Ketchup

I've not posted much in the last couple of months. It's been insanely
busy here at work, and even more so for me because I've had several days
off in that time. We all went to Iowa over Memorial Day, with an extra
two days off, and then we had a five-day weekend in June as well. We
were going to attend Chris's 20th high school reunion, but decided to
save the money because there really wasn't anyone he wanted to see that
badly. I've finally got a few minutes to spare this afternoon, by virtue
of having worked like mad all day long and ignoring everything except
the goals I gave myself for the day. I still have a couple things due
Monday, but I need a break.

There's not been a great deal of news in that time...Let's see.

Rosa had a relapse of strep throat. Exactly two weeks after her first
diagnosis, she's down with it again. I blame her daddy. She had a
prescription for antibiotics, of course; while she was in his custody
for what should have been the last few days of taking it, she missed
three doses. When I picked her up Sunday morning (this was June 26), he
told me I should give her make-up doses. But we were going straight
(heh) to PrideFest, and the medicine ended up sitting for six hours in a
hot car. It's supposed to be refrigerated. After that I daren't give it
to her. This go-round, though, she's getting all of it if I have to
stand over him to make it happen.

Ray's finally got a job again, after four and a half months of
searching. He was talking about moving out of his house and onto the
UMSL campus to attend full time if something didn't break. Well, just
before he received the confirmation of his student loan qualification,
he got a job. I'm so glad. I have been worried.

Last weekend Tammie and Chris and I went to southern Missouri to visit
her cousin and his husband. They have a lovely piece of land near
Mountain Grove where they're raising puppies. King Charles Cavalier Toy
Spaniels, Pekingese, Shih Tzus, and Schnauzers. As of our visit, there
were eighteen puppies: seven Shih Tzu, seven Pekes--all about ten weeks
old--and four brand-new two-week-old Cavs. We spent part of Saturday
being an outdoor puppy laundry.

Friday night we blew stuff up at Tammie's ex-stepfather's farm. Two
hundred dollars worth of pyrotechnics, gone in about half an hour. But
whee! I never got to do fireworks as a kid; they're completely illegal
in Wisconsin except for small sparklers and those pop-cap things that
you throw at the ground to make them go bang. Even after
moving to Missouri I didn't get the pleasure, until I started spending
time in Washington with C&T. Fireworks are illegal in St. Louis County
and most actual cities and towns but if you're in an unincorporated
area, you're golden. (Or burnt, as the case may be.)

Yesterday bbwoof took me to Mango, the first (and perhaps
only) Peruvian restaurant in the St. Louis area. It was just as good as
last time, if not better. The food is marvelous, and unlike any
comparison you might try to make, and reasonably priced.

That's the quick version of the last few weeks.