Tony Takeover - This Little Light

February 13, 2020February 13, 2020

TT: Virginia Update

Emily and I have had a lot of people asking for an update on our lives in Virginia. So, I’ve decided to write a little post on how it’s going in the state that’s “for lovers.”

Emily and I have lived in the South (Georgia and South Carolina) and the North (Michigan.) We knew we didn’t want to return to Georgia. It is way too hot down there. Summer starts in mid February and the heat doesn’t relent until December. To top off the heat, the humidity is brutal. I would start to sweat once I stepped out of the shower, and I wouldn’t stop until I took another one. There was just no escape from the heat in Georgia, and Michigan was exactly opposite. The bitter cold of a Michigan winter would start to bite in October, with winter’s teeth sinking into my bones through January and February. I’ve seen it snow in May, and I have pictures of my family in jackets in June. So, when it was time to leave Michigan, we had an idea of what we wanted. Weather wise, we both like all four seasons. We wanted a place where we would get some snow, some heat, and a lot of the beautiful days that fall in between. On top of the seasons, Emily and I wanted to stay in the East. We considered California and Oregon, but they felt too far from family. Emily and I both have a considerable amount of family in Georgia. Our third desire was for fairly quick access to mountains and the ocean, with mountains being more important. Add this all together, and Virginia became an obvious place for us. Within Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley was appealing. The Shenandoah National Park is basically in our front yard, and there is a nice river for canoeing and kayaking. And so, we moved to Front Royal, Va.

**They really really really wanted to help**

The move, of course, was stressful. Any time you relocate a family there will be a lot of stress. India and Oscar still talk about friends they left in Michigan, and they bring up things we use to do but probably won’t be able to do again (like going to Glenn Arbor). But, all in all, the kids have settled in nicely. They have made new friends and they enjoy their new school and daycare. India and Oscar are about to go to their first dance, a Valentine’s Dance. We hike a lot, and the kids love it. We’ve been to the top of mountains and to the bottom of waterfalls. The kids can be hard to get on the trail, but once we get out there, they run and play. If you are ever in this area, I would recommend Little Stoney Man and White Oak Canyon trails if you only have a few days to hike. In the summer we splashed in the river a good bit. This coming summer we’re planning to take the kids down the river in tubes for the first time. Even more exciting than tubing the river, this summer will be Calvin’s first trip to the ocean. India and Oscar have both been to the ocean, but not in over four years.

This is a little aside, but I thought it bared mention; Emily and I first moved to Virginia in late June. In late spring and early summer the fireflies light up the woods every night. It was so beautiful. We would sit on our porch after it had gotten dark, and just watch the show the fireflies were putting on. It was an amazing display, an intricate ballet of light. Emily described the fireflies like being in a stadium with thousands for flash bulbs going off all around you. It is truly amazing.

Not only are we enjoying all the outdoor activities Virginia has to offer us. We are both enjoying our new jobs. We work together at the same veterinary clinic. Emily is one of nine doctors working there (the clinic has two locations.) And, she is not nearly as stressed or over stretched as she was in Michigan. The pace of our new clinic is much more manageable. Although it is a busy clinic, we are very well staffed with a lot of support for the doctors. To top it off, there’s also a black clinic cat named Dan. He and Tater (the Pol Vet clinic cat) are both amputees, although Tater is missing a leg and Dan is only missing half a tail. The clinic we work at now is small animal only, and Emily will admit that she misses the large animal side of things. She misses her cows and especially her calvings and foalings. Instead of doing a little bit of everything like I did at Pol Vet, I, for the most part, work as a doctor’s assistant. I’m assigned one doctor to help through out the day. In general, things are really good for Emily and me at work right now. As an added bonus, a lot of the people at the clinic have children that are roughly the same age as ours. So, our kids have a lot of other kids to play with at work gatherings.

**One of those calvings that Emily misses**

The only thing that’s not so great is that Emily is picking up emergency shifts at a local veterinary emergency clinic so we can pay the mortgage on our Michigan house. Actually, as I write this, she’s at her second job. But her shifts at the ER are not nearly as bad as the on-call she used to do. She only works a weekend or a few week days a month, and when she’s done, she’s done. There is no worry about being called back in. All in all, we are super happy in Virginia. The mountains, the water, the work life balance, it’s all what we wanted. It is what we were looking and hoping for.

I’m trying to talk Emily into doing a vlog for a Q&A post. She’s not all that keen on it, but I’m trying. Vlog or no vlog, my next post will be a q&a. So, last chance to ask any questions. And, as always, thanks for reading.

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020

TT: Let me brag about my Wife

I’m going to take a moment to brag about Emily, my wife and love of my life. She is a wonderful and caring person who pours her heart into everything she does, whether it’s her family or her work. Emily loves being a veterinarian; she loves helping animals in need, and she does her absolute best with every case she takes on. There are numerous examples of Emily trying as hard possible to save a life. She has saved countless animals, both farm animals and pets, from a huge array of issues, everything from trouble birthing to trouble breathing. She brought a pig home for the weekend to make sure he got the best care possible (I will never forget Winston). We have four pets in our house right now, and three of them Emily saved from being euthanized. In this post I’m going to tell you the incredible story of how Dr. Emily saved Merlin, Penelope, and Catina.

Merlin is our three legged Saint Bernard. He will be 8 years this coming Valentines Day, and we have had him for all but three days of his life. Merlin’s first hours of life were rough ones. His mother (for an unknown reason) killed most of the puppies in Merlin’s litter. There was only one puppy that was unharmed, most of the puppies died, and Merlin had his leg severely mangled. Merlin’s original owner rushed him to the vet to try and save the leg, and, as luck would have it, that vet was Dr. Emily. Emily tried to save the leg, but the limb was too far gone. After a day it was completely clear that Merlin’s leg needed to be amputated. The owner did not think she could handle dealing with a two day old puppy that had to be bottle fed, and kept away from his mother. The owner elected to euthanize, but Emily couldn’t do it. This puppy still had a lot of life in him, he wasn’t dying, he just needed a lot of work and a lot of love. I’m sure the original owner was ecstatic when Emily offered to adopt Merlin, she didn’t want to put the pup down, she just couldn’t take care of him. The owner gave all rights to Emily, and, just like that, Emily and I had a Saint Bernard. I believe Emily preformed the amputation that day (she said it was like operating on a chicken wing) and Merlin came home at three days old.

**Merlin just a few days old**, **you can still see the sutures in his stump.**

Merlin spent the first week or so living in a box (you’ll see this is a common theme for our pets for some reason). Merlin needed to be fed every few hours, and we had to wipe his bottom with a warm clothe to stimulate him to pee and poop. He was good training for Emily and me, we got him in February of 2012 and India was born in September of the same year. As Merlin grew, he had to find a new place to sleep, the box wasn’t cutting in after a few weeks, and he eventually found the bath tub. South Carolina is hot for a Saint Bernard, but the bath tub was nice and cool, plus, we could leave the bathroom door cracked and the room would cool down even more. As Merlin grew, it became clear that he couldn’t walk normally. Unlike most three legged dogs, he had never originally learned how to walk. He wouldn’t stand on his back leg, but instead pulled himself around using a quickly developing upper body. To this day, he doesn’t have much muscle on his rear leg. Emily saw this issue, and, instead of giving up and excepting that this is how Merlin would live, took him to another veterinarian who was a chiropractor and rehabilitation specialist who adjusted him and rented us a cart that supported his hind end with wheels. He hated that cart, but Emily worked tirelessly with Merlin, getting him to put more and more weight on his back leg, and learning how to walk. It took a solid year, but Merlin learned to walk, he can get up on all three legs and get around pretty well (he actually runs after the deer for short bursts). Most people that meet him, don’t realize he’s three legged.

At first, Merlin wasn’t given a chance at life, but now, because of Emily and her great heart, he has lived way past what anyone expected (Emily’s first boss told her Merlin wouldn’t make it to 3 years old). Merlin is about to turn eight, and he’s slowed down but he hasn’t shown any sign of stopping. Emily loves Merlin, and Merlin loves her right back (it’s obvious that Merlin cares for Emily way more than he does for me).

Penelope is the second of our three pets that owes her life to Emily. Penelope came into Pol Vet as an emergency. A good Samaritan, brought her after finding her in the ditch on cold Michigan morning. Emily was the Doctor available and rushed to see the kitten. Penelope’s body temperature was dangerously low and she was already on the way out. The good Samaritan gave up any claim on the kitten and left. Emily could have put the kitten down, and no one would have faulted her, but that’s just not Emily. Emily has a big heart and a great love, and she saved that kitten. It was very intensive and all the staff at the clinic did all they could for the kitten. Warming blankets were put all around her, a heating pad was next to her, anything to get her temperature up. At one point while trying to warm Penelope back to a good body temperature, her heart actually stopped. That kitten died for a few minutes. Emily, through drugs and chest compressions, brought Penelope back from the dead. Penelope came home with Emily that night for close monitoring. I called the kids over to see the kitten, and that’s all it took. Emily blames me for us adopting Penelope. She says that I showed the kids a kitten and you can’t take a kitten away after the kids see it, but I know Emily really just loved Penelope and she was looking for any excuse to adopt her.

Penelope, of course, survived her brush with death and hypothermia, she is, however, an odd cat. She’s not one for petting, she’ll playfully (and sometimes not quite so playfully) attack the hand that dares pet her. One of Penelope’s favorite games is to attack the feet of anyone that walks around the corner she is lurking behind. Penelope will, from time to time, get on the back of the couch and start licking any head she can reach. Social grooming is good, right? Penelope has worked her way into all of our hearts, and she is with us today, because Emily is so loving and caring that she couldn’t take the simple way out, but, instead, worked tirelessly to save Penelope’s life.

The third pet that Emily saved and gave a home to is our loving cat Catina. India named her Catina after a song she learned in kindergarten, “C” is for Catina Cat. Much like Penelope, a good Samaritan found a sickly kitten and brought her to Pol Vet. The good Samaritan didn’t want to keep the sick kitten but she couldn’t just let it suffer. Catina came into the clinic with a horrible upper respiratory infection. Her eyes had ulcerated and were crusted shut. Catina couldn’t have been more than six weeks old, and, for her eyes to be that bad, she must have suffered with that infection for most of her life. Catina stayed at the clinic for couple of weeks. Emily was treating her eyes, giving her antibiotics for the infection, and pain medication. Catina was terrified by everything. She hated the treatment, she hated us, and she was miserable. We kept her at the clinic because that is what she knew, and she seemed somewhat comfortable in her kennel, surrounded by her blankets. Emily would take her out and handle/play with her every chance she could. It was very important to give her positive attention to try and get her to trust us, and Catina slowly learned to trust Emily.

Unfortunately, Catina’s eyes never improved, and they had to be removed. The enucleation went well, Emily performed it of course, but Catina’s trust in us took a hit. After the surgery, Emily took Catina home, and Catina lived in a shallow walled box in our closet. While we were home, Emily would disappear from time to time, and I would find her in our room sitting by the closet door talking to Catina. It took weeks of talking to Catina and lots of bloody scratches and bites before the kitten would even let Emily touch her. Slowly, and through Emily’s great and loving effort, Catina began to trust Emily and then the rest of the family. Emily was the bridge that brought Catina into a life of love and happiness. For the first months of her life Catina had only known pain, but Emily gave her love.

Catina now rules the upstairs part of our house. This blind cat runs around the entire upstairs chasing toys and playing with the kids. We find her jumping on the beds and exploring all sorts of nooks and crannies. Catina is starting to brave the stairs (she’s come down about half way) and, when she does finally come all the way down, Catina and Merlin will properly meet for the first time. Because of his leg, Merlin can’t climb the stairs, and we kept Catina away from the dog to limit her stress when we brought her home. Catina is now this fearless cat that is confident and brave enough to explore and run around the house even though she is blind. And she can do all of this because Emily gave her that confidence and trust to do so.

January 24, 2020January 26, 2020

Tony Takeover: A Day in My Life at Pol Vet

**The kids dancing in front of the projector the film crew uses for interviews**

In this blog I hope to give you a glimpse behind the preverbal curtain at my time with Pol Veterinary Service. I can’t and won’t talk about the Doctors, it is neither my place to talk about them, nor are those stories mine to tell. Instead, I can write about what my job was like, and what I did at the clinic; and, believe me, it was fast paced, loud, and hectic. Hopefully, this will be an entertaining story about a crazy busy clinic and the people who mostly stayed just to the side of the camera’s screen, but kept the clinic together. This blog isn’t about a specific day, or a specific event, but rather just a general description of a typical day. Enjoy!

7:45 a.m. The clinic opens at 8 o’clock, so I would try to arrive about ten to fifteen minutes early so I could unlock the side door and let the camera crew in. Once the side door was open, five or so guys would run around the clinic turning on their big show lights and setting up any still cameras they wanted for that day. I would have about ten minutes to get the computers up and running, the surgery patient information together, and open the front door for the flood of patients to begin pouring into the front office/lobby. On an average day there was three people working the front office where people would check in, check out, and receive their take home medications.

8:00 a.m. I have just unlocked and opened the front door to the clinic, and four to six owners with their animals in tow would pour into the little lobby because they all dutifully did as instructed and showed up at 8 a.m. sharp for surgery drop off. There are only two computers in the front office to check people in, and I step to the first computer (I tried to claim the computer on the left with a sticky note, but no one respected it). As I step to the computer, at least three clients come towards me. I have to quickly figure out which one was first, or which one seems the most in a hurry, and get that patient checked in for surgery. If the patient I pick just so happens to be deemed the most interesting case by the film crew, everything slows down. Microphones are produced and placed on me and the client, two different cameramen take their places, one behind me looking at the client and one behind the client looking at me. When everyone is ready, the check in begins.

Within minutes I have to figure out which patient I’m checking in, determine if that patient is due for vaccines, decide if the patient will get a chemistry panel (a blood test) to check their liver and kidneys, amongst other things, to determine if the patient is a good candidate for surgery or if the doctor needed to treat an underlying problem. After the patient is checked in and the vaccines and chemistry panel is decided, I take the patient from the owner and back to the surgery/prep room. I help with the blood draw and any other diagnostics the doctor orders, and start the blood test (all the while a guy with a camera and possibly someone else with a boom mic follow me through an already tight building). Once the patient is in the kennel and the blood test is running, I head back to the front to do it all over again with the next surgery patient. Also, there are one or two other people checking in surgeries, so, I’m not just working around the film crew, but my coworkers who are just as busy as I am.

Me cuddling one of our more “exotic” patients

8:45 a.m. All the surgeries are checked in and, on some days, I’m the one that goes back to the surgery room to help shave, prep, and generally work with the doctors in surgery, but on a normal day I’m in the front filing the charts from the previous day and pulling charts for tomorrows surgeries and general appointments. Sometimes even this monotonous task is filmed. My coworkers and I have about fifteen to thirty minutes to get whatever charts from yesterday put away, and pull any charts we will need for tomorrow. Hopefully today’s charts were pulled yesterday. Around 9-9:15 a.m. the first of the general appointments start to roll in.

9:15 a.m. Once the first client walks in for their scheduled appointment, the seal is broken and it sometimes feels like the levees break. The clients, from that point on, do not stop coming; wave after wave crash upon that front desk. On a typical day the clinic will have two or three doctors seeing appointments from 9 a.m. to 11 or 12, and the schedule will be quadruple booked with an appointment every fifteen minutes. That comes out to be somewhere between 32 and 48 patients coming in for an appointment in the morning. If we have three doctors, each doctor will need to see 10 to 16 patients.

Check-ins have to be quick. I have to get a patient checked in, weighed, get a brief history from the owners, and get the patient into an exam room for a doctor as fast as possible. Because, once that check in is done, another client will be ready to check out. On top of checking patients in and out at a breakneck pace, I was also expected to restrain patients, clean rooms between appointments, fill prescriptions, run blood work, fecal floats, and run urinalyses in the lab, and work in radiology. Anything a doctor needed, that was my job, and one doctor or another almost always needed something. I was doing all of this with a six person camera crew filming everything they could. A dog needed to go to radiology, the film crew followed; a growling dog needed to be restrained, the film crew was there. The film crew really was great at staying out of the way as much as possible, but there was only so much room in that clinic.

12:00 p.m. One of the good things about the clinic’s pace is that time goes by quickly. Before you knew it, 9:00 a.m. had become 12:00p.m., the flood of clients turned into a trickle, and it was time for lunch. The doctors would shove some food into their faces and hit the road for farm calls. The doctors would average three farm calls in an afternoon, but sometimes the count was much higher. Every once in a while I would go with Emily on her farm calls, but usually I stayed at the clinic. The farm call time gave the office staff time to clean up from the whirlwind that was the morning. We would unpack and stock all of the medical supplies that had been delivered (sometimes we would get three separate shipment drop-offs), restock the exam rooms, file away the 30+ charts from the morning, and, most importantly to me, eat some lunch. The doctors’ farm call time went from noon to 3:00 p.m., at 3 o’clock general small animal appointments started back up.

**Winston the tetanus pig we brought home for a weekend**

3:00 p.m. General appointments begin. These appointments were generally a mirror image of the morning appointments with the added bonus that not all doctors would get back from farm calls by 3 o’clock. On really bad days no doctor was back by three, and then the patients would pile up in the waiting room. With the return of the doctors, the camera crew would return, and the clinic became cramped again. It was not unheard of for a client to show up at his appointment time, and have to wait an hour before a doctor could see his pet. The afternoons quickly became a blur of checking in and checking out patients, along with working in the lab, and radiology, and pharmacy. The clinic officially closes at 5:00 p.m., but that’s not really the truth. The doctors were almost never done seeing appointments by 5:00, if Emily left the clinic by 6p.m. she was doing well. On top of this, the clinic didn’t close until 6p.m. on Monday and Friday. So, the staff wouldn’t leave until around 7p.m.

I’ve gotten a couple of questions asking me how it was working at Pol Vet Clinic, and this post sums up typical day pretty well. Working at Pol Vet was frantic, it was nerve raking at times. Sometimes, I felt like a had too many balls in the air and that kept me from spinning my plates. It was also claustrophobic at times, the clinic is small, and it was hard at times fitting the office staff, with the camera crew, and the clients into that building. But, it was also fun. I loved being with the people I worked with. I enjoyed being a part of something that helped a lot of people in the community. The guys on the film crew became some of my best friends in Michigan. I don’t miss the chaos that Pol Vet brought into my family, but I do miss the people (both clients and coworkers) there.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and, as always, thanks for reading!!

January 20, 2020January 22, 2020

Tony Takeover: Athens Concerts

**Emily and me at a Jukebox the Ghost show**

There are so many things about Athens, Ga that I love. Emily and I were very lucky to live in that town when we did. We were both early to mid 20’s, without kids, and without cares. I mean we had cares and concerns, but those have faded with time and all I’m left with are good happy memories of a wonderful little college town that a part of me still considers home. (Sorry mom and dad, middle Georgia is home too, but Athens holds a special place in my heart.) One of the great things about Athens is that it truly is one of the music cities. Everywhere else I’ve ever lived, if you went to go watch some band you’ve never heard of, you would hear covers of songs you knew well. Not in Athens. In Athens, you would pay $5 or $10 to go see a show, and it was probably a band you’ve never heard of, but that band played their original music. It was great. You never knew what you were going to get. Some shows you payed for weren’t worth the $5, the guitarist might be terrible, or drunk, or both, or the singer couldn’t carry a tune, or maybe the drummer just didn’t show up. But, some of those $5 shows were the best shows I’ve ever been too. I’m going to tell you about some of the more memorable concerts Emily and I saw in Athens.

1) This first story won’t be long, but it was memorable. Emily and I went to a heavy metal show at the recommendation of one of my friends. My friend was really into heavy metal and said that this band (I’ve forgotten the band’s name, so I’ll call them “The Band”) was the best in Athens. Emily and I had a free night and a couple of bucks, so we went to the show. It was fun and weird being in a crowd where you were definitely the oddball. We did not fit in with the heavy metal crowd, but we were having a great time, and then finally The Band took the stage. The first thing I (and I’m sure everyone else) noticed when the lights went down and the show began was that “The Band” used several flood lights at the back of the stage that showed through the band and into the crowd. The flood lights created a harsh contrast of bright light and black silhouettes. The concert itself was what a typical heavy metal concert is. A lot of screaming into the microphone, loud and fast guitar, and insanely hard driving drums. I enjoyed it, I think Emily hated it. It isn’t my favorite style of music, but I got into it. The music was primal and raw, the rage and energy from the band and crowd was palpable. And then there was the beer spraying. The Band would shake up beers and spray them into the crowd. To me, it was fun. And then the lead singer decided to crowd surf. There was no communication, no delivering of intention; the lead singer just spun his guitar onto his back and fell into the crowd. He stiffened up his body and fell like a board into whoever was at the edge of the stage. The people down there did what people do when caught of guard, they got out of the way. The lead singer smacked his head on the concert floor. The music stopped at once and the lights came up. A lesser man (or a more sober man) would have stayed down, but not this guy. The lead singer got to his feet, blood coming down his forehead, pulled his guitar around, and started playing again. It took the rest of the band a few seconds to get back on the same page, but within a minute, the band was going hard, the crowd had pushed this guy back on stage, the lights had gone back down, and the show was on

2) One of the great music venues in Athens is The 40 Watt. It was a great place to see a show, there was a big stage and plenty of room for the crowd. I saw a lot of my favorite bands there. One unique things that The 40 Watt did was host a show called Garage-a-Trois. For Garage-a-Trois, three musicians from three different bands would come together and form their own band. These new bands would put on a short 1-3 song show, and, of course, there would be a lot of interesting blending of genres. Because of how diverse Athens’ music scene is, it was common for a pop singer to be paired with a metal guitarist and a punk drummer. And that is exactly what happened for this particular story.

Emily and I went to Garage-a-Trois for two years (possibly the only two years the show was put on). Some of the acts were really good, you could tell that the band members took the challenge seriously and put on a good to great show. Some of the bands would lean into the silliness of the whole thing, one band made up of three very large guys did a ten minute jam session in which each member took a turn dancing their heart out (the song was rightfully called “The Dance.”) And, some of the acts really didn’t seem to care a whole lot. I enjoyed all three types of acts, obviously the first two kinds were super enjoyable, but there was also something interesting in watching people fail. I’m not sure what it says about our society that we enjoy watching others fail, but there is a ton of “fail” video content; so it is something a lot of us like to see. This one poorly matched band did not fall into any of the three normal groups; they did not try really hard and put on a great show, they didn’t embrace the absurdity, and they didn’t just fail. Instead, they seemed to really hate each other. I made up the bands whole back story in my mind, which I won’t bore you with, but it boils down to this; a pop singer does not mesh well with a metal guitarist and a punk drummer. While not the same thing, the metal and punk genres of music are a lot closer to each other than they are to pop, and the pop singer never had a chance with his bandmates.

This Garage-a-Trois band managed to slug through their first song, which was a weird crooning song mixed with some harsh electric guitar. The second song, however, is where the wheels really came off. The singer did the usual count the speed of the song, “1…2…1.2.3.4!” and the song started. But the drummer must not have been happy with the pacing, because he started speeding up. The guitarist seemed fine with it, he sped up as well, but the singer couldn’t handle it, and soon he was yelling the words of the song as quickly as he could. After a few really dirty looks back at the drummer, the singer went back to the drum set and took a stick out of the drummers hand. The drummer didn’t miss a beat, drummers come prepared, he produced another stick out of a bag and drove the pace faster. This was the last straw for the singer, he ran back to the drum set and kicked a hole in the bass drum. To which, the drummer promptly leapt over the rest of the set tackling the singer. Wrestling ensued. It might have gotten ugly, but The 40 Watt stage hands were quick to rush the stage. The show ended with 3-4 stage hands holding two grown men apart because they couldn’t play together and this metal guitarist doing his best impression of John Entwistle, and just kept playing the song while chaos broke out around him. For those who may not know, John Entwistle was the bassist for The Who. He was the guy how would keep the song going as long as possible while Pete Townsend and Keith Moon destroyed their instrument around him.

**This is how close the crowd is to the band at Caledonia Lounge**

3) The last concert I’m going to tell you about was at Caledonia Lounge. For everything that The 40 Watt is, Caledonia is the opposite. Caledonia Lounge in tiny (though I bet they prefer intimate). If I had to guess, the Fire Marshall would only want 30-40 people in this small space. There was no place to sit except for three stools at the tiny bar, the lounge part of the name really was a joke. But for how small Caledonia Lounge is, Emily and I saw a lot of great bands there; some of my fondest concert memories happened at Caledonia. The particular show I’m telling you about was a Halloween show. There were several bands that played, but I only really remember one of them, and I don’t even remember them because they were great or super entertaining. I remember this Halloween show because of what Emily did.

Emily was in vet school (I don’t remember what year) and because of that she was constantly tired. Emily would put in long days at school and then longer nights studying. I would try to break her a way from the books from time to time. All work and no play, you know. It was hard to pry Emily away, she wanted (and still wants) to be the best veterinarian she could be, but I was able to convince her to go to this concert on Halloween. It was Halloween after all, we had to go on the town for all the people watching if nothing else. So, Emily and I go to Caledonia and we see a few shows. The acts were good, but I could tell Emily was starting to fade. Emily decided to stick it out for one more show, and this all female punk band takes the stage. I can’t say the band was good; what I can say is the band was loud and fast and fun. Emily and I were in the midst of the crowd, jumping and dancing. We were having a great time. One song ended, and I left Emily to go to the bar for a minute to get a PBR (the college kids’ beer of choice) and when I came back, I couldn’t find Emily in the crowd. I looked for her, pushing past people almost in a panic. And then I found her. She was sitting on some random instrument case with her body and head resting very comfortably on the bass drum case. Emily had fallen asleep in this tiny venue while a punk show was raging all around her. Needless to say, we didn’t stay much longer, but I also don’t know anyone else to fall asleep in quite so crazy a place.

I’m thinking about doing a blog where I answer some of your questions soon, so, if you have something you’d like to know, leave the question in the comments. I hope you liked this installment of Tony Takeover, and as always thanks for reading.

January 18, 2020January 18, 2020

Tony Takeover, Pepperoni Pizza

Emily and I were wondering if you would be interested in an occasional Tony Takeover. Every once in a while I would post a blog instead of Emily. You would get a glimpse into our lives told from a whole different perspective. I know it’s going to be fun for me, and I hope it’s fun for you. Let me and Emily know what you think about this idea in the comments. And now, for a story.

This story is about communication. It is very cliché to say that communication is key, but some clichés are pretty accurate. Over all Emily and I communicate pretty, but we are also both people pleasers. This usually helps out a lot in our marriage, but sometimes having two people pleasers and a lack of communication in a relationship really backfires. Enter the story of The Pepperoni Pizza.

College was a great time for Emily and me. We worked hard, we had a lot of fun in Athens, Ga (which I have a few other stories about if you are interested), but the one thing we were short on was money. We didn’t really know we were short on cash, and we were always able to make our budget work, but, when a great deal for pizza came around, we couldn’t/wouldn’t pass it up. The Papa John’s in Athens had such a deal. You could get a large one topping pizza for $3.99 on Tuesdays (I imagine this is no longer the case, but it would be awesome if it were). So, a lot of Tuesdays Emily and I ate pizza. But, before you order a pizza, a common discussion takes place, “What kind of pizza do you want?”

For Emily and I, whoever replied to the “what kind of pizza” question, would allows reply with, “I don’t know, what do you want?” (A common answer, I’m pretty sure.) And now the problem has set in. Emily and I are now intertwined in a delicate and sophisticated people pleasing dance. My goal, no, my job is to try and guess what kind of pizza she wants; all the while, trying to keep a poker face so as to keep her from guessing my pizza topping of choice. The curse of the people pleasers is that if you are the one that is pleased, you have lost the game, and, with Emily and me, it was a battle.

One point in our past, I remember Emily ordering pepperoni pizza. She seemed to like pepperoni pizza. So, when Emily would ask, “What kind of pizza do you want?” I would answer, “pepperoni.” And you for the longest time, we would get a pepperoni pizza for the basement bargain deal of $3.99 on Thursdays. And we were both happy with it.

Unfortunately, Emily and I were not really happy with the pizza. We were happy because we both thought we had won the people pleaser battle. I picked a topping I knew she liked, she got me to tell her which topping I wanted. We were both happy and ate pepperoni pizza, content in the fact that the other enjoyed it. And here enters the communication breakdown (yes, that is a nod to Led Zeppelin). I don’t really like pepperoni, but I thought she did. Emily doesn’t really like pepperoni, but she thought I did. We had been eating pepperoni pizza for at least 4 months (it might be closer to six), before one of us, I think it was Emily, finally confessed her true feelings.

We ate pizza we didn’t really like for months!! All because we couldn’t/wouldn’t communicate. So yes, communication is key, and I don’t care how cliché it sounds. It could have saved me and my taste buds months of eating pepperoni pizza if I had only told Emily, “you know, I’m not actually a big fan of pepperoni. Why don’t we try something else.” So please communicate with those around you, it could really save you, or, in my case, at least save your taste buds.

We didn’t eat pepperoni pizza for years after that. But here’s the kicker, it’s our kids favorite. We get it all the time now.

So yeah, there’s a small taste of tales from my perspective. If you want to hear more, let me know. And, as always, thanks for reading.