Sit. Stay. Read.
obsessed with dogs
Nurse: Have you been stressed lately? Me: Nope Nurse: You normally have low blood pressure. Today it’s very high. So, any stress? Me: Nope! Not really. John: (tucked in a chair on the other side of the room) HMPFFFFF Backing up a sec, last week I came down with the flu. I was knocked on …
Hello from beautiful, sunny Florida! Well, at least I hear it’s beautiful and sunny… I’m inside working. Currently catching up on client work in my hotel room, then for the next two full days–7:30 to 7:30 Wednesday and Thursday–I’ll be walking five miles of pet products at Global Pet Expo. That’s right: five MILES. I can’t …
So, it’s March. How did that happen? Seriously, I feel like I was just dozing on the couch ringing in the new year. And, yet, here we are. March. And it’s light out after work again, thank goodness! This March, I’m determined to come out of our haze. It was easy to slip away from …
Valentine’s Day was always big in my family. My parents would get us cards, and we’d make something for them. Even when we all moved away, my mom would still send us cards–and sometimes my siblings send them, but we often forget, though I always send one to my little nephew. It’s just a lovely day to celebrate …
This post is {technically} the 1,000th post on my little blog! I say {technically} because, well, technically there were a whole bunch more before I had a backup system in place. And, as usually happens when there’s no backup system in place, I lost a whole bunch of posts–some in draft form, some published–during a bizarre …
The tiny whiskers that dot Newt’s chin shine as they twitch and catch light when she’s focused on something Emmett’s yips, growls, and twitches as he sleeps because he may not be able to chase bunnies across the icy yard in his aging, arthritic body, but he sure as hell can–and catch ’em, too–in his dreams Cooper snuggling right up …
Wishing you and yours a very merry everything! Here’s to a holiday filled with peace and good cheer! Lots of wishes and wags! Merry Christmas from, Maggie, John, Emmett, Cooper, and Newt
Last week I spent over 10 hours in the car and never left Indiana! This week was shaping up to be the same, but a last-minute change saved me roughly two of those hours. Between driving to and from Bloomington to finish out the semester and to a new contract job site, I basically …
Dear Cooper, My little love, I’m awfully late on this post. Your “Gotcha Day” is sort of Halloween–that’s the day we brought you home as a foster–and sort of mid-November when we became foster failures. But, well, I missed it. Them. I know you don’t care. At least, I assume you don’t. Sure, you’re brilliant, but …
A house isn’t our home until it has a door destroyed by Emmett. That’s how the saying goes, right? That’s how I remember it, anyway. So, yeah. Emmett locked himself in the freshly-painted bathroom and decided to dig his way out. He made it halfway. Ahem. Anyway, it’s Thanksgiving week! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I just love it, …
How does time slip past us so quickly? Where does it go? Tomorrow, Lucas will have been gone for three weeks. How can that be? When he left us, our hearts were shattered. We wondered how we would ever put the pieces back together. Finally, I realized: They will never be put back together, at …
A small part of me still thinks that Lucas is just in the other room, that I’ll hear him hopping around or pinning Coop or crying because Newt is blocking his way to the water dish. He will have been gone two weeks tomorrow, and I find myself still waiting for him to come home. …
It’s a beautiful day today. Indiana does Fall well: crisp air, sunshine, beautiful foliage. But it’s a total bummer because I have a massive stack of midterm essays to grade by midnight tonight. I’m making the most of it with a big Coop-snuggle under our amazing quilt sent by a kind, talented dog-loving friend, hot tea, and …
Sweet Emmett. He’s such a lug. I believe that’s Benjamin Moore’s Super White dotting his nose. He also got paint on both sides, his tail, a dot on one ear, and a swoop on the other. I was painting the kitchen cabinets, so I put the boys on their beds and blocked the entrance with …
I’ll start at the end: We bought another house that’s about an hour away from where we are now. So, yep. We’re moving. Again. Now, back to the beginning: Many months ago, while it was still cold out and Lucas still had four legs, John’s university job, the one we moved back here for, came …
“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” ~Marianne Williamson
Cooper is a special kind of something. He really is a unique little snowflake. A skinny unique little snowflake. He loves his siblings more than anything. He’s only happy if he’s next to or on top of or smooshed up against Emmett, Lucas, or Newt. Preferably all. He’s a love bug who wants nothing but to …
That’s the only question these days, and it doesn’t have a straightforward answer. He’s great: He loves our micro-hikes and fast food trips. He loves friends dropping by with beef stew, cheese, bacon treats, and snuggles. Lots and lots of snuggles. He loves taking super slow strolls with lots of long pauses around the block. Then, …
At his checkup yesterday, Lucas was amazing. He has come so far since those early, fearful, aggressive days when the front desk staff would have to clear the lobby just for Lucas to even walk through the door. No, yesterday, he nailed it. Dogs on flexis, big dogs, little dogs, owners on their cell phones… …
It’s pretty fitting that Cooper’s post is a day late. Poor Cooper. So many of you kind souls have asked how Coop’s doing with all that’s going on. In some ways, he’s amazing–doing better than I ever could have thought he could do. Home alone for short periods? Nailed it. Doggy daycare without a brother with …
I wrote this post while staring down at my belly button… please forgive its length and self-absorption. When John started his new job, one of the benefits was a spousal life insurance policy. So, of course, I filled out the paperwork. And got turned down. For life insurance. Why? Because, and I’m paraphrasing here, at …
We heard the elderly couple express their fears of administering an oral chemo at home to their dog, Dixie. Their concerns centered around one theme: What if something goes wrong? We heard them tell the oncology resident about Dixie, about how she literally saved their lives from a burglar and how she, as his farm-hand, …
July is Pet Hydration Month, so I’m squeaking in at the last second with helpful information, a product review, and a giveaway! I keep this running list of questions and ideas for possible blog posts, and one that’s been on my list for far too long was: How much water does a dog need in …
What a whirlwind! After an exciting but chaotic week, I’m back home, unpacked, and… taking a sick Emmett to the vet this afternoon. Always something! Because my brain is sizzled, I thought I’d do a few quick bullet points for ya then head off into the weekend. And naps. Last chance to enter the 4Knines Cargo …
