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Sad Puppy

Posted on April 26, 2009 by auburnchick

Poor Pele.  I saw him laying on the floor in front of one of the bedroom doors.

I know why.

Do you want to?

Ever since we started keeping Aubie and Molly separated, Pele has been stuck in the middle.  He’s like Rodney King and doesn’t understand why everyone just can’t get along.  I mean, he doesn’t have a problem with either dog.

His life was perfect before.  Aubie and Molly gained up on him, and he LOVED it!

Now, although he gets to play with both, he knows it’s not the same.  And truth be told, he prefers Aubie over Molly.

Aubie was here when we brought Pele home, so I think that Pele considers Aubie his mom.

Aubie and Molly take turns sitting in the bedroom while the other dog goes outside or spends time in the living room.  It’s really a better alternative than giving one up.  Most of the time, both dogs are out…with one being outside and the other in the den, or vice-versa.  So, it’s not like one is cooped up in a small room for very long.  The chair stays in front of the door when Aubie is in there so Pele can’t jump up and turn the doornob.

But, today it was obvious that Pele really misses Aubie when she’s not out and about. The picture captured his mood perfectly.

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Who Wants Lasagna?

Posted on April 21, 2009 by auburnchick

I’ve been subbing at Chicky and Rooster’s school, which is conveniently located next to the subdivision I live in.  Thus, it’s very easy to run home during my 50-minute lunch.

Soccer Chick frequently takes the opportunity to special-order lunch (i.e. she wants me to bring her something hot to eat…much more appealing than her PB&J).  Today was no exception as she requested two slices of lasagna…one for her and one for Guy Friend.

Not a problem.  I stuck them in the toaster oven (we don’t microwave anything) and ran outside to play with Molly.

She and I have a regular routine now…one she counts on daily.  It goes like this:

I let her outside, where she turns and waits for me until I join her.  She then grabs her ball and drops it at my feet, taking a seat to wait for me to throw it…

See how she’s at the ready?  It’s absolutely the cutest thing.

I throw the ball, and she runs after it, sometimes catching it mid-air.  Then, she returns for the next throw…

We spent about ten minutes outside before heading back in.

When I walked in, I saw the pan of lasagna I had left out and Pele sitting on the floor next to the counter.

He licked his lips.

Then he licked them again and glanced at the pan.

I looked from one to the other, growing suspicious.

I gently grabbed Pele’s snout and inspected it for signs of food.  I saw a little white on his mouth.

Could it be ricotta cheese?

I took a closer look at the pan of lasagna, but I couldn’t find any obvious areas that might have been disturbed by my furry friend.

So then I did what I thought I would never do.

I smelled Pele’s breath.

Definitely lasagna breath.

Ugh.

Almost an entire pan of lasagna gone to the dogs.

However, I didn’t have time to chunk it, so I did the unmentionable.

I placed the Saran Wrap over the top and stuck it back in the fridge.

Say it ain’t so!

Yes, I sure did.

I knew that the Mr. wouldn’t be eating any of it.  He’s lactose-intolerant.  Chicky would be babysitting after school, and Rooster was catching a ride home with me.

I figured I would get home in time to dump it before some unsuspecting person ate from the doggy “bag,” so to speak.

Before I left, I managed to snap this photo of Pele, who looks quite pleased with himself…

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

An Anxious Morning

Posted on April 5, 2009 by auburnchick

Ahhh…Sunday morning.

I had planned on getting up and going to church.  Molly had other plans.

She woke up and didn’t seem to be feeling better.  She went outside, did her business, and drank a bit of water.

And then I saw it.

A puddle of blood.

One look at the back of Molly’s leg, and I confirmed where it was coming from.

I gently wiped her leg, only to have blood quickly reappear.

I did what you might expect.  Called my friend Rabbit, who works in an emergency vet clinic.  Her husband answered the phone by saying, “Good morning AuburnChick.”

Caller ID, and they still answered.  Bless them.

We went through Molly’s symptoms, and she told me the bleeding wasn’t normal.  After advising me to put  pressure on the leg to stop the bleeding, we hung up.

Poor Molly.  If you could have seen the look in her eyes as I gently grabbed her leg.  Full of pain, questions, and sadness.

I started crying…for several reasons.

1) It hurts to see your babies hurt.

2)  Lack of money is forcing me to make tough decisions regarding her care.

3)  I was scared that she might lose her leg…or worse…her life.

My vet opened at 12, and believe me…I was the first in line.  Molly walked in with her tail between her legs and her ears flat against her head.  Neither one of us were pleased to be there.

I sat in the room for a while…lost in my thoughts and worries.  I had no idea what to do and felt so overwhelmed.

Another blow financially and emotionally.  I simply do not know how much more I can take.

I’m so thankful for the time I had in that room.  Molly settled into a nap on the floor, and I stretched out on the wooden bench.  A peace gradually descended.  Although I had no idea what the vet would say, nor did I have any idea how I would pay for it (charging it was pretty much not an option), I just felt calm.  It’s hard to describe.

The vet came in, patiently listened to Your’s Truly, who can be long-winded at times (not that you’ve noticed), and told me that everything seemed normal.  No x-rays needed…no cutting off of her leg (yeah, I’m being dramatic).

My bill?  $35.  This included draining the wound and dressing it in a bandage.  She didn’t charge me the standard office visit fee.

God bless her.

I paid for it out of my checking account, and Molly and I happily walked out.

I did buy her an Elizabethan collar to prevent her from licking her wound…typical animal behavior.   She was not amused.

We both spent a better part of the afternoon snoozing.  When she woke up, I took off her collar so she could eat.  She’s now happily asleep on the couch, sans the collar.  I’ll put it back on her for bed tonight…just in case.

Sigh…

I wonder what tomorrow will bring, given the crazy weekend.

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Molly Visits the Vet…Again

Posted on April 4, 2009 by auburnchick

Sigh…

Whatever am I going to do with this adorable dog of mine.

Molly, my escape artist, decided to jump over the fence on Monday.  No problem…regular thing with her.

Well, I heard her and ran out the garage to intercept her.  She usually starts running down the street after clearing the fence; however, this time, she ran straight to me…limping along the way.

Great.  She landed funny, I guess, and she knew she was hurt.

I kept a close eye on her during the next few days.  She would usually limp after waking up from a nap.  No problem.  She’s stiff, I thought.

Well, yesterday (Friday), I took a look at her leg, and it was almost twice the size it normally is.  It was hard as a rock too.

I quickly googled “swollen puppy legs”.  My search led me to the conclusion that she’s probably got an infection of some sort.  Her leg was very warm when compared to the other leg.  Another sign of infection.

This morning, I called up a vet that’s open on Saturdays and made an appointment.  When I got there, I noticed a red spot on the back of her leg…it was oozing.

Ewww…

Apparently, Molly has an abscess.  It chose today to bust through the skin.

The vet wanted to x-ray her leg, but at an additional cost of $300, factoring in the anesthesia.  I was torn.  I love her, but I do not have the money to go to such lengths to diagnose what might only be a sprain.

I made the difficult decision to just start her on the antibiotics.  If the limp doesn’t improve after a round of antibiotics, I’ll let them do the x-ray and put her in a splint.

Meantime, the doctor cleaned up her leg and, in the process, discovered several bite marks…probably the cause of the abscess.

Now, I haven’t allowed Aubie and Molly to be together.  So, I know it’s not due to that.

Nope.  I think the culprit is Pele.  He’s almost 80 pounds but thinks he’s about 10.  He has a ginormous jaw that probably accidentally tore into Molly’s leg when they were playing this week.  They place rough but not mean.

Sigh…

It’s always something, isn’t it?

Now Molly is sporting a fancy shaved do on her leg…another shameful walk out to the car walking the length of the store because the vet is located in the back.  At least her tongue wasn’t hanging out of her mouth this time.

Sigh…

On another note, I’ve made progress on my Shetland Shorty:

Shetland Shorty

Shetland Shorty

I just finished shaping the front and will now begin the 18 repeats for the back.  Oy…I’m tired of k2tog’s and double yarn-overs.   What a gorgeous texture though!

Oh, and one other thing.  I started going through a bag of clothes that Chicky put together from her room…stuff to give away or sell.  It would seem that I’m going shopping…for me…out of her pile of clothes…

There’s an assortment of clothes.  I hope I can fit into the blue jeans.  I wear a smaller size than her (because she has muscular thighs that require a little bigger size).

It’s kind of sad when you have to borrow from your kids’ closets to enhance your own wardrobe.  Oh well, I’ve never minded hand-me-downs…no matter the source.

Filed under: Knitting, Pets | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Day 3 of Spring Break

Posted on April 1, 2009 by auburnchick

Day 3 of Spring Break began by a leisurely stretch in bed.  I don’t think my feet hit the floor until 9:30.

Ahhhh…the life…of unpaid school employees, that is.

In my defense (a weak one, at that), I had stayed up until past 2am catching up on old episodes of 24.  Every Monday finds me torn as to what to watch.  I had to begin with Episode #11 because your’s truly didn’t know that the network pulled older episodes off of the Internet.

Gee Whiz.

I armed myself with a new project…the Shetland Shorty…a skein of my South West Trading Company Bamboo, purchased in Las Vegas last year…and began work while enjoying Jack Bauer’s antics.

Here’s what it looks like right now (minus the one pattern repeat I’ve since completed):

I placed stitch markers every 25 stitches to keep from losing count.  The picture above also shows where I’ve used extra cables as stitch holders.  I’ll be working on the back from this point forward.

After dragging myself out of bed, I showered and headed out the door…on a mission to find Bernat Softee Chunky in a grayish color.  I had a 50% coupon for Michael’s and a 40% coupon for Hobby Lobby.

Of course, neither store had the yarn.

Ugh.

So, I called my friend, Rabbit, who has the largest stash of anyone I know (and probably anyone you know) and asked if I could buy a skein from her.  Being the good friend that she is, she quickly said yes.  I should receive it in the mail in a few days.

My shopping trip was not a total failure, though.  I couldn’t pass up Spring/Summer issue of Knit Simple.  It has a good picture tutorial on Hairpin Lace and some gorgeous beach blanket/coverlet patterns.

On the way home, Chicky called me.

“Mama, I decided to clean my room.  Can Guy Friend come over after you get home and help?”

Now, how could I turn her down.  She had gotten in the mood to really clean her room after helping Guy Friend’s mom clean his yesterday.

When I got home, she had two big bags of clothes and a few boxes of miscellaneous items…soccer trophies, CD’s…typical teenager stuff.  Guy Friend came over and helped her finish.

Wow!

I quickly got in the cleaning mood and began work on the light fixtures in my house.  I’ve known about, but chosen to ignore, the layer of dust that has steadily grown thicker over the years.  Yeah, I said years.  I’m not that into cleaning, but this icky stuff has gradually gotten on my nerves.

Armed with a ladder and screw driver, I took the fixtures apart and carried pieces to the kitchen sink.

Before:

After:

It might be a little hard to tell the difference because the glass is frosted, but the dirty water was evidence enough.  I even took time to clean the light bulbs!

One other thing that had been bothering me was the dust on the fan blades.  Every time I sat on the couch and looked up, I saw a layer of dust hovering just beyond the edge of each blade.

Ewwww…

So, I climbed on the ladder and cleaned those up as well.  Which led to my having to sweep the floor after.

Ugh…the cleaning domino effect.

One last thing I did was clean the light covering of my fluorescent light in the kitchen.  You know the kind…long and plastic.  A while back, I had noticed dead bugs in it.  Yucky…especially given the location in the kitchen.

In the process of cleaning it, I cut my finger on the stupid plastic edge.  I mean…sliced the top of my pointer finger.

Rats…I always knew that cleaning was bad for your health.

I still managed to finish cleaning…bandaged finger and all.

After that, I needed a rest and finally sat down.

Chicky and Guy Friend hung out, making Mexican Lasagna for dinner.  It was a yummy treat!

They also went fishing at the pond across from my house.

Guy Friend thought he was All That when he caught his fish:

Rooster walked out, and within 30 seconds, caught this:

Guy Friend was not amused, nor were the fishies.  They were mercifully thrown back into the water.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful.  The kids went to church and then the shopping plaza at the beach.  I worked on my current knitting project and watched American Idol (I totally agreed with the voters today).

It’s so nice to be able to relax and just enjoy “being.”

The dogs are enjoying the break as well…

Especially Pele…

Filed under: children, Knitting, Pets | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Photo Tag

Posted on March 3, 2009 by auburnchick

My friend, Rebecca, tagged me yesterday.

I was instructed to go to the sixth folder and pull out the sixth picture and talk about it.  I think she was hoping for one of the green hat.

So sorry to disappoint, but it was (not surprising) a picture of one of my furry babies…

Molly

Molly

Yep, it’s Molly, the youngest of the crew.

She’s the one who has endured countless stitches and staples, and the one I seriously considered giving up.

A funny thing happened while I was nursing her back to health after the last fight.

I fell more in love with her.

The bond between us grew stronger with each antibiotic I forced her to swallow.

In fact, I believe it’s this strong bond that prevented a fight during an accidental meeting between Molly and Aubie last week.

Yeah, I know.  I didn’t blog about it.  I did Plurk about it, though, because it caused me such a fright.

I let Aubie outside without realizing that Molly was doing her business out there.

They faced off without fighting.  I stood frozen in fear just inside the house, uncertain of what to do.

After a minute, I called gently, yet firmly, to Molly, who considered coming in.  I could see it in her eyes, but still they squared off…neither one of them moving nor taking their eyes from the other.

I called to her a second time, and she made it as far as the porch before turning back to stare at Aubie, who stood just outside the porch door.

Neither one of them moved, nor did I.

I called to Molly a third time.  With one final glance at Aubie, she came inside.  I quickly shut the door and nearly fainted from relief.

I cannot tell you why she obeyed my command.  She’s a stubborn dog and does what she wants.

I’d like to think it was the trust that had developed between us during the past couple of weeks.  Perhaps she had a flashback to the pain she endured after the last fight.

More than likely, God’s angels intervened, invisible to the naked eye but much appreciated by Your’s Truly.

Molly’s not going anywhere.  We’re making this work.  She’s a part of the family I cannot give up.

Filed under: Pets | 1 Comment »

A Day to Lay Around

Posted on February 6, 2009 by auburnchick

I don’t know if I used appropriate tense in my subject, but who cares.

I thought I would give you an update on Molly after the horrendous post last night.

She had a semi-decent night of sleep after waking up around 12am.  She was sleeping with me, and I suddenly knew that she was awake.  We headed straight for the door, with her wobbling and limping.  She made it out and did her business, hustling as best she could to get back inside.

We went straight back to bed.

She has a place she hides when she wants to escape.  To get there, she has to jump on the bed and then off the other side.  It’s in a corner, only accessible via this route.

Despite her pain and bum leg, she went to her spot.  I understood.  It’s her place of safety.

That’s where she stayed the rest of the night/morning.  She woke up, went potty, and we crawled back into bed after seeing the kids off to school.  I called in to the school I was supposed to work at, explaining the situation with all of the sincerity I could muster.

Molly slept with her head on my leg until 12pm…a five-hour nap.  I didn’t dare move a muscle.  We both needed the rest.

After a quick jaunt to the bathroom, she resumed her position on the bed.  Pele joined her from the other room.  He loves both dogs and is very confused by the situation.

We all slept for another couple of hours.

I’m probably as messy looking as Molly.  I haven’t showered or changed out of my PJ’s yet.  I don’t anticipate doing so before the morning.  With my long, curly hair, you can only imagine what I must look like.  I won’t be winning the Mrs. America contest any time soon, that’s for sure.

I thank you for your prayers.  I’ve seen some of you on Plurk, and I can’t tell you how much your kind words mean to me.

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

How Did I Allow This To Happen?

Posted on February 5, 2009 by auburnchick

I am an idiot.  Pure and simple.

As I sit here typing this, Molly is laying beside me, trying to sleep off the sedative she was given this evening.

Yeah, she and Aubie got into another fight.  And I was partially to blame.

We’ve kept them separated for the last week and a half.  Things have been going fairly well, except for the circus of putting dogs away before getting out the other ones to potty or visit in the living room.

The dogs have really been missing each other.  Or at least I thought they were.

They’ve spent many moments whining in front of the other’s doors or sadly watching each other play outside, the desire to play evident on their faces.

This afternoon, I watched Molly put her front paws on the kitchen window sill as she spied Aubie and Pele frolicking outside.

I decided to get her leash and take her out to play with them.

Well, as she went through the doggie door on the porch, I turned loose of the leash.

You should have seen the joyful reunion.  However, things quickly got tense, and soon they were at it again.

It took three of us to separate them.  By then, Molly was dripping blood and limping heavily again.

Rats.  This was to be her last day on antibiotics.

I put her in the tub to clean her up and get a better idea of where she was hurt.

It was bad this time.  Much worse than the last time.

She has several deep puncture wounds on her right cheek.  Her left leg is a mess.  The kids’ anxiety level rose as we realized that we couldn’t stop the blood flowing from her leg.  We dried her off quickly and hauled her to our vet.

I dreaded the drive, wondering what they were going to think of me.

I got there with ten minutes to spare before the office closed; however, I was informed that the vet had already left for the day, and I would be charged an after-hours’ fee for him to return.  The receptionist was kind enough to offer up the name of another vet who was still open.  I called them to let them know I was on my way.

The vet’s office is located in the back of PetSmart.  Molly and I had to pick our way around several jaw-dropped customers.

Embarrassing but necessary.

I found myself sheepishly trying to explain the presence of the staples on Molly’s ear and leg.

Ugh.

Please don’t call Doggie HRS, I wanted to shout.  I really do love my babies.  They were so sad, that I tried to make them happy.

Wrong move.  I would have never allowed my non-fur-babies to play with others who had beat them up several times before.

Bad choice on my part, and Molly had to pay the price.

I left her with the vet and returned two hours later to find her nearly completely asleep and in no hurry to wake up.

To get her to the car, we had to load her on one of those big carts that are used to tote large bags of dog food.  Her eyes were open, but she had no control of her tongue, so it hung down beside her.  We had covered her with a towel to keep her warm.

She looked pathetic.  I kept my eyes down as we walked back through the store to the exit.

Ugh.

We gingerly placed Molly in the back of my car (thank goodness for SUVs), and I drove home slowly.  I don’t think it mattered much.  She was barely conscious.

Mr. AuburnChick moved her from the car to the bed, her tongue still hanging out.  She resembled one of the coyotes in the movie The Lion King.  She kept trying to lift her head to wake herself up, but she just couldn’t.

It’s been about three hours, and she has regained mobility, but she is hurting…a lot.

She’s not exactly thrilled with me, and I can’t blame her.  Perhaps she thinks it was my fault she’s got a foggy brain.  After all, I was the last person she saw before being taken to the back of the vet’s office.

She has been wagging her tail for Rooster and Soccer Chick.

So, where does that leave us?

I don’t really know.

The first thing I’m focused on is nursing her back to health.  For good this time.

The kids and I have acknowledged that we need to give serious consideration to finding her a new home.  It’s not fair to make her live half of the day in a room.  It’s not fair to risk putting her through what’s happened today.

Soccer Chick and I were in tears as we discussed our options.  We are going to pray for God to show us what He would have us to do, regardless of what that might entail.  I have not discounted a miracle.  God loves all of his creatures.  However, true love is doing what’s best for the other party.

Off to find some kleenex…oy, what a week…

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Big Needles

Posted on February 1, 2009 by auburnchick

First off, thank you for the nice comments about my scarf and green hat.  Y’all have a way of making me feel so good!

Now, I’ve had a couple of you ask what size needles I used to make the Pom Pom hat.  The pattern suggested size 19’s.  I remember running out to the store to find some.

Here’s what I knit that hat with:

Yeah, I know.  Them’s some big needles, eh?

I was able to complete the hat in under two hours, and that’s only because I had to seam it up.

Make the hat, people.  Do whatever it takes to bring an embarrassed smile to your own family.

Changing the subject a bit…

I thought I would share these pictures I took of Molly today.

Notice her sewn-up ear?

She’s such a sweet girl, she really is.

Filed under: Knitting, Pets | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

A Night of Excitement

Posted on January 26, 2009 by auburnchick

No, it’s not what you think, so get your mind out of the gutter.

You know that my life is very rarely, if ever, calm.  Tonight was no exception.

First of all, let me start out by saying that Soccer Chick’s “new” coach generously released her from the obligation to his team.  The Mr. and I were shocked.  We had braced ourselves for a stronger response.  What a huge relief.

You’d think the rest of the day would be easy, but this is the AuburnChick household.  There is no easy button.

I was sitting around this evening, knitting on my newest project (to be posted soon, I hope) when I got up to let the dogs in.  Molly and Aubie were patiently waiting at the door for me.

All of a sudden, Molly turned on Aubie and attacked her.  Apparently, Aubie was too close to her.

And the evening went downhill from there.

Aubie had to defend herself and got hold of Molly.  Neither would let go.

The Mr. and I tried desperately to pull them apart without getting bitten in the process.  At one point, we each had the back legs of the dogs, trying to pull them apart.  Aubie had a fierce grip on what appeared to be one of Molly’s eyes.  I was standing behind Molly and was dreading what I would have to face later.  We have no idea how Aubie held on so strongly because all of her front teeth are gone.  She’s old.

Don’t ask me how we got them separated, but when we did, I dragged Molly backward into the house and straight to the bathroom.  She was limping again, this time on the other foot.  This was the third fight in a week and a half, and the second in one day.

Molly has a very deep gash in one leg.  We think it went to the muscle.  She has another puncture wound right below the gash.  Her ear was torn up.  Fortunately, her eye is okay.  Aubie got her ear instead.

Aubie has gashes across her back, but it appears she suffered the least physical of the two.  Emotionally, she’s a wreck…shaking like a leaf.  I guess you could compare her to an elderly person being mugged.  In shock.

We decided we better call a vet, but of course all of the offices were already closed.  After a bit of discussion, we decided to page one of the doctors.  Molly’s gash looked like it needed attention.  The vet seemed a bit hesitant but finally agreed to meet us.

Thank goodness.  One look at Molly was all he needed to understand that my concerns had not been for nothing.  This was much more serious than a scrape.  I tried to explain that I had seen children through many bumps, bruises, and cuts during their young lives, and rarely had I taken them to the emergency room.  This time was different.

He put Molly under and got her sewn up.  I cried when I saw Molly trying to sleep off the anesthesia.  She seemed so helpless.

I think I cried because of the love I feel so deeply for my furry babies (remember what I went through with the rat).  We rescued Molly from our local animal shelter.  We suspect that she was younger than eight weeks old…living on the streets when someone found her and turned her over to the  animal authorities.  We nursed her back to health through a severe case of worms and kennel cough.  The vet, at that time, couldn’t assure me that she would live.

I’m worried that I might have to give her up.  All to preserve two lives.

Aubie has been with our family for nine years…ever since Rooster was in kindergarten and wrote in his journal (yes, they were writing that early on), “I loved my dog, and my dog loved me.”  He was referring to a dog we had previously owned but given to a friend due to Soccer Chick’s allergies.  Aubie filled a need inside of Rooster.  She, too, was rescued from an animal shelter.

She’s old now…has gray hair around her face.

None of us can fathom the thought of losing her to a dog fight.  In fact, the thought of her passing, regardless of the “how” brings us all to tears as we know the time will come one day.

For now, we’re going to keep them separated.  Molly will stay in a crate during the day when I’m at work, and the other dogs will stay out.  We’ll work to ensure that they spend as little time together until things cool down.  The vet suggested obedience training to teach Molly to be submissive.  She clearly wants to be the alpha dog and tries to intimidate Aubie.  Poor Aubie gives off an air of fear, which feeds Molly’s sense of power.

The kids are very upset, as am I.  I know that God cares about every facet of our lives, so I’m asking that you pray for us.  Please pray that I would be receptive to whatever solution He deems best, and, if possible, that a way be found to keep our feisty sweetheart (Molly) with us.

Filed under: Pets | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

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