Who's got School Spirit?

Last Saturday was another big football game for Clemson...one against ACC rival Florida State.  It is a huge deal at our house, not just because I love Clemson, but because Jeff's entire family are Florida State fans.  It is literally the one day each year that I do not see eye to eye with his family.

It was a great game, with Clemson grabbing the lead on their first possession and never giving it up; we wound up winning 35-30! 

I would like to think my Clemson cheerleaders once again had something to do with it!  Jeff took this cute picture of me and the puppies during halftime.  We were all decked out in orange and rooting for the Tigers.

Following another impressive win, Clemson is now 4-0 with one more difficult test coming this Saturday against Virginia Tech.  Right now, we are ranked # 13 in the nation and are poised to be the best team in the ACC this season.

Go Tigers!



How do you know you have had too much rain?...

...you start seeing crustaceans out and about! 



While we were out walking the dogs on Friday morning, Jeff looked down and saw this little guy in the grass.  After some research, I think it is a Rusty Crayfish, an invasive species that started in Minnesota and Wisconsin and is slowly making its way across the United States.  The fact that it was aggressive gave it away,  as it reared up as Jeff and I were taking pictures of it with our camera phones.

One word...CREEPY!

Hanging with Bruce

Last weekend Jeff's college friend (and groomsman at our wedding) Bruce visited us.  He was in North Carolina for a presentation at Duke's marine lab on the coast and decided to hang with us for a couple of days before he flew back to Massachusetts from Raleigh.  Bruce has a pretty cool job; he is the pilot of Alvin, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutes submarine.  You can read more about Bruce's submarine experiences here:  http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=5879. 

Without a doubt, Bruce has some of the best stories about his underwater excursions, so it is always good when our paths collide for a couple of days and him and Jeff can catch up; this time was no different, since we had not seen Bruce since our wedding over six and a half years ago!  Needless to say, there was plenty of catching up to do, so we basically just hung out and ate delicious food that Bruce made all weekend (quite the chef).  And, as you can see, Kira warmed up to him quickly, even though she was still recovering from her cataract surgery.

Thanks for spending the weekend with us Bruce...it was nice to see you and we hope it won't be another six and a half years before our paths cross again!



Kira's Cataract Free

Last Tuesday, Jeff took Kira to NC State for her second ophthalmology appointment.  Just that morning, we had gotten back the results of her third sterile urine sample and found out that she was indeed E. coli free...I was so thankful that we had finally gotten rid of that nasty resistant strain, especially since Ophthalmology was asking us to consider having her cataracts removed even if she still tested positive (although that would have seriously increased her risk during and after surgery).  So, you can only imagine our surprise to find out that she had kicked the bacteria.  During her appointment that afternoon, they looked at Kira's eyes again and Jeff called to tell me that they were going to perform cataract surgery on the next day (Wednesday).  I was shocked...really, that soon?  I was also freaked out because I had a work trip to Atlanta the next morning, meaning that I would not even be there to see her off to surgery.  Still, knowing that the ability for Kira to see again was the highest priority, we scheduled the surgery and brought Kira home for her last night with cataracts. 

The next day was crazy to say the least...I flew out to Atlanta and left the house at 4:30 am.  While I was in meetings at the CDC all day, I kept sneaking peeks at my phone to see if Jeff had text me to tell me that she was out of surgery.  She was their first case of the day, so I figured we would hear something early.  The surgeon didn't call Jeff until almost 2:00 pm...we were going crazy!  It seems they got a little behind and had to push back the surgery.  Dr. Hempstead told Jeff that Kira was doing great and slowly coming out of surgery.  She had to stay overnight so that they could monitor her and ensure that the surgery was successful.

We found out later that Kira was up and walking around the hospital by the end of the night.  The vet techs and students told us that she was looking around at everything, so glad that she could see again...it was like she was seeing things for the first time!  On Thursday afternoon after work, Jeff got to pick her up and bring her home.  I was headed home from Atlanta, so I got to see her shortly after she got home and settled in.  She looks a little funny because they had to shave around her eyes; she resembles a raccoon and Jeff wants to get her a black mask for Halloween so she can be Zorro.

With the surgery, Kira was also enrolled in a current research project being conducted on artificial lenses at NC State.  Following cataract surgery in both human and canine patients, a white filmy deposit can develop along the edges of the lens after time.  This trial looks at a treated lens to see if it will prevent the development of the white precipitate over time.  I am so glad that something positive may come out of Kira's development of cataracts...maybe she can help another dog (or human) have better long-term vision in the future!

After almost seven weeks of having cataracts, Kira finally has her vision back.  It was a long and very uncertain road at times, but I am more certain than ever that we did the right thing for her.  Yes, it was expensive and scary, but there is not a better feeling than giving your animal the ability to see again.  I had chills her entire first night at home...I literally could not stop crying I was so happy to have our Bella back.

Kira, we love you so much and are so glad that you have a super quality of life again.  Now, if only your hair will grow back quickly, you will be all set.


Clemson's Cutest Canine Cheerleaders

It is the most wonderful time of year...the college football season is upon us!  And the best part about being back in the south for the start of this season is that Clemson games are generally televised (either on the TV or over the internet on ESPN).   So, needless to say, we have spent most recent weekends in front of the TV watching (and rooting for) my team.  But Jeff and I aren't the only ones...Clemson has some pretty cute doggy cheerleaders rooting for them as well.  Anytime we ask them if they want to put on their Clemson 'dannas (short for bandanna), they run up to us and put their neck out so that we can slip them over their heads.  And they are just so darn cute in them that they always get attention when they are out and about in the complex.

And their support must be working, since Clemson is currently 3-0 following a big win over Auburn this past weekend!  Wear those bandanna's proud, Kira and Koda!



Fun Times at the Baseball Field

At the end of August, we were invited to a Durham Bulls game with a friend of Jeff's from work and her family.  We met them at a restaurant before the game for dinner.  Jeff loved the restuarant as they had a ton of beers on tap to choose from...even without food, he was in heaven.  It gave us some time to hang with Anji, who works at BD with Jeff, her husband Travis and their two kids.  We had a great time at dinner and then headed over to the game.

This game, the Bulls were playing the Gwinnett Braves, who looked much like the Atlanta Braves with their uniforms.  It didn't matter to us...we had a great time!



The Bulls even won the game and we got to see a manager ejected from the game (theirs, thank goodness, not ours).  It was a super fun, albeit it tiring night at the ballpark.  So much so that getting up for work the next day was pretty difficult.

Thanks for inviting us to join you at the game...we will have to hang out again sometime soon, Wills family!
 

Jason Adamo in Concert

On a Thursday night a couple of weeks ago, our apartment complex hosted a concert as part of their summer concert series.  They welcomed the Jason Adamo Band, who are a local Raleigh band.  We grabbed a couple of other people from our building and walked to the front to listen to the band.  I was impressed with the band and loved both the songs and the band's voices (it didn't hurt that they were not bad to look at, either).  We spent the rest of the evening relaxing, listening to awesome music, and hanging with good friends...

The band played from 7:15 until just after 10:00 pm...I was so impressed.  And I even managed to win a CD from the band for naming the country one of the members was from (Italy).  Score one for me, since I was really enjoying their music.  Their music now resides happily on my iPod.  It was a fun night, capped off by the fact that we only had to walk back to the apartment and not fight traffic out of a parking lot during a regular concert.  





Kira's Struggles and Puppy Poses

I know people probably think that I post waaaaay too much about our dogs, but sometimes they are just so cute I can't help myself.  Plus, I feel more than justified since Kira has had such a rough time lately.  For those who may not have the update on Kira, she has been having a string of bad luck.  After our regular vet determined that they could not get her diabetes under control, they referred us to NC State University's Internal Medicine Department.  We went in for a consult with an internal vet, who told us that Kira looked really good and that they wanted to perform a bunch of different tests to make sure her Cushing's disease was still under control and that she didn't have any additional underlying conditions that would make the diabetes that much more difficult to control.  She spent the entire next day at NC State and, when we came to pick her up, we learned that the Cushing's was being controlled with the Vetoryl she is taking in the morning.  However, they had performed a urinalysis on her and found that she had a UTI (which is common with diabetes) and sent us home with ammoxicillin.  They told us during that visit that they were going to culture the sample to see if it cultured anything weird and they would call me if it did.  Sure enough, on Monday morning I received a call telling me that she her sample had tested positive for a resistant strain of E. coli...great!  So, they put us on a different type of antibiotic. 

During this same time, she developed cataracts (also a complication of the diabetes), so we set up a consult with the ophthalmology department at NC State to see if she was a good candidate for cataract removal surgery.  The good news is that she can have the surgery to remove the cataracts (which will instantly restore her sight), but they cannot perform the surgery until the E. coli infection is treated.  This is due to the fact that as soon as they cut in to her eye, the E. coli will move to the eye (which is a more sensitive organ) and could possibly leave her needing to have an eye removed.  We are not willing to take that chance, so they cultured her urine again to see if the first antibiotic was treating the infection...of course it wasn't, so we had to change to a new medicine which requires mixing the medicine and injecting 15 mL into her twice a day.  It creates a huge pocket of fluid under her skin (which makes me so sad), but we are hoping that this will finally be the defeat of this battle for her.  She is almost through with the injections, so I will have to call and make another appointment for her this week to culture and see.  I am trying to stay positive, but one thing I have learned through this process is that we (and Kira) have pretty bad luck.  Nothing ever goes right the first time (seems like the story of our lives).  All I know is that we are determined to beat this and get our Kira back in tip top shape.

I know that many of you have questioned why we would do this (i.e., go through the hassle, spend the money, put her through this) and the only answer I have for that question is "she is our baby".  Plus, this dog is not ready to go.  She is a fighter; she always has been.  She fought to come out of ketoacidosis and I feel that we owe it to her to continue fighting with her for as long as she continues.  This is not a dog that is ready to be put down...she is happy, loving and has a good quality of life, even with the complications of diabetes and the fact that she can barely see.  We are not willing to give up on her, especially since the vets tell us that, once we get the diabetes under control, she will lead a long and healthy life.  I mean, look at her, she is still a happy, active dog (with her best friend and partner in crime, Mr. Koda)...

Enjoying hamburger cookies we brought back for them from Minneapolis...they loved them!

And Koda just adores her...he is certainly not ready to be an only puppy yet.  Kira still has tons to show him to get him ready.

We are just really happy to have her with us and hope that her luck turns for the better soon.  We love you Kira Belle!

Double the McNaughton Fun

At the end of July, Jeff's brother Joe, Julie and the kids came up to Durham for a visit.  They had already spent a couple of days in the North Carolina mountains and decided to swing by and spend a couple of days with us before heading home.  It was so nice to see them (and one of the best things about being so close to home again...we actually get regular visitors)!  I was a little worried about how we were going to sleep all seven of us in a 1300 square foot apartment, but it wound up working just fine.  On Friday night, we stayed in and made homemade pizzas.  We had gotten personal pan size pizza crust for the kids, so they could make their own pizzas.  I think they were a hit with all three of them.

On Saturday, we hung out for a little while at the pool and then got ready to head to a Durham Bulls game that night. 

The kids (and Joe, I think) were really excited to see the Durham Bulls play, since they are an affiliate for the Tampa Bay Rays back home. Before the game, we went to the Carolina Ale House for dinner and had a great meal. Then, it was off to the game...



During the game, they had some strange entertainment...I guess weird is definitely the right word.  It was a rather small lady (almost a midget, I would say), in a too tight leotard that danced around on a table and tried to shoot an arrow with a bow at a target.  It was just a little too strange for me, but I definitely enjoyed the two fan sumo wrestling match much better...



Joe took all three kids down to meet the Blue Monster and they got a baseball autographed by him.  Here are Ella and Wyatt showing off their new prize...

 
Although the Bulls were beating the Toledo Mud Hens (which I thought was the most hilarious name for a minor league baseball team), it wasn't long before the kids got antsy and wanted to do something other than sit and watch the game.  It was during one of these times that Wyatt asked if he could take some pictures with our digital camera.  I handed it over and he started snapping some.  It wasn't until later when we downloaded them that we saw his masterpieces...
 



Maybe not quite ready to make a career out of it, but with a little work, I think he can be pretty good! :-)

 

We spent the rest of the game teaching the kids all the fun chants that usually occur at baseball games...they even got to participate in the wave a couple of times!  Anytime the music played, Wyatt was all about singing and dancing.  I think he had everyone in the area cracking up at him.  Here are some of his better moves.

 



Even better than Wyatt's smooth moves was that the Bulls won the game, so everyone went home happy (albeit pretty sweaty and tired).

 

On Sunday morning, we said goodbye to Joe, Julie and the kids, who had the long drive back to Florida in front of them.  As they were getting ready to leave, we managed to snag these shots...

 



It was a fun weekend and we were sad to see them leave, but we know that we will see them again at Christmas.  Thanks for coming and spending some time with us, McNaughton family!