Break

I handed in grades on Monday. (Tch. That's not right, anymore; as of this semester, we enter them into a computer from the comfort of our own offices. No handing involved.) Next semester doesn't start until January 14th, so I've got nearly a month without classes.

Not that I'm completely off the hook. I'm going in tomorrow to talk to one of my students about the geometry final, and hopefully to wrap up the final draft from one of my Senior Project students. (He presented last week, but some last revisions were requested.) I need to prepare my colloquium talk on mathematical notation. (We're conducting a search for new faculty, so a lot of time will be consumed by talks by candidates; I'll have to get mine in early in the semester or not at all.) And I need to start working on my talk for the MAA meeting. (They're only allowing twenty-five minutes, so I have to work out just how much I can fit in.)

Meanwhile, Murphy's appetite has been chancy. For several days, he was refusing to eat the canned food he'd loved before; he'd take two or three bites if I hand-fed him, but no more than that. I brought home a different brand yesterday and he did eat most of that, so maybe he was just tired of the old stuff. (He wasn't absolutely refusing to eat, as he did during the crisis a couple of years ago; he still takes his treats, and he'll eat people food if I give it to him. But he needs to eat his regular food, since that's how I deliver the glucosamine he needs.)

I've been reading Peter S. Beagle's The Line Between, which I bought (and had autographed) at Archon in August. It's an anthology of short stories, of variable quality, but overall worth it. filkferengi just sent me another Beagle anthology, The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and other odd acquaintances, which will go on the stack. (Thanks, FF!)

I should start thinking about Christmas dinner. I might make the chicken dish from Thanksgiving again, or maybe I'll make spaghetti. I haven't made the sauce from scratch in a long time, and the store-bought sauces - even in the Marie Callendar dish - just don't satisfy me. Mushrooms. Garlic. Oregano. That's the ticket. Yes.

The Nose Knows... What?

Great. Now I have to worry about Ben, too?

I'd noticed that he didn't seem quite as bouncy as usual, and that he wasn't eating all of his dinner. (Actually, that was a little hard to tell, as he was eating from what Murphy left as well as from his own dish....) This evening, I went into the bedroom to call him for dinner, and I noticed a small, faint red spot on the quilt. (Yes, he was on my bed. I'm an indulgent daddy, what can I say?) I took hold of his muzzle and looked closely, and saw a bit of fluid - again, faint red - on his nose.

Back when I took Ben in to have his teeth done and the fatty tumor removed, I also had them remove a small growth from his nose. The spot I noticed is from that area; it looks like he's oozing a little bit. Nothing major, I think, but I'll have to get him to the vet tomorrow or the next day.

I don't need two unwell dogs, not at this time of year.