Today's Little Thing

I was standing by the back door this morning, letting the dogs out when I noticed a leaf on our Jasmine plant. Now that the weather's been cooler, the leaves have been dying and dropping more than during the Spring and Summer. This morning a particular red leaf caught my eye. A perfect example of one of Life's Little Things.

Birthdays

In our family we have 3 birthday months. Brittany & my Mom have January covered; Tara and Andee have March; and Andy & I have November. In fact, Andy & I were born almost exactly 10 years apart - him on the 12th and me on the 15th.

So, here we are in the throws of our birthday week. I remember how much I used to relish in my birthday. The combined birthday/Christmas wish list would start in August with continual updates and added details right up until the last minute. As I started dating guys who needed more and more assistance with the desires of a female, the wish list even began to include exact sizes, colors, pictures, and in some cases, website URLs or catalog numbers. At least I was guaranteed to like what I got!

However, I have found the last few years that it is harder and harder to put together my wish list. There is less and less that I want. Either that or perhaps it is more expensive - a new digital camera, a vacation, a new home, the world is my limit. :) But, unfortunately, I think that there is just less I want because sadly, I am getting older.

So as we commiserate on our birthdays, I was going to include some quote about age and what a pain in the butt it is, but then I found this one. I suppose it's God's little way of reminding us to be thankful for what we have....

"Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many." ~Author Unknown

A Sigh of Relief

Our poor Mr. Boogie has not had a very good week and it has been very stressful. He typically will have "off" days, but with a little love, water, and vanilla ice cream will bounce back to his normal self within a day or so. Unfortunately last weeekend none of these things were working. He was one sad, sick puppy and boy, you could just see it in his face. First thing Monday morning we took him to our fabulous local vet - which we have come to love even more this week. Dr. Barry saw Spence right away and admitted him so that he could start to get some intraveneous fluids. Initially the blood work came back positive with the only determination being gastrointestinitus.

Unfortunately, Tuesday the outside, more extensive bloodwork came back indicating pancreatitis which can be very severe and life threatening. Andy & I were able to go over that afternoon and visit with him. It was very nerve wracking as we really didn't know what to expect and whether he was going to pull through or not. He had still not eaten and had shown very little interest in food. Dr. Barry asked us to bring some homemade chicken & rice so hopefully Spence would be more interested in eating with us there.

Thank God! It worked. He dove into the chicken & rice, rice flew everywhere, and we had to pull the container away!!! We spent quite a bit of time with him and it was so much more reassurring to see a little bit of the old Spencer. The specialist came on Wednesday, giving him an ultrasound which confirmed that he has a horrible case of pancreatitis. We were able to take him home that afternoon which the vet said was an absolute miracle given how sick he was.

The last couple of days, he has continued to improve, eat and drink well, and become a little more playful and his old self. It is still going to be a long road as in order to have a case of pancreatitis so severe it has been going on for quite some time - which explains all the "off" days. Needless to say he is going to have to be on a very rigid diet of no-fat/low-fat and absolutely NO scraps or people food. So much for the goodies. It's going to be hard to resist that face, but we would much rather resist than lose our Mr. Boogie.

And much to my heart's delight, as I sit here and type this, he is begging, staring at his food bowl for some more.