Yep, a second dog

Friends of ours have a friend who fosters dogs. The agency is called Recycled Doggies. They don't even have a shelter, they just foster. That has to take a lot of coordination and love.

As it turns out, this person has been fostering a border collie mix that was rescued from a hoarding situation in Adams County a few months ago. Here is a link to the story if you can stand to read it: Adams County dog hoarding case. They think she is a year to year and half old. She had not had any human interaction, and lived her life in a cage and was just thrown food and even had to live in her own excrement.

As a result of malnutrition, she is small for the type of dog she is (currently about 20 pounds and she is full grown) and very shy. She has been fostered very well and was even living with a couple of other dogs. We were fortunate enough to even meet the foster mom, and it sounds like she was treating her much the same way we will.

It makes me so sad, and mad, to see animal abuse of any kind. I can't even explain what happens inside of me when I see or hear of it. (That is a topic for another blog.) All I do is cry (in fact I cry as I write this just thinking about it again).

Anyway, she now has a "forever home" now, as they like to call it when you adopt an animal. I am sure Shelby and her will become the best of buddies.

About 3 weeks ago she was named Kiki. We are not super fond of that name, and was trying to think of a new one for her. Currently the name at the top of the list is Gracie. We are very open to suggesions.

The question to ponder is: will living with two herding dogs be a challenge or fun?

A second dog?

The question to ponder today is…should we get a second dog? Shelby is the best dog ever! So why another?

Let me explain some reasoning behind this question. We are not the most active people, and Shelby is only about 3 years old. Although she is a mix, she has a lot of Australian Shepherd in her. I have heard that Aussie’s need a job, Shelby doesn’t have much of a job. She needs to run and play and be a whole lot more active than what we are providing.

One big thing I fear is that we may be making her too old too early. Although we are content to be working on a computer, or reading a book, I fear Shelby is not. She never complains, mind you. She will just lie down next to one of us and be the best dog ever.

I had hoped that Bubba would be a playmate, since they are about the same age, and they do play. Actually, it is extremely fun to watch the interaction between them.
Our next door neighbor has two dogs, they have had two dogs all the time I’ve known them. They play together so nice and expend so much energy and are fun to watch. Some friends of ours just got a second dog, and they said it has been great for the older first dog.

Now the CONS…more money in dog food, harder time to find someone to watch two of them if we go on a vacation and can’t bring them, or going in vacation with them and being welcomed.

We are thinking of another dog that would be her age, and size, you know a true “buddy” for her. I did want a lover dog when we got her, and she is very much that (in fact, she is borderline jealous of any attention paid to Bubba). She is beautiful and I love her, but she deserves better. So should I or shouldn’t I, that is the question…

Birthday party is over

Well it's over. The big 100th birthday party is over. I have to say I have never attended a 100th birthday party before. It was a grand event certainly befitting a woman of her age. There was lots of food, huge cake, tons of pictures, family came in from out of town lots of miles away, and then there were all the things that come with family gatherings.

I am not sure she really knew what all was happening. It reminded me having a birthday party for a one year old. The person of honor doesn't really understand what is going on, but the family insists on making it happen anyway. Makes you wonder who the party was really for. But what else do you do to honor such an occasion?

The big question to ponder is...what kind of a gift do you buy for someone who is turning 100? She doesn't need anything, she doesn't want anything, she is trying to downsize and is giving everything away, you can't buy frivolous for her, ummmmm.

It all makes me sad on multiple levels though.

Level 1 was grandma - I am sure she is embarrassed because she does not know what is going on, she is not sure what is expected of her, even if she could do it. And probably feeling very alone among all the people who were there. All this from a woman who was a social butterfly in her day. She always knew what to do in any situation (even what utensil to use when). I learned so much about how to handle myself from her, especially in a business environment. But that is another story.

Today, she had to endure, what I am sure she would have considered, an almost humiliation. There were a million of pictures to be taken. She sat in one spot, and someone sat next to her, everyone starts yelling at her to look at the camera and smile, and, what must have seemed like a hundred, pictures were taken of her. Then they got up and someone else sat down, and it started all over again. She seemed so confused, and I felt kind of sorry for her.

Level 2 - I like seeing my family and didn't get to spend the amount or kind of time I would like to with them. Obviously that means especially grandma too.

Level 3 - I am here at the beach, but can't spend time enjoying it. The weather was perfect. Spent an hour here, and it was just not enough.

Level 4 - I feel like I might be seeing my future. Lord, I pray you bring me home long before I get that age. I think one of the hardest things in life is the feeling of aloneness (yea, I made that word up. it's mine)

Happy birthday grandma, you are remarkable and beautiful, and I love you very much.

Happy 100th birthday, grandma! And to 5 living generations!

We made the more than 12 hour drive to North Carolina to spend a day celebrating grandma's 100th birthday. It will be a great event. Then the 12+ hour drive home on Monday.

After all, how many times does someone turn 100 years old? As if that isn't amazing enough, we have 5, count 'em, 5 generations living today! That is a most amazing feat, don't ya think.

It is a grueling trip, but grandma is so worth it. We the same thing when she turned 90.

So how does it feel to be 100? Obviously I don't know, and I am not sure I want to know. Grandma seems so lonely. It is hard to hear and see. She feels as though she is just existing in life. She has no friends or siblings her age to relate to. God talks so much about community, how does that happen without people your age to talk to? I hope my small group is still around 40 years from now

I am not sure of her relationship with our creator, but I am confident that when she is extended that last invitation that she will accept.

I do wonder if it is different for someone who truly loves Jesus and desperately wants to please him. I do know that I am not afraid to die, in some ways I am actually looking forward to it. Maybe I am curious as to what things really look like at that point, what will it be like to be totally pain free, care free, (and maybe be rid of this body??) and mostly just be in the awesome presence of the one who created me. It is something I can't even imagine at this point in my life. (although I like the part of not having this body!!)

Got through my pictures...finally

I did it! I finally got through and posted all my pictures tonight. Then I sent an email out to all my friends and family inviting them to see my pictures (actually it comes with the territory on Shutterfly).

Sometimes I feel funny letting everyone know I have posted pictures. Do they feel obligated to look at them because they are my friends? Do they enjoy looking at them? Do I post too many and it gets boring looking at them?

Don't know if I'll ever really know the answer to these questions, because they are my friends and will say nice things about them (regardless of what they are really thinking or feeling). Guess I need to thank the Lord I have friends that will do that, right?

No, my friends wouldn't lie to me, they are my friends! And maybe some of them really do like them. I like looking at other people's pictures. I really do. But I am always looking for inspiration for my pictures. Now really, is that selfish?

It doesn't really matter, I still love my friends. Whether they look at them or not, I am grateful I have friends to send the link to. God has truly blessed me.

Speaking of blessed, how about Ed? He had to endure me wanting to pull over and jump out and take a shot over and over again. There we are walking down the street and all of a sudden he realizes that he alone because I have stopped to take some pictures. He really is a great guy!

Just in case you are one of my friends, and I missed you on the email, here is the link to my pictures: http://edvickipics.shutterfly.com/ Here is the cool part; you don't have to ever admit that you didn't look at them. I will never know! Isn't technology wonderful?

Last day in Las Vegas

This is our last full day here in Las Vegas. As all vacations, it went by too fast. Today we drove to Oatman. AZ. Yea I know, I had never heard of it before either. It is a cool little old western town, complete with shoot outs at high noon.

Something that was strange was that we had to drive about 10 miles on a gravel road to get there. That really sets you up for old timey type expectation. It was a super neat road, especially if you had a 4 wheel drive vehicle and could drive off the main gravel road. It looked as if it would be so much fun. But no, we had a rental car, and were concerned about tearing it up.

One of the coolest things I thought about the town was the burros. They were just walking around in the streets. For $1 you could buy a bag of carrots and feed them. There were a couple of babies around too. They were just too cute (but not as soft as my Shelby and Bubba). The babies will just lie down when they are tired. It looks like they are dead. The shooting of the guns around them didn’t seem to phase them a bit.

Home tomorrow, all is well.

Happy birthday Ed

Our first full day of vacation and Ed’s birthday all happen today. It was a perfect weather day, and we drove out to Mt. Charleston this morning. This is one of the things ya just gotta love about God’s creation. It got up to 80 degrees here in town, and there was still snow on the ground in Mt. Charleston. He sure knows how to make awesomeness (Is that really a word? The speller didn't kick it out! And everyone knows that these spellers are perfect, right?).

This afternoon we went to a place called Red Rock. It was spectacular! The mountains, the colors, all the different looking vegetation. Ed said it right when he observed how you can look at mountains and just know they not the Rockies or the Smokies, they just look different.

One of the more interesting sights along the way, that I noticed, was cell towers being camouflaged by very tall palm trees, ummm. I thought it actually very funny. I can hear it now “No, we don’t want a cell tower in our neighborhood, of course we want cell service though.”

"Ok, I have an idea…let’s hide them! We will make them look like palm trees! Brilliant!" Creativity; something I lack, but can sometimes appreciate.