Fans of Oz

Pam was wondering what to get Emily for her birthday. She had recently told me how much our friend Amy's boys love the Wizard of Oz. I thought that if they weren't scared then Emily would be fine too as they are around the same age. Pam got her The Wizard of Oz and a pair of ruby red slippers. Target sells them for little girls and they are adorable. Well, Emily and Ben are both hooked. We've seen the move over 5 times in the past week. Both kids are reciting lines from the film. Neither one is afraid of the witch. Emily also loves "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". This was one of her favorites before the movie and she was a little surprised when she heard Dorothy sing it. Emily also wore her ruby red slippers to school on Friday. I'm glad the kids are enjoying a classic. My favorite line is when Dorothy says, "The next time I go looking for my heart's desire, I won't look any further than my own backyard; if it's not there, then I never really lost it to begin with."

They're Baaaack

Before we moved to Prescott Valley, we made about 7 or 8 trips up here. Apparently, none of those trips were in late August, September or the beginning of October. If we had visited during that 2 months span, I may have never agreed to move here. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely beautiful. You can't beat the weather. We love the small town feel. The Homecoming Queen makes the front page of the local newspaper. What I wasn't prepared for are what I refer to as the Hoppers. I capitalize them because they deserve it. Look for yourself...

These grasshoppers are enormous. They probably measure the width and length of one of your fingers. They are huge and gross and everywhere! I've always had a fear of bugs. I know it's not rational, but what fears really are? I hate grasshoppers the most, so when these things took up residence with me last year, I was not too happy. I seriously have a panic attack just getting the mail. I even went so far last year to get in my car in the garage, put up the garage door, back out to my mailbox which is right in front of the house, roll down the car window to get the mail, pull back into the garage, shut the garage door and then safely exit my vehicle. I try not to show my fear in front of the kids as the last thing I want to do is make them have the same silly anxiety I do. I gave up our evening walk last year as I just couldn't bring myself to go outside anymore. The good news is that they have started much later this year. I had only seen one in the backyard on my zucchini plant for the past week. That's the one I took a picture of. Trust me, I used the zoom and stood as far away as I could. Today, he invited his whole family and I saw 5 of them. They die off when the weather drops below 40 at night a few times. I'm praying for some cold weather right about now.

Another Year Begins

A new year for me used to begin on January 1. Now that Emily is starting her second year of preschool, I realize that it begins in August or the beginning of September. Yesterday was her first day of PreK. She is starting at a new school this year. Last year by the time we moved up here and I called about preschool, everything was taken. I managed to get her in a preschool in Prescott for two days a week. It worked for us at the time. This year, we wanted to be closer to home especially with gas being so expensive. I had to reserve her spot in March. She is going to a preschool that is sponsored by a Christian Church, so the curriculum is Christian based. I think this is great. She may actually learn about Jesus during Christmas instead of just Santa.

Her first day seemed to go well. One of Emily's friends in the neighborhood is also attending, so Emily felt good having Alanah there. I didn't get teary eyed or anything like I did last year when I dropped her off. I guess it's all old hat now. She did well as I expected. Ben and I used the time to do a little shopping at Kohls and came home to finish some chores. I forgot over the last 3 months how nice and easy it is to do things with only one child. I asked her how her day was and she said it was good. She liked her teacher. When I asked what she did, she wouldn't tell me much. She played with dolls. I'm sure she did much more than that, but that's all I got from her. Oh and that she had pretzels and string cheese for a snack.

This picture was taken on the morning of her first day of school. As you can see, she is now infatuated with dolls. She loves them. My Dad and Suzy sent her this Baby Alive Doll for her birthday. She got it on Wednesday and she played with it for 3 hours straight. She even brought it in the car with her to school yesterday. She can feed the doll food and a bottle and the doll actually goes to the bathroom. I'm thinking this sounds like work. She thinks it's fun. When she first got the doll, she was playing with it. The doll talks and started rattling off her commands. "I'm hungry." "I'm thirsty." "I made a stinky." "Please, change me." "I need a hug." "Let's play." "I'm sleepy." Emily couldn't keep up and was looking so frustrated. She finally told the doll, "Just hold on, wait a minute!" I was cracking up. I guess she finally got a taste of her own medicine.

Silence...

We wanted to thank all of our family and friends for their support during this hard time for us. Losing a pet is something almost everybody has experienced and it's nice to know that other people can truly understand and sympathize with us. We appreciated every kind word that we received.

Each day is a little better than the day before. The hardest thing for us is the silence. Forest was almost 100 pounds and never quiet. I miss his constant background noise, his collar jingling, his panting, how he could clean one paw for 10 minutes. It used to annoy me and I'd tell him, "Enough already, it's clean!" The house is horribly quiet when we come home and that's when the kids seem to notice that he's missing. Ben always takes cover when we come in the door as Forest used to plow him over. Then, he looks around and realizes the bulldozer isn't there anymore. We miss his bark when someone rings the doorbell. We're also learning to break out of old habits. I dropped macaroni last night and went to call him. I guess I can't be lazy anymore. David and I both tip toe around the bedroom at night so we don't step on him. David took his first walk without him yesterday morning and I'm sure his right hand didn't know what to do without Forest's leash in it. Our days and nights involved him and it's just going to take some time to do things differently.

Oddly enough, we sold our dining room table through Craigslist on Tuesday. The lady that came to buy it used to do large animal rescue and she also lost a dog to bloat. It was comforting to hear her story and be reassured that we didn't make a wrong decision in putting him to sleep. David and I both felt a little better after she left. Sometimes God puts people in your path at the right time for a reason. We feel so fortunate to have all of you in our lives and we thank you again for all of your support.

Farewell To Our Friend

Last night, Gina, the kids and I lost a good friend and a good companion in our dog Forest. His death was unexpected, as it was only 3 weeks ago that I had taken him to the vet, who told me that Forest really looked great for a dog his age. I remember bringing him home, and telling Gina about the good news, and Gina smothered him with praise, and said she was so happy he was healthy. We envisioned him being with us for at least a few more years, and perhaps longer. As most of you who will read this blog, already know, Forest was an import from North Carolina, who had survived a terrible accident that left him with a shattered right leg, a herniated diaphragm, and was for all intents and purposes, left for dead. We really never knew how old Forest was, since we were told when we got him that the vet who treated him, thought him to be between 5-7 years old. Of course, at this last visit he had with our new vet, he was estimated to be about 8 years old. All in all, I guess we took pretty good care of him, since after 4 ½ years of having him as part of our family, he only aged by 1 year. Ha! In any case, Forest was a survivor, not only of the accident that left him for dead, but he won a year long battle with valley fever, a few years back.

Unfortunately, last night was altogether different. I want to spare everyone the details regarding the final hours leading up to his death as both Gina and I have relived and rehashed them, over a steady stream of tears and a night with no more than 1-2 hours of sleep for both of us. Needless to say, I am running on fumes as I type this. At approximately 8:00 pm, my father, who has been visiting us for the past week, alerted me to the fact that while I was bathing the kids, Forest was pacing incessantly around the backyard, and seemed to be in obvious distress. He seemed to be trying to find a place to throw up, but when he’d open his mouth nothing would come out. I thought Forest may have had diarrhea and that’s why he was acting the way he was. It was not until I had him go outside in the front yard with me that I noticed his rib cage area seemed to have enlarged twice its normal size. I straddled Forest, and felt around his rib cage area, and his entire chest area was extremely tight, yet tender to the touch. I pressed in on his chest and waist area, and he let out a groan or snarl as though he was going to bite. He made no effort to bite me, but he was in obvious discomfort. Long story short, I took him to the vet, and after a series of mishaps at the Vets office (this is where I spare everyone the details), the vet told me that Forest’s stomach had gotten twisted, and that he had had a condition known as “bloat”; the only way to correct the condition would be to perform surgery, with his chances of surviving landing in the range of about 50% . Given the fact that Forest was in severe discomfort which the pain medications proved useless in helping, the fact that we were at the vets office late at night on a Sunday, with none of his nursing staff on hand, left me with little option but to have him put down. During everything that happened up until that moment, I remained pretty stoic, though knew I was about to lose my walking companion for the last 4 ½ years. Once the vet went to get the medication to put Forest down, I lost it. I just wept inconsolably. The depth of pain and expression of that pain was beyond anything I would have expected. Of course, once the medication was administered, he was gone, at which point I said my “good-byes”, and returned home with my father, who had accompanied me to the vet that evening.

I could go on an on about everything that went wrong at the vet’s office, and the pain I felt and feel right now, but for this moment, and after a long sleepless night, I want to remember what Forest meant to us. Forest was a constant companion to Gina and I. I often joked that he was a gentleman; he always stood up when one of us stood up, escorted us around the house or wherever we went, and laid down when we sat down. The fact that Gina and I have 2 very young kids has meant that both of us have taken turns over the years, bed hopping into the kids’ rooms whenever one of them is not feeling well, or have a particular need for extra attention. During those nights, Forest was every bit as active as we were, checking on each of us intermittently to make sure he knew where we were, before heading off to check on the whereabouts of the other. He was like the mother hen, not settling down to rest until he knew everyone was safe and accounted for. Forest was very much a people’s dog. Gina and I one time took him to a dog park when we lived in Avondale. He sniffed the premises, sniffed at a few dogs, and came right back to our sides, showing no further interest in the other canines. I also credit him for not letting me get beyond the 20 pounds I’ve gained since Gina and I met. He was my walking buddy. Over the course of 4 ½ years, we tracked hundreds upon hundreds of miles together, mostly during early morning walks. He loved his walks, as most dogs do. He had a great life with us, and I really believe he wanted for nothing. He had his food, he had his walks, he had plenty, plenty of rest, he had companionship, and above all he had our love and affection for him. The house is uncomfortably quiet this morning without his presence. Everything is otherwise as it was before I frantically swept him out of the home yesterday evening; his kennel and bed mat remain in our bedroom, his food in the kitchen, his water bowl outside (kept out there because he was a sloppy water drinker), and his rawhides in the laundry room. I loved his nature. I always said he never snarled at anyone, never barred his teeth, never showed one ounce of aggression towards anyone or anything, except his food. Even then, he was the type of dog that would allow you to swoop in and take or move his food if necessary. Right up until the end, and even when he was in the extreme pain he endured during last night’s ordeal, he never ever showed aggression. Gina and I informed the kids of Forest’s death this morning, but they don’t understand. So much the better I suppose, as they will be spared crying the buckets of tears Gina and I have cried together during the past 10 hours, with more surely to come. My eyes are still swollen. I miss my friend dearly. I don’t know what becomes of dogs in God’s great master plan, but I have to believe that all life returns to Him since it is from Him that all life has its beginning. I take comfort in knowing my life, my family’s life, those who I love, and yes even Forest’s life (a dog among many, but precious to me) rests in the Lord’s good hands. We miss our friend. Forest will always be remembered with much fondness and with much love. He was, and always will be, a member of our family.

A Wild and Wonderful Birthday

The party is over. The mess is cleaned up. Our girl is officially 4. Where does the time go? Emily is in a phase where she wants us to tell her what she was like as a baby. David and I will tell her stories and she always listens intently. It makes me a bit sad as I know in the blink of an eye she will be heading off to college. We had a great time today. I think the party was a huge success. We had several people drive up from Phoenix, and it was so great to spend the day with friends and family. It's time to go relax as we are all completely exhausted.

David's Grammie

David's Grammie passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90, a few months short of her 91st birthday. She had Alzheimer's for several years and suffered a stroke on Monday. I had met her twice. Her memory was already starting to go when I saw her the first time in Quebec in 2004 before Emily was born. She knew who David was, but she needed reminding about other things. Such as, David and Alisa lived with her when they went to college. The second time I saw her, Emily was almost a year old and we all went to Nova Scotia as Grammie was living with Auntie Barb. She didn't really remember David much. Her health was still pretty good at the time which just makes everything that much harder. You could tell she would struggle in her mind to try to recall something. When we left after this visit, David knew that he wouldn't see his Gram again. David sent me an e-mail yesterday and I loved what he wrote about her. Since he knew her and I really didn't, I thought I would include his words:

As I said yesterday, she did not always nurture with words and was not very "touchy feely", but she was an upstanding individual, very "straight laced", high morals, of humble means and wants, responsible in every way, was quiet and therefore never let her mouth and temper get the better of her, and was very giving and caring in her way. She one time told me that the worst thing she remembered doing to another, was in grade school, she told a kid who was pestering her that she was going to "throw a bean" at him. She laughed about that story when she told it to me, but to this day, I really believe her. It was not in her character to be mean; she was never mean. I know she made no enemies in her life. She surely made an impact on my life, giving me a glimpse into the past, and what I imagine people were like who lived in times when my grandmother was in her prime. She was not at all anything like the "crop" of people we so often meet nowadays. I will miss her strength of character, her integrity and moral uprightness. What she took with her when she died is exactly what the world needs more of. I believe she lead a good life, lacked nothing, and died with no regrets for things left undone. Of course, her mind had left her some years ago, but I believe she would have agreed that there was nothing more she would have wanted to accomplish. Hers was a complete life.

I know I will see her again in my Lord, God's presence...there will be no tears, no unhappy times, no suffering, no decrease or dimishment of person or life. Only abundant life- life everlasting.

We love you Grammie.