Added point about the smaller 'ooodle combos. Any Poodle mix, Shih Tzu, Bichon, Maltese, Llasa Apso, etc. is going to require on-going, regular grooming. More than the usual nails and tails stuff. That is an expense and 'thing on the plate' that some folks don't consider.

I love me some Pugs and am a huge fan of the Puggle. Chosen correctly, they smooth out the Pug's normally needy personality and the Beagle's noisiness. They are also, generally healthier in the eye and respiratory systems where Pugs can suffer.

Pugs shed like a fur _factory_ and need regular facials to stem yucky yeast and eye infections.

Be careful with the Puggle jaw to ensure that there is good alignment.

I miss Taz. Wah.

Ugh, boarding kitties for urinary issues sucks. I used to sit outside Malachi's cage trying to coax him into peeding for the nice lab techs but there is a strong obstinancy there.

I gave blood this morning before work and am already regretting doing a mid-week donation. Sipping emergen-C and taking vitabiotic hoping to ward off another round of interminable cold/crud but throat already starting to hurt and 4 hrs later my skin still has an odd greenish tinge. Should be eating but nauseous still. Bleargh, i think i rushed out of the canteen to get to work on time which was not the best idea i've ever had.

Hrm, is there any reason to be worried about a lump on my shin? It's been there a couple months....at first i thought it was an undeveloped bruise as it's right at a level with my bed, an area where i constantly bang my shins. Can lots of bruises leave a permanent lump? It doesn't hurt or move.

Days like this, I start wanting to get a dog. Something cuddly. I don't really know anything about taking care of dogs, though. The only pet I've ever had was hermit crabs when I was in second grade.

I'll bet you do, Nora. It sucks to be home and them not be.

Thanks for the suggestions and info! I sent everything to P and will send any other advice onto her later. I know she really misses having a dog.

I hope Taz can come home Monday.

I needed the ~ma, because there was no one there who knew anything about the A/V system and trying to figure out how the computer talked to the projector became a massive clusterfuck, including one of those people who stab ineffectually with the cursor and say they could figure it out if the computer was a Mac. This is not a slam at Mac users; I suspect this breed says the opposite when faced with a Mac. It's a good thing I didn't say what I was thinking, since he turned out to be the minister. This didn't occur to me because he looked about 15.

I don't think familiarity with either operating system would tell you that the slide show had to be imported into a program called something like EasySermon 2.0. Anyway, we finally got it to run, and people seemed to like it.

This was for my cousin's wife's funeral. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer almost exactly a year ago, the beginning of a Job-like year that included her husband's death from lung cancer and her son-in-law's from a heart attack. I recall trying to explain this convoluted story before and how her granddaughter dealt with all the funerals, nursing homes, finances and everything else.

Humans are strange. This woman was apparently as wonderful to others as she was awful to her family. The granddaughter's husband gave an astonishingly tactful eulogy in which he talked about the deceased solely in terms of how her grandchildren "said" she was a wonderful grandmother, neatly sidestepping the fact that he has been known to describe her as an evil bitch.

The cancer had spread widely and she had just broken her hip, so death was a friend.

and am already regretting doing a mid-week donation.

Oh, yikes. Blood donation wrecks me.

Birthday party for a five-year-old with tons of kids of various ages and their parents. I washed my hands a lot, used sanitizing goo and am still entirely certain I will get sick. Eh, a kid who apparently never wants to be held by others reached out to be held and stuff like that is awesome. Because I can return them. Played with kids, talked with parents, snuck into the bouncy castle and went down the slide... Good day.

so death was a friend.

It sounds awful. I am glad she didn't have to suffer further.

And, wow, tactful eulogy.

Hrm, is there any reason to be worried about a lump on my shin? It's been there a couple months....at first i thought it was an undeveloped bruise as it's right at a level with my bed, an area where i constantly bang my shins. Can lots of bruises leave a permanent lump? It doesn't hurt or move.

That sounds like the hard lump I once got under my skin from a terrific deep bruise - turns out a hematoma can calcify. Maybe repeated bruising in the same spot can produce the same thing? It's normal, anyway, and eventually it went away. I'm not saying don't go see a doctor, though.