Red Ribbon Ride

My sister Heidi just completed the Red Ribbon Ride in MN. It's a bike ride supporting the cause to fight HIV/Aids. Take a moment to check out her blog. I'm so proud of my sister!

Update?

So it's been awhile since I last posted. I don't really know what to tell you though! Not much is going on here. Coda's crazy. I'm sleeping in when she lets me, and I'm thinking about getting ready for school that starts up in a few weeks. I'm heading out to Albuquerque one more time (next weekend!) to visit the 'rents and am thankful I know people who work for Southwest Airlines. If you're single and work for an airline, please contact me. That alone guarantees you at least 3 dates with me. Yes, I'm single again. And really, that's good! I'm raring to go now for school! Who-hoo! I plan to paint my office a purple-ish grey. Why? Because I can. And because it's time to make it mine. This will be my 3rd year there and I don't plan on leaving anytime in the near future. MY OFFICE SHOULD BE MY OWN! Questions? Didn't think so. =) Alrighty! Until something exciting comes up, or until I feel guilty for not blogging... ciao.

Out and About!

Two nights ago I was out with the girls, celebrating my friend's last few weeks as an unmarried woman. We had a GREAT time pre-dinner opening gifts at Hotel ZaZa in Uptown, and then went out to Cuba Libre for some amazing Cuban fare. Unfortunately for me, I had to depart after dinner as I'd made the mistake of booking a bachelorette party that night, and singing a solo for the 2 services at church the next day. 1st service was at 8:30 AM. But I hear they had a great time dancing, and those of us from East can hardly wait for the wedding! Below is a pic of the East girls, and then a link to my solo. Can you tell I had alcohol the night before???



And the solo, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"... just not another margarita!
It's a little hard to hear. No mike in front of me.

*Had to delete the link as it was going to the newest anthem - some guy singing.*

Proud Mother

I had a 'proud mother' moment for Coda today. We went out behind my building and I let her run around in the electrical field (normal activity for her). The risk here is that a)she feels the need to explore and ignores my commands or b)she spots another dog in the field and runs to them, again, ignoring my commands. Usually we don't have these problems. Today, however, there was a beautiful black lab mix up on the other end of the field and they saw one another. Not wanting to chase her down or go into the overgrown field myself (in flip flops), I called to Coda to come back out of the field. She hesitated... then came running back through the fence to me!!! I didn't even have to pull the 'treat' card! Needless to say we ran back to the apartment where she promptly received 2 treats and LOTS of tug-o-war time! After being rather annoyed with her this morning for not allowing me to sleep, my sour mood has been turned around as my dog LISTENED TO ME and OBEYED! I am so proud of her!!!

Wow. What sort of mother will I be if I have, you know, HUMAN KIDS? Holy cow.

By the way, this picture cracks me up. It's from Albuquerque. The altitude had gotten to her, and her tail's wrapped. LOL.

Happy Tail Syndrome

Yes, it exists. Even the vet said it did. I'd noticed Coda had been losing hair on the tip of her tail, and was worried it was mange... again. But she hadn't been scratching or chewing on it, so all was well! Until New Mexico. We got there, and Coda got so into the local art scene she decided to join in the fun! We were finding blood spatter as high up as some of the picture frames. When we finally identified the problem, Bob was a great sport and (multiple times) bandaged Coda's tail. She looked hilarious, as you can see below. Apparently, Happy Tail Syndrome is when a dog wags their tail SO MUCH and hits it on things SO OFTEN that it damages the hair follicles. This in turns creates very dry skin in that location. So dry, it ends up cracking and bleeding! And because Coda can't stop wagging her tail (she is a VERY happy dog!), she contributed to Mom and Bob's home with her own modern artwork. Don't worry, we cleaned it all up. But still. HAPPY TAIL SYNDROME?!?!?! Thankfully she's no longer a "mangy mutt".