Happy Thanksgiving.

Hello to everyone from California!  Jamie and I made the trip yesterday and arrived in Los Angeles last night.  It's nice to be back and to see how some things are the same and some different.  For the most part, the same.  

I'll try to post pictures from our Thanksgiving hijinks.  In the meantime, I want everyone to have a wonderful day being with family and giving thanks.

Transformation.

Here's a documentary about the construction of our newest campus (which opened this fall).  Hooray for DC Prep!  To clear up what I know will be confusing, DC Prep currently shares the building with another school called  NIA.  (Our kids are cuter).  We have our own sides and we share a cafeteria.  

Right now, I'm sharing my time between two DC Prep campuses; I am primarily at the Edgewood Campus, but spend my Tuesdays at Benning.  It's amazing how quickly they were able to transform the building and the environment.

Watch Benning school construction in How to Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

No, I don't expect you to watch the whole thing, but it's pretty cool to see how the building started out (around 3:30 to about 4:00) and see how it ended up around 10:14.

Apply now!

Amigos.

I can't decide if this is kind of funny or extremely disturbing.  Help deciding?

Please don't call PETA.

And, if you find that horribly offensive, I'm sorry.  Here is something that is definitively funny.

Okay.  Maybe just to me.

Awesome in a Stalker Sort of Way.

Today I discovered that Google Maps has finally gotten around to "Street-View" mapping Washington D.C.  While I am street-savvy enough not to post my home address on this blog, I encourage those of you who know me well enough to actually have my address, to Street View it.  If you look closely, you can find my cat in one of the windows.

Bonus points if you can find my car.  I'll give you a hint: you'll have to look around the block.

I was also excited to find that I could find my car in more than one location on Google Maps -- the other being at my school.  Sadly, the picture must have been taken on a Saturday or over the summer when I was one of a few people at school and therefore my car was quite easy to find.  

I kind of want to see if I can find my car in even more places...Fun pasttime for all.

If you have 15 minutes to kill...

This link will probably only appeal to a small handful of the people who actually read this blog.  Specifically, the blog reader of the brother-in-law variety as it has to do with Star Wars.  I just enjoyed it thoroughly...because I'm a huge nerd.

You'll have to sit through a commercial or two...but there are moments that are very much worth it.  And, if you have less than 15 minutes to kill, I'd skip the first few minutes...

Half-Decade.

Today marks the fifth birthday of this blog!  Guys, I have a Kindergartner!

It seems kind of crazy to think that I have been "consistently" writing in this blog for that many years.  So, of course, I spent a little time today looking back through my blog and searching for those key things that happened in the lifetime of this blog: graduating from Williams, getting in to TFA, two presidential elections, adopting two cats, buying our first house, getting engaged -- then married, becoming an aunt (!) and so on and so forth.

What I ultimately found was that the more interesting things most of the time were the things that reflected the times.  I also found it amusing to look at this post from Election 2004 in which I sort of complained about how much time Jamie spent volunteering for the campaign.  Present-Melissa wants Past-Melissa to know that she doesn't know the half of it.

Anyway, to commemorate the fifth birthday of this blog, I would like to revisit an old post from January of 2004 and see how successfully (if at all) I was able to beat mediocrity.

I was looking at the "2003 Bloggie" nominees, and I have decided that my blog will never be the stuff of greatness -- it is forever doomed to be mediocre. From what I saw, here are the ingredients for a great blog: 

1. Be married or engaged. This way, you always have something to talk about. You can talk about how your husband farts in his sleep or how he said something uncharacteristically chauvanistic or whatever. If you're engaged you can always talk about the planning of the wedding (which will almost always be wacky and unpredictable). 

1. Done and done.  Despite the fact that Jamie does not fart in his sleep (fortunately), he still provides plenty of fodder for the blog -- unfortunately for him.

2. Be unemployed or have a job with so little responsibility that you can spend hours looking for random news and weird stories on the internet (See #3). 

2. Sort of.  I have a job now.  Boy howdy, do I ever.  That still does not stop me from spending ample time on the internet looking for random news and weird stories.

3. Find and link to random news and weird stories on the internet. 

3. Yep.  I think I do this.  I think I do this a lot.  Dare I say, too much?

4. Have a dog that you treat like a child. A spoiled, rotten child. (This is not to be confused with actually having a child: that makes you not have time for #3 and otherwise boring since you would rather sleep than upkeep a stupid blog. There are exceptions -- see #5). 

4. I think two spoiled rotten cats count.  I also have Puppy Cam!

5. Be pregnant. This makes you wacky and unpredictable and brings hours of fun as you complain about those people who touch your belly or make stupid comments to your pregnant ass. Also, if you're employed you will probably take some maternity leave to relax at home, put your feet up...andsurfthenetandupdateyourblog (see #2 and 3). 

5. NOPE.

6. Take pictures and put them on your blog. 

6. Can do!  I just need fun places to photograph.

7. Be willing to candidly talk about your bowel movements and other such taboo items. 

7. Up to a point, people.  Mostly because I am cognizant that people who read this blog probably wouldn't want to hear about such things.  Besides, the bowel movements of our preschoolers would probably be more amusing anyway...

So it seems as though, five years after starting this blog, I am doing alright.  Here's to five more years of exciting milestones and those not-as-exciting snapshots in time. 

I encourage you to randomly pick a day from the sidebar and read -- I had a good time doing it.  And had I not, I would not have remembered that J-Bomb had accurately predicted the outcome of this year's election almost two years ago.  Though, I don't know if Traffic Light Boy is any closer to Secretary of Transportation...

Lest We Forget.

There are other things going on in my life besides Cody. 

For instance:

How precious is my niece, Leah????

And, oh my goodness, Riley!

Another, non-Cody post coming soon!

Welcome Back Cody.

So!  Cody came home!  Even better, Cody came home after narrowly escaping surgery!

After spending just shy of a week in the hospital, Cody's doctor recommended that he get a "P.U." (perineal urethrostomy) which basically means they remove what's left of his manhood because his urethra kept on getting blocked by crystals or build up in his urine.  Fortunately for him, his last night in the hospital he was able to pee on his own!

For the next 18 hours the hospital staff was on bladder-watch and I called regularly for updates.  Jamie dropped him off at the clinic where we had scheduled his surgery, but gave them the instructions to continue monitoring him and hold off on the surgery until the last moment when we would make a last minute call.  Ultimately, we opted not to go through with it...and brought him home last night.

He's been doing well!  See?

Aside for the stylish bald spots on his leg where they put in the IVs, he looks like his old self.  He's is the same, big, teddy bear but just needs to make more frequent trips to the litter box.

Unfortunately, Junior is behaving predictably.

Part of me loves Cody's response.  Complete and total apathy with maybe a little confusion.  I am hopeful that they'll return to their regular loving relationship soon.

Junior and Cody a mere two weeks ago.

All Cody. All the Time.

I'm sorry for the single-trackedness of this blog as of late -- but really, I've just been really concerned about this guy lately.

This is the picture I took on my flimsy little camera phone this afternoon when I was visiting the big guy at the hospital.  He looked much better than the last time I visited him when he was on Valium.  In fact, despite what the picture may convey, he was actually more lively than I had anticipated.  He kept trying to walk around -- but slipping because of the makeshift cast he has on one of his paws for the IV -- and making crazy Marge Simpson noises instead of meowing.  Later, the nurse informed me that he was "doped up".

After plenty of quality time with him and several Cody headbutts, the nurse kicked me out as it was time more medications.  He's got another night in the hospital -- they took out his catheter for the second time this evening -- and will be monitoring him all night.  Best case scenario, he'll be ready to pick up tomorrow morning.  If not, he'll be having surgery and spending a lot more time in the hospital.

Cross your fingers.  And hopefully, I'll have something different to talk about soon.

Jinxed It.

So I guess I spoke too soon. The vet called this morning and told us that Cody is still having some medical issues and needed to have the catheter reinserted. On top of that, he caught some virus from a neighboring cat and now has a fever. So, while I would love to scoop him up and take him away from the other sick animals, I figure I probably wouldn't have much luck taking care of him with that catheter and IV.

I'm just hoping we might be able to get him from the hospital tomorrow evening...

Good News.

We went to visit Cody at the hospital and the vet said that the test results from his blood work that morning wasn't in yet.  The veterenarian had given him some Valium because he hadn't been eating -- apparently, it makes cats hungry -- and he wolfed down lots of food afterwards.  So, when we were visiting him Cody was super groggy from having lots of food in his belly and the Valium.  Fortunately, he was still his sweet self and began purring and kneading his paws frantically when we came.  Although he couldn't really move because of the catheter, IV, and the Elizabethan Collar, he was still same old Cody.

On our way home from dinner afterwards, the vet called with the result from the blood work.  Apparently, everything was back to normal in his system, which points to no permanent kidney damage.  She said she was surprised because his levels were so high yesterday...and so she was planning to continue monitoring him tonight.  The especially good news is that we will get to pick him up from the hospital tomorrow morning (she originally told us Tuesday) if there are no unhappy surprises overnight.  

So relieved.

On Hold.

While I've been waiting on hearing from the doctor about Cody, I've been passing time doing work and having this in the background:

Live TV by Ustream

I've been meaning to post about it for a little while, but I've never been able to get it to work properly.  Anyway, it's a happy little distraction.

So, Jamie assures me that Cody will be fine, but our last update from the vet wasn't a very good one.  Apparently, permanent kidney damage is not unlikely anymore as he had crazy high levels of various chemicals in his system.  They supposedly removed the catheter by now, and I'm just waiting on another update from the vet before going over to visit him.  

This is my curse and I know it.  Despite my love for my pets, I can never really keep them safely beyond 3 years.  Something always happens, and usually something mysterious.  Chasqui ran away (although, a dog just like him magically appeared in a neighbor's yard not long after), Katie contracted some exotic disease which meant instant death at a kennel while we were away, and I'm still not completely clear on what happened to Jesse.  Deep down, I knew Cody was pushing it when he turned four a couple months ago, but I was just hoping he had escaped the curse.

I'm something of a wreck right now thinking about it.  And maybe it will seem silly to some of you (dad) that I'm such a mess over it...especially when it could be okay...but Cody really has been the perfect companion for the past four years.  Always sweet and accomodating, always ready to snuggle, and always providing something to laugh about.  Hopefully, I will have some pictures to share of his triumphant return home...as well as some more stories about how Junior freaks herself out about how he smells.

I'm sorry about the downer post.  This is why I started out with the puppy cam...

Guilt-ridden.

Sorry for the blog silence. After the Obama excitement I didn't really have much else on my mind. And then, I got sick so I was feeling sorry for myself in bed. It was quite possibly the worst possible time for me to get sick as we are having a big Review of our school at the time. Quite stressful, and busy, but we managed to do well.

This led to me completely crashing on Friday with a fever of 102. So I skipped work and slept pretty much all day.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one sick on Friday. My precious Cody was moping around and vomiting EVERY where. His vomiting on my bed was my cue to get out of it...so after that I spent the rest of the day mopping up after him.

Not only is Cody the most precious cat ever -- trust me, Jamie can attest to the fact that I am fawning over that cat constantly -- but he is never sick. Except for that one time. And that other time. So maybe, he gets sick, but he never acts sick and it's never serious. This time it was serious. I grappled with taking him to the vet, but a combination of me being sick, and the fact that we had taken our cats to the vets for various reasons three times in the past two months (and they were relatively useless visits because turns out they were fine and we were overprotective) made me decide to wait one day and see if he was feeling better the next day. He wasn't vomiting blood as Junior had been earlier this month -- and that turned out to be nothing according to our vet. But, after closing time I began to regret my decision as he didn't seem to be getting much better.  He was throwing up less - maybe once -- but he was still moping.

Jamie took him to the vet this morning while I was at work and it turns out that I could have killed my cat had I waited a couple more days. I feel like such a horrible pet owner! He had some blockage in his urethra, so much so that his kidneys were being affected. He had been throwing up the toxins that were backing up in his body since he couldn't eliminate them any other way.

They unblocked him and put in a catheter and an IV. He has to stay at a hospital for a few days before he can come home again. Hopefully, by then he will be fine again and this incident is not a symptom of a bigger problem.

Because, as I mentioned before, he is the most perfect cat ever. Also, we canceled our pet insurance a little while back because Cody had always been so healthy and now we are seriously wishing we hadn't.

America for Obama.

Although I am not at some fancy-pants rally celebrating with tons of other people right now, I am just as content sitting in my home with the windows open and listening to the Washingtonians celebrating in the streets and watching fireworks go off.

Yes. We. Can.  More importantly, we did.

Preschoolers for Obama.

Today while observing a preschool class, they were electing a new line leader.

Ms. M: You want to vote for someone who you think will do the best job leading the line and will lead by example. Who do you think will do the best job leading the line?

3-year old: BARACK! PICK BARACK!

Ms. M: Obama is running for President, not line leader.

Another 3-year-old: I WANT TO VOTE FOR OBAMA!

Seriously. The kids know it. Every time I think about the elections and all we have riding on it, I can cry. While I'd like to think that race plays no part in who I voted for, I still get misty when I think that two hundred years after Abraham Lincoln was born, we are at this point in our history. It took a long time, but I'm glad to be a part of that time now.

There have been a few of those moments in my life when I think about future generations of Americans reading about it in history books. Up until this point, they have been memorable for bad reasons: 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the New Depression we're in now...

But this.

This has the possibility to be a New Deal or Neil Armstrong moment.  An "I Have a Dream" moment.  A moment in American history of which I am so thankful to be a part.

Or the other guy could win...I am mere hours away from total exultation or despair.

I think the preschoolers are right: Barack Obama would be the best candidate to lead our line.

Peruvians for Obama.

I love how there is absolutely no commentary in this newsclip from CNN.

It just speaks for itself.  I'm guessing, a white skull being waved in front of your face is good, and a red skull is bad...