Sick doggie, squawking ducks and a moment taken from me

I've got another sick doggie on my hands. Skylar. She's a full-blooded Sheltie, maybe about five years old and fatter than a butterball. Two days ago, she threw up. And threw up. And threw up. There was a huge surprise for me in the kitchen which contained bits of cheese my daughter had given her earlier. I cleaned it up, then went in the living room and there were more surprises for me. Just spots but quite a few of them. We just figured she had some kind of tummy thing going on - that dog will eat anything left on the floor if you aren't careful, but that night, she wouldn't touch her dog food. Now, this dog eats. She eats hers and she eats the others if you're not careful.

We knew something was wrong so we kept a vigil on her. After what we went through with Max, my heart was sinking. I can't go through another sick dog.

The day after that, yesterday, she still wouldn't eat. Nothing. She was drinking however so that was good.

Both my daughter and I had to work last night so it was frantic city the whole time. She was texting me, "When are you getting out of there." And I was texting her hour by hour the status of my departure.

I finally got home and I wasn't sure what I'd find. I pulled up into the carport and there was no barking. Now Max and Cassie, Cassie especially, can't hear a darn thing - at least not something outside but Skylar can hear a pin drop. Usually when I pull up, there's barking. Skylar had alerted everyone, "Mommy's home! Mommy's home!"

So anyway, no barking. I get in and Max and Cassie are by the door so they obviously heard me which was quite a surprise. Usually Skylar is right there with them, too, but she was upstairs looking down at me with those pitiful eyes. I was just relieved she was still alive.

I texted my daughter she was fine to help relieve her worries and I tried to get her to eat but she would have nothing of it. When my daughter got home, she took her out, then put her in the bedroom with her.

I got up this morning and there she was in the same spot my daughter had put her. I picked her up and carried her out - no easy feat down 2 flights of stairs with an overweight dog on your hands but I did it.

We got outside and it perked her up a bit. She took a pee but it wasn't as much as she usually does but I knew she was drinking water but not that much.

I took her inside and that was about time my daughter got up. I fed her a piece of chicken and she ate it. I tried feeding her more but I'm not sure if she ate it or Max got it, but I know a bite or two went in her.

I fed Max his usual balogne sandwich breakfast and tried to feed her some but she wasn't buying it.

I opened the sliding glass doors and Skylar got up and walked outside on the deck. So she's almost there, but still not out of the forest yet.

But what I wanted to tell you is this. When I was walking Max (who incidentally is having a ball with his second chance of life), there was a flock of ducks flying overhead. I thought, how neat. They were low flying and just as loud as you can ever imagine.

And I was thinking that is the most beautiful sound on a crisp winter morning. All is quiet but these squawking ducks and I was thinking Max was thinking it was so neat, too.

And I was thinking how truly beautiful this island really is.

I get inside and a little while later hear gunshots. And gunshots. And gunshots.

I had a "moment" out there with Max, the death-defying dog, and these squawking ducks. The hunters have just taken that away.

That really really bothers me.

Are the snow gods listening this year?

It's one minute before 5 a.m. I knew I was coming down with something - what was the big mystery - and now I know. I think. I have. The Cold.

I feel miserable.

Anyone notice how colder it is this year? Cold windy blasts of air coming off the ocean isn't unusual on the island this time of year, but if I can remember right, last Christmas we had the windows on the kitchen side open.

And get this...they are calling for - are you sitting down? - SNOW. Not until tomorrow and there's only a chance of it but it could get ugly.

Pfft. If it does, then I'll eat the biggest piece of yellow snow out there when it happens and I'll even take a picture of it to prove it to you.

See, the snow gods tease us every year until you get to the point where you just do not believe it's ever going to happen. We had a slight slight slight dusting last year, barely noticeable. No bundling up to take the dogs romping in it. No snow cream. No getting out of work because the roads weren't passable. Not even one bit of yellow snow. By the time the dogs peed on it, it had disappeared.

I blame the fact on global warming as I don't have any other excuse. I'm not a weather woman and I haven't bought a Farmer's Almanac in years so I don't know what it's going to do from one day to the other, but I do know we have not had a decent snow in years.

I am a snow bunny. Give me a pair of plastic shopping bags tied to my legs and I'm set. I don't need any fancy boots. In fact, we don't buy them here because it never snows so all they'd do is sit in the closet and take up room which we don't have that much of as far as storing things we don't need.

I'll have to ask someone here on the island if they remember it ever snowing here. Maybe I won't have to and it'll snow 3 feet and I'll thank the snow gods for listening to my prayers. Or, I'll be eating my words and wish for summer back.

We had an interesting day yesterday. My daughter is just now getting over food poisoning so we thought it would be safe to venture to the mall to try to find some Christmas gifts. Now...come closer and really understand this question - does anyone notice how ugly the clothes are this year? I mean, are they buying Walmart rejects, slapping a price on them and think that the buying public is going to see through it or maybe they're thinking the buying public will have no choice?

Me? I buy from QVC. You haven't lived until you have spent hours upon hours watching what great deals you can get. And they're name brands and you're more than likely not going to return them because they are so perfect and....you don't have to get into your car or truck or snow mobile to get them.

I love QVC.

Anyway, so we're out and about yesterday trying to find SOMETHING to give to my son who wants nothing. I ended up settling on a shirt in Macy's he'll probably hate. I bought a couple of gifts for co-workers at Boscov's and some lotion at Victoria Secrets for another co-worker and I was done. All that way for that.

But my daughter who knew the mall would have nothing decided to buy something a little different. See that picture to the right? That's Skylar with her brand new princess play house. I guess when you don't have kids, you buy silly little things like that for your dogs.

Well Skylar loved it, then later we found Max camped out inside it and when Skylar went to reclaim it, Max lunged at her. Melissa had to grab Skylar and fling her back, causing the both of them to land flat on their backs.

Max ain't messing around when it comes to princess play houses.

Anyway, I'm going to try to go back to bed. Feeling a little better but I'll never be able to go into work after getting up at 4 a.m. Hope you all have a good day and hope it snows!

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs

I feel really bad not keeping this blog updated so I made a pact with myself to keep writing in here on a daily basis if not for therapy but to let everyone know how I'm doing.

It's. Been. Crazy.

I don't know whether it's the holidays but it seems that when the weather changed, my life has become even more chaotic. Business is going great and I shouldn't even complain as it sure does beat my "other" job, which really isn't too big a deal since it's only on the weekends, but still.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was great and I believe the major stressors set in around then. My seven-year-old cocker spaniel, Max, has an awful ear infection. We've been taking him to a doctor here on the island but the infection just wouldn't ever go away. He's had it a long time. The pills he gave me to give him would work to the extent you couldn't smell the infection but little did we know, it was eating away at his ear canal and we didn't even know it.

Over Thanksgiving, he ran out of pills. I called the vet but no one was in the Friday following Thanksgiving so we had to wait it out all weekend. I didn't want to take him to the same one as it was getting us nowhere.

Dr. Nickol's is great, only he's about an hour away and that's why we went from him to this other one when we moved to the island since the one on the island isn't but 3 minutes away. Seriously. If it's nothing major, he's great, but obviously he's not good with ear infections as the dog has had one for maybe a year now, off and on.

So over Thanksgiving, the dog was getting worse. He smelled like dead carcass, I'm serious. He had leakage out of his ear and his eyes. The once happy running-all-around dog didn't want to do anything but hang his head or sleep or shake his head.

We finally got an appointment on Monday. Dr. Nickol's said that his one ear was so bad, bone had grown over the ear canal and there was nothing short of an operation that would allow him to hear out of it again. The other one is getting near that point but there was still a little passageway.

We had to muzzle him and a good thing as he wanted to take everyone's arm off. The doctor shaved on the inside of both ears and put some kind of medication on it and told us to bring him back in 2 weeks. He gave us 2 kinds of medication to put in his ear, a wash of some kind and some pain pills. The pain pills are the only thing I can get in him as he tries to bite my hand off when I just go to put the muzzle on him, so I can't do it myself.

I was waiting for my daughter to get back from taking her Sheltie to the vet (to the tune of $180 for a skin ailment) to help me put this medication in Max and I'm waiting now for her to finish lunch so we can do it. And I'm dreading it.

Stressors, stressors, but I need to save the dog. I love him so much that when he cries out in pain, I cry out, too.

So that's the extent of my morning and what I've been going through. It seems the ill health of anyone you love takes a lot of out of you, but I do what I have to do and pray for the best.

My Grandma Went on Vacation and All She Brought Back Was...

These damn glasses....