Busy, busy

Well, I think we're feeling a little more settled these days. I have been pretty productive around the house this last month. We had the electrician come and ground some outlets, add some outlets, and make some safety upgrades. Then we had the insulation guys come and add a foot of insulation to our attics. I unpacked and rearranged enough stuff to get both cars in the garage! We've had multiple refrigerator repairs and FINALLY got a new fridge yesterday- I'm so excited I'll be able to buy milk on our next grocery trip! We also had our stove repaired since one of the burners decided to stop working. We bought 2 sofas and a recliner for our living room. We also have all of our TVs hooked up with converter boxes and antennas now. We still don't watch hardly any TV, but the option is there if we ever have time. My latest project is getting blinds on all the windows. I am 1/3 done! I put together a 5 drawer dresser, nightstand and matching headboard for the guestroom too. Little by little it all seems to be coming together. I still lack curtains and wall decorations, but those things take time to find. Maybe some after-Thanksgiving shopping will help! I'll try to post some pictures before too long.

Titus' vet visit- take 2

Titus and I met vet #2 on Saturday. She was soooooo much better than the guy we saw last month. She introduced herself to me and Titus, (Titus first as he had his nose in the door as she opened it) gave my baby a full exam, loved all over him, gave him treats and gave great information as we went along. She and her assistant did not attempt to lift my now 98 lb dog onto the table either. Titus' tail did not stop wagging the entire time except for when she was "messing with" his back end. Altogether it was a great visit. I feel so much better now and Titus seemed very happy. I think we've found a new vet!

Precious friend

When I look at the last 10 years, I sometimes feel like it has been a huge roller coaster. College, marriage, moving to OK, moving to WA, moving back to TX, deaths, births, numerous job changes, etc. Two of the wonderful blessings that have come out of this ride are new family and new friends. I have many new relationships in my life that I know will last forever. I love all of you who are relatively new to my life, but in this post I want to focus on a friend that I have had since the beginning of my memory.
Becca (Shoemaker or Fitzpatrick- however you know her) has been my dearest girlfriend my whole life. She is the sister I never had and the friend I hope to be to others. My dad always called her his adopted daughter because that's exactly what she has meant to our family. We have been through so much together over the years. It sounds like a marriage vow, but we have truly experienced good times and bad, sickness and health, riches and poverty; and our friendship is a lifetime commitment. We have lived in different states and time zones for the last 10+ years, but our friendship is one that always picks up right where we left off. I love that. I'm sure you all have friends like this too. Some of you even share this lifetime friendship with Becca that I do.
So why is Becca so much on my mind today? Well, I have wanted to write this for over a week now, but I've been really busy. I saw Becca in NM over my fall break, and the visit was just too short. I was at her home in Malibu when I received the news about my Dad's brain tumors last year. The last time I saw Becca was at my Dad's funeral and she was about 7 months pregnant. Dad never got to meet his adopted granddaugther, and I just met her last weekend. My precious friend now has the most precious baby girl. Bailey is truly the happiest baby I have ever seen. She laughs at everything and just thinks the whole world is hilarious. She cracks me up. I got such joy out of meeting her, but it brought a bit of sadness at the same time. I wish Dad could have held her, seen her smile, and heard her laugh. I feel so blessed by Becca's friendship and I pray that Bailey will experience a lifelong friendship like ours. Sometimes I wish all my friendships were like this one, but then I realize that this one would not be as special if they were all the same. I love you, Becca, and thank you for being the wonderful friend that you are!

Bubble wrap and Titus

Titus has always been a big fan of tearing up any kind of packaging material we give him. Bubble wrap is a special treat. If it is the kind with big bubbles, Titus will try to pop every bubble. If it is the small bubble type, he just shreds it. Last night he was "helping" me put together some furniture for the guest room:

Vet update

Thanks for all your comments on our vet visit. I 100% predicted who would comment and in what order so far. You guys are so predictable! I love pet-lovers!
I have changed Titus' vet visit to a new clinic for next month. I'll let you know how it goes!

Not our ordinary vet visit

*Warning- much complaining ahead*
Well, it's that time of year. Time for Titus' annual exam and vaccinations. Finding a new vet is not fun or easy. A few weeks ago I started asking friends for vet recommendations. I was given many names to choose from, but in the end I chose the one that had a convenient location with Saturday appointments and offered the rattlesnake vaccine (we've already seen 2 rattlers, so it's only a matter of time before Titus tries to befriend one!) Mom was in town and went with me and is my witness to all that follows in this entry! Remember that Titus usually LOVES the vet- new smells, new animals, attention from lots of people, and lots of treats- what could be better!?!
We show up and there is a separate cat and dog entrance. Well, that's no fun. How is Titus supposed to get the felines all riled up? Oh well, no cats anyway, just other dogs. The front desk people were very friendly. They took Titus' vaccination records, gave me paperwork to fill out, and took Titus' weight (96 pounds this year- yikes!) So far, so good. Then we were called to the back.
First of all, the vet was in jeans and a scrub top. Yes, it was Saturday, but we're not dealing with cows and horses on a farm here, we're in the city at a small animal clinic. A little professionalism would have been nice. Second, no vet tech but instead a HUGE man as an assistant. I mean this guy was HUGE in every dimension- I don't know how else to describe him. And he was in jeans and a t-shirt. Third, no introductions. The vet did not introduce himself to me, Mom, or Titus. He just came in and started a speech about the latest studies concerning 3 year vaccines vs. 1 year vaccines. Granted this was one of my questions, but who are you and why haven't you greeted us yet?
Next, the big guy asks the vet, "Do you want him on the table?" I begin to get worried and mention that Titus does not like to be picked up. Who puts a 96 lb dog on a table anyway!?! Nobody listens to my warning, and the big guy proceeds to pick Titus up. Titus starts growling (did I mention he DOES NOT like being picked up!?!) and the big guy bonks Titus' head on the table as he lifts him. After getting him on the table, he forces Titus to lay down and kind of leans across him to make sure he doesn't get up. He could have just asked Titus to lay down and he probably would have. No force needed, thank you. Titus is looking worried at this point and I'm already stressed. They took a blood sample for a heartworm test then began the vaccinations. They started with the Bordetella vaccine, which by the way, I did not ask for nor did they ask if I wanted it or tell me what they were giving Titus. Well, it consists of a spray in each nostril. Titus has never had this vaccine and DID NOT like it! He was squirming quite a bit, but big guy had him pinned down. Next came the worming meds, aka banana juice in a syringe. No warning or discussion involved, they just yanked open Titus' mouth and squirted the stuff in. Well, Titus was done at this point. He spit ALL the juice right back out onto me, the vet, and big guy. They tried again and held Titus' head up until he was forced to swallow. I kindly mentioned that if I knew that was coming, we could have just put the meds in a bowl and Titus would have quickly licked it right up without all this trouble. They didn't seem to care. They quickly finished with a shot in the leg (rattlesnake vaccine) which Titus never notices. They decided to wait on other vaccinations since we have to go back in a month for a rattlesnake booster and his shots are not really due for a few more weeks anyway. So at this point we were just waiting for the heartworm test results so we could get our preventative medicine and leave.
Does anyone see anything missing from this visit? Maybe an examination!?! The vet NEVER looked at Titus' eyes, ears, mouth, etc. No temperature taken, no listening to the heart, nothing! Keep in mind that this vet has never seen Titus before and also never asked for his medical history other than vaccinations. This guy just pumps all this stuff into my pup without even checking to see if he is healthy and well that day. I couldn't believe it! I just kept thinking about all this while the heartworm test was being done. Meanwhile, Titus is so stressed out that he is just drooling all over the place like he's never drooled before. Of course I'm on the floor with him apologizing for putting him through this torture. I think I took it worse than Titus, but he was definitely not himself. And did I mention NO TREATS!?! What vet doesn't have treats for their wonderful clients? I looked for them, but they were nowhere to be found. And he never loved on Titus at all. At one point Mom said, "This guy really doesn't seem like an animal person at all." Agreed. (Big guy did give Titus a little love at one point, but I can't remember when exactly.)
Finally, the test was done, Titus was negative for heartworm, we could get our meds and leave. The front desk people were again very nice, gave us a 10% ACU discount, made our appointment for next month, and we were done. My poor Mom had to hear me complain the whole way home and then Josh got an earfull too (and now you're getting an eyefull of my complaints!) I immediately gave Titus a treat and told him how sorry I was again. I dread going back in a month and I'm considering looking for a new vet before then. If I stick with this vet next month, it will be the last time he ever sees us. Maybe I'm crazy and this is how it's done in TX, but I think my baby deserves better. I hope this horrible vet trip has not taken away Titus' love of vets (or mine!) Thanks for letting me rant and rave!

Buckaroo

I think it's time for a funny dog post. A couple of weeks ago my Aunt Sharron came to town and brought us a really fun house warming basket. She filled it with all kinds of goodies from around TX. Of course she included 2 toys for Titus too. One is a little stuffed cowboy complete with hat, belt buckle and lasso. The other is one of those long floppy squeaky dogs that you always see on Petsmart commercials. Anyway, Titus is usually fascinated by squeaky toys, but the non-squeaky cowboy is his favorite right now. Here's a short video of him playing last night. I call this buckaroo- I think you'll see why.


With all this rough play, you can imagine that the cowboy has lost some of his "accessories." I should have taken a "before" picture, but instead I only have this "after" picture. Titus LOVES his cowboy!

(By the way, this blue room is still a multipurpose room. It's where we lived for the first few weeks until our upstairs carpet was installed. Last weekend it was a dining room for 20 people. Eventually we'll put some furniture in it and it will be a 2nd living area. It's also Titus' playroom!)