I'd Like to Share....

I'm not ready to be an empty-nester!  No, I won't be one! Not me, no not me! My children no longer live with me but I just couldn't stand the thought of being completely "empty." So I brought the dog with me when I moved to Chicago with Mr. Noexcuses.  

Tootsie is a rescue who came to live with us in 2006.  We didn't know her age, or her breed, but we knew she was full of unconditional love!  The shelter guessed her age to be that of about 18 months, but had no clue as to what kind of dog she was.  Once we had her groomed for the first time, she looked like a giant Scottie, but with floppy ears!  As she grew, so did our guesses at her breed...part Schnauzer, part Basset and now we think she may be part Bear!

Over the years her health has been good...no major illnesses, no broken bones and no hanky panky with the boys in the neighborhood!  After returning from a 10 day vacation we noticed a little anxiety panting that seems to have hung around, but nothing truly obnoxious.  We figured she was mad because we went to the beach and didn't take her with us! 

Tootsie loves the outdoors, especially the snow!  I hate the snow...at least I hate it at 6:00am or 10:00pm potty breaks, or anytime of day that I have to drive in it.  But she loves it and would stay out for hours if we would let her!  The heat, on the other hand, is not her favorite season!  It makes her very lazy...just like it does the rest of us...and she takes a lot of naps.  In the warmer seasons, she sleeps in the bathroom on the cool tile...next to the wall so she feels safe.  We are in a very warm season right now!

Last week as we were getting ready for bed, I could hear her scratching the bathroom floor and wall.  I thought that she was changing positions.  The scratching was continuous and I peeked around the corner to see if she was having a bad dream.  She was trying to get up, but couldn't make her legs work.  She would lift her head and it would drop right back down to the floor.  She was panting heavily which concerned me. I could see that she was awake while all of this was happening, but she never whimpered so I was confused.  She continued to attempt to get up, but could not. My thoughts turned to "seizure" and I began to panic.

I called Blue Pearl, a Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital about 15 minutes away from the house and described her condition.  They were so supportive and helpful and managed to calm me down enough so I could speak with regular words.  They suggested we bring her in so they could take a look.  Since she could not walk, we had to carry her.  This is where the "part bear" comes in.  She is a lug...a lovey lug, but nevertheless a chunky monkey!  

We arrived at the hospital and got her into a very large and open exam room. There were at least three technicians/doctors there to greet us.  We were escorted to a small waiting room while they examined Tootsie and I drew the short stick to fill out the forms. After a short wait, the Vet came in to talk to us.  I missed every other word that was spoken, but I did catch the words "not a seizure" and "probably just dehydration."  There was a concern that it might be an inner ear infection which caused dizziness (an explanation for not being able to stand). I have Vertigo, so I can relate to the room sort of spinning around at any given time. 

They wanted to give her some fluids, check her blood, and keep her overnight for observation if it was okay with us. I felt secure that she was in good hands.  We agreed that this would be a good idea.  We were welcome to stay if we wanted, however, they thought she would be fine and they would call us if there was any change.  Once she was settled and they had the blood results they said they would call and let us know their findings.  The next few hours were hell for me. I turned to my faith and prayed with everything I had. They called a few hours later with good news. There was a minor infection in her ears, and a slight elevation in her liver values. They were going to start her on antibiotics and a liver protectant.  They said Tootsie was resting well.  I felt very hopeful from the sound of the doctor's voice. 

Early the next morning, I called to see how she was doing.  The doctor was very excited to tell me that not only did she stand up on her own during the night, but that she was drinking and went outside to go potty.  I couldn't speak as the tears overflowed from relief and joy.  I think I must have thanked her at least a dozen times and said I would pick her up shortly.  

I feel to fortunate to have such a happy ending to this story.  It might not have been were it not for the incredibly professional, expert and loving attention given to our Princess Bear while she was in the care of Blue Pearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital in Elk Grove, Illinois.  

Thank you Blue Pearl, for everything! I hope that others who are in need of your services will think of you because of the story I share.   



This post is brought to you by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.  Please scamper over to see what others have to share today!

Saturday Centus - Gotta Rake Those Leaves!

Once again, I had a brain-dead Saturday morning. I went back to bed, but please don't tell... I love this weekly meme sponsored by Jenny Matlock. Each week, she gives us a prompt and challenges us to write a story using the prompt but no more than 100 words in length. I hope you enjoy it! (The prompt is in bold.)

The early November sunshine cast golden rays upon the backyard leaves yet to be raked. As I poured my coffee I watched the deer slowly make his way across the yard. He had just assaulted the last of the mums, and was now searching for hidden delights below the leaves.

I laughed as I thought "I would never see this in Anaheim. I might see Mickey or Donald, but not a real Bambi!” I quietly walked to the deck and Tootsie ran ahead of me. She bolted down the stairs to the yard. As she hit the last step, there was nothing left but dust and leaves.

Please stop by Jenny's Saturday Centus and enjoy the creativity of others. They are all quick reads, so you won't lose too much time. Just click on the logo below.

I Heart Faces - Pets Week

Please stop over and say hi at I Heart Faces, a Photography Blog. They always have the most amazing photos to share! It's also a great way to get to know a lot of the contributors!

This is our pet, Tootsie. She is not a guy trying to be a girl, but rather looked like a tootsie roll when we adopted her.



Thanks, and have a great day!

Spring Break - Partaaaaaay!

Today was the last day of school for us. We have ten days of NOT having to schedule my morning shower around everyone else; ten days of crawling back into bed after the bacon-bringer-home leaves for work; ten days of off-and-on computer play; and ten days of keeping the food on track.

Oh heck, I can do that! I spent seven hours today passing by boxes of donuts, cookies and cupcakes. Since I knew that if I had one, I would then have to have all of them. It is so much easier to not eat forbidden foods, than to try to monitor or make portions. I'm not very good with numbers; words are more my style. I have a tough time counting calories, points, grams, etc. What has been working for me is to decrease portion size. Instead of one pound of M&Ms, I limit myself to 1/2 pound. Arent' I the clever one?

I suppose I will now have to walk Tootsie a few more times each day in order to make up for the walking I usually do at work. She is going to be very confused as to why there are so many people home during her "special" alone time! I think she will forgive us as long as we include her in our conversations. She still does the 3:45am thing where we go out to check the "boat house." Sometimes, she just likes to sniff around to see which friends have been by lately.

My "random act of kindess" deeds are coming along fine. Sometimes, just a little "hello" to someone will brighten their day. It takes a lot less effort to smile than to frown, and since I'm a lazy person, it works very well for me. I'm always waving to cars passing by the house. My kids are humiliated because most of the time I don't know who is driving the car. I just wave in case it's someone who knows me...if I don't, I will have to apologize later for being a snob.

My plans for spring break include cleaning out cupboards and closets, and getting rid of all the Girl Scout art projects, swaps (I have two million safety pins if someone needs them for swaps!) and a ton of papers. Anyone in scouts knows that there are a lot of forms, letters and yellow "Troop" copies of every cookie sale and registration, and don't forget all of the leftover "April Showers" bags! I have ten years worth of stuff. I think it's time to say goodbye to a few things. I will be strong!

Or, I just might bail on the house stuff and go to the movies with the girls!

Another Glorious Saturday in the Burbs!

It's 5:00am and Tootsie has to pee. She does the ritual dance, sneeze and rolling around on the floor. So begins my day. After several cups of coffee, and the traditional bowl of Cheerios, we go for a short walk around the outside of the house. (Well, excuse me, I'm still in my jammies, and it's 20 degrees outside!) We take care of business and return to the house where I have another cup of coffee to take away the chill. The princesses awaken and we talk about our day. Katya will go into work for a few hours and Ed is expecting some friend to come over to play video games.

Why is it that when your teen child asks a few teen friends over to just "hang out" and within several hours, the "few" teen friends have turned into almost nine or ten friends? Is it because they are like little hamsters? If you don't keep a constant eye on them, they just keep multiplying over and over! Case in point: Ed was going to have three friends over to help make a movie based on a computer game. (Someone on YouTube has done this with the game "Minesweeper.)

"Okay," I think, "they will be fine...they will probably be so busy rolling around laughing, that the filming of the movie won't even get started!" So I guess it's okay to go to Rock's first volleyball tournament. So Retro and I spend the next few hours at the tournament, watching, waiting...and watching again, and then driving back home. Upon our return, the three friends have grown to five friends, plus Katya, home from work, and another friend upstairs taking a shower. Don't ask.

"Okay," I think, "they were having an artistic block and needed to call in some professionals." I gingerly take the steps down to the basement to find the five friends, plus Ed, on the couch in front of the television, deep in concentration while they are playing the video game which is the subject of the movie. Katya and her (shower) friend are texting each other from across the room, giggling the whole time.

"How's the movie going?" I ask.

"Oh.." says Ed. "We are still trying to figure out the details of how we want it to look and what we will say to each other."

"Okay," I reply. "Well, we only have enough pizza for the family." I start back up the steps to the kitchen and turn on the oven.

"That's okay," both Ed and Katya yell out, "we are going out to get some food in a little while."

Retro and I sat down to a local grocer's gourmet pizza that I cooked two minutes less than the directions, but still was burnt! I am NOT Rachel Ray! A glass of milk and a Fig Newton cookie helped get rid of the burnt cheese aftertaste in my mouth. We retired to the family room where Retro made himself comfortable in his Lazyboy chair - remote in hand, and I sat down at the computer to check stuff...like email, blogs, and FB. We could hear the laughter in the basement becoming louder and more pronounced.

Once again, I trudged down the steps to the basement, only to find that two friends who just got off work had joined the festivities. Almost the entire group was talking at the same time. I laughed and waved, and told them that everyone needed to leave by eleven o'clock. At 10:45, I was awakened by my own snoring as Saturday Night Live was getting underway. I turned off the TV, clapped my hands to wake up Retro and told him to go to bed. The house was silent.

"This is not good," I thought. I slowly opened the door to the basement and tiptoed halfway down the stairs. I could see the kids and the reason they were so quiet. Each and every one was shoveling burgers, fries and drinks into their bird-like mouths. They only had 15 more minutes before they would be kicked out and didn't want their parents' cars smelling like french fries...better my basement to smell like fries, than their automobiles!

They all went home shortly after eleven. Ed, Katya and I had a little conversation about how to keep friends from multiplying..."just say no!" We all turned in by midnight, and after five hours of sleep, Tootsie and I began another day.