Welcome to the family Pepper!

Well, it's not Friday, but I wanted to make a post anyway - consider it a bonus! We officially signed the adoption papers today for Pepper! 

We both slowly came to the realization that we liked the idea of having Pepper be part of our family, and that he and Ash made a pretty decent pair. We thought it over for quite some time as having two dogs was never part of our "plan" for this time in our life - but hey, plans are meant to be changed right? We have grown so attached to the little Pepster, as has everyone in our family. Going back to being a one dog family seemed awfully quiet! We like how the two dogs run around and play with each other, and enjoy each other's company on walks. Since making the decision to adopt him and filling out the paper work, we have realized that our love and attachment to Pepper has grown even more - an unexpected change. We figure that before we always had a barrier up telling us that "he wasn't our dog" and "our time with him would come to an end," but now that he is our dog and we will have him for the rest of his life, our relationship has evolved and deepened. 

Some of the first tangible changes we have been making are that we train him and Ash on more equal ground now. In the last week we have taught Pepper "down" and "roll over". He knew how to roll over previously, but we didn't really have a good command and hand signal for it. We are also working on Ash and Pepper's door and street crossing etiquette, making them sit patiently at the door, not crossing the threshold until we say "OK!", and doing the same when we come to a crosswalk. Pepper has also started to act more relaxed when other dogs pass on our walks - something we have been working on for much longer. Finally, on Saturday we went to PetSmart to buy Pepper a brand new matching collar and harness, as an official "welcome to the family" gift. He looks so handsome now! 

Pepper is now blastomycosis free, though we will have a few follow up vet appointments that we will be responsible for in the coming months. We also had a belly ache scare this weekend - Pepper had a very reduced appetite, was trembling off and on, had pain when being picked up, and was generally very quiet and lethargic. We took him to the emergency vet as we were worried about internal issues, but they said to give him some Pecid and watch him for a day or so and not to worry too much so long as his appetite didn't decrease further and he didn't start vomiting. Today Pepper seems to be feeling much more like himself after a couple of "bathroom emergencies" where he waited at the door for us to take him out, so it seems like it was just an upset stomach. We will watch him carefully tomorrow as well, and bring him back to the vet if things don't continue to improve. Luckily, now that he is officially ours we can take him to a vet down here! 

Welcome to the family Pepperman :) We are so excited to have you. 

A condo complex moves in next door

Last December I wrote about them knocking down the dry cleaners that used to be across the street from us in this post. Since then there have been small bits of progress as they finished demolition, cleaned up the lot, tested the soil (negative I am told!), and built the foundation for the condos that are going in. I attended a meeting before the dry cleaner was torn down that told us there would be six condo units being built. We are pretty excited about it, because it will make the street and our area feel more residential. It's also fun to watch everything going up! They are building them as modular homes, and so large sections of house come in on a tractor trailer truck and get fit into place like legos. This basically means that in just 3 days we have gone from foundation to full 3 story building. Check it out!

Day one - all of these housing rectangles came in on a truck and were attached in just one day!

Another view from day one. 

Day two - we have a roof! 

This morning (day three) - looks like a real building now... and they are still out there working! 

We also always have resale and rentability on our minds. By adding in these condos, as well as the HUGE new condo/apartment complex they built down the street, we know that the area is becoming nicer and more developed. They are extending the awesome bike path  that we walk the dogs on and take down to Davis Square, and in the future they will be extending the green subway line to our area as well. All of these things are good things in terms of what we can bring in for rent, and what we could potentially sell the house for in the future! And in the mean time, we can enjoy the changes and the added amenities that the new housing options bring. 

A new approach to our blog + current life events

I have been following more and more blogs lately, and have decided to post regularly to our own blog. I have found that blogs are much more interesting to read when posts come up in a scheduled manner. So, today commences my attempt to post every Friday! You'll also notice that with my new resolution to post once a week I've made some changes to the formatting and look of the blog. We haven't posted in a month, and there has been lots going on we have yet to update you on.

Christine is at MGH fighting Stevens Johnson Syndrome

As most of you probably know by now, my sister has been at Mass General for 2.5 weeks now fighting Stevens Johnson Syndrome. When this came on, she was thankfully still living with David and I and so we were able to observe the onset of her symptoms and I was there to call 911 when her tongue swelled and she was having difficulty breathing. SJS is a very serious allergic reaction to medication, and from my understanding it is basically an autoimmune response. The layers of the skin separate, causing a full body rash that eventually blisters, sores in the mucosal areas, and general inflammation. To read more about her progress, visit her blog: http://christinesjs.blogspot.com/

Adopting our foster dog Pepper 

A little over 6 months ago we wrote a post about welcoming our foster dog Pepper from Poodle Rescue of Vermont's care. Pepper was battling Blastomycosis, a dangerous fungal infection. He has been with us ever since, and just recently received a negative test result for the infection - meaning he is on the road to recovery. He finishes his Blasto meds in about a week! During his time with us, Pepper has grown very attached to us and we have grown very attached to Pepper. In addition, everyone in our family thinks he is just the best. At first, he and Ash didn't get along very well and never seemed interested in playing with each other. Recently, he and Ash started chasing each other around the house and wrestling on the bed. When Pepper first came to live with us we were adamant that we would not adopt him as we didn't want to permanently have two dogs at this point and time, and if we did ever adopt a second dog we wanted it to be one who Ash enjoyed playing with. However, we never imagined that Pepper would be with us as long as he has been, or that he would become so integrated into our little family. Therefore, this past week after he and Ash started getting along better, we made the leap and filled out an application to adopt him. Because of his medical issues it will take awhile until the process is finalized, but we are now officially a two dog family! Hang on, here we go.

Videos of Ash and Pepper playing: 

Getting my PhD

I have officially set my defense date for July 10th of this summer, and will plan to continue working for my advisor until the end of August. With Christine's unexpected SJS I am a bit behind in terms of my thesis progress, but I'm hoping I can begin to pick back up and work extra hard to make up for lost time. After I finish with my lab in August I will take some time off for the wedding/honeymoon, and then will hopefully find a post doc in the Boston area. I have begun my job search now, but have yet to contact anyone or share any resumes. I'm looking to do work in medically related microbes and systems biology modeling, but I'll have to see what is available. As a back up plan / side job, I am planning to do some contract editing - I really enjoy writing and editing and seem to have a knack for it. 

House stuff 

We haven't done TOO many things since the big kitchen project, but David is puttering around as best he can on the smaller things. We have fertilized the lawn so instead of dry grass and dirt we now have a thicker dark green lawn to enjoy. He also planted grass seed in the back by the patio, and now that its warmer we will begin to choose flowers to plant along two of the patio edges. Also, David is starting to think about our "fence project", which will involve installing a gate and fence around the back stairs to  make a bigger doggie play area and make it so that we can take them out the back door without a leash (because everything will be enclosed). Currently, we do have an enclosed area for the dogs to run around in, but it doesn't connect to the house door so we need to walk them to the enclosed area before letting them loose. 

In terms of the kitchen, we have two more cabinets to clean out, some more shelving/cabinetry to install, light fixtures to install, excess grout to clean from the tiles, and stools to purchase for the counter. As is though our kitchen is AMAZING, its so functional and beautiful and clean - we both love it. David did an outstanding job, and we are very happy with the layout we chose. Once we finish the kitchen and outside area, our next projects will be repainting the living room, redoing the walls in the dining room and bedroom, and building a built in larger built in closet/wardrobe for the bedroom.