Happy Birthday Max!

Max is two years old today!

Not that Max is a "big" dog, but it is hard to believe that he once fit in my hand.



We had a birthday party at a dog park with his friends. He got lots of toys.


This toy makes a weird noise. I think it is funny how he waits until it is done to pick it up.


He finally wore himself out with all the fun.

Butch's Visit

Max's sister Butch stayed with us for a few days.

(Pics are at the end of the current Max album.)

There was something in our hall closet that she didn't like. We aren't sure what it was, but it must have been bad.



We went to a dog show while she was here.





They weren't in the show, but we did have a few people ask who our breeder was. Just sayin'



The agility competitions were our favorite part.

Roby's visit

My mom came for a visit last month. Pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/RobySVisit#

While she was here, we went to the international kite festival in Long Beach, WA.










Max LOVED the beach.

Hurray for pants!!!

I put off writing about this for a while due to a general bad attitude on my part that I didn't feel like sharing.

Earlier this summer, I got appendicitis and so had my appendix taken out. Apparently they caught it just in time (not burst but starting to ooze) which is crazy since I went into the OR about 15 hours from the onset of pain. As surgeries go, this is quite minor and I have had no complications - a pleasant change for me. It has re-upset my intestines making all those issues a little worse, but I have been able to mostly correct that by upping my meds.

An appendectomy truly isn't that big of a deal. My bad attitude was about the simple fact that I was in the ER again, having surgery AGAIN. We were joking with the surgeon beforehand about other surgeries he could go ahead and get over with while I was there. I now have a full dozen incisions on my stomach. I'm like a human pin cushion. I just feel a bit like when I start to feel like I'm making real progress, the rug gets pulled out from under me. It's frustrating.

At this point, I think I'm back to a more positive attitude in general. The only thing that has been a lingering annoyance is an inability to wear pants. A couple of the incisions are around my waist and would get sore from waistbands. I've been able to wear some stretchy sweatpants for a couple of weeks now with minimal discomfort. But in just the past few days, I've been able to wear normal pants. I'm very happy about this. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, and I know that I'm awfully cute in dresses and all, but sometimes it really is a pain to not be able to wear pants.

The ball

A boston friend of Max's has this big ball. She can't get a hold on it so she just chases it around the house for hours on end. When I saw a big ball for only $1.50 I thought- hey, it's worth a try!



He's totally fed up now and won't touch it.

By the way- I made a new album for the more recent Max pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vickirwilliams/MaxwellSmart#

I just realized that all of the pics in this album feature his favorite toy - triceratops. There have been two triceratops so far. They don't last long.


Isn't it cute though?

Why "News" annoys me

Just heard about this: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1190719

Published yesterday. It's totally not in my field, but I still feel comfortable saying that this is the most significant news of the day.

I wanted to hear more about the responses to this so I went to cnn.com
Front page, top news stories - nothing.

Ok, I get it. I'm a nerd. I care more about nerdy things than the average person. Fine. I'll go to the science and technology section.

Nothing.

Though, apparently, facebook can predict who you will date next. Talk about ground breaking research!

To be fair - there is a link to this http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1990836,00.html in the health section.

Oh, and thanks TED! http://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_unveils_synthetic_life.html

Brandi (a.k.a. The Surprise Date Night)

A month ago I mentioned an upcoming surprise date night that I was going to try to get Michael to blog about. As that hasn't happened, I thought I would go ahead and explain.

I got us tickets to see Brandi Carlile at the Crocodile Cafe (The Croc). I think the show sold out in a couple of hours and it is a total fluke that I was online and noticed it in that window. The Croc is a small, but famous, venue and happens to be the first gig Brandi got in Seattle. She played from XOBC, but it was mostly a requests show. Very fun. We were center stage, fourth row back. (Is it a row if it is standing room only?) It was awesome. I never thought we would get to see her in a venue that small. I mean - the girl sold out the symphony hall in a matter of minutes. (I'm not exaggerating, though that doesn't count that symphony patrons had an early crack at the tickets.)

Here are pics from a photographer that was standing next to me in the crowd.

Surprisingly enough - one of my favorite moments from the evening was sans Brandi. The twins did a duet of The Sound of Silence. There was a humorous quality to it since it was clearly not planned and they struggled to remember the words. But, mostly it was hauntingly beautiful. Their voices are so similar (They are twins after all) that it was like listening to someone sing a duet with themselves.

Anyway- I know most of you aren't as nuts about Brandi as I am and so you probably don't care about this. But, really a blog is half diary and I just wanted to write this special night down.

Kate's Wedding

Last weekend was my cousin Kate's wedding. It was so beautiful. Anyone not in my family will probably not be all that interested in my poor quality videos, but the pictures are good.

I shot in segments because I wasn't sure what length video my camera would take. Sorry for the poor quality and shaky hands. (For some reason, water kept getting in my eyes.)