I recently shared some observations with a few others on Stupid Human Tricks, School Drop Off edition. Thought I'd share them here as well. 1. If a sign says "no pedestrians," it's not just there for funsies. 2. Red light means stop. This has never, in the history of motorized traffic, meant otherwise. I cannot and will not run out into moving traffic to save you, and shouldn't be expected to.
3. Stopping dead in the middle of traffic to DISGORGE YOUR KID INTO TRAFFIC is beyond brainless. SERIOUSLY. We have a specific drop off zone at the school, on the far safer side street than main drag. This, also, is nothing new.
4. When a school bus has its lights on and stop sign out, it doesn't mean you should swing wide to go around it. Yeah, you. I almost threw my stop sign at you.
5. Yesterday was High Five Friday...we all made it to the end if the first week - hurrah! Sorry I had to miss my afternoon shift...I'll be back Monday!
Texans are friendly. I've lived here 14+ years and always like that reminder. Completed my fingerprints scan this morning, part of my onboarding. Digital fingerprint scanning is...interesting. Compliment of the day: "well aren't you just the cutest crossing guard." If you didn't hear that in your mind in the robust voice of a Southern Granny, go back and try again. I'll wait.
Hugging other people's kids makes me uncomfortable, because of how suspiciously the state of our current world necessitates parents to be. Nevertheless, I don't turn down hugs, just make sure my hands are always seen...these kiddos are great and I love 'em.
Finally, it's a wee bit hot out there. I've drunk more water the past two days than any other two-day period in the past. But it's great out there for improving my tan!
Diary of a crossing guard, day 1: So I'm officially the crossing guard at the kids' school. Fun! Day 1 included getting numerous kids across the street, 5 hugs, a billion good mornings, tons of smiles, 2 bottles of water drunk, a comment that Burton Hill has the prettiest crossing guard (why thank you!), and meeting a nice woman named Yolanda who thanked me for being the crossing guard and asked if there was anything she could pray for me about. All in all, a great first shift.
I've been posting updates on my dog to my personal Facebook since last evening (1/7) but realized I was excluding folks in my other networks - my author friends, blog followers, Twitter, G+, etc. - and so wanted to come over here and share my story.
Yesterday afternoon, I left my house at around 2 PM to go to my tri-weekly shoulder physical therapy appointment. At the same time, my husband, who is off on Mondays, laid down with our 4-year-old and 2-year-old for nap time. When I got home, we all immediately left together to run a few quick errands. We believed our dogs were in the backyard, where they have the run of a large open space and a large covered patio. Afternoons are their time to go outside, play, run, and get some air.
What really happened...
Samson
Nov. 2012
Our puppy, 9-ish-month-old Samson the gigantinormous yellow lab, ate off the bottoms of several fence slats and then dug out of the yard. Our older dog, 10-year-old Missy, faithfully followed behind. She's big on friendship, low on independent thought.
Having gotten loose, Sammy went looking for trouble, and Missy came along for the "fun." In actuality, Sammy "broke into" a backyard that was home to two pit bulls. They weren't enthused at their uninvited guests. The homeowner called animal control, who came and rounded up our two escapees...but not before Missy got hurt.
In the meantime, we came home and discovered our dogs were gone. Chris drove the neighborhood and I shouted for the dogs. We ate dinner. Then we all piled back in the car and searched again. It's a spread-out area with the houses having much larger yards than is the norm in suburban DFW, and we also have coyotes and all sorts of other delightful wildlife. In addition, we live less than a mile from the intersection of two very busy highways. I feared the absolute worst.
We didn't find the dogs. I searched for animal control information on my phone to see where I could call to find out if the dogs had been taken to a shelter. I discovered that the city shelter puts up a picture of newly found dogs when they are taken in. In short order, I'd found the mugs of both of my dogs. Unfortunately, the shelter was closed for the evening and I could do nothing except wait for morning.
Daughter Cate and Missy
Feb. 2011
This morning, I got up with the kiddos and after breakfast and baths and the like, we headed out to rescue our friends. Since toddlers move slower than a geriatric snail, or approximately inverse to how fast you're trying to get them to move, it was late morning by the time we reached the shelter, 2.5 hours after they'd opened for the day.
We signed in and got taken back right away. I described the dogs to the kind worker and she took me right to them. Sammy was kenneled with the other large dogs, and Missy was in the clinic, bloody and battered. The vet tech said she thought Missy had a broken jaw and advised that I take her to our vet right away to be evaluated and treated. After filling out a ton of paperwork, paying the impound and boarding fees and waiting....waiting....waiting....we were finally able to leave.
After dropping the big dog at home (it was already difficult to manage two kids and two dogs at the same time, with a still-weak post-op shoulder), we got to the vet near our home. By that time, it was afternoon and the kids had eaten the bags of food I'd brought for them, downed their drinks and were napping in the back seat. I left them there and went it, and they took us back right away (I'd called from the shelter) and checked Missy out six ways from Sunday. Not only did the vet note that the dog's jaw was broken, possibly in multiple places, but she also found that Missy's entire back half of her body and rear end were bitten up and inflamed.
I was running laps between the exam room and my car, so I could keep an eye on my poor puppy and my sleeping kids. Thank God it was warm enough today to leave them in the car. A parrot that wouldn't stop squawking nearly drove me out of my mind, and I had to remind myself constantly not to be irritated at how long her exam and intake were lasting. Finally, I signed a release and they took her back to be sedated, shaved for further examination, and x-rayed. I left with the kids and we shared a very late lunch. By the time we were done, my husband was home from work and I headed back to the vet alone.
(The rest of this post is a copy with minor modifications from my last update to the FB thread about Missy's injury. I just don't have it in me to rewrite it. And in any case, most of you who read it here will not have seen it there.)
So here's the overall scoop on Missy. First, she has been an absolute angel for the vet - is being completely docile and cooperative, despite being in a ton of pain. Next, the x-rays of her jaw showed a bit different story than we first thought. She has a break on either side of her jaw, about an inch back from the end of her mouth/jaw. This means the front part is completely unconnected from the rest of her jaw and is literally hanging on by skin alone. Where they thought there was a break farther back is actually just a little bit of dislocation where her jaw hinges, and it's bilateral. Should heal on it's own, apparently. The theory is that the other dog simply took her lower jaw in its mouth and bit down...and we know that pits have a very powerful bite. Her jaw will be wired on both sides while the bones fuse back together. If they don't fuse, she'll need the front of her lower jaw to be amputated. I know. That horrifies me as well.
Now, on to the rest of her body. They had to shave her completely from mid-body on back, both top and bottom. If this wasn't a horrific situation, she'd look like she was mooning the world, especially since her tail is still so fluffy. The shaving revealed that the entire area is inflamed, bruised, and has bite marks all over it. Below her butt is one especially large spot, and she has a torn perineum. The vet theorized that one dog may have mounted her while the other dog broke her jaw. I suppose if she were human, we'd call that rape. After surgery, she'll need to do hydrotherapy every three hours for a few weeks to keep that spot and several others moist as they heal, to avoid infection.
How about some good news? Her upper jaw is intact. Her legs/feet are fine. Her neck is fine. The doc found no evidence of injury to the front part of her body. She's a good weight, has a strong heartbeat, is otherwise 100% healthy, is just 10 years old, is able to come (and cling!) to me, and has retained her sweet disposition. She's in a large kennel at the vet and they let me climb in and sit with her for awhile after the vet met with me this evening to review her results.
Going forward...Missy's jaw surgery will be at 7 AM tomorrow morning, barring anything weird coming back on her bloodwork. Both our vet and the senior vet at the clinic will be involved. She'll be under full anesthesia, have a nerve block, and have a canine version of lidocaine to numb her mouth. They'll wire her jaw back together on both sides and then repurpose some of her gum tissue to cover the holes that are now allowing her jaw bone to stick through. Afterwards, she'll be sedated and on morphine most of the rest of the day. Depending on how she does, she'll be sent home either Thursday night or Friday night. At that point, she'll be on four medications: a pain med (same as I take, ironically - ultram), an anti-inflammatory and two antibiotics. She'll also be on a liquid diet for three weeks (1 part soft food mixed with 3 parts water) and will do hydrotherapy at home for her wounds. At that point, if healing is progressing nicely, we'll be able to start introducing solid foods again and she'll get back to "normal" life.
Finally, a note on pit bulls. Listen, they get a bad rap. 99% of pit bulls are fabulous pets. But, like any population, it's the 1% that ruin it for them all. And my dogs were in the wrong on this, and I know it. Sammy chewed and dug out and the ever-faithful-but-not-intelligent Missy followed along. Sammy then broke into someone else's backyard, and that someone else happened to own two pit bulls. Those dogs were defending their turf. Perhaps violently, but it was their yard. Sammy wasn't hurt...he was probably a lot larger than the pits. But Missy is smaller and weaker and thus became the one attacked. Her injuries, thank God, won't kill her. Yes, she needs a very expensive surgery to try to fix her jaw, and yes she's in pain with the other issues right now. But she's otherwise healthy, fairly young, and has a strong constitution. After she recovers, she'll regain most, if not all, of her quality of life. She's in great hands.
That's all I got for now. It's been an incredibly taxing day emotionally, physically and on my (now-depleted) bank account as well. I need to rearrange my work week since today was a total loss and snag a few more projects to pay for all of this mess. Thank you for all ya'lls thoughts, prayers, texts, and calls today. I'm thankful for them.
For the past five years, I've often felt like I'm the printer from "Office Space" - all jammed up and occasionally beat on in an open field. I let life overwhelm me. Pure and simple. Five years is too long to feel that way.
I was sad and bitter to go through pregnancy loss...and the loss of my father. I was gravely disappointed over the results of the 2008 Presidential election. I was beyond angry at the ordeal my husband went through with his former agency. I was beaten down after going through health issue after health issue. I was discouraged over feeling like my freelancing was constantly taking three steps forward and two steps back and not achieving the numbers I wanted. And I was damned exhausted balancing a full-time job, freelancing, starting up a media/publishing company, supporting my husband's wacky schedule, trying to be the best mom possible and trying to get healthier in the meantime.
And so, I shut down for awhile. I stopped blogging. Dribs and drabs for a year or so and then nothing. I posted to friends on FB and Twitter, but nothing longer. I avoided things I didn't want to deal with at all costs. I lost my nerve for taking risks and became afraid of simple things, such as getting on an airplane or even going down a bounce-house slide. I was *not* a great wife or mom.
Earlier this year, I started turning that around. First things first, I quit my job. If a decade of building wasn't enough to make my freelance career sustain, nothing would be. At that point, I got to enjoy more work/life balance. I've been vigorously tackling health issues; by the start of next month, I'll have had 5 surgeries in 21 months...plus, I've been dealing with squaring away a few other health issues. I'm working damn hard to be a better wife and mom. I'm busting my butt getting the media/publishing company into the zone of recurring monthly profits with my business partner. I finished my first novel and am going through edits I got back, polishing it up, before it gets published. I'm freelancing whenever I can and my health allows.
And now, I'm getting back to blogging. I've missed it. Terribly. I own several blogs that are all mine and contribute to several others. Slowly but surely, I'm working on getting back up to speed on all of them.
So...what will I focus on here at Breakfast at Tiffany's? Well, I'm going to drop writing about NASCAR. I'm not a sportscaster, and although I've enjoyed several opportunities to write on the sport for other sites and may do so again in the future, I'm retiring that topic here. I'm going to work on my "Tiffany Takes On" column, tackling stupidity in the news, one story at a time. I'm going to gently sneak back into political blogging - thoughts, not rants. I'll have personal posts now and again. I'll share what I'm up to with writing - freelancing, non-fiction and fiction. And I might even tiptoe into a podcast or two.
It's going to be a process, not a one day victory. I might have fits and starts for awhile. But I hope you come with me! My stats tell me that quite a few people still follow this blog by feed and others through Google and I hope you'll stick with me. I've missed you!
