a gorgeous house out in the country and I'm relaxing so much, it's unbelievable.

Will work all day tomorrow, then go to Panera Bread at some point during the day to sign on their free wireless while I eat lunch.

4/27 HOORAY! Thank you God!

Her right kidney is really weird, but it seems to be working okay, and my vet said she's not an expert on these tests for puppies so she's sending the ultrasound to the Mississippi State vet school. But for right now I can pick up Quincy and drive to Quincy at noon.

I'm so grateful. My little puppy is okay for now, and we'll find out more when Mississippi State reviews the tests.

More later. Have to get back to work.

4/26 Poor, poor Quincy

I took her in this morning to be checked because she had a low grade urinary tract infection last week. The vet called me and said that, although the blood in the urine is gone, her white count is through the roof. So high that she can't even count it.

She x-rayed Q and saw that both of Quincy's kidneys are malformed. She asked lots of questions about how often Q urinates, etc. I was able to say that she hasn't had an accident all week, except she's a poop machine and sometimes will do that in the house. The vet will do like an IVP, putting dye into her veins so she can see more about her kidneys, and they'll also do a blood test.

Well, after I hung up I started crying. My only family here in Mississippi is very ill. The blood count and malformed kidneys really frightened me.

Later the vet called back and said the good news is that the kidney function (from the blood test?) is really good. But she can't do the "dye test" because Q is full of poop from stem to stern. I laughed and said tell me something I don't know.

They're keeping her overnight so she will be fasting, and will do the test at 8 AM tomorrow. I'll hear from the vet right away. And will post when I can, or will get a family member to post a comment. I called a few people so I could cry to someone--my brother-in-law Pete, my colleague Henry, my son Rob, and daughter Jill. It's good to have people to talk to.

I've been so busy that I haven't even been able to blog, but this was so important I wanted to get it out there so people could pray, send positive vibes, or whatever.

4/23 What a busy day!

The Senior Leadership Team is visiting from Austin so I spent all afternoon and evening with them. They are staying at Camp Victor tonight and Camp Biloxi tomorrow night. It's so much fun showing off what we do. I'm so proud of our volunteer camps and all that they and our staff accomplish.

I left Q home this morning since I had to go to Pascagoula for a meeting. Four hours later I came home to a crate that the poop machine had been busy in. That's what I'm calling her at the moment. Didn't have time to completely clean it up since I had to rush to the state office. On the way there my boss called and said they'd meet me at Camp Victor. So I brought Quincy with me and she behaved perfectly. I put her in the Site Director's office. She'd been there before when Pepper, Jon's dog, was there. So she was so happy to be there. She played and slept, with no barking, for five hours, so I was very proud of her.

Tomorrow, the Leadership Team is working on a site with a team from Camp Victor. I'm going to go at some point and "catch them" working, so I can take some pictures. Should be fun.

4/22 Bite me!

Yeah, that's what Q keeps doing. She thinks I'm a giant chew toy and teething ring. It'll be nice when she gets rid of all her razor-sharp baby teeth.

We went out for breakfast yesterday. I sat outside so Quincy could be with me. It was not a very relaxing meal because every single person had to stop and play with her. It's great to have a beautiful and friendly dog, but I don't get any privacy when I'm out. Is this what it's like to be a celebrity? :)

Right now she's attacking the doorstop. She found out that they move when touched so every doorstop in the house has become a toy. I've had to take off the little white rubber ends because she takes those off and chews on them. I'll put them back on when she loses interest. IF she loses interest.

This morning we walked around the circle (a block or so). This was the longest she ever walked without stopping. Felt like it was a big deal.

Have lots of LSSDR work to do today so need to get going....