A Tragic Situation

Back in August, my friend died of an apparent heart attack, a few weeks after his funeral, his wife posted on Facebook that they got the toxicology reports back. It was not a heart attack after all that took his life. It was a mistake by the VA doctors and Pharmasists. What took his life, was an overdose of the medication he was on. One of them was too high of a dose, the other, shouldn't have even been mixed with the first one.

That's all I know, but seriously, somebody should have caught it before it got as far as it did. Mike was a excellent man, and had a big heart. He loved everyone he came into contact with and was like another brother to me. I didn't really get a chance to get to know his widow, but we both have agreed that Mike would have liked for us to become friends, so we're gonna give it a try. I pray for her and the kids every day, and know that she'll see him again.

It's tragic that his life ended so abruptly, and though there is rage for how he went, I keep reminding myself that the Lord wanted him for something much greater and he's watching over us. I'm sad that I didn't get to talk to him before he went, but I will one day.

Sunday Stroll

Sunday, Dave and I decided to conserve what little gas we have in the sonoma and walk to church. We put Troy in the stroller, made it down for Sacrament, and as we were sitting there, listening to the talks, Troy decided to fill his britches.
By the time I was done changing his diaper, we had used all the wipes I brought, and so when Sacrament was over, we decided to get him home in case he decided to do it again as he was notorious at it.
As we were almost home, I stepped down onto a part of the gutter where the asphalt from the road didn't quite meet the gutter, and rolled my foot. I thought that I'd rolled my ankle, and immediately went into the house, elevated and iced it, and decided to wait and see how it went. It got so bad that I couldn't put any pressure on my foot or even move my toes, so I dug the crutches out and began to use them. After an AGONIZING stroll through COSTCO, I realized that it took a LOT to use crutches, something I'd forgotten since I used them 5yrs ago. That Monday morning, though the swelling had gone down a little, I decided to get it checked out.
After an hour and a half in the doctor's office, and the doctor poking and prodding, taking X-rays, he came back and said that my foot wasn't broken, ankle wasn't sprained, but my foot was. I couldn't wrap my mind around spraining my foot instead of my ankle, but have been following doctor's orders for the most part. There are times when I don't ice it, it swells up and the toes barely move so I stop what I'm doing and elevate and ice the foot. As soon as it's comfortable for me to wear it, I'm back to the boot brace for a while.....YAY ME!

Quality Time

Lately Merlyn has been looking pretty shabby. Since the lady I take him to is usually pretty busy, I decided to bathe and groom him myself. It still takes me a few hours to shave him completely, but now he's beginning to deal with me shaving all the hair off of him, and enjoys it in some parts.
I use to just jump right in with the clippers when he's dry, this time, I "scissor" him as much as I can, then just go over it with the clippers. It works a lot better that way, but the tiny hairs are unbearable when they work their way into your undies. Because it takes so long when I let his hair grow, I've decided to groom him every 2 weeks. He loves being naked, and it's so fun watching people when they see him. I took him to the park with the kids for Lunch, and all the looks everyone gave him, it was just a ball. Lately, with how hot it's getting here, we've been having the AC on , his kennel is next to our vent, and when he gets really cold, he climbs up in bed with me and sleeps under my blanket.
I have a lot of fun with Merlyn, and look forward to many more years of torturing him. I'm thinking of dying his hair again the next time I groom him. He's also doing really good with the kids, lets them crawl on him and pull his hair. He doesn't run much from people anymore, lately he lunges at them, but that's a habit we're going to work on fixing.

Troy Parker

The other day when I got lunch, I got these sun glasses in the kid's meal. Sitting at home, watching him in his swing, I got this brilliant idea to put the sun glasses on Troy. He didn't seem too fussy, but he really wouldn't cooperate with taking the picture, I got lucky on this shot.
I have decided to hang on to them for when he's a little older, let him grow into them and what not. I have a lot of fun with him and Tucker.

Who'da Thunk It

Well, tonight we celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary. We didn't do anything extremely special, just dinner and a movie, but it was nice just spending time together and reflecting on all the years we've had together.

I've known Dave for almost 9 years, and though we have had many ups and downs, I know that I wouldn't be happier with anyone else. I look around at some of my friends, how some bailed when times got tough, others struggled to keep a dying relationship alive, and am so blessed to have my best friend at my side, in good times and bad, for time and all eternity. I'm truely blessed to have Dave in my life. We've put up with each other for almost 9 years, and are just as in love with each other as we were at the beginning. I look forward to many more years with Dave, he's my other half, my best friend, the love of my life. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!!

Something Fishy

The other day, as they were preparing for Dan and Chrystal to come visit, Marsh called me from his house and said that he had a gift for Dave and I. It was more a "Loaner" than anything. I said ok, bring it over, not quite expecting what it was or looked like. The following day, he came over with this big wooden fish in his arms and handed it to me. It is a "Fertility Fish" and he said that it's the reason they have Tucker and another one on the way. He thinks it'll work for Dave and I, so we'll see. Note the carvings in this fish. I got to thinking and realized that I need to cover it up when the kids come over. It's quite the "Loan" and we put it on the headboard just because we didn't know where else to put it. Today Kaitlynn saw it covered with a towel, and asked me what it was. I told her that it was a big wooden fish, and when she asked if she could see it, I said NO because it was a naughty fish. I explained to her that it had naughty pictures on it and she couldn't look at it. She understood and has left it alone and not asked about it since.
Marsh says that if this really works, he's going to lend it to Dan and Chrystal. It's now a joke in the house and we're asked often if it's working. I think Marsh first thought he offended me when he asked if we wanted to borrow it, so I told him that my chuckle was more in the thoughts of he was funny, not insulting. I think at this point, Dave and I are ready to try ANYTHING!!

The Day From HELL

Tuesday, Dave took the day off to finally go riding with Marsh, Monroe (Chas), Andy, Tyrel and Emily. While they were gone, Dad came in from the shop telling me that one of my cats were in horrible shape. I was watching Kaitlynn and Tucker, so I took them both back with Dad and I, and was totally appalled at what I saw. Not only was the litter box SOLID with stuff, but all 3 cats had at least 1 eye shut and full of goop, and Angel, the kitty that was born just before Grandma Wanda passed away, was nothing but a skeleton with fur stretched on it, barely hanging on to life.
I immediately told Dad that he'll have to be put down, picked the cat up, took him into the house and called the vet. Me, Dad, Kaitlynn and Tucker then took him to the vet, where they examined him. He wouldn't move much during the exam, and they couldn't get his temperature to register on the thermometer with how bad he was.
After the exam, the Vet told us that we could have them hospitalize him and rehydrate him so they can run more tests on him to find out what was wrong, or I could put him out of his pain. He said that if I chose euthanasia, he'd back me 100% which I took as that's what he would prefer. As hard as it was to do, we opted to put him down, so me, the tech, and the Doc went to the back room to do it.
Normally when they Euthanize an animal, they find a vein and inject the chemicals in it, but with how bad off Angel was, they injected the chemicals directly into his kidneys. Before they even pulled the needle out of his body, I felt his head go limp in my hands, and knew right away that he'd passed away. It was not an easy thing to do, never really is, but I know that he's happier now, and not suffering anymore. I will miss watching him sit in the window sill of the shop with the window partially open, meowing at me across the yard. We'd "talk" back and forth like that for hours, and I loved it.
The other 2 cats are doing a little bit better though it breaks my heart to see Luna wandering around looking for her nephew. She meows all the time and rubs against everything she can. Jeriko is super thin in the hind end, but with lots of food, water and TLC, I'm sure he'll bounce back just fine.