 |
| Please disregard the dust.....Cleaning out my car is about the 200th item on my list of things to do |
2 hours ago
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Empty
This pretty much sums up my life right now.........and NO, I was not at the gas station when I took this picture.....Ugh!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Catch up
To say I've been busy is an understatement! Funny how life can go from simple, effortless and quiet to complex, complicated and distracted overnight.
There is so much going on both at work and at home that there are days I can barely keep my head above water.
In a nutshell, here is what has been keeping me busy....
My stepdaughter graduated high school last Friday. It was surreal to see her in her cap and gown. My husband shed a few tears, but he won't admit it. I think in my mind she will always be this awkward pre-teen. So to see her enter this next phase of her life was mind blowing to say the least.
We are having her graduation party at our house on June 15th. I've been working my tail off trying to get the backyard ready for such a shindig. Short of still not having grass, it is starting to come around.
One of my favorite projects has been taking our plastic outdoor furniture and spray painting it fun colors.
As I mentioned, we have no grass in our backyard. Well, I shouldn't say "no grass", but it is spotty. This was going to be the year we put money into this project, but due to the expenses with the dog, it is going to have to wait another year. This has been an issue since we bought the house. Last year we put down stone and it made a big difference. But, there was still a large area next to the house that was a disaster. We haven't put much effort into this area because our end goal is to build a deck.
Spur of the moment I decided to tackle this area and it's amazing what a little topsoil and some colored pots will do.
These pots are currently full of flowers and the difference is amazing. We are no longer looking at DIRT!
There is still SO MUCH more going on, but as I suspected, this post has to be cut short because I am needed by a million different people all at the same time....Ughhhh!
Is it Friday yet?
PS ~ I do not have time to proof read this...so I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors!
There is so much going on both at work and at home that there are days I can barely keep my head above water.
In a nutshell, here is what has been keeping me busy....
My stepdaughter graduated high school last Friday. It was surreal to see her in her cap and gown. My husband shed a few tears, but he won't admit it. I think in my mind she will always be this awkward pre-teen. So to see her enter this next phase of her life was mind blowing to say the least.
We are having her graduation party at our house on June 15th. I've been working my tail off trying to get the backyard ready for such a shindig. Short of still not having grass, it is starting to come around.
One of my favorite projects has been taking our plastic outdoor furniture and spray painting it fun colors.
As I mentioned, we have no grass in our backyard. Well, I shouldn't say "no grass", but it is spotty. This was going to be the year we put money into this project, but due to the expenses with the dog, it is going to have to wait another year. This has been an issue since we bought the house. Last year we put down stone and it made a big difference. But, there was still a large area next to the house that was a disaster. We haven't put much effort into this area because our end goal is to build a deck.
Spur of the moment I decided to tackle this area and it's amazing what a little topsoil and some colored pots will do.
 |
| (notice how the grass is "spotty") |
These pots are currently full of flowers and the difference is amazing. We are no longer looking at DIRT!
There is still SO MUCH more going on, but as I suspected, this post has to be cut short because I am needed by a million different people all at the same time....Ughhhh!
Is it Friday yet?
PS ~ I do not have time to proof read this...so I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The good news is......
After a reminder from a friend this morning, I realized I never updated Lainey's status after our appointment on Monday. There was some good news and some bad news....
- GOOD news ~ The sutures were able to come out.
- BAD news ~ She was limping the day of the appt.
- GOOD news ~ Even though she was limping there were no signs of any damage to the leg (maybe sore muscle or something).
- BAD news ~ She needs a new "customized" brace for her hock as the one she has doesn't fit her properly.
- GOOD news ~ She has started on some new joint medication.
- BAD news ~ I have to inject her with it myself
Within the next week she should be off of bed rest (again) and can go back to running, playing and just enjoying being a dog. Fingers (and toes) crossed and praying that this saga is over!
.jpg) |
| Lainey and her friend Kappy hiking last May This was the last hike we took before tearing her ACL! I can't believe this saga has been going on for a year now! And to think that I almost cried when the first doctor told us we were looking at 4-6 months recovery. If only I knew then what I know now |
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Bullets
Every day I have this fabulous post in mind....and I just can't seem to find the time to do anything with it!
So today....you are getting bullet points. It's all I've got the brain capacity for.
That's all I have time for.....Happy Thursday!
So today....you are getting bullet points. It's all I've got the brain capacity for.
- Lainey landed herself at the emergency vet on Saturday evening. The incision from her most recent surgery was very infected and needed treatment ASAP. The specialist office who is handling her surgeries is over 2 hours away, so we opted for a 45 min drive to the nearest emergency vet instead. She is doing much better now and will go on Monday to the specialist for a check-up and to hopefully have her sutures removed.
- Due to the above....Lainey is going crazy! She has been on bed rest since May 1st and the amount of pent up energy she has is driving us all a little nuts. We try to stimulate her mentally, but it seems to only work for a short period of time. It is killing her to not be able to take walks or run zoomies around the yard.
- My birthday is Saturday and I will be spending the day with family celebrating my nephew turning 4. I don't feel like celebrating my birthday this year as I realized yesterday how fast I am approaching the big 4-0! It's hard for me to imagine that I will be 37 in a few days, because in my mind I was in my mid-late 20's only yesterday.
- The mosquitos are HORRIBLE this year. The other night I tried to apply some weed killer in the backyard and was eaten alive. Last night I tried to mow the lawn and had to cover my entire body. It was almost 80 degrees out and I was wearing long pants and a hooded sweatshirt tied tight around my chin. It is absolutely ridiculous!
- My step-daughter graduates highschool this year and we are hosting our own graduation party for her at our house (there is some bad blood between her mother and my husband so separate parties were a must). I'm so worried about the mosquito issue since we plan to have everyone outdoors. Any advice would be much appreciated.
- I have 3 girlfriends who are (were) pregnant and 2 of them recently had their babies. I'm dying to meet these adorable babes, but unfortunately, they both live about 1 1/2 - 2 hours away from me. Hopefully, in the next couple weeks I will be able to make a trip down for the day and love on these little ones.
That's all I have time for.....Happy Thursday!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Full Plate
I must apologize for my temporary leave of absence. Life has gotten the best of me lately.
For starters....Lainey had to go in last week for another (emergency) surgery. She is currently on bed rest again and we will go on Monday to get the sutures removed.
After she had her 2nd ACL surgery on her left leg, we noticed a bump on her leg (see pic below). Come to find out, the crimper plate was actually protruding out of her leg. The surgeon knew at some point it would need to be removed, but she wanted us to try and get past 16 weeks of recovery before opening that leg back up again.
We made it 12 weeks, but could not put it off any longer. She had started limping again, she refused to lay or put any pressure on the leg, and her recovery was declining instead of improving.
I'm praying that this saga is now over and after her sutures come out, we will never have any more issues!
In addition to Lainey's surgery, I also had a 2 day audit at work and I needed to prep about 2 weeks leading up to it. Thankfully, this only happens once a year...and now it's over and I won't need to stress about it until next year.
I need a vacation! I want sand between my toes and a drink with an umbrella...anyone with me?
For starters....Lainey had to go in last week for another (emergency) surgery. She is currently on bed rest again and we will go on Monday to get the sutures removed.
After she had her 2nd ACL surgery on her left leg, we noticed a bump on her leg (see pic below). Come to find out, the crimper plate was actually protruding out of her leg. The surgeon knew at some point it would need to be removed, but she wanted us to try and get past 16 weeks of recovery before opening that leg back up again.
We made it 12 weeks, but could not put it off any longer. She had started limping again, she refused to lay or put any pressure on the leg, and her recovery was declining instead of improving.
I'm praying that this saga is now over and after her sutures come out, we will never have any more issues!
In addition to Lainey's surgery, I also had a 2 day audit at work and I needed to prep about 2 weeks leading up to it. Thankfully, this only happens once a year...and now it's over and I won't need to stress about it until next year.
I need a vacation! I want sand between my toes and a drink with an umbrella...anyone with me?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Dasher....You silly boy!
The weather here in West Michigan finally decided to behave on Sunday. It snowed on Saturday, but by Sunday is was almost 60 degrees.
This allowed me to open up the windows and get some fresh air into the house. It's amazing how such a little thing brings so much joy to my life :)
Unfortunately, we quickly figured out that Dasher wants to enjoy the nice weather as much as we do. We adopted him in December and he spent 2 years at the shelter prior to that, so we have been anticipating how he would act once the weather got nice.
He is becoming pretty tricky at trying to find ways to escape through the door when you are trying to leave. It's now become a circus act trying to open the door, stick your foot out, wave your hands in some crazy motion to scare him and then quickly turning and jumping out the door while pulling it shut at warp speed.
So, on Sunday, when I opened up the windows....this is where I found him
At first I was mad because he had put a bunch of holes in the screen (welcome to our home mosquito's), but then I just laughed. He is such a silly cat!
I think the next nice day we have, I am going to put one of the cat harnesses on him and take him outside to explore. That's the least he deserves to make up for the years in the shelter.
This allowed me to open up the windows and get some fresh air into the house. It's amazing how such a little thing brings so much joy to my life :)
Unfortunately, we quickly figured out that Dasher wants to enjoy the nice weather as much as we do. We adopted him in December and he spent 2 years at the shelter prior to that, so we have been anticipating how he would act once the weather got nice.
He is becoming pretty tricky at trying to find ways to escape through the door when you are trying to leave. It's now become a circus act trying to open the door, stick your foot out, wave your hands in some crazy motion to scare him and then quickly turning and jumping out the door while pulling it shut at warp speed.
So, on Sunday, when I opened up the windows....this is where I found him
At first I was mad because he had put a bunch of holes in the screen (welcome to our home mosquito's), but then I just laughed. He is such a silly cat!
I think the next nice day we have, I am going to put one of the cat harnesses on him and take him outside to explore. That's the least he deserves to make up for the years in the shelter.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Animal Cruelty Prevention Month
April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month.....
In honor of this, Lainey decided to wear her orange collar and show her support. Isn't she the cutest?
In honor of this, Lainey decided to wear her orange collar and show her support. Isn't she the cutest?
Monday, April 8, 2013
March Madness
I'm not sure how many of you are sports fans...but you know how I love my Michigan Wolverines.
Basketball is not my favorite sport...I'm definitely a football kind of girl! Nonetheless, when the Wolverines are doing as well as they have been, I can bring myself to watch a little b-ball.
Tonight Michigan will play against Louisville in the 2013 National Championship game. It's been a long time coming.....Well, since 1993 when the Fab Five played in the championship game against North Carolina. Unfortunately, Chris Webber infamously called a time-out with 11 seconds left in the game when Michigan was down 73-71. There were no time-outs remaining, which resulted in a technical foul that clinched the game for NC.
Lets hope the Michigan Wolverines can walk off the court with a National title under their belt tonight.....GO BLUE!!!
Unfortunately, the game doesn't start until 9:30 tonight and as much as I love my Michigan Wolverines, I don't think I will be able to stay up to watch.
Basketball is not my favorite sport...I'm definitely a football kind of girl! Nonetheless, when the Wolverines are doing as well as they have been, I can bring myself to watch a little b-ball.
Tonight Michigan will play against Louisville in the 2013 National Championship game. It's been a long time coming.....Well, since 1993 when the Fab Five played in the championship game against North Carolina. Unfortunately, Chris Webber infamously called a time-out with 11 seconds left in the game when Michigan was down 73-71. There were no time-outs remaining, which resulted in a technical foul that clinched the game for NC.
Lets hope the Michigan Wolverines can walk off the court with a National title under their belt tonight.....GO BLUE!!!
Unfortunately, the game doesn't start until 9:30 tonight and as much as I love my Michigan Wolverines, I don't think I will be able to stay up to watch.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
2 Years
Two years ago today, my life was forever changed. I lost my brother...but the world also lost a father, a son, an uncle, a brother-in-law, and a boyfriend. I miss you like crazy but know that you are looking down on all of us from Heaven. You are forever in our hearts.....
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Best Day Ever!
Yesterday we had Lainey's 8-week check up with the surgeon. I was literally SO nervous. This has already been a 10-month process for us and so far, we have gotten nothing but bad news. I was anticipating "worst case scenario" in my mind the whole way there.
We arrived at the vet after a 2-hour car ride and I was so afraid that Lainey's legs would be sore and tight after being in her cage that whole time. The cage is small enough to fit in my car so she doesn't have a lot of room to spread out and get comfortable, which I assumed would cause her to limp a little and be sore. Thankfully, that didn't happen!
The girls at the front desk were amazed that this was the same dog that they took care of for 2 weeks post surgery. They were loving on her and kept saying "she looks so good" and "look how good she is walking". It put a smile on my face and put me at ease (a little).
The surgeon came in to the little room to see us and I was a ball of nerves. She asked a few questions and then took Lainey with her to go get some scans done on her legs.
The walls aren't very thick so you can hear the doctors and staff on the other side. As the surgeon was bringing Lainey back after her scans I could hear some of the staff say "is that Lainey? Oh my gosh...what a different dog" and another gal said "Lainey, is that you?".
I felt so warm and fuzzy inside and knew that we made the right decision by bringing her here. The staff took such great care of her during her stay here and they still love on her when we visit.
And now is when my whole day changed.....the doctor said that Lainey's scans showed that she is TOTALLY HEALED in both legs! The surgeries were a success! Lainey is free to run and play in the yard....she can be a DOG again!!!!
I nearly started crying! It took me a minute to catch my breath before I could even say anything.
She will be sore after running/playing, but that is normal. Compare it to us sitting on the couch for 10 months and then one day deciding to go run a mile....our muscles would be sore too.
We let her run in the yard yesterday and it was hilarious. She was doing zoomies with her tongue hanging out and smiling so big! We could tell she was sore last night, but this morning she was walking like normal.
I just can't believe that our nightmare is almost over! It's been such a long haul and Lainey has endured so much in her young age. I can't wait for her to "be a dog" again. Fetching sticks, chasing squirrels and running after her brother.
Life is good and with patience comes great rewards!
We arrived at the vet after a 2-hour car ride and I was so afraid that Lainey's legs would be sore and tight after being in her cage that whole time. The cage is small enough to fit in my car so she doesn't have a lot of room to spread out and get comfortable, which I assumed would cause her to limp a little and be sore. Thankfully, that didn't happen!
The girls at the front desk were amazed that this was the same dog that they took care of for 2 weeks post surgery. They were loving on her and kept saying "she looks so good" and "look how good she is walking". It put a smile on my face and put me at ease (a little).
The surgeon came in to the little room to see us and I was a ball of nerves. She asked a few questions and then took Lainey with her to go get some scans done on her legs.
The walls aren't very thick so you can hear the doctors and staff on the other side. As the surgeon was bringing Lainey back after her scans I could hear some of the staff say "is that Lainey? Oh my gosh...what a different dog" and another gal said "Lainey, is that you?".
I felt so warm and fuzzy inside and knew that we made the right decision by bringing her here. The staff took such great care of her during her stay here and they still love on her when we visit.
And now is when my whole day changed.....the doctor said that Lainey's scans showed that she is TOTALLY HEALED in both legs! The surgeries were a success! Lainey is free to run and play in the yard....she can be a DOG again!!!!
I nearly started crying! It took me a minute to catch my breath before I could even say anything.
She will be sore after running/playing, but that is normal. Compare it to us sitting on the couch for 10 months and then one day deciding to go run a mile....our muscles would be sore too.
We let her run in the yard yesterday and it was hilarious. She was doing zoomies with her tongue hanging out and smiling so big! We could tell she was sore last night, but this morning she was walking like normal.
I just can't believe that our nightmare is almost over! It's been such a long haul and Lainey has endured so much in her young age. I can't wait for her to "be a dog" again. Fetching sticks, chasing squirrels and running after her brother.
Life is good and with patience comes great rewards!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)