Sunday, May 9, 2010

Ray of Light



Tonight, we lost a piece of our family. The last couple of days our oldest dog, Conner, who would have turned 8 this month, was acting slow. He would stand and just stare off, or hardly move. He has had issues with his intestines in the past, nothing life threatening, just messy. We were waiting for the familiar signs to develop but today THIS was different. He was crashing. Struggling to just stand, and then struggling to breathe. I know enough to know the signs of dehydration. Which began to show. We have a sweet vet. I was texting back and forth with him during a movie (on a Sunday, on Mother's Day). I am listing all the drugs from him I have on hand. He is planning on seeing me at 7:00 in the evening. So I wait. I administer spoon fulls of water down his throat for a couple of hours trying to keep the dehydration at bay till we can see the vet. I get up for a brief minute and he rises to his feet to follow me, but collapses. Enough. I am taking him to the emergency clinic. We race there with the boys in tow. My dad arrives to drive them home. The receptionist takes him back. The assistant burst through the doors wanting his history. The vet comes in and tells us they couldn't find the heartbeat at first, but have and it's slow and faint. He's swollen and it's getting worse. He's struggling to breathe. We don't know what's going on. They put him on oxygen. We leave to walk the parking lot while they do xrays and blood work. We cross the parking lot and walk into Pier One. The crazy lady tells us about candles being on sale and last minute Mother's Day gifts. I'm thinking...really lady. Don't you think it's odd that we look distraught and are walking around a Pier One at 6:45 pm on Sunday night? No one else is around and there is an emergency vet clinic across the street. I dismiss her and barely smile. It's not her fault my dog is suffering and literally crashing 100 feet away. We leave Pier One. It's just too weird to be there. We sit in the back of the Tahoe. We pray. We pray for whatever the issue, Lord, make it one that we don't have a choice. See, he has these intestinal bouts and it's about $1,500 every 6 months. He's otherwise healthy but needs medical (and financial) intervention. The vet calls us back and kindly ushers us to a private room. It's not good. It's all over her face. She tells us...'It's one of two things. Rat poison (left by the previous owners). Or a blood clotting disease.' Both situations are DIC. What's that I ask. Death. Is. Coming. And nothing would have stopped either situations. Death was unpreventable. God in the midst of storms answers prayer, so we follow her to see him. He's struggling, he's in a great deal of pain, and he's terrified! His eyes show it. I cup his head and whisper to him. The swelling is blood. He's bleeding out. I look at her and say, 'he's suffering.' She said yes. I tell her it's time. She administers the drug. And I lay with him face to face. He is a dog that was loved. I would not let him die alone. It's been cloudy and overcast all day. Not a ray of light. I called my dad and told him to meet us at the house. As I hung up the phone I looked to the sky. And a ray of light briefly, so brief, BJ in his car behind me didn't see it, broke through the clouds. It was full of God's promise to comfort in times of sorrow, to be present in all things, and to remind me of His love in answering prayers. Tonight our family has shed many tears. Tonight the boys decorated a rock as a head stone. Tonight we remember the good times. Tonight we are sad.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Tri we did!

Ok, so not my best picture ever...to say the least. But here you can see how swollen, red, and down right miserable my eyes are. Come to find out, it's a sinus infection. That was amplified when I went into Lake Woodlands last Saturday. The pressure behind my cheekbones and forehead is uncomfortable but tolerable. So with that, I decided to go for it. Not really the best idea since getting back into the water made my eyes flare again...oh well. The CB&I comes only once a year. :) So a pasta dinner and a long wakeful night, and we were up at 4:15 am. Once again, we get there and it's crazy to see just how serious some of these people are. But we are not here for time (if you are, you can never be satisfied-cause if you are not out to beat someone, you are out to beat your PR-personal record) because I am not up for that kind of pressure. The swim was interesting. I got my face in this year (meaning I free styled with my head in-last year I free styled with my head out). But got attacked in the water. A girl and I were bumping sides and whacking each other in the head with our strokes, when all of a sudden this girl grabbed my shoulder and shoved me backwards. After gulping down half of Lake Woodlands I came to the surface in a dog paddle and screamed 'what the...' and looked her face to face. Oops...I know HER! I let her pass. :) The bike went ok. Except during the ride my toes on one foot kept going numb and tingling. Almost to the point I was worried--thinking what is wrong with my circulation. But dismissed it. I started running the last leg with Sarah. I kept telling her...it's strange that my toes feel numb and have a little sharp pain... After we completed the tri, I sat down to change into flip flops. Pulled off my shoe and saw blood covering the bottom half of my sock. Thinking back, I remembered coming out of the water and stepping on something that hurt. I had a deep gash in one toe that had a flap of skin left. Another toe that had ripped off a chunk of skin...awesome. Dirty lake water that already has infected me! So off to the Walgreens care clinic (what a joke) to get a tetanus shot and 'glue' it shut (as opposed to stitches). After it's all said and done, I am happy with how the race went and annoyed I have a 'twice a day antibotic' to take to prevent whatever Lake Woodlands could have given me. Cheers Lake Woodlands...with water and a pill. :) See you next year...maybe.

So...

the house went from this...
The seller asked me to keep this in the half bath...hmmmmmm....

The trim looks white in this picture, but all the trim & cabinets were a soft peach/pink. Including doors thru the house... Big heavy blinds in these windows...now rest in a dumpster somewhere. :)

Random walls were painted...this entrance wall and the mantle wall...and you can see the remaining walls were a beige pink color.
Hunter green...
UT orange and cream walls...peach doors and wood trim/wood blinds. All gone. :)

to this (just a couple shots but you get the picture)...a much needed make over! Thanks to a friend that helped us with getting the right people for the job! :) Once this seller moved out, BJ walked in and thought we bought a 'toliet!' Not anymore...


The reason...

we bought this house! BJ had never seen it till our final walk through and I only walked two other homes. The back yard is awesome (pool with an outdoor kitchen) but the inside needed much work. Just imagine turquoise, terracotta orange, a 'UT' painted room, and some other various colors...ugh. But it's been painted head to toe and now we love it! But the boys love it more...