Back to the grind

OK, so maybe it's wasn't "the grind", but it definitely wasn't vacation.

I have no pictures from Monday the 15th.  At this point I couldn't tell you a single thing that happened that day.  I was home with the kids, but the details are blurry.

I went back to work on Tuesday the 16th.  Michael and the kids were home together.  When I got home we worked on our contribution to the Storybrooke Pumpkin Patch at the kid's school.

It took a lot of discussion, but we finally settled on Humpty Dumpty.  FYI, the first book he appeared in was Through the Looking Glass.  He actually predates Mother Goose. 

Elliott practiced walking in my work shoes.  He kept calling them high heels.  In reality, they have about a one inch square heel. 

He was six years 10 months that day, so we did a photo shoot with all the Halloween decor. 

Official 

Everyone was back to work and school on Wednesday the 17th.  Michael got home before me, and they were all playing outside when I got home.  

Thursday the 18th was a big, big, big day.  We finally got the results for Ginger's DNA test emailed to us.  It took ten weeks. 

This is the story (as I told it on Facebook):

Back in July I was chatting with a friend when I decided that my birthday present to myself this year would be to get Ginger's DNA profile completed. Then she died, very unexpectedly, on August 3rd. The next day we were eating breakfast when I suddenly remembered my plan. In addition to the overwhelming grief I already felt, I realized I had lost any chance of testing her. I had a complete emotional breakdown and actually had to leave the room so my children didn't see me. After sobbing for an hour I had an epiphany. The vet's office had taken blood the day before when they tested her for cancer. If we could get those vials, there might be a chance. About fifty calls later we had the blood and we found a company that would accept already drawn blood.

The results came in today.

What this report told us is that Ginger was incredibly healthy. It's probably why she lived to be 16. She was tested for 140 disease causing mutations and only one (Musladin-Lueke) was positive. She only had one mutated copy though and, as a recessive disease, she never would have developed it. Ginger was also, most likely, a pure bred beagle. All eight of her great grandparents were beagles, all four grandparents were beagles, and her parents were beagles.

What this report didn't tell us was why she was so beautiful, inside and out, or why she was so gentle and patient and accommodating or why everyone loved her, even people who didn't like dogs. This report didn't tell us why she was our best friend or how we move forward without her. If anybody has a blood test that can test for those, I would be keen to hear about it.

Look at all the things she could have had.   She was a healthy girl. 

Pure bred beagle!  I never thought she was a pure bred. 

This was the explanation of how they determined she was a pure bred.  It's interesting. 

Look at this beautiful girl. 

I worked a half day on Friday the 19th to make-up for the half day I missed due to storms before fall break.  After work I had to go to the dermatologist.  For the first time in YEARS I did't have to have anything burned, frozen, or cut out to be biopsied.

After the dermatologist I went to the kid's school to watch Spencer's first battle of the books. This is his team for all three battles that will occur this year. 

We ended the day and the week with Spencer's 11 year old checkup at the pediatrician. It was a busy day. 

That's also not accurate.  After the pediatrician we packed up and drove to Tucson for the weekend.  It was an even busier week than I remembered.