TRAVELS WITH MATTIE

  Hi everybody! Yes, it's been a while. We're sorry to make you wait. As some of you know, and some of you may not, little Mattie is sick. After almost losing her in January (and four terrible days when she was in the hospital, and I couldn't stay there with her), she has temporarily rebounded and is riding a steroid train that has kept her feeling good for the past few months. The working diagnosis is lymphoma, which was basically the conclusion after every other possible test in the entire world came up negative. She's an old lady (probably 14 or 15 now!) and I'm grateful that she had so many healthy years before this crept up on us. So it's not tragic (she's at least 98 in doggy years!), but it's still hard, and trying to come to terms with her time running out has - in a word - sucked. Mattie comes home from the hospital. Greg trying ANY kind of treats to get her to eat. That fuzzy face. She's been getting to sle...

 HAPPY WINTER EVERYBODY! We left our Santa Barbara cabin in early December after a great Fall quarter, spent a couple of days up in SLO with Yeti and Dad (and to celebrate a very special 1st birthday party with Brody, Hudson and Katelyn), then drove north and east over the mountains to Canepa Ranch. For the past few weeks Greg and I have fished, skied, climbed, gone to Christmas parties and non-Christmas party (including and epic birthday party that basically just involved me and Laura drinking way too much of everything right before my poor parents arrived), spaced out with family and friends, walked in the fresh snow, celebrated, decorated a Christmas tree (with Sid and Anni's help), chased Mattie down the train tracks, drank hot chocolate, froze our butts off at Pyramid Lake, worked on statistics 'n' stuff to get ready for next quarter, watched bald eagles over the ranch and generally just had a really easy, fun, relaxing winter break up here at our second home on th...