Retrained

With Lonnie and Payton in town for the long weekend we finally got to see How to Train Your Dragon 2. I had high expectations since the first installment is one of my favorite movies, and it was good. Not part one good, but still good.

Pharmaceutical Pile

Mystic has been having reverse sneezing fits and sneezing up stuff so it was her turn to go the vet. Now she's on an antibiotic and benadryl for allergies, to go with Mad being on three different pills for her back, and Tara getting her occasional pill for those bad knees of hers. We even have a little chart Mari made so we can remember who gets what when. Life in the zoo!

Billed For Gates

With Mad needing to be kept still for anywhere from two to six weeks depending on how she does, we decided piling up random crap to make barricades all over the house was going to get old. (For example blocking the stairs with a trash can, a chair, and a poster in a frame, wedged together with some pillows.) So we broke down and bought an actual child gate. If it works out well we might get a few more.

Still

Mad is doing OK, slowly getting better so we think we can dodge surgery. I've been coming home from work early all week and will continue through the weekend to keep an eye on her. Here's the gang all huddled up because of a storm going overhead, with Madison carefully kept isolated from the other two by a watchful me. We keep her barricaded into small areas and carry her up and down the stairs, she is leash walked in the fenced-in back yard because she can't be allowed to move too quickly. She still sleeps on the bed but we put a short leash on her so there's no way she can jump off. It's tiring and worrisome, but of course she's worth it.

Back Off

We came home from work tonight to find Maddie hunched up and squealing in pain. An emergency rush to the vet and some X-rays later we find she has somehow managed to hurt one, possibly two vertebra in her back. It could be bad, they lined up an animal neurosurgeon (who knew?) in Nashville if things don't improve. So they doped her up good and she is to have a lot of meds and very, very restricted movement.

Getting old sucks all the way around.

Ballpark Update

Just another shot of the new stadium, about a month after the last one.

Frigid Finale

It was shockingly nice weather tonight, so we went for a little yogurt at Sweet Cece's and sat out by Drake's Creek to enjoy it.

Getting Blue

Today's mission was to get Dad set up with hands free communication in the car. Turned out that even though their Chrysler had the button for it, the components weren't installed. So I did a little research, we went to Best Buy and picked up a Bluetooth headset.

A Tetraptych

And here they are done. Dad - upper left. Mom - upper right. Me - lower left. Mari - lower right. Really had a lot of fun, we'd go again.

Their Half

Dad's (left) and Mom's (right).

Our Half

Today's artistic subject was a guitar. Here are Mari (left) and my (right) paintings at the half point where you take a break to let things dry.

Studio

We were the first to arrive, here's the studio in an area of Nashville called the Gulch.

Wine About Art

The folks had gone to one of these and had fun so we found one in Nashville. You basically drink wine (or whatever you want, it's BYOB) and paint something under the guidance of an art teacher. The one in Nashville is called "Sips n' Strokes."

Italian Anniversary

The official anniversary dinner (even though Monday is the real day) at Maggiano's. Excellent as always.

Frist Place

Mom and Dad had never been to the Frist, so we dropped by the museum before dinner. That big white sculpture is two Humvees melted down then painted white and it has a speaker inside that makes whale noises. So, yeah, art is definitely subjective.

Fabricating Excursions

It should be no surprise with the expert quilters in town and Mari looking to get into sewing, our first day was spent visiting places like this.

Annivisit

Mom and Dad are in town to celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary with us. They immediately made best friends with the dogs, especially Tara.

These Go To 11

It's one louder.

Letter Limbo

Ever since HR moved onto the 10th floor of my building many people have noticed this letter (the corner visible at the bottom of the window), stuck in what used to be the mail chute but is now where they run the IT cables. Apparently much discussion has been had about to how to get it out (ranging from fishing line to kicking in the glass with steel toed boots), and many hypothesis about what it could be (from a bill to a lost love letter from the war.) Ah, sweet mysteries of life.

Half Broken

A quick, cheap game from one of my favorite studios Double Fine. I didn't know it was only the first half though, so the mid-ending was unexpected.

WOTM

August.

Maturity

My contribution to the groceries. Hey if you never grow up, you never grow old.

Stellar Galaxy

We went to dinner and then Guardians of the Galaxy with the Kramers. I had heard good things and they were all justified, really a fantastic movie.

Battery Up

Everything is running fine today, but they discovered ten bad batteries in the UPS array. They brought them up special from Atlanta, each one is bigger than a car battery.