a whole year

I have wanted to do little write ups on the fosters Matt and I have had this year because they each have seemed to come with these incredible lessons. It's truly amazing. As I ran down the list of dogs who we've fostered in 2013 though, each time I was a little bugged because there was just one dog out of all our fosters missing - Daphne.

Daphne was our first foster dog, but she was adopted in October 2012 - making her the only dog we have fostered that wasn't during 2013 (even Cordi, our 2nd foster pup who we started fostering in 2012, wasn't adopted until early 2013).

Perhaps fate heard my slight OCD tiny irritation about the timing? Perhaps things finally hit their tipping point in her adoptive home? Perhaps there was a lesson to still be learned?

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

In any case, with 2013 closing, Matt & I find ourselves fostering Daphne again.

Oh, Daphne...

There's not really much I want to say right now about Daphne and the whole thing with her being back with us. Quite honestly, enough has been said about her (not on my part) ... and very little of it has any relevance and even less of it seems to be true.

What I will say is:
- she's here
- we're taking our time (even though she knows our dogs, routines, etc)
- we're covering all bases
- she's doing f*cking fabulously!

thankful

Today I am thankful for Matt.

We both have the day off and he's up, feeding the dogs, letting them out and, after some more sleeping, made breakfast for both of us - bagel sandwiches with vegetarian "sausage" patties.

thankful

Today I am thankful for Sadie - my half smile girl (half her face is paralyzed), my silent support, my shadow - pretty much always at the foot of where ever I am...

And she's silly and so good with everyone: our others dogs, foster pups we bring in, the kitties.

I just love her to bits!

I stepped outside on to the back step while the dogs were in the yard yesterday - I felt the soft breeze, felt the sun coming through the tree leaves and felt my dad ... and then this overwhelming "I feel you, but where are you" emotion.

Hello from Peanut and Candice :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Welcome, Skylar!

I haven't written much while my dad was sick and I haven't written at all (not even about my dreams which I always did in my journal the same day) since he passed. So, bare with me here while I write (though not about him).

Last week, Matt and I sprung this little girl from Philly ACCT.

We were literally her last shot - her time at the shelter was up and the hold Bella-Reed Pitbull Rescue had on her was up as well. Their fosters had fallen through when this girl (shelter name Mimi) did not test well with cats. Being that our kitties are kept away from the dogs because of Miles, we knew we were a possibility for her ... but would she fit in with our guys? Were there too many problems for us to take on? We went to at least meet her.

Matt & I took her out and it was quite obvious she had been really neglected - all bones, set on scavenging the yard we were in with her and with pressure marks on her hips ... and just a puppy! The shelter thought she was 3 - 5 years old from how gross her teeth are, but she's obviously a pup - curious, awkward, silly, etc.

Matt kept asking me, "What do you think?" To which I'd respond, "Babe, I've got no idea. If she had a broken leg, injured eye or something like that, I'd tell you if we could handle it, but this is behavioral - this is all you"

We left with her and she had a new name as well - Skylar.

She happily pranced out of the shelter and we were happy to find that she was a breeze in the car - she just curled right up and passed out in the back of the truck. The easy ride was sadly followed up by a lot of crying in her crate. So much for trying to keep her a secret from the other dogs! However, we did quickly find out she wasn't aggressive with cats. We had her crated in the same room as our foster kittens and though she was definitely curious, she was easily distracted and came traipsing over for a treat.

The two photos above are from the day we brought her back to our place to foster her (one at the shelter and one in the truck leaving). Below is a more recent photo of her.

Though still skinny, our girl is doing well. Skylar is so treat-motivated that she'll do just about anything for a treat and has already learned "sit", "paw", "other paw" and "down" ... though I'm partially convinced she just knows the routine and wants a treat. Sometimes I don't say anything and she'll just sit by me and throw her paw up :)

She has a little bit of a cough, so Sky hasn't met the other dogs much yet (she's been introduced to Miles a bit). We do have a decent routine now though where our doggies go in our room so we can have her out for some one on one time (she loves being with people and gets really upset separated). This happens a couple times a day since she's on small, multiple feedings, one of which I give her in a kong so she has to work for it. I put a serving of her food into a kong with some no-sugar apple sauce or no-salt peanut butter and then freeze it. It keeps her quiet in her crate for a bit and makes her work for it a bit/slows her down so she doesn't gobble.

Sky's got a long road to recovery ahead of her though. We need to put weight on her (we're going through treats like crazy), which is a slow process to do it correctly and safely for her. We also need to make sure she has no possession issues, which can happen when a dog has been neglected to the point she was. We also need to get her house broken (she pees in her crate a lot, so I'm guessing she was just left locked up a lot and got used to being in her own filth) and make sure she gets along well with us & our pets to try to figure out the right kind of future home for her.

Dad

Memorial Garden Fund for my dad

“It's so much darker when a light goes out
than it would have been if it had never shone.”
― John Steinbeck

I keep planning on writing this big post about him. I was going to for the month mark, then on his birthday, then I planned on Father's Day ... but when it comes down to it, I just can't bring myself to actually write it all out. I find other things to do, I get nervous about how upset I'll get, etc. I just can't. Maybe soon.

For now, let me say that I'm not sure there's been a brighter light or more stellar example of a man. Everyone that knew you loved you and I'm thankful to know how much you loved me while you could. Miss your light...

Inside The Mind of Frontotemporal Degeneration

Inside The Mind of Frontotemporal Degeneration: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/05/09/inside-the-mind-of-frontotemporal-degeneration-a-patients-story/

a walk

A photo Matt snapped when dad and I were walking back from getting the mail last year. We were looking over at my roses...

Ninja

Used the ninja today and puréed some left over fish, a whole can of sardines and some frozen veggies for the dogs. I added in some pumpkin and fed it to them with some of their dry food this afternoon. I think it was a hit :)

Oh, the other Tupperware containers have Greek yogurt, almond milk, rolled oats and frozen mangos (put through the ninja) that I made for myself.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Been some time...

It's been some time, but here's a post.

I saw this wonderful "pin" on Pinterest (damn you and your addictive-ness!) and followed it to the Life. Family. Love. blog post about Homemade Febreeze. Living in a place with a smelly smoker so nearby makes the need for a smell neutralizer quite necessary and I was intrigued because Febreeze is not cheap.

I followed the instructions, altering them as one of the comments suggested to use something other than softener too - I used a small amount of Suave conditioner and white vinegar. Might have needed to use more though... So far I'm not sure how effective it is because the space hasn't really smelled like smoke since I made it. We'll see soon enough, I'm sure.

I'm considering rooting around for another bottle to make the concoction as the original blog post calls for just so I can have both on hand and see which works better.

Either way, I'm excited we might get to save some money and that I can make my own scents depending on what I add :)

I'm going to try to get better with posting, I mean it! I'm constantly thinking of things to post and then don't find the time (boo!). Gotta go for now though - the puppy is getting restless and I think needs to get out.