New location

We have moved. We've decided to move back to my original blog, as it's a little more general and will make a lot more sense to blog about a variety of subjects. All the blog posts from 4 legs and 2 wheels have been moved over so you should be able to find everything over there.

It's been fun here, and was our first venture into a joint blog. We quickly found that we wanted to blog about more than 4 legs and 2 wheels. Please venture over and check it out. We're still working on cosmetic details, but it's there, and will hopefully be a place that we'll post on more often.

Thanks!

This weekend we had our family o' friends over for a Christmas movie marathon/cookie bake. It was so great to be able to spend so much time with such good friends. I still miss being in college, living with the girls, sometimes and having my best friends around all the time. We still get together as much as we can now, but it's been a long time since any of us have lounged around in our pajamas and just enjoyed the company. We were missing many who have moved too far to make it back for a short weekend, but a great time was had by all. And it was even better than being back in college - the pups and baby (err, toddler) make everything so much more fun!

We kicked the weekend off Friday night with some good food and Elf. We started again with an awesome breakfast casserole made by Eric and the Muppet Christmas on Saturday morning once everyone from in town made it back over. Eric and I decided to make sticky rolls instead of cookies. Gracie apparently thought they were all for her. We put the dough by the register in the living room to rise, thinking that it would be well watched. When the girls decided to leave on a short excursion, I had a bad feeling about it there. But Eric was going to be home, and I figured he would be back in the living room soon to keep an eye on it. Well, he figured I wouldn't have left and left it down...

When the girls got back, Gracie had eaten about half of the dough that was only partly through its first rise. Caught in the act, she was very sorry. Luckily with our group of friends, there is almost always someone of the veterinary persuasion around. We decided that we would induce vomiting this time. She has a stomach of steel, but there was no way it could handle that much dough rising inside. Turns out we underestimated the strength of her stomach. I've never seen peroxide not work at making a dog throw up. Twenty minutes later we had to bring a very uncomfortable Gracie back inside and just leave her in the kitchen. She finally threw up about half an hour later. Twice. And twice more later in the evening. The good news is that I have a legitimate excuse to replace my cheap Christmas tree skirt!

Even with a vomiting, uncomfortable Gracie, we all had a great time. We baked come cookies, chilled on the couch, watched Liam and Webster play, and cleaned the kitchen more than a few times. It was so nice having a little one around and hearing little feet on our wood floors all day. Sarah and I really enjoyed getting to give Liam a bath and put him to bed. How many childless women does it take to put a sleeper on a sleepy toddler? Too cute. There's no denying that I can't wait to have kids, but I can hear Eric in my head saying "stick to the plan, woman!"

I'll leave you with two videos. Webster taught Liam to play ball for the first time 10 months ago, when he was 11 months old. Now, Liam is a pro. They play so well together. It never gets old watching them.

Changes may be around the corner

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and while I still like the "4 legs" part of 4 legs and 2 wheels, I'm not so much feeling the 2 wheels much anymore. Realistically, we both enjoy cycling, but 95% of the time, I only do it to commute to and from work, and The Teacher hasn't been on her bike in months. I don't feel a strong pull to write much about cycling and I think it might be time to change the name of the blog. We're still trying to work out a new name that I like and will encompass more of an overall description of what we will write about, but without being too "corny" as The Teacher puts it.

We will still more than likely keep the 4 legs part because it's a huge part in what we are both passionate about. I however would like to add on to it something about living a better life. I'm becoming more and more interested in local and sustainable food, taking control of the food we eat (i.e. growing and storing), exercise (this will no doubt include some cycling stuff), etc. I would like for this blog to be able to encompass everything in our life including the things that we strive for, and I feel 4 legs and 2 wheels is too specific and hard to elaborate additional topics into.

Maybe it's just me. I hope that everyone that has read the blog in it's current state, either regularly or just whenever, will still continue to frequent it. Hopefully you will take interest in something we're doing or striving towards, or maybe you'll just feel enlightened by expertly written blog posts.

Support for Canine Cancer

Looking for something to do on Sunday? Want to get out and enjoy the weather for a good cause? There is a walk going on in 12 cities across the Nation to help raise awareness for canine cancer. Check out the 2 Million Dogs Walk. It's for a great cause and I only wish we could go. Unfortunately, Gracie and Webster are both still on antibiotics, and it's probably best that they don't go until they are done and have a clean bill of health.

We've been aware of Luke and his beautiful dogs for a year or so. Lynette met Luke, Hudson and Murphy at the 2009 Cincinnati Pet Expo, and I had read an article shortly before that. What dedication. The three walked from Austin, TX to Boston, MA to raise awareness for canine cancer, which prematurely took Luke's beloved Malcolm. It's such a great cause that really needs a larger awareness. Little did we know a year ago that we would really become part of his cause...personally. I would recommend checking out this walk if you're free, reading Luke's blog, and/or buying something from their online store. I know I will be keeping track of my days in 2011 on one of their calendars.

Cycling sabbatical

I didn't ride to work yet again today. The pups took forever to do their business this morning, Gracie acted like a picky eater this morning, and the bike tires needed some air. I thought about it for minute and said screw it and grabbed the car keys.

Once to work, I started thinking about it. I don't necessarily enjoy riding to work. Actually, it's kinda a pain in the ass, especially now that it's starting to get cold. It's much more convenient to drive and my lungs and legs aren't burning from my immediate hill climb on my way home. Why do I bother then? Because it's the right thing to do. I only live a mile from work and it's really unnecessary to drive. Working only a mile from work also makes it hard to spend enough time in the saddle to actually enjoy the ride. Maybe if I lived a little further, it would give me the opportunity to enjoy the ride a little more. Then again, it would also be more inconvenient.

The worst part is, I know there are a lot of people that truly do love the ride. Maybe I need a new bike or maybe just some new components!

Tomorrow, I start to ride again, whether I like it or not.

Another Note from the Very-Germy Household

When we got home from watching the game with friends last night, we were greeted by, not just one, but two happy, coughy and sneezy dogs. We knew that if it was a bug that Gracie picked up from the vet, then there would be no way to avoid this - with all of the snot Gracie has been producing the last couple days. They've been cuddling even more than normal since the surgery, and Webster has been giving Gracie a thorough sniffing every day to see how she is.

I got up first this morning and the two happy, coughy and sneezy dogs were at it full-force. Our house sounded like Petland. Eric joked that he was not going to get out of bed without galoshes. It was disgusting! (And yes, every surface of this house will be cleaned and disinfected before anyone is invited over again - probably several times!) Anyways, I checked temperatures. Gracie's fever is gone! But Webster was running 103.6!

When the vet opened at 1:00 today, I called to ask for antibiotics for Web. The receptionist told me that I was going to have to bring him in, which I was not expecting since they already know what is going on with Gracie. Within 30 seconds of hanging up with the receptionist (and Eric and I beginning to stress about how much this visit would cost us), the Dr. called me right back. She said that she would give Webster the antibiotics without seeing him, checked on how Gracie was doing on the antibiotic, and said that she would call again tomorrow or in the next few days to see if Webster is any better. We seem to be getting used to our daily chats with her. Thank goodness for a caring and dedicated vet! Well, all of the vets at the practice have been wonderful, but this one has definitely taken a special interest in Gracie, and now, Webster.

I'm actually kind of glad that Webster has the same thing as Gracie now. As much as I hate to see him not feeling well, I was beginning to worry that maybe the coughing and some of the sneezing was more related to the cancer and spots in her chest. I was afraid that she might never be comfortable again if the worst case scenario proved true. Now we know that the coughing and sneezing is from a bug, and she will feel better soon!

That's it for now! Hopefully...

Gracie update

The wife took Gracie to the vet this morning to get her stitches out while I was helping a friend move. The incision looks much better now that the stitches aren't scrunching everything up. They were definitely ready to come out. The bottom of the incision didn't heal together as nicely as the top part, but all in all, it looks pretty good.

On the down/gross side, she's starting to sneeze a bit more and mucusy snot is slinging out of her nose. Well, it may not be "as" dramatic as that, but it's still kinda gross. The Doc thinks it might just be the infection moving forward a little so we're just going to monitor it for changes over the next day or so. If it gets worse, we'll add an additional antibiotic into the mix.

On another, not so happy note, the Doc also got word back about the x-rays she posted online for a second opinion on the spots she saw. The person that commented on them wasn't the radiologist she was posting them for, but instead another general practitioner. She said she was only taking their comments with a grain of salt because they were a general practitioner, and she was looking for a radiologist's opinion. Even though they weren't from the radiologist the comments weren't what we wanted to hear. They said that they thought the spots looked to be caused by a cancer rather than associated with pneumonia. Sigh... After the first x-rays we were told that if it is indeed cancer and it's in her chest, they don't really advise any treatments because it's not curable at that point. We may opt to do some treatments to improve her quality of life, but even that may be negligible (and not to mention expensive).

We also got word back on the additional staining that the lab can do to figure out what type of cancer it is. $359 for the additional stains. Not as cheap as we would have liked, but reasonable, I suppose. Well, better than the $500+ that I was worried it might be. I really want to find out what it is, but we've talked and aren't sure we should spend it, if it's not really going to matter if it's not really treatable. Still up in the air, but we will definitely be getting another round of x-rays after her course of antibiotics are finished. Fingers and toes crossed that the spots are gone with the second x-rays and we get our happy and healthy girl back!