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I glanced in the rearview mirror of the 4Runner and saw Maddy’s nose sticking out at me through the bars of the freshly-installed pet partition. She and Suh were safely segregated away from the (also freshly-installed) baby car seat. Suh was more than happy to hang her head out of the back window, but Maddy seemed to look longingly at me as if through the bars of a prison.

I felt a twinge of sadness and what might only be described as melancholy as I thought back to the days when Maddy was an only child in a single-parent household. I used to love it when she would rest her head on my shoulder while I drove and she was always close enough to listen to my latest rant or share my McDonald’s french fries. Now she was far away. And there was the shadow of a GIANT tiny new baby between us.

So many things have changed. So many things are continuing to change.

I count my blessings every day, but sometimes I wonder why it all has to happen so fast…

After my recent rant about Suh, I wanted to update you on her progress. Because she is making remarkable progress as we I get more patient with her.

One of our biggest hassles was how OVER-excited she would get each time we got ready to go for a walk. As soon as the socks and sneakers come out, she’s spinning circles and losing her mind with anticipation. Which usually involves knocking us over, getting underfoot, and tearing up the hardwood as she races from the front door to the bedroom in an attempt to hurry us up already. We’re frustrated and exhausted before we even get out the door. And to deal with this twice a day? Yuck.

Awhile back we had to start kenneling her during the day while Brandon and I were gone at the same time. She would pull out laundry, chewed a pair of flip flops and seems to really like sucking on my slippers, rendering them unbearably-unwearably soggy. After only a couple of days, she started to associate me getting ready for work (since Brandon usually leaves the house first) with going in the kennel. By the time I was rinsing with mouthwash, she was already settled in and waiting for me to close the door.

Brandon decided to take this affinity for her kennel to an extra level. Now whenever we start to get ready to go for a walk, he tells her to wait in the kennel. He leaves the door open, but tells her to go inside and wait. And she does. She lays down with her nose sticking out and patiently waits for us to hurry up and get ready.

This morning when Brandon got up (extra early), she went in the kennel straight away and waited to be called for her morning walk. It’s awesome!

She really is a friggin’ brilliant dog. If we can continue to figure out these little tricks that she’ll latch on to establish routine and keep her excitement from escalating, then I think she’ll come a long way fast.

[We couldn't walk around the block without being stopped a dozen times.]

[At the beach in Tofino with my mom. Maddy was too tired to walk back.]

[Goofing off in the old apartment in Vancouver.]

[Playing fetch in Saskatchewan.]

[Christmas spirit.]

[Still have that bear. Sans stuffing.]

[My best bridesmaid.]

The vet tells me she is now officially considered a “senior citizen.” I’m happy our baby will grow up with her as a big sister.

(last year)

It’s been a long while since I’ve written about these two.

Maddy is currently laying nose-to-nose with a beetle on the office carpet and Suh is curled up in a corner of the couch. They both still seem pretty exhausted from our romp at the fenced, off-leash dog park yesterday. This photo captures the trip pretty perfectly: couldn’t get Maddy out of the water and Suh isn’t a big swimmer yet. She ventured after Maddy at one point, but quickly realized the ground was gone and splashed back to shore with a slightly panicked look on her face.

Since Brandon started his clinical rotations at the beginning of this month, Suh hasn’t been too happy with both Brandon and I leaving the house at the same time. She has chewed up a few things and pulled every item off the dresser in the bedroom. She even carefully searches through the laundry hamper to find my slippers* and carry them with her into the living room.

As such, she has been relegated to her kennel. We’d love to be able to trust her, but she gets into stuff even when we’re only gone for an hour!

Maddy’s coat is a disaster today after swimming in the red dirt water of Oklahoma. She didn’t get much of a winter coat, but is shedding even more of that insulating under-layer. 90F (30C) is hot. And it’s only May. Last summer when we arrived in August, it was regularly over 110F. Brandon splurged $15 on a paddling pool at Wal-Mart and we installed it in the backyard under a shady tree.

Unfortunately, we had some nasty wind this morning and a big section of our fence blew over. Brandon and I tried to fix it, but the entire thing is put together so poorly and there isn’t an ounce of sealant on an inch of wood… Suffice it to say, the fence sucks, but did a good job of keeping them in even when a squirrel ran by with teasing chuckles. Now there’s a big hole and the landlord is “booked up solid for the next two weeks” and doesn’t want to come fix it before insurance has a chance to appraise the damage.

Ugh.

I guess it’s a good excuse for more frequent trips to the dog park.

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*The reason they’re in the laundry hamper is because they’re soaked with dog slobber dirt.

Just a little reminder that we love you forever, through thick and thin. Doing well or poorly or average on this exam doesn’t change a thing. Not even for a second.

We’re looking forward to relaxing with you during January while you take some much-deserved and highly-needed downtime. I know you’ll beat Lego Indiana Jones way before I do.

Now stop being so hard on yourself, relax, and go into that exam armed with the confidence that all these months of preparation have brought you. You know this stuff!

I can’t even describe how much it is snowing right now.

The fluffy white stuff is swirling and blizzarding and sticking to every inch of Maddy’s face. Suh is running around eating it. I’m trying to keep it from blowing in the crack in the front door.

It’s awesome.

I managed to get home from the hospital earlier this morning before it got really bad. I am now hunkered down in front of a non-stop* stream of TV movies and hot mugs. Unfortunately, the snow is going to mean Brandon will probably end up working a double shift tonight because his 11pm relief can’t get in from Tulsa.

For those of you keeping track, he’s working 24 out of 48 hours this Christmas.

We’ll be opening presents as soon as he gets home at 7am!

*Scratch that. I’m earning my warm-up down-time by helping push vehicles spinning out on our street. People here seriously do not know how to drive in snow/ice.

Maddy snoozes while Suh ponders the imminent changes in American healthcare.

Brandon is in Omaha for a wedding. I didn’t get to go what with it starting at 630pm on a Friday and being a 6+ hour drive from here and me rounding on patients in the hospital while Brandon was trying not to fall asleep behind the wheel.

It was weird to come home last night to an empty house. Being freshly married and still in that awesome head-over-heels spend-every-moment-together phase, Brandon and i enjoy doing pretty much everything together. Have I mentioned he’s my only friend down here?? So, sitting around last night deciding what to do and what to have for dinner and when to go to bed was sort of new. I almost felt like I was back in my Vancouver bachelor apartment days. If it wasn’t for the giant Great Dane trying to curl up in my lap every time I sat down, Maddy and I might have wondered if the last 2.5 years were just a dream…

In the end, my evening wasn’t very eventful. Due to a Christmas purchase on Amazon, I qualified for a free 12-month photo calendar from Shutterfly. I splurged $6.50 on shipping so 2010 can be filled with pictures of Maddy and Suh from 2009. I also spent 3 hours on a cross-stitch project trying to fill the last empty wedding present photo frame. Maddy glared at me most of the evening because I took up her half of our rather small couch. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” was on TV. I kinda hate TV for anything other than sports and movies. Why are the commercials SO MUCH LOUDER than the program??

At 830pm I realized I hadn’t had any dinner yet. Brandon is great for reminding me when it’s a meal time and that I should eat. Even in his absence, he made sure I was well taken care of last night with some yummy leftovers in the fridge. I now know how those husbands feel when their wives leave those cute notes saying “Dinner is in the oven/fridge/etc for you, dear. Love you!” It’s one of the most awesomest feelings in the world.

By 9pm my eyes were criss-crossing. I put down my needle and curled up in bed. I am about halfway through “Drink, Play, F@#k” and it’s been a big ball of entertaining giggles so far. The first 12 chapters take place in Ireland: Disneyland for anyone looking to entertain a 3-month drinking binge. Alcoholism is a serious disease, but crap that book made me laugh. All of the good Irish stereotypes reminded me of Emmet at MUA.

By the time the author made it to the casino in Vegas, I was ready to turn out the lights. Brandon called around 10pm to say goodnight. He sounded exhausted, but I know his friends were really glad to have him there. The dogs took up 2/3rds of the bed and I drifted off to dreamland sort of laying diagonally with my knees pulled up. No matter how much room the dogs take, the bed always feels empty without Brandon there.

This morning, I slept in until 7am. Now that is something I haven’t done in a very long time. The last two hours weren’t really sleeping. Mostly just snuggling under the heavy warm duvet while the cold room air nipped my nose. There aren’t very many things more perfect in life than a warm bed in a cool room.

An hour later, I’ve made coffee and spent some time on the internet. Now I’m ready to vacuum, dust and clean the bathroom. Later, I plan to listen to an audiobook while adding a few feet of crochet to my stripey scarf.

Cleaning the bathroom reminds me of a brief conversation this social media husband-and-wife had a couple of weeks ago:

“Thanks for cleaning the toilet,” Brandon called. While in the middle of using it.

“Oh, you noticed?” I asked in return. I thought I cleaned it often enough that there shouldn’t be much of a difference between Before and After.

“Nah. But I read it on Twitter.”

Just got off the phone with Brandon. He is on the road! On his way home! I wonder if he’ll notice the toilet before or after he reads this…

I’m still on track to look like an idiot in every single rotation because I get nervous when put on the spot.

Double bonus points this month because I actually *like* internal medicine and the attending I’m working with is just short of genius* and I should probably try to score well if I’m thinking I might want to go into it someday. So, blanking on how lisinopril causes hyperkalemia in the middle of the ICU isn’t necessarily the best way to go. Blurting out completely wrong answers makes me shut-up gun-shy when I actually know the right ones. Lame.

Just in case you were wondering.

And today’s photo is a random picture of Suh sitting on Brandon. Something she likes to do whether he’s on the floor, our tiny couch or at his computer desk.

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*No, he doesn’t read this. No, I’m not sucking up.

5am – Get up. Brandon eats cereal in front of the TV and watches football highlights from last night’s heartbreaker while I check email.

530am – Maddy sits right next to my chair and Suh starts barking. Signs they are ready to go out in the morning cold. It’s 35F today.

630am – Brandon heads to work. 7-3pm at the Halfway House. I finish puttering around on the computer and start puttering around the house.

7-10am – Clean bathroom. Dust. Pull up very frozen flowers from front garden.

1030am – Shower. Let the dogs back in. More computer puttering looking for a Christmas present for Brandon… Something I can afford that he wants, but won’t buy for himself.

12pm – Check TV to see what games are on. Choose Titans at Colts. Make oatmeal for lunch. Add snickerdoodle cookies (from Wal-Mart bakery and totally awesome!) for dessert.

130pm – Mute TV. Nap. Cross-stitch.

315pm – Brandon comes home and warms up leftovers for lunch.

4pm – Do some study question exams online while Brandon works on MBA homework.

6pm – Quick-fix-fend-for-yourself dinner on one of Brandon’s breaks. Watch NFL highlights while eating.

7pm – Fall asleep on the couch while watching a movie on TV with Jennifer Connolly.

8pm – Turn off Christmas tree, brush teeth, go to bed.

12am – Brandon finally finishes his homework and comes to bed.

I think you can see why I like Sundays more than Brandon… Most weekends should involve more studying for me, but it’s December and every day off feels like I should be cozy on the couch, bathed in the glow of Christmas lights, drinking eggnog and humming carols. Can you believe it’s only 18 days until Christmas?!