Megan and I recently traveled to Minnesota to see my Mom for a week. We ended up flying, rather than losing 2 full days traveling. (It's normally a 12 hour drive.) A bit more expensive than I'd like it to be, but worth it in terms of time and convenience. Mom has settled in to her new job and new house rather well. The house is beautiful and she's got an amazing yard. Mom put a moratorium on pets when she moved, since Grandma is allergic to everything and she hoped Grandma could stay there from time to time. But have no fear! My mom is still my mom and has instead cultivated herself a little farm/wildlife sanctuary there at her little place in the woods. Every night she does her "chores" and fills the 12 bird feeders, puts corn out for the squirrels, puts ground corn out for the deer, and feeds the family of grey foxes that live nearby dog food, dog biscuits, and leftovers. She's got her hummingbirds, her gold finches, her purple finches, her pair of mourning doves, and whatever else happens to drop by. The grey fox family has a couple kits that are growing, but still have that baby fluff that gives them away. It was actually pretty amazing. Usually she watches from inside as they sneak out of the woods to get their dinner at sunset, but when Megan and I were sitting out on the back deck smoking later in the evening, the family came back and nabbed a few more dog biscuits laying on the ground just 6-8 feet from the edge of the deck. Her yard is surrounded by nice thick northern woods, the kind that makes that fantastic sound when the wind blows or it starts to rain. She's already planning on harrassing the guy that owns most of those woods connecting to her property to get him to sell her part of them. I said "Mom, why? You can't put a cow* back there." She said "No, but I want it. Just because."
Mom's place is about 2 miles down the road from my grandparent's place on the lake. We tried to go spend time with them here and there, me knowing full well that any time I see them could easily be the last. Their health isn't terrible. They are just old. Grandpa's pacemaker keeps him alive, and Grandma, well...Grandma's just Grandma. I offered to mow the lawn for them, knowing that Mom wouldn't have time to do it. I forgot how hard it was to mow a lawn, let alone a lawn on lakefront property. After I started the mower and began working on the bit closer to the lake, I tried to remember the last time I'd used a lawnmower. I couldn't recall anything beyond at least 6 years ago...surely I have mowed since then...it may have been 8 years ago... Ridiculous. My academic hands have gotten quite soft and they were quite sore and swollen. Luckily, I managed to stay out of the poison ivy, which is a triumph around there.
We'd planned to go up to my aunt's in Duluth the next day, but old and soft me was in too much pain and entirely too tired to spend 5 hours on the road the next day. So, Carolyn brought her Beagle/Corgi mix Jennie down to see us on Monday. She also brought 2 enormous boxes of knitting needles, which was apparently only a quarter of her collection. Apparently when Carolyn started knitting, she developed a bit of an obsession with purchasing needles on ebay. This means that she has every kind of needle you could imagine in every size one could ever want. It also means that Megan and I got loaded up on lots of vintage and antique needles-- as well as some super nice sets imported from England. I'm most pleased with the assortment of bakelite needles I got. If nothing else, they'll make fantastic retro-kitsch decorations. Given the amount we ended up bringing home (maybe half of that 1/4 she brought) they may end up being worked into wedding decorations. We'll see...
We had planned, upon returning from vacation, to go pick up the new addition to our family, Hank. I suppose I should tell the whole story... So Megan and I have had Dane-lust lately, and given Holden's energy level, decided that getting a second dog would be a good idea. As soon as I became full-time and had free evenings and weekends, I started to feel the lack of dog a bit harder than usual. So, we just sort of started looking--not all that seriously--but looking. We figured we might as well get a Dane mix, since that's what we wanted. As soon as it was cleared with my property manager, I stepped up the search a tad-- but still figuring I needed to wait until at least October. Finding a Dane that had experience with cats would be an absolute necessity, given their size. That proved more difficult than we expected, and I figured I'd have to wait a tad longer. Then Holden's foster mom got possession of a 4 year old Bloodhound (probably mixed with Dane) named Hank. Knowing we were looking at getting a Dane, she encouraged us to just come out and meet him. I think I fell in love the moment we pulled in the driveway and were greeted with Hank's hound-dog howl. Of course this love only increased over the next hour or so that we were there. He was a bit thin, only 85 lbs., but he'd been found wandering by animal rescue. He picked up a case of kennel cough while he was at the shelter, but had gotten over it since he'd been with the Kalamazoo Animal Rescue. His energy was back up, but he was proving to be a pretty mellow boy. His foster mom's collection of rescue cats and kittens didn't bother him, and really just crawled all over him. He's great in the house, very aware of his size and careful moving around. He sleeps a lot (as most big dogs will), but loves to go for a walk or go play fetch. We'd found the perfect dog. 
But we were soon going on vacation... Luckily, we've proven ourselves to be super dog moms, and the foster mom decided she'd hold him for us. She needed a little time to rehab him a bit and get him up on all his shots, etc. She said "Oh, he needs his heartworm test too." sort of in passing and I latched on to the thought. For weeks I had nightmares that Hank had heartworm. I'd tell Megan the next day "He's got heartworm. I just know it." She managed to calm me down, knowing it was probably more out of my own fear of losing the "perfect dog" that was brought forth by the knowledge that he had yet to be tested. But, while on vacation, his foster mom called us and left a message saying "Don't worry, but call me back." I looked at Megan and said "He has heartworm." She had to call back, because I had already started tearing up. Yes, he has heartworm. The vet thinks it is low-grade, but the treatment is intense and he'll need to be on strict rest for a month. Re-homing him during that time isn't an option. So, we'd have to wait. His outlook is good. Heartworm treatment is pretty advanced at this point, and after treatment, he'll probably never have a problem again. We're hoping it will only take one round, which puts him with us in early September. We get to go visit here and there during that time, so that'll help. Apparently the first day or so after his treatment, he was a tad grumbly, which actually made sense. By day 3 he was apparently already feeling better as he managed to dig an empty ice cream carton out of his foster mom's garbage. I'm remaining hopeful. He's just so damn adorable...and sweet... I can't wait to have him in my home!!!Anyway-- I think that about wraps it up and gets everyone up to speed. Work is going well. I'm adjusting to the hours fairly well. This week has been a tad rough after a week of sleeping in at mom's, but I'm sure next week will be easier. I re-read Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass while at my Mom's. It was just as fantastic as I remember--maybe moreso now that I understand all the logical/philosophical references. I'd recommend reading it again. It's just fun.
*The only thing that could make mom happier is if she had a cow or two...unfortunately there really isn't anywhere to put one.
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