Becky bought this cup specifically because she thought it would be cute with mice in it.
19 hours ago
Showing posts with label Tabby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tabby. Show all posts
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Another Sad Day
Although this one almost had a happy ending.
It started a week ago Monday when Tabby noticed that her mouse, Springald was having trouble breathing. How serious is that? A cold? Pneumonia? And what do you do for a mouse with a bad cold or something anyway?
I mentioned it to the tech that took my blood at Biolife on Tuesday morning and she just shook her head, "I've owned a bunch of rodents - mice, hamsters, even rabbits and like, half of them before they died had episodes like that."
Ugh.
So maybe the internet has advice right? And it did! Get some tetracycline from the fish department of a pet store, make an antiobiotic paste to feed your mouse and watch it recover. To Petco! But they don't sell it anymore. Apparently the product was intended to treat fish and was being used by too many people for other purposes, so the FDA started regulating it. But they guy there recommended a vet we could visit who could give us a prescription for an antibiotic.
to the Vet! We actually had a great time there. A whole bunch of people were there, mostly with dogs. All really nice (both people and dogs). One guy was there with a bird ("meanie bird" according to Tabby, since it had bitten its owner) and there was a girl there with a ferret. Tabby loved the ferret and spent most of her time in line bonding with its owner. The vet, Dr. Wolf, was very nice, very good with Tabby and had good news. She had an antibiotic, give it to Springald twice a day for two weeks and she should be fine.
"Any hints for how to medicate a mouse?" I asked.
"You don't need any. Mice love this stuff."
Ha! Springald definitely did not love the stuff. She fought us feeding it to her every time. Mostly we just smeared it on her whiskers and fur and she got it by grooming. Then after 3 or 4 days, she started to get better. Her breathing returned to normal and she looked much more comfortable. You know how antibiotic regmines are, though, we continued to administer the medicine twice a day.
Then last night as she struggled against getting it, she twisted her left front leg. When I let her down, she couldn't support herself on it. She didn't squeak like she was in pain or anything, she just couldn't use it and she totally freaked out. Like trying to run, jumping to get away from us, flopping around, obviously in a complete panic until she suddenly just stopped moving and died. My guess is something like a panic induced heart attack.
Man, when we agreed to let Tabby get mice, it didn't even occur to us how fragile an animal they are. I mean, obviously, we knew we'd be dealing with the "death of a pet" issue eventually ... but not so soon! Or frequently.
We went to Petco and got yet another mouse. A black one this time that Tabby has named Mini Shadow. She is sooo tiny. Cornflower seemed somewhat distraught that Springald never returned to the mouse cage, running around frantically looking for something or someone. Eventually she and Shadow curled up together, groomed a bit and went to sleep, though.
Tonight we'll have another mousey funeral and bury Springald next to the first Cornflower under the apple tree.
It started a week ago Monday when Tabby noticed that her mouse, Springald was having trouble breathing. How serious is that? A cold? Pneumonia? And what do you do for a mouse with a bad cold or something anyway?
I mentioned it to the tech that took my blood at Biolife on Tuesday morning and she just shook her head, "I've owned a bunch of rodents - mice, hamsters, even rabbits and like, half of them before they died had episodes like that."
Ugh.
So maybe the internet has advice right? And it did! Get some tetracycline from the fish department of a pet store, make an antiobiotic paste to feed your mouse and watch it recover. To Petco! But they don't sell it anymore. Apparently the product was intended to treat fish and was being used by too many people for other purposes, so the FDA started regulating it. But they guy there recommended a vet we could visit who could give us a prescription for an antibiotic.
to the Vet! We actually had a great time there. A whole bunch of people were there, mostly with dogs. All really nice (both people and dogs). One guy was there with a bird ("meanie bird" according to Tabby, since it had bitten its owner) and there was a girl there with a ferret. Tabby loved the ferret and spent most of her time in line bonding with its owner. The vet, Dr. Wolf, was very nice, very good with Tabby and had good news. She had an antibiotic, give it to Springald twice a day for two weeks and she should be fine.
"Any hints for how to medicate a mouse?" I asked.
"You don't need any. Mice love this stuff."
Ha! Springald definitely did not love the stuff. She fought us feeding it to her every time. Mostly we just smeared it on her whiskers and fur and she got it by grooming. Then after 3 or 4 days, she started to get better. Her breathing returned to normal and she looked much more comfortable. You know how antibiotic regmines are, though, we continued to administer the medicine twice a day.
Then last night as she struggled against getting it, she twisted her left front leg. When I let her down, she couldn't support herself on it. She didn't squeak like she was in pain or anything, she just couldn't use it and she totally freaked out. Like trying to run, jumping to get away from us, flopping around, obviously in a complete panic until she suddenly just stopped moving and died. My guess is something like a panic induced heart attack.
Man, when we agreed to let Tabby get mice, it didn't even occur to us how fragile an animal they are. I mean, obviously, we knew we'd be dealing with the "death of a pet" issue eventually ... but not so soon! Or frequently.
We went to Petco and got yet another mouse. A black one this time that Tabby has named Mini Shadow. She is sooo tiny. Cornflower seemed somewhat distraught that Springald never returned to the mouse cage, running around frantically looking for something or someone. Eventually she and Shadow curled up together, groomed a bit and went to sleep, though.
Tonight we'll have another mousey funeral and bury Springald next to the first Cornflower under the apple tree.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Rough Week
This week was a rough one for poor Tabby. Though it started well enough. Saturday morning was the Magic: the Gathering prerelease events for the new Kaladesh set of cards. I went to an early morning event and did horribly in my matches. 1-1-2, and I was lucky to eek out the two ties. But you know, there are worse ways to spend a morning than playing a fun game with good friends, even if you do poorly in the game.
What I was really excited about though is the Two Headed Giant event. Two players put together decks and play as a team against other 2HG teams. They do the event every prerlease and I'd like to take Tabby, but they don't start until 6 PM, which means not finishing until nearly 11 PM. Kinda' late for a nine year old. This time, however, they had a 2HG event Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. Perfect!
And Tabby & I kicked butt. I put together two decks for us that were okay individually; good, synergystic cards. The real strength was how they complemented each other, though. I mostly had spells that killed our opponents' creatures and Tabby mostly had creatures with a real high power to cost efficiency. So I killed blockers while Tabby threw out attacker after attacker after attacker and steamrolled our opponents. We went 3-1. Two of the games ending just ridiculously quickly. And the one game we lost was very close. Like, we could have won if I'd drawn just one of my 8 swamps. And even that round, we won a door prize. Literally, we won something every round. It was a lot of fun.
One hint of problem though. As Tabby & were chatting between rounds about her mice, she mentioned that poor Cornflower had an injured paw. Like, having trouble walking. So she had carefully put her in a soft kleenex bed. In a kleenex box on her dresser.
Me: "Did you remember to put her back in the cage before we left?"
Tabby: "Yeah, I think so."
Phone call.
Becky: "Jack, there's a problem, Tabby left her mouse cage door open and I don't see the mice anywhere."
Me: "Hm. Maybe check the kleenex box on her dresser?"
Becky: "What? Why? Seriously?"
pause
Becky; "Sure enough. They're back in the cage."
So we got home flying high after the tournament, check on the mice and found a terrible shock. Cornflower didn't have an injured paw, she'd actually broken her back. She couldn't move her back legs or tail at all. She could just scoot around by pulling with her front paws. It was so sad. Tabby cried and held Cornflower as much as she could all night.
We figured out that Cornflower actually got around okay. She could reach her food and water and crawl all over the cage. She could even climb the tubes in the cage. Getting up the tall tube took a couple tries, but she managed it.
Tabby had planned on making a YouTube video. She's been doing research about getting a rat as a pet, which involved watching videos, and she found a wonderful content maker called the Rat Guru who has inspired Tabby to create some of her own. After finding Cornflower with a broken back, though, she changed her plans to make a video tribute to how strong Cornflower was. It's a short, sweet video taken with a bad camera ... but it's pretty good for a nine year old's first ever video content.
Monday I kind of got the day off work. The intranet connection between Green Bay and Indianapolis was broken. All my work is on the Indianapolis server. All of it. So I went home and did yard work.
When Tabby got home from school she got Cornflower out of her cage and sat down to pet & cuddle her while watching YouTube videos. I walked downstairs about an hour later or so to see how it was going and found Tabby in tears, "Cornflower passed away, Dad. She just fell asleep and now she's dead." Oh man, it was so sad. I held Tabby while she cried and cried and cried. I felt awful. Even Becky, who never really liked the mice, felt awful. "Gah, why do I feel so sad about a stupid mouse?" But she did.
So we had a nice mouse funeral Monday evening and buried Cornflower under the apple tree out back. We also ran to the PetSmart and bought another mouse so that Springald wouldn't be alone. Another albino, Cornflower 2.
Tuesday morning also started out fun: Daddy/daughter breakfast at Tabby's school! We were excited about it all morning, had fun with the short clue hunt around the school before we got our food. Sat down to eat and Tabby said, "I don't feel well." When it turned out she couldn't even take more than a sip of her juice, I decided I'd take her home. On the way to retrieve her stuff from her locker she just exploded. Projectile vomit across the floor. At least she aimed down and managed to hit a spot where no one was walking next to us.
Poor Tabby. She gets that way sometimes and we're not sure why. Stress maybe? She'll get sick, throw up all morning, take a nap and wake up fine. By lunchtime she was all better. could probably even have gone back to school, but we don't quite feel comfortable with, "Our daughter is better now, we're letting her go back to school."
"You mean the girl that threw up all over our floor about three hours ago?"
Hm. So she got the whole day off.
This weekend we're going to Chicago. And Ben is taking some SAT specialized subject tests. Should be exciting. Hopefully it turns out to be all good instead of the ups and downs of the past week.
What I was really excited about though is the Two Headed Giant event. Two players put together decks and play as a team against other 2HG teams. They do the event every prerlease and I'd like to take Tabby, but they don't start until 6 PM, which means not finishing until nearly 11 PM. Kinda' late for a nine year old. This time, however, they had a 2HG event Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. Perfect!
And Tabby & I kicked butt. I put together two decks for us that were okay individually; good, synergystic cards. The real strength was how they complemented each other, though. I mostly had spells that killed our opponents' creatures and Tabby mostly had creatures with a real high power to cost efficiency. So I killed blockers while Tabby threw out attacker after attacker after attacker and steamrolled our opponents. We went 3-1. Two of the games ending just ridiculously quickly. And the one game we lost was very close. Like, we could have won if I'd drawn just one of my 8 swamps. And even that round, we won a door prize. Literally, we won something every round. It was a lot of fun.
One hint of problem though. As Tabby & were chatting between rounds about her mice, she mentioned that poor Cornflower had an injured paw. Like, having trouble walking. So she had carefully put her in a soft kleenex bed. In a kleenex box on her dresser.
Me: "Did you remember to put her back in the cage before we left?"
Tabby: "Yeah, I think so."
Phone call.
Becky: "Jack, there's a problem, Tabby left her mouse cage door open and I don't see the mice anywhere."
Me: "Hm. Maybe check the kleenex box on her dresser?"
Becky: "What? Why? Seriously?"
pause
Becky; "Sure enough. They're back in the cage."
So we got home flying high after the tournament, check on the mice and found a terrible shock. Cornflower didn't have an injured paw, she'd actually broken her back. She couldn't move her back legs or tail at all. She could just scoot around by pulling with her front paws. It was so sad. Tabby cried and held Cornflower as much as she could all night.
We figured out that Cornflower actually got around okay. She could reach her food and water and crawl all over the cage. She could even climb the tubes in the cage. Getting up the tall tube took a couple tries, but she managed it.
Tabby had planned on making a YouTube video. She's been doing research about getting a rat as a pet, which involved watching videos, and she found a wonderful content maker called the Rat Guru who has inspired Tabby to create some of her own. After finding Cornflower with a broken back, though, she changed her plans to make a video tribute to how strong Cornflower was. It's a short, sweet video taken with a bad camera ... but it's pretty good for a nine year old's first ever video content.
Monday I kind of got the day off work. The intranet connection between Green Bay and Indianapolis was broken. All my work is on the Indianapolis server. All of it. So I went home and did yard work.
When Tabby got home from school she got Cornflower out of her cage and sat down to pet & cuddle her while watching YouTube videos. I walked downstairs about an hour later or so to see how it was going and found Tabby in tears, "Cornflower passed away, Dad. She just fell asleep and now she's dead." Oh man, it was so sad. I held Tabby while she cried and cried and cried. I felt awful. Even Becky, who never really liked the mice, felt awful. "Gah, why do I feel so sad about a stupid mouse?" But she did.
So we had a nice mouse funeral Monday evening and buried Cornflower under the apple tree out back. We also ran to the PetSmart and bought another mouse so that Springald wouldn't be alone. Another albino, Cornflower 2.
Tuesday morning also started out fun: Daddy/daughter breakfast at Tabby's school! We were excited about it all morning, had fun with the short clue hunt around the school before we got our food. Sat down to eat and Tabby said, "I don't feel well." When it turned out she couldn't even take more than a sip of her juice, I decided I'd take her home. On the way to retrieve her stuff from her locker she just exploded. Projectile vomit across the floor. At least she aimed down and managed to hit a spot where no one was walking next to us.
Poor Tabby. She gets that way sometimes and we're not sure why. Stress maybe? She'll get sick, throw up all morning, take a nap and wake up fine. By lunchtime she was all better. could probably even have gone back to school, but we don't quite feel comfortable with, "Our daughter is better now, we're letting her go back to school."
"You mean the girl that threw up all over our floor about three hours ago?"
Hm. So she got the whole day off.
This weekend we're going to Chicago. And Ben is taking some SAT specialized subject tests. Should be exciting. Hopefully it turns out to be all good instead of the ups and downs of the past week.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Yoga
Through the end of last year at United Health, they offered a once a week yoga class for employees. I tried it early in the year just 'cause I was curious about yoga. The whole relaxation thing was, meh, I could take it or leave it. I don't feel like I much need it. But I really liked the stretching. So I continued to go.
At the end of the year, they discontinued the class. However, the instructor, Erin, teaches at a local yoga studio (Everybody's Yoga) and mentioned that every Sunday evening they offer a class to raise money for charity. So this past Sunday I asked Tabby if she wanted to go try a Yoga class with me.
She loved it.
First of all, it was fun to go do something with Dad. At least, I tell myself that was the #1 thing. Tabby was also very impressed with Erin, who is one of the nicest people I've ever met. "Oh Tabby it is so nice to meet you! I'm glad you came. Give me hug." Plus, Tabby was really impressed watching Erin do handstands and side crow and all those cool yoga things. Half way through the class Tabby commented, "this is challenging and that's good. I'm getting strong!" Then at the end of the class, "I love Erin. We have to come do this again next week, Dad".
At the end of the year, they discontinued the class. However, the instructor, Erin, teaches at a local yoga studio (Everybody's Yoga) and mentioned that every Sunday evening they offer a class to raise money for charity. So this past Sunday I asked Tabby if she wanted to go try a Yoga class with me.
She loved it.
First of all, it was fun to go do something with Dad. At least, I tell myself that was the #1 thing. Tabby was also very impressed with Erin, who is one of the nicest people I've ever met. "Oh Tabby it is so nice to meet you! I'm glad you came. Give me hug." Plus, Tabby was really impressed watching Erin do handstands and side crow and all those cool yoga things. Half way through the class Tabby commented, "this is challenging and that's good. I'm getting strong!" Then at the end of the class, "I love Erin. We have to come do this again next week, Dad".
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Fire Drill
The other night Tabby confided that she was afraid of fire. She worries we might have a fire in our house and she wouldn't know where to go or what to do. So we talked about it a while and I realized it had been a very long time since we've had a fire drill. Like a few years. Long enough that in Tabby's short lifetime, she couldn't remember it.
Boy did Tabby ever take to the idea. She put herself in charge of planning it, made fake fire drawings she could tape up around the house and made sure we were all informed where to go.
I'm really glad we did it. Turns out Tabby had no idea how to open her windows. Now she does.
Boy did Tabby ever take to the idea. She put herself in charge of planning it, made fake fire drawings she could tape up around the house and made sure we were all informed where to go.
I'm really glad we did it. Turns out Tabby had no idea how to open her windows. Now she does.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Book Report: The Robe of Skulls
Tabby found a book that she absolutely loved. Enough to make Becky & I read it as well. The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French.
Lady Lamorna wants to buy a new robe from the Crones, but is out of gold. So she hatches a plot to get gold involving princes, toads & blackmail. Foyce is a wicked girl who wants in on the plot. Foyce's sister Gracie just hopes to escape life with Foyce and their cruel father Mange. Prince Marcus wants an adventure. All their paths cross with the help of an entrepreneurial bat named Marlon.
It's a cute story pitting evil against good. The writing is lively and fun, as are the characters. I'm with Tabby. The book is aimed at mid to late grade school kids and I would recommend it as an enjoyable book to read.
Lady Lamorna wants to buy a new robe from the Crones, but is out of gold. So she hatches a plot to get gold involving princes, toads & blackmail. Foyce is a wicked girl who wants in on the plot. Foyce's sister Gracie just hopes to escape life with Foyce and their cruel father Mange. Prince Marcus wants an adventure. All their paths cross with the help of an entrepreneurial bat named Marlon.
It's a cute story pitting evil against good. The writing is lively and fun, as are the characters. I'm with Tabby. The book is aimed at mid to late grade school kids and I would recommend it as an enjoyable book to read.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Pet Expo
Last Saturday Tabby and I went to the Green Bay Pet Expo. It happens about this time every year, and we've gone for the past several. Vendors have booths selling all sorts of products, mostly pet related. There are outreach booths for animal rescue projects. And, of course, almost every booth has animals. Mostly dogs. A few cats. The exotic animal rescue booth had a boa constrictor and some turtles.
There is a small petting zoo. Some goats to feed. A lemur. A llama.
We finished the day by watching a local training school, Clever K-9s, demonstrate an agility course while we snacked on cinnamon baked nuts.
There is a small petting zoo. Some goats to feed. A lemur. A llama.
We finished the day by watching a local training school, Clever K-9s, demonstrate an agility course while we snacked on cinnamon baked nuts.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Father Daughter Dance
Last Friday at church they threw a Father Daughter dance. Man was it fun! The little girls were soooooo excited. I'm talking, like, bouncing and giggling with uncontainable glee excited. Even the older girls who seemed to be there just to humor Dad were having a good time.
Becky took pictures there. She put up a small photo set with a ton of fun props. Like more than one group of girls walked past the set and squeeeeed! in delight at the fans, boas, umbrellas et al that she brought. The props were constantly being borrowed to wear on the dance floor. And Becky really enjoyed doing the photography. She got some great shots. I think you can find some samples at Magical Moments photography by Becky on Facebook.
Tabby is such a choreography taskmaster. Lift! Spin! Dip! Again! It was a work out. And it was a blast.
Becky took pictures there. She put up a small photo set with a ton of fun props. Like more than one group of girls walked past the set and squeeeeed! in delight at the fans, boas, umbrellas et al that she brought. The props were constantly being borrowed to wear on the dance floor. And Becky really enjoyed doing the photography. She got some great shots. I think you can find some samples at Magical Moments photography by Becky on Facebook.
Tabby is such a choreography taskmaster. Lift! Spin! Dip! Again! It was a work out. And it was a blast.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Happy Birthday, Tabby!
So yeah, I'm posting older pictures.
Tabby had a great birthday.
Starting with Happy Birthday wishes from our wonderful neighbor, Mary Ann
Jack came up for the day.
We went to Bay Beach Amusement Park with two of Tabby's best friends, Ella and Amber.
Cake!
And, of course, sparklers.
Tabby had a great birthday.
Starting with Happy Birthday wishes from our wonderful neighbor, Mary Ann
Jack came up for the day.
We went to Bay Beach Amusement Park with two of Tabby's best friends, Ella and Amber.
Cake!
And, of course, sparklers.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Lessons from Tabby
Tabby is so sweet. I mean, not all the time. When she's tired she can get like, well... like her surly teenage brothers. With Tabby it comes across more diva than surly, but it's pretty obvious she's mimicking them.
Mostly, though, Tabby is just sweet. She tries so hard to make us happy and sometimes it really is hard. Like in the mornings when she has sooo much exciting things to talk about with us ... like Bay Beach is open! Or there's a rabbit living under our tree! Or her birthday is in only 2 months! There's just not enough time and all we seem to be worried about is her catching the stupid school bus. On top of that, just getting up to speed sharing with us is an effort because she really isn't a morning person. Definitely a night owl. Like sometimes she just plain doesn't fall asleep for a long time. We'll hear her up in her room talking to her stuffed animals until, like 10:00, even when she's in bed at 8:30.
Mornings, though? Ugh. I can relate. It's hard to get moving. Sometimes that makes for some sad mornings when she can't get going fast enough and ends up arguing about things. Sometimes she loses her afternoon computer or TV time. It doesn't happen a lot, but it happens. When it does, I'm not sure if she's more distraught about losing her priveleges or about us being angry with her. Like I say, she's a sweet girl and just wants us to be happy with her.
So this morning looked like it was heading an unhappy direction. Tabby was complaining about not feeling well... like she does sometimes when she doesn't want to get moving. And also talking about us going to Bay Beach next week. And school being almost over. I was trying to hurry along. Telling her she'll feel better once she eats breakfast and gets going for the day. She had to hurry! There are only 2 days of school left and she needs to go enjoy every last minute of them! She didn't want to hurry and it was heading for one of those hard mornings.
Then she threw up on my feet.
As soon as she stopped retching, and it took a while because she threw up a lot, her relief was palpable.
"Now you have to let me stay home," sigh, "and you can let me watch TV."
"Yes, you should stay home today. Get some sleep and get better."
"Yeah, and I can watch TV while I sleep."
She was just so happy that today she convinced us that she had a good reason to not move fast and we weren't going to be mad about it. Even if she had to throw up on my feet to convince me. Being sick didn't matter, at least everyone was happy.
She is so spontaneously sweet, too. We live next door to her music teacher, Mrs. Carlson. That's exciting. Tabby loves her and loves seeing her outside of school. The first time she memorized a whole song, she had to go knock on Mrs. Carlson's door and sing it for her just to show that she still knew it. A whole day after they'd learned it!
Well a few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, Tabby picked a bunch of dandelions and took them to Mrs. Carlson. She does that for Becky pretty frequently. It was one of the exciting things about Spring finally arriving in Wisconsin. She could give Mom flowers! This time though she was so excited that she had thought of taking flowers to someone who wasn't Mom. Someone who really liked getting them. It just couldn't end there. So she also made a card for Mrs. Carlson. What kind of card do you make for someone to whom you have just given flowers you might ask? A "your welcome" card, of course.
That was probably the last time Mrs. Carlson ever saw any of her students. Turns out she wasn't feeling well that day. She'd gone to the doctor and gotten some antibiotics, but still wasn't feeling well and stayed home from school on Monday. In the early Tuesday morning hours she passed away.
That was an unbelievable shock. She was only 48! She seemed healthy enough. Becky said there were a lot of visitors to her house on Tuesday, but that's not unusual. She has a college age daughter and school is out for them and her son is a graduating senior this year. They get busy sometimes. So when the school district sent out an e-mail Tuesday night telling us what happened ... man, Becky and I both literally just gasped out loud. Unbelievable.
What a poignant lesson from Tabby, though. You just never know what's going on in people's lives. You certainly don't know what's going to happen in the near future. Even the small acts we perform might have a greater impact than we could ever imagine. I mean, forever now, the last time Kim Carlson saw any of her students it was Tabby, letting her know how much she was loved. In just a small way. But man, it really drives home how important even just the smallest of kind acts are.
Mostly, though, Tabby is just sweet. She tries so hard to make us happy and sometimes it really is hard. Like in the mornings when she has sooo much exciting things to talk about with us ... like Bay Beach is open! Or there's a rabbit living under our tree! Or her birthday is in only 2 months! There's just not enough time and all we seem to be worried about is her catching the stupid school bus. On top of that, just getting up to speed sharing with us is an effort because she really isn't a morning person. Definitely a night owl. Like sometimes she just plain doesn't fall asleep for a long time. We'll hear her up in her room talking to her stuffed animals until, like 10:00, even when she's in bed at 8:30.
Mornings, though? Ugh. I can relate. It's hard to get moving. Sometimes that makes for some sad mornings when she can't get going fast enough and ends up arguing about things. Sometimes she loses her afternoon computer or TV time. It doesn't happen a lot, but it happens. When it does, I'm not sure if she's more distraught about losing her priveleges or about us being angry with her. Like I say, she's a sweet girl and just wants us to be happy with her.
So this morning looked like it was heading an unhappy direction. Tabby was complaining about not feeling well... like she does sometimes when she doesn't want to get moving. And also talking about us going to Bay Beach next week. And school being almost over. I was trying to hurry along. Telling her she'll feel better once she eats breakfast and gets going for the day. She had to hurry! There are only 2 days of school left and she needs to go enjoy every last minute of them! She didn't want to hurry and it was heading for one of those hard mornings.
Then she threw up on my feet.
As soon as she stopped retching, and it took a while because she threw up a lot, her relief was palpable.
"Now you have to let me stay home," sigh, "and you can let me watch TV."
"Yes, you should stay home today. Get some sleep and get better."
"Yeah, and I can watch TV while I sleep."
She was just so happy that today she convinced us that she had a good reason to not move fast and we weren't going to be mad about it. Even if she had to throw up on my feet to convince me. Being sick didn't matter, at least everyone was happy.
She is so spontaneously sweet, too. We live next door to her music teacher, Mrs. Carlson. That's exciting. Tabby loves her and loves seeing her outside of school. The first time she memorized a whole song, she had to go knock on Mrs. Carlson's door and sing it for her just to show that she still knew it. A whole day after they'd learned it!
Well a few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, Tabby picked a bunch of dandelions and took them to Mrs. Carlson. She does that for Becky pretty frequently. It was one of the exciting things about Spring finally arriving in Wisconsin. She could give Mom flowers! This time though she was so excited that she had thought of taking flowers to someone who wasn't Mom. Someone who really liked getting them. It just couldn't end there. So she also made a card for Mrs. Carlson. What kind of card do you make for someone to whom you have just given flowers you might ask? A "your welcome" card, of course.
That was probably the last time Mrs. Carlson ever saw any of her students. Turns out she wasn't feeling well that day. She'd gone to the doctor and gotten some antibiotics, but still wasn't feeling well and stayed home from school on Monday. In the early Tuesday morning hours she passed away.
That was an unbelievable shock. She was only 48! She seemed healthy enough. Becky said there were a lot of visitors to her house on Tuesday, but that's not unusual. She has a college age daughter and school is out for them and her son is a graduating senior this year. They get busy sometimes. So when the school district sent out an e-mail Tuesday night telling us what happened ... man, Becky and I both literally just gasped out loud. Unbelievable.
What a poignant lesson from Tabby, though. You just never know what's going on in people's lives. You certainly don't know what's going to happen in the near future. Even the small acts we perform might have a greater impact than we could ever imagine. I mean, forever now, the last time Kim Carlson saw any of her students it was Tabby, letting her know how much she was loved. In just a small way. But man, it really drives home how important even just the smallest of kind acts are.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Goats
I like Suburgatory. I don't watch it every week, and I've only actually seen a handful of full episodes (it's on about the time I'm getting Tabby ready for bed), but when convenient, I'll turn it on. So this past Wednesday I popped in and out of the living room to catch the show between getting Tabby a snack and in pajamas and teeth brushed.
I was in just in time to see the main character, Tessa, go visit her boyfriend to break up with him. He, apparently, didn't see it coming and had acquired a goat for her Tessa's father ("Do you know how hard it is to find a goat here?"). You see, he had spent some time doing humanitarian work in Africa and the goat-gift was a tribal courtship ritual among the people where he served. Tessa, wisely IMO, decided that at 16 she wasn't interested in courtship rituals and broke up with the dude anyway.
Tabby walked in just in time to see Scott offer Tessa the goat to give her father.
Tabby: "Ohhhhhh. How adorable. I want a goat!"
Me (laughing): "So if some boy offers me a goat for you, you'll kiss him?"
Tabby: "And the goat."
I was in just in time to see the main character, Tessa, go visit her boyfriend to break up with him. He, apparently, didn't see it coming and had acquired a goat for her Tessa's father ("Do you know how hard it is to find a goat here?"). You see, he had spent some time doing humanitarian work in Africa and the goat-gift was a tribal courtship ritual among the people where he served. Tessa, wisely IMO, decided that at 16 she wasn't interested in courtship rituals and broke up with the dude anyway.
Tabby walked in just in time to see Scott offer Tessa the goat to give her father.
Tabby: "Ohhhhhh. How adorable. I want a goat!"
Me (laughing): "So if some boy offers me a goat for you, you'll kiss him?"
Tabby: "And the goat."
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tabitha's Teeth
That's our little monster. Let me tell you what a trooper she is.
See those teeth? More specifically, those spots on her teeth? That's some pretty advanced decay. The top teeth were even worse. We realized how badly she needed dental care while I was unemployed and we were on Wisconsin's Badger Care. Which seems really cool. We couldn't afford to get our child the health care she needed, so the state would pick it up for us. Except that we couldn't find a dentist that would take patients on Badger Care.
Mostly her teeth didn't bother her. Sometimes while eating she favored one side. Mostly it seemed like something that could wait until I found a job and got insurance. Which I did. Then found out that most dentists wouldn't accept you as a patient if you had been on Badger Care in the last year. Some would accept a quota of patients per month, though, so we got on a waiting list with a clinic that had filled its quota for that month and the next, but would eventually have openings.
Sometime around September her teeth really started hurting. Like whimper herself to sleep at night they hurt so bad. That was pretty distressing to have your sweet little girl in such pain, nothing you could do about it and the people who could do something about it telling you they wouldn't because you were too poor too recently to be worth their time.
Well, we were able to convince the clinic where we were on a waiting list that this seemed like an emergency to us, so they let us bring her in. A dentist looked at Tabby's teeth and told us, "Sure enough, that looks pretty bad. You need to take her to a pediatric dentist."
Fortunately, the pain Tabby had been experiencing was just a flare up of some sort. Within a couple of days she was back to just sometimes favoring one side when she chewed, wincing when we brushed, but mostly okay. We got an appointment for nearly a month later with a pediatric dentist. She got a list of work that needed doing, told us that because Tabby was only four, it would have to be done under sedation, in a hospital and there were no openings any time in the near future. She'd let us know.
Back to mostly only occasional pain while we waited. Mid December we were finally told that an appointment had been made for Tabby on January 13th to have the work done. Only a month to go. We began preparing Tabby right away for the day of her hospital stay. No food that morning. Just apple juice for breakfast, go play at a friends for a little bit then to the hospital. By the time the day arrived, she knew exactly how the routine would go.
She went in at 11:00 am. It was supposed to be pretty quick. We didn't think I'd need to take any time off work. Becky would probably be home with Tabby about the time the boys got back from school then I'd be home soon after that. But I wanted to be home when they arrived, so I took the afternoon off anyway.
Turns out to be a good thing I did. Tabby had some difficulty coming off the anesthetic. Every time they took her off oxygen some number they monitor dropped really low and she turned blue. Didn't want to wake up. Becky let me know what was up. I went to the store got a bunch of soft foods for Tabby. Applesauce, yogurt, popsicles, sherbet. Got my poor little girl some flowers. Took Sam to a friends house. About 5ish, Becky said Tabby was still fine as long as she had oxygen, and she seemed to remember that someone in my family reacted similarly, could I call my Mom to find out what it was? Could I order some pizza for the boys and come to the hospital so she could go get some food?
It was my Mom who reacted like Tabby. Almost exactly the same, I guess. I don't know if it helped them to know that at the hospital, but by the time I got there Tabby was off oxygen, but not quite awake. It was nice to see she didn't need the mask, but still tough to have my little girl there with her mouth all swollen, an IV in her hand, hooked up to a monitor. It wasn't too long ago that I had my root canal. My mouth had been pretty sore, and here was my poor Tabby who just went through so much more work than I'd had done.
I talked to her a little bit, she woke up. Maybe it was because they were taking her blood pressure and she felt the armband, or maybe it was just time. I like to think she heard her Daddy there and woke up for me. She rested a little more while Becky went to the cafeteria and got some hamburgers for herself and me. Tabby got a whole tray full of soft foods to choose from, yogurt, mashed potatos, jello. She took a couple bites of yogurt and potato, looked at my hamburger and said, "That looks really good."
"Would you like a bite of my hamburger, Tabby?"
"Yeah."
The first bite was voraciously huge. The next couple, a little smaller, a little gentler. She decided to try the chocolate pudding. She ate a lot of chocolate pudding.
The doctors wanted to keep Tabby around a bit to make sure her oxygen level stayed steady. No one argued. Becky went home about 7ish. At nearly 8:00 pm Tabby said, "I'm really tired. I think it's bed time." It had been a long day. About an hour later they finally let us go.
Tabby was so glad to get home. She loved her flowers. That's about all she noticed. We let her sleep with us.
The next morning I asked her which of all the soft foods she wanted. Yogurt? A boiled egg? Some toast? She looked at the Pizza Hut box in our fridge, "Some pizza would be good." Turns out Tabby wasn't interested in a gentle recovery. Her mouth was a little sore, but she was up and happy and glad to have it done with.
Sunday morning I asked how her mouth felt. "Oh so very good," she sighed. I almost started crying I was so happy.
Sunday morning we also got a visit from the tooth fairy who left Tabby some blueberries for the tooth the doctors took out. Why blueberries? Tabby got a book for Christmas.
I guess if blueberries are good enough for a bear, then that's what Tabby wanted too. We tried telling her that kids usually got money from the tooth fairy, but Tabby insisted the tooth fairy would bring her blueberries. I guess Tabby was right.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
What Does an Actuary Do?
A week or so ago as I'm walking out for work in the morning, Jack and Tabby were at the kitchen table eating breakfast.
Jack: Bye, Dad. Have fun crunching numbers.
Tabby (jaw drops): You crunch numbers?
Me (laughing): Yeah! Like this (crunch fist).
Tabby: Wow. Are they hard or soft?
Friday morning as I'm leaving for work, Tabby is at the computer and looks up.
Tabby: Bye, Dad! Have fun punching numbers!
Jack: Bye, Dad. Have fun crunching numbers.
Tabby (jaw drops): You crunch numbers?
Me (laughing): Yeah! Like this (crunch fist).
Tabby: Wow. Are they hard or soft?
Friday morning as I'm leaving for work, Tabby is at the computer and looks up.
Tabby: Bye, Dad! Have fun punching numbers!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Fun Filler
So much eventful I hardly know where to start.
The new job has been good. Mostly I'm playing with spreadsheets. I get paid to do homework!
Jack turned 18! And got his driver's license! Becky is scared to death.
My parents spent a few days here. It's been about 3 years since we've seen them. It was very nice. I've got pictures to post.
But that's going to take some time to put together. So for now I'll just pass on a little fairy tale Tabby acted out in the tub tonight.
Several of her "My Little Ponies" were lined up on the edge of the tub talking or playing or I don't know what, when her dolly came along and started kicking them into the water.
"What a naughty little girl!" I said.
"Yeah," Said Tabby. Kick.
We had a great time with me running ponies away from the doll while she chased after to kick us into the water. In the end, there just aren't enough places to run around a tub and all the ponies were kicked in. I picked up my book and read a bit. Next thing I now, the doll is gathering all the ponies out of the water in a pot.
"Oh, is she rescuing the ponies now?"
"No. She's going to boil them and eat them."
"Like, she's going to eat the ponies for dinner?"
"Yep."
"Wow, that's horrible. You're not supposed to boil ponies. You pet them and ride them and feed them apples."
"Yep. She's naughty."
Back to reading my book. Suddenly all the ponies are lined up on the tub again and the Barbie mermaid is casting healing magic over them all.
"Did Barbie rescue the ponies?"
"Yes, because she's a good guy."
"Oh that's wonderful."
"And now they're going to boil the naughty little girl."
Sure enough. Now I noticed the doll in the pot that the ponies had been in.
"What?! That's horrible."
"They're going to eat her for dinner now."
"Maybe . . . maybe instead of eating her, Barbie can rescue her from the pot and heal her up and maybe she's learned her lesson and will be good now?"
"Yeah, whatever Dad."
The end.
The new job has been good. Mostly I'm playing with spreadsheets. I get paid to do homework!
Jack turned 18! And got his driver's license! Becky is scared to death.
My parents spent a few days here. It's been about 3 years since we've seen them. It was very nice. I've got pictures to post.
But that's going to take some time to put together. So for now I'll just pass on a little fairy tale Tabby acted out in the tub tonight.
Several of her "My Little Ponies" were lined up on the edge of the tub talking or playing or I don't know what, when her dolly came along and started kicking them into the water.
"What a naughty little girl!" I said.
"Yeah," Said Tabby. Kick.
We had a great time with me running ponies away from the doll while she chased after to kick us into the water. In the end, there just aren't enough places to run around a tub and all the ponies were kicked in. I picked up my book and read a bit. Next thing I now, the doll is gathering all the ponies out of the water in a pot.
"Oh, is she rescuing the ponies now?"
"No. She's going to boil them and eat them."
"Like, she's going to eat the ponies for dinner?"
"Yep."
"Wow, that's horrible. You're not supposed to boil ponies. You pet them and ride them and feed them apples."
"Yep. She's naughty."
Back to reading my book. Suddenly all the ponies are lined up on the tub again and the Barbie mermaid is casting healing magic over them all.
"Did Barbie rescue the ponies?"
"Yes, because she's a good guy."
"Oh that's wonderful."
"And now they're going to boil the naughty little girl."
Sure enough. Now I noticed the doll in the pot that the ponies had been in.
"What?! That's horrible."
"They're going to eat her for dinner now."
"Maybe . . . maybe instead of eating her, Barbie can rescue her from the pot and heal her up and maybe she's learned her lesson and will be good now?"
"Yeah, whatever Dad."
The end.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Take one
Becky took Jackson to Baird Creek Park for a photo session. She's not sure she's satisfied with what they got, so there might be a take two, but here's a few of them.
Of course, because she's the cutest in the house, and the subject of most of Becky's practice, I have to include one of Tabby. Acting like a Dragon.
Of course, because she's the cutest in the house, and the subject of most of Becky's practice, I have to include one of Tabby. Acting like a Dragon.
Monday, July 4, 2011
How to deal with mosquitos
Me: Oh man, Tabby, it looks like you had a mosquito biting you last night.
Tabby: Yeah, I hate mosquitos.
Me: Stupid mosquitos.
Tabby: It's in my bedroom. We need to go whack it.
Me: You think we can find it?
Tabby: Yes. We need the bug whacker.
Me: /grabs fly swatter, starts looking around Tabby's room in the window, by the lights~
Tabby: There it is! On the wall. Get it.
Me: /whack!
Tabby: Pwnd!
Tabby: Yeah, I hate mosquitos.
Me: Stupid mosquitos.
Tabby: It's in my bedroom. We need to go whack it.
Me: You think we can find it?
Tabby: Yes. We need the bug whacker.
Me: /grabs fly swatter, starts looking around Tabby's room in the window, by the lights~
Tabby: There it is! On the wall. Get it.
Me: /whack!
Tabby: Pwnd!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Quilt
Becky made a new quilt for Tabby. It's double sided. The fairy side was unofficially the "back", but Tabby had decided it's her favorite, so it's not really the back anymore.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Rango
Tabby: Dad, you haven't played pony yet today.
Me: You're right, I haven't. I'm going to eat lunch right now, though.
Tabby: Okay, I'll wait while you eat lunch. Then we can play pony.
Me: I was thinking about going to a movie.
Tabby: /gasp! Can I come?
Me: Do you want to see a movie?
Tabby: Yes! And we can eat popcorn and drink soda!
Me: Okay, let's go to a movie.
So we went to the nearby budget theater. While the boys went to see Limitless (which they thought was an awesome show), I took Tabby to see Rango.
Rango was a fun movie. Weird, artsy, but lots of fun. Good storyline, well developed theme, great characters. I've got to admit that after watching the movie, I kind of worried about it scaring Tabby. The bad guys are frightening. Heck, a lot of the good guys are frightening! It's violent for a kids' film, kind of dark at times and coarse in an out west, cowboy way. More foul language than you find in, say, a Barbie movie. Tabby seems to have done fine with it though.
Me: You're right, I haven't. I'm going to eat lunch right now, though.
Tabby: Okay, I'll wait while you eat lunch. Then we can play pony.
Me: I was thinking about going to a movie.
Tabby: /gasp! Can I come?
Me: Do you want to see a movie?
Tabby: Yes! And we can eat popcorn and drink soda!
Me: Okay, let's go to a movie.
So we went to the nearby budget theater. While the boys went to see Limitless (which they thought was an awesome show), I took Tabby to see Rango.
Rango was a fun movie. Weird, artsy, but lots of fun. Good storyline, well developed theme, great characters. I've got to admit that after watching the movie, I kind of worried about it scaring Tabby. The bad guys are frightening. Heck, a lot of the good guys are frightening! It's violent for a kids' film, kind of dark at times and coarse in an out west, cowboy way. More foul language than you find in, say, a Barbie movie. Tabby seems to have done fine with it though.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Best Friends at the Zoo
Becky took Tabby to the local zoo yesterday along with Tabby's best friends Ella and Brindley.
Tabby says she especially liked the llama. It licked her.
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