Here are a few pics of Bryant that Eler Beth took when we got him, and he was only eight weeks old. He'll be eleven weeks old tomorrow, and I can't believe how much he has grown in just three weeks. Eler Beth is going to get some updated photos of him tomorrow.
Look at those big paws!
We couldn't get him to hold his head up to get a good picture -- he was so sleepy -- so I had to hold it up for him.
He's a sweetie. He plays hard and he sleeps hard, and he learns fast. Eler Beth has taught him to sit on command, spoken or hand signal, to give his paw, and know the house rules and his boundaries, although he's still enough of a puppy to see if he can get away with ignoring them. He has sweet, intelligent eyes, and his eyes are always on your eyes when you're talking to him. He's very eager to please. If you say "go outside" he races to the door! Sometimes he's so worn out from playing that he puts himself to bed in his crate. But most of the time he just flops down asleep wherever he happens to be. He lets you know when he needs to go outside to do his "business", and adores Eler Beth. I'm glad she asked for him and glad Thomas said yes, because all of us love him completely already!
I'm flabbergasted by this weather. It has been in the high 60s for the past three days; it actually hit 70° in our area today, and tomorrow night the temps are going to plunge back into normal December numbers. Wacky, WACKY weather!!!
Lots going on around here. My Mom had her gall bladder out in December. She turned 89 while she was in the hospital. She also had to have some stones removed from a bile duct. Everything went well, and after 10 days in the hospital she went home to be pampered. She's still taking it easier than she normally would, but she's doing very well.
We got a new addition to the family -- an 8-week-old pup. He is half Australian Shepherd and half Basset hound. He's the handsomest thing and so well-natured. He's already bonded with Eler Beth and wants nothing better than to please her. She named him Bryant after a video game character named Regal Bryant. I told her people would think she named him after Kobe, but she said she didn't care. He was 8 weeks when we got him, and he turned two months old on the first of January. He has quadrupled in size!!
And I guess that's about it. We've all had colds. I went to the doctor last week for meds for mine. Had that stomach thing back in December, too. Everyone is working hard, either at work or on school work. And I got a very interesting offer to do a ghost-writing project. It's about the best story idea I've been given in a very long time. So I'm looking forward to exploring the possibility. Haven't decided yet. It would be very time-consuming, but it's a really, really intriguing storyline. So we'll see.
Guess that's all for now. More later.
Well, so much for NaNoWriMo this year!!
I was behind anyway, and then I got sick last week with some horrible stomach bug with fever. Oh well, maybe next year.
I'm feeling much better but not quite up-to-par. This extremely warm weather is making me think it's spring. I know my body (and mind) will be in for a rude awakening whenever the temperatures start doing what they're supposed to be doing. To cheer us up, here's a picture of Eler Beth and Blaine at the Fall Formal this year.
I have felt bad all day, very tired with a bit of a headache. And although I take anti-anxiety medication, I have been fighting off panic attacks all day as well. Felt like my blood pressure was high, so while I was out this afternoon I checked it at one of those self-check-thingys at Kroger. Yep. High. Very, VERY high. Hmm. Wonder what has spiked it?
I'll check it again tomorrow, and then a couple times a week for a few weeks. If it goes back to normal, fine. If it stays high, even a little high, I guess I'm going to have to buck up and go to the doctor about it. I REALLY don't want to have high blood pressure or go on medication for it. On the other hand, I REALLY don't want to have a stroke or a heart attack. I REALLY need to lose some weight.
On the bright side, I have a sixteen year old daughter here who would just LOVE to take daily walks with her old mom and do some cardio workouts with her. Yep. Guess I'd better be smart about this.
I think I'll do NaNoWriMo again this year. If you'd like to join me, just click on the link in my sidebar to register.
I'm going to plant some spring bulbs at the grave. Jonquils maybe? Daffodils?
A bouquet of wild flowers (weeds), fossils, driftwood, a toy, and a stick will have to mark the site for now.
If you click on the photo, you can see the flowers better.
Heartbroken...
My Scout died this afternoon at about 2:25 p.m. It was a stubborn upper respiratory infection, possibly along with something else. All efforts to save him were in vain, but we tried.
Scout chose me as his own when he was just a baby. He attached himself to me with no uncertainty about it. My lap belonged to him ONLY. If I were going to give any of the other dogs any particular attention, I had to give him his attention first.
He was smart and obedient, and a creature of habit. Once a routine was set, it was set in stone. We did not alter any daily routine if we could help it. And if we had to alter a routine, he would look at me with a slightly disappointed expression. I could almost see him shaking his head and hear him "tsk-tsk"-ing. But he always forgave me.
He was usually up for a game of tug of war with a stick. All it took was for me to say, "Gimme that thing!", (with nothing in my hand) and he'd start looking around for something to run and get before I could. That's how the game started. So I'd make sure there was a stick or toy handy; he'd run to get it, and then he'd tease me with it. I'd tug, and he'd tug. Finally he'd let go; I'd throw it, and say, "Gimme that thing!" And we'd do the whole thing over again.
He was born with a naturally cropped tail. But he was also born with a hip and/or spine deformity. He was a very fast runner (almost as fast as his mother and sister) until he was about 4 years old. Then he started slowing down a bit. He was still pretty fast, though. And as long as he didn't get cold, his hip/back didn't seem to bother him. As long as he got regular exercise, he didn't seem stiff. But if the weather was bad, and he hadn't been for a good walk or run for a day or two, then he'd be a bit stiff for a while. Since I was also born with a bad spine and hips, I always thought it was appropriate that he was my dog. He started getting a lot of gray hair a year or two ago. It happened very quickly; something else the two of us had in common.
I'll miss him. It's been a hard, tear-filled evening. Tomorrow I'm going to buy some bulbs of some kind -- maybe daffodils -- to plant beside his grave.
Miss Little Bit will miss her big brother. I have a feeling she's going to be extremely spoiled for a while.
Eler Beth has been my right hand the past few days -- as she usually is. She helped me give him medicine, coax him to eat and drink, and watched out for him when I had to sleep or do something else. Thomas has shown that he's just a big softy when it comes to the pets; he was as concerned as the rest of us. Scout died right before Thomas had to leave for work, so Andrew came home early from a friends' house to dig the grave for me.
It helps to write this and to look at his pictures. These are the three that I had handy on the computer. I'll try to find a few more to post.
It's going to be hard to sleep tonight.
