Where has this month gone?

It's almost the end of February. They're not kidding when they say time flies by faster as you get older. 

A lot has happened since my last post. In less than a week I chose my topic (out of three options), researched and wrote a final exam paper for my Master's degree in Library and Information Science. I find out around March 6th whether or not I passed it. During this time, my dog Sully went lame in the rear end due to his herniated disc and the double dose of Prednisone prescribed by my vet. I cut the dosage in half after 5 days (just after he became lame) and I have started to wean Sully off the drug. Now, a week later he is sometimes able to stand up by himself and walk (albeit like someone who drank way tooooo much). I read online that one of the side effects of Prednisone in dogs is muscle wasting/weakness; to help alleviate that particular side effect, I need to make sure Sully eats a high protein diet, which includes canned tuna. So Sully has been eating tuna (and salmon) like his cat buddies. I attribute his recovery so far to the fish diet and the lessening of the Prednisone dosage. A week ago I thought I would have to euthanize him (he was in really bad shape) but now he has perked up, looks more alive, and it appears that he might actually be able to walk again, probably with the aid of a rear-leg harness, but that's okay by me (and hopefully for him too;  sometimes he looks sad because he can't do the things he used to do).

I finally got a real start on my archival practicum internship here in my final semester, which was delayed due to the surgery and five-week recovery period for my site supervisor and my own bout with a 2-1/2 week flu. I need 120 hours to graduate, so there's a whole lot of time to make up. 

A couple of days ago I witnessed two juvenile Cardinals playing, flying here, flying there, just having a ball like kids do, while Dad Cardinal was having a fit trying to protect them from a larger brown bird who had taken an interest in the young Cardinals. Wanted to play? Wanted lunch? Wanted to attack? Who knows because Dad (and later Mom) wouldn't let the aggressor bird get near their babies, who apparently didn't notice their "fan."

I learned about the world of deaf individuals at a seminar hosted by the Safety Harbor Public Library. I had no idea how difficult it is for deaf people to understand the English language. There are so many meanings for words like "run." Think about it. Joe Black is running for governor. My nose is running. Will you run to the store for me? I'm going for a run. Run this proposal by Karen first. The woman who led the seminar said there are actually about 100 variations for the word "run." How do you explain that to someone who can't hear, who has never had the opportunity to hear the word "run" used in all its variations, something people who can hear just pick up as they go about their lives? It was an eye-opening session.

For the past six weeks I experienced Tampa traffic at its 'finest,' something I haven't had to deal with in the last two years because of online classes. I-275 is a joke. It should be blown-up and totally reworked by an engineer who actually passed Engineering 101 in college. And many of the drivers on I-275 North shouldn't be allowed to drive on the interstate. Just because there is construction equipment parked between cement barriers on the side of the three-lane highway doesn't mean you have to slow to a crawl. These pieces of equipment aren't monsters from "War of the Worlds;" they're just pieces of steel waiting for the men/women who will come late at night to widen the highway or whatever it is that they're doing. I don't understand the stop/crawl driving in passing these idle pieces of machinery. Once the construction site is ended, it's 65-75 mph. No problem. Drives me nuts (no pun intended). And there aren't too many other options to get home to northwest Tampa from downtown because traveling west is even worse (more construction there). Where's Scotty to beam me up when I need him?

I discovered the best cupcakes ever at Abby's Health & Nutrition in Carrollwood! Called Just Desserts from Oakland, California, these cupcakes are luscious and not too-sweet, unlike Gigi's Cupcakes that just about sent me into a sugar coma. I watch 'Cupcake Wars' on Food Network and all the cupcakes look so good. So even though I don't really care for cupcakes, I thought I'd check them out again. Publix cupcakes weren't all that good, which was surprising since Publix's bakery items are always great. Next was Gigi's. Ugh. And then, there they were - Just Dessert cupcakes - in the freezer at Abby's, on sale for $1.59 (a lot cheaper than Gigi's where it's $3.50 per cupcake). I'm addicted. All I can say is yum and double yum.

Well, that's about it. A good and bad month, but there's always another month just around the corner with many possibilities, crosses to bear, and miracles.