Blather, rinse, repeat

Last Saturday after work, I was outside with Sano when I heard my neighbor's kid shouting about this cool bird she'd found. She was outside riding bikes with her brother and their friend. (Tangentially: these are the kids of the guy I used to ride bikes with when we were that age. Last year he moved back in next door. His kids are actually really nice.) So, I put Sano inside and went running over, figuring she'd found a baby bird or something. Because, it's almost June and I haven't had a single baby bird yet. (WTF.)

But it wasn't a baby. It was a full-grown, blue and green parakeet. We all kind of circled around it and finally I managed to catch it in my sweater.



This is Derek. He's named after Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds. He's got a band on his leg and I should really check it. Now that I'm thinking about it, that's not a bad idea.

But if no one claims him, I guess he is my parakeet. He's pretty cute, and I'll always take a bird in need, so there it is. :)

Also this week, I got a new broadsword! This one has an actualfax live blade (just a lot thicker,heavier, steel, and sharpened.)

( Here, under the cut. )

Wow, look at how gorgeous that blade is! I'm just afraid that once I start using it, I'll cut myself in half. Can't tell you how many times I've whacked myself with the broadsword I've used for years. It's a lot thinner, lighter and not as sharp. Guess I'm going to have to start slow and stop making stupid mistakes.

Today is the first warm, sunny day of the season. It has rained every day for over two weeks and not gotten above 60. I'm sick of it! I still have my stupid winter clothes out. Not awesome.

Here is some excellent news, though. My job did a press release not only about hiring me, but also about the Hula class they want me to teach. Within hours of the release, four people signed up. They have until July to sign even more. So I definitely have a class to teach over the summer and I am SO STOKED. I hope I get tons of students, and of all different age groups.

The people I work with are really sweet and fun. I feel like I'm finding a little niche there and it's one that I like. I know now, realistically, that I'm going to have to find other ways to supplement my income. I'm going to have to freelance – which is just as well. I just need to figure out a few things before I start doing that. Although, I am getting some nice change for the Hula classes. :D Which is going to take the edge off Haku's vet bills a bit, too.

Just yesterday I was talking to a darling friend of mine about vet bills. I know I bitch about them a lot and am always talking about them. But I don't think I've ever specified how much the vet bills actually were.

Since May of '09, between Sano and Haku, their veterinary bills have hit upwards of about $45,000 dollars. That is three zeroes you see after that. It might be more by now, with the monthly meds; I haven't counted those in yet.

But since '09, Haku has had 5 surgeries. He's had an MRI, spinal tap, ultrasound, and countless x rays. He's had months of rehab, weeks of hospital stays (which can be up to $100 a night.) At least one of Haku's conditions (the missing kidney) can be traced back to Dr. Dickwhistle. That's not official, but I've asked vets and techs all around the island (without mentioning his name) and they seem to all agree that it's likely that Dr. Dickwhistle accidentally cut Haku's ureter while he was up there looking for a second testicle during his neuter. Spay. Speuter. Whatever.

Sano, since '09, has had X rays, ultrasounds (on his liver, due to one vet accidentally doubling the dose of his meds and blowing out his liver AND his bone marrow,) three-week stay in the hospital last autumn, and three blood transfusions – each at a thousand or so dollars each. He also gets bi-monthly blood tests for the ITP. The ITP is also a result of a mistake by Dr. Dickwhistle, but that one was a willful mistake.

One of these days I've got to take a picture of the "dog pharmacy" as I call it. You'd have to see it to believe the amount of pill and supplement bottles that line the counter.

So, yeah. Over forty five thousand dollars in vet bills over the last two years. That's more than my college cost.

I still want to punch people when they tell me that it's not worth it to keep taking care of them. Also, before anyone says "YOU SHOULD GET PET INSURANCE," rest assured that neither dog is in any way insurable with their preexisting conditions. Pet insurance. I wish.

Anyway, that's just what was on my mind.

So now I've got this parakeet—and I think they're also called budgies? I hope so, because "budgies" just make me think of Monty Python. So far he has not flown out of my lavatory and infringed on my personal freedom.

Plenty of stuffs going on in Kung Fu as well, but that will all be for later posts! ^_^

I'm off tomorrow, except for taking Haku to his physical therapy. I've been taking the dogs to the beach a lot, on my days off. Maybe I'll take them again after his rehab. They have such a great time there and I get lots of videos.

Oh, I should also mention that last Thursday, as I was walking along the beach with the dogs, I dropped my camera into the bay. I had to actually go into my piggy bank for the first time ever to get some cash and buy a new one. I got a little Canon PowerShot for like $170. Ugh, still a lot of money, but I legitimately couldn't go more than a few hours without having a camera. Which is crazy. Anyway, it's fuchsia.

So, that's what's been going on in this neck of the woods for the last week or so. Guess I'll wrap this up now.

ETA: last minute! My cousin just brought over a baby bird. Finally! Her dog had it and it looks slightly worse for wear. But let's hope he'll be all right! ^_^

Haku had a seizure at 10 this morning, which is a really weird time for him. Well, I guess they are all really weird times, but I think that 10AM is a first. It was a short seizure, about two minutes, and he bounced right back from it, but still. I never get used to it. He forgets his situation for a short time after each seizure, and he walks around on his injured leg. Because he can't remember that it's supposed to be hurting him.

Aaaaand Sano had massive blow-out diarrhea and vomiting for two days straight. Seems to be over now since I just started giving him rice and sweet potatoes. Still, OMG. WHAT.

In better news! The place where I'm working has an upstairs studio where they teach Yoga. It's a really nice studio, with wood floors and lots of space. Bosslady asked me last week if I would be interested in offering Hula classes up there over the summer.

Extra money, and I get to teach, and dance, which is what I most love to do? YES PLEASE. I really, really, really hope this one works out. It's what I want. Hello, universe! *taptap* Let me have this!

Work is both predictable and unpredictable. I can usually guess how many treatments I'm going to be doing, but I can't rely on tips. Some people tip, some don't. The first week was insane, I made about $90 in tips. But, I was covering for someone who's been there for over a year. Now I'm not covering for her anymore, treatments have dropped off a bit. And actually, some people just don't tip. They don't know they're supposed to, I guess. Or, not supposed to, but that it's super nice if they do. And some people think that $3 is a suitable tip for a $80 service. I guess they just don't get it. So, you just have to learn not to actually count on them.

I'm just happy that I'm making actual, real money. It's not a lot, and I'm not being realistic when I'm thinking that this is going to solve my problems and keep me in my house. I know I need to make more. I'm hoping that within a year or so I'll get a really steady client base and that will take some of the burden off.

I also have the best friends ever. Remember last summer when the pool collapsed? Well, it's been sitting there in shreds all over the yard since then. Most of it was still standing, just a big empty ¾ circle of scrap metal. My Kung Fu brother, Homeslice, came over Tuesday while I was at work and started taking it down. He just PMed me, showed up with a Sawzall (or whatever it's called,) and cut most of it into manageable bits. Now, I can sell them to some scrap metal company! Then they recycle it, which is awesome. In return for Homeslice doing this, I give him some treatments and we're square.

I love bartering. I really think it's the way to get things done. :)

In writing or whatever news, I've got one query still out. I had two more rejections. I'm still hanging on to that one awesome one I got ("You are a fantastic writer and even though this isn't my thing, someone will love it.") I just know someone will pick it up. It's a matter of finding the right match, that's all. So, I'm waiting on a third, then if that one is a "no" (but my fingers are crossed! This agent has a client that I really like!) I go out searching again. I think I like to do 3 at a time. 3 is a lucky number. :)

Then, I'm also translating this epic poem on HitRECord into Hawaiian. It's so freaking huge. And it challenges everything I knew about the Hawaiian language. All the mele that I can so often understand is written in an entirely different idiom. There's no model for something like this. So I have to figure my way around phrases and patterns that I don't know. Hawaiian language patterns are hard for me. But I'm still glad for the challenge because I've missed speaking Hawaiian.

Other than that, the usual. Still spending a lot of time with Boychild, going to Kung Fu, hanging with friends, watching movies, making movies, dicking around on the internet.

But spring is here! So exciting! :)

So, this article reminds me so much of how I lost that one job, it made me angry all over again. I wasn't the one getting groped in that scenario, it was another, younger girl who was too terrified to make a report. The guy in question did harass me though, coming out of the bathroom after pissing on the walls, and wiping his hands on my arm (while pretending to try to shake my hand.)

The article has this to say: I'm realistic. I knew they were never going to arrest this guy. But here's the thing, and the point to this whole long, profane story. I know there are a lot of people who think it wasn't that big a deal. But the truth of the matter is, what this guy did was sexual assault. "Forcible touching and harassment," if you want to get specific.
Sexual assault doesn't always necessarily mean something as horrible as rape. And too often street harassment is unreported, and douchebags like this think they can get away with it because the girl is gonna be too embarrassed or too meek to do anything about it. Or they think it's "just a slap on the ass."


The story just enraged me all over again! I am so thankful that I work in a place that would never tolerate anything even approaching that level of disrespect / illegal activity. I also realize that massage therapy has this aspect to it where people think it's funny to joke about it. (You saw it sexualized on Friends a few times, IIRC though TBH, I think I only saw two episodes of that show.) People seem to think it's all right to ask if you perform sexual favors as part of your work. I don't think I know of any, or many other professions who get asked that kind of thing. I'm really thankful to be working in a professional environment where I can feel protected from creeps, in a profession that has High Creep Potential.

ANYWAY. That's my rant for today. This was not meant to be an angry post, but a happy one, because it's spring time and the weather is finally catching up with the times. It was about 72 today, breezy, and of course, everything smells deliciously of flowers, ocean, and earth.

Haku still has his cast on.

AWWW.

Hopefully it can come off Friday and then stay off for good. And then, he will need to re-learn what he's forgotten: walking, running, jumping, being a saluki. I can't wait to see Haku be Haku again. This started on Dec. 10th; he's been without mobility for 4 and a half months now.

I'm still spending a lot of time minding the Boychild. I don't know how people do the toddler-minding thing, because they never stop! How do you watch them all the time and still breathe/pee/eat/do other things? But then yesterday I was watching him play Twilight Princess ("Wolf Link" he calls it,) and he turned to me and went "Jude?" (Because that's what he calls me.) "I WUV YOU." And I'm just all ❤_❤ (Those are hearts, in case anyone can't see them?) I tell him, "I love you too, YOU'RE THE BEST" and he Kanyeshrugs like, "Yeah, I know." Hilarious.

I've got my plants out for the season, though not planted yet. I might do that tomorrow with Boychild, although I know he'd rather stay inside and play video games. I think if it's not raining, I will throw both of us outdoors instead.

Right, so for MONTHS I've wanted to post this awesome song and finally I'm posting it:


I love the little dancing dude in there.

So I get that this is a different take on Jesus, which, if I believed in Jesus this is the interpretation that I would like the best. To me, it's just about anyone who is kind of a rebel and a badass. That's the kind of character that I really like. ^_^

Well! Now it's getting chilly and it's starting to look like rain. Ah well, it'll do the flowers good anyway. Better go close my windows.

Hurray for spring, and for a nice job. :)

The good: Haku made progress in therapy today!

The bad: Sano's platelets dropped out of sight again and he needs to go back on pred. Months of watching his hair fall out and all his muscle mass go away. BUT, he will eventually gain that back. Pred is temporary.


The good: THE CALL from the clinic today, confirming that they want me to start working, that they were really happy with my interviews and when can I start, like now now now?

The bad: Sending the resignation email to the company I really like, and getting a reply back with a huge congratulations and a sad face. :(


The good:

Just a reminder Part two of the Dan Do seminar is coming up this Sunday at 11:00 AM all Black sash and Masters must attend!

Broad Sword work shop 11:00AM Sunday, March 20th

The bad: I have to bring Haku with me. He's going to be so upset.


The good: Thank you, RegularJoe and Matt, for the hearts and the Remix of my little Japan animation! Also this email:

Thank you for your contribution(s) to The RECord Store - (Apparel, Posters and The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories)! In case you haven't already checked it out, we've posted the final percentages for all sales thru 12.31.10 over at: http://hitrecord.org/records/355326

Please log in to hitRECord.org, visit http://hitrecord.org/payment/info and fill out our payment inforamtion form. Just follow the simple instructions - everything is pretty straightforward. If you've already filled in your payment information, no need to resubmit. If your information has changed, please resubmit the form and give us your updated information.

Please submit by March 21. After we receive your information we'll start churning out checks! Thanks again!

<3
The hitRECord Team

The bad: None. HitRECord muh-muh-muh-makes me ha-ha-happay.


The good: Beautiful weather today, I felt the sun on my hair for the first time in months.

The bad: None.


The good: Heading off to pick up Jo-chan, then to Kung Fu tonight, then back to my Mom's for ice cream and movies with the 3 of us.

The bad: Stopping on our way home to pick up pred for Sano.


The good: I dunno, everything else.

The bad: Nothing much else!

Yesterday was my JOB INTERVIEW, THE SEQUEL. Also, I was waiting on a good friend's medical results, and Haku's blood tests since had been off his food for a while. So,yesterday was a little stressy for me.

After dropping Haku off at the vets, I went out around town for a bit. I wanted a costume for Distant Worlds in two weeks and I knew I could not pull Tifa off in time, so I decided on Matron from FF8, because it's damn easy:



Plus she's like everyone's Mom, so it's kind of age appropriate.

Imagine my delight when I walked into the first store on my list and found the little grey ¾ sleeve, and the long black dress? Like within two minutes? SCORE 1.

On my way back, just as I was turning the road to my neighborhood, a silver pit bull puppy literally ran in front of my front tire. I had already slowed to turn and jammed on the brakes because I saw him on the curb a second before. I ran out of my car and he came around the the driver's side, all waggy-tailed with his head bowed like, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing but it's not this!" So I picked him up and stuck him in my front seat, over my damn groceries. I didn't drive four feet when another car stopped at the deli next to me and waved me over. The folks in the car told me it was their friend's dog and they were looking for him. So I handed over his wiggly little puppy body and home I went, with a huge rash because I'm allergic to pit bulls. Still, he was SO CUTE.

Then, I went home and stressed about my friend's medical results. A few minutes later though, she messaged me with her very awesome news and we decided to celebrate later in the evening.

My Interview The Sequel was looming, and I still hadn't heard anything about Haku's test results or even how he had fared in today's rehab. I had to run out the door and just try to focus on what I was trained to do – which I hadn't done in about three months. I wasn't so sure it wouldn't come back to me.

The place is very peaceful, I liked it the moment I saw it. It's around where I used to work at The Bad Place, same neighborhood, same street, about a mile away. Driving down there, I realized that, even as I did not miss that crappy job, I did miss the area. It's a really beautiful drive, just endless farms, bison, horses, vineyards and farmstands. I like it out that way. I was glad to be going there again, and I felt really hopeful. I have this weird hang up about having connections to certain places, when it comes to where I work.

So, I gave a massage to the boss's sister, who wanted really strong hands with good pressure. I was known for that in clinic so I thought, 'Well, maybe I have a chance.' I also threw in some Lomi Lomi and some stretches. As I was working, I was thinking about how nice the room was, how mellow the entire place was, and that I liked it, and it'd be really nice to come here and get paid a really good salary in such a quiet location.

Soooooooo.

I GOT THE JOB. Well actually, the boss said, "We'll call you thursday," but her sister said, "You're amazing and we need what you have to offer; it's a done deal."

This TRIPLES MY SALARY.

SCORE 2.

My immediate reaction was a kind of, "Oh, cool." Then, in the car on the way home, it was just total relief. I realize I still have to (sadly) leave behind a job I have now, that I'm fond of, with a really nice company, and I'm dreading that. But, RELIEF. It's a good place, the people seem nice, it's lovely there, and the money is, well, let's just say that with tips, I should eventually be back on my feet.

It starts slow. Clients tend to not want the noob, so I'm lucky if I get ten hours the first few weeks. Then it builds up over a few months and if all works out well, I even get a raise into the deal. In a few months' time, I could probably be getting $50 or so an hour and maybe getting 24 hours a week.

This company also allows me to freelance, and do whatever I want outside of work, so long as I don't steal any clients. Which, obviously, why would I even do that? See the cool thing is that, working on my own, I was going to ask about $50 an hour for having people come to me, $60 for me going to their house. BUT, I was going to pay my own overhead, all the supplies, laundry, everything. With this, the company pays all my overhead. I don't have to clean, do laundry, NOTHING. Just what I was trained to do, and I get the money I was going to ask for anyway.

I will probably still work for myself. Tips alone will be awesome if I do that in the summer in the Hamptons. But, MAN, this seems like a sweet deal.

Anyway, as I walked into the door, I saw my messages blinking on my phone. It was a message from the vets saying that Haku's blood tests were all fine. SCORE 3! TRIPLE WORD SCORE.

Then of course, some dude I've known for years had to go and harsh my buzz on Facebook, getting on my crap because I'm trying to do my best to help Japan. Why? I HAVE NO IDEA. This isn't the kind of person who generally goes around acting like this, it was totally out of character for him. And it actually was a buzzkill, because I hate when people come out of left field acting like someone they've never been before. And he never explained, either.

And then today, I got some bad news about the health of a different friend—this one very dear to me, whom I've known for a really long time--and then some further bad news about the health / situation of yet another, newer friend.

Yesterday as I was driving home from my interview, I was listening to my iPod and the song "Three Little Birds" came on. The remake, with Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul. That was always my "yes, every little thing is gonna be all right!" happy song. I was sort of flying down the road, feeling all good and buzzy. Then I remembered that this song was my feel good song a few years ago, too. And after that, you know, everything went straight to hell.

But yes, every little thing is gonna be all right. And then, one day, it's not. And then it will again. And then for a while, it won't be.

I've always liked the song "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra – except the end; I've never liked the end. I remember David Lee Roth covered it in the 80s and he changed it to "roll myself up into a big ball, and.... FLYYYYYYY," which makes absolutely no sense and gives me a really ridiculous mental image. But I still like it better than "die," jesus.

One more thing before I go, to put this all into perspective. This is a video that Matt Conley of HitRECord released last night:



Oh, that little kanji animation at the end? I did that. :)

I, like all of us, have those "every little thing is gonna be all right" times and the "roll myself up into a big ball" times. But my entire town has not been washed away by a tsunami and then irradiated ffs. How quickly and unexpectedly all of our issues can crumble into a fault line. You know? So.

I'll take what I can get.

There's been a lot on my mind lately, both in my little life here and in the great big world, too.

First, a few days ago, the story broke about eighteen men raping an eleven year old girl. As if that wasn't rotten enough at the core, this article about it quotes townspeople blatantly blaming the eleven year old girl for "drawing these young men" into raping her. They blame her mother for not watching her (but not her father.) And they show sympathy toward the rapists, moaning how their lives will never be the same.

Their lives?

The reporter not only does not refute this, but he feeds into it.

There is a petition you can sign to ask this reporter to apologize for his victim-blaming stance. I signed it, and I wrote him a personal email too. This was what I wrote:

( My email to James McKinley. )

I can't even begin to figure what's going on in the last few months with all this misogyny. If they're not trying to redefine rape (REDEFINE RAPE. READ THOSE WORDS.) then they're pulling funding from Planned Parenthood and trying to pass a bill that would hold a woman responsible if she miscarries. These all came down within about two weeks of each other. I can't even lie, it's got me terrified and ready to fight.

A handful of you may or may not know, I sometimes go chat at a blog called Verita Venom, which started out years ago as a protest to the change in attitude of a band a bunch of us used to like, My Chemical Romance. Years ago, they espoused equality and women's rights (or said they did – recently they admitted that was just "a gimmick.) The blog has more or less turned into a bunch of people chatting about movies and making fun of idiotic D list rock stars and their stupidities. But tonight, I read that the lead squawker of My Chemical Romance changed his Twitter bio to read "Not afraid to call a 16 year old girl a c*** or a sh*tbag. Give me a reason."

Really? This from the dude hooking up with Mindless Self Indulgence, another rape-positive band ("Five Year Old Panty Shot," their biggest hit) I guess it's not surprising. In this current atmosphere, I guess it's a safe bet for him to be all "hurr hurr girls are nothing more than c***" because, let's face it, the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world have been getting away with it, and the people who are pushing those bills to have women more or less criminalized have the same agenda.

I mean, what? Does it make your dick feel big that you're not afraid to call a little girl a vile, sexualized name?

Then, similarly, we go onto Charlie Sheen, who is so filled with hate and fear of women that it's turning him inside out. And you know what, I have no pity for him. I know a lot of people who are like "Oh, he's going through a manic episode, he needs help." Eff him. Eff him directly in the throat with a jackhammer. I've known people who were ill and in need of help. This is no excuse to be so thoroughly brimming with loathing. You can be out of your mind and still not be an epic dickwhistle. It has happened. It was the same thing with Mel Gibson. "Oh – he was drunk. He has a disease." Yeah, and? I know plenty of people who share the same disease but do NOT get off on hating women and minorities. The "disease" just brings out what's already inside of you.

That's how I see it anyway, and I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of people making excuses for these poor, abused, heel-crushed celebrities. And oh, those poor rapists, all eighteen of them, being "drawn into" raping a little girl because of how she dressed.

And then, today, Japan.

I can't even think straight about this. The second immensely powerful earthquake in as many years, devastating. It does amaze me that Haiti had a similar quake and lost hundreds of thousands more people, and the reason for that is probably twofold: the structure of the buildings, and the fast-acting help. Haiti lost more lives for the simple reason that Haiti is poor. I can't get that out of my mind.

I also can't get out of my mind the images of destruction coming out of Japan. Terrified people, and beautiful, beautiful Japan crumbling.

With that in mind: a list of web pages where you can help Japan. I stuck with good old Red Cross because, well, I know Red Cross and in all honesty? Because they're less God-y than, say, Salvation Army.

Today I saw a lot of "Japan is in my thoughts," and "I'm crying for Japan" and "I'm praying for Japan." Well, it's like Led Zeppelin said, crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good. Well, okay, maybe it'll do you good, but let's be realistic, a donation, something tangible, is what's going to do Japan good. Jesus. That's not to say that those people aren't actually donating, too. They might be. I like to think they probably are. But honestly, it doesn't take a hell of a lot to go, "Gee, wizard in the sky, I hope Japan will eventually get over being crushed to dust. Umm, thanks."

Also? It doesn't take a lot to donate either.

What it does take a lot to do is, say, something like Jared Leto is doing in Haiti. He spent a ton of time down there recently, taking photographs for a book he's going to publish, proceeds going to Haiti. Good man. Strange man with strange tastes that I do not judge because, an' it harm none, whatever blows your skirt up – but good man, I believe.

Okay, and on my end? Here, in my little apartment and my little life?

Haku needs a third surgery on his leg and extensive rehab if he's ever going to even walk on it again. How this got so screwed up, I don't even know. Most dogs bounce right back from the first surgery like nothing ever happened. Haku, not so much. Total muscle contracture, suture reactions, random hematomas, two weeks in the hospital just for rehab so that they can even do the third surgery. I don't even know!

And Sano's platelets dropped again. He might have to go back on pred, which I'm dreading.

Also waiting on a good friend's biopsy results, and yet another (new) friend's father is gravely ill.

I've still managed to be in a fairly cheerful and optimistic mood, even if it doesn't seem like it. Outside of that, I have some neat things going on. I'm in a cool book critique thing. It looks promising. Heck, writing looks promising these days. HitRECord has been fun, there's a new collab I really like. The people there are consistently nice, creative, funny. I watched Inception the other day with previously referenced new friend and I was like, "Ha, Regular Joe is on my TV." :) Weather has been cold, but the snow and ice are gone.

Also, I HAVE A JOB INTERVIEW MONDAY. It's at a holistic wellness center. Doesn't that sound like it might be right up my alley? I guess we'll find out.

Okay, so that's that. I'm not sorry for sounding so severe up there. Those things need to be said, and they need to be said forcefully, without holding back.

Also, someone please randomly send me $40,000. Thanks.

Here's an update on Haku. Right now they're mostly keeping him just for rehab, to get his leg back in shape so he doesn't lose any more muscle mass/flexibility before his next surgery. The cultures came back and they did see some bacteria, but it might have just been contamination. Either way, there was nothing resistant in there, and whatever it is, Baytril should cover it. Originally they were going to do a catheter epidural so they wouldn't have to anesthetize him every day (because the stretching of the joint is really painful,) but now they might not have to do that. They just gave him a mild sedative today and were still able to do it. So maybe this will take care of it.

As for the next surgery he's going to need, that's down the road.

Today I sent out two emails to some Craigslist ads for LMTs. I got one response asking for my #, and tomorrow I'll see if they want me to send a resume. They start at $40 and they say that you can make your own hours. That sounds very nearly too good to be true and I'm sure there's some reality to that, but it might still be at least partly as good as it sounds. It's not exactly around the corner, but for $40/hr, it's not bad. It's probably like a half an hour away or so.

Which, if they make an offer I'll probably have to take it anyway, because I totally misread the estimate on Haku's bill. I thought the thousand dollars was for the week. It was for the night.

I just don't even know.

I just hope he can come home soon, you know?

I just got off the phone with the vet. She says it looks less likely for infection and looks like just a hematoma. But they still have to wait for the cultures and they still had to remove the prosthetic because, she said, it wasn't good to keep it in there with this going on. As to how he got the hematoma: kind of a mystery. But while we were in the waiting room saturday I do remember that he tried to run after another dog. I was paying my bill at the time so it's possible he banged it on the bench, or the counter, or he fell. I couldn't tell if he purposely lay down on the floor, or if he slipped. Anyway, I really feel like that's what it was.

The inflammation seems to have caused the fever, too.

So, no cancer, (*knock on wood!*) and possibly--probably--no huge infection. This shortens his hospital stay a lot.

He still has to have insane rehab because the muscle is still in contracture though so they're bandaging and keeping him for a few days.

IMMENSE RELIEF!

Here's more good news. See this HitRECord payment proposal? See my name on there? I'm getting paid for the Tiny Stories story! That's my first paid writing thing! I'm so super happy about it, I could not wish for a nicer first time (that's what s/he said.)

And more good news, still: I passed my state boards with an 88, and I got my license in the mail. I'm fully legal for my profession and I can start at any time and make my own rules. I also got a nice job offer from a swank hotel on the East end. They want to start offering in-room massage. It's not the med-massage gig that I want, but damn, think of the tips. I have to figure out the details of that, if it's what they really want, and get it legal (they've never done this before so I have to let them know what the law is re: hiring massage therapists etc.)

Here's something else awesome: Boychild's 4th birthday was the other day and he had a fantastic time at his party. I have some super cute pictures, too.

( PICSSSSSSS. )

So that was really nice. And the night before that, SB and Jo-chan and I were over at my Mom's house and we watched Tropic Thunder again.

Other things I'm happy about: Being back to my happy weight after a week of eating ice cream.

Nice people.

It's March.

I know Kung Fu. I mean really, that's the coolest thing.

So, to review: Haku – not life-threatening nor as bad as originally thought. HitRECord, Tiny Stories. State boards, license, job offer. Family, good times. Almost spring. Kung Fu. Etc.

I just got off the phone with the vet. Basically what it looks like is that there's some massive bacteria in the joint, probably making a kind of barrier around the prosthetic ligament. As for why Haku is so immunocompromised, that's still a mystery. His blood work came back normal (which I take as a good sign because it seems to me that the infection didn't get a chance to spread. His WBCs were normal.) They can't totally rule out something systemic that's causing all of this, but for right now it looks like he just has a super bad reaction to prosthetics and foreign stuff being in him.

So, they have to remove the prosthetic ligament and spend a week draining it every day, and keeping it sterile. Or maybe more than a week.

It could be that his own ACL has already started to grow back, and if that's the case, then they can let it heal and he might be able to walk on it without any further surgery. Usually it takes 3 months for the ligaments to grow back, and Haku's surgery was only 2 months ago. But he might still have that option. But if the ligament is still too weak to hold his weight, then they have to do a 3rd leg surgery, this time not using a prosthetic, but rather a more aggressive operation. In this one, they cut a piece of the tibia and set it under the femur to stabilize the bone.

The good news is that there have been some good results with this surgery, with dogs up and about quicker than with the prosthetic. The bad news, of course, is that it's bone surgery.

Also, it will be his 5th surgery in as many years. He's only 5 years old.

The hospital kindly is giving me 50% off all procedures, which is amazing. This may or may not be because I was talking about selling my blood plasma at the hospital last night. (Which, I just found out, you actually can do that. I'll have to look into that for sure!) But it's really decent of them to do that for me.

But meanwhile, Haku is in the hospital again for over a week.

Also, Sano's platelets dropped again so he has to go in for more blood work, too.

I'm not sure why I get broken things, actually. I don't know that there has to be a "reason," but everyone seems to think that there is.

Which reminds me, I need to order the latest Pet Shop book, since it's out.

Haku is in the hospital again, probably for over a week this time. He's got some kind of massive infection in his leg that they're trying to pinpoint, both the type and the origin. It came up suddenly.

Good vibes much needed, please.