Something that made me smile

Yes, I'm still here, alive and kicking.

Just busy...what's new...

I saw this on a friend's FaceBook page and enjoyed it enough to want to share it with you.



I'll catch you up on things soon...promise.

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours....

We wish you the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest of all Holidays. May you spend your time with those you love, and enjoy every moment together.

Plans

What is that saying about plans? "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray"...well, welcome to my world lately. I've had the best intentions of getting certain things done, and well, I just haven't done them. I've barely started my Christmas shopping - Yes, you read that right! ME! The master planner of events and parties and all things social....and I totally don't have my poop in a group this year.

I can't quite put my finger on it. I have been very busy, that's one thing. Busy with things I love to do, so at least that's a good thing. I've been working a LOT and it's been mainly out of town. I've not been enjoying an 80+ mile commute each way, but I love my job and I won't complain. I do look forward to getting through January though, and hopefully getting back into the San Diego market.

I've also (at least for the last week or so) been fighting a nasty head cold. I freaking hate being sick! I've got no energy, no "UMPH". I want to sit on the couch in my sweats, curled up with a blanket and the dogs and spend long hours with my newest boyfriend, Dexter Morgan. Oh, I do love my Dexter...I've only known him for about 3 seasons so far (don't give anything away if you are a fan) but it was love at first episode, and it's torture to tear myself away from him.

So...between my cold, and my boyfriend, some other distractions and a couple of other unexpected wrenches thrown in between my spokes, some of the more important things have gotten moved to the back burner of my life recently.

One such "wrench" got thrown at me yesterday. AJ and I had just dropped Jack and Jill off at the groomer. (Kona and Harley went the day before) We'd planned to do some much needed (what else)Christmas shopping, and had just walked into Target. My cell phone rang, and it was the groomer. She told me there had been an "incident" and that Jill's toe nail was bleeding. "No big deal, just put some of that powder stuff on it..." I thought to myself. I told her it was probably fine and to give it a couple of minutes. She said that I'd misunderstood her...the toenail hadn't been clipped too short, the whole nail had ripped off. WHAT? I was on my way.

We got to the groomer about 15 minutes later, and this is what I was given. Jill's entire nail. Gross, I know!

Apparently, the groomer was walking her up into the bathtub and the nail caught on something. Ouch! It didn't seem to be bothering her at all, she was jumping around like a silly puppy, but the blood was unbelievable! I called my vet, and off we went.

Jill came home with her foot completely wrapped after having what was left of the toenail cauterized to stop the bleeding. Delightful. And she got an injection for the pain, and of course antibiotics...needless to say, it was not a cheap morning.

The worst part was probably that she was the one most in need of getting groomed (she is SUCH a fluff ball!) and she can't get groomed for several weeks now. Again, delightful.

So much for getting anything done yesterday. Oh, I did finally pick up my Christmas cards from the printer yesterday. Can I get a Whoo-hoo!! I actually got a bunch of them mailed today too. Hey! I'm making progress.

If I could just have another week to get my Christmas shopping done, I'd be in great shape!

...so where was I?....

I know, I know...it's been a while (again) since I've posted. What can I say? I've been caught up by life. It happens to the best of us...

So, to play a little catch up, I'll fill you in on the last couple of days.

Friday was Pickle's birthday. How my BABY can be 18 is absolutely beyond my comprehension. I am way too young to have my baby be that old, right? (Indulge me here folks!) I gave her all sorts of options on fun stuff to do for her birthday from shopping to an amusement park, to the spa, etc., and what did she chose to do? Go to school, and spend the day with her friends since it was the last day before Christmas vacation started. (Who's kid is this?) Seriously though, she had a huge final she knew she had to take, and didn't want to postpone taking it until after vacation, so she stuck it out and got through it. That's my girl. I was proud of the choice she made.

In the evening we had a quiet family dinner at one of her favorite places downtown (The Old Spaghetti Factory) with her boyfriend, and G-Ma and G-Pa. We are so blessed that my Pops has been feeling well enough to venture out a bit with us here and there for our birthday dinners. It makes the family times together extra special.After a great dinner, we headed home for some present opening and cake. It was great way to wrap up a very nice evening.

Saturday morning I had a bit of work to do and then I did some major grocery shopping, not only in anticipation of our Christmas meal preparation, but because our Boy was coming home! Yep! I had to fill the cupboards because AJ came home Saturday afternoon, and that boy can eat! We wanted to be sure to have all of his favorites, especially things he can't get readily in college, so we did some major stocking up.

We picked him up, right on schedule Saturday evening, and spent the rest of the night catching up, hearing stories of the cold weather, the dorm buddies, and of course FINALS. Needless to say, he is very happy to be home for a few weeks to thaw out, rest up, and just plain relax. I am thrilled that he is here, especially for more than just a few days, as he has been for the last two trips he's made home. Things just don't seem so rushed this time. It's really nice.

I worked a bit again on Sunday, so Hubby and AJ got to spend the day together doing a few little house hold projects, etc. I know that no matter what they do together, they aways enjoy each other's company.

Last night we took our annual walk around "Christmas Card Lane" - that's a nearby neighborhood where several blocks of houses decorate their yards with giant, home made Christmas cards made of 4x8 foot sheets of plywood painted to look like cards, or Christmas characters, etc. It's a lovely sight to see, and we try to visit every year. Our friend Lisa, who lives very close to Christmas Card Lane invited us for dinner and then we all made our way over, dogs included, to see the sights. I am bummed to say that I somehow managed (can you believe it?) to leave my house without a camera with me, so I got NO decent pictures. I snapped this one with my phone, but as you'll see the lighting is terrible. At least you get the idea.Anyway, that brings us up to today...Monday. I was supposed to spend the day Christmas shopping, but I haven't made it out of the house yet. It's 4:13pm right now...it's not looking good. I've falled critically behind on my shopping this year, and for the life of me, I'm not sure why. I feel like it's just a lack of inspiration. It's kind of nice to realize that no one in the family really needs anything, so I guess I ask myself the question, "Why buy just to buy?" and so I sit here, catching up on my blog instead of Christmas shopping.

I have a feeling that will NOT go over very well on Christmas morning...I'm just sayin...

Another Year Older

Yesterday was my birthday. Yup, I feel older. That's not necessarily a bad thing, right? Getting older sure beats the alternative. Although the original plans for the day fell through because of the chilly weather, I was treated to a very nice day. I woke up to a table full of presents.I love how Pickle always customizes her envelopes.
Bear treated me to breakfast at a really cool place - Hash House a Gogo. They have awesome food and crazy big portions. This was there version of chicken fried chicken and eggs. It was WAY too much for one person to eat.

After breakfast we did a little shopping and then spent a little time at Valley View, my favorite local casino. I didn't hit any big jackpot, but a couple of little hits here and there always keeps it fun.

For dinner we went to Red Tracton's, a cozy restaurant in the Del Mar area. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was cozy, and the company was great. They treated me to a little birthday dessert to share with the table.

Speaking of desserts, once we got home, there was another cake waiting for me. It was a triple chocolate mousse cake and it was incredible!

I was spoiled with all sorts of wonderful birthday gifts - a new Golden calendar, some beautiful clothes, a laminator that I've had my eye on, a big box of Sees candy (back to the gym I'll go...) and the topper offer was a beautiful 27" computer monitor. Talk about COOL! Apparently someone knows I spend a lot of time on the computer and will get a TON of use out of that.

Yes, it was a very nice day indeed, and I am looking foward to see what the next year brings my way.

Sweet Treats!

I got a wonderful, sweet surprise yesterday - an early birthday cookie bouquet from some very special friends. I was tickled pink! I'm not quite sure how I'm going to spend my birthday since the chilly weather has put a kink in my plans to go to the spa...(I don't feel like sitting in an outdoor pool and shivering...) but I'm sure I'll figure out something fun.

It would all be fine if Brad would just return my calls...

I LOVE this!

My new favorite YouTube video. I LOVE moments like this!!

From Thursday...

This is the post I was trying to post on Thursday evening and never had any luck with. So here, in an effort to play catch up...

Hasta Luego-San Diego!

For a change, I am the one in the family that gets to do a little traveling for the next couple of days. Hubby has been traveling here and there quite a bit lately for business - he was just in Sacramento Tuesday and Wednesday and has been in the mid west several times in the last month or two. As I am typing this, I am on a plane bound for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I am going to visit with my brother and his family, and for the first time I get to meet my "nephew" puppies, Bogie the Boxer, and Raider the Boston.

Of course I will miss my own family and fur babies, but I am looking forward to a little change of scenery too. I know that my pups will miss me, and I am pretty sure that Kona could tell that something was up today. He was walking around all morning with not one, but both of my Ugg slippers in his mouth. Thank goodness I don't mind his slobber...

San Diego sure looked pretty as I departed! What scenery from the air!

For a change, I am the one in the family that gets to do a little traveling for the next couple of days. Hubby has been traveling here and there quite a bit lately for business - he was just in Sacramento Tuesday and Wednesday and has been in the mid west several times in the last month or two. As I am typing this, I am on a plane bound for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I am going to visit with my brother and his family, and for the first time I get to meet my "nephew" puppies, Bogie the Boxer, and Raider the Boston.

Of course I will miss my own family and fur babies, but I am looking forward to a little change of scenery too. I know that my pups will miss me, and I am pretty sure that Kona could tell that something was up today. He was walking around all morning with not one, but both of my Ugg slippers in his mouth. Thank goodness I don't mind his slobber...

Frustrated

For some silly reason I can't seem to upload a blog from my brother's house in Texas. I Tried several times Thursday night, and Friday morning...oh well. I'll try again tomorrow but if I don't have any luck, I'll just have to update when I get home.

Will ya'all miss me?

Something Silly

This just made me smile. I love when Eeyore shuffles...

Pups on Parade in La Jolla

Yesterday was the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade. This year was the first time I went solo. Just me and Kona...everyone else in the family was otherwise occupied. It was a bit of a bummer, but we did have a good time.
I was pleased that we had a wonderful turnout of members and their dogs. I'd say that we probably had about 55 folks and their pups walk with us.
Kona and his buddy Scooter enjoyed watching some of the other entries walk by.It is quite a site to see our group walk by! What a gaggle of Goldens!I need a better wide angle for a group this big!There was a Santa chair set up at the end of the route so some of us in the group took turns trying it out. Even though Santa wasn't there, I still made a wish on what I wanted for Christmas...I won't tell though...

Here is a little video I took of us walking.

Some Fun, Furry Lovin'

An Evening Out

We had another little outing with the pups last night. This time we went to a dog friendly roof top bar at a down town hotel. It was a LOT of fun for both the people and the pooches! Big thanks to the Hotel Indigo for hosting our group!

Smart as a Fox!

I loved this!

A Story Retold

A had a new member of Love on a Leash ask me about hospice visits so I shared this story with him. As I wrote it out, I thought I would share it here with you again.

Our First Visit

My name is Sue, and I organize a chapter of Love on a Leash folks in San
Diego. I've got 4 Golden Retrievers and do therapy visits with one of them. We
started when my boy was just over a year old, and that was nearly 3 years
ago.

I stayed away from hospice visits for about the first year, figuring I
wasn't suited well for it. We were doing a lot of visits at a local VA hospital
and senior facilities in the area. Then, about 2 years ago we were approached
by one of the recreational therapists at the VA to start visits at the VA's
hospice ward. I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try.

On our very first visit we encountered a family who's loved one was in the process of passing away as we entered the room. Talk about a tough situation! Oh my gosh, I felt as if we'd walked in on a family's most private moment, but as I tried to quickly excuse ourselves, we were asked to stay, and the wife of the patient got down on the floor and hugged my dog, and thanked us over and over for coming. She said that her husband loved dogs, and this is what he'd been "waiting for"....My boy, Kona, is a white Golden, and she told me that she thought Kona was her husband, Jerry's "white angel". She kept saying, "look Jerry, your white angel is here. Look at the beautiful dog here for you Jerry...he's here just for you."

Needless to say, I don't think I'd ever bitten the inside of my cheek
harder to stop from tearing up more than I did at that moment. We stayed for
about 10 minutes, until all of the family members got to spend a couple of
minutes with Kona and we felt it was the appropriate time to leave. We heard
from the recreational therapist that the patient passed away within the hour of us leaving.

I thought long and hard about going back after that visit, and even went to
a grief counseling session after that. My decision boiled down to how Kona
reacted to the situation. He was perfect. He sat calmly as strangers hugged
him, and clutched him tightly while they wept. He looked to me occasionally for reassurance, which I have him in the form of a quiet, "good boy." I was so proud.

We've been back to the VA hospice every month and added another hospice to
our regular visit schedule. We've lost several patients we've come to
be friends with, and it's never easy, but I always remember our first visit and
the comfort we brought to that family.