Back to reality already. What a short whirlwind weekend that was. We both had to go back to work today.

Carol the puppy has been chosen. She will need to get spayed this week.

Back home again in Indiana

Can't say we were really ready to come home already, but here we are. It was so nice to be able to just come home and have our fur-ball kids (and naked chameleon)here waiting for us.

Sometimes kids can come in handy. Michelle's daughter, Kristin, is taking care of Peanut Butter, Velvet, and Stink while we are gone. It was so nice not having to worry about finding someone to take care of them while we were gone.

What a fun day today was. Ann (Arabelle and Flynn) from the DoodleZoo come to be the witness and take pictures for our wedding. That was so nice. It was great. Afterwards we went out to eat. When it came time for the check, the waiter came over and said the lady that was sitting at next table paid for our dinner. He said she was getting teary and asked him to tell us congratulations. That was such a nice random act of kindness.

What a long day

Today I went in to work at 6:30 in the morning. I was really hoping to get off early since I have an early morning flight to catch. Michelle and I are going to San Francisco this weekend. anyway...It turned out that no one was going to do the wound stuff tomorrow so I had to stay until all the reports and paperwork for the week was finished. I didn't get off work until almost midnight.

Velvet hasn't gone to work with me for awhile. I've been waiting to see what my new was going to be. It seems I will be able to work it that I will do dressing changes in the morning, go home for lunch, come back and do paperwork in the afternoon. This afternoon I brought Velvet back with me for a few minuts. She was excited of course and wanted to go see everybody. Well...I ended up taking her back home after just a few minutes. One of the temporary residents who lives just a few rooms down from my office is terrified of dogs. She was outside while Velvet here (thank goodness). At least half a dozen people stopped me to tell me how afraid that resident is of dogs. I wasn't aware of that, so I quickly took Velvet back home. That resident will be going home in probably about another week, so Velvet will need to stay home until then.

Velvet and Peanut have been enjoying raw chicken this past week. Peanut had never had it before. She loves it and does very well with it. She gets the necks and wings and Velvet gets the bigger pieces. Michelle was amazed, and probably a bit dismayed, that her little peanut is fierce enough to chomp down some raw chicken and bones.

Umm...hmm...I guess I only got one day to learn everything there is to know about being the Wound Care Nurse. I'll be able to figure it out. There are lots of resources. It is just trying to figure out all the paperwork and the forumulary and etc... sorry...this has nothing to do with doodles...

Yeah, today I got to round with the nurse who has been the Wound Care Nurse. I felt an adreniline rush. This position is going to be a good fit.

Velvet and Peanut Butter are so funny. Peanut is this little 5 pound Chihuahua thing and Velvet is this big 80 pound real dog. Yet...this evening Peanut was standing just inside our bedroom barking and growling at Velvet as if telling her she is NOT to come in. Velvet just stood there looking at her and then at me as if saying "I will do what you say, but please, I really want to come in". Velvet could eat Peanut in one bite, but she let her keep her out of the room. Of course I didn't put up with that for one minute. I picked Peanut up (with one hand of course, because she is like the size of a hairball) and took her upstairs to hang out with Jill. I do have to say one thing about Peanut, well 2 things: for a tiny dog she is excellent with Jill; and her size is really handy.

Someday soon I will get to start my new position at work. I'm excited. The hours are flexible so I'm hoping to be able to go in early and leave early enough to be able to go spend more time with the puppies.

To stay or not to stay

Before I left on vacation, I told my boss I was likely not going to stay in their employ. The hours are too long and it requires too much on-call time. It just takes way too much time away from my Labradoodles (oh, and away from my family too). They offered me a couple different positions to stay and asked me to think about while I was away. I thought about it, and today I accepted the Wound Care Nurse position. The hours are better, less on call, and I can still take Velvet with me (just not in a room when I am tending to a wound). I absolutely love wound care, not surgical wounds, but big deep yucky pressure wounds (bed sores). Let me clarify that. I don't like it when patients get sores. I feel sad for them and sorry for them. As a nurse, the reason I like them is because they are measurable and (usually) fixable. I'm sure that patients usually get better in spite of what we do to them, not because of what we do for them. With wounds, I can actually see the results of my level of care. If I do everything just right and take meticulous care, my work pays off and the wound gets smaller and smaller and becomes healed. There is so much paperwork with this job. I have an office with my very own desk. I share an office with 2 other people. I will be able to take Velvet to work with me and she can stay in the office while I'm out doing dressing changes. This will be great.

Back to reality

Oh man, I so did not want to go back to work today. I've been off since the 4th, enjoying life with my family. whine whine

Opie went home!

Yeah, Opie has a forever family...but man, what a day.

The family was supposed to come before noon. (this is Father's Day and I was kind of thinking about seeing my father who lives a couple hours away) Noon came and went and I didn't hear from them. I'm such a chicken when it comes to making phone calls. I have telephonaphobia, don't know why, it doesn't make sense, but that is how it is. Liz (Francie's guardian mom who lives at Lincoln Manor) callled for me. They left their house around 2Pm and didn't get here until around 10:00pm. They ran in to some terrible weather. It did get almost tornadoie here. It was really bad. What a horrible, long, slow drive they had. I ended up having to leave before they even got here. It was a school night and I needed to go pick up Jill and take her home. (We live about 45 minutes to an hour from the Lincoln Manor house). So, I bailed out, and Ally and Liz dealt with the family and sent Opie off to start his new life.

Packing up day

One of the pups is going home tomorrow! We aren't sure exactly which one. Today I made the puppy books and gathered up the stuff to send home with them. I did the paperwork and books for all of them so they will each be ready to go when they have found their family. I was up until almost midnight getting them ready. Wow, it reminded me of old times. Tomorrow I'm taking it over to Lincoln Manor to meet with the family. They are coming sometime before noon.

Group #2

The second group went in for spay/neuter. Today it was Mickey, Reba, and Ann. They did great too.

Yeah! I got to get Velvet today. She was sooo happy to see me, as I was her.

Michelle picked up Colonel Stink today. He has renal failure, but he looks much better. His colors are nice and dark.

Off to the vet

The first round of Francie's puppies got spayed/neutered today. Today it was Lucy, Andy, and Opie. They did really well. They went in a little after 8:30 this morning, and the tech called shortly after noon to say they are ready to go home.

We are home now. We got home too late to go get Velvet and Colonel Stink. Michelle did go get Peanut Butter.

The name theme

Francie's puppies are named: Mickey, Andy, Opie, Lucy, Reba, Ann, Miranda, Maureen. Can you figure it out? Usually I pick on older TV show (from Nick at Nite), but this time I didn't. Since Francie and Chevy live in the same guardian home and their family is raising the pups, they named them.

They didn't do a particular show...

They did name them after actors-actressess...

Francie has red hair...

Come on, you can do it...

They are famous redheads.

The names are only their (the pups') temporary names while they are here. We don't want to just call or refer to them as a number or a color, so we always give them a temp name. Their new families will be able to give them their real life long name.

We are in Memphis, TN now. We will be home tomorrow.

My credibility

Oh my, it seems my credibility has been compromised. Yup, someone emailed me to let me know that I have a picture of newborn puppies in a shoe on my website and that takes away from my credibility. She knows this because she and her family are interested in getting a Labradoodle and have read that breeders need to keep visitors away because they bring kooties in on their shoes. Here is the picture
I remember when I took this picture. I was so excited because I just received my first pair of Crocs in the mail. I opened the box, looked at the shoes, and had the bright idea of putting the pups in them for the picture (didn't even try them on yet). I wanted a way of showing just how small the puppies were. ... and now...after all this time I find out that because visitors can track kooties on shoes, I shouldn't have put pups in a new never worn pair. Hmmm, I can't quite connect those dots.

Bryony, Jill, Michelle, Kristen, and I are in New Orleans (The French Quarters) now.

This morning Teri was leaving her house to take Mother to the dr when she remembered something. She ran back in the house and didn't close the door all the way. Velvet nosed her way outside and ran down to our old house again. Once again she sat on the front porch in front of the door to wait for me to open it. Hmm, she would have had a very long wait. It was raining outside. Poor Teri, by the time she retrieved Velvet she was soaked. Velvet needs to straighten up or I'm not going to have anybody willing to keep her while we are in California next month.

Hmmm, let's see...what happened today that was somewhat dog related? Well, when we were at the beach in Galveston, TX we saw this cute little doggie that looked part Chihuahua part mini Dachshund. When Michelle saw him she started missing Peanut whole bunches. She loves that little doggie. I got so burned today.

Velvet misses the old house. She is staying with Teri while we are on vacation. Teri lives 3 doors down from the old house (the Lincoln Manor house). Today Teri though she'd see if Velvet would go from the front door to the back yard without having to be onleash. She opened the door, went out with Velvet, and zoom...Velvet made a B-line for the old house. She sat on the front porch in front of the door waiting to be let in. Teri said the puppies barked at Velvet. Poor thing...she misses us.

Michelle's daughter, Kristen, graduated from highschool today. It was at the Toyota center in downtown Houston. Man that place is huge. There were tons of people there. It was wonderful seeing all those people supporting the kids and their accomplishments.

I have to say I'm just a bit dissappointed that Houston doesn't seem to be too terribly different from Indiana. The dirt is red, true that is different. There are a few palm trees but not very many. Well, there are armidillos and that is very different. The people here don't have a cute southern drawl accent that I was expecting. The only difference that has jumped right out at me is they say "ya'll" instead of "you guys". Where I live, all groups of people are addressed as "you guys", even groups of women. O.k., let's see...red dirt, palm trees, armidillos, cow boy hats for sale at gas stations, overpasses a mile long way up high in the air...o.k., maybe Texas is a little different from Indiana. Tomorrow we are going to go do something. Not sure what we will do, but it will be something we can't do in Indianapolis.

I can see for miles and miles...

I can see for miles and miles of Texas... We are finally in Texas. Man, I sure do prefer flying, but this has been an o.k. road trip so far.

Teri sent an email to announce that Velvet finally peed on leash. I've not been able to get her (Velvet) to pee when out on a walk because she just won't go if she has a leash on. What a big break through. See? It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.

Today would have been my grandparents 94th wedding anniversary...if they were still alive.

Today is the anniversary of D-Day.

Right now Bryony and I are sitting at the counter-desk thingie in the hotel room, each with our own computers. This is such a nice bonding experience. Jill is whiney wanting me to go lay down with her. I better do that. Bry is chomping at the bit wanting my computer since I have internet and she doesn't. Nitey nite

On the road again...

Road trip, road trip, we are on our way to Texas. We actually got on the road at 6:30 this morning. By 8:30 Jill was crying and saying she wanted to go home. Thank goodness that was only a brief moment. The girls did well today. We were checked in to our hotel by 6:00 this evening. We are staying in Little Rock, AR. Man, this is a high priced flea-bag hotel. I'm normally not picky, but if we are paying the price I expect a nicer place than this. We ate at the Purple Cow.

Today is my birthday

I'm so old. We spent the day today getting ready for our road trip. Michelle's daughter is graduating from high school in Texas on Saturday. Michelle, her mom and dad and their little dog, Bryony, Jill, and I are all going together in my van. We will be bringing her daughter, Kristen, home to live with us. This is so exciting. I've never been a step parent before.

We took our pets to various places this afternoon/evening. Colonel Stink went to the exotic pet hospital for boarding. He is still sick, so this will work out very well. Hopefully he will be all better by the time we get home. Velvet went to my sister's house. I'm concerned because, although she has a large back yard, it isn't fenced in. Velvet will not pee when she is on leash. Peanut went to Michelle's sister's house. It is kind of sad and quiet and lonely here without any pets.

So, I got off way late last night and told the boss I wasn't going to be in early today. Still...bright and early at 9:00 she called to see where I was. It seems she really didn't mean it when she said if I have to work a double I can take the next day off. I didn't intend to take off, just didn't plan on coming in very early. I told her I'd be there in about 1 1/2 hours. Then I high-tailed it right down to another nursing home a couple miles away that is offering a big sign-on bonus...

Man...I got stuck working a double shift today. We had a call-in, couldn't find another nurse to cover...and that meant I had no choice but to work it. Got off after midnight-thirty. I've had my girls for 3 days now and have had to work doubles on two of those days. Bryony already went back to her dad's house. Why should she stay in Indy if I'm going to be at work all the time. No way...

Today we went to my family gathering. Over half the family were in NC at my neice's wedding. I was really nervous because I hadn't told them about...um...Michelle.

Wanna see some cute pictures of Francie's puppies?