Betsy got her stitches out today. Woohoo! She has now been released by the vet to "go out and play" in any fashion she sees fit. So, she celebrated our return from the vets by running laps around both my yard and the next-door-neighbor's yard, with Adagio close on her heels. She was ecstatic! No more being locked in the house!
In other news, court has been very strange lately: We have more than one judge who do not care for the Rules of Criminal Procedure and have decided to make up their own, always to the detriment of our clients. One has decided that she may dismiss defense appeals that are trial de novo, due to failure to preserve issues in the lower court. The lower court is not a court of record, and thus you can't preserve issues anyway. Another has decided that she is able to revoke the probation of people who are not actually on probation anymore, but have been discharged. A third has decided that she does not like the various time limits outlined in the Code, and sets her own, frequently without telling anyone until her new time limits have expired. I have also been dealing with ADAs who seem to enjoy lecturing me about how to do my job, and how unethical it is for me to try to get my clients out of jail. I don't think all these people realize that what they are doing is only motivating me to fight harder in court: a motivation that has been ebbing of late.
I also have a whole pack of competency clients. These cases for some reason seem to come in waves. I love my competency clients. They are (mostly) really sweet and lost. And more than one of them seem to have a crush on me. Normally, something I'm not wild about, but in them, it's quite poignant. After all, how many people have they ever had try to help them in their lives? And it just makes me angry that some police officers seem to just follow them around waiting for them to get afraid and violent. I have one poor guy who was charged with filing a false report. Honestly! The guy is so delusional, they had to have been able to figure something was not right when they took the report. He called me all upset and afraid today because the judge made him "stand in the oaths and give up his rights and his lefts!" Even the not so sweet ones I don't mind. I find I have the patience to listen to their convoluted stories and reassure them and call their mamas and girlfriends. A strange thing of late. Even the guy who wants to kill me because I "raised his incompetence" I have patience with. After all, it's not his fault. No one wants to be thought of as either crazy or stupid. (Though I'm careful to not to say the words "incompetent" or "evaluation" in his presence. I was quite angry when the ADA brought it up when there was no need.)
And, I can look forward to six trials set for next week, with no idea at this point which may be going and which not.
So, things seem to be returning to normal. As normal as they ever get around here, anyway.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Under the Knife
Betsy had her surgery yesterday, so she is now spayed and micro-chipped! She gets her stitches out next week, and after that, no more vet visits for a whole year! The surgery went great, and today she was her usual cheerful self. Last evening, she was fairly out of it, and confused. She slept from the time I got off work and picked her up at the vets, until morning. I stayed home with her today, except for a witness interview at the DA's office, so I could keep an eye on her. But she's back to her playful normalcy. She even tried to play with Adagio, but I couldn't let that happen. She's supposed to be "taking it easy" for a week. (Fat chance!) While she hasn't been chewing her stitches yet, she has been scratching them with her hind legs. I, at least temporarily, solved the problem by putting her in an old t-shirt of mine and tying the slack in a knot in the middle of her back. She hasn't managed to get it off yet, but she was playing with it for a while. At least it distracted her from the suture line!
Below, she is modeling the shirt, and being trained to "leave" the shirt alone!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Betsy Update
****Update****
Adagio, the next door dog, has returned! Apparently she was recuperating from being spayed, as there is a shaved patch on her tummy. But no stitches, and she looks fine, so she and Betsy celebrated by having a boistrous play.
****Original Post****
So, Betsy is still growing like the proverbial weed. We went to the vet's last week for her pre-spay blood work, and she now weighs a whopping 40.7 lbs. It actually made me kind of nostalgic. The first time I took her to the vets, she was 8 weeks old, weighed just over 13 pounds, and was so frightened that all she would do was sit straight up on my knee and watch the people and animals come and go. I could pick her up with one hand easily. This time, she's 7 months old, over 40 pounds, and wanted to play with everyone who came by, whether they had 2 legs or four (including a pretty calico cat). This wasn't at all to the liking of the minute boxer puppy, who was plainly terrified of the entire situation, even without the rambunctious Betsy play-bowing and yapping, and doing everything in her power to make the boxer forget her fear and have a fun romp. This seems to be Betsy's solution to every problem. When I had the flu, she decided that what I really needed was a fun play time. So, she licked my face, nibbled on my ears, and pawed at me. I reacted similarly to the boxer puppy, and tried to get across that play was not needed at that point.
Betsy's also maturing. She doesn't jump on strangers anymore (mostly) and she's figured out what she is allowed to play with and what she's not. (Of course, she sometimes takes things that are not hers in attempts to start a game with me, or simply to see how far she can get away with something.) She has also started exhibiting some guard-dog characteristics. However, at this point, she seems mainly interested in guarding against reflections in the glass door and dogs on t.v. It's really quite funny to hear her with her growling and warning-bark and her nose pressed against the glass door to the entertainment center waiting for the "other" dog to make a move. She also guarded me against someone that had been in the house for a couple hours, but she had apparently forgotten he was there. It was hilarious. She greeted him at the door like a long-lost pack member, and then 2 hours later didn't know who he was.
She's also finished her six week obedience class (the grown-up one), and I think I'll put her into the next one, too. That's the one where at the end of it she gets to take her test to get the first AKC obedience degree. (I forget what it's called). She loves class so much, and she's got a special play buddy, Kaily who's going to take the next class too. Kaily's at least as much a mutt as Betsy is. She looks like a coyote. They're such good buds that Kaily's mom and I traded phone numbers so we can set up play dates for them. Kaily loves playing even more than Betsy, and doesn't have much of an opportunity. She's driving her mom quite crazy and is becoming fairly destructive, apparently. And now that Betsy's next door buddy has disappeared, she needs to expend some energy as well!
Adagio, the next door dog, has returned! Apparently she was recuperating from being spayed, as there is a shaved patch on her tummy. But no stitches, and she looks fine, so she and Betsy celebrated by having a boistrous play.
****Original Post****
So, Betsy is still growing like the proverbial weed. We went to the vet's last week for her pre-spay blood work, and she now weighs a whopping 40.7 lbs. It actually made me kind of nostalgic. The first time I took her to the vets, she was 8 weeks old, weighed just over 13 pounds, and was so frightened that all she would do was sit straight up on my knee and watch the people and animals come and go. I could pick her up with one hand easily. This time, she's 7 months old, over 40 pounds, and wanted to play with everyone who came by, whether they had 2 legs or four (including a pretty calico cat). This wasn't at all to the liking of the minute boxer puppy, who was plainly terrified of the entire situation, even without the rambunctious Betsy play-bowing and yapping, and doing everything in her power to make the boxer forget her fear and have a fun romp. This seems to be Betsy's solution to every problem. When I had the flu, she decided that what I really needed was a fun play time. So, she licked my face, nibbled on my ears, and pawed at me. I reacted similarly to the boxer puppy, and tried to get across that play was not needed at that point.
Betsy's also maturing. She doesn't jump on strangers anymore (mostly) and she's figured out what she is allowed to play with and what she's not. (Of course, she sometimes takes things that are not hers in attempts to start a game with me, or simply to see how far she can get away with something.) She has also started exhibiting some guard-dog characteristics. However, at this point, she seems mainly interested in guarding against reflections in the glass door and dogs on t.v. It's really quite funny to hear her with her growling and warning-bark and her nose pressed against the glass door to the entertainment center waiting for the "other" dog to make a move. She also guarded me against someone that had been in the house for a couple hours, but she had apparently forgotten he was there. It was hilarious. She greeted him at the door like a long-lost pack member, and then 2 hours later didn't know who he was.
She's also finished her six week obedience class (the grown-up one), and I think I'll put her into the next one, too. That's the one where at the end of it she gets to take her test to get the first AKC obedience degree. (I forget what it's called). She loves class so much, and she's got a special play buddy, Kaily who's going to take the next class too. Kaily's at least as much a mutt as Betsy is. She looks like a coyote. They're such good buds that Kaily's mom and I traded phone numbers so we can set up play dates for them. Kaily loves playing even more than Betsy, and doesn't have much of an opportunity. She's driving her mom quite crazy and is becoming fairly destructive, apparently. And now that Betsy's next door buddy has disappeared, she needs to expend some energy as well!
Monday, February 04, 2008
Snow Day, Take Forty-Four
Well, not really forty-four, but that's what it seems like. You know, I never thought I'd get tired of having spontaneous days off work. But even I have to admit, this is getting old. You get all in gear to go to work in the morning, have planned the courts you need to be at, and the office work you're going to do, and suddenly you can't. Unless, that is, you feel like playing bumper cars with people who have no clue how to operate a vehicle in the snow. And then, you spend the rest of the week trying to catch up!
I compensated this morning by joining a "sock-of-the-month" club. Well, actually the sock of the every-other-month club, since I know I can't knit a pair every month! We'll see how it goes. (You can cancel any time.)
I believe I have now given up on trying to guess Betsy's ancestry. I even watched the Eukenuba National Championship dog show to try to figure it out. (And also because I like to watch dog shows.) She's still got mosly the coloring of a Rottweiler (her head's turning black again, like it started out), but she's much fluffier than either a Rott or German Shepherd. Her outer hair's coarse like a Rott, but a little curly, and she's got a double coat. So, she's pretty much her very own breed. I did figure out one thing from the dog show: The next door dog, Adagio, is almost certainly a Flat-Coated Retriever. Betsy's much more of a cold-weather dog than I would have thought. Her latest thing is flopping down in the snow, and then eating all the snow in reach, and then picking a new spot to lie down.
I compensated this morning by joining a "sock-of-the-month" club. Well, actually the sock of the every-other-month club, since I know I can't knit a pair every month! We'll see how it goes. (You can cancel any time.)
I believe I have now given up on trying to guess Betsy's ancestry. I even watched the Eukenuba National Championship dog show to try to figure it out. (And also because I like to watch dog shows.) She's still got mosly the coloring of a Rottweiler (her head's turning black again, like it started out), but she's much fluffier than either a Rott or German Shepherd. Her outer hair's coarse like a Rott, but a little curly, and she's got a double coat. So, she's pretty much her very own breed. I did figure out one thing from the dog show: The next door dog, Adagio, is almost certainly a Flat-Coated Retriever. Betsy's much more of a cold-weather dog than I would have thought. Her latest thing is flopping down in the snow, and then eating all the snow in reach, and then picking a new spot to lie down.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Super Sunday
Happy Super Sunday to everyone! For those of you who do not know, I am a football person. I've watched football on t.v. for almost as long as I can remember, not really caring who won at all. When I was in elementary school, I pulled for the team with pretty uniforms, and in middle school I pulled for the team with the cutest quarterback. (Joe Montana was still playing then, so I rooted for the 49ers.) I tend not to make a big deal about the Superbowl, because "my" team never is in it. But today, I have wings in the crock pot and friends on the way.
Also, it's snowing again, so I'm content to knit my throw, (see below), watch football, possibly with a fire in the fireplace, and stay inside. If it turns out to be too much of a blow-out, we can always switch to the puppy bowl. Betsy will love it. Below, she is watching animal planet.
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