Happy second anniversary to my sweet Sugarpop! It keeps getting better.

Lyric & Maebyfrom Grilling with Lyric

This sporadic blogger feels the need to post something, despite any specific news. So summer’s been going well. Our patio and grill have seen a lot of use with some thanks to Christin & Lyric and the Kesslers. Maeby’s been keeping us active, and both the dog and I are a few pounds lighter for it. I’ve been having a lot of fun with my new toy, my reading list, new things to study, and some old-school gaming.

My camera has been getting a lot of work as well, but a lot of that still sits on my computer awaiting “post-processing,” otherwise known as deleting, deleting, deleting, cropping, sharpening, and “I’m Feeling Lucky.” So when I finally get through that, there will be photos to enjoy of our continuing summer adventures, including grilling with the Bears, Minnesota wine country, and fun times at Lake Kjostad.

We also recently decided to take a long weekend in San Francisco. Amy’s wanted to go back there as long as I’ve known her, and I’m excited to see it for the first time. If anyone has any travel tips for us, let me know.

Maeby by the Lakefrom Meet Maeby

Woof! We finally have a dog. Amy’s wanted one for as long as I’ve known her, so I knew the time would come eventually. Over the winter, settled in the house, we agreed to get one sometime this spring or summer, after Hawaii. We both did breed research, and I eventually determined I wanted a beagle (before Uno won Westminster, ahem).

Petfinder was a great resource when we actually started looking for dogs. They let you easily search through every shelter and rescue organization for the type of dog you want, and you can specify breed, age range, size, location, or any combination.

When we finally did narrow it down to a couple we liked, Happy Hound Rescue was really great. They were very helpful and responsive, and seemed genuinely interested in matching us with a dog that really fit, resulting in a happier dog and happier owners. I’m glad they did, because Maeby is perfect for us.

Jenny, as the rescue had named her, turned up in our search last week, and we both had a good feeling about her. She was mature, house trained, crate trained, and seemed sweet and quite cute. Amy set up the adoption, and she arrived on Sunday. We named her Maeby, after the Arrested Development character, because, like her namesake, she’s curious and determined and I suspect prone to find trouble if we’d let her.

Maeby is about 5 years old, a bit overweight (but not for long), and possibly a bit arthritic. Like any beagle, she can become fixated on a scent trail. She sleeps all night and loves hanging out with us on the couch. Fortunately, unlike some beagles, she doesn’t make much noise or get too excited about much… except White Castle. Amy brought some home for me the other night, and Maeby started baying and bouncing around like we’d never seen her do. She really wanted those burgers!

Wow, no posts in a month. What a terrible blogger I am. I think I’m justified this time. Frankly, January completely sucked. Hear now my saga.

On the Friday before New Year’s Eve, I woke with a terrible toothache. Despite it being her “busiest day of the year,” my dentist was nice enough squeeze me in. She determined that I needed a root canal. Yay! Unfortunately, she only had time to perform half a root canal – enough to alleviate my pain until the week after next when her schedule was more open.

That seemed to go fine until a couple of hours later – when the root canal got infected. I can’t describe how painful this was other than to say it felt like a kindey stone in my mouth (I’ve had kidney stones several times – it doesn’t get much worse). I called her emergency line, got her directly, and before too long I had some penicillin and was good as new.

Or was I? The Monday after I finished that course of antibiotics, I started to itch. I noticed two mosquito-bite sized bumps on my arm, and I couldn’t stop scratching them. By lunch time, there were three bumps. An hour or so later, there were eight. Hives! I realized that something was seriously wrong with me and went straight to the doctor. She determined that I was probably allergic to the penicillin. She told me to take Benedryll and gave me a perscription for a mild steroid in case they got worse.

I went home and rested, feeling comforted in my nice Benedryll haze, but by bedtime the hives were way, way worse. Imagine a five inch raised, red bump on your thigh that itches like nothing else. I had those in at least five or six spots on my body. Taking the steroid seemed to make them mostly go away by the next morning, and by Wednesday I could barely tell they had been there at all.

Feeling energized by that, I decided to finish the painting that Amy and I had started the weekend prior. I didn’t mind the work, and I sure liked the results: transforming the hideous aquarium-themed nursery into a nice, relaxing home office. I was painting without a mask, and with the doors and windows shut no less. It’s great how they’ve paint not smell bad anymore! Must be fine for you…

Or so I thought. The next morning, the hives were back worse than ever. Itching like crazy! Doc gave me a stronger steroid, and I had to take that and Benedryll for the next two weeks, leaving me in a terrible haze of dizziness, headache, and nausea – all mixed together with a strangely huge appetite. You’d think that’d be the end of it, but the hits just kept on coming. And this just raised a mystery: was I allergic to the penicillin or the paint?

Returning to the dentist to finish my root canal, I figured I might as well get my long-overdue schedule cleaning. In that process, they found two more deep cavities that “might also have to become root canals.” Great. Both had formed behind old fillings (like the first), so there was little I could have done about them. That evening, one of said fillings broke off, leaving a big scratchy hole in one side of my mouth to go along with the scratchy temporary crown on the other. Having the cavities filled in the end was actually more miserable than the root canal in the first place.

All that and I lost $65 at my first poker game of the year. I think I’m back to normal now, and I’m incredibly grateful for Amy’s wonderful care. On the bright side, I have a great excuse to never paint again.

Today, we celebrate one year of wedded bliss. I love you, Sugarpop!

“Cats do not provide milk or wool or meat.” – Dwight K. Schrute. I love The Office. That line from last night’s season four premiere is so funny, but it’s also the perfect nonsense response to people who ask you if you like cats. Just a couple of weeks ago, Em asked me that very question, and I wish I could go back in time with that line in mind. For the record, I do like cats, I just do not want to own one.

I have not written in a while, but not for lack of things to write about I’m sure. Foremost, Amy and I are finally in our new house. All the boxes are unpacked and things are put away, and it really does feel like home. That’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of projects to take care of, namely repainting the Spongebob room or the stucco-on-interior-walls bathroom. But doing those projects should be fun and enlightening, while making the place even more ours.

While unable to quickly sell, we found a great tenant for the condo, and he moves in this weekend. I probably should have listed it for more rent than we are charging, but I’m not disappointed. Within three days of posting it on craigslist, I had shown the place 10 times, turned others away, had three definite offers to rent it, and could have had more. Landlordism is not a mentality I thought I’d take to, but so far so good. Fingers crossed!

I’ll try to post more frequently now that we’re less busy, but if I don’t, you know where to find me.

Why is it that each new driver’s license I get reveals a man ten pounds heavier than his younger self? I’ll grant you that I’m glad I no longer weigh the 135 I enjoyed in high school, but I’m hoping this trend will end now.

So I’m driving to work this morning, minding my own business in the left lane of a downtown one way, just trying to get to the freeway. As I hit the Hennepin Ave interesection, the car in the middle lane decides to TAKE A LEFT IN FRONT OF ME. I slammed on my brakes, skidding and swerving several feet on the slippery rush hour street. I managed to miss that idiot by a couple of feet. I’d like to personally thank the makers of Crazy Taxi, Grand Theft Auto III, and Crackdown for preparing me for such an occcasion. Wow, was I pissed. The driver remained oblivious.

File this under You Don’t See That Every Day: Amy and I took the advantage of the beautiful weather last night with a long walk across downtown. As we made our way home down Nicollet, we came across a blind lesbian couple and their two seeing-eye dogs. Nothing strange about that. Then I noticed what they were doing: asking a passerby to take their picture. As they posed, one of them said, “we try to have one taken at least once a year.”

We passed them, and I looked at Amy with an amazed expression on my face. She laughed, “just don’t say anything.” But I had to! How could I just ignore that? I don’t think it’s insensitive or politically incorrect of me to ask what is the purpose of those photographs? It was a completely surreal moment, and it frankly made the night.