interloper.

public statement

Well, today was the day.

I was at the Napa County Courthouse this morning so I could make a statement at the sentencing of my neighbor, aka TheBadMan. 

For those new here, TheBadMan lives right next door to me here at YeOldHouse, where I live during the week (and most weekends too, as of late, due to the busy kid schedule).  TheBadMan was charged with Felony Animal Cruelty by The People of California because last fall he shot my dog Riley with bb-gun for barking too much (and the pellet went into my dog's eye).   

 remember this sad sight??

This whole ordeal has been anxiety producing, and that is the understatement of the century.  I thought I might pass out in the courthouse waiting to be called up to speak. It was completely unnerving to have to get up and speak publicly with TBM standing next to me (TheBadMan...that's the verbal cue I've trained Riley to respond to when the neighbor is home and I want my dog to be quiet outside and quickly.)  I am so thankful to TheMostImportantGuy for taking time off work to accompany me and steady my nerves (he showed up in one of his hot new suits, too...lookin' all lawer-ly and all that LOL).  

TheMIG said I gave a good statement, and the judge really seemed to understand the gist of what I was saying:   Sure, give TBM jail time, make him pay restitution, keep him on probation...that's all good.  But what about preventing future incidences? I mean, I know the court can't wave a magic wand and protect me, but can there not be a system in place for him to do something first before "having a lapse in judgement," as it was referred to?  Could he call or text me if the dog is bothering him? Or call the property manager? Or call the police with a noise complaint? Rather than shoot the dog as his first course of action like he did last time??   

I had been advised that part of TheBadMan's probation would supposedly include a "no contact" clause. Well, true. I don't really want any contact with the guy, at least not face to face (or dog to face).  But don't you all agree that I should want TheBadMan to have contact instead of doing something rash again?  Am I right???  I mean, had he just contacted me in the first place, could all of this not have been averted?  I am sure the judge heard that, and she gave a bit of a mini-lecture to the TBM about all of it, a couple of times referencing things I had said during my nervous little speech.  The DA who was present today heard my request, too.... and she is going to pass that contact/no contact recommendation on to the probation department.

TBM still shows no remorse, and he even still claims he didn't do it. It was stated today that he claims it was a target practice accident. YAH RIGHT. Like, what? You were aiming for the dog's ass and only accidentally hit his eye?? Screw you. Gimme a break. (and let us not forget that TBM admitted to the investigating police shortly after the incident that he did it, which is on the record.) 

Anyhow. The court delayed sentencing until next week, giving TBM time to pay restitution (even though he has already been given that time).  The DA wanted him convicted of the felony today because TBM had not paid yet (and he should have done so before today), but the defending attorney claims they didn't know the amount (but I think they did).  Because TBM has the squeekiest of clean records, the court gave him the time, and he has to reappear next Tuesday. I don't need to go. But I think I might. Why not. 

The judge stated that next week at sentencing the court will probably reduce the sentence from a felony to a misdemeanor, but get this one: when the judged asked the defending attorney why he wanted it reduced, TBM's attorney had the audacity to say that if his client had a felony conviction on his record, he wouldn't be able to own firearms. 

WELL, YAH. 

DUH.

~ le sigh ~

Anyhow. Even if only convicted of a misdemeanor, the TBM should still have to serve a small amount of jail time (the DA is asking for 30 days, but that really means 15 for good behavior, I think). He will have to pay restitution, and he should also have a long probation period (3 years is what the DA is asking for) including community service hours working with animals. I'm not sure what agency involved with animals would be crazy enough to accept a dog shooter in their midst for community service (you'd never let pedophiles volunteer in a classroom) but in my deepest fantasies, I'd  love to see TheBadMan having to spend hours upon hours picking up many huge piles of dog poo while listening to a symphony of howling and yapping dogs.

Jerk.

dental day

Today was a no-fun-for-anyone-at-the-vet day. Myself included, and I am not even a dog or cat!

Gaara, the orange tabby, had to go in for oral surgery. It seems he has some strange kitty disease that causes kitty teeth to rot out of their heads. The doc said it was caught early enough that he only needed 8 (8?!!) teeth removed.  Today was the big day. Not a happy kitteh.  I did get a call from the vet tech after surgery though, and apparently it was not quite as bad as they thought, and they only had to remove 4.  I'm sure it will not reduce the bill much.  And poor Gaara had to spend the night in kitty jail.

But then there's the dog. Remember how poor Riley was attacked by a pitbull only July 4th, 2011?? (If you want some crazy drama, go back and read all of July, maybe even some of August...it's a doozy)  Well, if you will recall, part of that attack included a portion of poor Riley's jaw coming undone.  That's right.  The front right corner of his bottom jaw was just sort of hanging there. His canine and 3 or 4 front teeth were sort of hanging in the breeze.  The emergency vet sewed it back on and hoped it would take.  There was always a question that he might lose teeth down the road, but it seemed to stick, and it's been over 18 months.

Well, it would appear time is up.  Or something new has happened. I can't seem to get the full story.  I picked Riley up from doggie daycare yesterday (he goes once or twice a week), and they said a couple of hours near the end there, he was "licky".  Like when a dog eats peanut butter, that sort of licky.  I didn't observe it myself, until I got him home.

Lick, lick, lick in the air. And then he spent a good long time lick lick licking the big scar on his side that also came about during the same dog attack.  We looked in his mouth, on his tongue, under his tongue, around his gums, and couldn't see anything stuck there. I check the injured jaw as best as I could for looseness, and I didn't see anything.

Until today, when I came back from dropping Gaara off for his surgery.  The canine tooth has turned gray and it is loose.

*sigh*

I am hoping like hell it is just that the tooth died and it is now loose. I am hoping like hell that the whole jaw isn't somehow loose (I'm sure not poking around and making matters worse!). I am hoping like hell that if he looses that tooth that it doesn't affect the structural integrity of the jawline.  I have spoken to the vet and since he is eating, and doesn't seem in pain, and is acting normal (aside from the licky-licky thing), that it didn't need to be an emergency visit.

I have a 9am appointment tomorrow, and Gaara is set to be sprung at 10am, so I have a hunch I will be exchanging one dog for another.

I am freaking out about it in all sorts of weird ways.  It's that deer in the headlights thing where I forget to eat and drink and take care of myself but have no problem watching 4 episodes of Chopped on the Food Network.  It's nuts.

Anyhow, hopefully tomorrow will be full of good doggie news. Please...cross fingers for us!!

teeny's personal sauna

Teeny has always spent her day following around the beam of sunshine that come streaming through the windows, but she has now discovered The Way Of The Heater Vent.

hahahahaha

mini hap-py

Once upon a time, I knit a Hap Blanket.....

... and I knit that Hap Blanket for me.
I altered the pattern and up-sized it so that it was the perfect couch throw, covering me from just under my neck down to my toes.

Then we adopted Teeny, and she decided that my blanket was hers.

If I would drape it over the back of the couch, she would drag it down.  If I would move it to another room, she would sleep on it no matter what room I moved it to.  She would snarl at anyone that came near her if they tried to move the blanket, move her, or try take it away.  She usually burrows into it, and she's so tiny that you don't even know she is in there unless you poke at it and see if the mass of blanket growls back at you.

When I first saw she was glomming onto it, I remembered that I had a little leftover yarn, so I started to knit a smaller doggie-sized blanket for her so I could eventually reclaim my blankie. It became evident pretty quickly that even if I made a blanket for her, she was already ridiculously attached to the big one, and I figured why bother then.  I tossed the half finished mini-blanket into the UFO pile (UnFinished Objects), and there it has sat for over a year.

A couple of weeks ago, a culled through the UFO pile.  I frogged (ripped out) projects that I know I will never finish, and I got myself organized to work on the ones that I would indeed like to finish.

The wee doggie blanket was one of them, and I finished it today.

The Little Pest followed me all over the house the moment it came off the needles. She barely even let me sew in the ends, she was climbing all over me. She even sat on it while I was trying to photograph it.  I haven't even washed and blocked it yet, and probably never will. Why bother?!

The reason I chose to finally finish this 2nd blanket is because I have been dragging the bigger blanket back and forth between the two houses, and now I won't have to anymore! 
There will be one in each place ;-)


I'm still slowly working on tackling the UFO pile (it's really not that big).  Next from that pile are some black socks with black beading, but the dark color makes for difficult nighttime knitting. I can only work on those during the day, and when I can focus on the lace and beading charts.  So I have also cast-on tonight for a lovely simple lace stole tonight, called Swan's Wake.   I believe it's going to be the perfect knit for watching the Olympics, but if it isn't, I might knit another big hap-style blanket for me, one that I keep out of Teeny's reach!

My Ravelry project page for the doggie blanket is here.

sooo tired, that all i have is a cute doggy photo

Teeny spends most of her day chasing the streaks of sunlight around the house and basking in them. Unless she is sitting in a pile of warm laundry fresh out of the dryer.


The moment the machine stops spinning she starts chasing me around the house until I plop the clothes down wherever I am sitting down for the folding session.

coney baloney

The good news:
Riley got his cone off today!!!!


The bad news:
Teeny noticed this change immediately, and she promptly decided that this means all bets are off, and it is now party time. She is back to her favorite shennanigans. She nibbles at him, jumps on him, and sometimes shoves her entire head in his mouth like they're playing Lion And Tamer. She also chases him around until he will play with her (which looks a little bit like he is stepping on her and flattening her sometimes).

And Teeny is not supposed to be playing or doing anything crazy with her legs as she is still recovering from her own surgery.


Teeny is a Nuisance ;-)

maybe what i really have here is a dogblog

Remember when I knit that awesome Hap Blanket for meeeee to snuggle up in? I made it before Teeny came to live with us, but even then, I had to keep it away from Riley because he was always trying to curl his dog-stinky-self up in it.

Well, ever since Teeny had her little leg surgery, and I was supposed to keep her physically restricted, I discovered that the easiest way to keep her in one place without crating her all the time was to offer her the blanket.





She's now completely taken it over, and she snarls at you if you try to take it away.




I'm using the leftover yarn to knit her her own little doggy version of the blanket, but I don't think doing so will keep her away from the original.
I'll probably have to just knit another one for myself.
Thank goodness it was such a fun knit.

More dog. Sorry if you are bored....but it's the only thing I got goin' on in my life right now though! And it's all encompassing!
(although I am still watching Le Tour and knitting)

Well, we went back to the vet today.

She wasn't worried one bit about the stabilizing stitches that had come untied (thank god, because two more had come undone over night--sheesh!!). In fact, she thought the incision line looked so well healed that she removed the whole stabilizing system and the laces. She also removed the drains.

But. As I suspected, infection had indeed begun to set back in.

For once though, something went right in this whole fiasco. The results of culture had made it back to the vets office this morning before my appointment. If you recall, the vet had taken a sample of the goop Riley was leaking during that last surgery on Saturday. Lo and behold, it turns out poor Riley has 3 very different nasty things growing in there (with names so foreign to me, I couldn't repeat them if I tried). The broad spectrum antibiotics he's been on for the last 5 days have been a bit helpful, but they were not as specifically targeted as they could have been. The doc is super pleased to know exactly what she is throwing darts at now, as she put it.

Sooooo.....behold, the new pharmaceutical cocktail:


Three antibiotics, and an anti-inflammatory/pain med.

Another 5 days of hot compresses, another 9 days of pain meds, and another 2 weeks of restricting his mobility, plus wearing the cone of shame, plus keeping the stitches in along the suture line. 30 days of the new antibiotics. And 6 more weeks of feeding pureed food due to the broken jaw.

And a partridge in a pear tree ;-)

snaps on saturday

spoon-feeding Riley his "dog food soup"

Ok.

I have one more photo and it is pretty graphic.

It's a wider shot of Riley, taken today.

If you don't want to see it, don't scroll down anymore!!!

I made it small, just in case....

but if you're into really seeing the gory details,

just click to embiggen.

I tried to make him look pretty with the evening light and such...





....and I don't think I did half bad.

The sutures remind of argyle socks a bit.


So here's the situation with Riley. The reason none of the previous sutures have been holding well is because he has some sort of pretty serious infection (yet to be determined), and it's just rotting away at his skin. It turns out that even though the vet has been trimming off the necrotic/dead skin and re-suturing "healthy skin to healthy skin", this infection is just underneath everything, including the fat and softer tissue, and so the infection just keeps coming back.

This has the potential to be very bad :-(

This vet who did this latest surgery yesterday (different vet, same office/group) took out a swatch of skin that was about 3-4" wide and ran the full length his side. That's a lot. While she was in there, she also took cultures of the ick, but it will take until Thursday to get the results. Meanwhile, she has put him on a pile of broad spectrum antibiotics. She put in new drains and ran them horizontally. They will come out in a week, as will the wider-set, shoe-lacy looking sutures that are there to reinforce things and hold him all together. He's needs to wear the cone, and he will need to be on a seriously restricted movement plan for 21 days, because the rest of the stitches (the ones on the incision line) will need to stay in those 21 days. Most of his medications (especially the antibiotics) are set to be taken for 30 days, although the meds may change once the results of the cultures come back.

You'd shit your pants if you knew how much the bills are thus far.
And there may be more, plus he still may need surgery to remove one of his canine teeth once the jawbone fracture heals.

My greater concern right now, is that Riley just does not quite himself this time. Up until now, every time he's come home, his personality has still be shining through. It's something in his eyes (or not in his eyes) this time, and it's worrying me sick. I'm just hoping it's because he's tired, or because he's just had enough of all this crap, or maybe that he's just looking strange because he's got a pain patch taped 'round his ankle.

That's my hope.

I really need him to stay strong and heal from this infection.

bullet train.

You know how I keep mumbling, "I keep thinking I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it keeps being another train,"....???

Yah, well. It's not only a train. It a freakin' bullet train.



Today I brought Teeny the chihuahua in for her 4-week post-op check up (she had both back legs operated on). I brought Riley along too, because I cant leave him alone in his present state. While I there waiting, I did my "every couple of hours wound check," and sure enough, the incision was opening again. It also didn't smell so great.

He went back into surgery. His third surgery, his fourth procedure (one was a re-suture under lighter sedation). They've done a fairly aggressive removal of tissue today, have cultured whatever his happening underneath, have sew him up with some other method that involves much more reinforcement, and they are sounding very worried about infection. They are keeping him overnight.

I am just beside myself, am crying lots, and just feel outright sick to my stomach.

Riley, back in April 2008 when he first came to live with us

For anyone looking for me at the Ravelry Meet-Up, I just dunno, guys. As Riley had seemed to be improving, and so the plan was that I'd be in the car with Riley while TheMostImportantGuy set up and tore down the sound equipment he is loaning to the event....and then TheMIG would wait in the car with Riley while I went into the event itself. I have no friggin' idea if putting Riley in a car for that length of time is a good idea. We'll decide on Sunday morning, but tight now, it feels like it's not a great idea. If that's the case, I will be home with Riley, but TheMIG will be there in a room full of knitters....and he's used to being around one or two knitters, but not a whole event full of them. Please direct him to the potluck tables if his eyes look glazed over from all the fiber fumes. A plate of snacks will help him stay grounded.

And as for Portland? Well, I'll know more after I speak with the vet again tomorrow when I pick Riley up, but what is happening is that every time Riley gets re-sutured, they reset the "remove the sutures in 2-weeks," date....and the kennel was agreeable to handling him with kid gloves, but that was with sutures out, cone off. I'm not sure if they're gonna be able to take him. If he's this close to post-surgery.

But really. Activities and trips are not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about my poor little dog. That didn't do anything wrong except to be a dunderhead and approach that damned aggressive dog with his happy face and wagging tail. I'm worried about why he's not healing weel, and I'm really really worried about the infection.

Secondarily, I'm worried about my mental state and my ability to function and relate to other people. In fact, if you just see photos here for the next day or two, it's because I'm just trying to get my head on straight.

a post made in an attempt to cover up last night's kvetch

I knew that a good night's sleep would make a world of difference. I woke up at 6am (with a headache, unfortunately, but...) in a much better mood.

And then I realized, wow! I'm always running around all over the Bay Area doing all the things I do, wondering, "whenever am I going to find the time to schedule a four-hour-window for this or that repair person." And guess what?! I have now have it! And hey....I finally have time to try out that loom I bought 6 months ago! How's that for making lemonaid?!!!

I try. Really, I do. LOL
And I can do this. I know I can. And with a positive attitude and everything.
Sometimes I just needz me a good fallin' apart to get the energy moving, is all, I think.

So, it's 7am here, California time, and some comments have already come through on last night's blogpost.

To TheBon: I love you, too. And I'm doing everything I can to try to make this trip happen.

To PickyKnitter: Thank you so much for reminding me to put on the gratitude hat. You are so right. The outcome of everything has been amazingly good.

To Evil_Cat_Grrl: Yes, I do meditate regularly. It's the only thing that has gotten me through the last four months without falling apart until now LOL. I am going to beef my practice up a bit here at home, and I'm already working on coordinating with TheMostImportantGuy so that I can take a break and get to the zen center for more formal practice on Saturday morning.

Cate: Yah, I am toootally on a mission to find dog-care. My regular vet is a half-hour south of me, and over a bridge with tolls (I never switched vets when I moved up here because I love them so, and have been using them for almost 20 years). Because of the distance, the folks they know that do pet-sitting don't work up in my area. I've spoken to the ladies that run the doggie day care place I bring Riley to once a week (the day when I'm on the road for 13 hours), and they have some referrals. And I've got a few other local pet owner peeps I know that I need to check with...plus I'm going to go check the bulletin board at the local dog park and see what I can come up with.
As for my own vet doing boarding: they do. And they will take Riley in their regular boarding area if he is well enough and needs nothing more than medications. Couple of problems with that, though. First, Riley would have to walk through the hospital area to get to the boarding area, and I'm super worried about freaking him out. He already "hates" the vets. And their boarding area is really set up like an animal shelter. They are in a strip mall, so the dogs are in crate sized kennels, and taken outside twice a day for walks. I know it wouldn't be the end of the world, but our usual kennel has a bit more freedom (bigger kennels and huge outdoor pens for the dogs to run around in for hours). Secondly, I'm not sure what state of health Riley is going to be in by the time this travel opportunity happens (three weeks from now). If he heals well, he might just be on meds, and then the vet could kennel him. But they are worried that the damaged tissue my be necrotic and that he might need a second surgery to cut it all out. They also aren't quite sure if the sutures are going to hold his jaw together, and he might need another surgery to add wires or pins or something. If any of that happens, he'll be in a recovery phase again by the time I would travel, and then they can't board him. I think they could keep him in their hospital area, but that would be at their hospital rates, not their general boarding rates, if that makes sense (the hospital and the boarding are in the same strip mall, but in two separate buildings, with two different sets of staff, etc...if that makes any sense).


So, yah. I'm working on things. Especially myself :-)

Thanks for all the support and comments and love for Riley...and sorry for not calling you out here individually on that score, but Riley just starting pacing around and whimpering, so I am outta here and hitting "publish"!! XO!!!!!

sunchaser

Teeny the wee little chihuahua spends the greater part of her afternoon chasing the streak of sunlight that moves around the livingroom floor, and then she falls asleep in it "standing up".

snaps on saturday (his 'n hers style)

I am doing a 3-day meditation retreat at the zen center.
Since I am staring at the floor, that's really all I have to share.

TheMostImportantGuy, however, is doing some rehearsing with his bandmate for an upcoming gig they have in Los Angeles.
He is also "dog sitting".

-----
Sent (with love) from my iPad

maybe it's the dog that needs to evolve

New little dog has mostly been doing okay. She still has some potty training issues, which I am not tickled about at all but I am willing to work with, but if she thinks she is gonna make in at home in this house here with me???
She had better not pull this crap again:


Arrrrghhhhh!!!
Gah!
Ooooo, I am soooo pissed I have to show it twice.
Sorry.


That is (was) a cake of Twisted Fiber Arts "Yummy". I believe the base is new to the dye artist, as I don't even see it available on her website yet, but it's that ever popular Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Nylon (80/10/10) that's been going around. This is a custom club colorway called "Dazzle" and it was dyed in the "Evolution" design. I've used the evolutions style yarn before on the Mara shawl, and also on a Clapotis. Oh yah, and also on a very silly hat.

I love knitting with the evolutions yarn. It's quite addictive to knit through the color changes.
I love watching the colors change AS THEY COME OFF THE BALL.

*ahem*

I am happy to report that at least the yarn does not appear to be chewed through. And if it was, at least I know how to pull of a pretty clean looking Russian-join now. But this was a pretty substantial cake, and I don't believe my ball winder can handle rewinding all of it, which really irks me (once again, AmpuTeeHee wishes she had a jumbo ball winder).

I guess I'll just wind by hand and bury the color changes into the center of the ball. Maybe as I knit and the colors come off the ball, it will be like a whole new surprise again.
Or so I keep telling myself.

state of the chihuahua address.

Let me tell you where I'm at with the little dog.

I keep telling everyone who asks that I am fostering her. I say that she was found by some friends of ours about 5 weeks ago, and that the wee little thing was running down the street dragging a leash behind her, but our friends couldn't figure out who her owner was. Since our friends seem to collect wayward dogs already (I think at present they have four..?), they couldn't manage another. We agreed to take her in for a bit, and whether she worked out here or we had to send her back, we were willing to pay for her to get to the vet, get her shots and get fixed. Teeny came for a visit a week earlier and it seemed to go okay, so we took her in Wednesday night.

Thursday I took her to the vet (how's that for a fine how-do-ya-do). She weighed in at 3 lbs 15 oz, and she was estimated to be about 18 months. She didn't have a microchip, had not been fixed, and when some of her adult teeth came in, they missed the baby teeth, so there are a few lingering teeth that should probably come out. She was also deemed to have luxating patellas (floating kneecaps). One is a Grade 2, the other is somewhere between a Grade 3 or 4, which explains the twist in her funky little walk (she's not in pain, and she has no difficulty walking, but she may as she gets older). Oh. And it was also determined that she had never had a litter, but that she had either just been in heat, or was just about to be in heat (Well, guess what. She's officially had a visit from Aunt Flo today). She had her first round of shots and will get the second round to finish the series in three weeks. The plan at that point is to also have her fixed and I am considering taking out the baby teeth while she's knocked out.

She seems to be fitting in just fine here. The cats aren't too upset by her presence, and the existing dog doesn't seem too jealous. She seems pretty smart and listens really well. I only had to tell her twice not to go near the cat food, and I haven't seen her make a single attempt since. She doesn't know any commands like "sit", but I'm going to see what I can do about that. She responds to her name, so I'm not about to change it. She walks well on the leash and doesn't have a problem with my wheelchair or crutches. My only big training issue is that she was paper trained. I'm not a big fan of that. I've been keeping a pee-pad thingy out, but she's been using it less and less and favoring the yard...in fact, she didn't use it today at all, now that I think of it.

She's super snuggly. She likes to hide under blankets, and at night she likes to sleep way under the covers. She seems pretty playful and interactive with Riley, but I think I'm going to need to reassess that once she is not longer in heat. She doesn't bark much (if at all) in the house, but is a bit more vocal when out of the house if she is feeling nervous.

I really think she's a sweetie, but if someone I trust fell in love with her and wanted to make her a nice home? I don't think I'd get in their way if they wanted to adopt her.

I aint sayin' I don't adore her. I'm just sayin' I think I am forcing myself to not get attached, is all.



Hope there aint' too many typos. I'm beat and I'm not even going to reread this LOL.
Off! To bed!! :-)

My original plan for this post was to tell you about my dog, Mr. Stoopid McStoopington. Oh. Sorry. I meant Riley.

Riley has broken out of the backyard three times in the last 24 hours, and thank goodness for me that those kids were visiting actually, because I could not have fixed the problem myself. I have a big huge open hill behind my house that is full of weeds (note that little pile in the photo above---that is from one hind quarter, so multiply that times 4 legs, then multiply again for each time he has gone AWOL). The kids helped me to catch him, and they also have helped set up a temporary block in the fence. I could not easily have done that myself. The fence is up on a steep hillside above a retaining wall.

So that was my original plan. To tell you about the dog, and make it funny, because well...chasing a dog around a hillside at 11:30pm in a quite neighborhood is humorous in its own little way...

...but instead, I have a downer.

The neighbor that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, has passed.

a candle today for Frank

His name was Frank. He moved into the neighborhood just a couple of months after I did. In fact, he bought one of the houses I had looked at. We met because he would walk his dog Layla in the mornings, and Riley would go bezerko every time they passed. I finally just invited them in, and so for awhile there, Frank and Riley would come in for a visit. We'd let the dogs run around in my yard, and Frank and I would talk over coffee.

He was a neat guy, and we always had plenty to talk about. He was in his late 50's, we enjoyed a lot of the same music. He knew a lot about gardening and food. In fact, he used to have a garden in Berkeley that was one of the early suppliers for Chez Pannise. He would sometimes give me a hand picking fruit I couldn't reach. He also had a daughter that was born with a disability, and she uses a wheelchair. She has always been a very active person in general, and when she was a kid, Frank often hooked her up with groups that had activities for people with disabilities. He had been a great informational resource for me for as a result. Plus he also inherently knew how to laugh at my stories about life as a gimp. He totally got it.

I hadn't seen as much of Frank in the past year. When I'm bump into him, he'd tell me that he hadn't been feeling all that well, and had also been having insomnia, so he'd been walking the dog at some seriously irregular hours. I still saw him every couple of weeks or so. The day after MyFavoriteKid and I returned from our trip to Seattle, there was a big sign taped to his house that said, "Welcome Home Frank! We Love You!". His son and ex-wife were in the front yard (she lives nearby and she and Frank still get along well), and she told me what had happened. While we were gone, he went to the emergency room with stomach problems. They found a blockage in his intestines, and when they went it to remove it, they found cancer. EVERYWHERE.

They told him he had about a month.
Hospice came immediately.
It was less than a month.
He died yesterday (my dad's birthday, so that will stick with me).

I did get to see him before he went. TheMostImportantGuy and I brought him the last of the peaches from the tree. And I know it's cliche to say that I know he is in a better place, but he is. I am sure of it.

I got the news because a flyer had been taped to the bulletin board at the community mailboxes. I went to the house and his son was the only one there...and the dog, Layla. Layla very slowly and very quietly (which is unusual for her) came up to me, sat down on my only foot...and looked up at me very sadly. I cried, she was so sad. Frank's son said she was there when Frank took his last breaths, and she totally knew what was happening. She put her front paws on him.

I am just completely bummed.
More for myself than for Frank, which may sound shitty...but this feeling is in line with my buddhist/spiritual belief system, and I can't help but say it. I have a hunch he is suffering about this far less than than the people he left behind. I believe much of grief has to do with our own loss. And I belief he is now suffering much less. Physically, and in every other way.

The thought that flashed through my mind as I left Frank's house today was:

One Less Friend.




Off to dance class.

the blob in the background

Ok guys, that was NOT dog poo or dog barf in the background there in yesterday's photo.

(Riley, reprise)

That splotch you see on the floor there is actually a DOG COOKIE.


I think maybe it's the cookie shaped like a squirrel ;-)

Now you may wonder how a person would ever be able to get a photograph of a dog cookie just laying there next to a dog. Most dogs (at least every dog I have ever been around--besides this one), you give them a cookie, they scarf it down.

Not Riley.
Riley does something we here at the CasaDeAmpuTeeHee fondly call "CookieManangement." Dang, I should trademark that. "CookieManagement(tm)."

Anyhow.
Riley spends ALL. DAY. LONG.

• Licking the cookie.
• Burying the cookie in piles of throw pillows.
  
• Hiding the cookie in his dog bed.
• Hiding the cookie underneath chew toys.
  
• Moving the cookie to a new hiding place anytime he hears a dog bark outside.
• Moving the cookie to a new hiding place anytime he hears a dog bark on television.
• Moving the cookie to a new hiding place anytime he or sees anything on the the television resembling a four-legged anything (he sometimes even hides the cookie from ladies on the television with big hair).
• Taking the cookie outside and laying it the sun.
• Bringing the cookie back inside.
  
• Moving the cookie from place to place to place for no apparent reason.
• Making sure the kittehs do not get too close to the cookie.
  
• Leaving the cookie in the middle of the hallway where I am certain to roll over it in my wheelchair, dividing it into two pieces thereby making it a REAL dilemma for him to manage.

Never on that list though has been leaving the cookie in plain view and peering out from behind the wall at me with a guilty look on his face. I have no idea what this means (speak, Riley! speak!).

CookieManagement(tm) is a day-long ordeal. At some point during the day the cookie is eaten. Sometimes I see it happen, sometimes I don't.

sneaky dog...

looks...sneaky.

the evening sit

I know it's a dark photo (squint, will ya'??!), but I wanted to show you Riley doing his evening sit thang:


He does this every single night after he eats his dinner...just sitting on the back step quietly listening to the night air, and it seems that he even knows what "evening sit" means (when you say it, he'll make for the door).

No frogs tonight.