Monthly Archives: February 2012

When The Dog Gets Sick…

The past week has been like running a hospital at home. First I got a cold after coming back from California and Juneau, AK. The cold that I really didn’t have time for. But what can you do when viruses take over, and make you feel yucky and tired, sneezing, and coughing lungs out? In the middle of hard training season.
No Crossfit games for me this year – there was no way i could have been validating my scores for the games last week. The great plan to run a half marathon around 1:30 or less in near future will definitely get pushed back a bit – after a week-long sickness I’m still so weak that walking a few flies of stairs gets me out of breath… And I haven’t actually run a single mile since a couple of weeks ago when I hit the trail with some fellow runners in California. So fingers crossed for returning to normal routines. I so can’t wait. Last night I was dreaming of running in the rain, and kept repeating myself how awesome it is just to run. And then woke up coughing.

I miss the endorphins of running, the solitude, and relaxation.

But back to the topic. While I have been cracking up jokes about being sick as a dog, from now on I will shut up. Being sick as a dog sucks big time, especially if the dog is sick. Our poor Tassu got seriously first time ever in his life last week. While we were in Juneau, he was staying at a puppy hotel, and when we picked him up last Monday, he was a happy puppy, normal himself. Tuesday he was a little bit tired but played with his toys. Wednesday he threw up in the house, which I didn’t think too much of. Dogs puke every once in a while for whatever reason. Thursday he was sleeping a lot, and threw up again a couple of times. That made us to think that things are not how they should be, and we were planning to take him to the vet on Friday. But no worries, I just figured that upset stomach will calm down when we keep him fasting for 12 hours – at least he was drinking water.
Then Friday morning I got up way too early to go to bathroom, and noticed the dog wasn’t in the bedroom. He usually sneaks into our bed at night, or at least stays in his bed in our bedroom. So I decided to check his other bed in the living room, and turned lights on.

Gosh, what I saw.

Poor dog had been vomiting all over in the living room, staircase, and I found dog shaking and hiding downstairs. Poor puppy thought we would be mad at him for messing the house. I rushed upstairs to wake up Jason, and after a quick family negotiation decided that he has to see the doctor sooner than later. His stomach felt pretty hard, and in my head I went through all the possible causes from slipped stomach to poisoning.

Jason kindly offered to take the dog to a vet clinic in Anchorage – the only one that is open 24 hours. Vet did tests, and came up with diagnosis: bacterial infection. Dog got some antibiotics i.v., as well as some fluids. And more antibiotics to go home with. What a scary event it was but thanks to medicine and after sleeping for 24 hours our pooch is annoying himself again – wants to play with us constantly, and loves his squeaky penguin when I have work related calls going on.

And the house got cleaned too. My awesome husband loves to have gadgets for everything, so after this ordeal I was more than thrilled about being an owner of carpet cleaner. I started to clean the carpets but had to leave for work on Friday morning – when I came home, Jason had finished up where I left. What a wonderful husband I have!

Updates from the Photo Site

In case you don’t check the KominiakPhoto‘s website frequently, now it might be a good time to stop by. We just got done with a major gallery update, and added for example a brand new Iditarod gallery showing some of the most beautiful sled dogs on earth.

Sickness

It has been such a busy week and half …. first I spent almost a week in California, then returned home for less than 10 hours, and flew to Alaska’s state capital, Juneau for a couple of days.

While the schedule has been way more than hectic, I have had a blast. Until I got a cold. It started with slightly sore throat on my way to Juneau, kept getting worse and worse…. finally I had to give up to the sickness, and take a day off. Gallons of hot tea, some coffee, and lots of cold medicines – hopefully the combination works. Being sick is not fun at any rate, and especially now when I am busier than a beaver with tons of things to do before upcoming spring break trip and some other business trips. Oh, and school related papers and books to read are piling up too.

However, despite the cold sneaking in, the Juneau trip was a success. I usually don’t have any time to explore around when I make quick business trips there but this weekend. Since it was President’s Day weekend, Jason had a long weekend off, and I had been already gone for quite some time, we decided to use some of my airline miles and Jason flew there with me. After my work stuff we had a couple of days to hang out in this lovely southeastern town, hike on Mendenhall Glacier, do some shopping (there are some pretty neat yarn shops in Juneau!), and explore the remains of Treadwell gold mine. Treadwell was the largest gold mine back in the day. However, the mine collapsed and flooded in 1917. Pictures of the ruins as well as some other Juneau sights will be added to KominiakPhoto’s gallery in a few days. So stay tuned for the updates!

 

Hiking on Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau, AK.

Nugget Falls. Juneau, AK.

Juneau, AK.

Melting Brain

It has been such a busy week…. sometimes the professional life and full-time studying are getting the best of me. Meetings and all regular work stuff have kept me working very, very long hours, spending way too much time on phone, and being glued to my email 24×7. Especially this week. But I do love it. Although a few extra hours a day would be highly appreciated. I would need more time for working out: I have run only 8 miles this week – what a slacker and loser. I would need more time to hang out with the hubby and puppy. I would need more time to do this and that.

Then the school keeps me reading at nights. Sometimes the dreams of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, and impact of mutations in a protein’s tertiary structure on person’s brain wake me up when I am trying to escape to the la-la land. And I have to pull out my iPad, check the important details online or on my notes. Or write my thought down so that I can figure it out in the morning. Yes, I think my brain is melting.

I finished my week by taking two mid-term exams, back to back at the end of the day on Friday. With a mega headache. That makes me wonder if poor neurons can overheat so bad that it leads to a headache? Well, it is a lovely hypothesis… although more than likely the headache was just caused by long week. And tight back/neck muscles that are screaming for a massage. Massage that I have been putting off since I really haven’t had time. Maybe after this coming week’s business trip to California. Hopefully.

In any case, exams are now done. They went okay, not perfectly, but luckily there are still two more exams and some papers left on both courses so chances for A’s are out there. Work stuff is waiting for Monday. Saturday night, and time to take a deep breath and relax, before starting to pack my stuff for next week, and getting mentally prepared for redeye flights. Ten hours of traveling in front of me. Again.

They say I live a fast life. Maybe I just like a fast life. I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. It won’t last forever, either. But the memories will. ~Dennis Wilson

MilSpouse (First) Friday Fill-In #68

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In is here again! From now on every first Friday of month. Thanks to always awesome Wife of A Sailor for keeping up this fun way to get to know other military spouses around the world! The idea is simple – Wife of A Sailor posts the new questions prior the first Friday, you get your blog entry together, and link up at Friday Fill-In Site.

1. What is your favorite winter memory? Hmm, my favorite winter memory…. I grew up in Finland, in the home of real winters, and there are quite a few awesome memories related to that time of the year. Various ski trips and cross-country ski competitions are definitely among my favorites. Last winter I (finally) picked up snowboarding, after being a downhill skier for more than two decades – that experience will definitely stay in my memories forever…

2. What is your current favorite TV show? I don’t really watch tv a whole lot, nor religiously follow any shows. Are News considered as TV show? If so, I am a real news addict. However, I do like 24 but only when I can watch the whole season on DVDs. There is no way I could ever justify parking myself in front of the TV frequently at the certain time of the week…

3. What was your favorite thing that happened in January? Breaking some PR’s in Crossfit such as deadlifting 250lbs. Getting a new research project started with a bunch of hamsters. And having a few options for the PhD studies. Actually lots of great things happened in January.

4. What is the best sound in the world to you? I really do love the sound of ocean, just before the storm. And I enjoy a good ol’ thunderstorms. There is something relaxing in them. Weird, huh?!

5. What is the biggest lesson you have learned as a MilSpouse (or significant other)? Always be prepared with Plan B (and C). Things change, life goes on.