Mardel's Here I Come!

Okay...if you've never been to a Mardel's Christian Store then you have NOT lived a full and complete life yet! But, do not fear...your chance has finally arrived. The Mardel's in Cedar Park has FINALLY arrived! These outdo any other christian bookstore by a landslide in both selection & price. They are owned by the same company as Hobby Lobby. I grew up with one in OK and was very spoiled then. But that time has come again...I am so very happy about it. My mom & I will be hitting it 7am on Friday! It's in the 1890 Ranch Shopping Center on 1431 just off of 183A.

They have everything from children's book, fiction, bible, dvds, cds, and TONS of educational resources for both school teachers and bible school teachers!

My sales pitch is over...trust me...you will NOT regret going!

Home Slice

It's been a very long time since I blogged so here it goes...

Shelley and I have decided to hit some Austin food spots that either neither of us have been to and/or one of has and wants to take the other. The rule is no chains...just good ole' Austin. So Shelley picked me up from work yesterday for lunch and we first went to Home Slice Pizza.

It's located just south of the river off of Congress. Okay, so there's pizza and there is PIZZA! This might be the best pizza I've ever had, but regardless it definately ranks up there on the list. It's so good that there is always a line of people waiting for it to open. It opens at 11:30, but Shelley assured me we needed to get there early...so we did and we weren't the first...by 11:15 there was a huge line. In addition to the great pizza, it's small inside, so if you want to sit at a table, arrive early! Anyway...really yummy.

And then we topped it off with cupcakes from a trailer! Yes....a trailer! It's called Hey Cupcake and is out of a trailer just down the road from Home Slice on Congress.

I would recommend eating the Michael Jackson cupcake...chocolate on the bottom, white on the top!!! Cracked me up...but it was really good. But might I recommend taking off the cupcake wrapper first? I swear you couldn't tell it had one, it was the craziest thing...needless to say, I was glad it was just my sister and not a man I'm trying to impress!

I'll try to be good and blog about the places Shell & I go but I give 2 thumps up to Home Slice & Hey Cupcake!

My sweet Dexter

It's been forever since I blogged and I have nothing exciting to blog about...but thought I would let everyone know that Dexter is 100% healthy again. He got the all clear from the vet and is his sweet, loving old self. Here's a very close shot from last night.

Dexter Update #2

Okay...yes...my sweet Dexter is doing better, although I was skeptical there for awhile. I took him Friday to my vet (Braker Lane Animal Clinic-the best as far as I'm concerned). I was grateful to be my my vet instead of a random hospital. He did have to lance (cut) and drain it again. He let me watch and I was fascinated. There was a ton to drain and he left a large cut open that I get to clean aroun 5 times a day so that it will stay open. Anyway, the bacteria level in it was through the roof and my poor baby had a fever of 103 (101 is normal for a dog). Anyway after 2 antiobiotics and now pain pills and a very long weekend of laying around with my sick boy, last night he showed the first signs of being normal. He actually wanted to play for the first time in almost 7 days! YEAH. We go back to my vet late today to do a follow up on it and make sure it's good to go!

Dexter Update

Everyone is so sweet to be worried about my little man. I'd like to say he's doing wonderful, but we aren't there yet. He is acting more normal and less pitiful which is good. The good news is the "red" area is now more localized instead of all over which is a good thing, however, it is still just as large and full as before, so tomorrow I'll be taking him to the vet (at least it will be my vet and not a random hospital) and he will get retreated. Another cut and draining...my poor baby!

Our first trip to an Animal Hospital...

Well, last night was a rough one for both Dexter & I. You all know Dexter essentially a "kid" to me...I love him so very much and hate for him to be hurt, in pain or sick. Well yesterday I came home from work and and he was happy to see me, but much lower key then usual...then when I went to pick him up, he flinched and cowered and looked horribly pitiful. I knew something was wrong, but didn't know what it was. I slowly made my way all over his body feeling to try to get a reaction out of him and made my way to his front left leg at the very top essentially where it connects to his body and I felt a massive "knot." I wasn't sure if it was swollen or what the deal was...it was not completely hard, it felt "fluidy." It was really big and I was really worried that he'd been bitten by something (spider, snake, etc.). After calling my vet, they said I needed to take him to the nearest hospital which I wasn't thrilled with since it wasn't my vet that I know and love. Anyway...we go...the doctor's first comment was, "Wow, it's bigger then I thought it would be...based on my phone conversation w/ the tech." Anyway, he stuck a syringe in it and filled up the entire syringe with this thick pink fluid. After looking at it under the microscope, he confirmed it was abscess, which basically means at some point, something punctured his skin and it had become infected. He reassured me that it swells up fast and not to worry that I'd missed it for days. The doc said there is no way to know what punctured him...could have been spider, a stick, cactus (yes, we have cactus) or anything else. They proceeded to take him from him and took him in the back. I could hear him crying and I was crying...it was not pretty. They cut into it and hooked him up to a "sucking" machine to suck it all out. He's on antibiotics for 12 days and I'm "watching" for signs of the infection worsening. I've included 2 pics...one of the wound...one of how sad he looked. I get teary thinking of him right now. I hated to leave him today...my mom promised to stay by his side all day. Dexter's MiMi loves him very much. Thanks mom!

Not a Happy Camper

My dad just sent this picture to me...it's too funny. They are getting new living room furniture and today Keith came & picked up all the old furniture. My dad got this picture of Dexter...apparently he has trouble letting go...