Our dogs, our babies...

So - this is our sweet Phoebe.  This year has been a challenging one as far as her health goes.  She's a little over 8 years old and for quite a while we have battled with her weight, her allergies, and skin issues. 

Her adrenals were out of whack which caused her to feel like she was hungry all the time, which caused her to overeat,  which in turn caused her to be way overweight.  Also, problems with her adrenals also caused problems with her skin.  If I didn't bathe her almost every other day, she would get terrible sores all over her.  I'd put her on antibiotics and steroids, but that was only a temporary band-aid.  We tried Melatonin implants but those didn't really work.  Our vet recommended a medication that we tried for a while, and it worked for a time, but all of a sudden threw her into adrenal crisis.  We caught that just in time and now she goes for an injection every 25 days to keep her "up"where her adrenals have failed.  

Shortly after that crisis, we ended up in the Doggie ER one night because she wasn't acting right and doing a funny thing with her eyes.  I worried that her injections were having a bad reaction on her and I was still frightened from the crisis we had just gone through. Turned out that she had a corneal abrasion (no crisis - thank goodness!)  which we treated for several weeks with antibiotic eye drops and her eye seemed to get better. 

                                      

A couple weeks after that we were back at the Vet once again for seasonal allergies and a skin infection.  Her skin was so itchy that none of us could stand the scratching, but at least she didn't have the big sores all over like she used to get she used to get. Two rounds of antibiotics later and things were once again looking up. 

This week, I noticed something wasn't right with her once again.  Her left eye looked funny to me and she was only blinking with her right eye,  and when she would walk her gait was just off.  We went to see our Vet and sure enough something is wrong with her eye.  Her left pupil is dilated and she isn't blinking on the left.  Poor baby girl.

Since the Doggie Opthamologist only comes to town once every two weeks, we are off to see him on Monday to see what is going on with her eye.  

She seems to feel okay - she's bossing me around as usual, and her gait seems to be back to normal.  I'm putting artificial tears in that eye but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her tear duct and her eye is staying moist, even without the drops. 

If you are so inclined, would you please say a prayer for our girl?    

And while you are at it, could you also say a prayer for our other baby who needs it too?  This is Niles. 

 He's our 12 year old little guy who almost got killed last year at Doggie Camp.  His arthritis is getting pretty bad.  I'm trying to keep him medicated but the medication is not holding him quite as long as it used to. He's limping around a little more and it may be time to up his pain medication.  Unfortunately, the medication is not good long term on his liver.  Ugh.

Why can't they stay young and healthy forever???

The other two babies seem to be just fine. 

Nestle is still nervous, but that's just "'cwazy ol' Nettie!"

Then of course, last but definitely not least - sweet, sweet Teddy Bear - he really is just a baby!  Not a mean bone in this baby's body.  I just want to squeeze him until I get a pop!

Wow - if you've made it all the way to the end of this post - I appreciate you taking the time to read about my babies.  Since we don't have human children, these are our kids. When they are out of sorts, so are we.  We can't stand it when they don't feel well.  ;(

Sweet Phoebs

Phoebe is our sweet but bossy female Yorkie. She rules the roost around here and tells us what to do and when to do it.  If we don't do as she wants, she will not so gently and very loudly remind you until you see things her way.  ;)

Over the years, we have battled with weight issues, skin issues, and allergy issues.  She had an issue with her adrenal glands that not only made her hungry *all the time* (which made her overweight too) but her skin was itchy and she would have terrible skin rashes that I had the worst time trying to  keep under control.

 Even with bathing her a couple times a week, her skin would sometimes get so bad it almost looked like someone was putting cigarette butts out on her.  It was heartbreaking and frustrating that I couldn't keep her feeling good.  Occasionally we would resort to steroids and antibiotics but I didn't want to keep doing that either - first it's not good for her and second, it's expensive.  Finally we tried a drug that would suppress her adrenals and hopefully help with her skin and her appetite.  It worked for a while and then suddenly it sent her into an adrenal crisis.

I went into panic mode when I could see that she really wasn't feeling well. She spent the night at the doggie hospital and was able to come home once she stabilized.  Adrenal crisis is just that - a crisis.  She could have suffered a heart attack, respiratory arrest - a number of things had we not caught it in time. But we did and our vet assured us that now, she would be easier to "maintain".
 So, every 25 days for the rest of her life, she will get an injection to keep her "up".  Her skin is 98% better and her appetite is no where near as ravenous.
Things were cruising along nicely for about 3 weeks when the other night when we were getting ready to go to sleep, her eyes looked "funny" to me.  All I could think of was the look drug addicts get when they are way past high and ready to pass out.  Her eyes were half closed and half rolling back into her head.  I rationalized that maybe she was just overtired and trying to go to sleep and I was bugging her.  But then, about 10 minutes later, she got sick.

Again, panic set in.  I jumped out of bed and rushed her to the emergency vet.  
Once we got there she was alert and acting fine (of course!) but would still do that crazy thing with her eyes.

Turns out, she has a corneal abrasion which can be quite painful.  We got medicated eye drops and she is now on the mend and quickly getting back into her supervisory mode.  Thank goodness!

What's Up?

What funny bears!
It's rare that we can capture all of them on the back of the couch at once. If we are eating, usually at least two are at our feet hoping for crumbs to drop.
From Left to right is Phoebe, Teddy, Nestle and Niles.
It's been a crazy busy week trying to get ready for Doug's golf tournament tomorrow but we did manage to cross a few more things off the list like:

Ceiling fan bought and installed in laundry room
Ceiling fan bought and installed on back porch
Mulched all the garden beds in the back yard
Bought and hung a huge mirror in the kitchen behind the table
Bought two new lamps for the living room.
Washed the windows on the back side of the house.

*and* we've had exhausting temperatures upwards of 105 degrees for the past month or so. One day it actually hit 115. That is crazy!

Busy day tomorrow - Doug's golf tournament, friends over for a party after, a "reunion" party with the people we went to the BVI with, then the Brady District for the Flaming Lips Block Party! I'd better go get some sleep...

Home from Connecticut, New York and Poor Niles!

We ventured up to Connecticut last week. I couldn't wait to meet my new nephew Joao (John) and see my family as it has been way too long! We squeezed so much stuff into our few days there - a trip to New York City - where we saw Jennifer Aniston shooting a film near Bryant Part, Pizza at Pepes, Baby Shower for my sister Jan, breakfast with my Gram and just lots of laughs and good times.
On Friday we took the train from Milford to New York. It's a quick and easy train ride and fun to people watch. Left to right is my brother Bob, his girlfriend Jess, Me & Doug. Can you tell how excited we are? It was actually a pretty nice day - just slightly cold but not too bad - and plenty of sun. We were so lucky!

We had lunch at Simply Pasta, took the subway to Soho, shopped around China Town, went to Supreme - a skateboard shop and after much walking and a little shopping we took the train back to have pizza in New Haven at Pepes.
One of the main reasons for our trip was to meet our sweet nephew! Isn't he just a precious little baby? He belongs to my sister Amanda and if I thought I could get away with it, I would have brought him back to Oklahoma with me!

Another big reason for our trip was a baby shower for my sister January. Her due date is the beginning of January and with the holiday activities we decided to have the shower now. Left to right is January, Me & nephew, Amanda and Jess.

I just can't get enough of this little man! He really liked his auntie too! ;)

Unfortunately, on Saturday while Doug and I were out shopping we got a phone call that nobody wants to get. One of our little Yorkies - Niles - got attacked while away at Doggie Camp. He was mauled by a Jack Russell Terrier and suffered multiple puncture wounds, bruises and at least four broken ribs. Niles is 10 years old and only four pounds and is missing several of his teeth so he really can't defend himself. We were absolutely devastated by the news and of course, it put a damper on our trip. He was rushed to the Emergency Veterinary Clinic here in Tulsa and they did a great job patching him up and taking care of him until we arrived home late last night. We stopped by to see him and *maybe* take him home but he was in such fragile condition that I started feeling weak and almost passed out from seeing him in that condition. We decided to let him stay the rest of the night at the Critical Care Clinic.

This morning we took him from the ER clinic to our vet and he stayed there most of the day today. We have him home tonight and put him in his own little "playpen" where he can move around a little bit but is safe from being bothered from our other dogs. We've got him doped up on a Fentanyl patch to keep his pain controlled but the problem now is that he is not eating. I'm hoping he will regain his appetite soon - he is just too little and can't afford to lose any weight. Plus we have to get his antibiotics into him. If you pray, please pray for Niles to have a quick and uneventful recovery.
I hope to work on some of my Silver Bella projects this weekend and post more pictures.

White Christmas Tag Swap & Connecticut!

It's been a crazy day here trying to finish up my tags for my White Christmas Tag Swap, refinance our mortgage loan, and pack for Connecticut. Plus, we had to take the dogs to Camp Bow Wow - which is always a nerve wracking experience as Phoebe barks/whines the entire ride.
Anyway, I finished my tags and printed out the mailing address where I needed to send them only to read in the directions that we were supposed to do variations of whites and creams. OOPS! Yeah - probably should have read that closer *before* I made all those tags. Let's just say this is *MY* interpretation of a White Christmas ;)

I think they are cute and I got them in the mail today so they will arrive before the deadline. There is no time to redo them since we head to Connecticut first thing tomorrow morning.
No time to work on my unfinished Silver Bella projects either - those will have to wait until I get back home.

Getting excited for Silver Bella 2010 and stress with Dogs!

On Wednesday I leave for Omaha to attend Silver Bella. Lots to do before then and I am so excited that I can hardly wait! Supplies to gather, car to pack...
This is my first year to attend but I've heard all about it and it sounds fabulous!



Been busy on other things too. Took all four dogs to the vet on Friday to get their annual check-ups. Can you say NIGHTMARE!?! I was also dropping my Jeep off for service -oil change, new wipers, rotate tires (for my upcoming ROAD TRIP!!).
Doug had Nestle, Phoebe and Teddy Bear in his car and I had Niles with me. When he picked me up from the car place I opened the door and he said, "Welcome to Hell!" I knew what that meant - that meant that Phoebe barked incessantly all the way from home.
Ugh - we got to the vet and while waiting to be let into a room she barked this constant high pitched, rapid paced, screetching bark. It was so embarrassing and stressful. Once we got let into the room and they examined her she *finally* shut up!
Everyone got a clean bill of health (except us - we had heart attacks when we had to pay THAT bill) and Niles, Nestle and Phoebe have to go back in on Monday for teeth cleaning. I don't even want to think about what that is going to cost. Whew ~

I made January's baby shower invitations and got those in the mail last week.


I'm still working on the garage organization project. I meant to get it done way back in June but the heat wave set in and the wasps were on attack mode and there was NO WAY I was going to work out there under those conditions.
Now that the weather has cooled down, I have been making trips to the donation center and donating tons of stuff.
I still have lots to get rid of but for some of the stuff I didn't have a place to put it since we don't have shelving out there. That is until now.
We went to Sam's this week and bought these:



Now I just have to get them put together.

Four Dogs, No Doug...

Yep, just me and four furry little friends tonight.

Niles:

Nestle:

Teddy:

Phoebe:


Doug is in Florida for a Stryker meeting. Wish I was there too. It's very quiet around here tonight...We miss you honey!

Animal Attraction

Well, good news for the bird. One of the local veterinary clinics took him in to turn him over to a bird rehabilitator. So, hopefully he will be back to flying real soon and back out enjoying the wild. Hope he learned his lesson and doesn't go flying into any more windows.

This morning, I was looking out my window and I saw a boxer with a leash attached looking like it was scared. Our neighbors have a boxer so I thought it might be theirs. I went out to see if the dog had tags (none) and then went to my neighbor's house. Nobody was home so I rang our other neighbors doorbell. That neighbor said she knew it wasn't anybody's in the neighborhood because the dog had been hanging around and they asked around and nobody knew anything. I have to say this made me SO ANGRY. So, let me get this straight: you just LEAVE the poor thing to fend for itself? People are such IDIOTS!!!! I guess some people just don't care. They can't be bothered to make sure an animal is safe. How about a little food and water? Nope.

Anyway, I put the poor, scared thing in my backyard, give her some food and water and start calling. I call the local vets, the local boxer rescue group and the dog pound. Then I put an ad on craigslist. The first few calls I got were from people wanting a boxer in case the real owner didn't claim her. Finally this afternoon, I get a text from the real owner. He identified her right down to the leash that is attached to her collar. He is coming to pick her up once he gets finished with work. I'll give him a little lecture about putting tags on her and let him know that next time he might not be so lucky as to have someone return her. Unbelievable.

So happy that both these stories have a happy ending.

Tomorrow, Doug and I are heading over to Guthrie to walk a 5K in memory of a man named Chris Cowden who was killed in a motorcycle accident last year. He was an animal lover and all the proceeds are going to Free To Live, a no-kill animal shelter in Guthrie. I used to be a board member for Free To Live and it really is a nice place for animals. You can find Chris's story here.

Everyone, please, make sure your dogs and cats have tags. You may think they won't ever get out but it happens sometimes. Also, please spay and neuter your pet. It is simply irresponsible not to do so. Thank you.

Another week..

Wow! How is it Friday? It has been a busy week but things have gotten accomplished so I'm happy about that.
Do these guys look nervous?

That's because they were on their way here:

It was time to have Teddy groomed and he doesn't like to go to the Spa alone so Phoebe got to go too. Not sure she was too happy about that. They came home with cute little Easter scarves on.

Niles and Nestle were glad to have missed out on that one. Phoebe has different texture fur and she tends to get matted more easily so she needs to be groomed more often. Niles and Nestle have more "wash and wear" hair so I just throw them in the sink and give them a good scrub. The funny thing is when they hear the water running in the laundry room, everyone runs and hides. When I find them, they totally avoid eye contact hoping I won't see them. It doesn't work. When I'm on a mission to get them washed, that's it, there going in! Gosh, I'm mean! ;)
Made a couple of trips to Goodwill this week. It feels so good to get rid of stuff. I also made a trip to Edmond and met EARC at my old house. I donated enough stuff to fill up *half* of a box truck! Honestly, I didn't even know what was in most of the boxes they picked up. Whew! Totally unbelievable!
My "big" plans for the weekend are to make some progress in our garage so I can actually park my car in there before the really bad weather this spring. I also have to work on the invitations for my sister's baby shower. That should be fun. I'll post a picture when I'm done.

Time is just flying by...

Gosh, where does the time go? I can't believe it has been almost a week since I posted last. In a nutshell, things we have been up to:
1. St. Patricks Day: Doug and I met Jerry and Annette at LXI for dinner and drinks. What a great time we had and great food too!
2. Friday night we went to Bonefish Grill with Dr. T and Tonya. Another great night of dinner and drinks and fun conversation with friends. It was a last minute decision to go and I'm glad we did!
3. On Saturday, Doug and I went to D'Lambrusco's for a nice lunch, we ran around doing some errands and then headed back home. Doug put together a bookcase for my craft room and I worked up there for the rest of the evening. I made a fleece blanket for the dogs and finally got around to making Doug's Boston Red Sock's fleece blanket (a year and a half later...)
4. On Sunday we rented a U-haul trailer and went to Edmond to empty out some of the stuff in the garage. I guess in our hurry to get things done we didn't quite load the trailer correctly and on our drive home the thing started swaying like crazy. It scared me so much it made me sick. We had to drive really slow all the way back to Tulsa. It was that or pulling over, unloading and reloading all over again. That probably would have been the safer thing to do. Oh well, we made it safely. We unloaded the trailer and returned it. I cannot wait until we are done!

The house in Edmond showed four times over the weekend but so far no offers. I'm really hoping something happens soon.

Tonight I took the dogs for a walk. One at a time. I simply CANNOT walk four dogs at once. Not my dogs anyway. Nestle and Niles do just fine. I used to walk them together all the time. Phoebe is just a mess! She zigzags all over the place and we hardly make it halfway around the block and she is running into my feet which means she wants me to pick her up. She's the one who needs to walk! I'm going to have to progress slowly with her because she is so heavy she just can't handle going that far just yet. Teddy is just a goofball on a leash. He jumps up on the curbs like a little jackrabbit and then is scared if the wind blows. Walking on the leash is all new to him. He is used to running around the back yard uninhibited. He is just too cute.

It was a nice night for a walk. The temps were in the mid 70's and there were lots of people out walking their dogs, riding bikes with their kids and just enjoying the evening. Our neighborhood is a great place to walk and I plan to do alot more of that this spring.

Doug may or may not be going to Georgia at the end of this week. I can't believe tomorrow is Tuesday already. I've got a list of things to accomplish this week that is a mile long. Wish me luck!

What a beautiful day!

Don't you just love spring?

These are some of my pretty pansies out front.
The weather today is almost perfect. Warm, slight breeze, in the 80's. Gotta love it! It is spring break here in Oklahoma and so far one of the nicest we have had since I moved here in 2001. Usually it is cloudy and rainy but it looks like we are in for a very nice week. I'm so excited!
This weekend was a productive one. I spent some time in my craft room organizing and cleaning. The room is a great size but my biggest problem is that I have SO MUCH STUFF! Plus, the room has a funny "L" shape with sloped ceilings so it is difficult to decide where to put things. Thankfully Doug put up two of my embellishment centers and a huge bulletin board for me. Thank you Douglasssss!!!

Sorry about the dark picture but the area is tucked away in a little corner away from the light. I'm just so excited to have a place to put some of my stuff. I've got alot more to organize and I will post pictures of that as I go along.

Of course, I can't go up there for one minute without the dogs looking for me. When I look around the corner, this is what I see:

Gotta love it!

Billy Simms Barbeque ~ off the list!

We eat out all the time and so it is hard to find something that is different. While driving the other day, Doug mentioned he wanted to try Billy Sims Barbeque. I'm not a big fan of barbeque and I had a late lunch so when Doug asked me if I wanted to go try Billy Simms I figured why not.. I don't like to try new or different places when I'm really hungry because I'm afraid I won't find something I like.
Good thing I wasn't hungry tonight! When we pulled up, there were only two or so cars outside the place. NOT a good sign especially here in Tulsa where every decent (and not so decent) restaurant is busy. We walk in and there are a couple of guys sitting in a booth drinking beer and watching the game. We sit down and the bartender/waitress brings the menus. There are like FIVE CHOICES. Ugggghhhh! Again, I'm not crazy about barbeque but there is usually something I can choose. I pick the pulled pork sandwich and a side of potato salad and Doug picks the barbeque brisket with other stuff on it. My soda is flat when it arrives and Doug's beer is also.
The place was TERRIBLE! So, as far as I'm concerned, it's off the list! It joins Up the Creek steak place ~ terrible!
Anyway, on to more positive things. I got quite a bit accomplished this weekend. Phoebe got a bath which she so desperately needed. We have a little area in the kitchen where our table should go where we have placed a large playpen with blankets for the dogs. We affectionately refer to it as the bird's nest. The dogs LOVE it in there. We put them in there when we leave the house and they actually BEG to go back in around bedtime. Here is a picuture so you get the idea:

We took the nest outside and scrubbed it all clean and washed all the bedding and blankets so its all fresh and nice.
I also took the couch apart and vacuumed all the cushions really good, vacuumed the floors and Doug mopped them. We got new air filters for the intake vents and switched out the old ones. It feels so good to cross things off the list!
This morning I went up to my craft room and made some major headway organizing. I'm getting there!
Here are some pictures of the dogs. The first picture is of Nestle, a/k/a Nettie, Nettie Spaghetti, um punkin pie!

This next picture is of Niles, a/k/a Niles Crocodiles, nies crocs...

Then there's Phoebe, Phoebe Buffet, Phoebs, Curly, Girls, Curly Q, I like the way curly moves....(Our dogs have songs that go along with their names. I know, we are crazy...)

Finally, the baby of the family is Teddy Bear, Teddy, Taynie, Teddy Bayyer:

Thanks for looking!