Absolutely fabulous birthday card

Abby was so proud of the card she made me for my birthday. That's supposed to be me on the front of the card, or should I say me and my huge mitts!



Then, on the inside of the card, we have my sweet niece's birthday message to me, and a cake with 35 birthday candles on it. She did such a good job, don't you think?


Lastly, she included a new drawing of Bailey and Zoe for me. She always draws a big smile on Bailey's face, which is so fitting as he is a happy sweet boy. I'm going to have to find places for these on my refrigerator!

Quote of the day

"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age."

-Robert Frost
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Ah yes, exactly. I've decided to forget my own age as well. No use for it anyway, that is, until I reach senior citizen discount status, which is thankfully a while off.

Another year passed! Here's to hoping for at least a few more good ones.

Quote of the day

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Birthday lunch at Mez

My wonderful EHP friends and colleagues took me to lunch at Mez today -- YUM! Kimberly, Mary, Kathy, Jen and Jeni all came out to celebrate with me, even though the official dreaded day is Saturday.

I'd only been to Mez for dinner, but I swear my lunch plate was much larger than my dinner plate! Today I had the Chicken Tinga Burrito Chipotle braised chicken wrapped in a warm flour tortilla with guacamole, black beans, green rice and tomatillo salsa. Served with Yucatecan slaw and roasted tomato-chipotle salsa, and we also got the guacamole appetizer (I could eat 5 pounds of that stuff)! My burrito was ENORMOUS and delicious (I just finished it off for dinner). Mez chicken is wonderfully fresh and tender - I've eaten chicken dishes on both occasions and it does not disappoint.

The restaurant is very modern, and I called our circular booth the "teacup booth" because it reminded me of those spinning teacup rides at county fairs (although tasteful). The table was rather large, making sharing the guacamole in the center of the table a bit of a challenge, but I loved the round table because I could see all of my friends and easily talk to them!

Best of all, the waitress brought me a birthday dessert - sans obnoxious clapping, cheesy singing and complete embarrassment - it was very dignified, and the dish even had a candle on top. The dessert was the "Tres Leches Cake," Mez's version of a Latin classic. Layers of sponge cake soaked in "three milks." Topped with meringue and candied almonds. It was wonderful, and I loved having a candle to blow out since I never get birthday cakes made for me anymore!

Thanks for celebrating with me, girls!

Bailey's new "collar"

Poor Bailey. Norwegian Elkhounds are prone to "skin tags" and sebaceous cysts, and he gets them everywhere. Not all of them become bothersome, but many of them do. The cycle usually goes something like this: New cyst forms. The "tag" begins to itch or irritate Bailey. He licks and/or scratches it until it begins to bleed. One of every three of those becomes infected or just plain messy.

After one particularly messy and horrible infection (which involved a late night trip to the emergency vet), I was given an e-collar to keep Bailey from licking the wound. He absolutely hates that thing, and makes every effort to ram it into everything he can - the wall, furniture, me, the ground, etc.

So after my brother used the "ProCollar" on Casey, I decided that purchasing one for Bailey would be a wise investment (although these things are overpriced, and I had to get the largest size. Bailey is certainly not an "extra-large" dog, as he is only about 45 pounds).

The collar is a little large, but the way it attaches makes it almost impossible for him to get it off anyway. I by no means imagine he is enjoying wearing it, but he most certainly hates it far less than the standard plastic e-collar.

Because of the price (I paid $36.99 + tax), I would not recommend this to any pet owner who does not have a pet that frequently needs to be kept from licking/scratching. However, I do recommend this product to pet owners like myself, who have pets with chronic skin conditions, and or anyone who's pet would be required to wear an e-collar for longer than 6 weeks.

The ProCollar is available at Petco (although not my local Petco), PetSmart (where I bought mine), Drs. Foster and Smith and Amazon.

Winter hair woes

Abby has always had very electric hair. My brother and father used to rub stuffed animals on her head and then hold them over her hair to make it stand on end - for their own amusement of course. I promised her long ago that we would somehow get back at daddy and Fuzzpa for that.

On Saturday, Abby's hair was full of static on its own. She spent most of the freezing morning (while we tailgated) in the Odyssey with a fleece hat on. When she came out to eat with us, she removed her hat and there you have it. Instantly electrified hair. This photo is on my facebook page with the caption "Static Queen!"

Fabulous Blog Award

Two days ago, Triplet Mama honored me with the Fabulous Blog award, and I’m still glowing from my win (hee hee). Thank you TM!
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So, here are the rules to receiving this award:
1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions:
On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them.
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TEG’s fabulous addictions:
1. Zoe & Bailey (the pooches)
2. Tar Heel sports
3. Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka (a good Chardonnay runs a close second)
4. Aveda Smooth Infusion Shampoo
5. My god daughter Sydney and her brother, Felton

Here are my 5 fabulous blogger nominations:
i found happy
triplet mama
weezie blog
klambake
on my pole

White Elephant Twist

On Monday, EHP will be moving to new diggs. Since many of my colleagues have inhabited their current offices for 7-10 years, you can imagine the heightened stress, increased dust clouds and bizarre discoveries going on at East Campus.

In an effort to have a little fun, Kathy suggested we have a white elephant gift exchange during our annual Thanksgiving luncheon. This took place yesterday. The usual potluck luncheon was Randy's Pizza, and the white elephant gift exchange had special rules. You were to bring the most bizarre thing unearthed from your office, and it had to be wrapped with materials from your office, too. My lovely gift is pictured right. I kept calling it a terradactyl, but Matt corrected me. "It's a dragon Tracey!"

There were some fabulously hilarious gifts: puppet heads of two of the most hated individuals ever to work at NIEHS; a "deluxe lanyard gift set" expertly crafted by Stephanie Bishop, which had us all in side-splitting laughter; candy-pooping chickens; a can of tuna, accompanied by a photo of one of EHP's editors from over a decade ago, complete with "fancy frame"; and many other random items. Fun was definitely had by all!

Oh, and the terradactyl/dragon will most likely make an appearance at our annual Christmas white elephant gift exchange. I just know all of my colleagues are counting the days until their chance to take him home with them...

The return of Mad Dog Max

I was so delighted to find that Max accompanied Jim to work yesterday. I've only seen him once or twice since he was a puppy, and he's such a charming dog. Jim says he's part Border Collie and maybe part Pointer. I think he looks a little like the dog in "Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior," which is said to be a Blue Heeler (or Australian Cattle Dog). He didn't come from a breeder, so I suppose he could be a Border Collie/Pointer/Blue Heeler mix, right? You be the judge. Photos of Max today (right), puppy Max (1st pic below), a Blue Heeler and an English Pointer (2nd photo below) are posted here.

Of course, just as in appearance, Max has a mix of behavioral traits. For example, the Border Collie is described as "though known to be reserved with strangers, these dogs can also be protective of a human family member and affectionate to those they know." I have almost never met a dog who didn't like me, but when I approached Jim's car alone, Max growled at me. As soon as he saw Jim arrive, he was as fun-loving as can be.


The Pointer likeness (to me) is a little off. While Max is a pretty congenial dog, he looks a bit different and seems a bit smaller in size than a Pointer, too.
The Border Collie size is right on, but Max's coat appears to be a bit off (Max's coat appears to be a bit short - this could be due to clipping). The same is true (coat discrepancy, but for color in this case) for the Australian Cattle Dog, although I think the breed standards are a bit hefty for Max's weight.


I'm happy labeling him as the perfect mix of doggie beauty and sweetness - and he has the WHITEST dog teeth I've ever seen. Jim gives credit for those to the pork bones he gives Max every day - lots of chewing! In any case, Max is another happy ending to a dog adoption story.

an almost birthday celebration...with the best of friends

While I am no longer excited about my birthdays, I do love that my closest friends are always there to celebrate with me. When circumstances allow, Mark, Caroline, Kerry and I all get together to celebrate each of our birthdays. That's our gift to each other - we treat the birthday girl (or boy) to dinner and drinks.


Although my birthday isn't until the end of the month, we went to Shiki Sushi Sunday night to enjoy buy one get one free sushi rolls and half-price bottles of wine. Mark had to cancel last minute, but Kerry and Caroline made it. Kerry even picked me up! Thanks Kerry!

I am such a lucky girl. Regardless of the infrequency of our visits, I know that these kids are my most dear and loyal friends. I love you guys and look forward to many more shared birthday celebrations!

1500+ participate in Eve Carson Memorial 5K

Jen and I drug ourselves out of bed very early (for us) on Saturday to participate in the Eve Carson Memorial 5K for Education. When we first arrived at Polk Place, the atmosphere was rather subdued, perhaps in part because of the early hour. I had expected there to be a gazillion people there, and there was, in due time.

After the initial frustration in response to our apparently "lost" registration forms and fees, we were allowed to collect a number and t-shirt and prepare for the 3.1 mile race (walk for Jen and I). I must admit I felt like a huge slacker, knowing that Todd and Maria were running a marathon the same morning. Oh well, we do what we can!

Just before the race, several people spoke a few words about Eve, and the Clef Hangers performed "Carolina in my Mind" (during which, much to my embarassment, my phone began to alert me of a new text message. Oops).

Heavy rain was predicted, but aside from a little humidity, the morning was relatively dry. Since I didn't work out as usual on Friday, I felt I needed to really "power-walk" the 5K, and Jen ended up pretty far behind me. As I was walking up Country Club Road, I heard a ringing and thought, "Someone's phone is ringing." Then I thought, "My leg is vibrating!" It was Jen, "I thought we were walking together!" I felt bad, but didn't slow down. Nevertheless, we both finished and we did it in honor of Eve!

Special thanks to Kathy for her monetary donation, which I had the pleasure of delivering on her behalf, to the Eve Marie Carson Junior-Year Merit Scholarship Fund.

Sheltie Casey

I was given the honor of watching over dear Casey this weekend while Todd and Maria run a marathon in Virginia. Despite his recent trauma, he is adapting well to life at casa de Glazener!



He actually seems even more at ease with Zoe and Bailey when here rather than at his home. Hmmmm. Not sure what that means, if anything. For now, I'm just happy he is comfortable.

Getting older...

Yesterday I was forced to accept (in one of many ways) that I am very quickly approaching the age of 35 - eek! With a birthday at the end of this month, a driver's license renewal was imminent. Remembering a few of my past visits to the DMV, I was a little apprehensive. Would I have to take some kind of test? Would my slightly failing vision be inadequate? Would the DMV, for some unknown reason, require a bunch of crazy forms of I.D.? Last but not least, would the office right by my house be closed when I arrived? (The office being closed was a last minute anxiety surge - it's a new office and therefore doesn't show up on the DMV finder, so when I checked at 3:30 p.m., I couldn't find the office hours. FYI for those nearby, they close at 4:30).

Thankfully, I arrived at the desk of a very sweet, very good-humored DMV employee. I say thankfully because I faltered on the vision test (partially his fault) and I didn't know two of the road signs (felt like an idiot). One of them was a warning sign with a picture of a truck going down a steep hill. Apparently that just means "hill." Stupid if you ask me. Both stupid for me not knowing, but also stupid for that being a sign for "hill." When I said I didn't know the sign, the wonderful DMV employee asked me, "What is the truck doing?" I replied, (duh) "Going down a hill." He said, "right!" like I'd just answered the winning question on the $100,000 Pyramid.

The other one I didn't know was the five-sided yellow sign (school zone). This one is scary. I admit I don't drive through many school zones regularly, but I also admit that such a sign is one I must've ignored long ago when I should've been given a HUGE ticket. Long story short, I was going about 58 mph in a school zone during official school hours and the police man who pulled me over was WAY too nice to me and just gave me a warning. I should've lost my license. If I knew the name of that Michigan police officer, I would leave him part of my life insurance.

So, I suppose one of the points of this post is represented by the following quote:

"It is what we learn after we know it all that really counts."

-John Wooden

Advice needed from all you baby whisperers out there

I'm sending a desperate plea for advice. I have a goddaughter whom I babysit fairly regularly. I completely adore her - we're talking on the verge of worship here. When I come to visit in the presence of mommy and/or daddy, the child appears to adore me. She crawls to me, giggles, reaches for me and seems completely content in my presence. Sadly, when mommy leaves us alone the child wails incessantly, making me feel helpless, terrible and utterly lacking.

Kerry thinks this may be due in part to the fact that now that she is staying home, Sydney gets used to her presence and therefore becomes inconsolable in her absence. To tell you the truth, I don't really care why it happens, so long as I can figure out how to appease her. It breaks my heart to hear her wail like that.

For example, last night when I arrived Sydney seemed perfectly happy to see me. Kerry left, I fixed a snack for her (which she ate) and then all of a sudden: blood curdling screams, she reaches for the door, REAL tears, anguish, ie. PURE torture for me. I took her upstairs to the playroom and distracted her for a good 20-25 minutes. She was definitely enjoying herself, no question. Then again, all of a sudden, NOT HAPPY. Thought she might be hungry, WRONG. She didn't want the food I was told to feed her. She seemed only interested and intent on wishing Kerry's presence in the doorway. Poor thing. I really don't want her to hate me, but her happiness is far more important than my feelings!

Any suggestions? Secret solutions? I am all ears!

I feel I must say the usual sitting is not much more than an hour, and I'd rather spend time with Sydney screaming at me than to not spend time with her at all! Eagerly awaiting advice...

Quote of the day

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days."

-John Burroughs

How time flies

For the past year or so, Jen and I have been increasingly commenting on the warp speed with which time seems to pass. At EHP, many of the deadlines we assign for authors are spaced six weeks apart. So I always catch myself randomly reporting out loud, "In six weeks it will be [insert date here]," after which both of us gasp and say, "Really?!"

Case in point: how quickly a child grows before one's eyes! Check out the photos of my niece, Abby, below. The first was taken in early November 2003. FIVE years ago. Abby was just over 25 months old. (And I wasn't yet 30!)


The second photo was taken in October of this year, 2008. Abby at just over 7-years-old. Years out of diapers, taller than most of her friends in the 2nd grade (she's in 1st grade), and almost through the awkward "toothless grin" stage.


Abby is now reading and writing; she's a successful athlete and student; she's got a gazillion friends, and she's one of the most thoughtful and generous kids I know. (ie. if you were stranded with her on a desert island and there were three pieces of fruit between the two of you, she'd insist on giving you two of them). I am such a proud Auntie!

I just wish I could slow down MY clock, while allowing hers to power forward. Although even that isn't completely true. I really miss her calling Bailey "Baywee."

What I'd really love is for someone to invent a contraption that speeds up the workdays, yet slows down the nights...that would be GENIUS...

Heels SPANK Jackets

Following the early morning rain, Saturday's weather was absolutely picture-perfect, especially for football fans. As stated in the title of this post, the Heels SPANKED the Yellow Jackets and it was fabulous!

The game started out with a bang - the Heels almost immediately scored a touchdown - but then the scoring action was halted until the 4th quarter. I must admit that I had started to hope for a shutout, but the Heels' performance (scoring three touchdowns in less than 10 minutes of play) left me in a state of pure Carolina pride and without the need for a goose egg score for the opposition.

Only two games left for us: NC State at home and DUKE away. DUKE game on my birthday - will play the "birthday card" and unabashedly bring my Tar Heel pride with me to the DOOKIE campus.

Maria & Abby


Abby & I: Self-portrait


Abby, Todd and I


Abby and Todd. There was some sort of "game" going on here, and although I'm not sure what it was, Abby thoroughly enjoyed herself.


Went to dinner at Kerry's after the game and had a photo taken with my lovely goddaughter. I could squeeze her to death! What a beauty!

What's with all the doorbells?

Does anyone else notice the insane number of advertisements that include doorbell sounds? Perhaps I am keen to this because tiny terrier Zoe cannot differentiate between the TV doorbell and a real doorbell. Therefore, unless the television is set at an extremely low volume level, all ads utilizing doorbell sounds send her into a frenzy. One might think of this as a mild annoyance, but Zoe's frenzies aren't ever brief, and as I said at the start of this post, the doorbells are sounding with alarming frequency.

The ads that include obnoxious double and triple bell ringers are particularly irritating. I can't remember the product off-hand, but there is an ad that comes on a gazillion times a day, in which there are 4-5 rings of a door bell. Jeez Louisous, that ad is the bane of my existence.

Any tips from neurotic dog owners (such as myself) would be greatly appreciated.

The Burleigh Zoo

The grand opening of the Burleigh Zoo took place on Friday night, with debut appearances by Sydney the Koala and Felton the Giraffe. In our first photograph we have Sydney the Koala (Remember kids, koalas are NOT bears) in her standard table perch stance. On the verge of walking, Sydney is often caught in such a pose.


Second we have Felton, the suspicious-looking giraffe. I'm guessing from his expression that he either has his eye on something VERY interesting or he's just adjusting to his limited peripheral vision.


In our next photo, the koala and giraffe are joined by a mid-sized canine, suspected to be some type of Doberman/Shepherd mix. She is Emma! Fabulous protector extraordinaire! (Don't let the "head-cone" fool you - she is in charge and a fierce guardian of her precious koala and giraffe).


ADORABLE koala - what else need be said?


The last photo makes me giggle. Sydney has that "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?" look on her face. Priceless!

punkins and fairies and tar heels...oh my!

A Friday night Halloween is just about the most perfect holiday there is. Add gorgeous weather and hanging with Abby to that, and I've got one absolutely super-perfect Friday night event going on!
The evening began with punkin carving (Abby refuses to use the correct term, "pumpkin," and instead uses "punkin"). Abby repeated, "yucky poo!" the entire time she gutted her pumpkin. I think she was encouraged to do so after I giggled the first few times she said it. Then she'd vary it. "Yucky poo! Yucky, yucky, yucky poo! Yucky POO!" You get the idea.
And by the way, it really was gross. I can't remember the last time I'd carved a pumpkin, but I'm not looking forward to pulling out more pumpkin guts any time soon.




Despite my brother's amazing talent for carving pumpkins (he's a dentist, so such a talent shouldn't be surprising), he said he'd "given up" pumpkin carving and therefore left the task solely to Abby, Maria and I. However, unable to resist checking out the horrendous mess we were making in the back yard, Todd appeared and we begged him to assist. He agreed reluctantly, but for a price...



Fortunately, Todd allowed Abby to keep her head so that she could go trick-or-treating in her lovely fairy/butterfly costume. (The slash is used in the description because the costume was meant to be a butterfly, but everyone assumed Abby was dressed as a fairy). No matter, everyone loved her costume, as did she.

Abby has a way of stumbling into pictures and poses, as evidenced below. This photo makes me think of a gymnast or ice skater, at the end of a routine, flashing the judges a "Yes, I'm done and I'm cute and I'm fabulous!" smile.



Soon after, we arrived at a true TAR HEEL fan home. Of course we loved their pumpkin and accompanying flag.



We Glazeners always end the Halloween festivities (and any other festivities) by taking group photos on Todd and Maria's porch. We have Maria, Abby and me followed by Abby and her daddy.





The last photo must've been taken some time after Daddy the Dentist told Abby she couldn't have any more candy. Grrrrr!