Cooper got his first hair cut!

Tim and I attempted to get Cooper's hair cut in November, and it was a royal disaster. The sound of the clippers terrified him, and he yelped every time they got near him. So basically we paid them to reshape his hair, fluff it up, a stick a bow on him.... great!

So we had to "practice" with him. Luckily Tim, being a guy, owns an electric razor. So we would put him in his crate, set the razor next to his crate and turn it on, and then feed him treats while it was on. Eventually he started getting closer to the razor, nudging it with his nose (cap was on, don't worry), and stopped caring. So we were finally ready for hair Cut Part 2! This went much better. We decided to completely shave him down, since his hair grows back so fast and it's so much easier to deal with short hair than long hair! So he looked a bit like a rat:

We also realized our dog was part dalmation! He has so many tiny little black spots that he did not have as a puppy!

One Tough Pirate

When people ask where we go to work, its easiest to just name the company and say a few words about our particular contribution there. It's easy to lose track of the impact our jobs can have on others, especially when we do the same thing day in and day out. I work in an AIDS vaccine research lab, and while the big picture is to help eradicate a deadly disease in humans, our daily tasks do not include 'saving the world'. The research that takes place at our lab is basic in a sense, since we are simply trying to better understand HIV and it's simian (monkey) equivalent, SIV. The hope is that if we understand how the virus works, we can use this knowledge to create an effective vaccine. So while it's a good conversation starter to say where I work, I often lose track of the big picture and why it is important for all of us to continue doing what we do.

But when we have face time with individuals infected with the virus who are fighting the disease and the side-effects of potent medications, it serves as a strong reminder that our research is incredibly important. I do not personally know anyone with HIV, and so I often feel very disconnected from the work I do. Last week, our lab met with a local Madison AIDS activist, Bob Bowers, who has been HIV-positive for over 25 years. We were excited to meet with him and hear his story, and likewise Bob was excited to see our facility and better understand the kind of research we do; especially where we stand with developing a vaccine. Bob told us his story, how he became infected with the virus at age 21, and how he went from a life of drugs and partying to travelling around the country educating people on HIV and AIDS. Bob is a very unique man; covered in tattoos and holding nothing back, he tells his story in such a way that elementary school children and adults alike are captivated by his discussions. His message is not "Don't Do Drugs" or "Don't Have Sex", it's live your life and have fun but be careful. Bob also works hard to fight the stereotypes associates with HIV, including sexuality, lifestyle choices, and taboos about sex. His nickname is One Tough Pirate, and his website is www.onetoughpirate.com. If you get a chance, check it out.

I really enjoyed meeting with Bob, and it was a great chance for him to better understand the research that we do on the virus that has changed his life. It was a great experience, and I wouldn't miss another chance to hear him speak.

Christmas!

Since my family is Jewish, the holiday of Christmas has little meaning or value to us. My family often celebrates it the same way the rest of the Jews do, by going out to a Chinese restaurant and then going to a movie! It's great :o) Needless to say, Christmas is not the biggest holiday for us. Since I was home for a week at Thanksgiving, and I need to save vacation time for graduate school interviews later this winter (hopefully, that is), I decided to stay in Madison for the first time in 5 years for Christmas and New Years.

Tim and I were both able to get off for 5 days, and decided to make the long drive up to visit Tim's parents in Spicer, MN. We decided to leave at 12:30am (yes am!) because Madison was going to get pounded with oh-my-good-grief-MORE snow sometime around 3am and we never would have been able to safely get up to Spicer. I was in bed, in my PJs, with the lights off, when Tim came home from work and wanted to leave (grrrrr). Although I was NOT thrilled to drive through the night, it worked out well because Cooper slept the whole way and we were able to miss the snow storm that Madison DID indeed get.

We arrived in Spicer at the crack of dawn around 7:30am. Luckily, Tim's parents are wonderful and took great care of us, so from the moment we arrived we were fed like royalty, Cooper was spoiled rotten, and the relaxation began! Tim's brother, Dan, was also home for the holidays, and his girlfriend Sarah joined us on Friday (this was the first time Tim and I met her and we liked her very much :o) ). I also got to celebrate Christmas "Court" style. There were lots of presents for everyone (including Cooper! Jennifer and John like to spoil their grand-puppy), TONS of great food, and TONS of great sugary treats. Here are some of the images from the weekend:

Tim and Dan opened their gifts to each other first:

Cooper helped open some of his presents too; and he had a lot:

Dan got these two flying remote control helicopters that we had way more fun with than anyone over the age of 6 should:

We also lit the Chanukah candles three nights since Jennifer is also Jewish so we had quite a few Jews in one room (Tim knows the Chanukah prayer, and his basketball team used to make him say it before some of their games in high school, haha!):

We had a very relaxing weekend! I was not excited about the 6 hour drive back, but Cooper only had one mini-meltdown and we were able to make good time so it wasn't too bad. Not to mention it wasn't in the middle of the night this time! Thanks Jennifer and John for a great weekend!

First Bath, First Snow

Since Tim and I aren't very exciting, I'll just keep posting about Super Chewper Cooper. Although Cooper has lost most of his baby teeth, he did manage to chew threw a lamp power cord and my computer power cord, as well as discover the games of "grab the toilet paper and run" and "jump on the kitchen chairs and eat people's food"! Although we now refer to him as "trouble" more often than we do by his own name, he is still a great puppy! He recently got his first bath. After all the snow, and the rain, and the muddy snow, and the freezing muddy snow, we decided it was time to wash him. Our white puppy wasn't looking so white anymore.Cooper wasn't a big fan, but he obliged:

It was very wet, but totally worth it! He thought he were punishing him though, since spent most of the day in the kitchen because he was always wet after walks, and then we locked him in the kitchen after his bath:

Well just in time for his bath, we got our first big snow storm. Although we have gotten snow a few times, we got pounded on Friday. We're talking 10" between midnight and dawn! This is what our steps looked like at 6am:

Cooper took one look at this and said "I'm going back to bed." I didn't blame him. We tried a little later, when the snow wasn't coming down sideways, and he at least gave it a shot. Keep in mind that 10" of snow comes up to his shoulders, so the other mode of transportation through this mess is bounding through the powder. Here's how deep it was (Cooper is walking through a car tire track):

Cooper had tons of fun eating, running, playing and galloping through the snow. Unfortunately the piles are very deep (some higher than me and Tim) so he's having some trouble understanding what to do! But he still loves it, as long as it isn't -20 and windy!

Next week, Tim, Cooper, and I are heading up to Spicer, MN to spend Christmas with Tim's parents and his brother Dan. Tim and I both have off for Christmas Eve and Christmas, and adding in Friday we are turning next week into a 5 day weekend. We are both very excited! I haven't been up to visit Tim's parents in over a year, so I'm looking forward to spending Tim at their place. More to come then!

Cooper, Thanksgiving, Grad School, Cooper, Stuff

As usual, another month has passed and so much has happened without a single update! My time flies! Well November flew by for us because Cooper is now keeping us very busy. It turns out that we got not only a crazy puppy, but a bit of a sick puppy. We noticed he was having digestive trouble, and had to take him to a vet only 7 days after we brought him home. Turns out he had campylobacter, a bacteria that not only made him pretty sick, but could make humans pretty sick too. It was pretty serious, but once he got put onto antibiotic he got better quickly, and neither Tim nor I got sick from him. In addition, he also had a yeast infection in both ears, and he probably has some kind of allergies that makes his eyes red! Our poor puppy. However none of this has seemed to phase him, as he has continued to run around, play with his toys, steal Tim's socks from his laundry basket, and steal our shoes to chew on the shoelaces. Cooper has also been discovering snow, and the joys of bounding through deep drifts!

Tim has been keeping incredibly busy too. He has been work at Dick's Sporting Goods quite frequently now that the Christmas shopping season is completely upon us. Instead of opening at 9am, they have been opening at 8am, and next week at 7am. This means that Tim, who is NOT NOT NOT DEFINITELY NOT a morning person, has been forced to get out of bed at hours he wasn't actually aware existed! This unfortunately kept him in Wisconsin over Thanksgiving, as he had the joy of working Black Friday. Luckily his parents and his brother, Dan, were able to come to Madison to spend Thanksgiving with him and Cooper. I was able to go home to Connecticut for the first time in 11 months (it really had been that long!). I got to see my parents, a couple high school friends, and spent a good amount of time relaxing. I also spent a lot of time working on graduate school applications. I completed most of them, and finished the last one once I came back to Wisconsin. I am all finishd applying, and now I get to wait. If all goes wel, I will be invited to interview at several schools, and then hopefully will be accepted to a few as well. The final list of schools is:

- University of Wisconsin
- Univeristy of Michigan
- University of Washington - Seattle
- Oregon Health and Science Univeristy
- Yale University
- University of Virginia

I applied to microbiology programs with the intent to study virology and immunology, possibly sticking with HIV research, returning to influenza research, or finding a new pathogen to study all together! Hopefully some of the schools like me; keep your fingers crossed! As of right now I do not know where I want to go. Wisconsin would be convenient, and it is a great school, but I'm going to see where I am accepted and decide from there.

And again, more Cooper stories! We have had him for over a month now, and he keeps us entertained every day! He has finally started to gain wait again now that he isn't sick, and last time weighed in close to 12lbs (he should be ~25-30lbs when full grown). In addition to bounding through snow, he has been working on his jumping skills. He can finally get on to the couch almost every time (he used to biff it 2 out of 3 times!), but has not yet mastered jumping on to our bed (it is fairly high in his defense). He has been teething like crazy, and therefore biting our hands in lieu of his toys (not our favorite game). We have started to teach him to sit, which he already did on his own most of the time, and to lie down, which he seems to have mastered in a day! Shake is in the near future! Cooper enjoys staring out the window of our apartment and contemplating life, or wondering what that squirrel is doing and how he is going to get it!

I promise to upload pictures sometime to keep these posts interesting, so if you stuck with me down to here, thanks for your commitment and dedication! Stay tuned for more!

Welcome Home Cooper!

Just as we've been talking about, Tim and I finally got a puppy! We'd been looking all over, but most of the puppies we found were over 2 hours away. A coworker recommended we check out a pet store / rescue shelter in Madison and that's where we found Cooper! He's a black and white cocker spaniel, with a little brown mixed in. He came from a breeder, and he's already been neutred and gotten several vaccines (so we don't have to worry about too much medical stuff right now). HE'S SO SWEET! He's great with people and other dogs, loves to cuddle, has discovered it's fun to rip up Tim's newspapers, and just learned how to go down the stairs today (he used to just stand at the top and look confused)!

We took him home last Wednesday, and he's been doing really well with us. He was a little scared of his new surroudnings, since they were much bigger and a little scarier than his cage at the store. His first walk was a bit traumatic because it was wet, cold, and the blowing leaves scared the hell out of him. He has sinced discovered it's fun to run outside, play with some of the other dogs, eat the leaves (that'll show em!) When he got scared he would run up and sit on our feet, but when we were walking and didn't expect that he got booted a few times. He's a lot braver now so he doesn't do that as often and doesn't get kicked by accident!

He loves to be held, and he loves to snuggle up right next to you.

Cooper was pretty worn out the first day so he just came home, checked out a few things, and slept. He actually slept right through the night! He has sinced learned to wimper, howl, wine, and cry. We're working on his separation anxiety, which is already getting better.

I gave him a Gatorade bottle and he plays with it all the time! It's virtually indestructible, and when he bats at it it rolls across the room and he goes running after it. Tons of fun for him!

He also found our shoes. Luckily he hasn't decided to chew on them yet, only cuddle up on them. Again, Cooper loves to sit on our feet when he gets scared, and he also discovered that under the chairs is a fairly good hiding place (especially when the vacuum comes out). So far he's a great puppy!!

Engagement Photos!

Our engagment photos are online! I can't post any here (cause it's stealing) but if you want you can check them out on the website:

www.angelicangles.com

username: cemacnair@gmail.com
password: macnair

We're going to use one of those photos for our Save-the-Date cards, so if you have a favorite let me know! Happy looking :o)