tap tap on the microphone anyone still out there?

To say that my life took me away from this blog is pretty much an understatement. I'll try to sum up very quickly what's been shaking since I last updated this blog.

1. I graduated college and maintained an A+ average the whole time. This was no small feat and I'm bitter because I found out that my A+ averages in my online courses did not count towards my overall GPA so I did not in fact earn those tassels I so desperately wanted. But hey, I'm done, and I know that I rocked it.

2. Our foster Shelby was adopted out after 9 months to an amazing family. In a very cruel twist of fate, Shelby has a rare diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. She is currently on meds, but things don't look promising. She has a vet appt. next week to see how her quality of life can be improved. I'm blessed her adopter and I have become friends and are in contact. I'll be there for them and for Shelby in any way that I can.

3. My son was recently kicked out of pre-school (for anger and melt downs) and subsequently has been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder right after his 5th birthday. He attends OT 1x a week and sees a play therapist 1x a week as well. As this was the 3rd time he was tested, I'm glad we finally received a concrete diagnosis. I am however not happy at how is pre-school handled the situation. Having a heartbroken child is awful, messy, and very damaging to his self esteem.

4. Bellona's age is really starting to affect her. She has trouble getting up after lying down. I notice her standing in odd ways to compensate for a weak back end. Her legs have started to tremor every now and then. There are no obvious signs of arthritis and we may need to consider seeing a neuro to explore the possibility of degenerative myelopathy. It could also be she is simply aging and I'm prone to freak outs given my past experiences with Max. I'm pretty sure I will throw up if I have to take her to see the same neuro, the same office, the same place we let him go. We need to attempt another senior blood panel as the one we did this weekend was awful. As in blow 2 veins before we get to a 3rd with her alternating between trying to escape and wanting to eatthe limb closest to her. We will lightly sedate her the next time. It was so stressful for us all.

5. I still find a few hours every Sunday to photograph our adoptable animals at the shelter. It's essentially my time to recharge my batteries and find a sense of peace. I look forward to the day Becks is 6 so he can become a junior volunteer with me. He's been to the shelter a few times just to look and he is quite taken with our free roaming cat room.

Well, that's about it for now. I don't think I will be blogging every day by any means, but I hope I can get back into it and share my experiences.

I leave you with a shot from our x-mas cards.

- Jennifer

Shameless request on behalf of Maximus

I came *this* close to winning a contest for a painting of Maximus for Beckett's room. I had a sneak attack planned, but alas, the artist announced a winner this morning instead of having the contest run through the end of today. C'est la vie!

BUT

He is having another contest inspired by those of us who have loved and lost our bulldogs. I would be so very thankful if you would consider liking on Facebook Bulldog paintings by Drago:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bulldog-paintings-by-drago/148597685191352?ref=ts

And then liking the 2 photos I have up of Maximus:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bulldog-paintings-by-drago/148597685191352?ref=ts#!/photo.php?fbid=1946983600194&set=o.148597685191352&theater

and

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bulldog-paintings-by-drago/148597685191352?ref=ts#!/photo.php?fbid=1946996520517&set=o.148597685191352&theater

Beckett and I would be very appreciative. I try not to dwell on here as I sound like a broken record, but we really miss Max and I would love very much for Beckett to have something special like this to honor his best buddy and his first dog. If you are so inclined to share on Facebook or your blogs, it would be an honor.

Thanks,
Pittieboo

Wordless Wednesday

Equal opportunity lover

As noted, my blog title has the word "beasts" in it as I am an equal opportunity lover. Yes, I prefer the company of dogs, but I will stop for any animal that needs my assistance.

Introducing Mr. McNutty, the baby squirrel:


That is how he looked when I found him when playing outside in the sandbox with Becks. Still alive, but not looking so hot. He fell about 3 stories out a palm tree in our backyard. His mom/dad like to torture my dogs but I had no idea they had babies up in our tree. So we called a wildlife hotline for a rehabber and waited the 2 hours for mom and dad to return. Because baby squirrels can have a hard time staying warm, we were told to place him in a shallow dish with some old towels and a hot water bottle:

We were given the ok to give him water so we carefully used a medicine dropper for him to drink from. He had blood on his nose and I wasn't sure how hurt he was:

So we waited. No sign of mom and dad. With the sun setting, we took him inside for the night and made plans to take him to the animal rehabber the next day. Here he is snuggling up next to the hot water bottle on some old towels and heating pad in a box in my bathroom:

Too soon it was time to take our friend to the animal shelter. Thankfully, Becks knows all about the good work animal shelters do so it was a nice experience to take him to one in a positive manner. Here is our last faux family photo:

Kisses goodbye from faux mommy:

And one last pat from Becks:

I'll call the rehabber today for an update. Please send Mr. McNutty your best wishes for a long and happy life!

Stop and smell the flowers

I have been a bad blogger. What can I say? Been busy at work and struggling to keep up the A+s in school. Shelby is still with us and it's breaking my heart she doesn't have a family of her own yet. Everyone sees and comments how attached she has become to me. Perfect person for Shelby, where are you?

On a sad side note, yesterday marked 5 months of Maximus' passing. And my freaking custom urn for him has yet to arrive. I'm about to have to get ugly with the Etsy seller. And I just know when it does it's not going to be right. Freaking intuition.

ps- you can follow my random animal related musings on twitter now @pittieboo
Are you on twitter? I'd love to follow you. Comment with your twit name!

Snow day in Texas!

Like clockwork, February brings us snow.

Monday Maximus

From my amazing friends, many of whom never met Maximus but loved him all the same.

If you need something to memorialize a beloved, be sure to check out the Etsy shop PetMemories. I sent her pictures of Max playing in the pool, told her I wanted something that looks like water, and 2 tbs of his ashes. The light blue square sitting next to this is a piece of his last cone of shame. This sits above my desk where I do my schoolwork. I also wake up facing this window every morning.