Robert M. Malone

Robert Michael Malone July 14, 1921-May 27, 2011

An Irish Blessing for my grandfather, Robert M. Malone:

May joy and peace surround you,

Contentment latch your door,

And happiness be with you now,

And bless you evermore.

He died this morning at home in Minneapolis from metastatic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, an extremely rare form of cancer, only two weeks following his diagnosis.

This photo was taken shortly after Sofia was born (nearly 5 years ago!) so that one day I could show her a picture of four generations. We talked frequently about taking one with Ethan, too, but of course there was always next time. I've got some action shots of Ethan playing tickle with him at the annual Malone gathering in Chetek, WI (because Ethan does not sit still for pictures) and those will have to do. They'll always bring back great memories! (Similar to the time he was babysitting me one evening and decided it would be funny to draw a mustache on my cherished Madonna poster hanging on my bedroom door... Hey! I can laugh now!)

"He passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by the family he loved. He is now in the company of angels and saints in the arms of wife, BJ, and son, Michael."

We'll all miss you, Gramps (Sofia wonders why someone just cannot kiss him to make him wake up, which continues to bring a smile to my face), but I take comfort in knowing that you are no longer in pain. Rest in peace.

Veterinary Related Peeves

I thought I'd start this one with a little humor (well, at least I think it's funny...).

These are the Top 10 Peeves Dogs have with Humans as read on Petplace.com

1. Blaming your farts on me..... not funny... not funny at all !!!

2. Yelling at me for barking. I'M A FRIGGIN' DOG

3. Taking me for a walk, then not letting me check stuff out. Exactly whose walk is this anyway?

4. Any trick that involves balancing food on my nose. Stop it!

5. Any haircut that involves bows or ribbons. Now you know why we chew your stuff up when you're not home.

6. The sleight of hand, fake fetch throw. You fooled a dog! Whoooo oooooooo what a proud moment for the top of the food chain.

7. Taking me to the vet for "the big snip", then acting surprised when I freak out every time we go back!

8. Getting upset when I sniff the crotches of your guests. Sorry, but I haven't quite mastered that handshake thing yet.

9. Dog sweaters. Hello ??? Haven't you noticed the fur?

10. How you act disgusted when I lick myself. Look, we both know the truth. You're just jealous.

OK, now this veterinarian's top peeve of those same owners that care for their "animal companions" (in quotations because I am still not sure how I feel about the term pet being derogatory and offensive towards animals. I mean really? You can call a dog Dumb Ass in a high pitched happy voice and it will come running to you with it's tail wagging. I'm just sayin'.): hobby breeders.

You are not going to make any money breeding purebred dogs. The costs associated with appropriate care of mama and puppies is (should be) too high to break even or make a profit on the sale of the puppies. Did you know that American Bulldogs are prone to hip dysplasia? A responsible person that wants to breed American Bulldogs should know this. They should also know that it would be the responsible thing to have mama and papa OFA certified indicating good or excellent hips before breeding that pair to try and decrease the number of dogs affected by hip dysplasia and the pain associated with that particular orthopedic disease, especially since this dog was originally purchased from a pet store with no information regarding the hip health of her parents. They should then also know that the OFA will not certify a dog's hips until it is two years old. It is ideal for that same person who waited until the appropriate time frame to have radiographs taken to also completely understand the labor and delivery process of their dog so that this veterinarian does not have to perform a caesarean section on your dog to remove a dead fetus because she went into stage 1 labor three days prior to calling the me "because I've been through this before with my dad's dogs and I am completely comfortable with everything" and "because I really wanted to avoid going to the emergency clinic." I guess on the plus side, they didn't wait until mama was two years old, so they saved $205 on sedated radiographs + $30 for OFA hip certification which was then put towards the $700 bill for caesarean section (well, sort of. This same person didn't have the money to cover the cost of potential complications associated with labor and delivery, so she had to borrow from a friend.) Unfortunately, they declined ovariohysterectomy (spaying) at the time of her caesarean...

There are already hundreds of dogs and cats that need homes in humane societies and rescues all over the country. Lets focus on saving those animals and find a new hobby other than breeding.

I will now step off my soap box.

Three Years Old

On May 1st, Ethan turned 3 years old.

My baby is 3 years old! (And, please don't read any more into that statement, Grandmas. I am not feeling nostalgic for pregnancy or the baby years. There will not be any more babies in this perfect little family of four.) I just cannot believe that 3 years has passed already, especially when every morning we fight about getting up and getting dressed for school and every night we fight about going to bed ("I don't want to go to school" has been a daily phrase uttered by Ethan since he started day care in November - It's gonna be a long 15 years, my boy) and I think to myself, "could this week go by ANY slower?" But, next thing I know it's the middle of May in the year 2011 and I wonder where the last 3 years went? What have I done in that time?

Well, apparently I have shared in the process of raising a little boy that weighs 31.8# and measures 37.1" tall. He can sing the alphabet, count into the teens, and knows all his colors (Dr. Judy was very impressed with his knowledge of counting and colors at his 3 year physical today :) ). He has a very large vocabulary of which Kevin and I can understand most (though we do need to have Sofia translate every so often). He loves dinosaurs and cars; he has a new fascination with Iron Man; he loves playing outside and riding around the cul-de-sac on Sofia's pink princess motorized trike; he still wants mommy to kiss his owies before covering them with superhero bandaids; his favorite food is ketchup; he insists on wearing footed jammies and being tucked into 4 blankets at night no matter how warm his bedroom is (yes, he wore footed jammies and was sweating profusely under 4 fleece blankets this past Tuesday night after we hit the low 90's during the day); he can dress himself and is out of diapers during the day. He is a very friendly and outgoing little boy and looks up to his big sister for EVERYTHING.

It's definitely been a roller coaster of a ride, (let us all try and forget the day you REFUSED to get dressed and missed half a day of school due to your very strong-willed personality - I prefer to call it a contrary attitude - I mean, really. You chose to have a time out, and you HATE time outs, rather than get dressed for school!) but the last 3 years have been full of laughter and love Happy birthday, Ethan, I love you!