Friday happenings....

It was very exciting here to wake up to snow flurries! Being a New England gal with growing up with snow...it was great to see. I am sure New Englanders now would think I am crazy for welcoming snow. My morning started with Meghan charging into my room yelling "mommy its snowing!!". Unfortunately, it changed over to rain because it got too warm.

Hampton Roads area of VA (Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach) rarely get snow.

When we lived in Woodbridge, VA (up near DC) we got tons of it and Meggie had a blast playing in it!

Maybe we'll get another chance soon:)

Locks and trees....

Today was all over the place. Mark is away in Dhalgren VA and will be home Friday night. So a typical Monday is hectic around here.

Meghan got off to school no problem. I had our babysitter Megan come over to watch Tyler so I could get some errands done. That went smoothly too. I got a great deal on an artificial christmas tree at Garden Ridge. It was a $299 tree that I got for $99. Its a pre lit one that is 7 1/2 ft tall and I think there are 800 lights on it.

I walked up to the school to get Meghan and when we got back, took Tyler out of the stroller and put the stroller in the car. Shut the car and rummaged for my keys.....yea, the keys that were still in the baby stroller. The car was locked. So I panicked for a brief moment. Called my girlfriend (she has a key to my house) but of course her cell phone was off and I did not have her husbands new cell number. So I called a locksmith....I waited 90 minutes for this guy to get here. He got the car open but charged me $80....ridiculous. But I got the keys. What ever I saved on the Christmas tree went right into the pocket of the lock smith. Meghan had a dentist appt that I had to cancel because we were still waiting for the locksmith. The dentist office was wonderful and rescheduled it for next week.

I really hope tomorrow is better....I still can't believe I did that!!

Goodbye, my friend.....

I haven't posted in a while...had some sad happenings going on here. I feel like I posted it everywhere (facebook, storknet, and now here). I guess I am thinking if I get it typed out, then it won't hurt so much.

Thursday, November 13th...my dog Daisy had to be put to sleep. In a short period of time she went from peppy and happy to lethargic and in liver failure. I am still shaking my head on how fast this transpired. Daisy was being treated for ear infection and an urinary tract infection. When her urine was tested it showed high levels (3x the normal amount) of sugar. We thought we were looking at diabetes. The vet decided to look at her liver enzymes too...that test came back high. He was really perplexed to what was causing her enzymes to go up because we carefully monitor her medications. A few days later, Daisy stopped eating. HUGE red flag. This pup loved to eat...I tried chicken, roast beef and turkey, but she was not interested. On the 3rd day, I called the vet and we brought her in. I left her for the morning so he could re-run the blood work. I got a call that afternoon and that is when I got the bad news. Her sugar levels were in the 400's and her enzymes were very very high. Daisy was in complete liver failure. Unfortunately there was nothing more we could do for her.

We decided to put Daisy to sleep...it was the humane thing to do. She was suffering and deteriorating quickly. We picked up Meghan at school and had to explain to her that Daisy was going to become an angel. Meghan kinda understood, but then got upset. We all went to the vet to say goodbye. They brought her in and she jumped up and gave me kisses and then collapsed in my arms. She was so weak. We spent an hour or so with her to say our goodbyes. Mark did not want to see her put to sleep so he took the kids to the large waiting room. I stayed with her and the vet. It was quick and peaceful. I had been crying all day...but I really lost it when he checked her heartbeat and could not find one...she was gone.

Daisy was my wonderful companion. She was also our "practice baby" we got her before we had kids. She kept me company when Mark was at sea and she was absolutely wonderful with the kids. The house is very quiet without here here.

I picked up her ashes today...we had her cremated. She was in a little tin with daisies all over it. So fitting. They also had her paw imprinted in clay with her name on it. Its such a nice memory that I have of her.

So Daisy, this post is for you. You will always be in our hears forever. We miss you so much.

Halloween '08

It was another fun year for Halloween! Unfortunatly, Mark was away in RI and missed it:(

My friend Sharon came over for a quick pizza supper and then she came TOT-ing with us.

This year it seemed like less people were giving out candy....maybe its the economy, who knows. Meghan had the routine down pat..."Tick or Treat"..."Thank-you". Tyler was happy as a lark in the stroller. I am sure next year he will get it.

Well, here they are!

Japan pics

We lived in Japan for a little over a year back in 2004-2005. Mark got stationed in Yokosuka Japan. It was an interesting tour...unfortunately he was not home much.

I wanted to post a few pics (for you Alexis!..lol) to give you an idea on how beautiful it is especially during cherry blossom season:)

Oh Tyler....

Seriously, it takes this little guy about 2 seconds to wreck a room.

Enough said.

$198 ear infection

Daisy, my dog got her 2nd ear infection in the 6 1/2 years she has been alive. I just so happened to notice it when she was sitting on my lap one night. She never itched or rubbed her read (the usual signs of something going on in the ears) So I made an appointment at her vet and took her in. He doctor is wonderful. For some reason Daisy has made quite an impression on him. I am sure he has read her file inside and out.

When we got Daisy almost 7 years ago, Mark and I were married about 2 years. We did not have kids then. Mark was going on deployment and he thought a dog would be a great companion for me while he was gone for the 6 months. Well, we did a big no-no...we went to the local pet store. I know..I know...petstores help puppy mills stay in business...trust me, we now know never to get a pet at a pet store again. We fell in love with Daisy, she is a Maltese. She was a pound and a half when we got her. Cute little fur ball:). THree days after we got her, she was back at the vet because she was not herself. This was a different vet from what we have now. She dismissed anything was wrong. That night Mark and I had to take Daisy to the emergency vet. Doctors told me she was very sick (respiratory issues and low blood sugar). So Daisy had to be monitored for a week there...to a tune of a $1000. We called the petstore demanding compensation and all they told us was go to their vet and they will cover the cost. Luckily we saw a different dr than the one that dismissed earlier. He ended up keeping Daisy at his clinic and at home for 6 weeks while she recovered. She made a full recovery...tough start for a pup!

Right around the time she turned 1, she started having seizures. There is no cause the drs can find to why she has them. Idiopathic is the term It was very scary. She was starting to have them way too much...her worst was right after Meghan was born. She was having multiple seizures in a day. Our vet at the time decided to start medicating her. Phenobarbital. Yep, the same that humans take. She did great...she only had maybe 1 seizure a month. A few dosage adjustments had to be made, but then she hit a plateau with her meds. We decided to add a new med to her regime..KBr (Potassium Bromide). This combo has done wonders. Daisy maybe has 4 seizures a year at most.

Back to the ear infection....the Vet looked at her ears and her ear canal was completely shut. SO the vet techs had to go out back and clean out her ears. So the ear cleaning, the lab test to see if the EI was bacterial or not, the vet visit, ear cleaner, 2 medications...the bill was $198. I am glad to report she is feeling much better...:)