624th Friday Blog Roundup
I cut Truman’s nails for the first time this week. Prior to this point, I brought him back to the place where we got him, and the woman there cut his nails for $10. But she retired at the end of the summer, and while our vet is happy to trim his nails if he happens to already be there for an appointment, it feels a little weird to drive out there strictly for a mani-pedi.
It was time to put on my big girl panties and take care of my pig’s nails.
I was given the advice to trim just a little off the tip, spreading out the task over several days. This is great advice in theory, though I’m not sure Truman’s heart (or mine) could take several sessions of clipping in a single week. The poor boy immediately panicked when I held his paw, and he let out the saddest, most terrified shrieks as I cut. It took a good half hour of stroking his back interspersed with picking up his paw and attempting to cut again to finish his hands.
I nicked him on the last nail. I knew it had happened because he immediately started thrashing and squeaking. When I pulled his hand away, his blood was smeared against my skin. I felt awful. He felt awful. He still is looking at me strangely, as if to say, “I thought we were friends.” I am so sorry, Truman.
Especially because I’m going to have to that again soon.
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The twins’ book, Hello Scratch! is on sale (1/2 off!) until December 15th from the Manning website. They write: “Just enter mlbelllt in the Promotional Code box when you check out. Expires Thursday, December 15. Only at manning.com.” You know, if you were looking for a totally awesome Christmas gift for an elementary or middle school aged kid… Just sayin’…
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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.
Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.
As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.
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And now the blogs…
But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:
- “For December: Staying Afloat” (Different Shores)
Okay, now my choices this week.
I also picked a Different Shores post, though a different one. I loved her post about Jennifer Aniston. Admittedly, I never paid much attention to her while she was on Friends. I liked her on the show, but… you know… I’m too busy mooning over Doctor Who. But in recent years, especially since she always sticks to the same message, driving it home every chance she gets — women are more than their uteruses — I have been impressed by her efforts and cheering her on. Thank you, Jennifer Aniston, for using your platform to spread such an important message, and thank you, Different Shores, for highlighting it.
Ms. Infertile has a post about questions at dinner parties. I love the power in this ending: “I speak about many ways this path is resolved and how the childless resolution is one that sadly gets too little focus: infertility might have tried to make me childless, but it didn’t made me childfree, I chose that. There is power in that choice.” It’s a gorgeous piece that will make you think twice before asking questions at the next dinner party. For us, it’s infertility. For someone else, who knows what they dread as they go into social situations.
Lastly, Who Shot Down My Stork? has a post that made me laugh so hard that I cried. It’s about her child, who is currently going through the stage where she places everything in her mouth (and makes sure you’re watching before she does it so you know). I tried to read this to Josh but gave up at this: “She learned to push them back, exposing the tasty underbelly of the crib, and proceeded to gnaw her way into blissful oblivion.” I was still laughing hours later.
The roundup to the Roundup: Poor Truman gets his nails clipped… by me. The twins’ book is on sale. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between December 2nd and 9th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.
6 comments
OK, so my sons have been asking for a guinea pig for over a year. Thus far, I have told them that we can only have one pet at a time, and we have a frail, elderly (at least 12-year-old) golden retriever at present.
Last night I asked my husband if he would consider letting them get a guinea pig when our golden passes. His primary reservation was that he “would feel bad having an animal that had to live most of its life in a cage.” My primary reservation was having to care for the guinea pig (my sons are 4, 5 next month, so they definitely aren’t equipped to do it themselves and won’t be for years).
Reading about your having to trim Truman’s nails gives me another mark in the “No” column. I hate trimming my sons’ nails and our large dog’s nails; I can’t imagine having to trim a guinea pig’s.
Poor Truman. I will say it DOES get easier. You and he will get this down and you’ll learn how to hold him just so and such. We had rabbits growing up and it always took a bit but we’d figure it out.
As for roundup I’ll self promote again – It’s not just a Brick
http://theemptycookie.blogspot.com/2016/12/its-not-just-brick.html
My post about my loss and still grieving 9 years later and hopes and dreams of parents
Thank you Mel, much appreciated.
I also liked Ms Infertile’s piece ‘Dinner Parties’ http://msinfertile.tumblr.com/post/154075424677/dinner-parties. I read it just as I was thinking about who and what I am, and what I should call myself, exactly.
Oh, poor Truman and poor you! When we first got Dexter, I thought I’d save $$ by doing his nails myself. But dang, I nicked a vein, he gave me the same look Truman gave you, and we’ve had it professionally done ever since. Bled forEVER.
Congrats to the twins — exciting!
It makes me cringe thinking about nicking anyone while trimming their nails. Poor Truman and poor you!
Oh, poor Truman…and how traumatizing for you, too! I always get scared I’m going to nick my cat when I trim his nails, so I probably trim them less than I should. I hope next time is better! I loved Different Shores’ post, too, it was going to be my pick. Great posts this week!