AK's Blog :) - old

New Blog :)

2010-12-17T21:57:00.002+01:00

Hey everyone :)

Since I lost all my pics etc I decided to set up a new blog. I imported all my old posts and will upload the old pics again soon :) I wanted to change my web addy anyway so figured I'd do it that way :)

I miss everyone and want to get back into blogging again :)

So here it is :

http://anne-kathrineblog.blogspot.com/

I bought a camera cheap from a friend. It isn't fancy but I'll be able to do more with it than with my iPhone. Later one I'll get a better one. But this guarantees pics lol.

Oh and there will be a post on a huge dogshow I went to in Lillestrom a few weeks ago. I'll get my memory stick from my cousin over Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Quick Note

2010-11-26T20:34:00.002+01:00

Hey everyone,

I know I have been MIA lol. I just found out that in the process of changing all my emails over to my new email addy, all the pics on this blog got lost. Sigh. I'll have to go back and upload the one I remember where they go.

I promise to post soon :)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone 1 day late :)

Hugs
Anne-Kathrine :)

Nice little walk in Sigdal :)

2010-09-26T16:50:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone :)

I'm back in Sigdal with Tone (my sis's godmother) and Toril (her daughter) for the weekend and decided to take some pics of a walk we did around here. Chanse, 1 of the cats joined us for part of the walk. And the neighbor's dog, Zorro decided that going for a walk would be a lot of fun too. I did get a couple of videos of him too :) Enjoy :)

Some beautiful flowers on the side of the house

These are close to the old outhouse :)

The views are wonderful here.

See part of the wood we chopped earlier in the year :)

See Houston those are mountains lol.

Toril left, Tone right :)

Chanse loves to go on walks

Chanse :)

Blurr aka Zorro :)

Closer blurr lol.

Zorro is very enthousiastic :)

Got to love him :)

Zorro infront of his house so we could let his owners know he was going with us.

Hope you enjoyed the walk. The weather was beautiful a bit breezy :) Chanse met us on the way back and Zorro was happy to go into his home after running thru the mud :)

Toto and Dugan, puppysitting :)

2010-09-12T13:37:00.000+02:00

See fall colors :)

Hi everyone,

It's a beautiful day here in Kongsberg. Of course I'm inside on the computer. I think I'll head outside in a little while with the dogs :)

Love this tree soo cool :)

Fall is def here. Temps are between 45F / 7C and 57 F / 14C. The breeze can be kind cool. It has been raining on and off but the sun does try to come out for a bit :)

Love the reds :)

Speaking of dogs. I am puppysitting 2 cairn terrier boys. They are both very sweet :)

Dugan, 10 yr old cairn terrier boy :)

Toto, 11 yr old cairn terrier boy :)

They eat well and sleep well and they are very enthusiastic on walks lol. I did discover that they don't like other dogs and def don't like cats lol. This isn't a problem since I've dealt with both in the past. Do I need to remind you Nanuchy, the queen of grouchiness who only like like 3 dogs in her life LOL.

Toto lol. that blackish thing is Dugan's destuffed stuffy that he loves :)

Dugan left, Toto right

*** Disclamer: No cairn terrors were injured in the next pics lol, there was a great bit of of puppy wrestle mania and might have involved a bit of drool LOL, ahem the pics are sometimes blurry, blame it on not having a real camera, yes that is it LOL ***

Dugan back to camera :)

Toto left, Dugan right

What?? we weren't doing anything!

It's on LOL.

Toto showing it all LOL

Honestly Toto, no shame lol

Is somebody walking by???

Did you hear something??

Oh well probably nothing lol

They only played like that for about 5 min. It didn't escalate into a fight or anything. Dugan has a stuffy that has been completely destuffed, but he loves carrying around. Toto has a blue ball. They both bring them to me when they are all happy :)

See fog covering the mountain

Yesterday afternoon we went for a walk around the neighborhood and I took some pics. It was damp and rainy lol and the mountains were covered by fog. It actually was pretty cool :) We go out for 3 walks a day each averaging 20-40 min each :)

More fog action :)

Did you say walk??

Dugan front, Toto back

Toto left, Dugan right

Dugan had a haircut which explains why Toto has so much more hair :)

Which way should we go??

Ok this way

Dugan top, Toto bottom

They walk pretty well on leash once they get out their initial enthusiams lol. Not to mention as long as there aren't other dogs around. They are getting better about stopping the barking and lounging once I tell them to stop. I did find they did try to go after eachother when they couldn't get to the dog.

Toto smiling :)

I don't know what they would do if they actually reached the dogs (there are 3 in the neighborhood), but since I've dealt with this in the past I'm pretty on top of it making sure I see the dogs before they do so I can bring them close to me.

Dugan, are you coming?

Dugan

Dugan left, Toto right

Awesome fog action

I love this last pic, You def can't see the mountains at all :) I'll have to get a pic that show same view with mountains included lol.

Toto

Dugan

And this is what they are doing now lol. Naptime all around :) They def are good little dogs and it's great taking care of them. The timing isn't right for me to get a puppy right now, so I get to have puppy love with out getting a dog :)

Hugs,
Anne-Kathrine

A Walking (Pics) Tour of Kongsberg :)

2010-08-14T22:02:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone,

I've now been in Kongsberg almost 2 weeks :) I decided to give you a tour of Kongsberg :) Watch out there are a lot pics (153 if you want to be exact, but who's counting right lol, unless I didn't load them all, lol)

Flip-flops, hmmm is this correct footwear for this tour...

Big debate whether to wear tennis shoes or flip-flops. Flip-flops won due to weather being fabulous, balmy 70 F / 21C, with lots of sunshine :)

My front door, bottom 2 windows on right are mine :)

So came out my front door and headed down steps to driveway just below

See bright white door is mine.

My studio is one of several in this section. You can park cars on left side. There is more parking below.

Driveway going up to my place. Thought I had taken a downward shot but guess not :)

Sign right at base of previous pic. Points to my place :) 21H :)

Just walking down the road. I'm sure this won't be quite as much fun in the winter :)

Yep still on my road, haven't made it to main road yet :)

Around another curve :)

Another stretch of road. There is a school on right, but didn't get that in the pic.

Just past the school, still haven't made it to main street :)

Ahhh there is a soccer field up ahead on the right. Unfortunately doesn't show up on this pic.

Yep this the street I live on. Weirdly called Animal Grav Road (shocked, I know I was too!)

Walk continues!

Hurray we have made it to the main street!

Up ahead you can see the bus stop "Dyrgravveinen"

I tried to take pics so that what you see is a stretch at the time.

Seriously considering getting a bike. Good thing a friend is lending me 1 to see how I like it :)

Keep on walking. On the left side there is a bowling alley. Shame I don't bowl LOL.

That building up on the left is a Kiwi, small national chain of grocery store :) Pretty close to the apt :)

Fair amount of traffic on this road. Kongsberg has a lot of bike trails throughout the town.

May as well continue :)

View on right side of road.

View on left side of road.

Little view of left side :)

More view of left side. What you can't see is that there is a river down there :)

If I continue straight, I get to work. Going right is a shorter way to the center of town. Going right today :)

This is right beside the walkway :)

Behind that fence a train runs :)

The road I was just on is above this go-through.

A lot of people take this route on their bikes.

The road I was is above me on left side.

You can now see the train tracks :)

Yep walk way is right next to the train tracks.

And yes it goes over the river. View on right side

See close train!!

View on left side.

The river goes right through town.

There are no pics looking down to water due to my fear of looking my iPhone lol.

This is looking back over the bridge. Take note of the red roof. You will see those same roofs later on for reference :)

Only people walking or on bikes are allowed on this road. Dogs of course are welcome as long as they are on a leash.

There are signs all over the place showing the different bike trails. I'm going to the Sentrum (center).

That is the train track I was walking next to :)

Kongsberg police station. Good to know where that is LOL

The famous laundromat "Rens & Vask" which is never open no matter what time you try to go there lol.

Train & Bus station :)

It really is a beautiful building (train & bus station)

This is beginning of the center street with a lot of cute shops

This is the main mall here

The mall stretches back and way to the right. It actually is pretty big.

Cars aren't allowed down this way. There is an outside cafe in the middle.

If you follow this road it will take you back to the train station. The cinema and hotel is down this way too.

The cinema (round building in back center) and hotel are down this street.

Walking towards bridge

On bridge. I'm south of the bridge I crossed earlier.

Serious water action here :)

Not recommended to swim here. That is a statue of a man fishing.

There are several coin inlaid in the fencing. They used to make coins here (I don't believe they still do, but I could be wrong)

All for Norway :)

If you follow this river down you will eventually get to my job :)

Still on bridge :)

Ok I know it is hard to see but you can see those red roofs from the pics earlier on the other bridge sorta in the middle of the pic :)

Restaurant right after bridge on right side :)

Straight goes to the old center of Kongsberg, if you go right it will eventually get you back to were this tour started :)

Go this way to get back to my place.

Going up towards the old center.

The Kongsberg Kirke (church) is up on the right side.

This side road next to Kongsberg Kirke.

Kongsberg Kirke is behind all these trees.

Kongsberg Kirke, Lutheran church. Did find out that the Catholic church has moved to Drammen (30 min away). Guess there was no need for it here lol.

Next year (2011) is the 250 yr birthday of this church. I believe there will be some kind of big celebration.

Kongsberg Raadhus, city hall :)

There are so many cute old buildings here :)

Pretty Methodist church towards back of this pic.

I will be back past the Methodist church on the way home :)

A lot of these older buildings have been converted into apts :)

I love the look of this building. Part of it is a store that sells for people who ride horses.

Here is the Methodist Kirke again. Starting to get tired so decided to start heading home. There are still a lot of smaller streets I haven't explored yet :)

If I turn left here that would take me to work. By going straight I go home :)

See way to work, at least the walk is beautiful :)

Instead heading this way for home :) At the end of that orange house I turn right.

Turned right :)

Up ahead will take road towards right :)

Seriously still walking lol :)

If you go to the right this will take you back to the center. Going left takes me home :)

If you turn left here and that this bike trail it will take you on to that bridge next to the train tracks over the river and back to the center of town :)

Nice view, can see a bit of the river :)

Look familiar?? Should since I walked this way at the beginning of this post :)

Can't help showing the view :)

I think after having lived in Houston for 15 yrs, make me appreciate all these beautiful views even more :)

Oh Thank God the Kiwi mart on right, means I'm close to home :)

Soccer field in front :)

Almost there :)

Yay home is at the top of this road!!!

This trip took almost 4 hrs. Believe it or not I had more pics but they didn't come out right. My iPhone held up well with listening to music and taking pics (over 200 of them). Also was concluded that 3 hrs of flip-flops is ok, but close to 4 hrs is too much LOL.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my new home :) I def enjoyed sharing it with you.

XOXO

Anne-Kathrine :)

Patches & Pirata 06/03/96 - 08/05/10

2010-08-05T19:29:00.000+02:00

Patches left & Pirata right

It is with a heavy heart that I'm writing this blog today. My sister had the hard job of letting my 2 sweet girls go to the rainbow bridge earlier today. Both my girls have been going downhill the last couple of weeks. They were eating less and less and drinking more. And what little they did eat was being thrown up. They were also very depressed after I had to leave 3 months ago. My poor little girls were just getting so tired. I wished with my whole heart that I would have been able to be there with my girls.

Pirata left & Patches right

They both had a bunch of health problems but had been able to continue to be relatively healthy regardless of those. Pirata had had chronic urine infections since she was 6 months old. It took a while but we found a food that kept her from having urine infections as often. Patches started getting bladder stones several years ago. As it turns out the food that Pirata was one helped keep them at bay as well. Then 3 yrs ago I found out that both of them had an auto-immune disease that was attacking their teeth. They had several teeth pulled to be able to stay comfortable. Then Patches started getting tumors on the inside of her body, which affected her metabolism or something since was gaining weight but her spin was sooo thin. And then Pirata went into kidney failure.

Patches left & Pirata right

Patches & Pirata were sisters in a small 2 kitty litter. They were close from the day they were born. With 2 completely different personalities. Patches definitely was the queen and such things as lack of a/c and comfy pillows were definitely beneath her :) Pirata was more of a tomboy. Willing to explore and see what was going on. Even got locked in some closets and drawers over the years lol. Both very very sweet. My vets loved treating them since they never tried to bite :)

Patches

Both girls loved dogs. They were used to a whole slew of them coming to visit. Not to mention all the ones we've had over the years. They really didn't like other cats. They did accept Tux after a couple of months of hissing lol. But they were definitely happiest just with the 2 of them and a bunch of dogs lol.

Pirata

Even when my turtles would walk around it didn't faze them at all. They didn't see the need to bother them. I think they thought of them as funny looking dogs LOL. Neither of my girls had a bad bone in their bodies :)

Pirata left & Patches right

In the last 3 years I've lost 3 dogs (Patachou, Sandi, Nanuchy), 2 cats (Patches & Pirata), and had to return 1 dog to her breeder due to me having to leave (Sonja). It has been a rough few years. But I haven't regretted any of my babies at any time. I've love all of them and find myself petless for the first time in 15 years. I will get a puppy in the near future, but want my life in better order before that happens. I love dogs too much to not have one in my life.

Fly high my baby girls. I'll see you at the rainbow bridge when it's my time. Say hi to all my babies!
Love,
Your Mama :)

Hello from Norway :)

2010-07-08T13:40:00.000+02:00

Flower box on balcony in Oslo

Hi everyone :)
Long time no chat. I know I've been MIA for a while. I've been back to Norway for about 2 months now. Things are different from the USA for sure, but not in a bad way. Things tend to take longer to get done here.

House in Sigdal

My sister's godmother's daughter is allowing me to live in her apartment in Oslo until I'm back on my feet. I'm soo greatful for this. They have a place out at Sigdal (about 1 1/2 hr from Oslo) that is just wonderful. I've been over there several weekends. They have been totally awesome and really helped me out. I helped out with yard work which has been great for my weightloss. I've lost 49 lbs so far this year. It has slowed down some since I've been in Norway because I don't have a gym to go to everyday.

Tone & Toril - I'm Woman hear me roar :)

They have 3 kitties I've been able to love on which has been so nice since I miss my 2 kitties a lot. My sister is taking great care of Patches and Pirata. Was a bit sad in June since it was their 14th birthday, the 1st birthday I've missed since they were born. My sis says that they are doing great but def miss me. I miss my family tons, especially my sister!

Svarten aka Studmuffin :)

Sonja (11 yr old sheltie), had to go back to her breeder when I left. She is a total sweetie but has many issues and doesn't handle change well at all. And I know wouldn't handle me not being (she didn't do well when I was gone all day when I was living with my parents). Her breeder took her back with open arms and keeps me updated about her. She settled back in with the sheltie pack nicely. Which is such a relief! I worried about her soo much.

Me and Dad (he visited me for a few days in June :)

Trying to get a cellphone was a 3 week ordeal lol. Since I haven't lived here in 22 yrs I don't have any credit, here regardless of being a norwegian citizen. Much back and forth including deposits etc I finally did get a cellphone service and wireless internet. Woot lol. Being able to connect with everyone online has made things soooo much easier :)

Chanse, such a sweet boy!!!

I've been going to several interviews. I've been focusing on international companies which have English as their office language since my written Norwegian isn't too strong due to not using it for many many years. At least my spoken Norwegian is getting better everyday. I'm working with 2 temp agencies (1 in Olso, 1 in Kongsberg (1 1/2 hr from Oslo)) who have been good about sending me to interviews. I have several companies lined up who are interested, but they are taking their good time making a decision. Hopefully one of them will come thru with a job offer soon.

Positana, and yes I am THE QUEEN :)

I have gotten a part-time job at a nursing home on the psychiatric floor here in Oslo. I'm not a nurse by trade and this is my first experience with this. My job title I guess is extra staff. I pretty much do whatever the nurses do except administrate meds lol. Overall it hasn't been a bad experience at all. Most of the patients are pretty sweet. And yes there are some very difficult ones LOL. Mostly I work weekends but have been taking up shift during the week in hopes to make some money (haven't been paid yet LOL). My supervisor told me she is very happy with me, which is a huge relief!

Me and a forest troll :)

I hadn't planned to come back to Norway like this. But I'm making the best of this situation. I do have some advantages of being a Norwegian citizen back in Norway than I had when I was in the USA. Yes I'd love to be back in the USA mostly because my family is there. But I want to make sure that I'm giving Norway a chance :) I never know, I might meet a wonderful man I want to marry :)

My Patches & Pirata taken before I left Houston.

I am planning on bringing my 2 kitties over here once I'm settled in my own apartment. Of course my vet will have to confirm that they are able to make the long flight over to Norway. At least I sold most of my furniture and my car so all I need to ship are some of my things to be settled.

Well that is about it for now. I hope to be more active on here from now. I miss everyone and hope to catch up soon :)

I'm back well at least sorta :)

2010-04-07T21:50:00.002+02:00

Dallas (sis's kitty looking out the window)

Hi everyone!!

I know I've been very mia lately. Seem so much has happened. I still haven't found another job. I've answered a lot of applications, had quite a few interviews, but everything falls apart when the interviewer finds out I need to be sponsored for a work permit.

Pomponnette (parents' dog)

I keep on trying to find another job. I am starting to run out of time so getting a bit worried to tell you the truth. I did apply to go back to university for a MBA. But that isn't really a good solution either at this point. Little hard to pay for school with no money coming in (I don't qualify for unemployment since I'm not a resident). The couple of schools I could afford don't accept international students who need a F-1 student visa. And to stay here I have to have a correct visa.

Sonja (my sheltie)

As you know I had to move in with my parents back in the beginning of December. The whole no money coming in thing does cause some trouble lol. I love them dearly but they do make me kinda crazy. At least I convinced them to stay here in Houston instead of moving to CA. So since I'm at home all the time I helped get stuff out of storage and help unpacking things in the house. It really does look much better with things on the walls lol.

Back in Feb I had to rehome Czarina my greek tortoise. She hadn't handled the huge temp differences in the house and my mom was being difficult about her. I really miss her but unfortunately there was very little I could do. At least I know she has a great home and will do well in it. She got big in my care and very healthy so at least I did my part in helping her out.

Elise (sis's dog)

Oh and back in Feb my sis decided to move in to our parents house too. She needed to be able to save some $$. Dallas her kitty is diabetic and has done extremely well for the last 3 1/2 years (not normal for cats at all). Not to mention her 17 year old car. It's been great having her stay here too. I really missed her when I moved out of my apt. We are very close and get along so well.

Patches left, Pirata right (my kitties)

On some cool news. On March 3rd 2010, both my parents and my sis became American Citizens!! We are all very excited about this. My bro has filed for his American citizneship as well. So he should be becoming American soon. Which will leave me as the lonely foreigner LOL. I still haven't gotten my greencard so it will be a while until I can become American too.

Pomponnette, having changed places to nap :)

About a month ago my car (1998 Ford explorer) decided to act up and have more problems than usual. I already knew it needed a lot of work but once again didn't have any $$ to put into it. Well it decided to overheat and all kinds of liquids came out of it. My mechanic got it towed to his shop. Well after the estimate of what that needed to be done ($3-5K) and the car only worth about $1K I decided to sell it to my mechanic. So on top of everything now I no longer have a car. Thank god my mom lets me use her car. Which in turn lets me run all her errands lol.

Sonja (maybe inside is better for napping)

Patches and Pirata will be 14 in June. They are doing ok, but I'm pretty sure Pirata is kidney failure. She has all the same signs as Nanuchy and Tux (other cat who passed from kidney failure several years ago). She is drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot and loosing some weight. She is still eating well so can't complain. She is already on a special diet and has been for 10 years due to chronic urine infections. Patches is slowning down a lot too. Eventhough she is on small portions of food she keeps gaining weight (same diet as Pirata, Patches is prone to bladder stones) but her spine is very skinny. Last time I took her to the vet I was told there is something going on with her but due to financial issues not much I can do. She is eating well and happy (very opinionated as usual). They have both had a lot of health issues over the years and I know at this point there isn't much I can do. So as long as they are happy and doing well we keep on going. When the time is right I'll let them go.

Elise maybe it's cooler here

Sonja is doing ok, has settled down a lot. Being with the other 2 dogs has really calmed her down. She still runs in circles but overall you can tell she is happier. She has gotten very stiff (especially in the back end) and I had to up her dosage of nupro. I notice if she lies still for a while she is very slow to get up and will limp a bit. Vet said its just arthritis. The higher dosage of nupro is helping (Sandi her cousin who passed in 2008 had horrible arthritis). She needs a dental again (her teeth are bad and 6 months after the dental looks like she has never had them done). But once again something that will have to wait. Doesn't stop her one bit from eating lol. Absolutely nothing wrong with her appetite.

Pomponnette, thank god we have so many beds in this house :)

Elise is the youngest one. She will either be 3 or 4 in June too. Pomponnette is 14 1/2 and def slowing down in the last month. She loves to play rough with Elise and we have noticed she doesn't run as much and gets tired much faster. She still is happy and enjoying life. No health problems for her. She is on nupro too and on a low dose and doing very well. Hardly any arthritis at all.

Sonja, I really don't understand toys lol

Both Elise and Pomponnette love that cow that is in front of Sonja. Pompom loves to squeeze it in her mouth to make it moo lol. Then Elise gets all worried when it makes noise. She is convinced that all the toys who make noise are hurt and will go over and lick them to make them feel better. It's sooo cute!

Dallas, doesn't everyone sleep on their backs in the sunshine!

I joined 24 hr fitness in the beginning of Jan. So I've been working out and completely changed my diet (lot less carbs, lots of veggies and grilled food, no fried food). And since the 2nd week of Jan until last Monday I've lost 32 lbs!!! Woot!! Very excited lol. I still have a lot of weight to loose. But it is sooo nice seeing the weight coming off. All my clothes are very baggy and that is good. I want to loose a bit more weight then buy some new clothes as intermediate as I loose weight. At the rate I'm going at I should have most of the weight off by the end of the year. What a relief!!

Anyway didn't think this post would be so long lol. I took all the pics today as the dogs moved in and out. The only cool thing with the whole unemployment thing is I get to hang out with the babies most of the day. I traded my acer netbook with my dad since he flies to much and his old laptop is heavy and overall old and cranky. So he has the light fast machine and I have to old heavy laptop that takes 20 minutes to load up when you start it up (I already cleaned it up as much as I could lol). Anyway, I promise to start reading blogs again :)

Nanuchy 10/24/95 to 01/07/10

2010-01-08T18:47:00.008+01:00

(Pic taken during morning news at Fox 26 12/10/09)

Yesterday was an end of an era! Nanuchy, Her Royal Grouchiness, took her final trip to the vets. It was def time. In the last 6 weeks she went downhill in a big way. Her kidneys were shutting down. She was drinking so much water and was on the highest dosage of meds and still had to go out every 2-3 hrs around the clock or she would have an accident (mostly the last 2 weeks).

(Squeaky (sis's dog) on left and Nanuchy on right )

She could hardly hear or see anything anymore. She kept getting lost in the house and yard no matter how closely I watched her. I had to carry her quite a bit which she hated but it couldn't be helped.

(Squeaky left and Nanuchy right)
I know this isn't the best pic, but wanted to show how much alike Squeaky and Nanuchy were. Nanuchy's legacy lives on in Squeaky, since Squeaky really wanted to be like Nanuchy and even picked up some of her habits lol.

My parents' house is a bit cold so to keep her warm at night she was covered in a warm fuzzy leopard throw. Normally both cats would sleep with her as well. I would get up and have to tuck her in again after every outing and every time she got up for water. You can see Sonja in the right bottom corner on her own bed.

(Nanuchy left, Bonzo right)
The one good thing is that now Nanuchy is with her soul mate, Bonzo. They were like 2 halves of a whole and I know they are both overjoyed to be back together again. I did ask her to be sweet to Patachou for once and tell him I love him too, as well as to all my other babies who have gone ahead.

This was taken an hour before I took Nanuchy to the vets. You can tell how tired she was in that pic. On top it's freezing cold here. It was about 39F in that pic. So she was wearing her stylish leather bomber jacket :)

Please overlook how crappy I look. My sis took it of us at the vets. One of the few pics I have of Nanuchy and me. She hated having her pic taken. My favorite vet was there and he knew Nanuchy well so it was great he was there to help her pass. He even said "She was a grand old lady, who will be greatly missed". He def appreciated her fiestiness LOL. And he did say I did a good job with her since she wasn't supposed to live past 2 yrs old (due to so many health issues at that age)

I'm really going to miss my little Gucci. But I am also relieved that she isn't in pain anymore, but healthy and free to run around at the rainbow bridge as much as she wants to. She really made me a better pet owner overall. I hope to never have such a dominate dog again LOL.

Fly high Nanuchy, your mama loves you so much!!!

This That and Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T17:22:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone. I know I've been totally MIA here lately. Things got really complicated here. 1st off all the babies are doing great. Nanuchy (terrorX) even let Sonja (sheltie) sleep on her doggy bed with her (well only the one in the living room lol).

Nanuchy is doing great overall. 14 yrs old almost completely blind and deaf, with a heart murmur, in kidney failure but don't tell her she doesn't know lol. She still loves going for walks and is as grouchy as ever lol. When my bro saw her last week he said "wow she looks damn good for a dead dog" LOL. Only thing is that she refuses to eat any canned food at all. She's never been all that excited about it but now refuses to eat if there is canned food in her bowl (she only gets it to help with her chronic urine infections and now kidneys). Well I don't give her or Sonja canned food anymore since she won't eat it. I figure she can pretty much eat whatever she wants at this point in her life. She's quite happy crunching away on her Wellness Senior thankyouverymuch lol. Sonja isn't picky and will eat anything I give her lol.

Patches & Pirata (kitties) have been getting canned food with their dry for quite a while since Pirata has chronic urine infections and Patches gets bladder stones. (I swear it isn't my fault they all have health issues lol) Well that is all good and well if Pirata would eat the canned food. She will only finish of Patches bit of canned food and not touch hers. But if I don't add canned food to her bowl she throws a hissy fit lol. So I decided to not give them canned food for a couple of weeks to see if they will settle down again lol.

Czarina (tortoise) is doing great, eating well and growing. Her shell is getting new pretty grow lines which means she is getting the right nutrition.

Well as for me things have been up and down a lot. I found out earlier this month that unless a big contract we've been waiting for comes in I'll be let go at the end of the month. There just is no more money to cover my salary. My boss hasn't taken a salary is several years. I work for a stock broker (the firm is a hedge fund, people invest in the portfolio and he does the trading, I take care of everything else). I've been with this firm for 8 yrs and do enjoy working here. Pretty much its a job with not a lot of time off but hey it pays for kibble lol.

This unemployment is a bit tricky for me. I'm not a resident (Norwegian citizen) and can't apply for unemployment. I've been on the list for a greencard for the last 2 yrs. All along I've had work permits and before that I had student visas. I've always been legal and had all my paperwork filed correctly. Well with loosing this job I loose my greencard application too since it's based on this job with this company. My work permit doesn't expire to May so I'm ok with that, except I can't start working another job until the next company sponsors me for a work permit. If the new company decides to sponsor me for a greencard then I actually get put back in the same spot in line as before (with other filing of paperwork, very technical lol).

On a good note my parents have filed for citizenship and should have that taken care of soon. Then they can sponsor me for a greencard (different line all together). My sister is also filling for citizenship soon so that will also help. When my dad got his greencard almost 10 yrs ago, my mom, bro and sis qualified under his card, but since I was over 21 at the time I didn't qualify, which explains this whole mess.

My parents have kindly opened their home to me and my girls. Since things have been so crazy lately I can't afford to stay in my place without a steady income coming in. This totally bums me out since I just moved into this apt 4 months ago and have everything exactly the way I want it lol. (The apt manager is great and is letting me get out of my lease 2 months early) I love my parents but they tend to make me kinda crazy lol. But unemployed homeless people can't be choosy LOL. Instead of having 1 of the bedrooms upstairs I'll get the dining room since it's empty. I really didn't want Nanuchy and Sonja to have to mess with stairs. I really can't afford for them to fall down and break something. So it looks like I'm moving next week (oh joy lol). I know it's only temporary and it will be ok lol. And with some luck I'll loose some weight while there lol. After graduating from college I lived with my parents for 8 months. I lost 60 lbs in the first 5 months lol. See positive thinking here LOL.

So that's what's happening in my life (aren't you jealous, you know you are LOL).

I also wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. My dad will be out of town, but my mom is having us over (me, my sis, my bro, my sil, my 2 dogs and sis's dog lol). Turkey all the way baby!!!

I am grateful for a lot of things regardless of all the drama in my life. Grateful for my family, all my babies, all my wonderful blogger friends. So collective hugs to everyone!!!!

Woot We won!!! Ahem I mean Patachou won!!! LOL

2009-11-04T16:06:00.005+01:00

Another edit lol: Just had to add the card that Dory sent to the Houston SPCA

Edit: decided to use the pic that Dory used officially to show his win :)

Wooohoooo. Patachou got 1st place on Dory's Smiley fest 2009. I'm soooo excited. Thank you everyone for voting for my very special boy. I miss him sooo much and love that his smile won so many hearts too. I've asked Dory's Mama to send the donation to the Houston SPCA. I got Nanuchy, my 14 yr old terrorX who is almost completely blind and deaf and in kidney failure from there when she was only 8 weeks old! And Dory's Mama even upped the prize to $40 donation, isn't that just wonderful!!!!

This was such a fun contest and for a wonderful cause. And congrats to the other winners too. So many totally awesome smileys and the competition was very tough!!!!

Thanks again to everyone!!!

Vote for Patachou!!!

2009-10-28T15:27:00.008+01:00

Well everyone let the voting begin :) Dory from Dory's Backyard has open up the voting polls for her 2009 smiley fest. If you check out the post from 10/26/09 you can see all the pics of all the pets entered :) There are 4 polls and Patachou is in the first one. Please please vote for my smiley boy!!!

Its lots of stiff competion there but who couldn't love Patachou's smiley face :) And the best part the big price goes to rescue!!

Thanks everyone!!!

Happy Birthday Nanuchy (10/24/09)

2009-10-23T16:41:00.012+02:00

(I know this is a day early but since I have all my pics on this computer I wanted to make sure I got them out there)

Tomorrow (10/24/09) Nanuchy will be 14 yrs old. Woot. I'm extra excited about this since she was sooo sick back in Aug. Happy Birthday baby!! Mama loves you lots!! She was my very 1st completely my dog!

Here's a baby pic of my little Terror lol. Nanuchy aka Gucci was about 3-4 months old in this pic. She had just gotten a bath lol. Went to the SPCA here in Houston TX in Dec 1995. I really wanted a puppy since I was in college living on my own and really missed having a dog.

Gucci is about 6-7 months in this pic. She was all of 8 weeks old when I saw her at the SPCA. A cute little brown bundle of fur (I know she turned lighter no idea why lol). I was told she was some kind of poodle/terrier/Lhasa/whatnot mix lol. It took exactly 1 week for this cute little angel to turn into a totally dominant bitch (and I used that in a totally loving way lol). I decided to settle on her being a Terror Mix. Seemed to suit her personality lol. She hasn't met a dog she hasn't been able to beat up. Doesn't matter if they are 100 lbs. She doesn't play fair lol. People think because she is a cute little cream colored dog that she is sweet. Wrong lol she only likes a handful of dogs and certain people. And don't think for one min she won't bite lol. Needless to say I keep all interactions very closely monitored.

This one of my favorite pics of Gucci with Bonzo (our bernese mountain dog, my sister's heartdog and we brought him over from Switzerland). They met when Nanuchy was 6 month old and Bonzo was about 6 yrs old. It was love at first sight between them. She totally loved him and he was complete with her in his life (he had been abandoned things we found out later due to how he reacted to storms/collar being taken off/fed/men grrrrr). He was totally ok with Gucci being boss. Very often Bonzo would be asleep and Nanuchy would cover him with all her stuffies. Didn't bother him one bit. When Bonzo went blind and deaf he still enjoyed his walks. But he kept walking into things no matter how closely we watched him. Well we started noticing Nanuchy walking in front of him with her tail up and he would touch is nose to it. She was his very own eye seeing dog. She never let him run into anything after that. And no I didn't teach her this, she figured it out on her own! When we had to let Bonzo go after a series of seizures that gave him brain damage (he was about 11) I honestly thought Gucci won't recover. She was completely heartbroken and wouldn't bond with anyone. She eventually came out of her shell. (sorry didn't mean to go off on that sad note)

As you can see Nanuchy sure loves her walk lol. She was a few years old here and running in the rain. I think this pic is cute. Everyone has a bad hair day occasionally lol.

Gucci has always claimed all the beds lol. I have 2 rottie sized orthopedic beds in the apt. At all of 25 lbs will spread out and get comfy. Sonja (sheltie) isn't allowed to sleep with her lol. Sonja has to sleep on a smaller bed lol. (Cause everyone has 6 doggy beds in their apt right?)

The cats on the other hand are allowed to sleep with her. Pirata is on the left and Patches is on the right. It was a cool night and she didn't mind the extra body heat lol.

This pic is kinda dark. I took it this morning on their morning walk. Both my sis and parents are out of town so I'm petsitting the bunch lol. I normally walk all 4 of them at the time since they are pretty good about listening and staying together. It's a bit hard to tell but on the top of the pic is Pompom (parents' dog left), Nanuchy (middle), Squeaky (sis's dog right) with Sonja close to me lol.

Had to share this pic again. Gucci looks so happy in these pics. You will notice that her fur is short in most pics. I have to shave her down due to allergies otherwise she would look like Benjii :) And she hates to be brushed so shaving her down is just easier. And grooming is another fun adventure. Can anyone say Cujo??? LOL

Nanuchy is really doing pretty well. She is 14, almost completely blind and almost completely deaf. Has a heart murmur and in kidney failure. But she is totally holding her own. She is eating and drinking well. Minimal accidents (since she has been on the leaking meds). Only thing is she has developed some sores on her body. It is due to her body working hard and her immune system having a hard time keeping up. As long as she is happy she will keep on going the way she is. She is more tired and more grumpy but then again she has always been grumpy lol. She isn't Her Royal Highness, she is Her Royal Grouchiness LOL.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish my baby a happy birthday, and that I love her even when she makes me crazy lol. She has def taught me to be a better pet owner. It has been a huge challenge and I pray to never had a dominant dog like that again lol.

Dory's Smiley-Fest 2009 - Official Entry :)

2009-10-14T18:06:00.003+02:00

I want to thank everyone who commented on Patachou my sweet baby.

So for Dory's Smiley-Fest 2009 at Dory's Backyard my entry is:

I think this is my all time favorite pic of Patachou. I have it as my computer background. Patachou was pretty much a happy boy all the time. He loved to pose for pic and LOVED wearing cloths. Here he is smiling at me lying on my bed. He loved my bed (who wouldn't love a king sized bed lol) and never once lay on the 3 rottie sized orthopedic beds I bought when he was diagnosed with hip dysplacia etc lol. He loved women and petite blond female dogs, but most of all he loved me and I loved him so much it still hurts. He was my heartdog and I know I'm so lucky to have had him in my life when I needed him the most.

Ok better stop there before I start crying again.

I'll let everyone know when the competition is open :) The big prize goes to a rescue group/shelter of the winners choice :)

Dory's Smiley-Fest 2009 entry ahem entries lol

2009-10-13T17:25:00.005+02:00

Well today I'm doing something different. Dory from Dory's Backyard is having a competition. She wants entries of smiley pets and a short story behind why they are smiling.

I couldn't decide between my 2 favorite pics of Patachou. My rottie angel.

I love this pic of Patachou. Patachou had just gotten home from his 4th round of radiation on his left back leg (knee). He loved going to Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialist and was extra excited since they had put a t-shirt on him. He LOVED to wear clothes (which was fun to find since he was 104 lbs lol). All the docs/techs/staff signed the t-shirt :)

This is my computer screen background. Patachou was such a happy boy pretty much all the time. He loved to pose for pics too. Here he was lying on my bed happy to see me. He always smiled and especially loved blond little female dogs LOL. Such a flirt.

Anyway, these are my entries, voting will be on Dory's blog from Oct 25th to Nov 1st :) I'll be sure to remind everyone LOL.

Oh Fall...... It's finally October : )

2009-10-06T16:43:00.012+02:00

Ahhh the crisp air, decent temps and fall colors. Thoughts of pumpkins, and apple spice.

*shrech of film reel (just like old cartoons lol)* Those aren't fall colors!!! It's green everywhere. No reds, oranges, yellows. What is going on????

At 6:30 this morning is was 80F and 94% humidity! The lovely weather woman upgraded the humidity to "Soupy" from "Muggy" sigh, this isn't looking good.

She was happy to tell everyone that it will be a high of 92F with 94% humidity pretty much all day long. With heat index feeling like 100-110F! IN OCTOBER????? And it will be like this thru Friday at least.

*Leafing thru notes* Aha according to this 1st day of fall was .... September 22nd, 2009. Sooo that means today (Oct 6th) is the 14th day of Fall. There has got be a mistake. Most of the country is def in the Fall, and having cool temps that involve turning on furnaces and heat. My a/c hasn't been off yet nor have the floor fans. Hmmmmm.

*Leafing thru more paperwork* I just know I have Mother Nature's phone number around here somewhere. Aha here it is:

Me: Hi Mother Nature :) Quick question. You do realize that it's fall already right??
MN: *insert peanut's teacher's voice*.

Me: Yes I know most of the country says it's fall, but here in Houston, TX its going to be 90 today with lots and lots of humidity.

MN: *insert louder Peanut's teacher's voice*

Me: Yes you are right, we did request no hurricanes this year.

MN:*insert Peanut's teacher's voice*

Me: Yes hurricane Ike last year was most impressive, def ranking up there as one of the awesomest hurricanes (starting to get worried here)

MN:*insert Peanut's teacher's voice*

Me: No you are quite correct 90F in October is just fine, no problem, No no do not need repeat of last year's hurricane.

MN:*insert Peanut's teacher's voice* and loud slam of phone.

Well that went well didn't it LOL.

Oh well, nothing like driving around with no a/c, my poor car is ahem bit old and cranky, but hey it's paid for lol.

So I thought I would share some of the pics I took this morning of the girls on their walk. Did you notice that Nanuchy not once looked back on me lol. She is on a mission and checking in with Mama is not on the agenda.

Sonja on the other hand does check in occasionally lol. Since Nanuchy hardly can hear or see, when I'm talking to Sonja is no longer reacts lol (unless I whistle). She still loves going on her walks and does it with enthusiasm 3 times a day :)

I even got a 2 min video of them. Excuse my squeaky voice lol it's the best way to communicate with the girls. At least no cars came barrelling towards us on this part of the walk. Which in this area is not the norm lol.

So how's your fall going??? :)

Rainy Tuesday, tagged and awards :)

2009-09-22T16:49:00.022+02:00

This morning is was raining buckets lol (well actually it's still raining buckets lol). I'm not complaining since it seems everywhere around Houston got rain except where I live. Nanuchy (terrorX) was extra grouchy. Not only did I wake her up before 9am (considering I have to be at work by 8:30 lol), but when we went on a walk I made her wear her rain jacket (see not smiling in this pic sigh). Sonja (sheltie) isn't exactly excited about either. Then again it had been thundering and she hates thunder, and I had an umbrella and umbrellas worry her lol. But when you live in a 1 bedroom apt, 2 wet dogs can smell well kinda damp lol. Also I groomed them on Sunday I would like the bath to last at least a couple of more days lol.

I was able to get this pic for the exactly 30 sec it stopped to rain while I was walking them lol. The light sucks so the pic looks a bit weird but wanted to take a pic of them wearing their rain jacks lol.

Coming into work today was awful. Houston drivers aren't that great when it's sunny and clear. But add a bit of rain and it is total chaos out there. So many idiots driving at 90 mph when it's slick and totally surprised when they spin out. Ok stepping off my soapbox lol.

I got Tagged by Raising Africa (Sorry it took me so long to get this up lol. Life getting in the way and all that lol.

Ok supposed to tell about 6 things that make my babies happy (cause how could I just chose one of my babies lol)

1, Czarina loves to eat. She wasn't like this when I first got her. It really was a challenge to get her to eat. Now she munches away and even demands food on weekends.

2, Czarina's second favorite thing to do is sleep lol. She hides under a lot of timothy hay. I always have plenty in there for her to get comfy in. You can see her favorite place to hide is under the heating lamp. Nice and toasty.

OK you can't actually see her but she is under there, I promise lol.

3, Nanuchy loves going for walks. I think it is her most favorite thing to do. Look at her happy face! You can't tell she is sick at all. This is how she looks on most walks.

4, Nanuchy and Sonja love their kongs with peanut butter and milkbone cookies, and don't even mind their crates since that is the only time they get this.

Nanuchy left, Sonja right. (sorry about bad pic, took it this am and didn't turn on enough lights lol)

5. Pirata love lying at the end of the bed since she can see out to the living room and still know what is going on. (I interrupted her grooming session lol)

6. Patches love lying on the extra comfy pillow on my bed. She will be on there all day long pretty much lol. She is 11 lbs so you can tell the pillow is larger to keep her nice and comfy, no falling off that pillow LOL.

Here you can see both girls loving the bed. They both spend a lot of time on there and totally believe I got a king size bed just for them LOL

Got these awards from Khyra's Khorner Thank you so much for passing these great awards to my blog :)

Got these from Martha & Bailey Thanks for sharing these great awards with me!

This award says: "Your blog is like a pearl, rare, delicate and charming."

I def think both you girls are very special too!

And I'm of course sending all these awards to all you wonderful bloggers out there!!! Everyone of you deserves all these great awards and sooo many more. My life would be very dull without having so many great blogs to follow :)

Tasty Tortoise Tuesday :)

2009-09-08T16:52:00.013+02:00

I know I haven't posted much about Czarina (Russian Tortoise). I wanted to give her time to settle in and get bolder and more comfortable with me before going all paparazzi on her lol. I was trying to get a nice profile pic of her but she wasn't too happy with me holding her like that lol.

You can see her size here since I'm holding her. The tan lines around the darker patches are getting bigger which is good. Means she is eating well and developing. She will probably grow another 1 -2 inches in lenght.

Turtle soup??? LOL I soak her for 15 min on Mon, Wed, and Fri. This way she get the water she needs. She actually is a very clean tortoise and will do her business in the water and not very often in her tank. She never is all that happy about being in there lol.

Up close and personal lol. Once I move a bit away she starts walking around the bowl trying to figure a way out lol. She isn't quite as outgoing as my sister's Greek Tortoise Tommie. But my sis has had Tommie longer than I've had Czarina.

She gets fed Mon-Fri and occasionally Sat or Sun if she gets very active over the weekend. It was a proud moment when she actually walked right up to the glass and stomped her little feet letting me know she was hungry.

On the menu collard greens (they were out of turnip greens which she prefers), romaine lettuce (she also likes red leafed lettuces) and her all time favorite dandelion leaves. I normally can get the dandelion leaves at Fiesta but they have been out the last couple of weeks, so got this batch from Whole Foods (organic anyone lol). I also sprinkle on a bit of calcium powder to help with her shell and joints.

I normally give her more food than she will eat in one sitting since she likes to graze in the morning and I normally feed her around 5pm.

Here she is munching away. She is now a good little eater who is finally realizing I'm not going to hurt her so she doesn't have to hide when she sees me. It really is so cool seeing her become braver and settling in nicely.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday :)

Walkabout Wednesday ahem I mean Trotting Thursday LOL

2009-09-03T16:41:00.013+02:00

Well I'd actually planned on doing this blog yesterday but totally forgot lol. I took some pics of my girls out for a walk the other day. Weather is beautiful and for once the humidity has been low too. Nothing like 70 in the am with only 50% humidity.

They are both good walkers and enjoy being outside. It is one of Nanuchy's favorite things to do. Nothing short of chicken or cheese makes her more excited than being asked "Do you want to go for a walk?"

For once Sonja was walking ahead with Nanuchy. Most of the time she walks at my side or a step or two behind me. She only started doing that after Sandi passed.

There are several dogs living in the neighborhood. Nanuchy only likes 2 (huge surprise right lol). Elise aka Squeaky, my sister's maltipoo who really wants to be exactly like Nanuchy lol, and a small shitzu boy called TickTack. She normally isn't overly fond of males but for some or other reason she actually likes to visit with him. By far she prefers to visit with people, well let me rephrase that, certain people. She has a bit of a reputation in the complex of being overly bitchy so most are afraid of her lol. The fact that she has beaten up 100 lbs dogs (vs her 25 lbs) probably just might have something to do with it LOL.

Since the weather was just perfect the girls took their time catching up on peemail. Nanuchy is very accomplished at leaving lots of messages. Sonja, well, hasn't figured that one out lol. At least she tinkles outside eventhough it always is all in one area.

And I wanted to give you an update on Nanuchy. She decided that she was having nothing to do with any of the various foods from the vets. So I decided to just go back to feeding her the regular Wellness Senior dry and canned food. The great news is that she got back to eating as soon as I went back to her regular diet. For me it is more important that she eats than what she eats at this point. She is back to being happy again about eating, no coaching from me. I think she even gained back a bit of the weight she had lost. She still is getting Pepcid so she can keep her food down, as well as the leaking pills (which are working, no accidents inside in over a week woot), another powder for her digestive track, nupro (for her joints), her regular allergy meds, as well as bit of canned pumpkin (100% pumpkin) to mix it all together.

See that fountain, many a drunk person has run into it, so far the fountain has come out with minor damage vs the cars. They sure did a great job building it LOL.

Can you see Nanuchy smiling? This is what makes it all worth while. As long as she is happy and enjoying life all is good. She is still grumpy and grouchy and growls at Sonja and the cats at meal times and overall a total bitch, but that is who she is and I'm sooo happy to see her like this. When she lost her spunk I honestly thought it was over then and there.

3 day weekend coming up which I'm looking forward to. Other than the usual errands and chores the girls and I have nothing planned and that is totally OK with me :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Awards

2009-08-25T16:53:00.005+02:00

I just realized my blog had received several awards and I had forgotten to post them (roll up newspaper and hit myself over head lol). So here we go. On all the awards, I'm passing them on to all of you!

I'd like to thank NY Bully Brats for this great award

Here are the rules:

"When accepting this award, you must blog about the food you have stolen when your humans were not watching. If you have never stolen any food, you must have been a really good pup! You can accept this yummy tray of cookies as your reward! Next add the logo for this award to your blog (optional!), then nominate at least 5 other furry blogs and let them know by leaving a message on their blogs"

Hmm I don't think Nanuchy has ever stolen any food. She prefers her food in her doggy bowl (I know soo weird lol)

A few years ago my late ex-mil left an chocolate eclair on a lower table when bringing in some groceries. Sonja stole it but caught in the act so she dropped it and Sandi scarfed it up LOL. Poor Sonja didn't even get to eat her stolen treat lol.

Several years ago my sister was studying and had a sandwich on a plate next to her, she looked the other way and Patachou helped himself to half of it LOL.

I'd like to thank The Chronicles of Woos for this gem of an award!

The only rule for this award is that to accept it, display it proudly on your blog for all bloggy world to see your greatness and/or pass it on to other bloggers as you see fit.

I got this satin award from Martha & Bailey

The rules: list 5 details (things, people, features) that make your life "satin" (also can be shiney and good). Pass on to 5 bloggers.

1, Nanuchy has made me a better pet owner since she has challenged me from the very beginning (almost 14 yrs ago lol).

2, Patachou (rottie angel), was my heartdog and showed me nothing but total love from the first time a met him at 2 weeks old.

3, Sonja has taught me lots of patience. It has been a long road but I don't regret inheriting her (well not so much anymore at least lol)

4, Patches & Pirata, just because you are a cat doesn't mean you have to act like a snob lol. Im so lucky, my girls are laid back and easy going.

5, All my friends out in the blogger world. You have expanded my horizons, and I love seeing a part of your lives.

I also got this great award from Martha & Bailey, I'm very honored to receive this!

Cautionsly optimistic

2009-08-20T16:14:00.005+02:00

On Monday I had to take Nanuchy back to the vets. You can imagine how thrilled she was to be back, and for you who are keeping count that is 3 vet visits in 2 weeks. Unlike Patachou who loved going to the vets, Nanuchy not so much. The night before she had had horrible diarrhea. It seems Little Ms Thing decided to pick up something on one of the walks (since really she didn't have enough going on lol) and she was loaded with bacteria (vets words lol). So she got 3 additional meds to help her feel better. She lost another lb between Friday and Monday. She has lost 4 lbs since May and now weighs 23.5 lbs.

She wouldn't touch 1 of the kinds of canned food the vet recommened. She did eat a bit of the other canned food, only about 1/8 of a can which isn't enough. Vet recommended that I boil rice and chicken for her again and mix it with that 1 can. In addition I've been adding canned pumpkin (100% pumpkin, good stuff clears up both diarrhea and constipation).

Well yesterday for the first time in over 3 weeks Nanuchy ate almost all her breakfast and dinner and kept it down. I'm sooo excited. The meds are kicking in and this morning she actually licked her bowl clean!!! She's still drinking quite a bit of water but a bit less than before so hopefully all this is slowing down the kidney failure. The leaking seems to have gotten quite a bit better since she has been on the meds for that too. I was also able to get her to take her meds in small pieces of sliced cheese (she wouldn't eat it due to feeling sick so I had to shove it down her throat, which is a scary proposition on most days lol)

Pirata likes to sit on the toilet in the morning and watch me get ready. Isn't she too cute?? LOL In the bathtub I had to wash one of the dog beds since my sister's dog threw up on it. Poor baby. Squeaky (dog) and Dallas (cat) stayed at my place on Tuesday so my sister could move into her new apt without having to worry about them. I guess it was too much excitement for her.

And here is the rest of the crew while I'm getting ready, Patches on the bed, Nanuchy and Sonja who as usual looks like she is ready to run LOL.

I wanted to thank all of you for all the prayers for my special little girl. It has been a rough few weeks. I know the unavoidable will still happen but am grateful that she at least now will be able to enjoy whatever time she has left.

Nanuchy - update

2009-08-14T19:35:00.004+02:00

I dropped Nanuchy off at the vets this morning for her ultrasound and urine culture. I just got off the phone with Nanuchy's vet. It's official she is in kidney failure, sigh. Because her kidneys aren't working well, the toxins are getting into her system which is why she is throwing up. And also which accounts for her drinking so much water. Her vet wants to try a few things out to keep her quality of life good and was happy to hear that her quality of life is the most important thing to me and that I will let her go when these things don't work anymore, but without going to extremes.

So she is going to be on Pepto once a day. If she keeps throwing up then he will prescribe something stronger. She is also going to be on prescription canned food specifically for her kidneys to help them out. Lastly she will be on meds to help with the leaking. He sent out her urine culture and is pretty sure it will show signs of additional issues that are related to her kidneys and might prescribe some meds for that too.

At this point her heart murmur is the least of her problems lol. The liver levels aren't horrible yet and less worrisome than her kidney levels.

So hopefully with all this I'll have some good quality time with her left. I love her too much to let her suffer. At least that hard decision is going to wait for another day. Feeling relieved, just hope this works.

Thanks everyone for your prayers!

Nanuchy and Co.

2009-08-07T17:55:00.012+02:00

I know it has been a while since I posted. Above is Nanuchy my almost 14 yr old terrormix. She is almost completely blind and deaf at this point. (She looks so tired in all the pics now :( )

Last Friday I had to drop her of at the vets. She hadn't eaten in over 24 hrs and had been throwing up. She hadn't been eating well at all for the a week before that. Which is totally out of character for her. She also has been drinking a lot more and having some leaking when she sleeps. Her vet ran blood work (full panel) and urinalysis.

He told me that since May of last year, she has developed a heart murmur, which he believes is due to his age. He was waiting for the other results to see if it was related to the other problems. Her lungs are clear, heart rate good. So seemed in good shape overall. She was given some anti-nausea meds, which helped since she started eating again (not well but at least eating) and no more throwing up.

On Saturday I talked to one of the other vets (her vet was off work) about the blood work/urinalysis results. She is having kidney issues and liver issues, and her urine isn't concentrating. A combination of all this isn't good, almost like her body is starting to shut down.

She is scheduled on Aug 14th, to have an urine culture done as well as ultrasound of her bladder, kidneys and other interesting body parts. Hopefully we will know how bad things are.

A few years ago she had some kidney issues. At that point I cooked food for her and it helped even out her levels. Her levels are a lot worse at this point. But I started cooking for her again which has helped her eat a bit better. She actually didn't stand over her bowl of 1-2 minutes with me coaching her to get her to eat. She def loves rice/boiled chicken/raw carrots mixed with half her kibble (And so that Sonja since I mix that in with her kibble too).

From what the vet said we will be maintaining a good quality of life for her but not going to be able to "fix" the problems. As long as she is happy and comfortable we will continue with what we are doing. On the 14th I'll know if we will be adding any meds to her mix. I'm not doing any extreme measures with her. She has had too many health issues all her life to put her thru more and I know she won't be able to handle that.

Sonja was so fun on the day of the vet visit. I put her in her crate with her kong with peanut butter and a cookie in it and she was so busy eating it, she didn't even notice me walking out the door with Nanuchy LOL.

She sure was happy to see us when we got home!

Last Saturday my sis went to a soccer game with some friends, so I took care of her crew. Squeaky (3 yr old maltipoo girly) came over to hang out with us. Since my dogs paid no attention to her she decided to play with Pirata lol. I know the pic above is horrible but it was so cute since they are about the same size and Pirata was happy to play with her lol.

After playing with Pirata, she needed to take a nap since it was such hard work lol. Notice she is lying on a leopard print blanket LOL. She looks like Nanuchy and tries to act like her. We have dubbed her Mini-Gucci lol.

If you could spare a quick prayer for Nanuchy I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Reliant Dog Show 07/18/09

2009-07-20T18:04:00.000+02:00

(Sorry about the side view, No matter how I save it and change it, it still goes upright sigh)

Whew what a fun event . The big dogshow for the year was in Houston from 07/16 - 07/19. I hadn't been in probably 5 yrs so decided that it was time I went back to visit.

I was good and really didn't spend any $$ (well except on donations lol). I found parking to be pretty steep $8 and had to walk for quite a while to get to the building since there were a lot of people there. Ticket to go in was $10, which wasn't too bad considering how big the event was. I did end up spending $3.75 on a small bottle of water sigh.

There were soo many booth set up with all kinds of fun stuff, food, leashes, jewelery, cloths, etc etc etc! Not to mention a bunch of rescue groups. There was weightpulling which was fun. I got to see a couple of rotties as well as other big breeds pull. There was lots of confirmations going on. I didn't stay long to watch them since there was so much else going on. I didn't get to see the rotties since they were scheduled at 8am yikes lol.

I did get to meet so many great dogs and fun people. So going to share some pics. They aren't the best since Im just figuring out how to use my new camera phone.

First off I went and stopped by Dachshund Rescue of Houston where I met up with Mona and her Mama.

See pic of Mona and me. She was manning the kissing booth. $1 a kiss and she was very generous with them.

Mona hanging out in the kissing booth. Isn't she cute in her summer cut?

Isn't he cute just hanging out? Sorry can't remember his name but by this time he was so tired he kept falling asleep like that lol.

This is Bandit. I totally love his marking. Soooo cute and another sweetie.

This is one tired pupper LOL.

I think this is Poppy. And if it is I think she might be getting a forever home if her application goes thru :)

Next stop was Basset Buddies Rescue of Texas. I just had to stop by and say hi. Made me miss Fred my ex's basset.

I just loved her costume and had to take a pic of her and 2 of the bassets!

Now up is Texas Alaskan Malamute Rescue This was one of my favorite stops. The people were super nice and I totally fell in love with the dogs. Made me totally miss having a big dog.

This Malamute wasn't up for adoption but totally sweet. I just wanted to kidnap him (I think it was a male lol)

Another total cutie! I so wanted to walk off with one of them :)

While walking around I saw these cute yorkies all dressed up and totally cute. There were a lot of small dogs all dressed up to party.

Another fun rescue is Texas Gulf Coast Bull Terrier Club Rescue I love bull terrier.

This cutie is Grandma. Isn't she adorable.

This is Sugar. She was nothing but skin and bones when she came into rescue. Now she has a great forever home and as you can tell, she has filled in nicely.

Had to stop by Friends of Rescued Mastiffs Just love this big dogs.

This was actually the pic that made me stop and look LOL. She was totally comfy there on that chair.

Another cutie!

And last but on least especially for my sister :) Lone Star Bernese Mountain Dogs

They are such beautiful and sweet dogs. Not great for Houston weather, but fun to see them!

She is a therapy dog and loving getting all kinds of attention!

This was a day. 3 hrs later I was totally exhausted and happy to go home to my girls. I'm definitely going back next year. Hope you enjoyed the pics :)

My blog is being "shot" award : )

2009-06-24T16:26:00.000+02:00

Thank you so much Selby for the award. My blog received the "Shot" award. The meaning of this award is that this blog is worthy of being photographed.

The rules for this award are:

Post the badge on your blog and link to who gave it to you. Choose five life situations that could be repeated in slow motion and explain why. Tag a dozen blogs and let them know it.

The five life situations we would choose to repeat are...

1. Being able to hug and kiss Patachou my angel rottie again.

2. The day I brought Nanuchy from the SPCA. We brought her with us to the airport to pick up my dad, He was so jetlagged that when we told him there was chinese takeaway in the cardboard carrier he believed us lol.

3. Watching Patches and Pirata play when they were babies. They just were sooo curious and happy.

4. Watching Patachou play in the water the first time we took him to the beach. He had so much fun that when it was time for his dinner he dragged his food bowl over to the water so he could stand in it and still eat.

5. The vacation my family took at Casa Da Campo in the Dominiquin Republic. It was the most fun, just beautiful place I'd been to.

I would love to pass this "Shot" award to:

1. Book Mom

2. Cooking UP Something Crazy

3. Jason. For the love of God

4. Melissa McClone

5. Mona and Mummy Too

10. Writebrained

11. Dakota Cassidy

12. Terrises Blog

100 Things

2009-06-23T16:45:00.000+02:00

I got this from Melissa.

The instructions: Just copy the list of 100 accomplishments, highlight the ones you've achieved in bold, and elaborate as desired.

001. Started my own blog. I started this blog last year mostly to have a bit of fun, and have met so many wonderful people thru the blogs.

002. Slept under the stars. When we still lived in Norway we had a huge yard and loved to sleep outside in the summer. Tejo, our Estrela mountain dog always slept with us.

003. Played in a band.

004. Visited Hawaii. On my list!

005. Watched a meteor shower.

006. Given more than I can afford to charity.

007. Been to DisneyWorld/Land. Been to disney world twice, 1st time I was 11, and then a few years ago with my late ex-MIL and her best friend. We had such a blast.

008. Climbed a mountain.

009. Held a praying mantis.

010. Sung a solo. Nope and the world thanks me since I can't carry a tune LOL

011. Bungee jumped. hell no LOL

012. Visited Paris. My family did a RV tour around Europe one summer. It was great seeing Paris, but def would have preferred a hotel to the RV LOL.

013. Watched lightning at sea.

014. Taught myself an art from scratch. Knitting

015. Adopted a child. Only if you count pets.

016. Had food poisoning. Oh yeah, I can't eat McDonald's breakfast or airline food since I got food poisioning on both and just thinking about it makes me queezy.

017. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

018. Grown my own vegetables.

019. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. On that trip with my family.

020. Slept on an overnight train. On a different trip. It was from Denmark thru most of France.

021. Had a pillow fight.

022. Hitchhiked.

023. Taken a sick day when you're not ill.

024. Built a snow fort.

025. Held a lamb.

026. Gone skinny dipping.

027. Run a marathon.

028. Ridden in a gondola in Venice. It really was pretty cool. But at the time the water smelled so bad so we were happy when the trip was over.

029. Seen a total eclipse.

030. Watched a sunrise or a sunset.

031. Hit a home run.

032. Been on a cruise.

033. Seen Niagara Falls in person. Christmas my senior year in Highschool, my family drove over to the canadian side and had dinner in a revolving restaurant on Christmas eve. They had these cool lightshows so that you could see all kinds of christmas and disney characters on the waterfall. OMG it was freezing cold too LOL.

034. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors. Eventhough my family is Norwegian our founding family was part from Denmark. There is actually a town with our last name "Ubberud" and my immediate family (6 of us) are the last Ubberuds in the world.

035. Seen an Amish community.

036. Taught myself a new language. Learned enough in school lol (English, Norwegian, French, German) When I lived in South Africa, I also learned Zulu and Africansk.

037. Had enough money to be satisfied. At times.

038. Had a tatoo removed. Nope love my tattoo

039. Spit off a bridge.

040. Seen Michelangelo's David. It's gorgeous.

041. Sung karaoke. Once again the world thanks me for not singing LOL

042. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. On my list.

043. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.

044. Visited Africa. Lived in South Africa, Durban for 3 yrs. My bro was actually born there.

045. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

046. Been transported in an ambulance. And hope to never have to lol.

047. Had my portrait painted.

048. Gone deep sea fishing.

049. Been to the Sistine Chapel in person. Totally amazing!

050. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Ok not all the way to the top since it was closed for repairs.

051. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. I really want to do this, it is on my list!

052. Kissed in the rain.

053. Played in the mud.

054. Gone to a drive-in theater.

055. Been in a movie. Actually it was a commercial. Findus Fish Fingers and I was the little girl in it and did the voice over too.

056. Visited the Great Wall of China.

057. Started a business. All us kids in the neighborhood (in Norway) would sell all the fruit that the adults paid us to pick of everyones trees lol.

058. Taken a martial arts class.

059. Visited Russia.

060. Served at a soup kitchen.

061. Sold Girl Scout cookies.

062. Gone whale watching.

063. Got flowers for no reason.

064. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma.

065. Gone sky diving.

066. Visited a Nazi concentration camp site.

067. Bounced a check.

068. Flown in a helicopter. I don't remember this but I was about 4 yrs old at the time and we were living in South Africa. It was Christmas and I was chosen to fly with Santa in his helicopter. My pic was even in the newspaper lol.

069. Saved a favorite childhood toy up until adulthood. I have a stuffed elephant (Ella) that my parents gave me when I was just a few months old. I still have her, she sits on top of my bookcase.

070. Visited the Lincoln Memorial. It was very cool!

071. Eaten caviar. Yep lots of times yummy. But I only like the black on, the others taste weird to me.

072. Pieced a quilt. no but it is on my list.

073. Stood in Times Square. On New Years eve, same trip as seeing Niagra Falls.

074. Toured the Everglades.

075. Been fired from a job. Well more like laid lol I worked as a temp for an apt complex. I told the manager I could set up the program so the form would be on the server and all they had to do was enter the additional info into the program and it would print it out. I was so efficent they didn't need me anymore. Worse is that another lady was out as well because of that LOL.

076. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London. The one time I've been to London, we saw it. Pretty cool.

077. Broken a bone. Only toes.

078. Been on a speeding motorcycle.

079. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. On my list.

080. Published a book.

081. Visited the Vatican. Been to the museum, Mass and confession there.

082. Bought a brand new car. Im hoping my next car will be a new one.

083. Walked in Jerusalem.

084. Had my picture in the newspaper. See above on helicoptor ride with Santa.

085. Read the entire Bible. Raised Roman Catholic, that was what sunday school was all about lol.

086. Visited the White House. Seen from outside only.

087. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.

088. Had chickenpox.

089. Saved someone's life. My sister was only a probably 7-8 months old. We were on vacation some where tropical and my parents had put her on one of those loundge chairs out by the pool and she started rolling. I caught her just before she was to hit the ground (concret). I was only 8 yrs old at the time.

090. Overcome a physical disability.

091. Met someone famous.

092. Joined a book club. Was part of eHarliquine, bookclub but had to quit due to financial issues while going thru my divorce.

093. Lost a loved one. Grandparents on both sides of the family including other family members on my mom's side.

094. Had a baby.

095. Seen the Alamo in person. One of the few trips I took with my ex.

096. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.

097. Been involved in a law suit.

098. Owned a cell phone. I got rid of my housephone since everyone was always calling me on my cell. It is an extension of me LOL.

099. Been stung by a bee. A couple of times. Boy, does it hurt.

100. Ridden an elephant. At the Texas Rennfest a few years ago.

What about you?

Happy Birthday Sonja (06/20/09)

2009-06-22T18:12:00.000+02:00

I ment to post this on Friday. On Saturday Sonja turned 10 yrs old. She has come a long way in the last 6 yrs especially the last 3. As sweet as she is, she really isn't too bright lol. A lot of the time you look into her eyes and I swear her brain is out to lunch LOL.

Sonja's full name is Loenvar's Enchantress. We all think she was misnamed lol. My late ex-MIL got her from Kismet Kennels 6 yrs ago. Sonja was 4 yrs old at the time. I guess the breeder finally realized that there was no way that Sonja was going to get her championship since she hated all the crowds. My late ex-MIL had adopted Sandi from there the year before. Sonja is completely different from Sandi in every way. Sandi loved being the center of attention and got her championship fast.

Sonja is a sweet girl who probably would never have turned into the very insecure girl that she is if she had been placed in a home when she was a baby. Any noise would send her running. Everyone had to stand still while she ate or once again she would go running. After my late ex-MIL passed away things were very much up in the air for the girls. Soon after that I filed for divorce as well. My ex decided to move into her place and had his dog and the girls there. Which wasn't a good situation. Sonja reverted to having many more issues and would chew on the furniture and forget she was housebroken.

I got both girls soon after that. I still was in the townhouse and had Patachou (rottie), Nanuchy (terroX), Patches & Pirata (cats) and a couple of fishtanks. It took almost 2 yrs to settle Sonja down to where I could trust her to not chew up the furniture and to not have accidents in the house anymore. 6 months after the girls moved in with me full time Patachou got cancer and we went thru a 5 1/2 month battle on that front. Thank god the divorce was finalized before he passed.

A year later I was finally able to sell the townhouse and we moved into my apt. The girls settled down and everyone especially Sonja was happy and healthy. No more accidents, no chewing. I was so proud of my little girl that she finally seemed to get it.

This is where Sonja sleeps at night in her own doggy bed next to my bed.

Unfortunately I had to let Sandi go on 12/31/08 (7 months of bliss lol) and Sonja immediatedly reverted to all her old behavior. Constantly pacing and whining, running into Nanuchy (which resulted in fights), chewing on furniture, peeing in the hallway. I know she was mourning Sandi since Sandi was her cousin and her only true friend. Thank god this only lasted 6 weeks. I was getting so desperate I just didn't know if I could take it anymore, when all of a sudden she got better. She hasn't had an accident inside since and is pretty happy. Haven't had to deal with any fights between Nanuchy and Sonja in a while and it really is nice.

Well I'm so happy that Sonja has finally found some kind of balance in her life that makes her happy. She knows that she has a home with me for life (eventhough I do threaten to send her to live with my ex when she misbehaves lol). I wished I had more recent pics that are good of her since she is just beautiful but my camera is on strike and have to wait a while to get another one lol.

Happy birthday Sonja, mama luves you :)

Happy Birthday to meeeee LOL

2009-06-11T17:15:00.000+02:00

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me (totally sung off key), seriously my singing voice will make dogs howl, I inherited that honestly from my mom (sorry mom lol).

Is it considered too gauche to do a blog about my birthday, nahhhh why not LOL. I only turn 34 once. See I'm one of those women who has no problem what so ever to give my age. It isn't like it is a national secret or something LOL. Honestly I don't think anyone cares that what age I am lol.

I've been through a lot on my life (some of it my my doing, some by others doing) with both good and bad things happening. But I believe every experience has been good for me. I've learned from my mistakes (at least I really hope I have lol). I'm in a happier place overall in my life. Granted I still want to loose 133 lbs (Y'all will only see that number once!!!!!!), still waiting on getting my greencard, paying off debt and getting my credit in order again (darn ex), maybe move to a place that isn't as hot and humid (have y'all been outside yet, it's seriously hot lol), a different job would be nice, maybe get a car that I can afford to drive and run the ac at the same time, love to have a house with a yard (for my babies) and a pool (for me LOL), and I want to met a special guy, get married again but this time it will be a good marriage!.

Overall I really can't complain. I'm in pretty good health regardless of being overweight, my babies are in good health and ageing gracefully (ok Sonja is anything but graceful but whatever lol), things are falling into place.

My birthday will always have a bittersweet feeling to it. Today is also the 2 yr anniversary of Patachou going to the rainbow bridge. It def is getting easier to think about him. I don't cry like I did but remember so many of the good times we had together. I still miss him like crazy but feel so blessed for having had him in my life. I know we will met up later when it's my time to go. I hope to have another heartdog in my life. I love my girls, all 4 of them, but it isn't the same. I don't have that bond I had with him. And if he is the only heartdog I have then I was so lucky to have had him!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and a bright future :)

Happy Birthday Patches & Pirata

2009-06-03T18:07:00.000+02:00

Wow where did the time go. My 2 calico girls are 13 yrs old today. Last year I did a post about my girlies :) To think they started out as little girls with big ears lol

Patches left, Pirata right. Weren't they cute?? They finally did grow into those ears. Both turned out just beautiful with very soft fur and great personalities. Love that they actually act more like dogs than cats.

Since my camera is on the blitz I've taken some pics with my camera phone. Unfortunately most are pretty bad quality and light, but need to share some pics of my little girls :)

Patches loves to lie on her back on my bed when she is feeling loving. Eventhough she now seems to spend most of her time hanging out in my "library" and sleeping on my desk chair. Girl loves leather lol.

Patches is ahem a bit chunky. Not all her fault since the food she has to be on does this to her. Funny enough her sister is not as fat and she gets the same food. A conspiracy I tell you LOL.

Pirata loves to sit on this table. Which is I guess my coffee table (which gets wiped down a lot lol).

See it is good for napping too lol. Every evening when I'm lying in bed watching tv, Pirata gets on the bed with me and lies parallel to me with her backend towards the top of the bed so I can rub her tummy lol. It def is one of her favorite things to do.

They saw the vet last month and were given a clean bill of health. The doc recommended maybe changing their food to a raw diet. Well to say that was a total flop would an understatement. They each took 2 bites of the raw food and promptly threw it up and won't have anything to do with it. I even tried cooking the food for them no go. So they will stay on their food since they are doing well on it. They still have to see the dental specialist in the next few months to check on the their teeth to see if the auto-immune disease has gotten worse.

Anyway just wanted to share.

Happy birthday girls, your mama luves you!

Is it walk time soon?????

2009-05-06T17:46:00.000+02:00

About 30 min before every evening walk I get to see this.

Now we are on a pretty set schedule so should be too much of a surprise that Nanuchy times this right. But the weird thing is when I decide to walk them later or earlier it is like she knows and will still do this 30 min before whatever time I have decided I'm going to walk them.

Maybe I should sit closer, just in case she can't see me staring from behind the table. Is it time for the walk yet???

Hmmm maybe back here in her line of view to the TV she will see me better. I'm very good at the constant staring thing lol.

Lets try up close and personal again.....

Sonja also does the staring thing, but she seems to wait until Nanuchy does it to see if it is time for a walk again. Patches likes to watch tv with us lol.

Maybe I have time for a powernap before going out for the last walk.

Patches watching the dogs doing their nightly routine LOL. Sorry the quality of the pics are so bad. I took this with my camera phone since my camera doesn't work and my girls never look cute for the camera anyway, they hate the flash.

Break out the canoes its flooding here

2009-04-28T17:36:00.000+02:00

Mother Nature is just having a great old time here in Houston TX. In the last 10 days we have gotten around 14 inches of rain, which would have been ok if it had been around an inch a day, but nooooo it is coming in batches and we are flooding all over the place. Last night the storms were going on forever and we woke up to a flooded Houston again. Most of the schools are closed today or will open later.

Unfortunately I don't have any nifty pics since my camera is on the blitz and my camera phone takes crappy pics lol.

Nanuchy isn't fazed by the rain, lightning and thunder. On the other hand Sonja is hating it, she paced and whined most of the night eventhough we were all nice and dry inside, sigh. I really need to get a pic of them wearing their cute rain jackets. They are pink, green, and black, cameo style, yes I'm one of those proud mamas LOL. The only pet I've ever had to wanted to wear clothes was Patachou. He loved his rainjacket and bomber jacket.

Introducing Czarina!

2009-04-08T16:55:00.001+02:00

This is Czarina. She is a female Russian tortoise. I decided she needed a regal name lol. I think she is 3-5 yrs old, will get confirmation from my reptile vet when she goes in for a visit. I haven't measured her yet but think she is around 4 inches from head to tail across the shell not counting head and tail. She might grown another couple of inches. She didn't come from the best situation. She is in need of some really good food and TLC. Overall she looks pretty good considering her beginning in life. I hadn't planned on adding her to my family but you know how things work out lol.

Tobie, my Leopard tortoise, was growing by leaps and bounds and due to personal financial reasons I wasn't able to keep him. He would end up between 30 and 50 lbs in the next few years and there is no way I would be able to move into a house in that time period for him to have the right place to grow.

I was able to return him to the place I got him from. Char is a great person and got him from an excellent breeder. Tobie will be able to find a wonderful home or Char will keep him herself. She is very picky to whom she adopts out her tortoises lol.

This pic was taken soon after I got him. He has grown quite a bit since then. I really miss him and had a very hard time letting him go, but I knew it would have been even harder to let him go in a few more years.

Today I get to pick up my parents' dog Pomponnette from the vet clinic she is boarding at. It seems she has been booted out since she keeps howling and upsetting the other dogs lol. So my sis and I are going to switch off taking care of her. What is one more dog right now right LOL.

Other than the shiny eyes how could anyone think this cute little thing could act up LOL. She really is a sweet girl, but I had to stop keeping her for a few months since Nanuchy my terrorX, grouchy decided she didn't like her anymore and tried to attack her. Hopefully things have settled down enough they will all get along.

This is where the girls hang out when I'm not home. Crated or better know as Jail Cell A, B, & C LOL. Nanuchy is in the left, Sonja in the center, and Pompom on the right. They each get a kong with peanut butter and a cookie in each. Makes the stay nicer don't you think. If they didn't bark and Sonja didn't try to eat my couch they would be loose lol. My 2 cats Patches & Pirata, get to be free in the apt since they don't bark or destroy furniture lol.

Sorry the quality of this pic is so bad, but I took it with my camera phone one night while lying in bed. There you see Pirata (left), Nanuchy (center), and Patches (right) sleeping together. No dog is allowed on the bed with Nanuchy, but she doesn't mind the cats, go figure lol.

So that is the latest from my little zoo. There have been a lot of changes lately but I hope things settle down now.

Pookie, Pebbles Hoover & Humphrey's big day

2009-02-25T16:55:00.000+01:00

(This is a loooooonnnnnngggg post lol)

Here you see Pookie (smaller turtle on left side), Pebbles (larger turtle on right side), Hoover (pleco on left side) and Humphrey (pleco on right side). They have been living in my 125 gallon tank. The turtles are Red Eared Sliders. Yesterday was a full day for them, but let me give you their background story first.

When I got Pookie he was about 2 inches long. His previous owner was a 5 yr old kid whom the parents never should have given the responsibilities of a turtle. Poor baby was malnurished, living is a little bitty tank with 1/2 inch water, no basking lamp (turtles need to bask to digest food). Needless to say he was one pathetic little turtle. I put him in the tank and found out he didn't know how to swim, didn't understand basking etc. In desperation I went to a reptile store I know asking what I could do since he wasn't doing well at all. At the time I didn't even know he was a male since he was so small. And it is againt the law to sell turtles who are under 4 inches across the shell (from head to tail not counting head and tail). It was recommened that I get another turtle to help him learn to be a turtle. So this is how Pebbles came into the picture.

Pebble was right at 4 inches and a happy outgoing turtle. She did her job well and taught Pookie how to be a good little turtle.

They also shared their tank with 2 plecos. Hoover who I got from my ex's nephew. Poor Hoover was sitting in a plastic container on top of the toilet. I asked if he was planning on committing suicide lol. They had gotten rid of his tank and didn't know what to do with him. So Hoover came home with me (I think this was back in 2004 or so). He was quite happy hanging out in my 55 gallon tank with some goldfish.

My parents moved to Houston and bought a house. Well the house came with a filthy tank (20 gallon). In it there were 2 big plecos and several smaller fish, no filter, there was sooo much algae etc that we didn't even know what all was in there until I cleaned it out. My sister took 1 of the plecos (Hannibal) and I took the other one (Humphrey). Humphrey moved in with Hoover and what fish I had at the time and were both pretty happy. Hoover is about 8 inches long and Humphrey close to 10.

I upgrade their tank from a 55 gallon to a 125 gallon last year.

6 feet across, with custom basking area, and the mother of all filters Fluval FX5. A lot of work but so worth it. Both the turtles and the plecos were doing well, eating, growing. Overall who wouldn't want to live there lol.

If I had a yard I would have built a pond for them.

Fast forward to last week. I come home from work and walk the dogs etc, feed the cats and dogs, then check on the turtles. I do a head count and realize I'm a turtle short!!! OMG Pebbles had figured a way out of the tank. It looks like she squeezed thru a small opening on the basking area, and took a jump down. I'm frantically looking for her everywhere. I call my sis up to come and help me. saying Pebbles has run away. She calmly tells me that Pebbles is a turtle in a 125 gallon tank and can't have run away. Well she had lol. I finally find her on the other side of the apt happily walking around having the time of her life. You'd think my 2 dog and 2 cats might have be interested in her or something. No such luck lol, they totally ignored her.

I put her back in the tank, fix the hole and think that is the last of it. Unfortunately Pebbles had now had freedom and she had no intention of staying put.

This is when I realized things had to change. I talked to a friend of mine who lives on a bunch of land and who had 3 huge ponds with turtles in them. She was more than happy to take them. Knowing they would fit in nicely and would have all the space they needed.

So when I got both turtles out of the tank I measured them to see how much they had grown. Pookie went from barely 2 inches to good sized 5 inches. And Pebbles from 4 inches to 8 inches. My reptile vet gave both of them a clean bill of health so they were good to go. I was really sad to see them go but know they will be so much happier with my friend. She promised to get pics for me.

I decided that at this point I didn't want anymore fish or turtles. So I sold my tank and the guy who bought it took Hoover and Humphrey too. He was the same guy who had bought my old 55 gallon tank, so I knew they were going to a good home.

So my zoo is a bit smaller today. It was weird going into the living room and not see the tank there. I'm going to miss all 4 of them but know it was the best for them.

Rottie_mom's pet care service, how can I help you?

2009-01-30T17:55:00.000+01:00

Joking sorta, kinda not really lol.

As you know I have my own personal mini zoo: 2 dogs (Nanuchy aka Ms Grouchy & Sonja, dumbest sheltie ever), 2 cats (Patches & Pirata), 2 turtles (Pebbles & Pookie), 2 plecos (Hoover & Humphrey), and 1 tortoise (Tobie). Def enough to keep me busy and out of trouble.

Well my sister got an opportunity to go to Switzerland on vacation (lucky duck) and as the person she trust the most I get pet care duty lol. Her dog is with her boyfriend so one less right there. I do get to take care of Dallas, her diabetic cat (who really is a sweetie) & Tommie her greek tortoise, & Hannibal her pleco. The morning visits are a bit rough but not too bad (they are staying in her apt since her cat and my cats do not like other cats, but like dogs just fine, go figure lol).

Then my parents inform me that they are going to Hawaii (mom is working there, must be nice) so since my sis is gone, I get the joy of taking care of Pomponnette their dog (Pic above, isn't she cute). Who is sweet but who also loves to bark sigh. Nanuchy actually likes her to visit, but I've found out she isn't too happy that Pompom is staying with us. Ms Grouchy is now grouchier than usual (she walks around grumbling, anyone walks close to her bed she grumbles sigh). Sonja is still acting like an idiot (chewing, pacing with whining, peeing inside sigh), a few less accidents so progress. At least on tuesday, my bro and sil are back from their vacation in Mexico and will be able to take Pompom (Am I the only one at home????)

And starting today I'll be walking Mork & Mindy (pekegnese) since their mama is away on business and their daddy likes help lol. I have so many alerts in my cellphone I think it will melt lol. I get to go over to parents' place this sat and next to bring in mail etc.

So that is how my life is right now lol. At least it isnt raining LOL.

Rowde's show 01/18/09

2009-01-20T17:57:00.000+01:00

Rowde is in center of pic with his handler Brad. Isn't he just too handsome!

On Sunday (01/18/09) I was lucky enough to be able to go to a dog show close to where I live. It was the last day in a 3 day show in Rosenburg, TX. I was so excited to go because I was finally going to see Rowde aka UKC CH, V rated, L and L Dixieland Rowde Mann. I think that is the whole title, but sure there is more lol. This is Rowde's breeder's page.

OMG what a fun show. He really had a great weekend and I couldn't have been prouder for being there for his 1st major. I got to meet Rowde and his handlers and I'm telling you I was this )( close to stealing him and taking him home with me. What a totally sweet boy. So friendly and was quite happy to give me some kisses. He is even more beautiful in person than in pics and videos. I love his rich mahogany coloring. He really looked great. Lois, you really bred a wonderful boy.

A total of 47 rotties were at the show on Sunday and they were all very sweet and well behaved dogs. It was great seeing so many dogs in one area who all had such great temperaments. No acting up or anything.

What I wouldn't have done for a better camera. My camera was having some issues and quite a few pics came out blurry as well as some of the videos. I had to shut the camera off and back on for it to work somewhat. But I did get a bunch of pics and videos.

It was soo nice getting a rottie fix. I really miss having a rottie and can't wait until I can get one. And I think this time around I really want get a show dog. We showed one of our dogs a long time ago. I think I'm ready to get back into that. Hopefully in the next couple of years. So Lois watch out LOL. I called Rowde's mama after the show was over and we talked for a while, she really is too sweet. It really was so much fun watching all the rotties, but even better seeing Rowde who we all have followed since before he was even born.

(you can probably tell Im still pretty darn excited lol)

Sandi 02-21-98 - 12/31/08

2009-01-05T18:37:00.000+01:00

Almost 6 yrs ago my late ex-mil adopted Sandi (sheltie) at 4 yrs old. Sandi also known as CH Kismet's Sandra Dee, totally bonded with her. After ex-mil's death I inherited Sandi and Sonja (her cousin). Sandi was never the same, her little heart broke when her mama died. She still was flirty and outgoing, and very much independent, and she never forgot her first mama.

New Years Eve Sandi had to go to the rainbow bridge. We found out that she had torn her ACL (knee) but due to her joints being in bad shape and not being able to stand least of all walk, she wasn't a candidate for surgery. And in the past she had bad reactions to Rimadyl so wouldn't even be able to take those for a while. I tried to help her but being so independent she didn't want any help. In the last couple of days she gave me the look that let me know that she was ready to go.

I took these 2 pics of her that morning in my office. She really hated having her pic taken.

So fly high Sandi,

Love,
Your Second Mama

It snowed in Houston, TX!!!!

2008-12-11T17:36:00.000+01:00

This pic is of Patachou wearing his bomber jacket. I couldn't find the one I took of Nanuchy so this will have to do lol. Who would have thought I could find a bomber jacket to fit a 104 lbs rottie lol.

Wow did we get a cool surprise yesterday. The temps had dropped big time and we only got a high of 38 brrrrr. Well around 4:30pm it started to snow. Was kinda sorta little bitty you have to really squint kinda flurries. Of course that was enough to cause several accidents lol.

By the time I got out of the gym around 6:40pm it was snowing big fat flakes, how cool is that!!! Some of the cars actually had some flakes on them. To say we were excited is an understatment.

By the time I got home it had stopped and I was sad since I want my 3 girls (doggies that is) to see the snow.

Fast forward to 8:30pm for the girls last walk and I walk out and all the cars are covered in snow (no didnt get pics, should have darn it). It was kinda windy too so it was cold. But it was awesome seeing all that fat fluffy snowflakes. The girls seemed a bit less excited than me lol. Nanuchy got to wear her bomber jacket since she doesn't have a double coat like Sandi & Sonja (shelties). I was freezing by the time we got back in (yes I did have a big jacket on but my hands were frozen).

This morning on the news they showed countless accidents that had happened. All the bridges and overpasses were frozen over so the traffic was horrible. Which was nice to be able to get to work using the back roads and still get there in a somewhat timely manner.

Well that is my excitement for the day. I'm hoping to take the girls to see Santa at petsmart this weekend so I can get their pics taken. This should be interesting since well they don't like having their pic taken. Nanuchy will probably try to eat someone's dog lol. Which reminds me I really need to brush the shelties and give Nanuchy a bath so they all look good for Santa.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T16:39:00.000+01:00

The pic is of Patachou when he had gotten home from his radiation treatment. He was tired and had headed right up to bed. You can see (sorta) up in left hand corner, Patches is lying in her favorite spot.

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I have many things to be thankful for this year. All my family is happy and healthy. My mom is 5 yr breast cancer survivor and doing wonderfully. My dad is healthy and enjoying life. My bro is working hard offshore (well not this week but lol) and very happy with his pretty wife. My SIL is a sweet person who I totally love. My sis, my best friend, is doing wonderfully and even thinking of going back to school (because 2 degrees is just not enough), and very happy with her boyfriend. And this year I have a wonderful boyfriend. After everything I went through the 7 yrs before my divorce last year, K is a total blessing. We are very happy together. And lastly all my babies are happy and healthy. It is hard seeing my girls getting old, but they deserve the calm and consistency they now have.

OK now that I've done the mushy stuff, on to the food. We did the traditional thanksgiving turkey meal last week since the whole family was there. So tomorrow it will be my mom, my sis, my bf and me. We are having meat fondue yummy. Mom has this cool old fondue book with all kinds of nifty recipes and she always makes sauces and home made mayo.

And in the evening I'll be going with my bf to his best friends place for traditional thanksgiving. It is going to be a full day.

So what plans do you have for the thanksgiving holiday? Do you do anything special over the next few days?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Stay safe everyone.

Gasp another post

2008-11-06T17:32:00.000+01:00

I know you are now thinking the world is coming to an end lol.

Just had to share this pic I took of Patachou when he was done with his radiation treatment. He loved wearing clothes and the techs and Gulf Coast Vet Specialist put it on him. All the vets and techs signed it. Pata loved going there for his treatment. He used to give everyone kisses. A total love bug.

Anyway, I had to share this letter I got from my vet. With the number of pets I have it goes without saying that I spend a fair about of time and money there. Especially since my dogs and cats range from 9 1/2 to 13 yrs old. Anyway back to the letter. It starts out with "Congrats, you are now on our Top Ten List". It goes on about my caring of my pets and frequency of my visits has landed me on this list. I guess I spend a lot more money there than I fought LOL.

Should I mention that most of the techs up there recognize my voice when I call up there. And that most of the time I dont have to give my last name because they automatically know it and pull up my babies charts LOL.

Anyway it is a certificate to get $25 off of any diagnostic bloodwork or general x-ray. I'll just have to hang it on my fridge, you just never know who might need it.

I got tagged back on Oct 26th LOL

2008-11-05T16:28:00.000+01:00

I received these beautiful tulips (believe they are called fireburst tulips but don't quote me) yesterday from someone new and special in my life :)

Well see what happens when I forget to check my blog. I just realized that

Evn tagged me back on Oct 26th lol. Ok here goes:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Hmmm 6 random things about me....

1, I learned to swim before I could even walk. I was a big time water baby.

2, I absolutely hate spiders, especially big hairy ones. Give me roaches any day, seriously!

3, Between the 6 and 7th grade I went to 4 different schools (between Norway and Switzerland), and no it wasn't because I was delinquent lol. I went to the same school 1st thru 1/2 of 6th grade, then moved. Started another school for the remaining 1/2 of 6th grade which was the highest that school went to. Then went to another school for 1/2 of 7th grade. Then my parents decided to move to Switzerland so I got to go to another school for the rest of 7th grade thru 11th grade.

4, Im Norwegian but actually learned to speak Swedish when I was 5 yrs old and didnt learn to speak Norwegian until I was 7 yrs old (spoke English at home go figure lol).

5, I've moved I think 22 times in 33 yrs. I can pack up a house in no time flat but seriously hate moving LOL.

6, The only bones I've ever broken are my toes LOL.

Well that sums my life up LOL. So to pass on the joy I'm tagging Book Mom , Crazy Lady , Black Belt Mom , Molly Harper , Qwill, and finally Want My YA

WOOT!!!

2008-09-29T17:27:00.000+02:00

I'm so excited. Yesterday (9/28) at 3:15pm the power came back on!!! 16 days without power!!! The whole complex cheered when it came back on. So nice to have a/c, lights, tv, warm shower lol. And I was able to drain the turtle tank and fill it up with clean water. Now if my fridge would cool that would with wonderful lol.

All the babies faired pretty well overall. I'm happy to say that Tobie (tortoise) seem more outgoing than he did before this which is pretty cool. I thought he might end up shyer.

Anyway had to share. Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Day 12 or something of no power

2008-09-24T21:22:00.000+02:00

Well Hurrican Ike plowed thru Houston, TX and left all kinds of fun damages in his wake. I lost power back on Sept 12th at 11pm. Still without power unfortunately. And it isn't because Centerpoint and company aren't working, no they are working their butts off!!!

Got a txt update yesterday: "Centerpoint says it will complete infrastructure repair for this zip code by Sunday Sept 28th"

Infrastructure repair!!! For the love of puppies, that can't be good!!!

Ok enough of that. I was very lucky in that my complex had only minor damage and both my apt and car had no damage. So far sleeping with all the windows open has been ok, especially since the neighbors have decided that it no longer is so much fun and not outside socializing and playing their music to all hours.

On a good note all my babies have really handled this well. Tobie my tortoise still gets under his heating lamp everyday and stomps his little feet wanting the light to turn on. My 125 gallon turtle tank is well starting to look a bit like a pond. As soon as the power comes back on it is getting cleaned!

Aren't those flowers beautiful?? My boss gave them to me because he feels bad that I still dont have power.

Ok I better get back to work. Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Sandi & Sonja

2008-08-07T17:09:00.000+02:00

Well I'm back!!! LOL I know it has been a couple of months. Did y'all miss me?? LOL

Now it is time to introduce Sandi and Sonja. They belonged to my late ex-MIL. When she passed away we inherited them. After the divorce we have joined-custody of the girls, but I have them full time.

Sandi is in the back and Sonja in the front. They are cousins, their daddy's are brothers. They both came from Kismet Kennels. I found out that both of them don't have the greatest teeth. Sonja's are definitely worse than Sandi's. Poor Sonja had to have 8 teeth pulled at her last dental visit.

Sandi's full name is CH. Kismet's Sandra Dee. She got her championship in conformations pretty quickly. She is now 10 yrs old. Sandi loves people. Whenever she sees someone she is convinced they want to pet her lol. She is a sweet little girl who has gotten a bit stiff with age.

And Sonja's full name is Loenvar's Enchantress. We all get a laugh out of that since she isn't exactly elegant lol. She almost got her championship, but she really hated to show. She is now 9 yrs old. Sonja has always been very skittish. I think if she had been raised in a home from she was young she would have outgrown that a long time ago. At least she has stopped chewing on things when she is nervous now lol.

I love this pics. It is one of the few where I have all 3 girls together on the doggy bed. Nanuchy is in the left front, Sonja right front, Sandi middle back. Most of the time Nanuchy wont let them sleep with her. She can be a bit bossy about that lol.

Nanuchy doesn't mind Sandi too much, but Sonja seems to irritate her. Could be because Sonja keeps running into to her lol. I never thought I would have 3 dogs and 2 cats and all of them being very close in age. So far knocking on wood everyone is pretty healthy.

Patches & Pirata

2008-06-06T19:15:00.000+02:00

Well since I haven't been on here in 2 months it is time to return lol.

Next up my 2 calico kitties: Patches & Pirata.

Date of birth: June 3rd, 1996. Yep that is right they just turned 12 this week.

This was taken a few years ago.

A neighbor of mine in our apt complex was feeding Mama Kat. A little bitty calico cat who was about 6 month old when she got pregnant with Patches and Pirata. Her first litter. It took 4 litters before we were able to catch her and get her fixed. Talk about a little mean cat lol.

I saw them for the first time when they were 3 days old. Soooo cute and tiny!!! My sister and I fell in love with them. For the next 8 weeks we got to watch them grow. I hadn't planned on getting a kitten. We had 2 dogs (Nanuchy and Bonzo, bernes mountain dog). Bonzo unfortunately didn't like little furry animals.

Anyway, I wanted Patches. With her green eyes and open white face I fell in love. Somehow my sister managed to convince me that it wouldn't be fair for Patches to be all alone and that Pirata would miss her terribly. And that Pirata would be hers!!! (yep you read it right sucker across forehead here LOL). And I definitely don't regret getting both of them.

So yes that is how I ended up with 2 little kittens

Patches on the left, Pirata on the right. They were about 8-9 weeks old in this pic.

Oh having kittens was sooo much fun. They loved to play together and cuddle together like you can see lol.

Only problem was that Bonzo wanted to eat them. hmmm not good at all. Since I had the biggest bedroom the girls got to stay in my room. The dogs had the rest of the place.

When the girls were a couple of years old Pirata started having urine infections. It was not a fun time for her at all. Over the next few years she was finally diagnosed as having chronic urine infections. Both girls got to get on special food and it kept control over that problem. At the time Nanuchy was going thru the same problem. So I was on first name basis at the vets with 1 dog and 1 cat having urine infections. Also we did adopt another cat, Tux (he will have his own entry) and wouldn't you know it he developed urine infections too. Yep that makes it 1 dog and 2 cats with urine infections, my vets loved me LOL.

Unlike many cats, Patches and Pirata are very sweet girls. They never bite, or scratch or anything like that. Another thing my vets love is that he/she don't have to be worried about getting injured when taking care of them (unlike my brother's cat: Kamikazy, aka, Psycho cat). And they act more like dogs than cats. They come most of the time when called etc.

One funny story. One Christmas we had a small tree set up. We noticed that Bonzo was extremely interested in the tree and that it was starting to sway and ... meow. Well somehow Pirata got out of the backroom and decided to climb the tree. Bonzo decided this was great: live prey. I rush over to the tree. Pry her out of it and try to righten the tree while trying to block Bonzo from jumping up and snapping Pirata out of my hands. My sister rushed over and grabbed him lol. No one was hurt and the tree survived lol.

When I bought a townhouse and moved out it was decided that I would keep both cats since they were bonded. So when I moved into my townhouse Patches & Pirata, Nanuchy & Patachou, and a big fish tank moved as well.

Patches, up until Jan 07 had never been sick. Not bad for almost 11 yr old cat. Poor baby got a horrible case of bladder stones. 13 weeks of antibiotics and special food and she was finally better. Of course this happened all at the same time as Patachou (rottie) cancer diagnosis. Now Patches and Pirata are on a special diet to help prevent a) chronic urine infections in Pirata and b) bladder stones in Patches (yep my vets love me LOL).

I did find out this year when all my babies had dentals done that both Patches and Pirata have some kind of auto immune disease that attacks their teeth. Pirata had to have 4 teeth pulled. Pirata's problems are worse than Patches and our dental vet (yep we deal with specialists here) said that both of them would eventually end up without any teeth. Thank god not all at the same time.

I love this pic taken last year. Pirata is on the top and Patches on the bottom. They just look so relaxed.

I'm blessed to have my sweet girls in my life. I don't think I'll get anymore cats. But love knowing I'll have them for several more years.

Patachou my rottie angel

2008-04-16T20:07:00.000+02:00

I really wanted to write about Patachou on Monday (Apr 14th). That was Patachou's birthday when he was alive (he would have been 9 yrs old this year). But work got in the way (darn it LOL) This is my all time favorite pic of him. This was taken early 2007 after his diagnoses with Synovial Sarcoma (cancer)

Patachou 04/14/99 - 06/11/07

The first time I saw Patachou, he was just 2 weeks old. He came from a backyard breeder (BYB) and was 1 of 14 rottweiler puppies. They were all just sooo cute. I knew the "breeder" and was allowed to come and visit. I sat on the floor with all those cute puppies, ohhh so small!!! One little puppy with a blue ribbon around his neck kept close to me and would push any of the other puppies out of the way when they wanted attention (for the record their eyes weren't open even). I had wanted a rottie for a long time and had promised myself a rottie boy for my graduation from college.

It was love a first touch between Patachou and I. He was my heartdog and just the sweetest boy ever!!

I was able to come back often and visit with the puppies. His "breeder" cared more than most BYB. Unfortunately she did just put 2 dogs together (Pebbles her dog, and Hercules, her friends dog) and hope for a good litter.

I got to bring Patachou home when he was 5 weeks old (yes I know it was early but I was getting ready to move to New Orleans and wanted to take him with me). Such a sweet and happy and well he did get named "Baby Jaws" since he was very good at biting everything LOL.

See how tiny he was. He was about the size of a 2 litter bottle of Coke.

We moved to New Orleans were he settled in nicely with the rest of the gang (Nanuchy terror mix, Bonzo bernese mountain dog, Patche & Pirata & Tux kitties lol). To say that the rest of the gang was happy to see Patachou was the understatement of the century LOL. He was a total little brat who got into everything and chewed on everyone lol

We all got very good at dunking our hands and feet in Bitter Apple. It took a while and quite a bit of training to convince him that biting wasn't acceptable lol. As he grew he found out the fun of eating through a wall LOL yeah it is funny now but not as much then.

I moved back to Houston and brought all the pets with me (hmmm add 5 goldfish that had gone over to NO and came back too LOL)

He ate through another wall and countless other things he thought would be fun, not to mention the millions of chew toys, bones etc I had for him.

Now who could get mad at this face LOL. Fully grown at around 104 lbs.

When he was 4 yrs old I noticed that he was limping quite a bit. After seen our vet, and 2 specialist (all this included x-rays and an mri of his back) He was diagnosed with Hip Dysplacia in both hips, left hip socket was too short so it would go in and out as he walked, arthritis in both knees and a slightly compressed disk in his back. My baby was not doing all that great sigh. He had a bad reaction to both Rimadyl and Deramaxx so those were out of the question. I got on my rottie group online and asked for help. One of the members gave me a list of vitamins and said she had had great success with her rottie who had many of the same problems as Patachou.

Soon Patachou was on Ester-C, Glucosamine & Chondroitin Sulfate, Manganese, Bromelian, Evening Primrose Oil and Salmon Oil. He did very well on this mix and his vet was very impress and said to keep doing it as long as Pata was going well.

Eventually I heard of a product call Nupro that had all those wonderful ingredients and several more. It comes in powder form and taste like liver to the dogs. So I put some in his food and he loved it.

So between the Nupro and Wellness food Patachou did very well for 4 yrs.

Then in December 2006 Patachou started limping again, and his left knee area was swollen. I thought he might have torn his knee which is very common in rotties. He was put on Previcox and Tramadol with strick instructions to keep him quiet to see if the swelling would go down.

On Jan 8th 2007 I brought Patachou in for x-rays. He was still limping and the knee still was swollen. His vet called me at work and told me that Patachou had cancer. I was a basket case. Pata's x-rays were sent to Gulf Coast radiology specialist for a diagnoses as to what kind of cancer it was. I saw the xray and the tumor was wrap completely around his leg.

The radiologist came back with Synovial Sarcoma. I got online and read up on it. Not a pretty cancer and especially not good for male rotties. I made an appt with Dr King at Gulf Coast to see what our options were.

Gulf Coast was a wonderful place. Patachou loved it there. Sooo many people to lick. After I filled up his paperwork Patachou and I stood a bit to the side. He wanted to move closer to the doorway so that he could lick everyone who walked past. He was happy and smiling the whole time.

Amputation of his leg was out of the question. All of his legs were bad and his other back leg wouldn't have been able to support the full weight. We decided on 3 rounds of radiation a week a part with reevaluations later on. He ended up with a total of 5 rounds.

He loved visiting Gulf Coast. Everyone knew him and just loved on him the whole time LOL. Not bad for a breed that has such a bad rap.

After one of his rounds of radiation, Dr King called me with the update and was totally cracking up. It seems a little female shihtuz was there for treatment too. And Pata and she were flirting and giving kisses to each other. I asked him if the female happened to be blond. Yep he was and he was totally in love LOL

I was very lucky with Patachou, he was given 3 weeks without treatment, and up to 1 yr with treatment. He got 5 1/2 months to the day from diagnoses. And it was 5 1/2 very good months.

The weekend my ex-hubby's stuff were removed from the house was the weekend Patachou went downhill. It was like he wanted to be with me there until the end. Patachou was such a huge part of my life. Never as a defender but the one to comfort me and always be my best friend. That weekend he stopped eating, not even hotdogs or cheese is all time favorite would temp him and we didn't sleep either.

That last weekend was for me, and he let me know he was ready to go. On Monday I called the vets to let them know it was time. I took him for one last walk with the girls (Nanuchy, Sandi, Sonja). He loved that walk and was smiling most of it.

My sister met me at the vets. There wasn't a dry eye in the whole place. Everyone came to say goodbye to him. He was very much loved there. I knew we had done everything we could at that point. I was at peace about letting him go but heartbroken that I had to.

They put a cathera in and I was holding him in my arms when they gave him the shot. He was gone before half of it was shot in. That was the hardest decision I have ever made (darn it crying again). On top of it, it was my birthday so it sucked. But I'm happy I was there for him as much as he had been there for me.

So I know Patachou is at the Rainbow Bridge, happy and healthy again, waiting for me.

I got a memorial tattoo in memory of Patachou back in feb. My baby will forever live in my heart. I still miss him like crazy. He took part of my heart when he died.

Where did time go?

2008-04-02T21:05:00.000+02:00

Well so much for blogging on a regular basis. Something about life getting in the way of good intentions. It has been super busy at work, darn work, how am I supposed to keep up with emails, reading, and friends if I'm swamped with work LOL. Hmmm but then again work is what allows my pets to live in the luxury they have become accustomed to LOL.

Speaking of pets. May was well introduce Nanuchy aka Gucci. She is a 12 1/2 yr old terror (yes terror) mix. All of 26 lbs and a tough little alpha b***h LOL.

I got her from the Houston SPCA when she was all of 8 weeks old. Such a cute little innocent baby.

Wasn't she a cute little thing. She was about 10 weeks old in this pic.

It took exactly 1 week for her true colors to come out. She is bossy and takes on any dog no matter how big or small, and WINS. Of course she doesn't play nice either. Biting is all fair: lips, ears, tails, ohh and should I mention balls LOL. If the dog bows down to her higher ranking all is good. But watch out if they don't LOL.

She is my second in command and we have butted heads over the year. Amazing how opinionated she is about things. Having to keep reminding that I'm in charge and she better not forget it LOL.

When she was 6 months old her health when to hell in a hand basket. She got allergies, 2 pancreatic attacks, crystals in her urine, chronic urine infections. It was amazing at one point that she live until she was 2 since she was sooo sick. Finally managed to get all her meds and food sorted out. She is now going strong at 12 1/2. She has finally slowed down a bit too LOL

She really is a very well behaved and sweet girl. And I'm so lucky to have her.

(sorry about the eyes LOL got that evil look going)

She was a brown little dog when I got her. She turned white/creamish when she became an adult Here she is in her summer cut. Believe it or not, this is one of her better pics. She hates having pic taken LOL. When she has her full fur coat, she looks like Benjii on a bad hair day LOL.

My first blog

2008-03-19T17:55:00.000+01:00

Well it seems that everyone is blogging now, so not to feel left out I figured I would try my hand at it too.

I honestly can't imagine not having the internet. It is just amazing how much can be done online. I love being able to keep in contact with all my friends and most of them don't live in the same city as me. I'm part of several groups online that cater to my love of dogs (specifically rotties), turtles etc.

Since pets take up such a large part of my life and budget, be ready to hear about them here too.

Wonder if anyone will even read this. LOL the way I see it, it can't hurt.