Goodbye Lady Girl

 
I'm writing this post with a heavy heart on the night before we take Lady to the vet to have her put down. I have to do this now because I know I won't be able to do it tomorrow, or probably the rest of the week.  Lady has been with me for 15 years. We got her while I was still in Florida and I was 14 years old living with my Dad and Stepmom Marsi. these old pictures are of me with Lady when she was a puppy.

 

She was such a good puppy. I still remember the day we went to the ASPCA and found her. She was sitting all alone in the corner by herself in a cage full of other black puppies. She was unique from the beginning and very independent.  She was always my girl from the beginning and she always used to lay on my bed when it was time to go to sleep.

When it was time to move to Utah she came all the way with me flying in the airplane in a crate by herself. She's always had to be able to get along with other dogs. She's been in numerous dog fights in her life, none of her own causing. Her first incident that I recall was when Marsi was walking her in the neighborhood in Florida when she was about 6 months old. They came upon a house in which the owner opened their front door and a big golden retriever (or something) came flying out and attacked Lady. She was able to wriggle free from her collar and ran straight home! She pushed open our front door (it was the kind that just pushed open) and she came and jumped on my bed. I was doing my homework and thought nothing of it until I heard Marsi outside yelling "Lady! Lady!". I ran outside to meet her and told her Lady was on my bed. We realized that Lady had known her way home and into my room for safety.

After moving back to Utah she had to live with Quita, a pretty ferocious Chow and Akita mix that was owned by my stepsister. That dog was very mean and had killed more than 1 neighborhood cat. Somehow they learned to live with each other. It wasn't until one Christmas when I gave Chris a new telescope that things went south. He took it outside that night to use it. Apparently Lady got too close for comfort and Quita attacked. Poor Chris got his hand in the way while trying to break them apart and Lady chomped down on him. We had to go to the emergency room for that one.

The next incident was when I was still living with my mom and we had adopted Bambi (Weiner) from my mom's friend Laurie. Weiner is very protective of her toys and one fine day Lady got too close to one of Weiner's toys and they went at it. I happened to be the one to witness this and as I pulled Bambi away from Lady my finger went right into her mouth. I had to go to the emergency room for that one as well and now I have a lovely scar on my left ring finger. Poor Lady.

And finally we come to the situation we have now. When we first got Belle there were some major incidents but nothing too serious because Ramin was able to maintain control over Belle. But we quickly realized that toys were the center of all arguments so we decided it was best to keep Lady's rope away from her so it wouldn't cause any more issues. I still wish we would have done something differently because I know Lady loves her toys :-/ After those initial confrontations Belle and Lady learned to love each other. Even during the last vet visit Belle would cry for Lady because she was gone. They really do love each other as is evident from the pictures below.

Lady has lived a good and full life. I used to regularly take her for walks when she was still able to walk without tripping or falling. She's been through a few health issues including a few benign tumors and surgeries, one of which was on her jugular that had to be done by a specialist. She always had all of her regular yearly health check-ups by Banfield and yearly teeth cleanings. She's just been one of the easiest dogs to take care of because she is so good and loyal. When she could hear me she would listen and she would never wander far.

It wasn't until just 6 months ago that things started to get worse. At her last vet visit in October we learned that she has a heart murmur. She's also been very incontinent and we have to constantly clean up messes. These things I don't mind so much. It's very hard to see her struggling to walk or stand sometimes. We've recently had some incidents of her falling down the stairs. These things scare me and I don't want something worse happening to her. I already do what I can to try and control her pain - I give her dog aspirin every night.

I just know its time right now. The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for all of us to deal with. I don't want her to be in pain and I don't want something worse happening. It is weird to think that we've been planning this for a few days now (we made the decision Sunday night). Ramin has been so good to me throughout all of it because he knows how hard this is for me. He's arranged for everything.

We're taking her at 8:45 am tomorrow morning. I'm taking the day off work because I don't know how this will affect me but I want to be prepared.

I love Lady with all my heart. I always have and I always will. This is what needs to be done and she will be in a better place free from pain.

I love you Lady!

This Week

Lots of different things happened this week :) The first thing is that I started working for a new team at eBay. Instead of being part of the Quality Team like I have been for the past 2.5 years, I am now part of the Training Team - more specifically under the Products and Initiatives Manager. I am now a full time Instructional Designer! This is exciting for me because on the Quality Team I was technically the Instructional Designer and Communication Lead - but for the first two months of the job I was actually more of the communications person and I rarely had time for any Instructional Design. Now, under my new boss (who has tons of experience in ID) I can focus solely on what I earned my degree in! The team is small right now - only 3 people - and there are tons of projects but in a way I probably won't be as stressed as I have been for over the past year while I was working on the Quality Team - this is a good thing!

On the other side of the coin, I don't work with the Quality Team anymore! This part of the transition was the hardest. I had the best boss I've ever had anywhere and I had the best team mates too! I actually got a little depressed this week after working away from them for a few days (I sit in a completely different building now too). So the adjustment is hard but I'm trying to make it a point to continue staying in touch with them and remain friends but going out to lunch with them whenever I have the chance.

So some other news - on the family front - we sent Taylor off to Job Corps this week! I think this will be so great for him because he needed something to help along with school and to help give him a focus. From what I hear he likes it so far. Here are some pictures from the family dinner we had for him Monday night before he left on Tuesday.

 

This week Ramin also got more into our saltwater tank again and we visited an event called FragStock that is specifically targeted for corals and reef aquariums. Our tank isn't set up for that yet but he wanted to go and check out what information he could find. We didn't anticipate that there would be some amazing deals on fish too! We ended up buying 4 new saltwater fish for the tank for $40! If you know anything about saltwater fish, you will know that that is a screamin deal :) We got 1 Clownfish (True Perc), 1 Sixline Wrass and 2 Firefish.

Ramin spent a good few hours that night cleaning up the tank while the fish stayed in their bags acclimating to the new water. The tank was actually pretty gross because Ramin hadn't spent much time over the last few years actually keeping up with it because of his travel schedule. But now that he has a different job and doesn't have to travel as much, he wants to get into his tank more and build it up.  Here he is cleaning things up.

And here are the fish in their bags getting used to the water...

It's always hard to capture good pictures of the fish while they are in the tank but here is a shot...

We already had the bigger Clownfish and the Royal Gramma (purple fish) and we are so happy because the new Clown is getting along so well with the larger Clown, he even had access to the precious anenome!  The other 2 Firefish are usually in hiding but they come out every so often. They came out this afternoon during feeding time. And the Wrasse is beautiful with cool green and blue colors...but he is elusive sometimes too. If I get pictures of them sometime I will. They've been in the tank for a few days now and everyone seems to be doing good.

One final note - I only have 3 weeks of school left!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still have tons to do for my final project but I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel now!  I have received my graduation invitations and will be sending those out this week sometime I hope. I'm so excited to finally be done!

Easter Decor

I finally spent some more time this year focusing on my holiday decor. I went to Tai Pan Trading with Jenn Baugh today and got a really cute Easter/Spring tree! I absolutely love it and I'm excited because it stay out as decor from Easter through early Summer :)

Jenn and I also visited the Wood Connection and got some cute wood items to paint and glitter. Since I knew most of my Easter decor was already pretty busy...I decided to keep my wood eggs simple with paint and glitter. I also had some lace fabric that my mom gave me and it added the final touch to the entire table so it could all be cohesive :)  I hope everyone likes it!

Updates

Ramin has been sick this week. He took the last 3 days off from work and stayed home. This morning he told me that he started noticing blood in his mucus yesterday and its been continuing and he thought he should go to the doctor. I agreed and we headed to InstaCare. It turns out that he must have just really irritated the capillaries in his nose and that was causing all of the blood. The doctor prescribed him some amoxicillin anyway in case he does have an infection. I've been thinking I may end up getting sick myself so I've been trying to rest up as well. I went to bed really early on Thursday and Friday nights. I *really* don't want to get sick :)

Our dog Dingo also went to the Vet last week because he needed his ear checked out. Since we've had him he's been getting progressively worse - he used to just yelp if you rubbed his right ear too hard. And then he would start scratching his own ear and yelping because he would hurt himself. So finally, last weekend he woke Ramin up one night just yelping a lot. So we figured it was time to take him in - we probably waited too long but we had hoped it would get better on its own.

The Vet and Vet-techs swabbed his ear and looked at the results in the micro-scope. He has a big time yeast infection in his ear. So they showed us how to clean it out and how to apply the medication. In all my life of owning pets I've never once had to deal with any ear issues so it was kind of interesting for me to learn about it all. The entire trip cost us about $100 including the visit, ear cleaner and medication. I've been cleaning Dingo's ear out every day and we have a follow-up appointment with the Vet on Monday to check on his progression. I can already tell it's made a world of difference and I'm sure Dingo appreciates it.

Work is going good. I have LOADS to do, which is great job-security right? I am spending this weekend reading some Instructional Design books I purchased on my own - for my own education. I am also taking some time to learn a software program called Camtasia that I am going to use at work to create some online instructional tutorials. This whole thing is also beneficial for school because my final school project is actually a project I need to do for work anyway - I love killing multiple birds with one stone :)

So that's the update. Not much to report. It's been snowing on and off here in Utah. I haven't taken any pictures recently otherwise I'd post them up. I'm hoping as the time turns into Spring I'll have the time to work on my garden and post up progression pictures as usual :)

Updates

This week I officially was granted a new position at work. I am now the Instructional Designer and Communications Lead for the eBay Quality Team. I'm really excited about this because this is what I've been working toward for a really long time. And I'm really happy that I was able to get this job before I even officially have my degree! The best part about it too is that I get to stay with my current team and boss. I love everyone on my team and I'm really happy I get to continue working with them. Getting the job wasn't easy, I had some really tough competition but in the end I learned a lot and it's really made me appreciate the strengths in others more than I ever did before.

Aside from that piece of good news, I'm working EXTREMELY hard at school this semester. It is my last semester and I have to complete my capstone project. I am lucky that I am able to take a project that needs to be done at work and apply it to school - it is the complete fusion of school and work - finally! So, over the next few months I'm going to sort of cut myself off from the world for a bit and really focus all of my efforts on work and school. You're probably thinking, how is that any different than previous? Well....the difference here is that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm in a really great place right now and I know that once school is finally over for me in May, I'll be able to really accomplish some of my other goals I've been putting off for too long.

These are some of the things I had on my goal list for 2011:

• Get a promotion/get an instructional design job (DONE!)
• Graduate with my Masters Degree (in May)
• Lose 50 lbs (workin on it)
• Save up a good emergency fund (workin on it)
• Figure out the marriage situation (workin on it - most likely after graduation)
• Go to England
• Start up my Etsy store again and really focus on it
• Get pregnant so I can have a baby at 30 (most likely at the end of the year)

A few of those items on my list also require the input of Ramin of course but don't worry, we've discussed everything and he is on board with my planning.  I like to have plans and so far they've worked out for me in my life. Many times I wish that I could have gotten started on my family sooner like most of my friends, but I am glad I have waited until school is done. I've been able to progress so far in school and in my career that I know I'm in a good place. If I needed to take a few years off work to raise a family I could do it and not have to play major catch-up when I go back into the working field.

Anyway - 2011 has been good to me so far. One month down - 11 more to go!

Valentine's Crafts

 

This is the Valentine's yarn wreath that I made today to hang on my front door. It turned out really cute and when I posted it on Facebook lots of friends said they liked it as well. I may need to put some instructions together of how I made it or just have a little get together to show everyone how to make one. I'm glad people like it because I really do have fun making them. I'm also getting done with them quicker too - this one only took 1.5 hours. I may need to make one for everyone holiday now. I'll need to start working on one for St. Patrick's Day next :)

Christmas Time!

As usual we held Christmas at our house. Since we don't have little kids around, mom, Taylor and Bob came over around 3 pm so we could all open presents. Here is the low down of how it went:

Our tree and presents

 

The entire family - minus me of course since I'm taking the picture :P All of the dogs are there too!

Taylor, Mom, Bob, Chris, Babak and Ramin

Belle, Lady and Dingo

 

Babak and Ramin both got some batteries...they didn't know what for though.

I gave Taylor a nice Nike shirt - he doesn't look thrilled but he was :P

I gave Bob the "I blog, therefore I am" t-shirt. He got a kick out of it!

 

 

 

Chris got Mom a cool sewing caddy so that she can put a lot of her thread and supplies in it and take it around where she needs to go

 

I got Babak a Nike golf shirt - he thought it was a basketball shirt - but it works either way :)

I got Ramin a Columbia sweater. He doesn't have many sweaters so maybe he can start wearing one now

Chris' friends, the Pope's, got him a cool game called Brass. Another one for us to learn!

Ramin's mom got him some nice Lacoste cologne to add to his collection

The Pope's also got Chris this awesome t-shirt!

Here's what Babak's batteries were for - Chris got him a remote controlled helicopter!

Ramin's mom also got him some nice new jean shorts

Bob loves making Photoshopped pictures, so Chris got him a book to learn more about it. Chris also needs to get Bob the correct version of Photoshop too now!

Babak got Chris a cool headset for gaming. Chris needed a new one!

Ramin got some more dress shirts from his mom - she always gives the nicest ones!

Babak has a really old digital camera, so Ramin bought him a nice new one!

Chris and Babak like to give each other funny/joke type of gifts. So Babak got Chris some shampoo and body wash - they obviously thought it was hilarious!

Chris' current bed spread is horrible! The dogs have slept on too much and ripped holes in it. So I got him a nice new one - no dogs allowed!

Ramin's final present to Babak was a book called "Where's Stig?" - if you don't know what the means don't worry about it. It's from a show in the UK called Top Gear that we love.

Here's Ramin's present from me - to match his batteries. It's called Mind Flex and it's a game that uses your actual brain wave power to move a ball around an obstacle course.

After all of the gifts were open - everyone naturally had to play with everything!

Babak looking through his Where's Stig? book

Babak testing his brain power on the Mind Flex game

...and Babak trying not to think so hard

Ramin tried it out too...

...and tried not to think so hard too!

Mom played with her new Nintendo DS games while Belle sat with her on the couch

And speaking of dogs...here are some of their cute pictures from Christmas Day!

Dingo likes to do this with both Belle and Lady....here he is resting his head on Belle's shoulder. So cute!

This is Taylor's favorite trick with Belle. She looks bent out of shape once I snapped the picture but she likes to just sit in his lap and be held like that - she's so weird when the camera turns on though!

Mom and Bob always give the dogs so much love and they let the dogs get away with a lot - like jumping up on them to get love!

How can you not love this face? Belle is such a little ham!

And that was our Christmas Day! We had some friends over throughout the day as well which was nice :) Overall it was a good and quiet Christmas - and not it's finally snowing outside too!