Tucker the Wonder Dog...and of course Baby Afton....

Of course, no post would be complete without a picture of baby Afton...what a cutie!

Reilly....one of the few pictures of him actually lying still...he's still a pup at heart!

Tucker and his diaper......poor guy.....not very dignified....

That fur is so silky.....a very majestic head...

The other off white cloth at the end of his body is the sock we have to keep duct taped to his tail....his tail still hasn't healed from his last 'happy tail' episode...

Tucker the Wonder dog is still hangin' on......although we're not sure for how long. I took some pictures of him....just in case.....one of them isn't a real good shot of him but shows the diaper that he's forced to wear....the poor guy continually tries to relieve himself, a number of times...wherever he is in the house where the urge hits him. He finished the pills that helped his bladder to contract yesterday so now it's a waiting game to see if it'll work on it's own or shut down again. I've been on a couple of forums...they kind of make you feel guilty that you're not doing more....taking him to a teaching hospital....taking him to a behaviourist....I can't even afford a behaviourist for my kids!

Yesterday, everybody but myself went to the Christmas celebration for my husband's side of the family. I stayed home with Tucker.....part of me didn't mind,...I knew it would be too much stress on him to leave him at home .....but part of me was quite bitter....I was in pain...the chiropractor says I've put out a couple of discs....I wasn't pleased with being left with two large dogs to take care of...one being sick...on my own....it was a quiet day......nobody fighting over who's turn it was to play the WII......that's what the kids got for Christmas...they agreed to a joint gift. Praise the Lord it wasn't like the kids over at Home Sanctuary...they did a skit about asking for a baby brother or sister....Rachel has found herself to be with child at the age of 45...you go girl....not for me! Putting diapers on Tucker, by myself was enough, thank you very much!

A very Happy New Year to you all!

So, I guess we'll just have to see how the next day or two go..........

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Day......a busy day to be sure......house to clean, food to prepare, gifts to finish wrapping, seating plan and making sure there's enough cutlery and china for 19....going to the Christmas Eve service....filling 7 stockings.....getting everything under the tree and falling into bed to get a few hours of sleep before the real work begins tomorrow! It's a good thing that Christmas comes but once a year!

Our dog Tucker is still with us...the new medication, although still not allowing him to relieve himself properly, it must be helping some because he doesn't seem to be as stressed and in pain about it all.....poor dog has to wear adult diapers though...not very dignified....

We went to the funeral of eldest daughter and my friend's mom......even though there was sadness, it was a beautiful time of praising the Lord....I have to admit that of all the Christmas things that we've been doing the last few weeks...even at church, that the funeral service was the closest that I've felt to having joy and praise in my heart that I've felt for a very long time. The people at this church spent most of the 2-1/2 hours praising the Lord as well as doing the usual tributes to a fine lady. It did one's soul good to be privileged to be a part of it all.

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow......

Merry Christmas to one and all.....

The Sunday before Christmas......

Afton was patiently waiting for the kids musical program tonight at church. Poor Afton, she inherited my nose......poor kid...

Verity decided that she would try out the controls at the sound board.......

....and of course, Jairus would also have a try......

Honour was in the musical play.....her first time at singing and some acting...she did pretty good for only five years old.....plus she had a nasty cold that was dragging her down....I tell ya...my sweet grandbabies were the only thing that would have got me out tonight....it's very blowy and cold with lot's of snow in our area today....not my idea of a good time! You'd think with being a Canadian all my live long days that I'd be used to it....but, I'm not!

Poor Tucker! So far the medication that the vet gave him to break down the crystals and allow him to relieve himself properly don't seem to be working. I'm afraid that we are just putting off the inevitable. I feel badly that my old friend is ending his life this way.

Tomorrow eldest daughter and I are suppose to attend the funeral of a good friend's mom. Not a good way to start off the Christmas week but it must be tons worse for the family that has to face Christmas in a few short days without their beloved mom.....Life goes on.....whether it be Christmas musicals, doggies dying, loved ones last good byes, putting the turkey into the fridge to start the big thaw...hoping you have all the stocking stuff purchased and that everyone has equal amounts,cleaning the house for company, doing laundry...there's always laundry.....wrapping the gifts...it doesn't stop...sometimes you wish it would...and other times you're quite happy for it to be put on a fast speed........anything to get out of the pain you're in....anything to get the joy back in your heart......

My poor doggie

I've posted a picture before of my dog Tucker...the black lab that likes to carry his metal dish around in his mouth....well, poor Tucker is sick....we even thought we were going to have to put him down today, I really didn't want to do that, especially this close to Christmas. It reminded me of another dog I had many years ago. His name was Tippy....Tippy was a little on the wild side. He was an outdoor dog and he used to always try to dig out of his pen....he used to peel back the corner of the fencing with his very strong jaws and get loose! So, because it was in December, and very difficult to fix....my dad attached a long chain to his house inside the pen and hooked Tippy up to it. Well, three days before Christmas my younger brother went out to take him his food and found that Tippy had hung himself trying to get back into the pen after he had gone through the opening he had created....I know, pretty gross......I was devastated....he was my very first dog.
Now Tucker, my black lab was a birthday gift to me nine years ago. He's also a very strong dog...we had to attach airline cable to the framework of our fridge to attach Tucker to whenever we left the house. There were many times that we would come home and find the fridge moved!
Well, about a week ago we noticed that Tucker was having difficulty relieving himself...we already had a vet appointment set up for the next day because Tucker had happy tail again. Happy Tail is when a lab whacks their tail so hard on furniture and appliances , when they're excited, that they split their tail at the tip and you have blood everywhere. Tucker's tail had been split for a month and wasn't healing. We always put a sock on it and attached it with duck tape to keep it on. It usually heals in a week to ten days, but this time it wasn't. When he went to the vet the vet thought he had a kidney infection and put him on an antibiotic. A week later he was worse...last night he spent the whole night, just pacing and groaning. So back to the vet we went to today. The vet was at a loss to know what was wrong...he exrayed him and saw that his bladder was huge! The sedated him and put in a catheter and took off a lot of urine.....they sent him home with more meds. The vet kind of indicated that it the new medication didn't work that we should consider euthanizing him.

Poor Tucker......

Christmas Party

When we were at the party a man that my hubby works with asked if he could take our picture...so here it is! It was an enjoyable evening..the food was good. Although, it wasn't until we were on our way home that my husband said that the other three husbands of the three couples at the table were all vice presidents! Good grief...and there I was, asking the man beside me...he was quite young....'and what is your work with the company?'....groan......if I'd only known.

My hubby looks quite handsome in his suit doesn't he? It used to be that he always had to wear a tie and jacket but once they went to dress casual he rarely wears a suit and tie anymore. It was a nice occasion to get dressed up!

Despair!

Well, I was going to write about a much nicer subject.....the Christmas Dinner/Party hubby and I went to....but....I have to get second eldest daughter to show me how to get the picture from another site....for some reason when it was put on my computer by said daughter, which I very much appreciated, it didn't show up in the place where I access pictures for my blog! And I think that's the longest sentence that I've ever written! Anyways, it's 'the girl's' day off so maybe when she arises from her slumber she'll show me!

No, the subject that has been the bane of my existence the past week (at least) is fruit flies! You know, those pesky little things that swarm fruit gone bad? Well, I have them in the house and can't seem to get rid of them. We have tried many things.....containers of apple cider vinegar with some soap in it....that just seems to multiply them! We've searched everywhere for the source....thrown out every bit of garbage....cleaned every moist area......like around the edges of windows where the condensation collects.....every damp face cloth, dish cloth goes into the wash. Yesterday, I went around the house like some maniacal idiot spraying soapy water on every fly that I saw and wiping up the effect (dead fly). I am in despair!!!!!! In two weeks, I'm suppose to have eighteen people sitting down to Christmas dinner and I don't think they'll enjoy fighting for the food with the fruit flies!

If anyone out there has any solution, I would be eternally grateful!

Mom, New Clothes and Christmas Trees!

On Wednesday afternoon they did an angiogram on my mom....during the procedure they determined that one of her arteries was 99 percent blocked! We were very thankful that she didn't require more extensive surgery. Late Thursday afternoon the hospital discharged her, and after six days of her continuously saying that she wanted to go home...this morning she was saying that maybe she should have stayed! Mom was having some anxiety over being home....after some nitro and some gravol she seemed to calm down. I'm sure that her anxiety was pretty normal, considering the surprise she had at having a heart attack!

We are all hoping that after awhile she'll be able to relax and her and dad will be able to get some rest. Poor dad hardly slept at all last week and now is quite exhausted.

Tonight, all four of my youngest kids went to the Christmas formal at our church...they were all dressed up and looked very grown up! Good grief...I felt old.....but I made up for it because while they were at the church, I went out and bought myself some new dressy clothes for hubby's company dinner tomorrow night...It's been about six years since I bought myself anything dressy so I must admit I felt a little guilty! My sister says that I deserve it though and that's good enough for me!

Tomorrow morning is Christmas Tree Hunt at the Christmas Tree Farm......it's to be about a kajillion degrees below zero....I'd better dig out the long johns!

For Better or For Worse...

It has been an exhausting week so far and it's only Tuesday! My mom is still in the hospital...They finally found a room for her! Praise the Lord! Poor mom even spent the afternoon and part of the evening in the hallway because they needed her spot in the cardiac unit of the ER. She did have a heart attack and so, in the next few days they'll be doing an angiogram and an echo to assess the damage.

My dad is finding it hard to be on his own but he's getting through it.....my sister and my brother have been doing a lot....my sister is the eldest in the family so naturally takes on the most......it's her nature and that's fine since I still have kids at home...she has a little more freedom then me. Our other brother has been sick with a respiratory infection, so we want him to stay at home, thank you very much!

Once again you assess your life.....with and without your parents.....you know it's life, it's reality....but you don't like it. You don't like seeing your mom...the one that took care of you all those years, struggling to understand what's going on......confused as to why she can't go home. You're heart breaks at seeing your dad having to leave his wife at the hospital, to go home,...by himself.

Next March, they'll have been married 65 years!.....that's a long time....for better, for worse...in sickness and in health.......