Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays! This year I have a great surprise for my mom coming today. My auntie is flying out to spend Christmas with us. My mom and her have not spent a Christmas since I was 10! It's been hard to keep it quiet so long and hide the gifts I was suppose to mail out on Monday. But I get to pick her up tonight woot! My mom has absoultely zero idea shes on her way :) I love surprises like this.

And to Athena....the dog who's ears are now evil. After 4 weeks of very strong anti biotics she still has brown gunk :( So the vet wants me to keep cleaning then and put drops in for another week. I have been thinking back to when this whole issue started with her ears and realized it was shortly after getting the last bag of dog food. After doing some reading on the food I bought i found out they recently changed their formula...AGAIN. So after some thinking I decided to change her food. It's a little frustrating considering I don't feed the crappiest food on the market. Only grain free for my baby. I guess I should have expected as much from a company I switched from when Athena was still growing due to formula change. So after chatting with a friend who's dog had yeasty ears and her trails with dog food. I decided to switch from the Canadae grain free to Natural Balance Grain Free Duck and Potato. All the reviews are good and they have many different flavors I can rotate though. I'm just hoping this works. I know she hates having a gross ear and so do I! Thus far Athena seems to like the food. I'm mixing it half and half for right now, but Athena doesn't like that as she has been spitting out the old food in favor of the new LOL. So tonight I'll be tossing the last of the old food (about 2 cups) and using the new. *sigh* what we don't do for our kids.

OH and Athena had her 4th Birthday on the 20th! My big girl is growing up *sniffle*

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Just when i thought it was safe...

Just when I thought it was safe to say Athena was all healed up she proves me wrong lol. Last night I come home to a dog who yelps when I barely touch her head. So i look in her ear and everything was fine like before...So i try to get her to bark because that was the first thing to go last time. And she refuses to bark :( So a 20min phone call to the vet and shes going back in anti biotics for 2 weeks maybe more if it's not clearing up.

I feel so bad for Athena. She has never had something majorly wrong like this before, well besides her weed eating incident a few years ago. At least this time I don't have to take time off work to bring her in. The vet is just re filling the script. Also Athena HATES these pills. I have to crush them up into some yogurt because they are chewable pills and huge so i cant force them down like other ones.

On a better note, I found my granpa's old tri pod and it works with my camera! My mission this weekend will be to get an X-mas pic out of the beast and make dog cookies. I think Athena will forgive me for messing with her ears if I make her tons of dog cookies. Peanut butter & Pumpkin and Peanut butter cookies are on the menu.

I guess what they say is right. Tis the season to spend money though I think most people spend it on gifts. Though I think getting my dog healthy again is a good xmas gift to me LOL.

Where has this year gone?

Wow I can not believe it is December 1 already! I am hoping December is going to be much better and less financially draining then Sept/Oct/Nov.

I love Athena, but she's gotta get a job to pay for her medical bills Ha! It all started in September when she got a foxtail UP her nose *sigh*. Never in all my years have any of my dogs had one up their nose. Toes and ears yes, but not the nose. Then in October she started acting not like her self. She didn't want to move and all she wanted to do is hide. I instantly thought it was her ears because 1. she had some gunk more then normal and 2. she kept trying to shake her head but would just hang it to the side. So off to the vet we go and of course my brain went into worse case scenario thinking she messed her back up or something horrible. The vet (new to us i might add) told me she might have pulled her neck and gave me a series of drugs. They looked in her ears, but told me they looked great. I honestly left the office thinking it was still her ear, but maybe the vet knows better? She seemed to get better until a week after she finished her drugs and then she was back to feeling like shit and imo even worse then before.

So back to the vet we go. By this point Athena has become more and more ear shy due to various encounters of her ears. While she will let me look inside and do whatever i want, she likes to scream in pain of the doc gets too far down into her canal. So the only way to get a great look was to sedate her....And what did the doctor find??????? A festering inner ear infection AND a small tear in her ear drum.....I refrained from saying SEE I TOLD YOU. After a long discussion with the vet about what caused this infection we both agreed that it could have been caused by the foxtail from September. The ear affected was the same side the foxtail came out. Two weeks of some strong anti biotics and shes back to normal. I never thought I would be so happy to get dog food kisses or hear her bark.

And although the new vet was very nice I just wish she took my concern about the issue being her ear more seriously. Athena is not one to show pain. My mind often goes through the "should haves", but you cant change that now. So long story short. Athena is back to her normal bouncing off the walls self and just in time for this cold snowy season.

I am proud to say that ALL of my holiday shopping is done! Yay! I have a few more items to crochet and then I'll be done and able to start wrapping. Speaking of crochet. I have been a crocheting fool. I guess it's in my blood. I have finished a TON of scarfs, a few hats and a few shawls. Most of the stuff i have made is for xmas, but i have some that i'm going to put up for sale. I took a big leap and put some stuff up on my artfire page only to take them down the next day. Why? Well you see...i like to prewash stuff before i sell it or give it away. Mostly so i know it wont fall apart if someone else needs to wash it. And the yarn i made the couple scarfs with washed up UGLY. And by ugly i mean ugly. The yarn it's self was this really soft fluffy acrylic yarn. And after the washing and hang dry process the fuzzy clumped together :( So not cool. And this scarf, which i totally fell in love making it

Had random loops come out of place after i washed it! It's not even like we have a top load washer. I put everything on super gentile then air dried. I guess they did not want to leave my neck? LOL. Oh well I guess I have new scarfs for the winter or maybe I'll clean them up and donate them. I'm sure there are people out there who need a warm neck more then I do, but i think ill keep the pink one haha.

Back to the grind. Work is calling my name.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Nothing like a little Inspiration

Ah spring time. Land of fresh fruits and veggies from the farmers market and most of all the start of many gem shows and craft fairs.

I headed out the International Gem Show last Saturday and it was so much fun seeing how other people put their jewelry together. I bought some stones and wire for a fraction of what I'd spend in the store. I was like a kid in a candy store and i have so much stock at home i really need to work more on making things.

My loot from the show. I'm partial to the ruby red beads. My mind is throwing around ideas and I'd much rather be at home working some of them out.


And a few things i put together this weekend. I experimented with crocheting wire and i have to say i really liked how it turned out. My friend even bought my prototype yay!



Gold colored wire with some fake pearls i had for practice.


And a quick four strand i put together one night. My mom promptly took over this one since it matched the earrings i got her in AZ.


I find my self whining "do i have to work i wanna go home and craft"

Puppy Brain is leaving

Sniffle Sniffle....Why?!!!! Oh why is my girl growing up? ....I guess I can't be that upset about Athena listening better. I was noticing last night how she has changed colors yet again and how adult she is looking. Even the way she goes about things seems less puppy impulsive and more adult rational. Example...instead of trying to shove her self under the couch to get her toy. She gets down and slowly puts her paw under and tries to sweep it out.

She even listened to commands when other people were around even her most favorite person in the whole wide world! On mothers day we had about 6 people over for dinner. I told the dogs "Out" as in out of the kitchen /dinning room area and she and my moms dog both went and laid on their beds. No lap begging. And this great obedience continued the whole 2 weeks my aunt visited. Making me look like the best dog trainer ever! My aunt even told me when the time comes for her to get a dog she will pay me to come out and train the dog LOL.

The light finally turned onto a higher setting and I'm really liking it even though it does make me teary eyed sometimes.

Heh yeah right I'm not growing up. I'm just letting you get your guard down....

Blisters are Evil

Out of all the years of hiking, walking, biking, running (in high school) i never ever had issues with blisters. Once or twice i got them on my heel when i was breaking in new boots but never with broken in shoes. Yesterday my aunt and I wandered around the city walking up and down the piers on the Sunny day SF had yesterday and for the first time in a long time I have not one but TWO blisters on the bottom of my feet. I have worn those shoes before many times and i have worn those same socks with those shoes many times. I wasn't any hotter then usual so i have no idea why i got blisters.

They hurt like a mother because they are right on the pads of my feet between my big toe and 2nd toe over. So I'm walking like a idiot on the sides of my feet, which I'm sure is not good. I keep popping them but they keep coming back :(. I guess i need to break down and get those blister bandaids. BUT on a nicer note i had a blast touring the city and down the coast with my aunt. I bought some candy at pier 39 and stuff at the herb room in Santa Cruz and hit up Valley Fair for some much needed bra shopping. It was so relaxing...and i'm sitting here at work not wanting to work LOL. I wish my auntie would finally find a job out here! Know anyone who is hiring a Labor Delivery nurse? LOL.

I want to go back....

To the land of no allergies aka Arizona. I was amazed how good I slept and felt there. No stuffy nose, no itchy eyes or mucous. Ahhh pure bliss!

I just got back from Az on Sunday and I had a blast. Bead shopping in Scottsdale, The heard museum in Phoenix, Jewelry shopping in Mesa, a tour of the Apache rez and great friends and pooches to escort me around, what more could a girl as for on a short 4 day vacation??? My trip reminded me just now much love it there. Maybe one day I will find a job in my favorite City down there (Flagstaff). I'm sure Athena and I would enjoy the mild heat in the summer and snow in the winter.

Molly I thought of you! There were cyclist everywhere on our way out of town. One even had a red bike like yours, but i knew you wouldn't miss a sharks game :)

BTW....GOOOOOOOO SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets go boys bring home the cup!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is lucky i love her

Athena was almost a dead dog last night......

So i spent about 3 hours planting zucchini, cucumbers and peas. I had turned one of Athenas old pools into my planter box. I planted them all nicely. So i let her out for her nightly romp. I go to bring her in and i'm thinking WTF were you in you are filthy and wet...i look up...and what do i see????

SHE DUG UP MY WHOLE FRIGGIN PLANTER BOX....*deep breaths* So i calmly dry her feet off shove her inside and go and correct what she Destroyed! My mom let her out and i looked up and told Athena "House" in a voice that even shocked my mom. oh i was so dog damn mad! Maybe she was looking for water? i dunno. But we did a little aversion training last night.i think she got that her old pool is now mine and to leave it cause this morning she didn't even travel with in 3 feet of it LOL. And she wont be in the yard unsupervised until i can get some chicken coup stuff to put around it. What gets me is she never did this before. But i never put a garden in her old pool before either.

In a way i guess it's good she did that because it reminded me we have cats that could do the same.

Old Pictures

My brother was holding out on me! He had a few CD's of old Family photos of my grandparents their youth. It's so fun to go through them all and remember stories told by family or learn new ones from my mom. I think one of my projects this summer is to get them all scanned. This way they won't fade anymore then they are and i can fix some that are faded (hopefully). I was also thinking that since my brother has a new house that i'll get some printed for him. We both miss my granma and what better way to help him feel at home then pictures of our family!

My granma before she married my granpa- What a fox she is!


One of my great uncles. who in his day was an actual hobo.


My granpa and his sister. It's so strange to see them so young lol.

Moods

It is amazing how much exercise or lack of exercise messes with your moods. After a new workout last Thursday i decided to take a few days off from my routine to let my confused aka sore muscles recover. So i spent the weekend doing yard work, planting my garden, moving soil around and playing with the dogs. I didn't notice until Sunday when i was trying to go to sleep at 10pm how crappy i felt and i couldn't fall asleep until about 2am. Come 7am Monday morning i was not in a good mood and my body was just not feeling the whole needing to work thing. I could feel my energy below the surface but it just wasn't full swing. I felt like i was looking at my energy at the bottom of the pool. So close yet so far away.

So when i got home i changed and set up my laptop turned on my favorite show and did 50 min of a hard workout that left me hot, sweaty and thinking I'm crazy. And afterward i felt great! I still didn't get to sleep until well after 1030pm, but i woke up feeling good and did not wake up once during the night. When the alarm went off i popped out of bed ready to go. I guess my body is getting into the swing of having a good workout. Lesson learned. No more then 2 days with out some sort of heart raising activity!

Spring is in the air!

Spring is here! Spring is here! As much as i love my winter days it is nice to have sunny and warm days. I wish it stayed sunny and 70-80 all summer. I really hate anything over 80 degrees esp since i don't have AC at home.

Yesterday my brother and i spent a few hours chopping up a fallen tree and i spent most of the morning bagging up all the crap on the patio left over and forgotten from the kitchen remodel. the patio is starting to look like a patio again and not a storage closet. And since it was warm out Athena took it upon her self to go jump on her pool. I say on because it was flipped upside down from being in the rain. She wanted to cool off in the standing rain water. I can understand that. But in the process she poked a few holes in it. Good thing it was below the water line i normally fill up too. So i need to pick up some duct tape to fix the holes. We can't have precious water splashing out right??? She was also very happy i put up her screen room. Yes she has a little tent like structure just for her pool. I found that in the shed last year after getting so annoyed that the pepper tree was making her pool water nastier then she was!

Athena was very happy Mommy loves her. Frisbee in the am till she dropped, watching mom do yard work, ball fun with her fav person ever and her pool! She was in all sense of the words a dead dog last night. She even woke me up in the middle of the night Snoring LOL

(The tarp is suppose to go on top. i had not secured it yesterday so it fell)

Hello spring. I'm so glad march is going out like a lamb :)

Lets make a deal....

Dear Body,

Lets make a deal shall we? How about you comply to my workouts and in return I'll feed you good stuff and get massages regularly? This whole being sore has really got to go! I get you are freaking out because everything I'm doing is new. But please don't be afraid of change. It really is for the better!

Remember these?
Yes? Well those will be on your feet IF you cooperate with me and we make my goal. So do we gotta deal?????

Signed the one who really wants those boots!

The world lost another wonderful lady.

I met my friend Sherry not in person, but online. We met on a forum and bonded over the love we have for our pets. From there our friendship blossomed to emails and offline conversations. We shared our lives ups and downs and we supported each other like we had known each other our entire lives.

Last year Sherry was diagnosed with cancer. A aggressive yet treatable form of cancer according to her doctors. She fought with everything she had in her. She woke up every day fighting like a gladiator not only for her self, but for her young daughter. Sadly no amount of chemo or radiation could tame the cancer that raged inside of her determined to take her life. On March 12th in the early hours of the morning she passed with her family surrounding her.

Sherry was a dedicated friend, animal lover, animal rescue worker and most of all Mother. She will be missed more then words can described. Where ever she is i hope she is raising hell and partying it up. Rest in Peace Sister.

Early Morning is not my friend!

So as always my goal for this year is to get in shape and loose weight. My off and on working out proved not to be good for loosing weight go figure. So I sat down and planned out weekly workout on excel and even plan on using my new phone app to track how far i go and record that too. I also had this wild idea that early morning workouts would be a great idea.....

My alarm went off at 5am. I got up put the dog out and fed her. And for the life of me i could NOT keep my eyes open. So back to bed i went. I guess my body is determined to be an evening workout person.

So keeping my scheduled workouts the same i will just do them when i get home in the evening which is about 5pm. And maybe gradually set my alarm earlier and earlier so waking up at such an ungodly hour isn't so hard.....

I Can dooooo this!!!!

What do you say?

A very dear friend of mine has been fighting cancer. Until recently i was over the moon optimistic that everything would be ok. I was positive she would keep waking up every day, going to work, laughing and among many more things watch her daughter grow into a beautiful woman.

Then i heard the news no one wants to hear. "The cancer has spread and if this next round of chemo doesnt work you have 6-8 weeks to live." What do you say to that? How do you comfort a woman who has been fighting to survive not only for her self but more importantly her daughter. I try to stay positive for her and i hope she doesn't hear the pain in my voice or in my words when i write or speak to her. What else can i do? If i could magically take the cancer away i would in a heartbeat, but i can't.

Another friend of mine is collecting letters to put them in a book to give to her when she visits this month. I'm faced with a task of writing a letter to her. I say task because it's not something i really want to do. Not because i do not love her, but i'm at a loss as what i want to say. Do i write an encouraging letter that she will beat this no matter what or do i tell her that she has been and will always be a great friend where ever she will be. I don't want her to feel like I'm giving up on her because i am not. However reality is her body is giving up on her. Maybe i'll make my letter a collection of pictures that somehow express how i feel with out having to say the words: you are a wonderful loving woman, mom to many and you will be missed. le sigh