So glad to see the end of the week!

I has been a long, busy and frustrating week. But it's at an end and I'm off for two glorious days of rest and whatever.

It started with 7 patients at the hospice house - most of them having a difficult time getting calm and comfortable, most of them confused. I hate leaving work feeling like I didn't do them justice but that's how I felt.

Then Wednesday evening we had an emergency with Doc-Boy's eye. As some of you know, he has an ulcer on the cornea of his right eye that has not healed and in fact has deepened. When this happens, the eye is in danger of rupturing and leaking its contents out. The only thing to do then is have the eye removed. Things had been going well until Wednesday evening when I got a phone call from Steph that Doc had come in from outside and cried out. He was squinting and when they looked, his eye ball looked like a deflated balloon with bumps and ridges and was far back in his eye socket. My heart fell and I called the emergency number for my vet and made arrangements for him to been first thing the next morning. However, when I got home at midnight, after some sleep and a pain med, the eye, although it did appear a tad smaller than the other, was almost normal looking. The next morning my vet said that it appeared to have resealed and that at the moment we were okay. Steph's mom who is a vet assistant also mentioned that dogs have a ligament at the back of their eye that in the case of an eye injury will pull the eye ball way back in the socket for protection. So, that could have been part of the issue. Anyway - I can testify that prayer does work and so far he is doing fine. Thank you, Lord!

Mike and Steph made it to Tennessee this morning. They are rental hunting and when they find their place and put down deposits will be packing up to move up there. I spoke with Mike this morning and it's 33 degrees there right now (at 11 am). They are very excited about this move and I'm praying that all goes well with their rental hunting. They have several prospects to look at.

I don't have much planned for this weekend except maybe some cleaning and resting. I am really drained from this past week at work and it will feel good to just do nothing if that's what I choose to do.

You probably have heard about the trainer who was killed by an Orca at Sea World here in Orlando. I don't think that anyone could ever minimize on just how dangerous a job those trainers have. A killer whale is, after all, a killer whale and is still a wild creature even in captivity in a tank. You just don't know what could set them off, misinterpret a human movement or whatever. It's just so sad to see something like this happen. Maybe it's just my love of animals, but there is a part of me that cringes when I see animal acts. They are entertaining and cute but somehow it can be sad at the same time. I remember well a fair I went to in North Carolina. There was a tiger act and the trainer had them jumping through hoops and all sorts of things. I think that tigers are such majestic and lovely animals and somehow it seemed so undignified to see them doing all that. Anyway - my opinion.

This has turned into a book so I'm going to sign off and visit some of you. Hope you are having a good weekend. If any of you are part of that New England winter storm - stay safe and warm. Until later...

Changes coming.

It seems like so many changes going on at once. Mike and Steph are going to Tennessee this weekend to find a place to rent and then will be moving the week or two after. After they leave, Mom and I will be making the transition to her living here with me. I feel like for so long I've lived in a sort of bubble that stayed static day after day. But with both my fur babies old and ailing and family changes going on all around me, I feel like that bubble has burst. When in our lives did we think that Mom's would never grow old and pets would live forever?

We're having some very nice weather. It is supposed to get chilly again in a day or so but only last for a couple of days. It is so pleasant to feel sun on my face when I got outside. Pretty soon, I'll be able to sleep with my bedroom window open. I love that kind of weather.

This Friday I plan to have lunch with my SIL, Sarah and spend part of the day with her. We've been planning on doing this for awhile but it seems that something would always come up. We enjoy each other's company. She is very "down home" and southern and she makes me smile. Saturday, I'll be taking Mom out for lunch. We have some things to discuss such as what furniture she is going to keep and bring with her and the like.

Next week I plan on taking a couple of extra days off. Next March 3rd will be the 9th anniversary of Alan's passing. I'm feeling his absence much more lately, almost like it was the first year or two after he died.

I'm off to visit some of you now and see what's going on in your lives. I apologize that I don't get around as often. Have a lovely day.

A sunny morning.

It's been nice to wake up to sun the last couple of mornings although we are supposed to get some rain later today. It's been chilly but it is warming up little by little and yesterday was even quite nice.

I'm worried about my cat, Thelma. She is a little old lady, about 15 years old by my estimate. She has been steadily losing weight the last few weeks. I've chalked it up to stress with other people around including two other cats. But lately she's not been holding down all her food and she just looks miserable. She wants to be held a lot more which is a bit unusual for her.

Mike and Stephanie are off to Tennessee this Friday to find a place to rent. Then, they will return on Monday and begin packing. I am very excited for them in their new venture. When they leave, I will begin to get things ready for my mother to move in with me. Lots of changes around here.

I am no longer going to be maintaining my general web site so since the server was used for photo storage, you may see some broken images especially if you visit my archives. I don't do anything with it any longer and I don't think anyone is visiting it so why pay for it?

I'm in a bit of a melancholy mood this morning so I'll close. Hope you all are having a great weekend. Until later...

A chilly Monday.

We have certainly had the cold weather this year! I know that we here in Florida can't top the snow that some of you have had, but we've had record-breaking, lengthy cold temps. I think we're all about ready for spring!

Not much going on here. Mike and Steph are planning their long weekend trip to Tennessee and I anticipate they will be packing up and leaving when they get back. They are very excited about their new adventures up there and I'm excited for them. I will miss their company though. It's been nice to come home to people in the house.

Well, as promised, I've included some Tennessee photos here.


Here are 4 of my grandsons looking all big and bad in the gun section of a shop we visited. Bottom row: Jonathan, Matthew and Micah. The guy standing is Josiah.


Playing in the snow. They had a great time.


A family shot in the lobby of the Inn at the Christmas Place at Pigeon Forge. It's a beautiful place where it's Christmas all year long.


The trees sparkled after the snow and then a day of icy rain. They were beautiful.


Here's Joshua - one year old and the newest member of the clan.

I'll add more photos later. Hope you all are having a lovely and warm day.

M.I.A.

I'm so sorry to be so negligent in posting here. The days just seem to fly by and I've not really had much to say. And then suddenly it's been weeks since my last post. I did some visiting of my blog friends as well - something else I had been remiss in doing - and found out all sorts of things going on with my friends. There have been falls and biopsies and surgeries! And of course, snow and lots of it.

The significant news around here is that my son Mike and DIL Stephanie who have been staying with me are headed to Tennessee in 2 weeks to check things out. My son up there can get Mike a job and so the plan is to look around and then move up there. I'm excited (and a bit jealous) for them. I think it's a wonderful opportunity for them to start again. They are going up the last weekend of the month.

Doc has recovered from his tooth extraction and pretty much back to normal. He definitely is winding down but still seems happy and eats well. The cold this year has sure gotten to him though and he shivers a lot. His eye is no better and I can tell that his sight is just about gone in it. Poor little guy!

I talked with one of the hospice doctors the other evening. He is a great doctor and nice, all-around guy and I wish he had his own private practice. He truly thinks that my lethargy and lack of energy as well as my depression is because of a thyroid imbalance. My last blood test did show my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) as elevated which means that my thyroid is having to work hard to keep up. My doctor wanted to do another test in 3 months to see how it was. That was about 4 months ago. My dilemma is that I'm going to have to find another doctor because my health insurance has not been about to make a satisfactory deal with the hospital my doctor is connected to and so very likely will not renew their contract. I'm not crazy about doctors and having to find an new one is even worse!

The big weather news for the eastern part of the country is, of course, the snow. I had a taste of it in Tennessee and so I can't imagine what the mid-Atlantic states are going through right now. I remember those times growing up in upstate New York and it was so wonderful to see spring come!

Well, I guess I'm off to get some things done around here. I do promise to get some photos up of my Tennessee trip in the next few days. Have a lovely week.

Will this ever end?

I got back from Tennessee Monday evening. It was a long, 9 1/2 hour drive but an easy one and it was an awesome weekend. I saw snow (and ice!) and spent some awesome days with the family. I have lots of photos to share and I will do that in the days to come.

On my way home, I received a call from Mike, my son who is currently staying with my DIL at my home. He said that within a few short hours, Doc-Boy's face under his left eye was very swollen. He had several teeth extracted about 2-3 weeks ago and he felt sure that perhaps a pocket had developed with an infection. Doc was eating okay, but sure looked miserable. I took him into the vet yesterday morning and, indeed, one of his few remaining teeth was abscessed. They had to put him under with gas and extract it. He was and is absolutely miserable. I'm giving him pain killers and antibiotics twice a day and although is face is still swollen, the swelling has gone down a bit. I want to cry for him. I swore that I was not going to make him go through any anesthesia or surgical procedure again but I had no choice. He did eat some last night and I crush his meds and put them in some gravy and let him lick it from a spoon. Also - I don't know how or in what position they put him on the surgical table but he comes back with pain in his back as well. My poor little guy!

I go back to work today for two days and then am off my usual days of Friday and Saturday. I have a bunch of nothing planned for those days. I feel like I could sleep for 24 hours!

I hope you all are having a good week. I'll get to visiting you all in the next day or two. Take care.