"Hey Mom, You C'mon??"

It's in the 90's this week in my part of Missouri, USA.  That equals HOT and HUMID!  Valentine was eager to take a walk with me this afternoon.  She has really been limping or hobbling as I like to call it.  She has become the "Happy Hobbler".  My doctors can not seem to find a problem.  Neck, shoulder, possible lyme's disease?  It's very odd.  She takes some pain medication morning and night and it helps to keep her going. 

Since she has been deaf (about 2 years now) she will constantly turn to look to see if I'm behind her or not.  I love that.  I often think DOGS allow us simple glimpses  into Gods own heart.  I can see Him turn as Val does and lovingly look to see if I'm still back here following Him. 

Valentine's carrots

Valentine's main treat is carrots.

Today Colton was over visiting me, (Grandma) and while Brandi fed him Valentine tried to figure out why she was smelling carrots and they were not going to her! 

I think Colton was kinda teasing her.  See how he is looking at her like, "ha ha. My carrots". ??  *wink* *wink*

Once again, he is just casually eating his carrots and looking at Val like, "what?".  "They are mine!"








Valentine is licking her lips as Colton giggles over another bite.

Valentine has the look like "this can't be true!".  "What in the world?" "Lucky kid"

The carrot saga will continue another day.





In the meantime, Colton looks satisified.  Valentine did get to lick the bowl.  Are you kidding me?  Who could refuse those eyes?  *smile*

I did it!!!

I started my own Etsy store!  I just decided to jump in and try it.  I have one item posted!  Lol!  OH MY GOSH!  Who knew how much work really goes on behind the scenes?! I have been sitting at this computer for a good 3 1/2 hours!!  I hope I get faster.........

Valentine does too!  She's been watching me and waiting and then all I know, I hear some snores, look over and she is OUT.   Her poor little head must of just went BONK. 

Valentine mischief

Yesterday Valentine pee'd on the floor THREE times!  I don't know what is with her.  She has went forever without doing this.  Thru all the snow and nasty weather even! Now Spring is approaching and she is urinating inside?  I don't get it.  Guess I'll have to get a urinalysis on her and make sure she is not getting sick.  My carpet will be ruined at that rate.  My husband has a heart attack at ONE time so I've managed to clean up and hide the last 2 incidences so we don't have to watch his conniption fit. lol  At least we put a pet proof pad under our carpet when we built the house as I knew my pets would all be geriatrics soon and I foreseen this problem. (almost 20 years of experience listing to others complain about potty problems I guess!)

I've been keeping her right beside me today.  The mischievous thing is I have never, ever caught the little prankster in the act.  She follows me around like a shadow all the time but somehow still manages to occasionally wet on the floor. And I swear she goes out a 1000 times a day and has always drove us crazy that way!  When we are not home she stays in my bedroom and has never once wet on the floor in there. I know she is old but she still acts like a pup most the time so I'm not going to let her blame it on her age.  ha.  We'll see if I agree when I'm that old.  I even ask my kids to take their shoes off before walking on the carpet....at least they don't pee on it!!  I feel better for venting anyway, thanks for listening!

ahhh, the weight of Christmas....

The holidays are almost over and it will soon be time to start dieting.  I put Valentine on a diet right before Christmas and she has already lost 3 pounds!  Don't you just hate women that can drop the weight that fast!?!  :)  Here she is standing guard over the Oreo cookies.  She can't hear and doesn't see as well but her sense of smell is 100%.

It's been a fun few days and now it's back to work for a few more.  Good news? There is an auction on Friday the 1st!  Yeah!  What a way to start off the New Year!  I'm looking for a decorative old chair that I can use in photography.  I had one once but the auction got all messed up and it ended up going to another person.  Wish me luck!  You all have a wonderful week. 

Pondering thoughts

I was reading a piece in our local newspaper and they had a picture of this old scarf right beside another scarf similar to it that read Missouri. I guess in the movie Julia and Julia (which I have not seen yet) there are these framed scarfs from the different states above a bed. Seems people liked the look and are going crazy over these collectible scarfs. Well, I just happen to have this one given to me by my Uncle Jim a few years back. It was his mom's, my grandma's. I guess now the Kansas one is worth $48. It's priceless to me but it does make me wonder where they come up with the worth of collectible items. $48? Why not $45 or $50? odd. As pretty as it is, I'm sure if I would of found it at a garage sale I would of had trouble rationalizing paying anything more than a quarter for it. Maybe a dollar at auction.

This is my old girl Val. We had a snowy day today and COLD! I took her to work with me since it was going to be hard to go back home and let her out on my lunch hour. Don't let the picture fool you. She LOVES going to work with me!! She just hates waiting in the kennel and would rather follow me around all day and beg everyone she meets for food. I asked her doctor to do a physical on her since she was there (since we were all there) for the day anyway. She just had one in September by the way. She has not been acting sick or different or anything. I work at the vet and employees get free physical exams on 4 pets, which is very nice, especially since I have 3 geriatric pets, so I try to make the most of that benefit! Valentine has had a mild heart murmur for about 4 years now. Barely audible. A 1/6. Guess what? Today, it was a lot worse. A 4/6 with 6 being BAD, like die anytime, BAD. We x-rayed her heart and it is enlarged but not bad. She also has high blood pressure. We drew blood and sent it out to the lab. Her blood work has always been perfect so I hope it is that way tomorrow when I find out. She will however be adding a heart medication to her daily pill regime. boo-whooooo. Makes me sad. She will be 17 in January and she is my little darling. I know they can't live forever. I just don't want her to get sick. She is happy like a puppy now and always has been.

This is her when we got there today. Notice the snow by the door. It is so cold here today!

Tonight, at work,I answered a phone call from a man named Charlie. He said he had a strange question and asked if we had any cat food we would be getting rid of, or any samples. He said he loved his cat but just couldn't afford to buy him any food right now. I put him on hold, knowing we didn't have any actual bags of food for free. I decided just to buy one and let him pick it up. I get on the phone and say, "sure, can you get here before 7pm because that is when we are closed?" Then he asks me just to leave it outside. It's 9° outside. He would be walking several miles to get it and wouldn't make it before we closed. His house had burnt down and he was staying in a local motel and had no transportation. I told him I would deliver it to the lobby of the motel so he wouldn't have to walk in the cold. I rounded up a bag of food plus several bags of cat treats that were donated to us. I couldn't help but wonder as I'm getting all this together if Charlie would be eating any of it himself. I also couldn't help but wonder if it was all legit. Was I getting into a con? Would I be mugged, car jacked or worse. It's a shame we live in a world where it's so hard to do something nice for someone. You have to fear for your own safety because there are people that will prey on your generosity and compassion. I prayed on the way to meet him that God would put a hedge of protection around me and "please God, don't let Charlie be a serial killer". I found Charlie waiting for me beside the lobby door. He was very kind and said if I seen his cat I would understand and his cats name was Frogger. He thanked me multiple times and I couldn't help but tear up as I got back into my car and looked at my beautiful warm dog with her tummy always full. How blessed I am, how lucky I've been. My prayer should of been for Charlie and his family all the way there! If your reading this, please pray for their situation and may God direct other strangers into their lives.