He has suggested Mr. and Mrs. Soggydoggy.

Tis a bit stuffy, you need something a little more light hearted.

My last name is so German that very few people can pronounce it correctly the first time. When people ask my last name I have to spell it out for them (and I do say "S as in Sam", "C as in Charlie" [more letters that don't need words] "P as in Paul", [omitted] "Z as in Zebra".) There are 10 letters in my last name but it only has two syllables.

People sometimes ask me how I learned to spell it. I usually give them a funny look and say "I grew up with it".

Men! And their sales names.

Ok, I rolled into town just over a week ago. Needed to find a veterinarian quickly. Harvey was due for his rabies shot this month, as well as needing a new source of the prescription cat food that promotes acidic urine to keep the struvite crystals at bay. I took a brief, unscientific poll - asked three people. They all recommended the Animal Center. Well, to be accurate, one of them said do NOT go to Heartland Vet. Clinic, elucidated the reasons, and said they had an appointment for their cat at Animal Center - the others did outright recommend it.

Good heavens, if the Animal Center is the best this town can attract for veterinary clinics, I so do not want to see the others.

When I brought Harvey in for his shot this morning, they didn't weigh him, in spite of the fact that I stated specifically he'd lost some weight since he was last on a scale. The exam room apparently also doubles as a boarding room, as there were several pet carriers strewn about. At least one of which held an animal.

The needle on the syringe got bent when they inserted it - the vet commented that Harvey has very thick skin. Now, this bit - that might be due to years of desert living, I suppose. And if so, it would be unreasonable for a vet in Minnesota to be prepared to deal with desert-thick skin. But I do know that the vets I took Harvey to in Arizona never had a problem.

ETA: I just checked the MN Board of Veterinary Medicine website and both vets there have clean records. Some comfort.

My last name is easy to say, but has too many potential spellings for my liking. Any time you have a McAnything, you run into that "Mac or Mc?" issue.

Marcontell's harder. Of course, it's not helped that the spelling was changed from Marcantal about a century and a bit back on this branch.

I am convinced that ita's last name is Wilson, but I should stress that I have no reason for thinking so other than thinking that there aren't enough of them, and that she could safely take Owen and Luke.

Owen and Luke

My hubby went to High School with Owen and Luke. I've seen yearbook pictures. Nerds.

-t, I think you should make a dinner reservation under Soggydoggy and see if it works for you.

So, a few weeks ago I went in for my first, baseline mammogram. Got a letter from them saying they wanted me to come in for additional pictures. Talked to them today, seems they saw something in the pictures and want more pictures and possible ultrasound. They don't know what they saw yet, that's why more pictures. My family tends to be very cysty. Please tell me that it's all it's going to be. Lie to me if necessary. I don't usually freak out about stuff like this, but the last time I had a cyst (not in my breast), it turned out to be thyroid cancer.

Well, I'm cysty, and they ALWAYS see weird shit in mammorgrams and I have had, at various times, ultrasound, 3-D live imaging, and needle biopies and all sorts of stuff, and it has always been, you guessed it, cysts.

ChiKat, that's all it will be. If those docs were really thinking otherwise, you would have gotten a phone call, not a letter.

Hey Maidengurl! A's over .500! They're only 4 1/2 back in the wild card!

ita cummings