Dog Log: Day Three half gone...

I took the dogs to the Dog Park with my Aunt and her dog, a Treeing Walker named Becky Sue (Think a beagle on stilts but prettier!)

It's built on a 40 acre former landfill that was specially cleaned up and made safe and turned into the park.

It was fabulous!! The boys played with Becky and about a half dozen other dogs for more than two hours! They were muddy and wet and thoroughly exhausted! We were barely down the park road before both were sound asleep.

I was laughing like mad as Thing One rolled over onto his back, on the front seat with me, placing his upside down head in my lap and started to snore! On the highway the guy that passed me must have thought I'd gone insane! For one thing you need to appreciate this dogs size. His butt was touching the door handle and his shoulders were tight against my legs... and I drive a full size car!

When we got home it was even funnier because he didn't want to get out of the car and I had to actually wake the puppy up! It was hilarious! Poor little Thing Two could barely walk!

I got them inside, put them in their kennels and laughed my butt off because I was walking around talking on the phone and they were sound asleep. Classic.

We'll be going back again tomorrow!

Dog Log

Dog Log: Day Three (minus 3/4's of the day so far)

When it comes to dogs, I am reminded of an old saying....

"Why are you hitting yourself in the head with that hammer?

"Because it feels so good when I stop."

4:30 wake-up this morning.

Yeah.... one of us will die soon.

Probably me. Yay.

But then again, when the baby lays on my feet when he's resting, and nestles his head so I can "pet" him with my other foot. He gives me tickle-ly kisses on my legs.... aawww...

Then the older one lays his big Wookie head in my lap. Looks at me with those huge brown eyes, sighing a contented "Don't-stop-rubbing-my-head-because-I-love-you-and-I-know-you-love-me-too" before he gets too relaxed and slides to the floor. Where he sighs again... then usually starts to snore.... (even bigger AAWWW...)

I would have been crazy to pass this up and I also know I could never have passed this up because it's really not that bad. I'm kidding about most all of it. In fact, I'm actually having a lot of fun. Well, except for the 4:30 a.m. wake-up call this morning!

I'm hoping to post pictures of Thing One and Thing Two soon!

The piddler...

Dog Log: Day Two

Well, I wasn't prepared for such a Happy Dog... the Happy Dog in question seems to like me so much he pees. Not a huge puddle but little squirts.

Unfortunately, the older male dog in the house took offense to this action and before I knew it... he was "marking" the puppy miscues. No offense here but right about that time I was ready to send both of the into the garage for the remainder of spring break. (And yes, I'm kidding)

So most of the day I've been crawling around on my hands and knees looking for (and yuk! sniffing for!) some of the 1st little piddles I missed. Yay.

On second thought, I can't help but wonder if this isn't just a reaction. I think his piddling is something he's never done before. But rather the poor baby's way of feeling the stress of being without his family, being in a strange house and being with me, a stranger.

So in the meanwhile I think I've got most of the damage under control, I'm giving him lots of affection and trying to relieve his anxiety. It must be very stressful for him. So the best I can do is keep him as calm as possible and watch him like a hawk!

I'll let you soon how it's going!

Breaking the rules....

Day One: Dog Log

Rule #1. You should never babysit for dogs that belong to people that are conscious any time earlier than 9 a.m. (Yup... broken)

Rule #2. Puppies are "Happy Dogs". This means that they want everything around them to be happy. Even if this means waking at 5 a.m. 5 A.M.!!!!!!!! That's insane!!!!!! NEVER EVER TAKE CARE OF "Happy Dogs"!!! (Yup... broken)

Rule #3. There's not enough coffee in the world when you have "Happy Dogs" (True)

Rule #4. Go to bed earlier to prevent "Happy Dog Syndrome" causing you bodily injury. (Yup... broken... again.. as I'm posting at 12:45 a.m. I'll leave you to do the math)

Rule at the end of the day.......

Convince yourself that those sweet brown eyes and those furry faces and the pure joy you feel is only temporary, and keep reminding yourself that Ludie will not like a Happy Dog in his house.

Addendum to the rule #3:

Remember to ensure the available coffee is fully leaded. (One reason #3 seemed especially difficult yesterday.)

Addendum to 1st addendum to rule #3:

Doubling the amount of 50/50 coffee to twice as much with the same amount of water does not help obtain a "closer to being conscious" state. It just makes your eyes water then bulge out of your head.

Pretending

I took this picture last fall before it started getting cold. I was traveling in Iowa and I'd never seen a field planted like this before. There were acres upon acres like this. (So if any of you know why, please let me know!)

Outside my window this morning, even with the sun out it's quite bleak. So I started using this picture for my computer wallpaper and I'm not looking out my windows but instead pretending that it if I did, it would look like this.

Okay... One, go to my archives and read "Our first "real" winter days" for more back story. Two, I blame the "pretending it's green and pretty outside!" on cabin fever. (Re: see the reading of the earlier post)

No... You're right, I'm probably just crazy. Me? Whatever works is my motto.

Uh-oh... it's spring break time!

I put this sweet little picture of a baby dolphin swimming with it's mom in the dolphin nursery at Sea World in Florida.

This is what I did last spring break, so that's why I chose it.

I also picked this one because I didn't have any pictures of highly inebriated college students flashing body parts, passing out on the beach or barfing on their shoes.

I did watch "Where The Boys Are" laughing as much for the fun of it as I did for its hopelessly antiquated and tame standards, in comparison to the Spring Breaks nowadays.

Still, it is among one of my very favorite movies. As a teenager, I dreamed of going to Ft. Lauderdale and maybe meeting a "Yale-ie"... ah yes, the folly of youth.

What can I say? I dreamed of doing Spring Break in Lauderdale! Of course, I also wanted to go to an all girl Catholic boarding school because of the movie "The Trouble With Angels. I had forgotten about already having been kicked out of a Catholic parochial school when I was little. Go figure.

By the time I was old enough to go to the "Larger-than-life-Spring-Break-Trip-to-Ft. Lauderdale" I was grown up, a thousand bucks short on cash, working two jobs and wasn't all that keen on drinking anymore.

As for boarding school... I probably would have been better off at a military academy. (Sir! Captain Sir! Do we get to blow stuff up?) Yeah... that I could have done! In all honesty... I should just be thankful that I made through school period!

My break this year is going to be interesting to say the least. I'll be "dog-sitting" The older dog is some kind of bird hunting breed and for the life of me, I can never remember what it is! All I know is that I call him "The Wookie" because that's what he looks like! Then there will be the "baby" He's a 5 month old yellow lab. That should be fun.

I intend for them to spend a lot of time with me at the dog park. After all, the first rule of training is a tired puppy is happy puppy! HA! I just hope the weather holds and the park doesn't transform into a swamp.

I love dogs, so I am happy to be able to do this. My cat Ludie however, isn't quite on board with the whole thing. Which reminds me... I need to get him some kitty valium. (kidding!) He'll get over it. As long as he gets one undisturbed nap a day with me he doesn't demand much else. How can he? He sleeps about 20 hours out of 24 now. It's just those 4 hours alone that tick him off.

Still... it'll be a long week for him. He gets over it quickly though... he's mellowed with age and tends to only scream at me for about two days before either losing his voice or just getting tired and giving it up. Me? I just bought new earplugs, so no worries there.

Maybe I should reconsider the valium... for me!

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

This photo was taken by a friend while in Hawaii.

Here today, the temps are around 30-ish and the sun isn't shining. It's become quite damp and cold and of course that makes me hurt...

Me?

I'm on that beach, listening to the ocean's gentle cadence, the water whispering across the sand, kissing the beach then ebbing away....

And all it took were six little words...

"I'll see you in six months."

WOOO- HOOO!!!

Just a quick note of monumental importance!

For only the second time in my cancer's long reign...

I am going to six month check-ups!!!

I am on top of the world and truly flying!

It's just after 9 & I can already tell it's going to be one of "those" days...

I recently had to reschedule two Doctor appointments because of nasty weather.

Two Mondays in a row no less. When the appointment coordinator asked me when the best time would be, I countered with, "Well for starters, lets try something other than a Monday!" We scheduled it for Thursday. Which happens to be today.

The past seven or eight days have been sunny and bright. Not today, it's kind of gray and gloomy. Just one of those... "blah, blecky" days. Oh, and it's also supposed to snow.

Figures.



This is a chicken. I forgot it's name. Cool, eh?!

Begining...

"It's mine!" "No it's not!" "Give it to me!" "No! I'm tellin' Dad!" "Go ahead ya baby! He likes me better than you anyway!!" "Does not!" "Uh-huh!"
(Just one for you my "little" sisters! Hahahaha!)

Today is what I'd call a "Biting Day" this is generally one step before I call for a "I Need A Mental Health Day" After many days of just not feeling myself, I have noticed that the strangeness I've been so aware of seems to be ebbing away.

That makes me feel even better. I wish I could figure out why I had felt like that in the first place. I wouldn't mind knowing what it was that helped me out of it either.

So the sun's shining here, and the last remnants of Monday's snow storm are melting away. There was a chance last night for more snow but those farther north of us got the brunt of it. Yay!

Although, wet, heavy snow storms are quite common for this area at this time of the year. That's just how it goes. The only saving grace is that the snow rarely sticks around because of the winter thaw starting.

I don't really like this part of the changing seasons. The remaining snow looks gray and dirty, like a loathsome cur you can't keep out of your yard. My gardens look defeated and dead. It's as if there is no hope that they'll ever produce anything pretty in the weeks and months to come.

Yes, I look forward to just a few more weeks from now when everything begins again. The time when the defeated gardens show signs of fighting back... Green amongst the dead and drab remains of summers past.

I think perhaps I know now why I felt the way I did... I've just been waiting to begin.

Between nowhere and no where to go...

As one can easily see, it's been awhile since my last post. The time lapse had a lot to do with the title of this piece. I've felt like that's the best way to describe my state of mind.

I just can't seem to get motivated and back on track. Not that I've ever been completely "on-track" compared to other people's definitions of the same... It's just that I've never completely stopped on the tracks. Maybe that's one of the reasons I've felt so odd and flat.

Odder still is that I don't feel like I'm depressed or am suffering a case of the blues... I just feel nothing, rather than feeling as I should be. I'm not feeling unfriendly, I've had contact with others, I've been doing stuff per the norm... But at home? Flat.

Even Ludie has noticed it. He seems to alternate from being very loving to driving me crazy with his caterwauling... both elicit a response from me. He makes me feel less gray, but I'm just not myself. Go figure.

This photo was taken by a cherished friend. He lives in a slightly urban, yet amazingly natural wilderness Homestead. He is blessed with the talent and the "eye" to recognize the inherent beauty of scenes such as this and thus is able to create a powerful and soul-stirring image.

I've looked at this photo a lot these last few days... It makes me feel better.

When it comes to art of any form, isn't that what it's supposed to do? Make you feel something?

Thank you R. Your beautiful images have helped me try to get refocused. Who could ask more from a friend?


Peace... just seems so much closer now.

Back in the swing of things... Kind of.

After feeling kind of "flat" for a few days, I'm back to as near to normal that I can reasonably be.

I had a fun treat on Sunday, one of my dearest friends and her family came to town to celebrate her hubby's birthday. We dined at our favorite chain restaurant (we are ever so predictable when it comes to food!) and it was a fun visit.

Other than that, I've just been plodding along. We got dumped on with one of those typical March "heavy-wet-nasty" snow storms. It was so bad, that I barely made it up the driveway. The snow was so heavy I couldn't even just push it! I hate when that happens!

So... I'm just hanging out, waiting for it to melt. I guess that could be interpreted as a rather stupid solution but requiring a hypo for pain just to stop crying... (after a whole seven minutes of trying to resolve the snow removal issue) I decided it's not that stupid after all.

Well, it's time for a nap!

The good and the not so good

This a sign we saw often on our trip last spring down south. Is it just me or do you think too much sunshine fries the brains of otherwise normal people?

We understood the actual reason behind its message...

but I mean, come on! You actually need signs?!

Yesterday I mananged to catch up with a friend at his office. I haven't seen or talked to him since before Christmas so the face to face was really great. I told him of my "Life on Blood Thinners Tale" and I thought he was going to have a stroke he was laughing so hard.

I hated to admit it... but his reaction to it almost made it worth it!

He begged me to let him tell others about that interesting little tidbit... I said yes, but in hindsight I'm not so sure that was a wise idea.

I hope at least he omits my name when he tells it to others I know.

He too is a cancer survivor and he told me sadly that a blonde, former office employee (that at least one of you out there knows) Recently had cancer surgery and is still on the mend.

It sounded quite serious and I was concerned because it sounds as if the doctors aren't being very aggressive in her follow-up care. I really do hope this doesn't end up being a fatal mistake on their part.

Being a survivor has it's good and bad points. My oncologist was an extremely aggressive doctor and had he not been, I would not be here at this moment. So I have to be cautious when it comes to what other doctors do.

My doc told me on numerous occasions that I had, "just enough knowledge to make me dangerous" and my limited medical schooling and constant research into new medications and protocols for drug trials, etc. ect. sometimes put the two of us toe to toe, but at the same time, I could question him on his own level.

What can I say? I'm considered aggressive by some, (yeah, yeah... you can stop laughing now.) mostly, I pay attention and it frightens me sometimes when I hear about other people's treatments, especially treatments that I think are too soft.

But, I am not, and have never been a doctor and I absolutely don't know everything. (I can hear the printers whining and burning into action now that I've made THAT statement!) I can't help but hope she isn't blindsided by a reoccurrence that didn't have to happen.

Well, I've downed a pot of coffee and need to do something constructive with the day... hahahahahahahahahaha! Yeah, right. I've got to at least try, and winding this computer thing down is a good way to start.