Diagnosis

Anthony did go to the doctor today, finally.

Walking pneumonia.

Oy.

How does one push a rope?

Anthony's been at university for five weeks, and sick for four of them. But will he go to the infirmary?

No. Of course not. Don't be silly.

ARGH.

Despite leaving him with a pretty well-stocked first aid kit, and sending him some OTC cough medicine, he still has the crud. But won't go to the infirmary.

Dormitories are high-risk for swine flu, and thankfully there are no reported cases yet (and an emergency plan already in place), so I'm trying not to hit the panic button.

We're going to visit him this coming weekend; if I don't like what I see... You know what I'll do.

2009 GN results... sorta

My e-mail is down, haven't had access since Thursday. Maybe will get it fixed tomorrow...

Here's the reader's digest version of results from the Grand National weekend:

Friday - Region 3 Invitational
Open - Gin (only one entered) - had a very nice course in Prelims, the lure op did an outstanding job. Then she got caught in the line in the middle of Finals, came up lame, and I pulled her. Excused.

FCh - 1st Challenger, 2nd Py. Charger came up lame after Prelims, Challenger didn't look good after Finals.

Rough day for borzoi.

Saturday
I spent the day running scores from the judges to the scorekeeper, so actually have no idea how the results went. I was EXHAUSTED from all the back and forth, *man* I need to get in shape before OFC season. But the judges were great sharing perspectives on how to score, which dog got scored how and why... very interesting. Must do this job again sometime soon.

Sunday
Open
1st & BOB - Emmy
2nd - Gin (now has 99 pts!!)
3rd - Merlin
4th - Halis
NQ - Shadowcat

FCh
1st - Challenger
2nd - Spitzer
3rd- Kyra
4th - Phoebe
NBQ - Nitro
Field: Charger, Dagny, Py

Vet
1st - Belle Starr

Py and Dagny were tied for 1st after Prelims, but Py got a cactus spine jammed up his nailbed and I didn't get it out cleanly. He took a few bad steps so I, very reluctantly, pulled him from Finals. FCh stake had a run-off for 3-4-NBQ, Nitro was lame and was pulled from the run-off. Then Emmy beat Challenger in the run-off for BOB.

Grand National
It is a thrill to report that Joan's scottish deerhound Wist won the GN!!! Sorry I wasn't there to see it, by all reports it was an incredible run.

Thoughts on coursing and hunting

Thoughtful and interesting articles from across the pond:

Clarissa Dickson Wright reveals the cruel side of the animal rights brigade

Two Fat Ladies chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright admits attending hare coursing event at private prosecution

Tea for Two

No empty nest here, we're at capacity with beasts and dust bunnies.

But I do notice a significant shift in grocery shopping, dirty dishes, and laundry. Now that Anthony is off to university, it's back to "just us" two humans. Rick is home for dinner only during the week, and washes his own work clothes (because I fold his shirts wrong, who knew that was a good thing 20 years ago?). Without Anthony's school and gym clothes, I am hard pressed to make a full load of whites. And here in the desert, we do not run a washer that isn't stuffed to the max.

Shopping and cooking for two requires some adjustment on my part. Without Anthony's bottomless pit of an appetite, I buy the small bunch of bananas, very few apples, no grapes, fewer bagels... no more two-plus pound packages of every kind of fish each week.

Why this wasn't particularly noticeable last summer (he was in China for most of 2 months) I couldn't say; best guess - now it's permanent. I'm guessing shopping when he's here at Christmas is going to be a shock.

Updates, they are a'comin'

Have 2 weeks of catchup to do, must get all this stuff out of my head and through my fingers.

And yes, I'll be editing, back-dating, and rearranging. So it goes.