Another Fiona update

When I left for work this morning all the dogs were in the back yard. A short time later Craig went out to let them in and found Fiona shivering in pain and not putting any weight on her back right leg. Instead of waiting until Monday Craig took her to the vet today for X-rays. X-rays confirmed the suspicion of Calve Perthes disease and not only does she have it in one hip but BOTH hips. The vet thinks her right hip may even be broken already. Our hearts are breaking for her. We have been referred to a specialist.... more to follow.

Fiona Update

Fiona goes to the vet on Monday to have x-rays of her hips. She isn't getting any better and it's more evident all the time that somethings wrong with her. She walks funny... she uses both of her hind legs together like she's always pushing herself along instead of normal walking. She easily falls over when she tries to run and play with the Seadra and Zoe. Today I watched her try to make a sharp turn while she was running and she fell over and yelped in pain. Also today I gently picked her up to put her on the couch with me and she yelped again. The vet suspects she has a genetic hip problem called Calve Perthes Disease. It's a deterioration of the head of the femur due to insufficient blood supply. As a result of the insufficient blood supply the femur begins to die and disintegrate. It's a known genetic disorder in pugs and shows up between the age of 4 to 9 months. Fiona is 6 months old. We'll know more from the x-rays Monday. We'll keep you posted.

Best Season Ever

Jordan had a track meet this afternoon and I got some great shots of her. She was first in the 100 hurdles. She was clocked at 17.5. Her PR (personal record) is 17.3. Her goal is to break into the 16's before the end of the year.

I love this photo! And we love track season!

What I'm Loving Right Now

A puppy who has stolen my heart... Yes, I'm ready to admit it.

A major transformation of the yard and all the work that goes along with it. This is a huge hole in the side yard where we had a tree cut down and the stump ground out. We are temporarily using it for burning a lot of junk wood. We are having a truck load of dirt brought in to fill it soon. The fence posts were installed and cemented in on Thursday and Monday they are coming back to string the fence..... Yahoo... I've wanted a fence for as long as we've lived here! There's going to be a lot of work landscaping everywhere we want and it will probably take us a few summers to accomplish it all but I'm loving it!

Spring! And all the great stuff spring brings, including Jordan's track season. I love watching my little girl reach goals she's set for herself and knowing what an amazing life she has ahead of her.

A simple anniversary dinner out with Craig last Monday night celebrating our 24 years and both of us getting teary eyed when we talk about how much we love those kids!

A hammock in the back yard with a big pillow and Seadra snuggled next to me.

Sleeping in on Saturday mornings. I was one to never sleep in but I've so needed it this past winter and spring with my new job.

And speaking of my job, I'm going to add it to this list too. As I've shared on this blog before it's been a tough transformation for me (and my family) but there are so many good things about it. Patients that warm my heart and leave me with feelings of gratitude. Doctors (my bosses) that are compassionate, caring and understanding when I get overwhelmed. They are also so appreciative of what I've been doing. There are some major changes forthcoming that I am excited about that hopefully I'll be able to talk about soon. All good stuff!

Anticipation of an awesome summer ahead.... Lots of camping visiting new places and old favorites. Spending days at the cottage, going for Jeep rides.... my list is long.

Listening to Caleb sit in the living room playing his guitar and hearing him sing in the shower while I'm in the kitchen working. He's not singing to impress anyone, he doesn't even know anyone hears him... he just feels like singing and I love it! Caleb is a true gift, a gentle spirit, a huge heart. Everyday I am more thankful for the person he is.

Our outside fire pit. Last night Craig built us a fire. It was sprinkling but we didn't care. I love those fires and what they mean to all of us. We solve life's problems, we laugh, we plan our lives, our stresses from the days melt away.

Life is good.......

24 Years!

Twenty four years ago today I received one of the greatest gifts of my life...

...... my Hubby! Happy Anniversary to us!

He's my world!

He's my All!

He makes me happy!

He makes me feel safe!

He brings me joy!

I love you Craig!

Fiona Update

It's been awhile since I've done a Fiona update. She's growing but she still has that puppy look to her. She's soooo darn cute. Just yesterday she turned 6 months old. She's still a tiny thing at only about 10 pounds. I thought she would be bigger at this age. Maybe she's just going to be a small pug. Zoe is a monster pug at 26 pounds so I guess she looks tiny compared to her.

She LOVES her dog beds. We've tried to get Seadra and Zoe to like dog beds but they never cared for them. Fiona is very attached to her dog beds. She about wore the first one out so last week she got a new one. She was very happy!

I'm happy to announce she's pretty much housebroken. She rarely has an accident and usually only when we've neglected to take her out in a timely manner.

She loves her Daddy and the feeling is mutual. Craig is quite smitten with her.

I have to tell you about her bark. The poor little thing hardly has a bark at all. Don't get me wrong... she loves to use her voice. She's already learned to bark at the neighbors, barks excitedly when she's being fed, and barks when she plays.... but we still can't believe it. When she barks it's the littlest whip of a bark. It like a deep soft sound. At first we thought she would outgrow it and acquire the sharp shrill sound that dogs make when they bark but so far no such thing. And we LOVE it, we are really hoping she keeps her bark. I have never heard a dog bark like she does.

She is slowly winning my heart like I hoped she would. I've had my days (OK, weeks) where she has stressed me but they are starting to be fewer. I've noticed that she is not so relentless in her badgering of Zoe and I even seen glimpses of Seadra playing tag with her outside, I thought I would never see that.

Seadra has an affectionate nickname of Boo Boo, Zoe is Zo-Zo, and I'm catching myself calling Fiona "My Fiona". I guess that means I love her.

Another post with no photos..

I rarely ever do a post without photos... That tells you how my life has transformed the last few months. The plan is to be outside a lot today so I'll for sure have my camera out there with me. We've called the fencing company and told them we are ready for them to install the new fence around the back yard so we are doing a few finishing touches getting ready for that. Last night Craig and I went to Lowe's and bought huge patio blocks to place under the gates and also to expand the fire pit area. We still have to move a small tree that is in the fence line and I have a lot of ornamental grasses and hostas to move. Poor Craig's been getting overwhelmed and exasperated. He's been out in the yard every night this week in the dark and in the cold and in the rain trying to get stuff done. I've promised him that I will help more this weekend.

As we speak, Jordan is taking the ACT again this morning. She is consistently getting a 29 each time and needs a 31 to bump up her scholarship. She's determined and we are proud of her. This is her last attempt to try on her own. If she doesn't get a 31 this time we are enrolling her in the Kaplan class at Western. Ferris is giving her until the end of August to qualify. Jordan and I were talking the other night... she very excited about the end of her senior year, so many fun things coming up. Track season is in full swing, senior trip to Florida in a few weeks, prom, etc, etc. Life is good for Jordan!

The last 4 weeks at work have been stressful to say the least. The workload was overwhelming and everyday I have frantically been trying to dig myself out of a hole. I was finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and then all in one day I was drowning again. I about lost it. I literally thought I was having a nervous break down. Knowing I was near the breaking point one of the doctors came into my office to talk to me last week. All I could do was sit there and sob! They are concerned and caring and we are coming up with ways to delegate some of my more mundane tasks to others. For the first time EVER since I started the position in January this past week has been manageable. Yesterday I found time to clean out my email, organize some files, catch up on correspondence... I even dusted my office and washed the windows. You have no idea how good this past week felt. We'll see what next week brings... it's so unpredictable. Good thing I love this job!

One day last week one the receptionists called me and said there was someone here to see me. I went out there and there stood one of my patients families. They had 2 dozen donuts and told me they were for me to share with the whole office staff. They grabbed me and hugged me and told me how much they loved me. They told me what a huge difference I had made to their whole family, they said I went above and beyond the call of duty in helping them prepare and understand everything for their father's surgery. I almost cried..... that makes it all worth while.

It's time to go.... there's never enough time on the weekends to get stuff done, especially these days. Have a wonderful weekend and I promise my next post will have some photos.

P.S. The hummingbird migration map is reporting sightings of hummingbirds half way up Michigan already. I saw my first hummingbird April 26th last year but I'm going to hang my feeders today. Are yours up yet?

Compassion

One of the best things about my new job is the people I meet and get to talk to. My official title at work is surgery scheduler but it involves so much more than just scheduling them for their surgeries. I try to get to know my patients and see their needs. It's important that I am compassionate and caring. It is always my goal to help them and make the burden lighter for them, but I'm finding more and more that they are the ones that touch me.

Yesterday I met a farmer. He didn't look like your typical farmer. He was short stout and muscular. And he had red hair and red eyelashes. He had that pale skin complexion most redheads have. He wore a shirt that was unbuttoned half way and his thick chest hair was exposed and he wore big gold jewelry. Now, would you think I just described a farmer?

After we got the medical business out of the way he started talking about his farm. His eyes sparkled. He told me he bought his first farm when he was still in high school. His parents had to sign the note at the bank and they were not supportive at the time. A short time later he bought his second farm a short distance from his first farm. He went on to tell me that the farm was his life and how he's poured his heart and soul into those farms. He's up there in age now and he's worried about what the future holds for his farms. He grown children are not showing interest in keeping the farms running. Further into the conversation I asked him where is farms were. I couldn't believe it when he told me the name of the town and the road.... the exact same road I grew up on and spent 10 years of my childhood. And I had never met this man until yesterday. His farms were a few miles from our home.

I liked that short stout man and I'm still thinking about him this morning. I told him he could leave his farms to me, that I would care for them. That made him laugh. Next time I'm in that area I'm going to drive down that road and look at his farms.

I met another man yesterday. Totally different. He was confused and alone. He shuffled when he walked and talked with a slur in his voice. It was hard to understand him and he obviously didn't understand anything about his medical condition or what we needed to do. "Oh Boy" I thought, this was going to be a challenge. It took me a long time to get him scheduled and set up for his testing. I had to tell him everything over and over. I would just get done explaining something to him and he'd want me to tell him again. He had no one to take him to appointments or take him to the hospital for his surgery. He asked me to call the senior center and see if they would take him. I did but being Good Friday they were not open. I told him I would call them on Monday for him but 2 minutes later he would forget everything and we'd have to go over it all again. I was starting to get exasperated. About this point I could tell he was feeling overwhelmed. He lowered his head and in the softest voice said "You know, I don't have much education". This exact moment my heart broke for him and I wanted to cry.

At this point I told him not to worry, that Monday I would work on making some calls to get him help. There was no point in trying to get him to comprehend, it was only confusing and overwhelming him. I walked him back out to the reception area where the receptionists were going to call the public bus system that dropped him off. Being it was Good Friday the bus system had stopped running at noon that day.... so there he was, no way to get home. A Good Samaritan in the waiting area overheard the conversation and spoke up.. "I'll take him home".

I learned a little more about compassion yesterday and that there are still good people in this world. Would I have done what that Good Samaritan in the waiting area did and offered to take that man home? I hope I would have.

Last week I had a patient in my office that was recently paroled. He was still semi-incarcerated in some rehabilitation program and he was tethered. He had just been diagnosed with cancer and was facing a big surgery. I had no idea what this mans crimes were or what his circumstances were. All I know is that here sat a man across from me scared. He needed an over the counter medication as part of his prep for surgery. He told me there was no way he could get to the store to purchase this item. On my way home from work I picked up the medication and dropped it off at his facility for him. I have been criticized by my husband for this act. I simply do not have it in me to not feel compassion for everyone.

It was a beautiful week... weather wise

I'd like to say it was a good week other wise as well but it's been a tough week. As you know from my last post I've been sick. I worked Tuesday with a fever and all. Wednesday I stayed home and slept until noon. I managed to go to work the rest of the week but it was not fun. I'd much rather have stayed home but just staying home the one day I did made me return to a mess that I am still trying to catch up on. I've had a headache since Tuesday, and one of the worst colds I've had in a long time. The only enjoyment I've had all week is laying in bed with Seadra and Zoe curled up next to me. They love me and the feeling is mutual. Of course Craig has taken good care of me. And then to top it all off Jordan woke up sick this morning. I hope she gets over hers faster than mine seems to be going.

Sorry I don't have anything exciting to blog about. I walked around the yard Wednesday with Seadra and Zoe and snapped a few photos. The weather was so beautiful! And now that it is the weekend it's freezing and snowing. Oh well, soon we will have nice weather to stay.

sick....

I woke up at 3:00 this morning with a raging sore throat. I got up to take some cold medicine and get a cold drink. I went back to bed praying for a miracle. At 6:00 I was no better but something processed me to go to work. I thought I'd try to work at least half a day and hopefully come home early to bed. I should have known better. It was crazy busy, one issue after another to deal with, I didn't even have time to take a lunch. As the day went on I increasing felt worse... raging sore throat, feverish, body aches, head throbbing. After 10 hours of work I could barely walk out to my car. I already told the doctors and my co-workers that I will not be to work tomorrow.

When I got home I immediately went upstairs, put on my most comfortable pj's and crawled into bed. Seadra is curled up next to me and I'm not moving the rest of the night. My wonderful hubby brought me some cold tea for my throat and at my request made me some rice for dinner. He's taking good care of me.

Just the other day I was thinking "Wow, I haven't had so much as a cold or a sniffle since last fall". Usually something attacks me each winter. I thought maybe I had escaped it this year. Hopefully this will be short lived.

So here I am, laying in bed, watching TV, and blogging.....

My beloved Robins returned this week. I've already been chasing them around the yard with my camera. Craig and I were outside doing yard work last night and the Robins were just singing away... such music to my ears.

Craig took me to Allen Michigan last weekend for a day of antiquing. The photo shows my latest obsession. I've been collecting these for about 2 years now. Most of them are small planters and a few are figurines. They were made in the 30's thru the 50's. Some are McCoy and some are Shawnee but most I don't really know where they came from. I just love the fact that they are old and I love the color. It's fun and exciting when I find a new piece.

Now for some bragging.... Last week it was announced at school that Jordan is Valedictorian of her class... actually she is a co-valedictorian with one of her best friends, Aly. They will both be giving commencement speeches at graduation. So proud.... For our family and friends close by Jordan's graduation is Sunday June 13th. Jordan's graduation open house will be the day before on Saturday June 12th. More to follow....

Hope you all are staying well.....

We should have been Boy Scouts

Last Sunday we were all excited to go to my parents house and burn the brush pile that's been sitting there for over a year. Last spring my parents had a bunch of apple trees pushed out which made the big pile.

Dad's been telling us that he'd been trying for weeks to get it going but couldn't ever get it started. How hard can it be to start a brush pile on fire? Certainly we wouldn't fail.

We threw in a bunch of cardboard and a match.

It looked like it was going to start and we were encouraged.

A few minutes later this is what it looked like... just smoke.

I think Lu-Lu was laughing at us.

We must have tried 4 different times but each time it would just burn out.

At least it was a nice day and the dogs were loving being outside.

Finally we gave up. Craig thinks we needed a little breeze to get it going.

Here's my Dad looking all defeated. He's getting embarrassed calling the fire department every few days telling them he's going to try again. We are going to try again next weekend if any of you have any bright ideas on how to get a big brush pile to burn.

I Am Free.....

I've had this laundry conversation on my blog before. And so the story continues.

How much of a mother's life is committed to the basic chore of laundry? I wonder if anyone has ever studied that. All my married life I've had a love hate relationship with laundry. In our early married life, pre-kid, I think laundry was pretty much just that... a chore. But somewhere along the way that changed. When the kids were babies laundry became a reflection of who I was... somewhat. It became a challenge to how well I could keep my kids clothes looking new and fresh. I became a genius at getting out the worst of stains. Before any clothes were washed I would sit on the floor and go over every single piece of the kids clothes scouring them for stains and scrubbing them spot free before they were thrown into the washer. I used "Goop" hand cleaner and a toothbrush. That stuff got everything out if you scrubbed hard enough. I prided myself on my kids looking beautiful, clothes all fresh and clean in their closets and drawers.

As the years have gone on it's pretty much stayed the same. My friends and family (including Craig) have told me for years that the kids should be doing their own laundry. A few times I've come close to letting go but I just couldn't do it. Even when I would complain and get behind in the laundry it was still nearly impossible for me let go of the laundry control. The little that the kids and Craig do drive me crazy.... the clothes are not sorted by color correctly, the washer is packed too full, they let the clothes sit in the dryer for 2 days and wrinkle all up, they don't put the clothes away or hang in the closet what needs to be hung up.... you get the picture.

Well... I have finally come to my breaking point. I've decided that at this point the aggravation of doing the kids laundry has gotten to be more than the aggravation of letting them do their own laundry. I am tired of turning every single sock right side out because they are ripe them off inside out, same for jeans and shirts. It irritates me to no end that they cannot wear a pair of jeans more than once. Caleb has to wear a uniform to work, why have I made it my job to make sure his work clothes are clean and ready for him??? HE'S 20 YEARS OLD!

I have no one to blame but myself. I know this is a control thing but I am so ready to let go of it. Last Saturday I informed the kids that they would now both be doing their own laundry. It really wasn't a surprise and they both looked at me like it was no big deal. When I sorted out the laundry I separated out Caleb and Jordan's dirty clothes, took them back to their bedrooms and put them into their laundry baskets. After their clothes were removed I only had about 3 loads of clothes to wash.... Wow, what a difference! I will no longer spend a complete day on the weekend from morning until night doing laundry! I AM FREE!! I AM FREE!!

Now the challenge will be how well will I be able to keep this up? Will I be temped to go into their rooms and grab up the laundry after a few weeks? Will I be able to tolerate them not doing the laundry to my standards? I can do this, YES I CAN! Pray for me......

To my faithful blog followers

If I still have any followers out there... thank you for not giving up on me! And in case you are wondering what we've been up to at the Mullauer household:

1. My new job is still totally consuming me. But I can honestly say I love it. I love working with the patients and their families and all the responsibilities that go along with it. A lot of changes are happening in our practice the next few months, including one of our doctors retiring. I'm giving it until summer when things iron out a little more to see how the workload ends up. Right now I am not convinced that one person can do this job. But everyday I am more thankful to have a job considering the unemployment rate in this country. The extra hours I'm working have made me love my paychecks as well. It's a great feeling when your son brings home a $800 tuition bill and you can write a check without wondering how you are going to buy groceries that week.

2. I am sooooo excited about getting our chain link fence installed as soon as the snow melts. They are coming out Monday to give us an estimate. It took a lot of convincing for Craig to agree to this one. Craig likes the openness of our back yard and I agree with that. He's afraid that putting up a fence will be confining. But I think the trade off will be well worth it. With 3 dogs it's just too hard to keep track of them when we are outside. I LOVE the outdoors and want to be able to enjoy being outside without being constantly consumed with where the dogs are every moment, which is what it takes when they are outside with us. Another big plus.... no more skunks. For those of you that have followed my blog know the horror stories we can gone through with skunks and our dogs. And it hasn't been an isolated incident.

3. We've attended several Ferris functions with Jordan this past week. We went to Grand Rapids Tuesday for a new student reception and Saturday we went to Big Rapids for Jordan's testing/competition for the honors program. There were 350 students competing for 290 spots. I'm confident that Jordan will have no problem getting into the honors program. Jordan has been working hard studying and retaking her ACT test. She's trying to get an extra 2 points (she has 29 now and needs a 31). If she can get a 31 Ferris has guaranteed her a full tuition scholarship for 4 years. We have enrolled Jordan into a Kaplan ACT class at Western starting May 1st for 6 weeks. They meet twice a week. It's not cheap at $500 but they guarantee your student increases her score or your money back. It will be well worth it if Jordan can get the two extra points. Pray for Jordan!

4. We are all soooo ready for spring. This winter has not been fun in terms of the usual winter stuff we usually do. Snowmobling has been for the birds. I only went on two rides the whole winter. Craig did go up north sledding with club members a few times, but even the snow wasn't great up there. I'm dreaming of our camper trailer, gardening, getting outside with my camera, my spring birds (hummers, orioles, bluebirds!), you get the picture...

5. I'm trying to learn to love Fiona. Do I sound like a terrible person? As I type this she is curled up next to me snoring. This is a rare rare rare occurrence. She just never settles down and lets me love on her. Craig says that Zoe was the same way but I don't remember that. She is relentless in her constant badgering of Zoe. Poor Zoe goes upstairs to be by herself to get away from Fiona. This makes me sad as Zoe is such a people person. And Seadra just hates her. Sorry if I'm sounding negative, I want to love her. I'm hoping when we are not so cooped up in this house once spring gets here that it will get better. What was I thinking!!!!

6. We signed up for Netflix this winter and I really enjoy that. Right now I have the television mini series Roots coming one episode at a time. It is so worth the money. We only pay $8 a month and you can turn over a movie every 2 days. It's wonderful. And some movies I can watch wirelessly on tv or my mac. The biggest perk is no late fees. I can't tell you how many late fees we've paid with the kids renting movies.

7. Track season starts Monday for Jordan. It's another one of those lasts that we will be enjoying with Jordan this spring. I'm hoping that I'm able to get out of work early on track meet days. Watch for track photos on my blog.

8. Caleb's keeping busy working and going to school full time at KVCC. He's making a little more noise about switching his major to education.... we'll see. I think Caleb would make a great teacher. He's such a people person. He's anxious for spring as well. He's dying to get his Mustang on the road again.

9. Craig and I are going to Allen Michigan Saturday antiquing. I can't wait. Allen is the antique capital of Michigan. It's such a fun day and I so need a fun day.

Take care my friends... I miss you and I miss my blogging.

I Miss Them!

I miss my Bluebirds! I'm going to be putting up my bluebird houses at the beginning of March.

And I'll be so happy to see my Hummingbirds again.

Things to look forward to.....

I've been trying to keep a good attitude about winter, the cold and the snow but the truth is I am ready for spring. Here's a few things I've been thinking about lately.

1. Jeep rides with the top off

2. Sunshine and longer days

3. CAMPING, I can't wait to get the trailer out of storage.

4. As soon as the weather breaks we are having the back yard fenced. I'm very excited about this for the dogs.

5. Gardening and doing some planned landscaping this year.

6. Driving around with the windows down.

7. Sitting around the fire pit outside.

8. Jordan's track season!! I love track!

9. Jordan's high school graduation this spring.

Bring it on!!!!!!

Bee's and Bat's

We live on an older home. Our house is nearly 100 years old. The exterior is what they call pregnant block. I love the "antique" look of our older home but it does have it's drawbacks, namely the critters that have access to an older home. When we first bought our home 8 years ago we went through a few months of bats paying up visits in the middle of the night. Not a fun thing! I think it happened 3 times. But luckily we have not seem any bats for years! We'll I spoke too soon.

Although, the bats have not been a problem we have had a problem with bees/wasps getting in the house since last summer. Wasps were turning up in our bedroom on a weekly basis. Twice Craig even got stung in the middle of the night last summer. We noticed an area outside the house were we could see wasps entering and exiting on the second floor. We knew this would have to be addressed when winter came around. Well, now that winter is here and the bees have died down it didn't seem to be a priority. Until last week.... Craig put his shirt on one morning and promptly got stung by a wasp twice. He had to rip his shirt off to get the wasp off of him. OK... now the wasps are a priority again!

As a result of the wasp incident Craig decided to empty out a storage area in our bedroom where we had a suspicion the wasps had taken up residence.

In the process of emptying out the storage area Craig found not one but TWO bats. They were alive but sluggish from hibernation. I don't know why Craig has such a big smile on his face. Maybe he's happy with himself for catching the critters and getting rid of them.

This photo just freaks me out! I DO NOT LIKE BATS! Especially in my house!

Anyway, back to the wasps... After emptying out the storage area Craig removed a board that covered up a space over the downstairs bathroom. LOOK WHAT HE FOUND!!!! This thing is as big as a basketball! You can't tell from the photo but the wasp nest is about 6 feet into the rafter area and there is no way to stand or walk into that area. We have no idea how to get rid of this thing. All I know is it HAS to go. I can't live in this house knowing that is in the wall of my bedroom.

I'm checking into calling an exterminator but if you have any bright ideas I'll love to hear them.

She's Growing

I haven't been taking as many photos of Fiona as I should be. Before we know it she will be as big as the other two.

She's fitting right in and is a member of our family now. We are still working on the house training but we've seen progress and are encouraged. Jordan's been teaching her to sit. She knows which cupboard her treats are kept in and she will sit by that cupboard door and look at you with the most pitiful puppy eyes. She plays hard until she literally can't go any longer. She loves her fluffy bed and if we can't find her that's where she always is.

She starting to enjoy the outdoors now too. We've had somewhat of a warm up the last few weeks so she's been able to spend some time outside. She found a leaf under the snow the other day and tossed that leaf around for 15 minutes. I love watching her discover new things.

And here's a cute photo from last night.....

"Dad, aren't you gonna share that pizza with us?"

Time to relax

Jordan was so beautiful last weekend in the Miss Hartford contest. She made it to the final 5 but that was as far as she went. We couldn't have been prouder. She had the support of so many and it was a great day.

On another note... I've been at my new job for 2 weeks now. The first week I trained with the girl that was formally in that position. This past week I've been on my own. Wow! What a week. I come home absolutely exhausted! It's been stressful because I'm constantly double and triple checking everything I do. There is so much to learn. I can't believe how much information I've taken in in such a short time. Today I was on overload. I did pretty good until I got home and saw Craig, then I had a melt down. Don't get me wrong, I really do like it so far it's just the learning process that is hard to get through. It's not like anything I've ever done before. I'm enjoying working with the patients and getting to know them. I'm anxious to see how next week goes now that I have the first week on my own under my belt. I'm glad it's the weekend and I can relax the next few days and clear my head.

My blogging may be sporadic at best the next few weeks while I get through this transition in my life.

Have a great weekend friends!

The Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day. Jordan is a contestant in our local town Blossomtime Queen pageant. This is a new experience for us and we are excited. She has the perfect dress, the perfect earrings, the perfect necklace, the perfect shoes..... I'll post photos tomorrow. She's going to be so beautiful.

Fiona Update

For my dog loving friends... A Fiona update.

I've had my "What was I thinking?" moments. This brings back so many memories of when we got Zoe. We had already had Seadra for 4 years when Zoe came into our lives as a puppy. Seadra was MY dog, very attached to me, and in my eyes could do no wrong. She was the love of my life (still is). And here comes along Zoe, this puppy who loved to chew, was difficult to house train, ... all the typical puppy stuff. It took a good year with Zoe before she won my heart over and I felt like she really belonged with our family. And today I couldn't imagine my life without her. Zoe is a delight. Now I am experiencing all the same emotions with Fiona.

Of course I adore her and in time she will work her way into my heart just like Zoe did. I love watching her grow and learn new things each day. I was so excited today when she walked up the back steps on her own for the first time. I love how she lets out this little squeal when she yawns. She does the cutest little pug run where she tucks her butt under and runs wild in circles. She loves her toys and wants to play tug all the time.

Zoe is very tolerant of Fiona. She allows her to jump all over her, tug at her ears, stick her nose in her food when she's eating, and they play well together. They will be great buddies. It just melts my heart when I walk in the kitchen and see the two of them cuddled up next to each other asleep.

Seadra has no use for Fiona but I am encouraged that she seems to be accepting her. She is no longer hiding and has gotten her appetite back. I think she has realized that Fiona is here to stay and that she isn't a threat. That's all I can hope for out of Seadra for now. I have seen a few brief glimpses of Seadra playing with Fiona... Who knows, maybe someday Fiona will win Seadra's heart as well.... but I doubt it.

More updates to follow....