Cafe Monet

Before my mom returned back home to California, Madeline and I took Oma out for a "girls afternoon". We went to Cafe Monet in Austin, it's a "paint your own pottery" and mosaic studio. I thought it would be fun to do some crafty projects with Madeline.

So we picked out some pieces that Madeline and James could give to Stephen for Father's Day. Here are Oma and Madeline painting away with their piece.

I really liked painting pottery. It was creative and fun! I wouldn't mind going back again. Although even though their website says they have pieces for $7 and up, most of the things you would want to paint were around the $20 price range. I guess that's not so bad since it includes unlimited paint, all the tools and templates, and the firing of the pieces.

We pick up our pieces this Saturday. Can't wait to see how they turned out! Madeline did an awesome job with hers, she was very meticulous as she painted. I know she has that creative touch!

On Tuesday we took Penny Lane to the vet to get her staples removed from getting spayed the week before. During her recovery days she developed a bulge near the incision. (Unfortunately Stephen exercising her too soon and playing fetch may have caused this) We took her to get checked and they said it was probably inflamed. Well when they removed the staples they discovered her spay line inside had herniated. :( The hernia was pretty good in size and it needs to be fixed because it could possibly strangulate her intestines.

I about fainted when they gave me the estimate cost for the hernia surgery...$908! And that's with a 10% discount because we are on a Banfield pet plan. We understand that with pets comes along extra expenses...but this was a huge expense. Luckily the Banfield vet said we could most likely take her to another vet in the area that could do it for a lot less. She gave me a list of places.

A vet in San Marcos said he could do the surgery for $90 plus costs for anesthesia, pain meds and antibiotics. What a relief! So I took Penny to be assessed by him last night. His next opening for surgery is next Wednesday so he bandaged Penny's belly up tight to keep things from protruding out of the hernia hole. He was a really nice vet. He's got an older facility - but he seems to know what he's doing because in the waiting room with us was a bird, a duck and another puppy. And when we were leaving he had a horse waiting outside to be seen!

Penny will need to be on strict bed rest after the surgery. That means even no playing or running inside the house. So we borrowed Bill and Jimmena's dog kennel cage to prevent Penny from moving around much. She's not very fond of it, but she'll need to rest and heal.

My coworker, Elise, lives on her parent's farm in Manor, Texas. She said they had tons of veggies coming up and asked if I ever wanted any. We use tomatoes, peppers and onions on a weekly basis to make salsa, so of course I said yes. She brought me a grocery bag full yesterday. She warned me though that the Serrano peppers were super hot! I said, great that's just how Stephen like them!