15 years ago Beth and Molly came home from the Humane Association with Rosie. We think she is a Sheltie mix. When Rosie was 4 we got Snicker, a beagle mix, who was 2 at the time.
Rosie is now nearly completely deaf, has arthritis, kidney disease and is senile as the day is long. Other than that, she has always looked younger than Snicker.
Snicker, at 13 has been as ornery as ever (never mean, just getting into the trash or the pantry and trying to run away). I have always said, "It's a good thing she's cute." Aside from a degenerative disc that hasn't really bothered her for several years, and allergies, we felt she would go on forever.
Over the past couple of weeks, Snicker's breathing has become difficult, as she had apparent nasal congestion. We figured it was due to her allergies and treated it as such. Last week, her cheek swelled up so we took her to the vet. Figuring she has an infected tooth (Snicker wouldn't let them look at it), they put her on antibiotics and hoped it would clear up not only the tooth problem, but her breathing as well.
Sunday, I reached down to pet Snicker as I usually do and she yelped as I touched her face. Upon closer examination, I saw that her eye was looking really weepy, almost conjunctive. She also had swelling over her nose. She looked miserable.
Today, the vet looked at her briefly and diagnosed a tumor in her face. The options were few and not very promising. He told us that prednisone might help alleviate her discomfort for a week or two. Other than that there really wasn't much they could do to save her.
So we brought her home since we hadn't given Molly a chance to say good-bye if she wanted to. Snicker slept hard when we got home - absolutely worn out. I spoke with Molly this evening to tell her.
By the end of the week, I'll make that journey I dread. You wanna know the truth? One of the biggest reasons I dread it is what condition I will be in as I lead her into the vet's office for the last time. It's the right thing to do. I won't regret it. It will just be hard.
Despite her orneriness, she's a sweet dog. A good companion. And still really cute.
We'll miss her.
Sep 29, 2008
I am so over it...
So I go to weather.com today to see what it's going to be doing over the next week or so, and within certain days they include these little links to tips for dealing with certain weather conditions, right? Now, it's end of September. It's officially fall now. And what tips do they have for us here in sunny Florida?
"Top 10 ways to beat the heat"
and
"Tips for exercising in high heat"
Give me a break! I was over the summer heat in June.
But I shouldn't be surprised. It's always like this here. We usually get a little taste of fall about mid September, but we know now that if we get too excited, we'll only get our hearts broken.
Oh well. It can't last. October is the best month of the year here and we're almost there.
And who knows...
Maybe this will be the last Florida summer up with which we'll have to put. (grammatical bow to Winston Churchill)
We can hope and pray that we'll be in Ireland by June. We'll see what the Lord has in mind...
"Top 10 ways to beat the heat"
and
"Tips for exercising in high heat"
Give me a break! I was over the summer heat in June.
But I shouldn't be surprised. It's always like this here. We usually get a little taste of fall about mid September, but we know now that if we get too excited, we'll only get our hearts broken.
Oh well. It can't last. October is the best month of the year here and we're almost there.
And who knows...
Maybe this will be the last Florida summer up with which we'll have to put. (grammatical bow to Winston Churchill)
We can hope and pray that we'll be in Ireland by June. We'll see what the Lord has in mind...
Sep 12, 2008
Uphill can be exciting
Lately, we've been working hard, implementing a new approach to Ministry Partner Development (MPD) (a.k.a. Fundraising; a.k.a. Friendraising; a.k.a. Deputation; a.k.a. Whatever) and it's working!
We've had a few exciting weeks and we are seeing our support level on the increase.
Yes, it's still an uphill climb, but it's been actually fun and fulfilling. The joy comes from not viewing it so much as raising support, but sharing the vision that God has given us for Ireland. It's a big vision and I love it when, as we are sharing with friends about our work, you see the light bulb go on and you know that they "get it". Then they, too get excited about it and begin asking all the right questions.
Had an email from a colleague in Ireland who is about to have 6 months in the States. He was offering us the use of their house if we were going to be moving there before they returned next spring. Aah! If only...
I don't think that's going to happen (I know - "ye of little faith").
We don't know the Lord's timing on this thing yet, but we keep plugging away at it and hope to be there soon.
We've had a few exciting weeks and we are seeing our support level on the increase.
Yes, it's still an uphill climb, but it's been actually fun and fulfilling. The joy comes from not viewing it so much as raising support, but sharing the vision that God has given us for Ireland. It's a big vision and I love it when, as we are sharing with friends about our work, you see the light bulb go on and you know that they "get it". Then they, too get excited about it and begin asking all the right questions.
Had an email from a colleague in Ireland who is about to have 6 months in the States. He was offering us the use of their house if we were going to be moving there before they returned next spring. Aah! If only...
I don't think that's going to happen (I know - "ye of little faith").
We don't know the Lord's timing on this thing yet, but we keep plugging away at it and hope to be there soon.
Sep 11, 2008
Hey there, Cowboy!
Went to Baton Rouge on Tuesday with a group from our church. We took along water, MRE's, tarps and gas cans and spent the day doing some relief work.
Hooking up with Healing Place Church, we were each assigned to a crew to go out work. Some of us were on chainsaw detail, taking care of downed trees and branches. Others headed out with tarps to patch damaged and leaking roofs. The rest went into one of the hardest hit areas in Greater Baton Rouge to help serve hot meals to the residents there.
Beth and I were with two local guys, Rob and Trice on a tarp crew. The first house we went to was the home of miss Stacie, who had her 5-year-old grandson, Jason with her. As she stepped out to greet us, Jason slipped past her, came up to me, grabbed my hand and said, "Hey there, Cowboy! Can I be your partner?" (Notice my chapeau in the picture) Looked and sounded like Opie from Andy Griffith. He latched onto Beth and I and wouldn't leave our side.
After installing tarps on 4 roofs we made our way back to the church to join up with the others from Coast, clean up a bit and head home. It may seem silly -- 10 hours of driving for 4 hours' work. But it was so worth it. We don't feel like we did much, but the locals were so very appreciative.
I sometimes think that if I can't give a large amount of time in an important effort such as this, that it's not worth giving any. It was very clear to me Tuesday how wrong I have been in that mindset.
Hooking up with Healing Place Church, we were each assigned to a crew to go out work. Some of us were on chainsaw detail, taking care of downed trees and branches. Others headed out with tarps to patch damaged and leaking roofs. The rest went into one of the hardest hit areas in Greater Baton Rouge to help serve hot meals to the residents there.
Beth and I were with two local guys, Rob and Trice on a tarp crew. The first house we went to was the home of miss Stacie, who had her 5-year-old grandson, Jason with her. As she stepped out to greet us, Jason slipped past her, came up to me, grabbed my hand and said, "Hey there, Cowboy! Can I be your partner?" (Notice my chapeau in the picture) Looked and sounded like Opie from Andy Griffith. He latched onto Beth and I and wouldn't leave our side.
After installing tarps on 4 roofs we made our way back to the church to join up with the others from Coast, clean up a bit and head home. It may seem silly -- 10 hours of driving for 4 hours' work. But it was so worth it. We don't feel like we did much, but the locals were so very appreciative.
I sometimes think that if I can't give a large amount of time in an important effort such as this, that it's not worth giving any. It was very clear to me Tuesday how wrong I have been in that mindset.
Sep 1, 2008
Sitting out the storm
Tropical cyclones are at the same time exciting, frightening and boring. If you could only see Beth and I right now. We've been sitting around glued to CNN and The Weather Channel, as well as our local news channel, watching as Gustav bears down on Louisiana. From 4 am to 9 am, we were under constant tornado warnings. We've seen gusts up to 45 mph here and a couple of inches of rain.
Yesterday evening we drove out to the beach and took a walk on the pier. I wish I'd had my video camera. The clouds were amazing. The surf was big -- not huge -- but building and the wind picked up quite a bit as we stood with dozens of others watching dolphins play. We also saw some really cool jellyfish, a ray and a huge sea turtle.
The cool thing about a hurricane or tropical storm is how it brings a community together. The parking lot at the beach was quite full and as we walked over the boardwalk to the beach we were struck by the number of people standing at the water's edge, talking with one another, sharing stories, sharing lives.
Before the storm, wherever you go, whether the supermarket, a restaurant, a hardware store, it's what people are talking about. "Be safe," is a common replacement for "goodbye." You find people helping others in making preparations to their homes.
After the storm, you find rampant acts of kindness and neighborliness. It's really rather remarkable.
But I'm bored at the moment. There's that whole mix of wanting to see something dramatic happen on the TV coverage of the storm, but not wanting the dramatic thing to happen because you know it directly affects another person's life in a negative way. Does that happen to you?
Guess I'll go eat lunch now.
And watch some more Anderson Cooper and Jim Cantore.
Yesterday evening we drove out to the beach and took a walk on the pier. I wish I'd had my video camera. The clouds were amazing. The surf was big -- not huge -- but building and the wind picked up quite a bit as we stood with dozens of others watching dolphins play. We also saw some really cool jellyfish, a ray and a huge sea turtle.
The cool thing about a hurricane or tropical storm is how it brings a community together. The parking lot at the beach was quite full and as we walked over the boardwalk to the beach we were struck by the number of people standing at the water's edge, talking with one another, sharing stories, sharing lives.
Before the storm, wherever you go, whether the supermarket, a restaurant, a hardware store, it's what people are talking about. "Be safe," is a common replacement for "goodbye." You find people helping others in making preparations to their homes.
After the storm, you find rampant acts of kindness and neighborliness. It's really rather remarkable.
But I'm bored at the moment. There's that whole mix of wanting to see something dramatic happen on the TV coverage of the storm, but not wanting the dramatic thing to happen because you know it directly affects another person's life in a negative way. Does that happen to you?
Guess I'll go eat lunch now.
And watch some more Anderson Cooper and Jim Cantore.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)