Take me out to the ball game

Went to the Angels Red Sox game yesterday and had lots of fun. Had a group of ten people (mostly biologists!) who went. Sat four rows from the top in the second to worst seats. They really weren't that bad. Good crowd of fans, lot more Boston fans than I expected to see. No animosity between fans that I saw (guess Angels fans are just a bit more grown up than Dodgers fans).

At least both sides of fans weren't afraid to cheer. So it was lots of fun to cheer for the Red Sox when they were doing well. I could do without the stupid rally monkey though. Save it for the end of the season. That thing is so annoying. I don't want to see video of a monkey hopping or spliced into movies.

The pictures to the left show d ray trying to take a picture through binoculars (hilarious), Kimme and me (showing off my red sox shirt), the final score, and the red sox celebrating after winning.

We stuck around after the game (probably for over an hour) to let all the people leave the parking lot so we wouldn't be stuck in it and to see if we could get anyone's autograph. Which we did! I am now the proud owner of a Hideko Okajima autograph (#37 on the Red Sox). And I snapped a picture of Allison with him.

Goodbye little man

Unfortunately the time has come for me to say goodbye to my beloved little dog Rascal. He died this morning (just two weeks after Goofy died).

He went downhill pretty quickly, since Friday. I thought it was the change in temperature that was slowing him down, but he never recovered to his old-self. This weekend I hung out with just him trying to make him comfortable so that he could be somewhat at peace. He gave me one last kiss on Sunday and I knew that he would go soon.

Yesterday was just bad, just a shell of his normal behavior. He couldn't use his hind legs so he'd try to walk and give up. He wouldn't eat anything I offered, no turkey slices, no hamburger. He was drinking water but even I know that you can't survive on water alone. My dad told me that I'd have to consider taking him to the vet, but I really just wanted him to pass away at home where he was comfortable not some foreign vet examination room.

Today I was waiting for my dad to show up so that I could call the vet to set up an appointment but he died before my dad got here. The tears have been on and off since then. When my dad got here I let him know before he walked in and he broke down. Rascal technically was my dog but he was bonded to both my dad and me. It was more emotional since we just did this with Goofy. I know he's not in pain anymore, but he was my constant companion since I was 11. It seemed like he'd just live forever.

After Goofy died my mom and I would reminisce about all the stunts he would pull. Rascal didn't really do anything all that bad, that was more of Goofy's thing to cause trouble.

When Rascal was a puppy (and I was still in 6th grade) he got into the bag of puppy food and ate so much that he would cry out in pain if we touched his side. Cue to my mom and I driving to our vet and then being told to go to an emergency clinic in Montclair. Cue to Rascal puking in the back seat on the drive to the vet and feeling all better once he gets examined. All we needed to do was put him in the back seat and rock the car, all better.

Rascal was seriously the best dog I will ever have. No other dog could compare to him. He was the most affectionate dog I have ever met, he was loyal, he knew that I was his mom and would wait by the door for me or lay in my doorway to protect me. He loved when I would treat him to a cup of milk or a slice of cheese.

Now I'm just sad that I have no pets to greet me when I come home. Just an empty house filled with memories.

Back to school

The new quarter has started and I think it will be way less stressful than last quarter. Just taking the Friday seminar series class. Most of it will be molecular...yay, not really but I guess it could be worse.

Going to the Angels Red Sox game on Saturday afternoon. Can't believe we got nine people going, I was hoping for five.

My dog misses Goofy. He doesn't adapt well to sudden changes so he's not eating now which is bad since he's lost weight as he's gotten older. I can now lift him fairly easily. At his biggest (some would call overweight...but he was never fat he has big bones...seriously) he was 60 lbs (probably high 50s), last trip to the vet (his favorite place ever) he was barely 40. He selectively eats cheese, I have found that giving him lunch meat works. So as of now his diet consists of turkey slices. I'm just happy that he's eating. He's weak right now so he always wants to be laying down and kind of walks and then plops down wherever he was standing. He ate more today than the past few days combined. So I'm hopeful that he'll eat a little more each day.

My shower is probably 75% tiled, so hopefully in a few weeks I'll actually be able to take a shower, since I have to allow time to grout and seal. I've primed most of the dining room, but need to move the large computer desk and the stack of wood to finish. The bff is going to help me paint and do the chair rail and stuff to make it look complete.