Marnie, speak! Good girl.

Well, my week and a half vacation/holiday is nearly over. Tomorrow, I'm back to work. I am going to miss all the naps.

I think I'm going to be able to unveil a new Twist design very very soon. For now, I'll simply post a couple mosaics from the year so far.

New Year's Eve

1. Just after midnight, 2. Riding public trans into town, 3. Upstairs at Fez, 4. Angels, 5. Some random guy, 6. Dancin' queen, 7. Leo with interesting shadows on face, 8. After midnight, 9. The bar at Embers, 10. Someone's bare foot print on a very cold night., 11. Walking back to the Max, 12. Downtown Portland, 13. A very packed max

It was a relatively tame, but totally fun evening. I still can't believe how well mannered all the folks were on that terribly packed Max train. But, gosh, you gotta love a city that runs the public transportation for free on New Year's Eve and keeps train running until 3 in the morning, to make sure everyone can get home.

A snowy hike

1. Leo bites it., 2. Panda rolls in the snow, 3. A random little street on Mt Hood, 4. One more pic before I help Leo up, 5. Mossy Tree, 6. More of Panda rolling, 7. Shake 'n' Bake, 8. Marnie's snowy head, 9. Leo bites it again, 10. Panda rolls so much, she needs a break, 11. Little ball of snow, 12. Yarn shop, 13. Flaming dessert.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys

We couldn't bring Panda to the ocean, with her mouth still healing, so we packed up for the mountains. Alas, the route we wanted to take was closed off because of a mud slide, so we weren't able to get to our desired destination. In the end, we just pulled into a random street with a big open field, and ran the girls around.

On the way home, we found a little yarn shop, bought some yarn and got a recommendation for a great restaurant. Of course, we saved a few bites of our entrees for the girls.

It was such a relaxing week and a half off (minus the bit of worry with Ms. Bear.) It was the perfect mix of getting things done and doing lots of nothing.

I hope everyone's new year was exactly what they wanted it to be.

We took Panda to the vet today, to get her abscessed tooth extracted.

Thea came along to see Panda off, mostly because if you leave the house with Panda while Thea is home, she bangs on the door of her crate and screams like she's being tortured and it breaks my heart. I'm such a softie.

On the way home, Thea seemed really sad not to have her big sister there.

I know the feeling

I spent the next 6 hours fearing that the doctor would call me and tell me something went horribly wrong and he was so sorry.

But my fears were unwarranted.

Panda did great, her teeth look lovely, and she couldn't have been more happy to come home. She even seemed happy to see her bratty little sister.

Thanks for all the well wishes.

On Christmas eve, we noticed a bit of swelling on the right side of Panda's face. It wasn't too bad, and she was in great spirits, so we didn't worry, but we kept an eye on it.

By Christmas day, she was very lopsided

Still, her mood was great, she was eating, playing, and generally feeling fine. We called off our plans to go hiking, just to be sure, and decided to closely monitor her for any signs that might suggest an emergency. We'd gladly eat the cost for an emergency vet visit on Christmas, but if we could avoid it and go to her normal vet, that was definitely preferable.

I consulted with a friend who works with dogs, and she assured me that it was something that could wait and an emergency visit wasn't necessary. It was a little nerve wracking but we kept a close eye on her all day.

Panda seemed happy enough that we walked to the neighboring park for a little play in the snow.

1. Leo and the girls, in front of his snowman, 2. Happy girls, running in the snow, 3. Thea goes all Exorcist with her head, 4. Rolling a big snow ball, 5. Tug-o-war, 6. Rolling the second snow ball, 7. Just added snow ball II, 8. Rubbing a sore face in the cool snow, 9. Refining his artwork, 10. Adding the final snow ball, 11. shaping the head, 12. Almost done, 13. Romp in the snow

Throughout the day, her swelling increased, until that evening when her cheek started draining. The pressure was off but by morning, Panda was a little less bright eyed and bushy tailed. The vet was able to see her first thing, so we packed up the girls and headed to the doctor.

Little miss squishied face

After checking her out, the doctor decided that it was probably her cracked molar and that it had abscessed. He gave her some meds for the swelling, infection and pain, and we are scheduled for an extraction next week.

Thea helps her big sis stay brave at the vet.

But we didn't let Thea off the hook, on this trip, while we were there, we had them expel some of her, *ahem* glands. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I will spare you. If you know what I'm talking about, you KNOW what I'm talking about. Apparently, she let out quite a little squeal of displeasure when the procedure was being performed. This is a new thing for us. Panda is far too proper and clean to ever have stinky gland problems. Somehow, it just seems appropriate that the little stinker would.

Still working on unbloggable items. Don't think I'll have anything crafty to post for a little while. You'll have to make due with dog photos until then.

Till next time, a Happy Festivus to all of you. May your grievances be aired and your feats of strength be impressive.

1. Red berries covered in snow, 2. Bush in our back yard, 3. The last of our bachelor's buttons, 4. Pine needles

As you can see, it's a winter wonderland here in Portland. It's great knitting weather but I have a feeling I'll start to be a little stir crazy by Christmas. You should hear the local news, we're all doooooooooooomed.

The girls couldn't be happier, though.