Smokey's surgery

Smokey's surgery went well - a large mass was removed from his neck/cheek area, and he's already starting to get his voice back, no barks yet but he can do his whine again.    Its funny to realize we pay a lot of $$ for him to get his whine back, we did and we are glad to hear it!  Recovery is going as well as can be expected.

The poor boy hates the cone, but has to wear it so he can heal properly - I thought 10 days, but found out yesterday probably 14 days before he gets his sutures out.  He did get a drain taken out yesterday, so that should help him be a little more comfortable.

We do love the vet we take him to, they kept him overnight after surgery even though he could've gone home -- with our AC being out, and also with a little, curious dog too it was the best decision to have him in the cooler, vet kennel for the night following surgery.

I was telling Kevin last night that a dog recovery may be worse than a person's, at least the person can know WHY the surgery happened.

Arkansas

We were on vacation last week, and the time away is just what we needed.   We found a remote cabin to rent, with a pond on the land we can use for swimming and lots of land and trails for hiking.

hiking buddy

I was a bit worried of how hot it would be, but it's cooler than home and drier.   We have seen a couple of thunderstorms, its relaxing to sit on the porch and watch it rain.

We brought Smokey with us and he is LOVING his time off leash, lots of exploring and poor guy got stung on his ear.  He's not a fan of water but we did get him to wade and a *tiny* bit of swimming, anything he can do that isn't him crying on the dock is a win.  He mostly just explores the shoreline, and drinks lots of lake water...

We've mostly stayed close to the house, but did decide to try out ATV riding on Tuesday.    We rented a side-by-side so we could share one vehicle and ride in comfort.  It was a great way to explore the Ouachita National Forest and let Kevin do some off-roading.  We saw lots of deer and a turtle, and also saw some sights -- the top of Eagle Mt Vista, and Little Missouri Falls.

We have met some characters in our adventures, and even made a run for the border (with Oklahoma) since the area we are staying in is dry....and wouldn't you know it, right AT the border is a drive-thru beer store, we went to one a bit further down the road, still it was in the owner's front yard and was a mobile home turned into a store, but when in the rural area..it works!

After I wrote this, Smokey finally actually swam!  We got in the boat to try to fish...we head off shore and that's when he swims towards us....we thought he'd come all the way to us, luckily he didn't...he kept trying to get to us, but would just have to turn back.....we finally went to shore and helped him out with us, but he climbed up on me...scraping me up, but still so fun to have him in the water with us, even for a little bit!

Smokey's DNA

saw this sitting  in my drafts...


I'm not sure when it happened, but this has definitely become a doggy blog.....he's way more fun to write about than much of my daily life (need to remedy that).

We've always wondered what our little mutt is made of.  He looks like a lab, but has some traits that are very NON-labrador (hatred of water being one).

We saw that we could do a DNA test to find out his history and so we ordered it.

Toughest part was getting the cheek swab from him.....K had to hold him down while I swabbed away, we mailed it off and a few weeks later it showed up in my inbox.    I knew I wanted to look at it with Kevin so I resisted reading it until we were together, and boy am I glad I did...it made for a very fun dinner conversation that night...

Its a pretty extensive report (14 pages), but the main thing we needed to know was right there on the front page...

Smokey is a Cocker Spaniel, Australian Cattle Dog, Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher, Labrador Retriever, Pekingese Mix

We were way off...only things we had right were lab, and some sort of herding dog (he herds kids, toys, us).....no idea he had those other pieces...but it was fun to read it, and did explain many of his special traits...it also opened up a whole new world of nicknames for him...

If you are wondering we used the Wisdom Panel, bought through amazon.

this post is not sponsored, just wanted to share what we found out.

dog teeth cleaning

Smokey is getting back to normal, but had a rough (ruff, haha) day yesterday.  This photo makes it look worse than it is, it was just a teeth cleaning, but for a dog that means sedation (can i sign up for that for my next dental appointment?).  Poor guy did have to go without food from 8pm the night before.  The vet's office left the IV bandage on him when we picked him up and it just made him look so pathetic I had to snap a picture......I call it, "our unwilling patient".....the procedure went well, no extractions needed and his teeth look great.  Wish me luck on a weekly treatment I will need to start giving him...

Smokey in Pajamas

A radio commercial worked on me......a while back I heard a commercial for 'pajamagrams', and looked at them for a laugh and ended up ordering a pair for Smokey.   Let me tell you that measuring him to figure out the size was a comedy of errors.

They came in the mail and we've put them on him most every night since.   They look really cute and I think he is liking them (putting them on him is definitely getting easier).    I'll take it as a win that he hasn't eaten them (unlike the long awaited jersey we got him years ago)....I wish the neck hole was a bit smaller, but we needed a large enough size to get around his barrel chest and they assume the neck is larger to match the other dimensions -- just like me his body is different sizes all over....

I did NOT getting matching pjs for us.

For your viewing pleasure, Smokey in his pajamas -- the design is 'dancing penguins'.  

We do take them off of him before we go to sleep, I think he'd get too hot and we don't want him wearing extra stuff when he's unattended, for safety reasons (and so he won't eat them).

National Dog Day

Social media told me its National Dog Day.....the way Smokey lives, I think every day is 'dog day' but I'll play along.   He can be a stinker, but he makes our days better...every day when I get home from work he is waiting for me, standing at the top of the stairs (note to self...photograph this sometime soon) and he is quite the snuggle bug when we watch tv....

I also realized that one year ago this week is when we moved out of and sold our previous home.  That was still the most stressful thing I've ever been through -- just now I found the emails we had to respond to ON closing day...our buyers (and their agent) were difficult to say the least.

First week of school is in full swing, and Kevin has seen his office!   yay!

celebrating Smokey

8 years ago today we met Smokey for the first time.....we had to wait a couple of days to bring him home so that we could spend the whole day with him (already had plans to attend nephew's birthday party).    There was a little bit of adjustment time, and we laughed that he'd growl at his reflection on the tv screen, and soon he was right at home.  

He can be a stinker, but we wouldn't have him any other way.  

Here's hoping we have many more years with him around.

I don't realize how much he's turned grey until I look at older photos of him.....we've all turned a little greyer over the years.

We may need to give him a treat or a new toy to honor the occasion, sort of his birthday with us :)

Wimberley

We had a fantastic vacation and it was just what we needed to recharge.

We had decided we wanted to take Smokey on a trip with us this summer, and a short road trip was just what we wanted.    We rented a cabin and enjoyed a few days to ourselves.   I loved that my cellphone had no service so I could really unplug, and even though I brought my laptop it never came out of its bag.   The place did have wi-fi, which came in handy for looking up a few places to go and directions as needed.   Mostly, we just enjoyed each other's company and the scenery.   We only turned on the tv to watch a movie in the evening, and even then it was movies we'd already seen.

Parts of Wimberley were hit hard by the flooding on Memorial Day weekend, so leading up to the trip I was a little worried at what we would find, but also didn't want to call while people who work in the area could be trying to rebuild their lives.  I did ultimately call (had to see if it was ok for us to come) and they said that the place was fine, and so we went -- figure its the best thing we can do, bring our tourism dollars to a city on the mend.

Monday

We drove to Wimberley, driving over the Blanco River (where the worst flooding was) was surreal, all these flattened trees, and piles of belongings out at the curbs.  We were also surprised to see disaster relief trailers -- makes sense, we just didn't expect it.    The city looked unharmed - really cute little collection of shops of all kinds.   We went to the local grocery store to pick a few items we needed (charcoal, juice, half and half -- and a lighter for the grill (very important)) and then went to find the cabin.     Finding the cabin was an adventure, the directions were not the best, but we did finally find it -- turns out its on a piece of land with the owners of the property and another rental that they own.     Not quite as secluded as we thought from the description, but still plenty of privacy.

We got settled into the place - a very comfortable place with lots of comforts -- they even provided fresh eggs (they have a chicken coop) and locally grown coffee.    We cooked outside on the charcoal grill each night - fajitas that night.     We also took advantage of the fire pit and made a great campfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.     We enjoyed the evening and watched the stars come out.

Tuesday

After exploring the grounds, we decided to visit one of the nearby wineries.  After looking at descriptions and photos online we chose one that promised great views and also contained vineyards (some Texas ones are only winery - make the wine there, but grapes come from elsewhere).  Driftwood Estate Winery was just what we wanted.   We did our tastings indoors and then took our glasses of wine to the grounds outdoors -- beautiful, and they welcome picnics!   Its on a bluff  so we sat at a picnic table and were able to look down at the valley and the vineyard and surrounding area.   Their bubbly white, called Starry Nights, was delicious.  Kevin is more of a fan of reds, he liked their Alamo Red.

On the road to the winery, we'd seen a sign for a rum distillery and decided we had to check that out too.   I kid you not, its in a family's front yard!   We met the owner (Laura) and they had just recently built an outdoor tasting area, reminiscent of a bar. We were able to to taste all 3 kinds of rum that they make.   My favorite was the vanilla one (Laura makes her own vanilla extract for it) and we bought a bottle to bring home.

We enjoyed a lazy afternoon and again grilled outside -- chicken and corn on the cob.  I had forgotten to bring corn holders so we had to use giant skewers, it worked but was pretty funny to see.


Wednesday

We wanted a little more active day, so we decided to check out Mt Baldy.  Its a large hill in town and limestone steps lead all the way up to the top.  Smokey did great going up and down the stairs with us and the views from the top were spectacular.

Afterwards we walked around the town a bit and did some window shopping.   We also found a dog-friendly restaurant to stop into and enjoy the view of the creek, they even gave Smokey his own dish of water.   The menu looked good, but we just weren't hungry so we just had a drink and enjoyed the scenery.  

We had a lazy afternoon.  the heat of the day was a great excuse to read and nap!

That night we prepared one last meal on the grill, burgers.



We headed home on Thursday.   Each morning we enjoyed eggs that the homeowners had left for us and Kevin tried out their french press for his coffee - he's a fan.  

Furbaby adoption anniversary

Our dog usually takes terrible photos (read as: I can't take good photos of him), today I finally got a good picture of him - I think it is his gift to me for his adoption anniversary, that is what I'm calling it.. its not a birthday, but today 7 yrs ago is when we brought him home.. he even got a haircut today :) look how gray he's gotten!   no wonder we teasingly call him our grumpy old man...

another (almost) Wordless Wednesday

I nicknamed Smokey our "hot dog" this weekend.  It was over 100 degrees and he still wanted to be let out the back gate so he could go off-leash and explore.

I had to tell him no, it was too hot and we'd already been for a short walk.  Its tough to say no to that face....

I think this was the happiest he was all weekend.   Kevin had a quick one-night trip to Austin with friends so it was just me and Smokey at home, and Smokey sulked the whole time....a little taste of what he does when we're both on vacation.  K got back mid-day Sunday and all was right with the world again.  I haven't had the heard to tell him we'll both be gone on vacation soon.....

Sunday was also our anniversary -- six years!   We had a very low-key anniversary.   I looked up the traditional gift - candy/iron.   I'm not sure how those two items go together.   We substituted frozen custard for candy and had it for dessert after I'd made spaghetti and salad for dinner.   I'm thinking we may've had spaghetti last year too....obviously we like it!

almost Wordless Wednesday

This is what Kevin sees every afternoon.  Smokey waits for me to get home and walk through the door.   He knows I'm home before K does since he can hear the garage door.  

He's a silly dog, but he's our silly dog.....

dishwasher adventure

too funny not to share with you.  if you follow my facebook, you already saw it. thought we'd die laughing last night. Smokey was poking his head into the dishwasher (he tries to lick the plates -- and gets in trouble for it constantly) and the bottom tray goes flying across the floor (with dishes in it). Only thing we can figure is his collar caught on something and he tugged back and took it with him...scared him, and freaked us out....only one casualty - a bowl. one more reason he needs to stay out of the d/w. thank goodness Kevin saw it, he wouldn't have believed it otherwise!

Smokeys year so far

Wow, I haven't blogged in quite a while, I think about it but then quickly forget....will try to get back to it and must remember to write down ideas when i think of them..

You may or may not remember that I'd said that we thought Smokey was working on a project in the yard. I think I've figured out the project!  He would bring in firework remnants (from new years) one piece at a time.  I don't know where he finds them - i don't see any in the yard - but for a while he'd come in with something in his mouth each time we let him out and then set it around the house.   He hasn't in a while so he must've cleaned the yard of the debris.  And we thought he didn't help.....

At least these things he brought in were never alive.....S finds some gross things....

More updates on Smokey...

We are constantly making up nicknames for him, terms of endearment I guess?   One of my favorites is 'lumpy bump' since he's a lazy lump most mornings....turns out its also now a true name for him since we found a large bump on his side on Saturday.    I try not to take risks with my health or his, so we quickly made an appointment for the vet for Monday (MLK holiday).  Kevin and I both went, but thankfully the vet doesn't think its anything too bad and its not effecting his mood/appetite/walking, so we'll just keep an eye on it and have it removed when we get his dental work done next month, they'll already have him sedated for that.    Any chance I can get sedated for my dental appointment?  haha, can I?   Turns out K's previous dogs had similar maladies, i think he said they are fatty cysts...the vet said he's seen as many as 30 to 40 on a dog...poor dog!    and S will likely get more.   We'll keep an eye on him, he is after all middle age in dog years...

2013 -- another year of randomness

So far (we're not even a week in), 2013 is a wet year...considering we're in a drought I'll take it!

I've had several ideas of things to blog about but when I sit down to write I can't think of any of them - I should remember to WRITE THEM DOWN when I think of them.   you're not missing any gems, they were just funny stories..

This weekend is going to be full of football.  K's alma mater plays for the championship today Go Bearkats! and we're going to the Texans' playoff game  Go Texans!!!   If you're having a case of deja vu you're not alone...these 2 games were on the same day last year too.   I was able to attend last year's Texans game only because they were on the same day and his aunt and uncle decided to go to the Sam Houston game instead. I was at the better game last year - first playoff game ever for the Texans (we literally felt the stadium move) and the Bearkats lost.    I hope they can both pull out wins today, must say K is not confident in the Texans' chances (no one in Houston is really)  and yes, I'm probably the only person in Texas who doesn't care about last night's Cotton Bowl game.  I forget how many Aggies I know until a game is on and my facebook explodes into maroon.   I'm happy for them, though still a bit peeved they took UH's coach.

While the rest of the state watched football last night we watched a baseball movie, Trouble with the Curve.  Cute movie even though I'm not a big baseball fan.  I love Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood plays a grumpy old man like no one else.   Between netflix and redbox we could probably watch a movie every night (don't worry we won't).  I knew the movie premise, but was surprised to see macular degeneration (condition of the eyes) represented and had to think of our close family members (on both sides) who live with it.

side chairs with hidden reclining

We have a much more comfortable space to watch tv and movies now.   As a belated gift to ourselves we got new living room furniture.  Our furniture was falling apart and not comfortable to sit in anymore.   It was long overdue and we took advantage of the time off over the holidays to make it happen.  We are so happy with it.  We'd debated what to get and thought about a sectional and other layouts.  Ultimately we decided on a reclining love seat to replace our recliners - we are actually closer together! - and a sofa that has 2 recliners in it to replace the sofa we had.   Where we'd had the love seat previously we wanted 2 chairs to fit the space better, we also realized 2 people never sat there because it was too small a seat, and you really do need to love the person to sit together in a loveseat.   Looking online we found the perfect solution - side chairs that actually are recliners...It makes a great reading space and is a surprise when you tell someone they can recline.  So yes, that is SIX recliners in the room, we spoiled ourselves.  We were able to make great use of tables and lamps we already had and only bought 1 table.   We had it all delivered right before we went to Galveston.  We joke that my brother-in-law (who Smokey sat) enjoyed it before we did, though we'll enjoy it for many days and years to come.

Sometimes Smokey wakes me up during the night.   It may be that he has to potty thought sometimes I think he gets bored.  He'll whine and wake me up (never K, always me) and I'll let him out, then back in, and back to bed.  Last night he wanted out not once but twice...it'll be a long day for me.    Kevin jokes he's working on a project, too bad its nothing that constructive, but it is funny to think of S having a project he has to get back to.   We joke that he's the only freeloader and needs to get a job.  Kevin and I both work and do chores around the house and even the fish has a chore - eat algae - but not S, though he does entertain us with his antics.  Its a good thing he's cute.

Memorial Day weekend

Happy Friday!

I have been excited for this weekend all week!  At work people would mention putting a meeting next Monday and I'd remind them it was a holiday - at least once, someone told me I looked giddy about the holiday..  What can I say? I love a 3-day weekend. 

We don't have big plans, I'm just excited to have the day off Monday and am actually glad we DON'T have many plans.   Its been a busy month of celebrations for us, and June is shaping up to be pretty busy with some trips so a weekend at home is just what I want.

We will host my parents for the weekend.  I'm looking forward to spending time with them, showing them our backyard, and going to pick blueberries (the original purpose for their trip).

Enjoy the long weekend, take time to think of those brave people that Memorial Day is dedicated to and all that they gave so I could enjoy my freedom and have the biggest plans for the weekend be out picking blue fruit off bushes...

I'll leave you with a funny story from this morning.

Smokey wanted to go out when I got up (a rare occurrence, he usually won't budge until K gets up or later).  I let him out and almost immediately he starts barking up a storm.   Its just after 6 in the morning and I don't want our neighbors to hate us so I go see what he's doing - barking at the pond....ok....I go to investigate (praying  there is not a snake) and its a FROG going for a morning swim. Our big bad dog is going nuts over a FROG...thank goodness he isn't trying to eat it (he did that once at the old house - disgusting!).     I finally had to grab him by the collar and bring him back in.  He's trying to be ferocious and yet I see his leg quivering when he's standing and barking at it....

the difference a semester makes

I realized today how different K's semester will be than last semester. This semester he'll only have to drive one day per week where last semester he had to drive all but one day per week!  Both times, the odd day of the week is Thursday.  We will all be happy to have him home more, especially Smokey!

K being home more has already come in handy, only 2 days into his semester.  Smokey started licking his foot a LOT, and we realized it was something wrong with his toe - the one far back up his leg, like a thumb. Since K was home he was able to call the vet, make an appointment and zip in there.   Turns out Smokey must've caught it on something and made it inflamed, we also learned its called a 'dewclaw' no idea why its called that, but it is...  He's lucky he doesn't have to wear a cone, he just has some medicine to take...lucky he thinks his meds are 'treats'

2012

Hello 2012!   We had a very low-key New Year's Eve, we didn't even stay up until midnight.   We watched the New York ball drop and called that good enough.  I think our young nephew stayed up later than we did!

We did enjoy the fireworks in the neighborhood, people must've dropped some major $$ on them!  They were  impressive to watch and I didn't know which way to look there were so many going off.   Smokey was NOT a fan, poor thing fireworks scare the wits out of dogs (and little kids). He got a lot of laptime.   If you don't know what is making all the noises, it sure does sound like a war zone!

Speaking of war zone, I recorded all but one of the Band of Brothers episodes that were on right after Christmas and we're working our way through them, great show and amazing to see what so many young men went through in WWII...makes me wish my grandfathers were still around so I could ask them about their experiences.  My mom's dad never wanted to talk about it, and my dad's dad died before I was old enough to ask.

Doing pretty well on resolutions so far, I know only 4 days in...but keeping with them each day is the way to make them stick!

I think Smokey must've made a new year's resolution to make bath time easier on us, he got a bath last night in the tub and he was so good and still.  I end up in the tub with him so I was still soaked, but a hot shower afterwards takes care of that.   Maybe he finally realized bath = treat!

Traffic is back to normal and everyone is back to work and school.  On Monday traffic was so light I started wondering if I actually did have work that day, I did...but hardly anyone else did

thunder alert system

We have a thunder alert system. Our big, tough (ha!) dog, Smokey, jumped on the bed in the middle of the night, he was scared.  I just thought he was trying to get some snuggle time, but K said it was thunder and later I saw the lightning.  I didn't even know it was raining again...

I'm a softie, so I let him stay on the bed with us.   I was feeling especially soft towards dogs since we'd seen one in the restaurant earlier in the day that was bleeding.  We are speculating, but think that it was a stray that a person saw outside and brought into the place to get it cleaned up.  Several restaurant workers were helping him, they finally coaxed the dog onto a large tray and carried it out, I assume to a car to get it some medical help.  poor dog, it was odd to see a dog in a restaurant but I'm glad some people were trying to help him (or her).  

Wordless Wednesday

Our dog is tough on his toys. this is the HEAD of his stuffed skunk, but he still plays with both pieces.

We had a great day with our niece and nephew, and their daddy, Kevin's brother.

They brought over our nephew's birthday present, a BB gun, and set up some coke cans as targets. They even dug out Kevin's old gun and it still works! I'm not sure who had more fun, the 6-year-old or the 30-something boys. They played off and on all afternoon, with lots of breaks since its so hot outside, another 100 degree day. Seeing that gun, I can't help but think of the movie "A Christmas Story" since I think thats basically the gun our nephew has.

Our niece is so cute, following her big brother everywhere he goes and she loves to open and close the doors for everyone, not sure whether she wanted to be inside or out, I think she just enjoyed playing with the door. She is a chatterbox, unfortunately we're not real sure what she's saying a lot of the time, once we can - watch out, she'll talk our heads off...

Our nephew stayed at our house while niece and daddy went home to take a nap, and it made Kevin's day since he was able to stay home with our nephew while I went to the grocery store. I left them watching "Finding Nemo" but pretty quickly they were out shooting guns again.

We made a great meal of sliders -- fresh made at the meat counter at the store, on King's Hawaiian bread rolls (love that bread, its a little sweet), fries, and homemade ice cream.

Kaden was a big help in making the ice cream, he and Kevin measured out the cocoa and he helped put ice into the bucket. We should've made sure the cocoa was fully dissolved into the water - there are some surprise cocoa blobs in the ice cream, but will do better next time. We made this recipe since it was the easy (faster) way to make ice cream...

Good luck to Kaden on his first day of first grade tomorrow!!

The only one who didn't have a great day is Smokey. Having kids around stresses him out, which we knew. but this was the longest he's been around kids in a while and it stressed him out so badly that he had a seizure soon after they left - he had one almost 2 years ago after a busy busy day around Christmas. We've definitely found his trigger -lots of stress. He is fine, it only lasts maybe a minute and a few minutes later he's back to normal and now we know what to expect - the first one scared us and him...we'll have a low-key night tonight.