Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Dasher....You silly boy!

The weather here in West Michigan finally decided to behave on Sunday.  It snowed on Saturday, but by Sunday is was almost 60 degrees.

This allowed me to open up the windows and get some fresh air into the house.  It's amazing how such a little thing brings so much joy to my life :)

Unfortunately, we quickly figured out that Dasher wants to enjoy the nice weather as much as we do.  We adopted him in December and he spent 2 years at the shelter prior to that, so we have been anticipating how he would act once the weather got nice.

He is becoming pretty tricky at trying to find ways to escape through the door when you are trying to leave.  It's now become a circus act trying to open the door, stick your foot out, wave your hands in some crazy motion to scare him and then quickly turning and jumping out the door while pulling it shut at warp speed.

So, on Sunday, when I opened up the windows....this is where I found him



At first I was mad because he had put a bunch of holes in the screen (welcome to our home mosquito's), but then I just laughed.  He is such a silly cat!

I think the next nice day we have, I am going to put one of the cat harnesses on him and take him outside to explore.  That's the least he deserves to make up for the years in the shelter.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Animal Cruelty Prevention Month

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month.....


In honor of this, Lainey decided to wear her orange collar and show her support.  Isn't she the cutest?


Monday, April 8, 2013

March Madness

I'm not sure how many of you are sports fans...but you know how I love my Michigan Wolverines.

Basketball is not my favorite sport...I'm definitely a football kind of girl!  Nonetheless, when the Wolverines are doing as well as they have been, I can bring myself to watch a little b-ball.

Tonight Michigan will play against Louisville in the 2013 National Championship game.   It's been a long time coming.....Well, since 1993 when the Fab Five played in the championship game against North Carolina.  Unfortunately, Chris Webber infamously called a time-out with 11 seconds left in the game when Michigan was down 73-71.  There were no time-outs remaining, which resulted in a technical foul that clinched the game for NC. 

Lets hope the Michigan Wolverines can walk off the court with a National title under their belt tonight.....GO BLUE!!!


Unfortunately, the game doesn't start until 9:30 tonight and as much as I love my Michigan Wolverines, I don't think I will be able to stay up to watch.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

2 Years

Two years ago today, my life was forever changed. I lost my brother...but the world also lost a father, a son, an uncle, a brother-in-law, and a boyfriend. I miss you like crazy but know that you are looking down on all of us from Heaven. You are forever in our hearts.....

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Best Day Ever!

Yesterday we had Lainey's 8-week check up with the surgeon.  I was literally SO nervous.  This has already been a 10-month process for us and so far, we have gotten nothing but bad news.  I was anticipating "worst case scenario" in my mind the whole way there.

We arrived at the vet after a 2-hour car ride and I was so afraid that Lainey's legs would be sore and tight after being in her cage that whole time.  The cage is small enough to fit in my car so she doesn't have a lot of room to spread out and get comfortable, which I assumed would cause her to limp a little and be sore.  Thankfully, that didn't happen!

The girls at the front desk were amazed that this was the same dog that they took care of for 2 weeks post surgery.  They were loving on her and kept saying "she looks so good" and "look how good she is walking".  It put a smile on my face and put me at ease (a little).

The surgeon came in to the little room to see us and I was a ball of nerves.  She asked a few questions and then took Lainey with her to go get some scans done on her legs. 

The walls aren't very thick so you can hear the doctors and staff on the other side.  As the surgeon was bringing Lainey back after her scans I could hear some of the staff say "is that Lainey? Oh my gosh...what a different dog" and another gal said "Lainey, is that you?".

I felt so warm and fuzzy inside and knew that we made the right decision by bringing her here.  The staff took such great care of her during her stay here and they still love on her when we visit.

And now is when my whole day changed.....the doctor said that Lainey's scans showed that she is TOTALLY HEALED in both legs!  The surgeries were a success!  Lainey is free to run and play in the yard....she can be a DOG again!!!!

I nearly started crying!  It took me a minute to catch my breath before I could even say anything.

She will be sore after running/playing, but that is normal.  Compare it to us sitting on the couch for 10 months and then one day deciding to go run a mile....our muscles would be sore too.

We let her run in the yard yesterday and it was hilarious.  She was doing zoomies with her tongue hanging out and smiling so big!  We could tell she was sore last night, but this morning she was walking like normal.

I just can't believe that our nightmare is almost over!  It's been such a long haul and Lainey has endured so much in her young age.  I can't wait for her to "be a dog" again.  Fetching sticks, chasing squirrels and running after her brother.

Life is good and with patience comes great rewards!