"Biking in France" (essay found in my daughter's 1st grade writing journal)
If I could ride anywhere on a bike I would ride to France. I could see my friend at France cause I have a friend who lives in France. I would ride all around France and see the pretty sites. I could learn some French on my bike. I could see how you have a life in a bike in France. I could take a pitch [pit] stop on my bike and try there foods. I could meet all the difrent people in France on my bike. The only word that I would not learn there is bongor [bonjour] because I already know it. But maybe I could learn some words like how are you, nice to meet you or something like that. I would probably buy a new bike at France. I would look at all the dogs at France and see if there are any new kinds of dogs I don't see in Georgia. I would ride all around and see how they spend there life in France. Maybe there lifes are like ours or maybe not like ours at all. I could get a post card with a picture of a cool bike.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Our New Digs
We moved into our new, temporary digs two weekends ago. We'll be here for six months during Phase I of our home renovation. (I'm just hoping to finish the phases before my 9 year old leaves for college.) It looks like a single-family home -- and originally was, in 1911 -- but is actually a duplex with a separate carriage house in the back. I was told that Atlanta's premier milliner originally lived in the home and had her shop on the ground floor. Our landlords bought our unit from John Oetgen, an Atlanta interior designer. (Wonder whether he chose the paint colors, which are working out really well for us.) A nice couple and their dog live in the other unit, and our landlords use the carriage house for their occasional guests.
We're on the left (smaller) side, with small being a relative term as our bedrooms are HUGE (16' x 16'). Although we're in the same neighborhood as our home, the scene over here feels different, more urban as my dog walks around the block pass the High Museum, the Woodruff Arts Center, and various office buildings, yet more green as we're across the street from the largest of our great neighborhood parks.
Demolition has begun on our home renovation, there's a port-a-potty in our front yard, and a layer of what is most likely lead paint dust has settled everywhere. So happy to be here instead of living through that.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Happy Days Are Here Again
It has been almost four months since my last blog post. Four months! In my defense, I spent the last two and a half months walking my leper dog on a leash.
We had gorgeous weather here the first half of November, and I took my dog out to play with other dogs in off-leash parks multiple times each day. When we picked him up from Thanksgiving boarding, I spotted a white growth on his tongue, which soon became multiple white growths. A Google search and a vet visit later, we had a diagnosis...canine oral papilloma virus, otherwise known as "puppy warts." Do NOT Google this term unless you want to see some pretty nasty images. I had recurring nightmares over what I saw!
The vet said that the virus would clear in two to four months as my dog's immune system fully developed but that my dog was highly contagious and could not play with other dogs. Major lifestyle change. My leper dog and I could no longer visit the wonderful parks in our neighborhood, at least not when other dogs were around, and the dog parks were completely off limits. No more doggy daycare or boarding, which meant NO breaks from dog care for me. We did every variation on leash walks that I could come up with and frequented the nature preserves (yes even the one where the guy crept up on me last summer), where I had to put my dog back on leash whenever another dog approached.
We tried raw food, supplements, and two courses of zithromycin. I even took my dog to the vet twice to have the growths crushed with a hemostat (sorry!), in the hopes that releasing the virus into the bloodstream would stimulate an immune system response. Nothing. Then, about 10 days ago, I checked my dog's tongue, and it was completely clear. The growths had literally vanished overnight without a trace. Amazing!
God was looking down on us as the virus cleared just as the weather turned from miserably cold (and a week of snow and ice in January) to 68 and sunny. In February! We were able to return to off-leash fun just as the other dogs and their owners were venturing out in full force again.
Happy days are here again!
We had gorgeous weather here the first half of November, and I took my dog out to play with other dogs in off-leash parks multiple times each day. When we picked him up from Thanksgiving boarding, I spotted a white growth on his tongue, which soon became multiple white growths. A Google search and a vet visit later, we had a diagnosis...canine oral papilloma virus, otherwise known as "puppy warts." Do NOT Google this term unless you want to see some pretty nasty images. I had recurring nightmares over what I saw!
The vet said that the virus would clear in two to four months as my dog's immune system fully developed but that my dog was highly contagious and could not play with other dogs. Major lifestyle change. My leper dog and I could no longer visit the wonderful parks in our neighborhood, at least not when other dogs were around, and the dog parks were completely off limits. No more doggy daycare or boarding, which meant NO breaks from dog care for me. We did every variation on leash walks that I could come up with and frequented the nature preserves (yes even the one where the guy crept up on me last summer), where I had to put my dog back on leash whenever another dog approached.
We tried raw food, supplements, and two courses of zithromycin. I even took my dog to the vet twice to have the growths crushed with a hemostat (sorry!), in the hopes that releasing the virus into the bloodstream would stimulate an immune system response. Nothing. Then, about 10 days ago, I checked my dog's tongue, and it was completely clear. The growths had literally vanished overnight without a trace. Amazing!
God was looking down on us as the virus cleared just as the weather turned from miserably cold (and a week of snow and ice in January) to 68 and sunny. In February! We were able to return to off-leash fun just as the other dogs and their owners were venturing out in full force again.
Happy days are here again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)