Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog

December 17, 2011: Maximus! Holiday things! Big day tomorrow!

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Despite being in poor health, Maximus has the Christmas spirit.

No discernible change in the condition of my pug, Maximus.  He’s not eating and has been extremely low-energy (as opposed to his standard low-energy), but I’m heartened by the fact he is drinking water and perked up considerably this afternoon when some friends dropped by the house today with their kids.  Maximus loves children and the second those boys were in the door, he was up on his paws, sniffing, tail wagging.  I’m taking him to the vet for a follow-up visit on Monday and, as I write this, am on hold with Air Canada as I’m considering bringing him along to Montreal for the holidays.  The trip shouldn’t be too stressful for him since he won’t be flying cargo but, if I can swing it, traveling as my carry-on.  He’s by far the calmest of my dogs when it comes to traveling so hopefully this will prove a viable option should he not rebound from this recent downturn.

So, I figured I would get all my Christmas shopping done early and beat the rush.  And I did.  Or at least I thought I did until I realized I didn’t.  So, this week, I wade my way back into the fray in search of scented soaps and gift certificates.  The crowds are terrible, but the parking is even worse.  For example:

Nice parking, douchebag!

In circumstances like these, I actually prefer to park in that nice, tight narrow spot, sliding in mere inches from them, and exit the passenger side.

Well, big football day tomorrow.  And you know what means, right?

Cream puffs!

 Yes, nothing says football like cream puffs!

Don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like my Snow Monkeys may be poised for an upset in my R.I.P. Stargate fantasy football league semi-final.  Romo is lighting up the Bucs D and, after much consideration, I decided to play Dez Bryant after all – and he rewarded me by scoring a TD.  And we’re only at halftime.

Also on tap tomorrow, in addition to football, is the Survivor finale.  I’m rooting for Coach.  But if Ozzie can keep winning and make it to the final three, then I certainly wouldn’t begrudge him the victory.  After that, it’s off to the Stargate Christmas reunion.  No idea who is going to be there, but here’s hoping for a good turnout.  Hopefully, if the pieces fall into place re: Dark Matter (December 14, 2011: Dark (Matter) Developments!) we’ll be able to get the band back together in 2012!

So, what’s new on your end?

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29 responses

  1. Sg1efc Avatar
    Sg1efc

    “The trip shouldn’t be too stressful for him since he won’t be flying cargo but, if I can swing it, traveling as my carry-on. He’s by far the calmest of my dogs when it comes to traveling”

    That’s good. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Deni Avatar
    Deni

    New on my end? My daughter will be here on Monday! We’re off to Tampa on Wednesday for haircuts, lunch and the beach, and then off to Miami on the 26th to see family (briefly, just lunch) and have a girls time off for three whole days. I desperately need a break, and going anywhere with Lauren is always a blast.

    Otherwise, Mr. Deni’s car is fixed, at least for the time being, and for now, he’s still working. Let’s hope it holds!

    Big kiss for Max (and all the others, too)! Have a good night, Joe.

    Reply
  3. Lisa R Avatar
    Lisa R

    Tomorrow is Andrew ‘s 15th birthday. Gosh, I feel old to have a child that old. We are going to dinner with a friend and her girls. And he’s really going to like his gift. Things are going well for the upcoming move on Friday. It will be nice to finally have our own place. Good luck Snow Monkeys and hope Maximus feels better.

    Have a great night!!

    Reply
  4. Maryanne - Chev - (@imwebgurl) Avatar
    Maryanne – Chev – (@imwebgurl)

    Sorry folks I need to have a break from here for a bit…wish you all well…Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..

    Chev

    Reply
  5. Ponytail Avatar
    Ponytail

    I’ve had my Christmas shopping done for a couple of weeks now. Just beginning to hand out gifts. Now all the last minute, “well I should get them something too” shopping is popping up. I hate the straggler gifts. They make you run around more than the main gifts. And if I have to go to Walmart again, I shall puke!

    Hoping Maximus appetite improves enough for you to feel good about going to your mom’s. I also hope Dark Matter is a smash hit, so we can see some of the Stargate crew back together again. Have fun at the big party.

    @ Lisa R – Happy Birthday to your son Andrew!

    @ PBMom’s favorite son Patrick –
    Happy Birthday to you! (cha, cha, cha)
    Happy Birthday to you! (cha, cha, cha)
    Happy Birthday dear Patrick! (cha, cha, cha)
    Happy Birthday to YOU!!! (cha, cha, cha)
    And many moooore…(cha, cha, cha) 🙂

    Reply
  6. fsmn36 Avatar
    fsmn36

    Ugh, I am not looking forward to the terrible parking I will face for the next week and a half while I both work retail and attempt to finish my own Christmas shopping (put on hold for finals week as I holed up writing papers for 8 days straight). Then again, my car has already been smashed in while parked, so what’s a few more dents? :/

    I’m sorry to hear the continued woes of Maximum, poor dog. I hope he has a second recovery! Then again, he might want to see the rest of the family, anyway, so taking him with you might not be bad.

    Looking forward to reading about the reunion!

    Reply
  7. shiningwit Avatar
    shiningwit

    Hi Joe, good to see you all well(mostly) Hope Maximus picks up soon. I’ve been looking for a flat for my youngest lad who is 24 today. found him a lovely place well inside his price bracket so he will be moving out in the new year YAY!! So all in all things are looking pretty good(so far) from this end. Hope you are all doing well and are all looking forward to Christmas and 2012.

    Maire aka Shiningwit

    Reply
  8. dasndanger Avatar
    dasndanger

    Poor Max. Gettin’ old sucks. {{{Max and Joey}}}

    Hmmm…new on my end…

    1. Fulham FC beat Bolton 2-0 today. As an honorary Fulham fan I have to post this to keep my buddy in England happy. 🙂

    2. My niece – known in these parts as ladyhgiggles – is on her way to England as I type this. And you know what? She sure as hell better bring me back a couple packages of dark chocolate Hob Nobs!

    3. Went to a memorial service and luncheon today for a friend who recently passed away. She was 84, a dear friend to my mom and mother of my sister’s best friend growing up. Got to catch up with a lot of old friends who had moved away. Not really the way you want to do it, but it seems to be how things often work out. I’m not really sad about it because she had lived a good, long life, just a bit melancholy seeing all the old pictures and remembering the good times I had at her house when I was a kid. She was a good cook (So. Philly Italian!), and set a beautiful table – first time I ever saw gold ‘silverware’. That was back when people – including the kids – sat at the table for dinner, and talked, and afterwards would play board games. I think it was doing stuff like that with my mom’s friends that prevented me from totally withdrawing into myself. I will always have good memories of those days…

    …except for the time when I was about 14, and her son – older than me by 5 or 6 years – picked me up and swung me over his shoulder…and I proceeded to fart loudly in front of a room full of 20-somethings. 😳 I have never been so mortified in my life. 😛

    4. Watching a lot of Psych lately. In a world full of bad news, and with all the medical, financial, and animal issues I’ve dealt with over the past few years, I find this show to be rather therapeutic. The first half of this new season was GREAT! Also, I’m pretty sure I am Gus to my husband’s Shawn. 🙂

    5. CanNOT wait to see the new Sherlock Holmes! I hear it’s a real hoot!

    6. I made brownies today. AND the leaf truck came by and sucked up all the leaves we had raked to the curb. My yardwork is officially done until spring! Woo! Bring on winter…and a glass of milk to go with these brownies! 😀

    7. Friday night my mom had us, and two other couples, over for dinner. You know what I hate about my mom’s dinner parties? She recruits me to help her! When I lived at home I didn’t mind because it was my house and my party, too. But now I have my own house and life for once I’d like to be the guest. For two days I had to go back and forth between my office work and house work, helping her get ready (NOT good for my ADD!). She’s a great cook and a great hostess, but man…what a production she makes of everything! I tell her this is why I never entertain, because all my life it’s been this huge production and frayed nerves for days before the meal, making sure everything is perfect. While I enjoy attending such dinner parties, hosting one is just not for me. You wanna eat at my house, you sure as hell better like take-out pizza! 🙂

    I think that’s it. The bed is summoning me! Nitey-nite, Joe…sleep well and please give Maximus a kiss for me.

    das (Mr. Das was talking to me through half of this – blame any typos on him. 🙂 )

    Reply
  9. Lexxye Avatar
    Lexxye

    Fingers crossed Maximus gets has a good follow-up checkup.

    Reply
  10. archersangel Avatar
    archersangel

    noting new here. S.S.D.D. more or less.

    looking forward to hearing what went on the stargate christmas reunion though.

    Reply
  11. PBMom Avatar
    PBMom

    @Das — Sorry about the loss of your friend.

    Sorry about Maximus. That is good you will be able to bring him with you.

    Today was Patrick’s birthday (Dec 17). He was officially 16 at 11:57 a.m. central standard time. 9:57 a.m. Vancouver time. He had a few meltdowns today which he smacked himself so hard he caused his nose to bleed. We got him birthday cake (different from the one I got him at school but similar) which he turned his nose up to. He opened his gift (a stuffed Nemo from Disney store) and tossed it aside. I asked him if he liked his present and he shook his head no. Then he gagged on the cake. I think I will just discard this day and remember the great fun we had on Wednesday. If this is day 1 of him being out of school for the next 14 days, I’m in serious trouble.

    I also had to work today.

    Tomorrow (Sun), first I want to say Happy Birthday to @LisaR’s son Andrew. You will now hear for the next year how much he wants to get that driver’s permit the DAY he turns16, camping out the night before to be sure to get in there without having to wait. LOL.

    I also have to work tomorrow, then a scheduled phone call with a friend (yep, we actually have to make an appointment to talk to each other. Then I have to wrap 7 presents and take off at 5:30 to go to our book club blow-out Christmas bash that lasted last year until 11:30 p.m. and I didn’t get home until 12:30 a.m. We are also doing a white elephant gift exchange which I plan to give the gift I picked last year (the Shake Weight) back to unsuspecting person (decoy gift that says, You are the proud owner of the Shake Weight). I’ve only gotten to read 1/4 of the book. I had intended on reading more during the book fair, but I wound up working on my Christmas cards, all 200 of them. I have about 5 more to send out.

    Monday I have to call my doctor first thing in the a.m. I tried to call him on Fri b/c I heard my kidney biopsy was still on the hospital’s schedule for Tues and they WOULD do deeper anesthesia if I got the order from him. (Don’t you just love when you get information from one nurse that tells you absolutely not, and then you get another person a week later who says, sure it can be done.). I called his office on Fri morning & told them that and the receptionist got my message 10000% wrong. By the time I got his medical assistant it was close to 5, so I have to wait for my answer on Mon. If this is a yes for him, then I have to have my preoperative lab work done (which means do I do the fasting stuff or not and what if they can’t do my labs until 5 p.m. on Monday). I’ll be starving. Then Tuesday would be my kidney biopsy. It’s not like I haven’t been trying to get in touch with him. We’re on a timeline here. Jan 1 I turn into a health insurance new-deductible pumpkin.

    Patrick has his annual physical on Monday as well at 11:10. Then I have to work (all week). My next day off is next Saturday. Wednesday, Patrick has a followup with the psychiatric nurse for a medication check. Friday, if all goes well with the biopsy and I have no complications, Jeff and I are taking some time-out to go see Mission Impossible 4. The week after Christmas I will have to watch Patrick all day & then work at night. I’m going to be a very tired camper.

    Did people in the US check our Earth’s Final Hours with Julia Benson & Robert Knepper tonight? Also in there were many alumni from Stargate including a very grown-up Cameron Bright who played Orlin in the Fourth Horsemen in Stargate SG-1. Krista Lomax worked on the VFX from SGU. Brett Chan stunt person in SGU Air was stunt coordinator for this. Also Sage Brocklebank who was in Stargate SG-1 Ethon as a Rand Protectorate guy, Hiro Kawagawa was who was in SG-1 in “Full Alert”, Gardiner Millar who played Yat’Yir in several SG-1 episodes, David Richmond-Peck who was in SG-1 Morpheus (and also SGA Harmony), Ben Wilkinson who was in SG-1 Ascension, Alex Zahara who played many roles on SG-1. Red Faction & now this are the only 2 decent movies Syfy has aired. I enjoyed it.

    Reply
  12. PBMom Avatar
    PBMom

    @crazymom1 Sorry to hear about Cheetah.

    Reply
  13. Eszti Avatar
    Eszti

    I’m studying for my big exam on Wednesday, I’m hoping to get in the Masters for the University! In the meantime I’m spending my time reading your blog entries 😉

    Reply
  14. Mike A. Avatar
    Mike A.

    I know you’re always good for them, but le me make a formal request for lots and lots of pictures from the reunion! Should be interesting to see who shows up!

    Reply
  15. Anne Avatar
    Anne

    I’m so sorry for Maximus. I hope he’ll feel soon better.

    On the Christmas shopping side, I have one more present to buy and I’m done. I’m going tomorow.

    I’ m happy your meeting for the adaptation of Dark matter as a tv show went well. Fingers crossed !

    And BTW, yes I do mind a lot waiting extra extra months for the DVD release of my favorite show ! So I understand your frustration.

    Have a nice day.

    Reply
  16. xxxevilgrinxxx Avatar
    xxxevilgrinxxx

    Oh, Max!
    *cuddles Max up in a blanket*
    get better soon, little guy!

    Reply
  17. glowyzoey Avatar
    glowyzoey

    Poor Maximuis! You could try putting some canned dog food into the blender with a little hot water so that it’s the consistency of pudding. I’ve done that way too many times with sick cats, but it does work. The texture is more palatable than how it is normally and it goes down easy. If it’s still too thick you can water it down some more. And the hot water makes it smell yummy.

    Reply
  18. Airelle Avatar
    Airelle

    The tree is going up today, probably. Made some sewing/crochet projects, all done and delivered. May do some baking today, Akemis puffs are making me hungry. Enjoy the reunion, good friends and more good food, take pictures of both to share. Have a wonderul day!

    Reply
  19. gforce Avatar
    gforce

    “Hopefully, if the pieces fall into place re: Dark Matter we’ll be able to get the band back together in 2012!” – That would be excellent. Hopefully, everything will work out. Also, say hi to them for us! 🙂

    As far as what’s new here? Not much. Most of the Christmas stuff is done, such as it is. Between my father passing away this year and all the family troubles that ensued thereafter, it doesn’t really feel very festive this year. I’m making out okay, though. I really just need to do some wrapping and finally get my Christmas tree up. I was somewhat of a mind not to even get one this year, but my friends were quite insistent that I should, and in the end I agree with them.

    Here’s hoping that Maximus feels better through Christmas and gets to come to Montreal with you.

    Reply
  20. SteveG1 Avatar
    SteveG1

    Bless wee Max looking so cute in his Christmas get-up, he sure is a wee fighter.

    Man I’m missing Stargate.

    Reply
  21. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    Good luck on your trip Mr. M. but I’m a mom. Mom’s like to plan ahead for whatever may happen. I would call your vet and explain what is going on. The vet could arm you with some of Max’s extensive medical records and give you some names of Veterinary Emergency Centers in the area. You never know, Max may need some kind of supportive fluids or medications. Vets have their own professional network and he may know who is good in Montreal.

    My son is really loving his French 2 class. He is planning on taking French 3 next year and then on to advanced French later. He wants to plan a trip to a French speaking part of Canada in his senior year. Do they tolerate non French speakers there or would my son have to do all the talking? I could keep it simple: “Macaron” and then hold up a finger to pick the flavor & number.

    They had a newspaper article on Macarons here and I was hoping they would list shops that carry them in Memphis, TN. No such luck because at the end of the article it said “Memphis has such high humidity, Macarons are very difficult to make here”. 🙄 What a tease!

    New here? I made some Mexican Wedding Cookies and I can’t stop eating them. The humidity doesn’t bother those little buttery confections from heaven, thank God!

    We watched Rise of the Apes last night. It wasn’t my kind of movie because the animal research part bothers me but I wanted to support David Hewlett. It was a good movie. I would recommend it to anyone. The special effects were awesome! The primates looked so real.

    Deni: good news about your car!

    Have a good day y’all!

    Reply
  22. Maggiemayday Avatar
    Maggiemayday

    Good thoughts and hugs for Max. Akemi’s cream puffs look to be… creamy and puffy!

    Parking? We have assclowns in mega-4WD pickups, all shiny and new, who angle across the middle, taking up FOUR spaces. I push shopping carts at them. And yes, we can fit our tiny Scion in next to the worst offenders.

    Coach? COACH!? The man is a sleazy manipulator, and all that false crap he spouts and the prayer circles… argh, what a sham. Ozzy all the way, since Cochrane isn’t in the running. Or maybe Rick, since he’s a homeboy from Utah. Flying that far under the radar is hard to do so well.

    Looking forward to reunion pics!

    @Ponytail… Mal-Wart has nothing you need. Seriously, any other store on the planet is better, forget about a few extra pennies and save your soul. I resist going in there to use the ATM!

    Reply
  23. Nola Shingledecker Avatar
    Nola Shingledecker

    Will expect pics of the Stargate Christmas reunion, naturally. Huggles for the poorly feeling Maximus. Fingers crossed that things progress as projected and that you can get the band back together in 2012! We need more good shows.

    Reply
  24. Sue Jackson Avatar
    Sue Jackson

    *Hugs and kisses for Maximus* Poor Maximus. 🙁 I pray everyday that he gets better. He does look absolutely adorable in the Christmas outfit. 🙂 May be Santa will bring him good health for Christmas.

    Ooooh….Akemi is baking! 🙂 That reminds me that I ought to start baking cookies too. 😉 I like to make sugar cookies. My fave! 😀

    Well…good luck to your Snow Monkeys! 🙂

    Reply
  25. Deni Avatar
    Deni

    @Maggiemayday: “Mal-Wart has nothing you need. Seriously, any other store on the planet is better, forget about a few extra pennies and save your soul. I resist going in there to use the ATM!” AMEN! We call it “The Flu Store”. Nuff said. 🙂

    Hey Joe, Hill’s Science Diet a/d is the way to go. It’s soft and most dogs cannot resist it. I totally forgot about it until my daughter mentioned it this morning. Flannery ate that stuff for over a year and loved it, even when she was not doing well. Hope you try it!

    Singing James Taylor’s “Jelly Man Kelly” to Elway, he’s loving it. 🙂

    Reply
  26. Shiny Avatar
    Shiny

    @PBMom thanks for the heads up on Earth’s Final Hours, I’ll be hunting that down.

    I had to get my nieces Polly Pocket, some type of plastic fairy and a toy cell phone at Wal-Mart, thankfully the freezing cold and snow meant the crowds weren’t too bad. I already got my nephew his Lego Clone Wars video game on Amazon. The cell phone kept chattering from my bag, something like “hoo hoo, come play with me, happy sunshine!”

    I’ll hit up the Rue 21 for the grown ups on my list; and yes, I’m playing it cheap this year.

    I roasted few keilbasa medallions in olive oil with a little fresh cilantro and parsley, tossed in a can of Campbells Tomato Bisque and added small red beans, but just a little; didn’t want to overwhelm the tomato bisque. Had that with warm bread and it was heavenly after being out in the freezing stinging snow.

    When I got my braces tightened the only thing I could eat was mashed potatoes. That and cream of wheat, apple sauce; I had a hold list of soft foods for the days my gums ached. I feel for Maximus, will he eat baby food? Pediasure, Ensure or something like it is the best.

    Reply
  27. JeffW Avatar
    JeffW

    @Joe:

    Safe travels and Merry Christmas! I hope your flight with Maximum goes well, and in an unrelated well-wishing; I hope your follow-on, production-related Dark Matter meetings go well. Maybe that’s a good segue for a mailbag question…

    I’ve been reading up on CanCon a little, so I was just wondering how a Canada/Japan production would split it’s responsibilities and still meet the CanCon requirements. Would a Dark Matter production be managed in Canada, but then (as an example) farm out anime animation to Japan (if animated of course) and still meet CanCon (a la Simpsons)? You probably can’t divulge a lot yet, but I was just curious what Japan may offer to a joint Canadian/Japanese production.

    @PBMom and Lisa R:

    Happy Birthday to your sons and Merry Christmas!

    @Ponytail:

    I had to laugh at the “And many more…” bit. We have done that for ages in our family, but now my 14-year-old daughter rolls her eyes whenever we do it…it’s that whole teenage parental embarrassment thing! We still do it, though.

    As for what we’ve been doing for the holidays, we’ve been pretty busy of late. Between company Christmas Parties, year-end business travel, and hosting a Christmas Open House, it has been pretty hectic. But we had a wonderful spread of desserts at the open house last night:

    – All sorts of Sugar Cookies that my wife and daughter made
    – Butterscotch and Chocolate Cheesecakes
    – Three kinds of English Puddings with Brandy-Butter and Custard
    (Cumberland Rum, Ginger-Orange, and Sticky Figgy Pudding!)
    – Minced-meat pie from my Grandmother’s recipe
    (really really good with the Brandy-Butter!)
    – Pecan Pie (yes, Joe I had to make this after I saw yours)

    As a parting gift, when my wife and I moved from England in ’97, our friends gave us an English Pudding Cookbook, so I decided to celebrate an “English Christmas” at our open house by making some English Puddings. My favorite of the three puddings was the Sticky Figgy. It was the first time I tried these three recipes (I’d had mostly done Sticky Toffee Puddings before this). They all came out well, but the Sticky Figgy Pudding came out the best, which was not what I was expecting (I thought I would like the Ginger-Orange the best). The puddings, the Brandy-Butter, and Custard brought back a lot of good memories.

    Today we’re just taking a short breather, before the final shopping madness starts this week, and watching some football.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

    Cheers,

    Jeff

    Reply
  28. Dappy Avatar
    Dappy

    Funny about parking: I always park far away from any other cars to avoid damage to my car caused by careless people when they open their doors. 3 years and not a scratch on my accord coupe.

    What presents are you hoping for?

    As for what’s on my end, I ordered a new HP Envy (first laptop upgrade in 5 years http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/envy/envy15.html#.Tu5RzDW0zoQ), so I’m pretty stoked for the holidays.

    Reply
  29. crayonbaby Avatar
    crayonbaby

    I absolutely hate going to any type of store the week before Christmas. I need essentials though. I guess that means I have to brave the parking idiots.

    Both my teenagers have been playing Star Wars The Old Republic all day long. Welcome to my next two weeks. Now I must go yell at my middle child, who still has a few days of school left until he is out for two weeks. The six year old has already told me she’s bored. Gah. How will I survive?

    Good vibes sent out to Max. We’re pulling for you.

    Reply

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