This has been an absolutely brutal week. The whole ordeal started last Saturday with our dog. We have a two and a half year old Cairn Terrier named Noodle (or, alternately, the Cairn Terror). Noodle has had off-and-on health issues since we bought him - word to the wise, avoid mall pet store dogs, no matter how cute. This weekend sort of culminated in an emergency vet visit. We found out that we've been getting some bad advice from folks at our normal vet's office (we later found out that the techs weren't consulting the vets before dispensing advice over the phone). Instead of the digestive issues we thought he had, we found out he has kidney problems and what look to be possibly pancreatic issues as well. We're already about four hundred dollars into evaluations, and we don't have any firm diagnoses yet. The bottom line is that, if in fact it's pancreatic, he's not digesting any of his food, which means from what I can tell a lifetime of special diet to avoid starvation, even though he's eating like a horse.

There are other things floating around complicating the mix as well, but I'm trying to focus on the positives. And this week has brought a number of them:

• Doug Pagitt comes through again with another book for review. I received a copy of Body Prayer this week. I'm hoping to get through it in the next few days and offer my review - I'm looking forward to this one immensely.
• Speaking of books, I received my book list for the spring semester. Giving me access to Amazon is sort of like setting up a Guinness table in the lobby of the Betty Ford Center. On the upside, my reading list has expanded considerably - I snagged a few items that have been on my wishlist for some time now. I absolutely need to put up some reviews of what I've been reading, because I've picked up some phenomenal stuff lately that folks should know about.
• We spent a fun evening at a birthday party for a friend of my boys. Big plus for the adults was authentic Indian cuisine, which isn't that easy to find in my neck of the woods. ;)

Back to posting this week - I'm between courses at the moment, so I've got a bit more space. If it occurs to you to remember a sick puppy in prayer, we'd appreciate it.

(And with that, any manly facade that I've managed to create here has just been destroyed. ;)