Ode to Phoenix

Fourteen and 1/2 years ago, my brother John brought a little puppy into our family. He named the dog Phoenix at my suggestion. Phoenix was a yellow lab mix and true to his nature, he was extremely loving and affectionate. Yesterday, my mom and John had to make the sad decision that 14 1/2 years was pretty good for an 85 pound dog, and that the many physical complications Phoenix was experiencing due to his age warranted him being put down. I thought I would be OK, I mean after all he was just a dog. But it turns out that I have actually been quite sad. I know my mother and brother thought long and hard about it and that they made the right decision, but that doesn't mean I won't miss the stinky old thing when I go home to visit my family. I mean, we got the dog when I was 14 1/2 and he has been a part of my family for half of my life.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and as I lay awake, I imagined what it must have been like for my brother. In my mind's eye I watched John take his childhood companion to the vet and I saw him hold Phoenix as he quietly fell asleep. I watched as he carried Phoenix's lifeless body to the back yard. There he began to dig a deep hole as the rain poured all around, nature openly acknowledging the grief. I could see his strong shoulders and back bearing the physical burden of the situation while his tears dripped down his face and mixed with the rain--a tribute to the love between a boy and his dog.

Phoenix, you will be missed.

Love

I have fallen in love with an asian restaurant down the street from our house. Everything they have there is absolutely wonderful. From hot noodles, to cold sushi, I have never been anything but completely satisfied. This is an affair that will last for years. Hopefully Adam won't get too jealous.

I'm a Winner!

Duke always sends out these surveys about how they can encourage us to use public transportation to commute or some such thing. They always promise that if we fill out the survey we get entered into a drawing for an assortment of prizes. I never believed the prizes actually existed because to my knowledge, no one seemed to be winning them. However, I dutifully filled out each and every survey because what else am I going to do during the 10 minutes here and there where I have to wait for something to incubate? However, apparently after I filled out the last survey about what would make me use the Recreation Center more, I did get entered into the drawing. I know because I won! The prize was a free car wash called the Ritz at a place near campus. Humm...., maybe now that I'm on a lucky streak I should buy a lotto ticket!

Tender Mercies

If you haven't read this talk about tender mercies from LDS General Conference, you should. Yesterday, I experienced a tender mercy of my very own. I have a friend who works in the lab next to mine who is Greek Orthodox and a very devout Christian. He is probably one of the most spiritual people I know. Anyway, yesterday I was talking with him about something and he told me exactly what I needed to hear. I know this only happened for two reasons: 1. He is spiritually in tune and prepared to do the right thing when prompted by the Spirit 2. God loves me and wanted me to remember something important. I just wanted to say that I am very grateful for the tender mercies that God gives us and I hope I can continue to recognize them when they happen.

Attack!

Cute looking, huh? This is a chow chow. Cuddly, fuzzy looking dog. I was taking care of this kind of dog for a friend who has been in the hospital for several months. At least that was until last Tuesday (Sept 29th) when it attacked me. After looking this dog up on the internet, it looks like it is prone to aggression unless "properly socialized." I guess it hadn't been. Everywhere I looked seemed to indicate that the dog needed some TLC (as I am sure all dogs do, but some more then others) to be properly trained and that they were wary of strangers, etc. Well, my friend was gone a lot and I highly doubt he took the time and energy to "properly socialize" the dog. He may not have even known how to. Now the dog thinks it is abandoned by it's owner and I think he is just going crazy. Anyway, unless you know what you are doing, don't get this breed of dog. Please. Don't go there unless you have a lot of experience. (Which apparently I don't.)

Anyway, getting attacked by a dog is terribly frightening. I'm not talking about getting bit, I mean getting attacked. Getting bit is when the dog chomps down on you once and then runs away or something. Getting attacked is when they come back at you over and over with the intent to draw blood. Frightening. Luckily, I was wearing Doc Martens, we were outside, and I was standing near the door into the house. So I was able to fend him off by kicking him with my honking shoes until I got inside and slammed the door in his face. By then I had been bit on my forearm, hand, and knee (although I didn't even realize my knee was injured until much later) and I was bleeding all over the place. Adam was in class and didn't answer my phone call, so I managed to call my in-laws who only live about 5 miles away. I think all I said was something like, "I was bit by the dog and I think I'm in shock." I continued to bleed all over the house until they got there. All of them. I was just expecting my father-in -law and maybe my mother-in-law too, but the two teenage kids they have at home came as well. It made me feel loved, and they did a great job helping out. So, here is my tribute to Tara and Zac who were especially wonderful:

Tara came into the house and immediately found a job for herself. She became in charge of calling Adam and letting him know I was at the ER. She was on top of it and as soon as she took over that responsibility, I knew that eventually Adam would show up and I didn't worry about it for another instant.

Zac came and was helping out. Happy to be there and offering moral support. It wasn't until the next day that I realized this all happened on his birthday. No complaints, not even a mention of "this is kind of a crappy way to spend a birthday." Just there helping me out, no thought of himself. What a guy.

OK, well I am doing much better now. Some of my tendons are still stiff, but I only notice that because I've just done so much typing. The pain is gone and I am healing. Soon I will have forgotten the whole incident, which is why I decided I better blog about it now!

Fortnight

I have so much to do in lab over the next two weeks. It's going to be crazy. I need to plan something to do at the end of it so I have something to look forward to. I usually find that's the best way to get through a hectic time. Any suggestions?

Adam's adventures

My husband has taken up exploration. Especially what he calls "urban exploration." He goes into old buildings and under-ground drainage systems of cities and takes photos. I think he's a little young to already have had a mid-life crisis, but what do I know? The thing is he's hooked. Completely hooked. If we drive by anything that looks interesting, we absolutely have to stop and at least "scope out" the place. It's almost like there is no choice in the matter; some unknown force compels us to stop the car and give notice to places that everyone else seems to be able to just ignore. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, not that it matters. He's going to do it anyway. I do worry that he is going to get hurt, but he tries to be as careful as one can be exploring a condemned building. I have kindly informed him that if he kills himself doing something stupid, I will never forgive him. Not for all eternity. I refuse to become a widow due to something stupid and preventable. I'm not sure if this makes him more cautious, but I sure hope it does! I must admit that he does take some pretty neat photos. If you are interested, check out his flicker account here.