6/30 No time

Will post more later, but here's a picture from Joe and Cindy. My little Gus being chased by a Huskie--Storm. By the way, Storm is very sweet and they were playing great together.

6/29 More family fun

Last night we went to dinner at Tony's Too, and then went over to Kelly and Todd's so everyone could visit. It was fun.

Today it was raining off and on, but our reunion went off without a hitch. Gus was a big hit. And lunch was really good.

For dinner we all went to Matt and Beth's and ordered pizza. Gus was adorable with their huge Huskie, Storm. And all the little kids really had fun with him. Right now he's passed out on the bed.

Unfortunately it was the worst back day in quite a while. I see my doc at 6:30 AM.

6/28 Good weekend so far

Got up early and took Gus out. For the first time he decided to roll in poop, so at 5:45 AM he got a bath. Such a skinny little thing when his hair is wet. Went back to sleep until about 7:30 or so. Made breakfast, then talked to Jane. Jan was busy, but Jane, Sarah, and I went to the Midsummer Art Faire at Washington Park. It was really nice.

Saw so many people that I knew. It is indeed nice being home. Plus got a personal tour of the Tranquility Med Spa, owned by a physician who works with Jane. It is a beautiful (and peaceful) place.

Gus was a star. I can't even count the number of people who stopped us to talk to Gussie. A popular fellow. This is another good thing about having a small dog. I can take him places with me. Right now I'm at work (trying to get my new office organized), and Gus is sleeping at my feet. Just what I want.

Forgot my security code, so the police came out. Oops. But I finally found the right one and everything ended up fine.

Nothing going on tonight, but tomorrow is the Gustison reunion, so Gussie is definitely going there since he's named after their patriarch.

6/26 Happy sad mad disappointed and more

I moved into my new office and the new job starts Monday. So I'm happy about that.

And my house sold in MS. So I'm happy about that too.

And my pets are fantastic. They make me smile after a day of listening to people's very real problems.

The sad mad disappointed comes from this: after work I was totally pain free. Decided to play with my pets a few minutes on my bed and then actually clean part of my house.

Kris came over and helped me fix a few things, and while getting her a screwdriver the shooting pains and spasms began. This was around 5:30 or so. And they're still happening. Makes me so damn mad.

I've finally gotten to the point that I'm not in constant pain. So that's very good. Yet, when it hurts it really hurts. I'm still in physical therapy, and will visit my doc again on Monday.

So I guess it's just cuddling with my cuties tonight. Love to all.

6/26 Belated birthday and pets

A belated happy birthday to dear Hunter, my favorite grandson. Wish I had some pictures here at work to post. He is six and just as sweet and cute as can be. Hunter, I can't wait to see you in October. I'll call you again. Sorry I missed you.

More pet pictures.

Here's Grandma Bozie--



Here are the puppy and kitten drinking out of the same water bowl and also Gussie cleaning Bozie's ears. They are so cute together. But this morning Bozie got tired of Gus bugging her, so she jumped the gate and went into the "forbidden zone"--the living room. Smart cat.

6/24 Do you believe in miracles?

The kitten has been behind the dryer since Thursday. I made arrangements to return him and get a more domesticated kitten from someone else at work. Then lo and behold, the cat appears. And this is what happened:



They were on the bed together for a few hours, smelling, touching, playing. The kitten is a little suspicious still, but Gus was amazing. He didn't pounce once or play rough at all.

Oh, and the kitten is a she, not a he.

So I now have Grandpa Gussie (for Gustison) and Grandma Bozie (for Bozarth). It's funny too that Grandma Bozie was the eldest daughter of Grandpa Gussie. Got that straight?

Checking each other out...

6/23 Dogsitter

Today's my 12 hour day so Jane and family kindly took Gus for the day. Jane said when she handed the puppy to Sarah, Sarah said, "This is my dog."

Made me smile. I'm so glad everyone likes him. He's made my week, that's for sure.


This picture is of Gus with the dogs at Jan and Tim's. Shows how tiny he really is.

6/22 Lots of food with family

I ate at Jan and Tim's last night along with our other sister Jane and family. Today after Mass, Jan, Jane and I went to lunch at Krieger's. Was going to eat a Smart Dog for dinner but Jan invited me over again for dinner. I love going anyway but now that I can bring Gus with me I love going even more. We had salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread made on the grill. Yum.

But I ate too much. Sigh.

Am at home with my little puppy and am finishing laundry. Am also relaxing. Have had a really rough "back" day. Wish it would hurry up and get better.

Took pictures of the flood with my phone as I drove to Jan's. Can't connect the phone to my home computer for some reason, but will do so tomorrow at work and will post.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

6/21 Where's the kitty?

Behind the washer and dryer, that's where. I can't even get a picture of him, he's so shy and scared. I'm sure he'll come out to join us at some part. He does eat, drink and pee when we're sleeping, so I'm not concerned with his health.

Last night I got a crisis call and went to the ER and observed a staff member. This is training for my new job. Didn't get home until 1:15 AM, and not back to sleep until after 2. So I'm a bit tired today.

Gus remains AWESOME. No accidents at all. Quite an accomplishment since he won't even be two months old until the 23rd.

Oh, by the way the cat's name is Grandpa Bozie (for Grandpa Bozarth's nickname), and I'm calling him Bozie. Gus is named after Grandpa Gussie (Grandpa Gustison's nickname).

6/19 LA Times and a cat

Quincy is on the front page of the LA Times. Check it out:

http://www.latimes.com/includes/sectionfronts/A1.pdf

And I went to my boss's house and picked out one of his 15 kittens. It's a little gray male. A cutie, but very shy. He's in the laundry room and I expect him to stay there for a while. He's got food, water, and a litter box so he should be okay. Gus likes him but the feeling isn't mutual.

6/18 More on dogs?

Still good news from Q and C's new owners. They love the dogs. So I think I can relax a little.

Cutie pie Gus was in the crate all day--I came home at lunch and let him out after he was in it for 5 hours. No mess. He was awesome.

I left him at 12:30 and got back at 5:30 and once again--no mess. I can't believe he's 8 weeks old and did so well. Here's hoping it continues.

After work, I brought him to Jane and Pete's house to meet them and their dog Bailey. They fell in love too.

I'm a lucky bug.

6/17 Gus is mine

He's exploring my office right now. A little while ago I was holding him and he started whining. I took him outside and he pooped. What a smart little critter!

6/16 Great dog news

I received this email from Lesa, Quincy and Cookie's new mom:

The dogs did great yesterday. We were outside a lot and so were they. I didn't have to put them on the leads at all. If they went out of site, I just called and Quincy would always come immediately, it took Cookie awhile to return. She was too busy. First time out Quincy jumped right into my goldfish pond which is only about 4x3ft. Needless to say she got scolded for that and didnt do it anymore. They both found the creek right away and were having fun running in and out and under the culvert, over the road. and back under. Cookie definitely has some bird dog or something in her. She loves to trail scents and actually flushed out a wild turkey! Steve wrestled them in the house. At first they didn't know about it, but were soon lapping that up, esp when he rubbed their bellies. They were fighting over who got to play. Quincy loves the frisbee. I am assuming it was new, because now it has some pretty good teeth marks on it. She would catch in mid air most of the time. Cookie was too busy exploring to do much play. By the way they are scared of the stairs. Tried to get them to go down to the family room and they would have nothing to do with the stairs, even on the deck! Isn't that funny!

Anyway, they went right into bed last night. Didnt hear anything out of them at all. They were ready to go out at 5:30 am.

She and Steve put down the comforters in their spare bedroom and the dogs slept quietly there all night. I'm just so damn happy.

And Tuesday night Gus comes home.

6/15 They're gone

Yeah, I'm crying.

I picked up Jan and she went with me to take Quincy and Cookie to their new home. The home is absolutely lovely, which scares me a little bit. I sure hope the girls remember their manners. Their yard is awesome, with a creek a the bottom of it. I just know they are going to be so happy there. And Lesa seems so nice. We didn't get to meet her husband Steve because he was at church.

Lesa recently lost her little Yorkie, so she gave me a soft-sided carrying case which will be perfect for taking Gus in the car. And Joe and Cindy are giving me their crate that Kirby grew out of. That will be perfect for home. This is saving me a lot of money.

I didn't get to pick up Gus today after all because Jan and I went to help with sandbagging. The river is so high. The old bridge is already closed, and the new bridge is now two-way instead of one way. We're hoping the levees hold. They're calling for more rain tonight.

Am going to dinner with my sisters and their husbands for fathers' day. I think I got a pity invitation, but I'm happy for it. Any time I'm not at home being sad is good. :)

I work 12 hours tomorrow, so I can't pick up Gus until Tuesday after work. So it will sure give me something to look forward to.

6/14 A beautiful day

I've had a great day with my dogs today. I kind of devoted the whole day to them. Tomorrow I'll feel worse emotionally but better physically. (I've felt bad since the walks.) I have everything of theirs packed up, except Cookie's portable crate that she sleeps in. I think the dogs are picking up on my anxiety because they are more squirrelly than usual. Plus they both keep coming up to me, sitting, and just staring at me.

Some nice news--Cindy gave me a whole bunch of leaf lettuce from their garden and I made a huge salad with tons of good tasting veggies. Thanks again, Cindy. The lettuce was tasty.

6/13 Gus

What do you think? He's an 8 week old Lhasa Apso. In the picture above, he's sleeping under a kid's chair in my office.

6/12 Puppies and mud oh my

As soon as Q and C got home tonight, Quincy got into her favorite part of the yard--the mud hole. She's had two showers this evening. Now I am watching her sleeping on my bed and running in her sleep. It is so incredibly funny.

Went to the Humane Society over lunch. They didn't have many small dogs. Tomorrow I meet some 8 week old Lhasa Apsos. We'll see how it goes. If I fall in love, then I'll get one. If not, I'll get a miniature dachsund. (Maybe.) :)

I'm enjoying my last few nights with Quincy and Cookie.

6/11 Sunday

Quincy and Cookie are going to their new home on Sunday. It will be so awesome for them. I'm taking them so I can see where they'll live. It's about an hour from Quincy, in rural Missouri.

6/10 A big crybaby

I've been crying off and on all day. I KNOW that Q and C are going to dog paradise--an acre and a half with a creek running through it. But Lesa and her husband may be going out of town this weekend, and don't want to take the dogs until they get back. There's a slight chance their trip will be canceled though.

The dogs are at Alpha Dog for a few days to give my back a break. And tonight I cleaned up all their toys and cried.

Went on a crisis call tonight and when I got home, cried again. Damn I'm tired of this. The girls need to be with someone with more energy than I have. And I need my back to get better.

You know the dogs don't do anything to hurt me--ever. They don't jump on me. They don't wrestle or fight in the house. They don't do anything except be puppies. And that causes me physical pain. Nothing they do is bad. So the folks in Missouri are getting excellent dogs.

And I'm still crying. Duh. What a dope.

6/9 Dogs, dogs, dogs

Just got an email from someone who works with my sisters. She said she wants both my dogs. She lives in the country in Missouri. Wow! This would be the best case scenario if Quincy and Cookie can stay together. As much as I'm going to miss them, this is absolutely the best thing. My back is really hurting tonight, and has been all day. So I love these two critters so much, but know I can't give them what they need. And they can't give me what I need--some rest.

I'm sad, happy, happy, sad...and just want to find the best possible home for them.

6/8 Quincy was a star

And she behaved perfectly too. I took her to a sled pull contest at Riverview Park. I must confess that I took her just to watch and to be around other dog people, in case anyone would like to adopt her.

Well, we got talked into her pulling as well. She took to it so well and acted like she loved it. They do a test run first just to see if the dog will allow the harness on and will pull the sled. So she started with just 10 pounds, and it was picture perfect. The next time we put on 20 and the next time 31. I didn't realize that there were only two "real" rounds or I would have had them put more on her final turn. She was exceptional and I was so proud of her.

Jan called later and invited me to dinner, so I went over and joined Jan and Tim, Kris and Brian, and Jane, Pete, and Sarah. The food was superb and we ate out on their huge porch. The weather was perfect.

6/7 St. Francis Parish Picnic

I went over at 5 and met up with some cousins. Had a beer with them. Then when my sister, brothers, and families arrived we had dinner. Everyone bought great sandwiches--roast beef, sloppy joes, hot dogs, brats, etc. No vegetarian food except onion rings, so that's what I ordered. For dessert, instead of getting superb homemade cakes, I got a shaved ice--a HUGE one. Then suddenly I got sick to my stomach. Started sweating profusely. So I told the family--bye, I'm sick. Walked home and threw up.

Wonder what it was--onion rings or shaved ice, or a combination of the two. Glad it's over. But I'm sorry I had to leave the family so early.

6/6 Mud dog

Quincy has made a huge mud pit right where the sump pump empties into the yard. I've given her five, count 'em five, baths today. It began this morning even before work. Joy!

Tomorrow is the St. Francis parish picnic. It's been years since I've been to it, and I'm looking forward to it. Most of my family will go, so that will make it even more fun.

6/5 Mississippi house

I signed the acceptance letter and faxed it today. So as long as the guy's funding goes through, it looks like the closing will be June 30th, give or take a few days. Although I'm not thrilled--because the price was a steal--I am happy and relieved.

My back was feeling better but I had to give Q three or four baths tonight (I lost count), so I'm not feeling great tonight. Every time Quincy goes outside she heads toward the mud, where the sump pump empties.

Yep, the basement is flooded--still. Sue hope it dries out soon.

Anyway, I'll sleep well tonight knowing my mortgage payments in MS are coming to an end. Hooray.

6/4 The best, the better, the good, the bad, and the OOPS.

The best is that I accepted an offer on my Mississippi house. The bad is that I'm losing a ton of money, but I just need to unload it.

The better is that I had physical therapy today and it felt good while I was there. The bad is that it doesn't feel good right now.

The good is that my promotion will give me a lot of satisfaction at work. The bad is that I'm hardly getting a raise.

The bad is that I still haven't found homes for Q and C. The good is that I get to keep them longer.

And the OOPS? Well, I slipped on a wet kitchen floor and fell flat on my back. Ah well...such is life.

6/3 I finally will talk about it

Because of my back I need to find a new home for Quincy and Cookie. It breaks my heart, but I have to do it. (Jan and Jane practically threatened my life if I didn't.)

It's true. My back just won't get better with all the tugging and pulling I have to do with my big lovable dogs. I can barely stand to think of it, yet it hurts me physically to deal with them.

Because of the mud outside I've already had to bathe them twice. It's not what I need to be doing.

So if you know of anyone who wants these gorgeous dogs, AND WILL TREAT THEM LIKE FAMILY, please please please let me know.

I love them.

6/2 The good, the bad, and the forgetful

Let's start with the forgetful before I forget. May 29th was my darling Jill's birthday, and I was so caught up in my own drama that I didn't post about her. Please forgive me, Jilly-bean, and I'm so happy you had a great 34th birthday.

The bad is that my back gave me fits over the weekend. Today was the worst. I start PT on Wednesday morning. That should help. And Doc said he'll order an MRI.

The good is really good--in fact two goods. First, we had a super time at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. There were 4,000 walkers and 600 crew. What a fantastic weekend. The group raised more than 9 million dollars. Unbelievable!

The other good news is that I got a promotion at work. Beginning very shortly I'll be the Coordinator of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Programs at work. I'm so happy, and am really looking forward to the new challenge.