Last Official Post

Hi Gang,

Although I have a feeling many of us will still stay in touch, this is the last official blog post for our course together. I don't have any funny stories about my furry family this go round....Fortunately, it has been pretty status quo. I have taken on a new position with the hospital. I have just been promoted to the new CVIS and PACS Administrator position and am extremely excited about the opportunity. For those who may not know what this is - as I didn't, not so long ago...it stands for Cardiovascular Information Services and Picture Archiving and Communications Systems. In basic terms what I'll be doing is caring for the applications that house the Cardiovascular patients surgical events. I will also be responsible for ensuring the integrity of the cardiac images that during open heart surgery are in tact, and safely and securely moved to the person who needs them as quickly as possible to ensure a speedy diagnosis and treatment. My husband says a pocket protector is in my near future - so if you're thinking the same thing - don't feel bad.

This past week I have been so busy packing up one office in one location and moving about 10 minutes way to another. My hours also change.. Instead of more or less, 8-5pm schedule I am opting for a 7-4pm. Most of the cath procedures start around 6:30am, so I need to be on site, just in case.

What else to tell - oh -I just got a Motorola 'backflip' android phone, and am loving it so far. I can see why guys may not like it... It's a little thicker & heavier - so not so pants pocket friendly. But for those of us with a purse, it's perfect.

I wish you all lots of happiness and only great experiences ahead.. Good luck next term!!!

Die slipper die

I have already been trained to never leave a stray slipper, sock, or really anything you care about lying around in the house.....especially not with my crazy bunch. Apparently my little devils felt it was necessary to remind me of the consequences should I forget this fact...

Case in point: Death to my favorite yellow slippers.

It's never boring - that's for sure!!!!

Whose afraid of the big, bad fly?

We learned something new about our little Milo Man... He's afraid of flies... Yup, you heard me correctly - he is literally afraid of flies.

Each morning after I feed them - him being half hoover, he finishes his meal first and runs upstairs with me. There we play what has been affectionately labeled - the "under cover game". It's where he's on the bed and I run my hands under the covers so he can attack them. It's become our little routine, and he loves that darn game. In any case, the other day while he and I were playing a fly came into the room and started buzzing around the light fixture in the ceiling. That was it.. He heard it buzz, looked up for it and when he saw it bouncing off the light he bolted, ran downstairs and hid in the dark laundry room. I proceeded to kill the fly - but after 20 minutes or so - still no sign of Milo. We went and picked him up and carried him upstairs, where once put back down he ran to the other end of the house with his tail tucked under. He was still not coming back into the room. He must have stayed under that table in the room on the far end of the house for a good 30 minutes or so. We had to bribe him with a treat to come out and stay out. Definitely a new one for us, and won't soon be forgotten. It's looking like it could be a very interesting spring.....

Our Dogs and their OCD

I've been spending so much time talking about the woes here and there with my four legged family, that I haven't had the chance to share all the funny little things they do that make us smile.

For example, for those of you who are familiar with Robert Barone from the t.v. sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" - you'll get a kick out of this. You know how he used to touch his food to his chin before he would eat it....Well, my MayeMaye does the same thing. First off, we have to arrange her food in little meat ball shapes around the edge of her plate.... Then she proceeds to circle the plate - touching each "meat ball' with her nose and chin and moving on to the next one. She does about 3 full cirlces around the plate before she actually dives in to eat one. Serious OCD there. This is every meal, every day.

Otis - my sweet baby of the family Pomeranian mix has his own style. When you wake him up in the morning he has to run around and find a toy to hold in his mouth before he'll come over and see you. He doesn't want to eat the toy or even to play - he just seems to need something in his mouth. Even when we walk him, he has a portion of the leash that he bites onto while walking. He lets go to do his business, then grasps right back on. He also can't be around anything wet and soft on the kitchen floor without doing a little jig. Like if I accidentally dropped a strawberry on the kitchen floor - he would get close to the berry, push his back into the cabinet nearest him and then start moving up and down - like he had an itch he couldn't quite scratch. He is by far our most entertaining. If he was a child, folks would think he had been dropped on his head at a tender age...he's just a complete goofball.

Our little Milo man - does not like his feet wet. I know, he's a dog right - try telling him that. We come home from our walks and the first thing he does upon entering the door is start licking the water from his feet. He'll even do it to us if he's there when we exit the shower.

Last but not least, even our newest addition Lillie has a little 'strange' in her. We haven't had her long enough yet, but so far she has it in for baseball caps. If you leave a baseball cap on the floor, she'll pounce on it and rolls all over it. Not like she hates in, more like she wants to wear it herself. She'll do this for minutes on end...


Hope you enjoyed the reading and got a smile. I know I did while typing this all out.

Patience, Patience & More Patience

So - it's been about two weeks since our last doggie altercation. Marcus and I have basically retrained ourselves in how we deal with the dogs.

They can all sleep together in the same room and even share the same bed. Our morning walks are now boy/girl - rather then the girls first and then the boys.

During the working day, Lillie remains in the downstairs bedroom by herself. We made it very comfortable for her, so that the bed is against the window giving her the same view the other three have from the living-room window they look out of.

We walk around the house fully armed with our water bottles.

When we get home from work - you ready yourself with the H20 before opening the door for Lillie but generally speaking, and so far anyways - things have been well. It's been more about us establishing our role as the pack leader. Safety has to come first.

They can eat together, and walk around the house together, and for the most part don't pay each other much attention. The big no-no is indoor running or wrestling with everyone in the same room. The boys will start running around, Lillie will want to jump in and MayeMaye sees that as an opportunity to play with Lille, which she so desperately wants to do - and as soon as MayeMaye nips at her ear or tail to get some attention - Lillie comes at her like an angry mob. That's probably the worst part of this gig. If Lillie wants to play, Marcus and I will take her and one of the boys into the downstairs bedroom and do a bit of wrestling, or use the laser pointer and get them to run around a bit.

I was watching "It's Me or the Dog" today on Animal Planet and it was almost like it was meant to be for me to watch this episcode. It was a couple with 4 dogs - 2 girls and 2 boys. They looked to be German Shephard mixes. In any case, they too had a female on female issue - with one completely dominating the other. They had it bad enough where their animals couldn't be in the same room together, off leash....ever.

Basically it came down to the trainer informing them of two things:

1.) Not every person likes every person they meet - doesn't matter if they did anything to them or not - it just isn't going to happen and you cannot force it. Same thing for animals.

2.) She informed the couple that these two dogs may be able to coexist by coping with the situation but that they can never be together off leash without supervision - ever. They could not be trusted.

I think we are in the same boat with our two. Unless we want to remove one of them from our home, this is our new life and we just have to hope that eventually things get better and they work it out. My mother-in-law has offered to take Lillie if she has to be removed, we're just not ready to give up quite yet.

Wish us luck

Separation Required

This last week has been very disappointing at the home front. Lillie, my newest addition; the black pug and my MayeMaye have had two fights this week. MayeMaye was alpha over my little three dog crew, and then came Lillie. Apparently she believes she's alpha material. They get along for the most part, but never have they played together. There's been some posturing, etc. - and we just figured it would work itself out. It hasn't. We've had Lillie since late October, and there is no change.

In any case, the first time they finally had their smack down, I wasn't the first on the scene - my husband was. He had just gotten home from work and they got too excited - one of them stepped on the other one and all heck broke loose. For those of you who have never witnessed a dog fight.....it is scary. These little ones are hard to separate too, they wiggle so much. I got home maybe an hour after that one ended, and it started up again. Needless to say I was stupid enough to try and brake it up without much protection and as you can see - I have my war wounds from the experience.

Water bottles are my newest companion. I keep one with me at all times. Our vet is recommending we take the girls to a doggie behaviorist. I'm not quite ready to succumb to that quite yet, but we have been forced to completely change our routine at home. Safety is first and foremost - so during the work day Lillie is separated from the rest of the crew. She is the newest and so the routine isn't quite as ingrained in her as it is the others. She is in the downstairs bedroom (which is bigger then our master). I moved the room around so the bed is near the window. This way when the dogs start barking at passersby - she can join in too. She has an iron bladder, so no worries there. I do lay down some pee pads, hide a couple of treats and of course, she has her water. Maybe after some time goes by it'll get better - I certainly have to believe it will.

Never a dull moment around here - that's for sure.

Letter to my Dogs

I came across this letter via email SPAM and absolutely loved it. I thought I would share and give those of you who are also owned by pets a few laughs.

Dear Dogs:

The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, bark, or try to get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, and then go smell the other dog's butt... I cannot stress this enough.

Have a great day!

Results are in

Lillie was found to have had an excised Mast Cell tumor to be in Stage 2. Not the news we were looking for, but not all that bad either. As I said, it was the excised tumor that had these findings. Doctor feels confident that they removed it all. She informed us that in 85% of the cases she herself has had with patients with a Stage 2 diagnosis - those patients never have to come back after having the tumors removed. Wonderful news to hear. For now we watch, wait and continue to appreciate all that we have. Lillie is doing great, running and jumping like nothing ever happened and we cannot ask for more then that.


Enough with all the doom and gloom. Wanted to share a cute photo of our 'youngest' - Otis. He's the part Pomeranian guy who will be two in April. He is a little love bug of just about 30 pounds. He has an oral fixation, and as such is rarely seen without a stuffed animal, treat, etc. in his mouth - unless of course he has recently buried it - in which case, the evidence is all too apparant. As you can see from the photo, he is our little digger, and our yard has certainly paid the price. Can you believe the picture above was him thinking he actually got away from his latest attempt.... With a face like that though - I was disarmed instantly and could do nothing but giggle and grab the camera! Enjoy

The Ups and Downs

It's been a while since my last post, and I apologize for that. This past week has been a bit rough on us. Not only did I have a major project going live at the office that kept me there for 12 + hours a day - but our newest addition; Lillie, our black pug, needed surgery.

We had found a bump on her left thigh in Decemeber. We brought her to our vet and they performed a needle aspirate. Inconclusive results. They gave us some histamine blocking medications and told us to go back in two weeks. Two weeks later the bump was still there. It was not any bigger, nor painful, but still there ensuring we hadn't forgotten about it.

We took her back to the vet, and this time, after performing another needle aspirate they were able to find the cells we were hoping would not be found. She had what was called a Mast Cell Tumor, and they wanted to take it out.

When we got back home we poured through the internet sites to see what we were up against. Apparantly if your dog has to have cancer, this is the type to get. It is similar to skin cancer in humans. Not removing the tumor could cause internal organs to eventually become affected. So, we opted for removal.

Lille had surgery on Thursday and the tumor was removed. Now we wait about four days to hear what stage we're in. Stage one is our hopes. Stage two and/or three would require more aggressive treatments - and a bald pug with Washington state weather, is not a good mix.

She's doing great and moves like she doesn't have these stitches to worry about. She's also milking it for all it's worth and getting lots of extra attention and treats.

Bully Stick Saturday

Saturday's are great days. First, we get to sleep in. Usually the dogs wake up at their usual 5am hour, but after a quick potty break, they are ready to snooze some more. We don't usually have to get out of bed until about 8:30am. Ahhhhhhh - sleeping in. Then we feed them, and take them for a longer walk. The longer walk is about double what we usually do. It's not so bad since its actually light out so the flashlights aren't required.

When they get home it's about 10am. They get something called Bully Sticks. I won't tell you what those are, but feel free to Google as I once did. It's a bit disturbing. The dogs love them and they are long enough where it actually takes them two days to complete. The great thing about these, is that the dogs are so content they don't feel the overwhelming need to follow me around, working together in the goal to trip me as I go up and down the stairs. It's those little things in life that keep you going:)

Have a great Saturday!

Love Wednesday's!!!

Wednesday's are a Godsent. It's the day all four go to Doggie DayCare for the day. Ahhhhh.

It's wonderful because they love it, and get so excited for the entire 10 minute drive there. The DayCare is owned and operated by their vet - so if they need a booster shot, etc. - it's a one stop shop.

The best part is that they're so completely worn out that by the time they come home all they want to do is eat and sleep. It's a welcomed break for us. We are finally provided the opportunity to watch an entire movie without dogs all over us, pining for our attention. We have quickly found it's those small things in life that recharge your batteries and keep you going until the weekend. Mind you, this does not mean you can open a chip bag - as they will suddenly come back to life:)

Have a great night

Bath Time

Ahhh the dreaded ritual of the back breaking baths.

I try and bath them at home about twice a month. Since it's cold outside I have been letting them grow their hair/fur - and oh the shedding, snarls and the overall 'stuff' that gets caught on them is disturbing. They get groomed about once a month and that inlcudes their nails being dremeled.

In any case, one by one I go through the process.

Otis is my youngest. He's part pomeranian, part something else. He'll be two in April. He is our water lover. I run the bath and he comes running - so he's the first.

MayeMaye is second - and only because I caught her first:). She's 1/2 Cockerspaniel 1/2 Lhasa Apso. She'll be three in March. She's okay in the tub as long as I don't take too long.

Next is Milo. He you have to find. He's generally under the living room coffee table and when he hear's you coming, he'll try and bolt for the doggie door. He's 1/2 Daschund 1/2 something else. I think that 1/2 something else is potbelly pig based off how food motivated he is and his ever growing waistline. When Milo takes a bath, I take a bath. He does not enjoy the experience at all, and his only goal is to wait for when my guard is down and make an attempt to jump out.

Lillie is our newest addition. She'll be five in May. She's my black pug. She came to us when her owners, who loved her, couldn't afford her care. She has allergies, and an eye condition. She's used to getting baths. She came to us in October of 2009. She had an all over skin yeast infection when we received her and has needed weekly baths with special medicated shampoo to treat. That plus her twice daily fish oil has made all the difference in the world for her.

When all the baths are done, they run around the house like chickens with theirs heads cut off. They get soooooo excited. Needless to say, the bathroom is a disaster. There are beads of water running down the walls and doors from all their shaking. I went through seven towels - and of course a change of clothes.

Next the brushing & snarl cutting...I'll save that fun process for another night. The goal there is to try and complete the task with all ten of my fingers in tact!

Have a great night