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For the last week or so this little guy has been hanging out at the house.
His name is Mace and he purrs like crazy when you give him some kitty love.
The stripey kitty who will walk all over my feet but won't let me pet her at all.
Rae Charles. Love her little half blind self.
More Rae.
And one more: Rae!
A picture of Dorian the Gray. Dorian has a twin sister too and they have the most beautiful green eyes - they also won't come near me despite feeding them for over a year.
More Mace.
There was a few tense moments as Tobey A. Put his foot down to no more pets. And 2. Threatened to get an apartment. Finally Tobey agreed to take in Mace to protect him from getting hurt outside as long as we (I) try to find him a good home. I called the TNR lady that was able to place several of the kitties in hopes that she might know of a good home for Mace. She only suggested to call a few places and offer to pay for his complete vet care......
I personally like to think that Tobey just can't resist my feminine ways - as witnessed in the above picture!Monday night I was fast asleep when Pete woke me up. By biting me. In the ear.
Usually when I sleep I am like a Mrs. Oh sandwich. Pete on my backside and Max on my front and Tobey is half an acre away on the other side of the bed. I'm the cream between those two puff dogs. If it is a really special night Yodie will be sleeping on my pillow too. And folks wonder why I get no sleep.
This particular night Max was on my pillow and Pete was so snuggled against me he laid his head on my shoulder. Somewhere along the line Max left - again, he is French, don't expect him to be a one-woman dog. When Max left, Pete scooted up my backside and commandeered more pillow.
Then Max returned. I stirred a little bit when I realized he was walking up the edge of the bed - where I was clinging for dear life. I motioned for him to scoot up and Pete went insane. He started growling and barking and crawling over me to nip at Max.
Instead - he nipped at me and my ear. So there I was: being eaten alive, trying to protect Max and my ear and get Pete off of me. My screams finally woke Tobey up as I was running into the bathroom to get a wash cloth.
I was sure my ear was gone. Chewed off because it sure felt that way. Apparently ears are like eyes - the slightest little boo-boo feels like something major.
I spent most of the rest of that night awake with a cloth pressed to my ear because of that whole 'my blood doesn't clot now' issue. Tobey asked if we needed to go to the emergency room. Again. And I declined. Because really - if I go again to the ER they are going to name a room after me.
Needless to say - Pete slept on the couch for the rest of the night.
Yeah I know. It is a picture of my boo-boo ear - but hey - I share everything with all y'alls. You really can't see how bruised my ear is or the cut on the back side of my ear that matches the front. But I can tell you this friends - that thing hurts. Like all get out.
And poor Pete. Now I don't know if Pete was sleep biting or if he really is exerting his dominance over the only other male dog in the house - but Tobey has put him on notice. Me? I just kinda shrug and agree Pete can't go eating on folks and all but really what am I going to do to the poor thing. If it were up to Tobey he would have taken him to the pound that night. What is really bad is that Tobey and Pete were actually starting to bond and now Pete has broken that trust and knowing Tobey - Pete ain't gonna get it back.
As for me? I think I am just going to take up painting again. Maybe some swirly star scenes might do us all some good.
~ame
"Yo, Yo Ma, I needz a hair cutz!" 
"Lookz how pur-tay I am now Mom!"
Now to top the whole groomer thing off there was Daisy. Poor Daisy. Our little sensitive old soul of a pup. I let Pete and Daisy outside whilst I put Max in the Shrekmobile to take him up to be groomed. Then I let Pete and Daisy back inside. It is so much easier that way and then the other dogs don't go crazy when they see the leash is out and they don't knock me down trying to get out the front door.
So how was your weekend?
~ame
Sir Petey-Pete
Awww...ain't his little fungi-self cute...I have added a button on the right for the Lap of Love web site. You may recall they are the wonderful doctors that helped us and Baby. Dr. Dani has put together an online survey and she is asking that anyone who has lost a fur baby or had to deal with a pet's terminal issue in the last few years to please go and fill out this simple and quick online survey - it will greatly help her out in a presentation she is putting together. So go - please and thank you!
I added some dragon, skulls and key charms as well. And what I really love and they are hard to see is the little tiny heart charms that read: Made with Love. Since the kids and their friends play D&D every Monday night at our house I am also making some key chains for all of them too. Am I the only one that can not wait for Christmas?
I also finished up my niece's bookmark thong made from my Great Grandma's broken beaded necklace. I added a photo frame that holds a picture of her and my Great Grandpa. I hope that the little Porkchop enjoys and cherishes this redo of a family heirloom.Since I have been busy cleaning and crafting all weekend and not necessarily in that order: I don't have a post for today! So how about a Public Service Announcement instead?
Pinellas County Animal Services is offfering $15 pet adoptions for the month of August! You may recall we adopted both Baby and Max from the PCAS and they were/have been the most wonderful little furries. If your local why not get a new addition to your family and if you aren't local you can check out your local shelters and Humane Society.
Yours truly,
The Crazy Cat Lady
~ame
The curtains I fell in love with despite them being tres expensive. The same curtains that I waited for months to go on sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond. The same curtains that I got for 75% off plus a 20% off coupon and still they were expensive.
First Yodie shredded them when she was a kit and was learning to climb. Then I came home for lunch and found the above. Tobey fixed the curtains and we went out for dinner only to come home and find them exactly the same way. It has almost been a week and they are still exactly the same - I might be starting a new trend...
Curtains 0
Yodie 9 8 lives remaining
~ame
I promise this is the last one...I think.
But I have to warn you. This might get to be a little...I don't know what...angry? Upset? I don't know really. Some of this in tongue-in-cheek but for the most part....I ache. You've been warned.
On Wednesday morning I get a call from someone named Josh who told me that Baby Girl's 'remains' were just delivered to our vet. Okay. Er. We were told it would take two weeks. It hasn't even been a week yet. This is still too damn fresh. I am NOT ready. *sigh*
Anyways. Now Pete has a vet appointment on Friday and Tobey could have picked Baby up the next day but I couldn't just leave Baby there overnight. Why did they use the word 'remains'. Yes, I know that is what it is - but it seemed so....morbid. He could have said Baby was ready to be picked up and I would have known what he meant. Needless to say I burst out in tears after I disconnected the call.
So after work I went to pick her up. I pepped myself up on the ride over to the clinic, planning on giving them the what-for about the Rimadyl and the wording on their sympathy card they sent. But when I got there all I could eek out was that I was there to pick up my dog. Baby Girl. I couldn't say 'remains'. I couldn't say much of anything.
The girl at the counter asks for my last name. Really? I thought to myself because our daughter worked at this clinic for almost 3 years - and you don't know my last name? That makes me oh so comforted by the sympathy card that arrived in the mail today. It had a hand written sentiment on the inside about how they will miss Baby and how she was a 'great pet' - bastards. She wasn't a pet. She was a member of our family! How dare they down grade her importance by just labeling her as a pet. Pets are gold fish. Pets are geckos. Pets aren't puppy dogs that used to sleep in your bed with you.
Then clerk brings this out to me:
Which reminds me of this bag since they are made of the same material:
Now. What the heck am I supposed to do with that blue bag? The one stamped with the Pet Crematorium Funeral Service logo. Do I tote my wine home in it from the grocery store? I was so not expecting a tote bag/gift bag. Heck. Tobey's brother sits inside a cardboard box. I'm sure he is in a nice box or urn inside that box but the delivery tool was a cardboard box and that is what I expected as well. Buttercup said I could give the bag to her and she could use it at Christmas...but who wants a present delivered in a pet funerial bag?
What really gets me was the tissue paper they put on the top of her 'remains' box. Boxy urn thing. Tissue paper. Like I was going to be all surprised when I lifted the tissue out to find Baby there. Oh, you shouldn't have - I always wanted one of these ______! Hey, wait a second! This isn't a pressie!
Once I got my gift bag to the car I sat there a good 15 minutes bawling my eyes out. In.Con.Sol.Able.
And if it couldn't get any better there was an envelope. With a nice Rainbow Bridge poem with Baby's name and date of death. Have I mentioned that I hate the Rainbow Bridge. Unlike Tobey I saw All Dogs Go To Heaven one too many times and I think our pets do go to Heaven and they aren't stuck outside the Pearly Gates waiting for our demise. So right now Baby is with Momma and if you think otherwise: shuttup. Buttercup brought up a good question about the Rainbow Bridge: what about pet fish? The bridge poem doesn't mention fish bowls - just meadows and hills. So what about pet fish?
And finally there was this. The Certificate of Private Cremation. Did I really need this? I think I know I paid for a private cremation already. I don't need a embossed raised sealed certificate (from the Congress of Pet Lives) telling me so. I don't need something telling me that they cremated her with respect and dignity. I sure as hell hope they did. And I most certainly didn't need anything telling me the exact day that they cremated her. Because like June from BBP stated on Facebook: April Obsess. So now I have added that cremation date to the rolodex of bad dates in my life. Thanks Pet Cremation People. Am I supposed to frame this certificate? I have no idea but I think if people have to spell out things (with respect and dignity) it means that they really weren't acting that way to begin with but here is this little piece of paper we typed up to make you think so.
Okie (Pink collar) and Yodie (Green collar)
Nom, nom, nom.
Thanks for the snacks Mom!
Okie and Yodie: snack time!
Yodie is loving her new collar. Not. 
Okie just cattin' around the office.
And finally my ghost writer is exposed!Don't you just love the word puggle. For me it conjurs up all things Harry Potter and if muggles were to have dogs I think they should all be generalized as puggles.
So a few weeks ago Tobey and I were coming home from church - driving separate cars. I stopped off at the Wendy's to bring the boys some burgers and fries. When it happened. I was about a block from the house and on the sidewalk there was a puggle heading down the street. I could see she had on a collar and I wondered where her owner was. I watched her in my side mirror as she veered off the sidewalk into the path of an SUV. The SUV swerved and I lost sight of the puggle. I about died.
I pulled into our street and jumped out of the van and I looked for the puggle. Which I didn't see any more. I then pulled into the drive and ran into the house to get a leash. I jumped back in the van and headed out to look for the little lost dog. I headed down the side streets and finally found her sitting in someone's front yard.
I got out of the car armed with the boys' Wendy fries and I coaxed her over to me with them. She nipped at me a little when I put the leash on her but soon lost interest in eatting me and went back to the fries. Once she was done and happy I easily lead her into the van and gave her more fries while I tried to take a look at her collar.
Luckily her parents put a tag on her with her name, Miss Piggy, and their mom and dad phone numbers. I called the mom. No answer, so I left a message. I called the dad and he answered. I told him I had Miss Piggy and he gave me his address to drop her off. But he gave me the wrong address - as he just moved to the area, so I can understand that happening. Miss Piggy did have her address on her tag and despite the house not being numbered I was able to find her home.
Well come to find out I had bribed her with fries in her own front yard! After the scare with the SUV she went straight home only to be abducted by some French Fry waving fat woman! Anyways. Apparently her mom was sleeping in the house and that is why she didn't notice Miss Piggy was gone. She thanked me profusely, said they apparently have a hole in their fence and oh by the way: Miss Piggy is preggers. Do you want a dog?
When I got home I told Tobey what had happened and he said, "You know you can't save every animal in the world?" To which I replied, "No, I can.'t But I can save every one I see."
The end :)
~ame
Baby and Max, Christmas 2007
Baby saying how happy she is Max came to live with us. Or not so much...
I am so proud of Pete. I have been telling the family and especially Tobey that it is going to take time for him to feel safe and trusting. I have to wonder how intimidated he was by Baby because the timing seems a little too coincidental. So life is moving on. Pete is out of the bedroom and this is monumental!
And finally there is this bit. We had planned on burying Baby under one of the walk way stones in the back yard. Actually under the stone she most laid upon when we were out back. We figured she would be safe there and no one or thing could disturb her there. I planned on painting a memorial on the stone and setting her doggy tag into etc. But I can't. I just can't do it. Tobey and I already discussed not keeping her little wooden box in the house but I just can't let go of her yet. She'll be back home in two weeks time and when we have to pick her up from the vet I am sure it is going to make the loss brand new all over again. Maybe some day I can bury her ashes but not anytime soon.
Be sure to check back tomorrow. I promise I have a good doggy story that doesn't involve any of my pets!
~ame
Baby on June 18th after her hair cut.
My last picture taken with Baby, June 29th preparing for June's Birthday Pictures. I didn't send the picture in because I thought I looked terrible. Now. I cherish this picture.
Baby, Christmas Eve 2010
Max and Baby
Baby at the dog park!
Max and Baby went to the groomer's a few weekends ago and oh my goodness what a bath and a pair of clippers can do! Of course we get the call to pick them up and were told to hurry as they bathed Max three times because he kept piddling all over himself. He's French what can I say.
Baby's hair cut made her look like Kirstie Alley when she got done with Dancing with the Stars. We have never had Baby shaved so close before but after finding that cancerous growth in her ear we felt it was a necessity. Baby has always sported long Farrah Fawcett-like locks and it is amazing the transformation that took place. I know she must be a lot cooler now and the amount of dog hair has certainly decreased in the house.You are going to thank me for not posting pictures on this topic....you'll see....
A few weeks ago whilst petting our eldest...dog that is...not kiddo... I noticed her ear was a little dirty. So I went a spelunking to further investigate just how dirty her ear was. Now I did this because I had recently bathed Max and Pete and Tobey was supposed to have bathed Baby. Life got in the way and Baby never got her bath, so I was going to say something to Tobey about that because her ears were dirty.
But when I lifted up her ear I noticed a thing sticking out ear flap area-ish. And yes that is the name of that spot - look it up. Any who, I. Freaked. Out. at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday I ran inside and called our vet and got her an appointment for the next morning.
Then. You guessed it. Then I Googled the heck out of 'canine', 'ear', 'growth' and the like. Take my word for it friends: never, ever Google those words. Ever. And if you do never select the Image only option so you can scan all the growths to see which one matches up to the one sprouting out of your dog. The poor gal at the vet clinic must have thought I was insane because words escaped me when I tried to describe what was wrong with Baby. I think I came up with, "She was a bloody looking cauliflower type thing sprouting out from her under ear flap area." And that is exactly what it looked like.
The next morning we went to the vet and I started crying in the lobby because I just knew this was a cancerous growth as Dr. Google had told me in the pictures he displayed for me. Thankfully I never attended vet school and we pay big bucks to our vets to keep our pets in good shape. Our doctor calmly looked her over and said that the growth was a wart and it really needed to be removed because it would just give Baby problems (leaking and the like: ewww). Baby also had a little spot on the back of her head that he said was another wart and he would remove that as well.
Now there was a serious concern about Baby undergoing surgery. Her age, her health and her portly little self namely. There was a good possibility she wouldn't wake up. Worried would have been an understatement for sure.
We made an appointment for the following Monday morning and Tobey dropped Baby off to be picked up late that afternoon. The clinic said they would call when she was out of surgery. Lunch time rolled around and we hadn't heard a thing until our lunch was almost done and Tobey's phone rang. He gave clipped answers, yes, yes, okay, no, whatever you think is best.
And what comes on the speakers of the restaurant? Mmmmmmbop. If you recall I used Hanson's Mmmmmbop in Tobey's brothers' funeral pictorial because who can be sad listening to that song. Well now every time I hear Mmmmmbop I think of Kirk, which makes me think someone has died. And what are the odds we get a call from the vet and that song plays? So I am again freaking out and Tobey is giving me 'she's fine' routine while listening to the doctor. After he gets off the phone he explained there were further complications with her blood work and they would have to adjust the medication they were using to put her out for the surgery.
I then pointed out the song playing and Tobey said he would have freaked out if he heard that playing while he was on the phone. I said, "Hence my freaking out while you were on the phone"
So Baby made it through her surgery just fine and after a few days the pathology report came back. The growth was cancer but the doctor assures us he got it all and that Baby will be just fine and she is back to her ornery jealous self. I plan on keeping a good eye-ball on her because that growth popped up so suddenly and grew exponentially.
Well that is my "Baby and the Brain" story. Now: don't you go and Google canine ear tumors. I warned ya!
~ame
Since I had a ton of leftovers from the Tree necklaces I decided to try my hand at making a bird's nest necklace too. There are tons of tutorials out there but this is the one I used from Can't Stop Making Things. My wire work is a tad messy but I am really happy with the way it turned out - and I won't be making any en mass as it took me forever to weave.
A perturbed Yodie?
Okie and Pete: these two snuggle every chance they get.
Okie and Yodie - will Okie ever get stripey?
And Daisy. She is such an old soul of a dog. Love. Her.
