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| July 2008 | August 2008 | October 2008 | December 2008 |
Poor Oliver ended up in the animal ER this morning after waking up with a very swollen belly. It turns out that Oliver had a blocked urethra--something that turned out to be quite common for male cats. Fortunately, the vets were able to clear up the blockage and get Oliver back on the path to good health. He has to spend the evening in the hospital, terrorizing the veterinary staff, but he should be back home and as good as new tomorrow evening.
It's been a while since the last CoonsNet news posting, so first let's catch up on the last bit of 2007. Brad made a trip up to Milwaukee just before Christmas to visit and deliver his holiday greetings. He made it back to St. Louis just in time for Christmas Eve, in spite of the bad weather. Krislyn and Brad visiting with Krislyn's family at her grandmother's on Christmas Eve and headed back home for Midnight Mass at the local church. Christmas morning came bright and early, and after opening their gifts and helping the animals open theirs, they headed over to visit with her parents and brother and sister-in-law. After a visit with the family they headed home to play with their Christmas gifts; Brad got a new expresso/coffee machine and a wine storage cabinet and Krislyn got the Dyson hand vac that she's been wanting for a long time!
After Christmas it was straight back to work for a short week. The New Year celebration came and went quickly, but provided a good opportunity to relax after the hurried holidays.
January has been a cold month in St. Louis, and both Brad and Krislyn have been working quite a bit which has fortunately kept them inside and out of the bitter weather. Brad is hoping for a thaw soon so he can make it back outside and finish patching up the portion of the backyard pond that collapsed late last year. Krislyn and Brad and the dogs have managed to make it out on the weekends for dog training--Charlie and Samantha are now back in agility training and enjoying themselves immensely. Their next level should be starting sometime soon with even new challenging obstacles and a chance to run the course off leash!
Happy Birthday to: Robin, Neal and Katie
Congrats to: Marcie & Josh (expecting #2!)
Well, after a couple more hospital visits, Mr. Oliver is back home and well, even though he may be short a "vital organ". Poor Oliver ended up having urinary tract issues causing potentially fatal blockage, something that is apparantly quite common for male cats, and since it happened repeatedly, Brad and Krislyn had to make the unfortunate decision to have him undergo reconstructive surgery to make him more like a female cat. He wasn't happy, but is now feeling much better and hasn't been blocked up since!
Meanwhile, Krislyn had a birthday (her last birthday before the big 3-0!) and Brad and Krislyn celebrated Valentine's Day with a nice quiet dinner. The dogs have also been busy taking on their next training challenge. Charlie and Samantha graduated to the advanced level of agility training where they now get to step up their efforts, and the humans do too. Brad and Krislyn insist that the training is actually more difficult on them than on the dogs.
Happy Birthday to: Dorothy, Krislyn, Brandy, Joan, and Derek
Congrats to: Neal & Eve (Happy Anniversary!)
March weather has been unusual in St. Louis, between being blasted with nearly a foot of snow to several very warm days in the 70s, back to snow flurries, and then to several days of heavy, never-ending rain. The rain brought severe flooding in the area, with several of the nearby towns flooded out and many of the local highways closed off by the flood waters. Fortunately, living high up in the bluffs in High Ridge proved to be safe, the elevation being far above the flood plains below that had the most damage. It will be quite a while before the waters completely recede and the damage is repaired.
Other than unusual weather, March has been a busy month, with the dogs finishing up their agility training, both Brad and Krislyn catching up at work and Brad nursing Krislyn back to health after a nearly week-long encounter with the flu. Hopefully warmer weather is on the way!
Happy Birthday to: Reighgan and Nathan
Congrats to: Dave and Amber (Happy Anniversary!)
April continued the March weather trend with a ton of rain, bringing more flooding in the St. Louis area. It also kept Brad and Krislyn from getting outside to catch up on yard work and other outside projects. In spite of the weather, Brad started a golf league at work, dusting off his clubs after more than a year of putting them on the shelf. His game has not improved, but he's still enjoying the time out of the office.
Brad's brother Greg and wife Kerrie had their first child, a baby girl named Lana. Just a few days later Krislyn's brother Scott and wife Brandy gave birth to their first, also a baby girl named Ava. Brad and Krislyn were quite excited for both newborns!
As hard as it is to believe, Brad and Krislyn celebrated their 7 year anniversary on April 28th. They took a day off of work and took a long weekend in Hermann, MO to celebrate. They visited all of the major wineries in the area and spent some quiet time at a nice local Bed & Breakfast. It was a nice break from their typical busy schedules and a great way to celebrate 7 years!
Happy Birthday to: Randy, Aaron, Carol, Kim
Congrats to: Greg & Kerrie (Baby Lana!), Scott & Brandy (Baby Ava!), Andrea & Dan (Happy Anniversary!) and Marcie & Josh (Baby Collin!)
The first half of May brought even more rainy weather, further delaying the landscaping work. Brad hopes to make it outside over the coming week since things are supposed to dry up. Brad was very happy to find out that Krislyn had gotten him a Wii for his birthday--she was able to find one online in spite of them being sold out in stores. He quickly hooked it up and tired himself out playing a bunch of the sports games. So much for relaxed, lazy video games!
The pond is finally up and running!! Brad and Krislyn planted the pond over the long holiday weekend and let the water run to season the pond. They were just able to stock it with a few small koi, which was very exciting! Now it's just a matter of finishing the landscaping and getting grass to grow in the areas that turned to mud.
Well, the first koi was lost today. He was sucked into one of the drains at the bottom of the pond and ended up in the pre-filter of the pump. He must have been spinning around in the filter for quite some time, because he was already too far gone by the time he was found and pulled out.
The remainder of Spring and the early part of this Summer has been very busy preparing to entertain family and friends over the July 4th weekend. Brad spent a considerable amount of time outside completing the pond landscaping and getting the pond partially stocked with fish. He made very good progress, and completed most of the work in the backyard. Unfortunately, his pond stocking efforts took a turn for the worse when he discovered a nasty parasite in the pond, which resulted in the loss of a number of koi. He's now agressively treating for the parasite to save the reamining fish, and in the meantime more than enough frogs have come to call the pond home.
The July 4th weekend was quite a blast. Family and friends joined Brad and Krislyn early to help prepare. The fireworks preparation was a ton of fun, and they still found time to sneak out for a good dinner and even take in a bit of karaoke. A few margaritas later and the whole group was joining in! The party was great and the fireworks show was the best yet. To relax a bit after all of the work and fun on Friday, the group took a float trip down the upper Meramec river and then headed back to relax and enjoy a barbeque.
Unfortunately, Krislyn's Uncle Joe passed away after a short battle with aggressive cancer. He will be greatly missed by all.
The rest of July has been busy and very warm, with the temperatures regularly in the 90s, making it difficult to work outside. Instead, Brad and Krislyn have been working indoors and trying to catch up other backlogged tasks. Hopefully August provides some more moderate weather and a chance to enjoy the outdoors!
Happy Birthday to: Charlie (John and Alicia's son), Christiana, Josie, Arc, Samantha (the dog)
Happy Anniversary to: Tara & Mitko, Karl & Missy, Peter & Melanie, Marcie & Josh, Greg & Kerrie, Jim & Joan and Brian & Julie
July finished out quietly for the Coons family, but early August brought a few interesting changes. There was a restructuring in Krislyn's office, which found her taking on a new role and some new responsibilities. She was very excited to take on project accounting responsibilities in addition to some of the new work she had recently been doing, particularly since it gets her back into some of the more interesting aspects of accounting that she had done at past jobs.
Brad also had a bit of restructuring at work, being moved to a new post in the architecture organization with responsibility for home delivery systems. It should prove to be an interesting change for him with an opportunity to learn even more about Express Scripts' core business.
Outside of changes at work, things at home have been relatively slow. Restocking of the pond has just begun, after a nasty parasite wiped out all but two of the koi in the pond. One of the larger koi managed to survive, and Brad was able to rescue and nurse another back to health in a tank in the basement. They have now been joined by three new koi, a jet-black koi, a blue/white asagi and a smaller bright orange koi. They have taken to the pond quite well and have already begun to grow.
August finished with a relaxing vacation for the Coons household. Brad, Krislyn and the dogs made a trip to Branson, MO for some fun filled days of hiking at Table Rock Lake and Roaring River State Park. The dogs handled 2 long distance hikes with ease, explored a few caves, and even managed a four hour car ride without difficulty. Brad and Krislyn did some shopping, took a visit to Silver Dollar City and Celebration City, and saw the New Shaghai Circus. After a few days, the whole clan headed back home to relax before the Labor Day Weekend and hectic work schedules the next week.
September came and went too fast this year. With Krislyn settling into her new role at Clayco, she had little time for anything else. Brad was surprised at the long hours and extra work she was bringing home. She hopes to have her feet back under her by the end of October. Meanwhile, Brad has been trapped in long meetings as his team defines their upcoming strategies for the next year and took a few trip to Orlando to establish relationships with some new customers.
Krislyn did find some time to get back into a regular yoga practice at a studio. She is attending a seminar taught by George Purvis again this year at the end of October and considering an intensive in December depending on her schedule. Brad has moved on to building raised beds for the vegetable garden. He was delayed in starting his new project due to some intense back pain. After a doctor ordered rest, some xrays and lots of pain medication, he was diagnosed with oesteoarthritis. Something that can be managed but not cured. Unfortunately, he is just getting old.
Happy Birthday to: Gabe, Morgan, and Bret
Happy Anniversay to: Bret & Heidi, Bob & Krista, Meaghan & Dan, Scott & Brandy, and Rachel & Randy
Congratulations to: Bob & Krista (expecting #2)
This update goes back to the end of October, just in time for Halloween weekend. Krislyn had an all weekend Yoga seminar, and Brad made a last minute trip up to Milwaukee. With both Brad and Krislyn gone, the neighbors were kind enough to hand out their Halloween candy. Krislyn came back quite sore and Brad quite tired from the long drive.
November brought winter weather to the St. Louis area. Brad got the pond ready for the winter, finished up building a couple of raised bed gardens out in the backyard and then moved inside to start with some of his usual off-season construction activities, working a bit more on finishing the basement. The rest of November was very busy with both Brad and Krislyn working long hours at the office. Long hours were a good thing in retrospect for Krislyn--having a job is better in this economy than having none--since she made it through another round of restructuring at the office. Hopefully the work will hold out for both of them in the coming months and year.
Brad decorated the house for Christmas over the Thanksgiving weekend, climbing around on the roof and decorating the trees, shrubs and windows. Krislyn and Brad went to Krislyn's Aunt Kim's house Thanksgiving Day to visit with the family and enjoy a holiday dinner. They also had their own small cozy Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, which left them with a lot of tasty leftovers for the next week. Charlie turned 6 years old that weekend, and celebrated with a new collar and some tasty treats!
December brought more cold winter weather. The pond began to freeze over for the first time, and the waterfall made some beautiful ice formations. Brad kept watch to make sure everything was in order and that the fish were surviving. Only one of the smaller fish was lost, not necessarily due to the cold but rather because he got caught in the filtration system and wasn't found in time to be rescued. Brad also made it back up to Wisconsin to help his brothers move his mother into her nice new apartment home. He also brought one of her cats Gwen home with him since she wasn't able to keep all of the cats in her new apartment. Gwen is settling in to her new surroundings and has already taken to the dogs quite well; she hasn't met the cats yet, since they will require a longer time to adjust their new feline friend, but will hopefully be introduced in the coming weeks.
It's now on to the holidays for the Coons's and all of the furry friends. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Happy Birthday to: Jim, Nancy, Simone, Paige, Kelsey, Eve, Kina, Charlie (the dog), Marcie, Josh, Jenny, Ben, Burt and Aaron
Congratulations to: Dan & Karen (expecting #2)
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