Wind Up to Summer

Whew! Things have been hopping ‘round these parts lately. Events and activities have been line up and coming down the pipe one after another. Everything is fairly well lined out so we’re not overwhelmed but we are busy. Add to that some stresses adjusting to our new pet (Honey), my volunteer Secretary position at church, and the fact I finally ordered photos for scrapbooking so I can at least get up through Christmas 2014 and the blog gets a little neglected. Next week is the last week of school (that went fast) for both kids, and make-up swim lessons (they cancel when we have thunderstorms and we’ve had several lately) then I drive straight into VBS. Like I said, things keep on keeping on.

Now where was I??

Honey. So I mentioned some stress tied to her. Well, two weeks ago Tilly went lame in one of her hind legs. Before I could get her into the vet she and Honey got into a fight. With her bum leg Tilly got the worst of it….a ‘pierced’ ears and little nips/cuts all around her collar area and chest. We thought our worst fears of getting a ‘second-hand’ dog had come true and we had one that was aggressive. That week was so stressful. Not only did we have an unplanned vet bill, but the truck needed brakes and once they got them apart they needed more work (Kevin verified visually and we weren’t getting the wool pulled over our eyes) than thought so the price tag doubled. So two big unplanned bills, a dog that now needed special care and medication, and another dog that might be aggressive.

We sat back, tugged on our hair, and tried to put things in perspective. We’d only had Honey a week. Maybe she was an ‘alpha’ type dog or maybe Tilly’s hurt leg caused her to snap at Honey when she tried to get Tilly to play. No one was home when it happened so who knows really. Tilly pulled the muscles in he stifle pretty good but she didn’t tear them (a HUGE relief) so she was put on bed-rest (read, in the kennel, crate, or on a leash. No bouncing or running around like a yeah-hoo) and give pain killers and antibiotics. She was going to be okay. Now I’ll be honest, we looked at our options to rehome Honey. We even talked to a foster program. In the end we decided that since she and Tilly had to stay separate anyway and she’d shown no aggression towards the kids or the other animals that she could stay until Tilly is back up and running. So for the next 12 weeks (10 now) she’s on probation.

The good news on her probation is she seems to be relaxing. She doesn’t ‘huff’ (an anxiety thing) nearly as much and when Tilly comes out for walks they both try to initiate play (slapping forelegs on the ground with the butt wiggling in the air) and I’ve even watched Honey roll over and expose her belly to Tilly. Only problem is, the terms of Tilly’s bed rest don’t allow her to join in. Let’s just say we’re taking it glacially slow with these two.

After that week, Mother’s Day was a relief. We went fishing down at Riley Pond by the State Hatchery in Hagermann. Nothing like sitting with a line in the water to let your worries go. Both kids had a blast digging in the dirt and helping fish. Emilie is a master at handing out power bait (it’s just like play-doh ) and neither mind us using worms for bait as long as we don’t use Mr. Wiggly, the big night crawler (he’s just along for the ride).

We caught three fish in all, including one with a tracking tag that had to be submitted to the state. After filling out the form online we received a nice letter from Fish and Game later the next week telling us when the fish had been released (two months prior), where it was released (same pond we caught it in), and how long it was when it was released (it had grown about 1.5 inches). Some of those types of tagged fish win you prize money….ours was not one of those, but it was still a pretty neat experience.

Thankfully, the week post Mother’s day was much calmer and Kevin and I even got a date night, sans kids, when we went to the Friends of the NRA banquet. (our neighbor is the chapter president and ropes us into going every year….thankfully the ‘Friends of’ side of the NRA is non-political and is more about raising funds to use for firearm education than anything else). Huge thanks to Kevin’s boss Sarah and her husband Rich for watching our kids last minute. Between state Softball, family obligations, and my Mom’s group having a Mom’s only event (read everyone needed a sitter) all my normal childcare options were unavailable. Both kids had a blast at their house and impressed them with their food consumption capacity… .

Well, I’d better go get Tilly out for her yard time. Until next time….which is hopefully in a week or less….