Cody

Tonight we are going to pick up our new dog. We found him at the Human Society. We were going to bring him home last night, but when we decided to adopt him, there wasn't enough time left, so we put a HOLD on him and will pick him up tonight.
He is a 3 year old yellow lab mix and he;s a great boy. He's very friendly and energetic, and I am sure that he will get along well with Tullah. His name is Cody, but we aren't sure if we will change it or not. That's only been his name for 6 month, and before that he was a stray. He's already potty trained, and knows some things like Sit and Shake. I even got him to laydown with a treat.
I can't wait to pick up my new little boy. I will post pictures once we have him home. Today, I have the task of picking up a kennel, and some other odds and ends to get ready. Then once Jerry gets home we will go pick him up! I'm so excited.

Rest in Peace Trouble Ann Osowski

Trouble was born Nov 19, 1994 and came to live with Jerry's family 3 weeks later. At the time, I lived with Jerry's family too and also got a puppy from Trouble's litter. My puppy was Treena, and we lost her a few years ago. About 6 years ago Trouble came to live with us when Jerry's move moved somewhere she couldn't have dogs and has been with us ever since. She loved having the backyard to run around it. She also loved going to the cabin and playing in the water. She was so smart. Jerry's grandma taught her tons of tricks like her famous "bang bang your dead" where she would roll over on her back, legs in the air. She also taught her to say "I love you" by sneezing instead of barking. Of all my dogs she was the most laid back and easy going. She had one ear that was permanently stuck straight up since she was only months old.

Today started like any other day, and soon turned bad. 20 minutes after Jerry walked out the door, I went down to the kitchen and Tullah and Trouble followed me, but once Trouble got to the bottom of the stairs she couldn't walk with her back legs. I knew immediatly that I had to get her to the vet, that she wasn't going to "walk it off". For the past year or so, she has dragged her legs down the stairs instead of walking down them, but she usually starts walking when she gets to the bottom.

I was fortunate enough to get her into the vet right away. They looked her over and tried a few things, but the prognosis was not good. She has progressive nerve damage, and he didn't think that she would be able to walk on her own again. I called Jerry, and he came to the vet, and we put her to sleep. I never thought that my day would start like that.

She lifts me up

My little Tullah Bea has such a way of making me feel so much better. All she has to do is look at me with her sweet brown puppy doggie eyes and all the crappy stuff just disappears. It doesn't matter if she just ate one of my shoes, or knocked a full glass of juice off the coffee table with her tail; she can look at me with her sweet apologizing eyes. Why is that? Thank goodness for the unconditional love of dogs.

Homestudy Rescheduled, Next Tuesday

Got an e-mail today. We are now scheduled, AGAIN, for our follow up interview with our Social Worker. So, we are going to try this again over our lunch breaks. I refuse to getmyself excited about this scheduled meeting. Not until it's actually over.
Tonight, I am cooking Chili and Corn Muffins for Dinner tonight. Does is seem like I talk about food alot these days? I guess I do. It's probably the weather. I have been feeling a need to nest and snuggle in now that it's getting cold out.
I am a little nervous because Trouble will be going into the Vet tomorrow. She's been hacking at night, peeing on the floor, and drinking lots of water. I worry that there's something happening to her kidneys. She's 14 years-old now, and off the charts for her breed as far as age. Hopefully, it's something fixable. Poor girl. Send us your prayers, if you could.

Not a good Day

I just got a call from my sister-in-law and she told me they had to put little miss Prissy down to sleep today. The world works in such mysterious ways. What are the odds that I would put a post up about her this morning, then get a call like this just a few hours later. I'm so sad.

Little Miss Prissy I will miss you so.

Miss Prissy

Miss Prissy, originally uploaded by gemjlo.

This is a drawing of the sweet little kitty that lives in the abandoned store behing my sister-in-laws house. She's taken care of by the her landlord, but for the most part lives outside and seems happy to do so. We have been going down to Missour to visit my sister-in-law every year for maybe 4-5 years now and everytime we pull up in front of thier house we are greeted by little miss Prissy. There have been a few times I have thought that I would love to sneek her into my bag and take her home with me. Over the summer when we were down visiting my inlaws I noticed that she's getting very thin. My sister-in-law said that she's been taken to the vet, and she's alright, but I wonder if she will be around when we go down next year. I hope so, because I have grown attached to her. Whenever I am down there I make it a point to sit in the grass and pet her as much as I can. We have a connextion the two of us. We are like kindred spirits or something.

On a lighter note...Today's the day we have our appointment with the Social Worker. So, we get to answer all the remaining questions that she might have. Then, we leave it up to her again. Ugh. That's the hardest part of this, there's not a lot of contol over the situation really. It's always in someone else's hands.

My husband last night decided to buy a plasma TV. It's ment to go over the fireplace in the house we are building in the spring. His company gave the employees a very good deal then we could pass up. It's a 42" tv. We put it into our den for now, but we aren't down there much because we just finished the painting, and now we need t get carpet, but once that's done, I think we will certianly be using it more.

My little shadow

I must confess that for the amount of pleasure that Tullah, my almost 1 year old puppy, brings me, she also brings me much stress. I spend most of my nights afterwork washing the carpets or floors from her accidents, or picking up the stuffing from some toy she has recently torn to shreads. I can't say that I didn't expect that my time would be spent in this manner for puppies are a lot of work. I just forgot how much. She is a lovable little girl for all her quirks, she loves to snuggle, and much of her day is spent following me around. I am excited with the prospect that she will eventually mellow though, and I am counting the days.

Now for some good news. We have another appointment scheduled with our SW for next Thursday over lunch. I glad that we are seeing progress again, but I am guarded because she has yet to contact Elisabeth and Josh, and she must complete those interviews before our paperwork can go to committee again.

Keeping her Calm, it's impossible!

On Tuesday my little Tullah had her spay appointment. Upon picking her up I was told that I would have to keep her quiet and calm for 7-10days. This is proving to be a very hard thing to do. My darling little puppy loves to fetch and play tug. Every time I sit down on the couch she brings her ball to me and whines for me to throw it for her. It breaks my heart that she thinks I am ignoring her requests. When I let her outside, she immediately finds her “outside” ball and drops it at my feet. I have been trying to give her extra attention, rubbing her belly, and scratching her behind the ears, but it doesn’t appear that this is helping a bit. Any ideas other then keeping her confined in her kennel 24/7 would be appreciated.

My life is better for having been your human

Last Picture of Boo
Originally uploaded by gemjlo

Last night, I got home from work and you were sitting on my bed. I was supposed to come home during lunch to give your your pain pill, but couldn't get away, and I was worried you would be in pain. You seemed content when I got home, which made me feel relieved. I let the dogs out, and got them fed, then prepared your dinner. The vet said to try soft food or milk. That's what I got for you. I also got your medicine ready. As I picked you up from the bed you let out a little meow, which was the norm these past few days, and brought you to the dining room to feed you dinner. You weren't hungry, but I gave you your pill, which you proceeded to try and cough back up. Must be hard to swallow a pill when you don't want to drink any water.
I left you on a blanket so I could take the dogs out again and water my gardens because it's been very dry this past week. When I returned to find you, you were not on the blanket anymore. I found you sleeping on the dog's bed in our room. I figured I would let you rest. It would only be 2 more days until we put you down.
I guess you had other plans. As I was sitting at the computer, I heard you cough once, then again. I ran to see if you were alright. I found you lying on your side by the doorway. I wrapped you in a blanket and cradled you until the end. My sweet boy. I will miss your gentle purr in my ear and your hansome face. You lived a wonderful life little man. I am sorry it couldn't have been longer, but I must say that every moment you were alive was a blessing.
Boo~Booie~Boober~Little Man~Boozie~Boobie

Hoo Humm

Today I am feeling like starting our family though adoption is never going to happen. Because I don't have anyway to know what the status of our paperwork is without pestering our SW, which I don't want to do, then I feel out of control. What happens when I feel that way. Well, I eat.

I have been better today then yesterday but, I did break down and get an iced skim white chocolate mocha from Caribou over lunch. It was very yummy, but 390 calories I could have done without. Since we have been getting closer to the finish line with the adoption stuff, I have gained back 10 pounds that I lost over the winter. Aren't you supposed to lose weight when summer comes? I feel cheated. I guess I am just getting anxious for my day to come. Not to mention that AF is supposed to be delivering my monthly gift any day now. I expected it yesterday, but maybe she's late because Friday was a holiday. Who knows...

I am thinking that once we get through this week with Boo, my kitty who's being put down on Friday, I am going to get my butt in gear training Tullah. It seems that she's getting a little lax listening to commands. She's also jumping on people a lot these days. I wish she weren't so cute. I could be more firm with her, but she gives me the puppy eyes and snuggles into my neck and I melt like butter.

Our 4th Of July

Maia with a sparkler 2
Originally uploaded by gemjlo

We had a great time on the 4th at our friend Aaron's cabin. There was a bunch of us, and we spent the day in a lazy fashion. We played in the water, went tubing, skiing, we ate, we laughed, and we also played with fire. It will be fun to spend the 4th with children when we have them. Their awe and wonder over sparklers and fireworks is such a fun thing. It will be like experiencing them as children again.

Update on adoption...There's not update, as there's been no progress that I have seen. I have not heard from our SW in a couple of weeks. I will try and contact her again in a few more weeks, as that will be about the time she's supposed to be done with our paperwork.

On a sadder note. We have made the appointment to put our kitty boo to sleep. DH and I both wanted to be there, so Friday was the only day that would work. Unfortunatly, that's DH's birthday too. It's a shame that it has to be that way, but little buddy won't last another week and I definatly don't want him to suffer more then he needs to.
Keep us in your prayers.

Manic Monday

It's just another manic monday. I think this whole week is going to be a blur. DH and I will be on a flight to New York this thursday and I know the next few days are going to be busy with preporations for the trip. While in NY we are planning on going to a Yankees game, to see the statue of liberty, ground zero, and hopefully some other fun stuff. On Saturday we will be driving up to Boston for two days. While ther we are going to tour the Freedom trail and go to a Red Sox game. I just hope we haven't tried to pack too much into a five day trip. DH likes to be one the go so I am sure he will have no problem, it's just a matter of me keeping up.
Over the weekend I did all the laundry and cleaned up the house a bit. Tonight, I will mow the lawn. Tomorrow, I will start packing. Wednesday, I think I'm gonna just spend the night babying my pets because I am sure they are going to miss us terribly. I know that I will certainly miss them a bunch. It will be strange not having a wet puppy kiss to wake me up in the morning, but maybe I will be able to sleep later, and that would be nice.

Some days I feel just like this

Some days I feel just like this. I imagine that children in fostercare probably feel the same way. This little guy is one of my mom's puppies. You can't see it but, but he has 7 other brothers and sisters waiting for a home as well.
They are so cute and cuddley and I just want to take them all home with me, but I know that with a puppy comes a lot of work and issues. But they are all worth it in the end aren't they? They give so much love and joy.

I took our kitty Boo's to the vet on Tuesday. We recieved an update on prognosis last night. Unfortunatly, it's not good. His cancer is progressing at a fast rate, and there isn't any treatment for it. His kidney's are still functioning, but he is now anemic. His tumors will continue to grow and could eventually cause him pain. It will require pain medication soon. The vet said that we will take things week by week and see how he's doing. As long as he's still eating and not in much pain we are supposed to keep him comfortable and give him all the attention he wants.

It's so sad to know that you pet is sick and you cannot do anything to make them well. He's not young by any means. But, if he didn't have Feline Luekemia he would have a good amount of time left to live. My poor little man.

Lack of Sleep

This morning I got up with my 5 month old puppy at 3:00AM in the morning. She was locked up in her kennel longer then normal yesterday and I guess it made her not that sleepy. However, I was sleepy and could have used the sleep. Is this the Almighty’s way of letting me experience the lack of sleep that one gets with a newborn since I won’t be experiencing it with an actual human baby of my own? The Lord works in mysterious ways I guess.
I got a chance to call our Social Worker this morning, and got the following message, “This is D***, today is Monday, April 21st and I will be in the office this week, however I will be working part time. I will be back fulltime the week of April 28th…” Can I just tell you that this is torture? Waiting is not something I do well. Errrrr….

Physical - Check

Our Older Wiser Cat - Boo


Little Lucy

Mark another item off the list of things to do for adoption. Tomorrow, I will be taking my cats in for thier physicals and shots. We have to provide proof that they have their shots up to date, and I think they will both need a few. I know that they are not going to be happy. I decided to do them both in one visit, however, I only have one cat carrier, so it's going to be interesting to say the least. I think we will need to put the younger of the two in the carrier, and hold the other more docile kitty. Tonight, I will spend the night combing the mats out of Boo's hairs. Since he's gotten older he spends much more time rolling on his back. I can't keep up with the mess he makes of his hair. He never used to have such problems, but I guess sleep is more important to my old little man.