The Right One

Last night Chad and I watched Let the Right One In, a Swedish vampire flick. Suddenly I am dreadfully afraid that a twelve-year-old vampire girl will drop out of a tree and drain all my blood. I will say that after making it through the night vampire attack-free, I did enjoy the movie.

Love Me Some Arkansas

Arkansas native Kris Allen, a major underdog, just won American Idol!!! Nobody gave him a chance. Take that San Diego!!! Take that Vegas odds-makers!!! Take that judges!!! Take that America!!! HA

I feel like Arkansas just won a Superbowl or something (which could never happen since we have no NFL team here.) We're a pretty supportive state, ya know. Look at Darren McFadden's campaign for the Heisman Trophy, or even Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign. And we all got behind the Razorback basketball team on their way to a national championship. Yeah Kris! You Go Arkansas!

Zetta's Big Day

Zetta has waited ten years for a day like Saturday. I think it was the best day of her life. For those that don't know Zetta, she's not like most dogs. Though she's happy to see us when we get home, she's pretty aloof for a dog and she hardly ever barks. But in one aspect she is a dog through and through--Zetta is a hunter. She is constantly prowling for prey. She actually catches things too; she's quite the mole killer. There's one beast that has alluded her until now--the SQUIRREL!

Here's the story: I was outside doing yardwork on Saturday afternoon and, of course, the dogs were outside with me. We heard a squirrel scurry up the lone tree in our backyard. The dogs immediately ran over, got excited, and stayed under the tree and barked a while. Jerome lost interest after about two minutes, but Zetta stayed under that tree all day and watched that squirrel. Many hours later I looked out the window and Zetta had the squirrel in her mouth. Zetta must have been mighty proud of that squirrel, because after she played with it and killed it, she buried it. Not once, not twice, but three times. And she wouldn't leave her kill. She stayed outside and guarded it all night. We finally had to take it away from her on Sunday. Poor squirrel, but I think it brought Zetta true happiness and joy for one day.

Happy Birthday Henry!

My mom brought Henry a cake because we all felt so sorry for the little guy. It's a bummer to have the flu on your birthday. Henry loved blowing the candles out, but did not eat any cake. He hasn't had much of an appetite. He has been playing quite a bit today and I think he is feeling okay. He just needs to get rid of that nasty cough.

Don't Panic Part 2

I'm making an effort not to panic here.

In my last post I said that Henry was completely recovered, but that was not exactly true. He only vomited once on Friday, but now he has developed a pretty serious-sounding cough. Chad took him to the doctor this morning and--long story short--he tested positive for Influenza A. They are sending it off to the capital to check for Swine Flu. In the meantime, we are not supposed to take him anywhere. We have had to cancel his birthday party, which was scheduled for Friday. The poor little guy will not be allowed to leave the house on his birthday.

Back to the panic: I realize that this is probably just the regular flu. The logical side of me tells me so. But it is still scary to have a doctor say that she will need to send his sample off to Little Rock. Meanwhile I rushed myself to the doctor to see if I have the flu. (I don't.) I have been feeling ill since Sunday night and actually left work early on Monday. I figured it was just seasonal allergies, but since I work in a school and I know I have been exposed to flu, I felt it was my obligation to find out. Anyway, we will not have Henry's results for one week, so until then I will try to keep the panic to a minimum.

Don't Panic

Joe Biden is a real guy and a straight shooter. I like that. While our President and the CDC are telling us not to panic about Swine Flu, Biden just tells it like it is. He suggested on the Today show that he and his family are not taking the subway or riding airplanes until this problem is contained. Of course, this became a publicity nightmare for the White House. They had to spin what he said later so people would not panic, but isn't Biden's attitude more reflective of the existing sentiment in the U.S.? I mean...come on...people are panicked! I've received multiple emails at work regarding prevention of the spread of Swine Flu, there are new posters up in our bathrooms about hand washing, and as we speak I have a student headed for Mexico.

On top of that, Henry threw up on Friday morning. Naturally we rushed him to the doctor to make sure he didn't have Swine Flu. (Henry is fine by the way; he has completely recovered.)
Side note: When he's sick, Henry likes to cuddle. It's so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time.

More bad timing--the tornado sirens went off in Fayetteville on Friday night. Turns out a very small tornado struck east of us at about 5 pm. Pretty scary. But hey, don't panic.

Sick and cuddling.

This little piggy went to market...