A (HinJew) Passage to India

Relay for Life 2008

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:36:04 GMT

On July 12th, my family participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Relay is a 24 hour event dedicated to raising money to fight cancer along with taking time to remember those who have lost their lives to the disease and showing support for those who are currently battling it. If you have a Relay event in your area, you should definitely check it out. While some people (like us) pitch a tent and hang in there for all 24 hours, the entire event has an almost carnival like atmosphere. There are games, bake sales, auctions, and all sorts of fun activities to raise money for the ACS. The Relay part of it is that each team tries to have a representative out walking the track for the entire 24 hours to symbolize how cancer never takes a day off. (Our team managed walkers for 21 and a half hours, so um, maybe cancer took a quick nap?)

Last year we participated mainly because our good friend was one of the event co-ordinators. Our team raised a good bit of money and we had a lot of fun, so we were looking forward to this year.

Our family is fortunate in that we haven't been touched directly by cancer. Fighting cancer has pretty much been an abstract concept for us. This year, in the span of about a month, we found out about three people we knew who were diagnosed with cancer. Well, four, if you count Emma. Which I do. One was the grown son of one of my friends, one is a mom who has a son on David's soccer team, and the third is a very dear friend of mine named Susan.

I first met Susan on the old AOL Pregnancy Pal message boards back in 1997 when I was pregnant with David and she was pregnant with her son, Joseph. Even after the board split up (like they always do!) Susan and I have been part of an email loop that has lasted all these years. Although I've only spent time with her in person once, we have a shared history that runs deep.

Susan is still in the process of being fully diagnosed. She has Stage 1 breast cancer and so far, things are looking cautiously optimistic. Susan is lovely, gentle, and even-keeled. She tolerates my sarcasm and evil humor beautifully and I'm sure she spends plenty of time praying for my soul. ;-) Anyhow, Susan, this year I dedicated my Relay experience to you.

Well, not sure if you can read that....but I had her name on my back.

Our event is held at the local high school and as the sun goes down, the track is lined with luminaria bags. Each one bears the name on of someone who has been affected by cancer. Here are some of the luminaria bags made in support of Susan.

And here's one Juliana made. Note the guinea pig with halo and wings.

If you would like to donate to my Relay for Life team, just let me know. Even though the event is over, contributions are still being accepted into August.

Holding Pattern

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:28:59 GMT

I'm thinking we are never going to name this pig. Juliana and I are leaning towards Juniper. David remains adamant about Sparky. I'm getting emails pushing Polly. And there's a disgruntled contingent displeased that Gigi didn't make the list. In the meantime, we're still calling her Smoky (Smokey?) and the good thing about that name is that it has immediately lent itself to a number of good nicknames which, if you were not aware, is eminently important in a guinea pig name. Smoky has already been called Smoky-Dokey-Artichokey, Smokely-Dokely, Smokester and The Smokinator.

In other news, here is my injury of the day: David left the toilet seat up and when I went to put it down, the lid came down with it and banged me on the arm hard enough to leave a nasty bruise. Last week I gave myself a second degree burn on my thumb when I attempted to take a cake out of the oven and managed to position the pot-holder incorrectly. I wonder if anyone would read a blog entitled Injuries Du Jour...

Vote!

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:58:40 GMT

I Am The Guinea Pig Whisperer!

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:03:29 GMT

Today's Update

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:26:37 GMT

Here's a Smokey and Spots update: We moved Smokey's cage almost right up against Spotty's and suddenly they discovered each other. Spots spent a lot of time last night up on her hind legs staring at Smokey. Smokey, who is mellow as can be and seems mostly interested in food (I don't think she was optimally cared for at her old home and I figure she thinks she's on a cruise right now what with the constant eating available) didn't seem bothered by Spots and her scrutiny. At one point, though, Smokey hauled her big fluffy self over to look at Spots and they spent some time sniffing at each other and chewing happily on the bars of the cages. We've had them each separately on the floor having "run around time" so I think they are gradually getting used to each other's scent.

Also, here are the name suggestions from the blog/email so far: Lassie, Bob, Jumana (still haven't googled this and not gonna risk it with my 8 year old here reading along!) Joe, and Gigi. (Juliana just said. "I think the best one so far is Gigi. Did you let them know it's a girl? Gaga suggested Bob because she's Gaga. <sigh>") I'm not sure you people are really applying yourselves where guinea pig names are concerned!

More later. The kids and I are going out on a friend's boat this afternoon, so providing we don't meet a watery death, I'll type up Juliana's name list this evening.

Introducing!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:54:08 GMT

Yesterday we adopted a new guinea pig. We'd hoped to get one from the Humane Society, but after two weeks of patiently waiting for an appropriate one to be available for adoption, we looked at other options. Monday I found one on Craig's List that looked promising, and after emailing back and forth with the current owner, we drove over to meet her. This family had adopted her (also from Craig's List) a few months ago, but seeing as they had a baby, a toddler, two dogs, and a cat they had their hands full and not enough time or energy for her.

She turned out to be a beautiful silver agouti guinea pig. Agouti guinea pigs have thick fur and each individual hair has two colors. In her case, she has black fur with white tips. Her chin and belly are pure white. Did I mention how gorgeous she is? Here, see for yourself.....

Isn't she a crack up? She is big and fluffy and looks like a chinchilla/rabbit/squirrel/marmoset/guinea pig. Two people have already likened her to a silverback gorilla. (When my mom saw her, her first words were: Jesus Christ! She's huge!)

So far we have her in the small cage until we can work on introducing her to Spots. Hopefully they will get along nicely. She came with the name Smokey, but I think we're going to change it. Juliana has a list with dozens and dozens of potential guinea pig names. Maybe I'll figure out how to put a poll on here and let everyone vote. In the meantime, we're open to suggestions!

Edited to add: Dammit, getting the red rectangles again. Help! Gonna try something different,.

At Least He's Honest

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:12:24 GMT

David: What's for dinner?

Me: I've already told you three times.

David: I know. I just like to hear the sound of my own voice.

Moving Forward

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:23:35 GMT

Well, it's been a week. The mirrors are all uncovered again and we're moving forward. Thank you all for your kind words. Sarah, your poem was especially awesome! I'm going to cut and paste it here so everyone has a chance to see it.

A TRIBUTE TO EMMA

Emma, Emma, the beloved pet
Emma, Emma, they took you to the vet
Your passing has left a sad, sombre mood
Dying......not the best way to show your gratitude

Emma, Emma, sweetest little pig I never did meet
Emma, Emma, the blogs about you were always a treat
Yes, Indy's blogs about you were always fanatic and kind
Yet, sometimes I wondered, "Has she lost her mind??"

Emma, Emma, blog readers shared in your life through internet post
Emma, Emma, your passing will therefore be felt coast to coast
You've been immortalized by Indy whose blogs were funny and savvy
I just pray she's forgotten about wanting that big, gawky cavy!

So, dear Emma, on to greener pastures you go
You were truly the bestest guinea pig I never did know

Emma is buried under a tree in the backyard (and well, there were a lot of roots under that tree which made it hard to dig, so she may be more like planted than buried) and Juliana made a lovely marker for it.

I've got a bunch of houseguests coming tonight for the weekend, so I've been busy getting ready for that. In the meantime, here are a few picture. This was taken the morning of the surgery. I commented on Juliana's cute outfit and she informed me that she had "dressed like Emma".

She was an excellent piggy. We all miss her little tilty head. I miss the way she would nuzzle into my hair and lick my chin. I think by middle of next week we''ll start looking for a new companion for Spots. She's seemed rather subdued, and I think a friend would help.

Edited to add: Sorry for the tiny pictures. My pictures were showing up as red blocks (not even just the dreaded red X) and then when I went to try and add them again, they were red blocks on Snapfish! They look fine as thumbnails, but when I try to see the larger view, I get a big red block. So all I could post were the thumbnails. Any ideas?

Well, Hell

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:54:58 GMT

RIP Emma 10:35 PM

Emma

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:09:29 GMT

We brought Emma home around 6:30 this evening. She's still pretty out of it. Her procedure ended up being a bit more complicated and invasive than they thought and they also found an abscess in her right ear which accounts for the lingering head tilt. She's on three meds right now and has to be syringe fed a special mixture. Her belly is all shaved and the poor thing looks like she's been gutted. The vet said that with a regular spaying, she would've perked up by now but because she had so much done to her plus the underlying abscess, she's going to take longer to bounce back. Right now she's a mess--can't stand or walk, won't eat--and I'm doing my best to stay optimistic.

Oh, and all the extra things they had to do ended up doubling the cost. I may need to get a job just to pay off the vet bill. I'll post more when there's something to report.