Priceless

Originally uploaded by MissMelysse.

Canine Dental Sugery: $125
Pre-Op Blood Screen: $ 50
Anesthesia (sevo gas): $ 40
Heart monitoring: $ 11
1 Molar extraction $ 13
2 Tooth extractions $ 22
Post-Op Painkiller $ 16
Antibiotic Drops $ 13.

One small dog sleeping peacefully on our rumpled bed

PRICELESS

Several years ago, Fuzzy’s family decided to hold a Thanksgiving celebration / reunion in Branson, MO. Since we were living in Texas at the time, we agreed to go. I wasn’t looking forward to it – travel over holidays is never fun and the drive through Oklahoma severely depressed me, but once we got to Arkansas, everything changed. I fell in love with the green scenery, the twisty mountain roads, the clear skies.

Branson itself is charming. Oh, it’s pretty much a company town that caters to the tourist trade, but unlike Vegas, it’s largely smoke free, and family-friendly doesn’t mean “the casino offers babysitting services.”

We didn’t have an organization like BransonGetaways.com planning our Branson Missouri vacation, and I sort of wish we had, because while we didn’t mind spending $500 to rent a friend’s timeshare, for roughly the same money we could have had a great 4 day/3 night package that included tickets to some of the shows – everything from Mickey Gilley to Shoji Tabuchi, from Broadway musicals (we saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, but it’s long since closed) to vintage American Bandstand performers AND hotel accommodations much closer to the center of town. They even offer different levels of hotel packages, so that couples who want to be spoiled can get that, but families can stay in places where their kids won’t feel out of place.

While our trip included tickets to the Silver Dollar City theme park (which is an old western town that has it’s own shows, crafters, a cave tour and an amusement park) they were a gift from Fuzzy’s mother, not included in any package, and we were so overwhelmed by family stuff that we didn’t even realize Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House in the Ozarks” where she lived with Almanzo and Rose was just an hour or so up the highway. The package deals don’t offer anything to do with Laura, but they do include options for the various theme parks, as well as the shows.

My favorite memory of our original trip to Branson was standing near a grill in Silver Dollar City with my sister-in-law eating a potato stir fry in the crisp fall air, while her daughter and our nieces rode the boats. I would dearly love to return to the area without the family, and with more time to explore, and see shows.

Of course, I’d also love to shop – there’s nothing like retail therapy while on vacation – and BransonGetaways.com also has all the information one could want about the different shopping areas, not just the mall, but the cute shops. (I am all about the cute shops).

Added to my to-do list: arrange for a Branson vacation with Fuzzy for later this year. Probably early fall. And I’ll definitely be using BransonGetaways.com.

Just heard from the vet. Zorro’s dental surgery went fine, and there were no complications with his heart, and no seizures. He’s resting comfortably, and we can pick him up in three hours.

Thank you all for your good wishes. I’m sure it helped.

It’s Friday morning at 6:47 and while I’ll concede that this is not a particularly early hour for those who work a “normal” sort of day, I haven’t worked anything resembling eight (or nine) to five since…um…well…ever. Most days, I sleep til nine or so, do a couple hours of work without leaving bed except to get coffee from the kitchen, and then shower, breakfast, walk the dogs and go back to work. We’re usually awake til 2 AM.

Today however, we’re up early, and while most of our early rising is for good things (like vacations) or at least neutral things (like business trips), being awake before dawn THIS morning is necessitated by the fact that we have to drop Zorro at the vet between seven and eight, it takes twenty minutes to get there in zero traffic, and neither of us has been in morning traffic in months. Years even.

He’s only having a dental, with this stupid abscessed tooth on the “must be removed” list (and probably others), but between the epilepsy and the heart condition, there’s a fifty-fifty chance he won’t survive the anesthesia, hence our worry and distraction over the past weeks.

And now…we go.

GreenTuna posted this in her blog a few days ago, and it’s so disturbing, I had to pass it on. She pointed out that Underdog was ALWAYS on a mission, and didn’t have time for dance numbers. I’d add that if on the off-chance he did dance, I’m fairly certain he could do at least a double pirouette.

I’m a big fan of Nero Wolfe mysteries, so when Fuzzy brought me an orchid last night, I was tickled. He doesn’t know the connection, just thought it was pretty and interesting. He’s so sweet.

We’re not going out tonight, as we have to bring Zorro to the vet at dawn. Instead, I’m making Fuzzy’s favorite scary foods (meatloaf and green beans) and we’ll watch Smallville and Lost, and light a fire. Sometimes staying in and being all cozy with blankets on the couch is really the best way to celebrate.

Last year, in honor of the day, I posted my favorite Valentine’s Day poem, John Fuller’s “Valentine.” I’m too lazy – and busy – this morning to cut and paste, but the link is here: John Fuller Said It Best.

Have a happy day full of love and joy.
And chocolate.

…on my shoulders and feet when I escorted the dogs into the back yard this morning, despite the fact that Weather.com told me it was only 44 degrees, but then later when we went for our walk (the long block, but at a more measured pace than before Zorro’s pneumonia, I was a bit annoyed at Miss Cleo for barking her head off and demanding to go Out when I had just stepped into the laundry room to get something from the dryer.

I’d snapped leashes onto them without pausing to grab a jacket you see, and while by then the temperature had increased a lot, it was only warm in the sun when we were still. When actually moving, the wind made it more than a little chilly.

But at least Zorro made it through the walk with his happy tail showing the whole time, and no coughing.

Dental surgery is on Friday. He’s a fighter. I hope he wins.

I’m pimping someone else’s words tonight, which came to me courtesy of Kradical, who posted the link in HIS ElJay.

It’s a page-long blog entry offering money advice to new writers, but much of it applies to ANYONE who is working in a creative field that doesn’t involve regular paychecks, benefits, or office hours.

The piece is here.

This is how we’re spending Sunday evening:

Zorro is curled on Fuzzy’s pillow, watching me as I type while half-watching television. I put it on to watch Brothers and Sisters and let it run through the news and now Ebert and Roeper. We might get snow next week, we might not. None of the movies being reviewed are interesting me much, except for In the Shadow of the Moon, which will be out on DVD soon if it isn’t already.

MissCleo is devouring a bully ring chewy. This is essentially a bully stick formed into a ring. They last longer than actual bully sticks because she has to create a gap in the ring before she can really go to town on it. She talks to her chewies, growling and warbling. It’s very cute.

Fuzzy is upstairs blasting things on the playstation 3, or playstation 2, or one of the Xboxes. We don’t yet have a Wii. He’s SUPPOSED to be getting rid of the original Xbox since we have a 360 now, but it’s been two months and I’m not holding my breath.

I am curled up in bed, with my laptop, and a pile of books to catalog. I have the receipts for them, but spreadsheets are easier. I need this info for taxes. Since I keep a bookblog, and it’s monetized, any book I buy that I also review is a business expense. If the FLIP video camera that I’m looking at is used to make ads, it can be deducted too. How cool is that>?

Tomorrow will be a day of writing, and since it’s Monday it’s a weight day. I’m still a little sore from Friday – I think I pushed myself too hard.

But the weights make me feel so powerful.

And on that note, goodnight.

This post is more for myself than the general public, but it helps me to post it here, so that I have something external forcing some semblance of accountability.

My mother is coming for a week in May. We have a bunch of things that we need to do for the house, which we’ve been putting off until after Zorro’s dental surgery on Friday the fifteenth. The list, so far, includes:

– Flooring:
We need to re-carpet the downstairs hall, upstairs hall, and steps in something dog-proof with little-to-know pile. I don’t want hard floors in those places.
We also need to put cherry laminate in the dining room, so we need a quote for that.
We went to Carpet One earlier today, only to find that they’re closed on Sunday. I’ve been hearing a lot about that directbuy place, where you buy a membership but then get deep discounts. I wonder if they install? I know they sell flooring. There’s a downloadable free pass on their website so we might have to check them out.

– Paint:
Kitchen will be peach. Pale peach.
Decided I like the green tea color of my office (it’s tranquil) but I want to add some lavender.
Fuzzy’s office will be the color of antique parchment.
The dining room is still undecided. I like the yellow base color, so if we get rid of the picket fencing and repaint the walls, it might work. It’s a sort of Tuscan yellow. Very rich. With the wood floors it will be marvelous.

– Plants:
Need to talk to gardener about putting a flower garden in front of the arch window, and trimming the shrubs.
Need to buy big pots for outside the living room and bedroom windows. Maybe citrus? I’ve heard there are varieties of lemon and lime that can handle Texas winters.
Need a large tree for the corner behind the couch. I will put my dragonfly lights on it, and it will be a good “nightlight.”

– Other:
Really need a chimney sweep.
And a general contractor for the ceiling plaster and front entry.