Top Ten Tuesday - Northside Park

We've been having Indian Summer around here. Normally, it should be around the mid-60s during the day, but last week and over the weekend we've had temperatures in the 80s. The 80s! That's practically unheard of at this time of year.

But I'll take it.

I mean, shorts in October? I'm all over it. I'm happy to let the world see my now-faded legs after six weeks (not that they were ever that tan in the first place), so if the weather is going to be warm, I'm going to wear shorts.

Thank you, Weather!

Last week, in addition to the beautiful weather, my favorite place to walk the Wonder Dog opened up again. For the past year this park near my house has been closed for renovations, but it's almost done (at least they say Phase 1 is almost done, whatever that means and whoever "they" are).

I've missed my park. Thunder has missed the park, too. It's our favorite place to walk.

So, the opening of the park makes me almost as happy as the weather. Seriously, when I walked into the park for the first time last week, this is what I saw.

Really? Couldn't you just look at that for a long, long time?

And so, in honor of Indian Summer, here are the Top 10 Things I Love About My Park.

(No, that's not a misprint. When I'm there it really does feel like "my" park.)

1. Big, old trees.

2. Blue skies.

3. Poop bags. Do I need to explain this one?

4. Brilliant colors.

5. Log Cabins--there are four of them, I think.

6. Ponds.

7. Thunder is happy here too.

8. Did I mention the trees?

9. Ducks!

10. The sledding hill. (Look closely--it's back there.) One of the only things around here that makes winter tolerable.

So now you know where I am on those gorgeous days when I just don't have time to post on my blog. I'm out enjoying my beautiful stomping grounds.

It's where I think. It's where I pray. It's where I get refreshed.

So tell me, where do you go to get refreshed, recharged, renewed? Do you like to walk outside or would you prefer a massage? Or is there something else that makes you happy?

I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesdays at Oh Amanda! today. Head over there for more fun Top Ten lists.

God and Dog

Remember last Saturday? How I guest posted over at (in)Courage? And I wrote about my dog? Sort of.

Well, one reader sent me this link, and I just HAD to share it with you.

It brought tears to my eyes because I could so relate. And because Thunder the Wonder Dog drives me absolutely crazy on some days. But she's still a gift.



Enjoy this today! And remember all the silly (and not-so-silly) ways God shows His love for you.

Put a Human Name on it and We All (well, most of us anyway) Feel Sorry

See that face? That face that we all love so much?

(O.K. . . . In the interest of full disclosure, there may be one member of this family who doesn't love that face so much.)



The one who loves to stick her head out the window when she's riding in the car?



The one who lies around like a slug but then pops up like a Jack-in-the-Box the minute you use the word "w-a-l-k"? (I couldn't even bear to say it out loud on the blog for fear she would hear me.)

Seriously. We've had to come up with all sorts of code words for the "w" word in our house. Our favorite is "klaw" which is "walk" spelled backwards. For some reason, she has never been able to figure out what "klaw" means, but the minute we say "want to go for a . . ." she springs into action, dancing and jumping her way around the house.

Needless to say, we don't use the "w" word much.

This dog takes a fair amount of grief from our family. Like I said, one member would not lose sleep if she expired today. Others like to torment her by chasing her around the kitchen island. Others like to make her wait over her food dish when it's full of food until she's given the O.K. (Labs are so great at that--they won't move until you tell them to eat, even though they act like they haven't eaten all day.)

Anyway, even though we like to give her grief, we're all feeling a little bad for the Wonder Dog this week. I told you a while back that she had "issues." This week those issues got a name--epilepsy.

Who knew that a dog could have a human condition? But she does.

On Sunday she started having seizures around 3:00 p.m. that lasted until roughly 5:00 p.m. B thinks she may have had as many as four seizures during that time. Four seizures is not good.

So I took her to the vet yesterday who told me that it's finally time to put her on some medication. Apparently seizures cause her body temperature to go up, and if her fever got too high she could experience some brain damage. Can't have that now, can we?

So Thunder the epileptic Wonder Dog is now taking a daily dose of medication to help reduce the seizures. It's supposed to also make her a little less . . . active . . . so actually, that could be a good thing.

Maybe we'll even begin to start using the "w" word out loud one of these days.

How'd I Let This One Slip By?

Look at that face.



Isn't that just the face any mother would love?



Doesn't she just look so innocent?



She's fun and funny and lets us have our way with her. (Sometimes.)



She even loves to hold our hands . . . or feet . . . or legs. Whatever's close by, she likes to touch us.



But don't let that innocent look fool you. Underneath that sweet veneer lies the heart of an adventurer.

Apparently yesterday her sense of adventure took over, and she thought she'd explore our neighborhood.

Funny thing is, I didn't even know she was missing . . . for THREE HOURS!

. . . until I got a phone call while standing in American Eagle with Maggie.

"Hey, Shelly. It's Amy. Is Thunder at home?"

*gulp*

These are words I never want to hear. Especially when I'm not home.

Thank goodness for Amy. What would I ever do without her? She rounded up my dog from a neighbor's house, got her key to my house, and brought that wayward beast back home.

Where she belongs.



And where she will surely stay for a good, long time.

When Two Worlds Collide

I love Facebook. It's a fun way to keep up with old friends, new friends, old family members . . . you get the point.

Yesterday an old friend from high school wrote as her Facebook status that after 16 years she had finally broken down and bought a puppy for her kids. "What was the Easter Bunny thinking?????" was the rest of her status.

I, in my usual snarky, sarcastic way, wrote back to her that the Easter Bunny was surely thinking that she wanted to be woken up in the middle of the night and to have her carpets peed on and to pay unusually large vet bills when her dog has a seizure.

She thought it was funny.

She also thought I was kidding.

Then this morning, another old friend who found me on Facebook (and who has become one of my most avid readers!) told me that she was looking forward to today's adventure in my life. I quickly replied that, sadly, adventures are hard to come by around here these days.

The only highlight to my day was going to be . . . highlights . . . and a haircut. (I crack myself up!)

Little did I know that just a few hours later my Facebook world and my real world would collide. Little did I know that just a little while later my own puppy would lead me to a bit of an adventure that I didn't expect.

It's not a big deal, really. I simply let the Wonder Dog out for a little while, thinking that the back gate was closed.

This would be the same back gate, however, that I may have bumped with my car just a little bit by accident the other day when it was shut. And now the gate won't close properly. So it swings open just a bit.

So that bored little puppies on cloudy days can get into some neighborhood mischief.

Like running across the street and playing around with one of the new puppies down the block.

And making her "mommy" run after her in her fuzzy blue slippers yelling like a madwoman, "Thunder. Come! Come here, Thunder!" in front of her beautiful, young, put-together neighbor with the new puppy who actually comes when called.

See what I mean? Today, on a day I thought nothing could possibly happen, two worlds collided. I think Facebook jinxed me.

And now, I'd like to interrupt this . . . cake

Poor Kate. Her birthday falls over spring break every year. We're never at home, and she never gets a "normal" birthday cake.

This year, when we were still on vacation, and after a rather dismal attempt at birthday cake disguised in the form of Costco pound cake, I promised her that I would make her a cake from scratch when we got home.

She requested a white cake with white frosting, so over the weekend I did my research and decided to make Sara Moulton's Classic White Cake.

Today was the day. I mixed; I stirred; I whipped. I baked. Or, at least I started to bake.

Fifteen minutes into the baking process, something went terribly awry.

With the dog.

Thunder the Wonder Dog was lying on her bed, sleeping peacefully, as I cleaned up the kitchen and my beautiful white cakes-from-scratch were baking in the oven when she suddenly jerked her head up, lurched out of her bed, and started running/stumbling across the kitchen floor. At first I thought her back legs had fallen asleep from lying in her bed, but very soon it was obvious that something was terribly wrong.

She made her way to the living room, struggling all the way, finally falling on the floor. She was drooling, struggling for breath. Within a matter of seconds, I knew she was in trouble, but I didn't know what to do. She needed to get to the vet, but she couldn't walk, and I couldn't lift her to get her into the car.

I tried calling B in his office. He always knows what to do.

No answer.

After a few frantic minutes, calling a couple of other people for help, I tried B again, this time on his cell phone.

He answered this time. At this point I was hysterical.

"WHERE ARE YOU?! I mean, you don't have to come home or anything, but SOMETHING IS REALLY WRONG WITH THUNDER. [Deep breath.] She can't walk, and she's shaking. I need to get her to the vet, but she can't walk. I know you can't do anything, but I just needed to talk to someone. SOMETHING'S REALLY WRONG!!!!"

B, in his ever-calm manner, simply said, "Sounds like she needs to get to the vet. Just try to get her to the vet." (I found out later that he was in a meeting. The woman in his office heard every word I shouted said.)

Ah, yeah. Problem is, she can't walk!

Finally, our dear "dog guy," Rob, and my dear friend, Amy, came over in answer to my hysterical calls to them. Rob is the wonderful man who cares for Thunder when we're out of town. He helped me get her into the car (by this time she could walk again), and Amy just generally calmed me down.

Thunder had a seizure. She's fine now; I'm not so fine.

Not only was I pretty much shaken up this morning, I'm also pretty much worried about myself. I actually cried over my dog today. I called my husband (and my friends) in hysterics. I was out-of-control worried about my dog.

How did this happen to me?!? I'm the farm girl who grew up with 14 dogs in 20 years (and, no, not all at the same time). Needless to say, we never got too attached to our dogs. I'm the insensitive person who actually laughed--LAUGHED!--at her friend in college who cried when her family dog died. I thought she was crazy.

But now I've become the crazy woman who cries hysterically over her sick dog and who actually took her daughter's birthday cake out of the oven in the middle of baking it in order to take the dog to the vet.

Half-baked. I think that's what they call people like me.

Hopefully tomorrow's cake . . . and day . . . will turn out better.

One Dog, One Dad, and One Logical Thinker

We’re nothing in this house if not passionate. You’d think we were Italian with the way we argue, debate, raise our voices, and get all excited about the silliest things. We’re not Italian, but I am wondering if one German and one Dutchman equal one Italian.

From the beginning of our relationship, B and I have debated just about everything. (For the record, neither of us are lawyers, but one of us should have been!) Over the past 25 years, we have fought argued discussed our way through various issues. Everything from politics to which direction the carpet should be vacuumed.

There’s very little gray area between us. The good thing is that we almost always know what the other person is thinking. We might not like what the other person thinks--and we’ll say so--but there’s hardly ever any underlying “stuff” between us.

This has made some people uncomfortable over the years. Our college friends just shook their heads at us, wondering how on earth we would ever make a marriage work. One friend even suggested that B just “give it up” (meaning me!) because “she isn’t worth it.”

Harrumph!

More than 25 years together, and we’re doing just fine thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, last week our analytical ways came back to bite us. More specifically, they came back to bite B. I guess we underestimated the power of those "little ears."

On a typical morning, B will kiss me goodbye at 5:30 a.m. as he’s heading out the door to the gym. I’m usually in a semi-comatose state, so I may or may not groan my goodbye to him. But one morning last week he skipped his workout because he was tired. Why was he tired, you ask? Because Thunder woke him up at 3:00 a.m. to go outside.

Now, this hardly ever happens. In fact, I can’t remember the last time it happened. So it was strange. There had to be something wrong with the dog that day because not only did she need to be let outside in the middle of the night, but she also threw up on a rug. I found that pleasant little package when I got up.

So B was sitting at the table eating breakfast when Maggie came downstairs.

“Hi, Dad! What are you doing here this morning?”

“I slept in a little because your dog got me up last night.” (Did you catch that? YOUR dog?)

“Really? Thunder got up in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah. And I had to let her outside. At 3 in the morning. And then she threw up on the rug. I don’t like your dog very much, Maggie.”

So about a minute of silence passed between them. B had gone back to the newspaper, and Maggie was quietly eating her breakfast.

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“If I got you up at 3:00 a.m. to go to the bathroom and then threw up on the rug, would you not like me anymore either?”

Looks like he may have met his match.