Thanksgiving recap

Hello there. Yep its been a couple weeks since I posted last. I did have good intentions.  The holidays are seeming to be pretty rough so I’m just dealing with  a lot.  Thanksgiving was hard. I spent a few hours with family and then went home because I wasn’t good company. I did end up going to Walmart later that evening with a friend. We went after the huge rush and it was still a mad house. I will admit they had some great deals. I saw they had a small Tv for only 100$ on their flyer and of course those sold out fast. That would have been a good buy but I take it as a sign that I didn’t need one anyway. HAHA!   I did end up buying a new Hoover vacuum cleaner that has attachments for corners, etc.  I currently don’t have anything like that so I was happy with my purchase.  I also bought a Otter protective phone case. It was on sale for 20$ which normally sells for 40 $ or higher. I do drop my phone a lot and it already has quite a few cracks on the screen so any help I can get!

Did anyone else get Black Friday specials?  I bought a flash drive to get pictures off my phone on Cyber Monday but I didn’t get anything else. I don’t need anything else and I’m also trying to downsize stuff out of my house and garage.   I have someone coming over tonight to look thru my 10 Christmas tubs I’m selling.  I have TOO much stuff! I had a lot for inventory to sell in my winter junk show but I didn’t participate this year so its all got to go.   Cross your fingers they buy a Lot.  

Here is a random statement- I find a new drink I really like at Starbucks.  LOL!  A vanilla chai tea latte.   Its so good and its nice to have something different now.  Not that I go very often at all now. Cant afford it.  I used to go at least once a week during work days and every Sunday before church.  Now its maybe once a month.  That’s Ok- I drink a lot more coffee at home with my flavored creamers so all is good.  I also have been drinking my coffee only with creamer and no more splenda’s or sugars.   That’s a big change for me believe it or not.  Maybe in another 10 years I’ll graduate to just black coffee  but I’m not there yet.  

Another random thought, my friend bought me a dog DNA test for Lila for Christmas and I’m so excited!! I rescued her 5 years ago from death row at the pound and she was labeled as a chihuahua mix. I want to know the mix side.   

I hope you’re all having a good week.  I’ll be back soon!

Last week's musings

Last weekend I stopped at garage sale and got this awesome Frankenstein head and hands. Its perfect for my theme for Holliween this year which is Classic Halloween. I also got some orange lights and some furry spiders at the sale.  We got down all the Halloween tubs of decorations from attic also so I can start getting a lead on getting house ready.  I started way too late last year and was decorating up to the very day of the party and it was really stressful.
I do already have both Todd and my costumes so that's good.

Last Saturday after I went to garage sale , I got a hair cut ( got 4 inches cut off). I usually go twice a year for my fall cut and my spring cut.  Just before I went into hair salon, I  got call from Mom that Nanny was back in hospital.  I cried because I didn't have good feeling about this.
That evening, Todd and I went to concert with some friends and saw Alice in Chains.  We love them and saw them in 2016 the last time they were close.  The concert was great!! One of their old albums was titled Dirt and it was also 2 days after the news that Burt Reynolds had passed.  I thought this was funny- they had this on all the large screens at concert:

On Sunday , Lila disappeared for a short while which is not unusual because she's always prowling around the yard and under the bushes.  Here she comes trying to bring her find into the house. Fortunately I closed the door before she came in and todd grabbed a plastic bag. Then we let her just inside the door and took it from her.  She has to watch Todd go out the gate and throw it away or else she goes nuts and constantly looks for it.  She' just got one and brought in house 3 weeks ago and laid it out for us so proudly. LOL

So today is a somber day of course since is 9-11.  Today is also my 23rd work anniversary.  Its been a wild ride professionally for sure.
I saw this on Instagram and shared it as well:

Now for the bad news, we have to admit Nanny into a nursing home this week. She wont be able to go home from the hospital and we are a wreck!!! Its the right thing to do and she will be in good hands but the knowing that when she left her apartment not realizing that it would be the last time she would be there just kills me.  She has been falling more and more and she lives alone and its too scary to think about her getting hurt unattended.   I'm so glad my mom has been here for all this.  I am worried about her too though because all the stress has made her lupus flare up like crazy.  Please send prayers.  We will have the nursing home narrowed down tomorrow or Thursday and then we'll move Nanny.  This isn't easy. 

Lila is free from the donut

After 3 looong weeks since Lila hurt her leg, she is finally free from the inflatable donut she had to wear around her neck. I was so glad I found the idea off Pinterest and Todd was able to find it at Petco.  The cone freaked her out completely and we had to have an alternative. 

Last week, I wanted her to have a break from the donut so I bought some toddler leggings and cut a hole out for her tail and had to cut some of the length off her pant legs. She was so happy to have a break and she didn't fight them at all.  They looked so hillbilly because of the jagged edges from the scissors , and they were too big. As long as she couldn't lick her wound, I didn't care what they looked like. 

A few days later I went back to thrift store and bought a smaller pair of leggings to fit her waist better.  While she was in the house she would wear these but as soon as she had to go outside, the donut had to go back on.  We took her back to vet this past Friday night and they took remaining stitches out and she was released from having to wear cone or donut. We were all so relieved.  Poor thing lost weight around her neck from wearing it.  I put collar on last night and it was too big.  I'll fatten her up again! M

She likes to lay her head on the pillow and it was hard to do with bulky donut. 

On Saturday , I stopped at garage sale and across the street from there these cute kids were selling lemonade for cancer.  They said one of their friends mom had cancer. I thought that was just so sweet! I donated and bought a big cup because it was 100 degrees outside. 

I will show you tomorrow some of my garage sale finds. I always forget to take pictures.  

Hope y'all had a nice weekend.  We had friends over that had not seen our house yet and we went swimming. The water was so warm even at 10pm.   I love having a pool! 

I get by with a little help from my friend

So after last night, that will make 3 times that my dog Lila has had to go to the emergency vet clinic.  She ripped her leg open on something ( we think it was the small fencing around the bushes) and she had stitches put in.  It was on a Wednesday.  The following Friday ( a week ago) , she was able to get the donut off and licked some stitches out. We took her back and they added staples to her stitches.  She had been so good until yesterday. I got home from work and the first thing I've been doing, is look into her kennel to see if she has the donut around her neck.  Nope!! She was able to get out of it and had taken her staples out and a few stitches.  It had been really healing well too.  Todd took her back and this time they used glue. We switched out the collar that goes thru the donut to be tighter so fingers crossed, she can't get out of it.  We've paid a fortune with these vet visits! Like seriously close to a grand. Thank goodness for credit cards.  I just hate that it's just that much longer that she has to wear the donut and be on medication.  I put the cone on her yesterday and she freaked out so bad!!!! It's like she became claustrophobic and was crazy. She pawed at it feverishly and her tongue was out and she took off running and of course ran into things. It was horrible to watch and I started crying because she was so scared. She eventually ran into things and caused it to pop off.  We have no choice but to use the donut. It's less invasive and she can eat with it better.  I had also stopped on the way home last night after work at a thrift store and bought some infant leggings and shorts to put on her and to cover her wound so she could have a break from the cone.  I may try that tonight. Oh the things we do for our pets!

The other night we had a quick storm that came through with crazy winds. Our pool floats were blowing around the backyard and the dogs were watching out our glass door . I laughed so hard when I saw Lila leaning against Jax and he let her for at least a good minute or so.  Time enough to grab the photo.  

So this week has been the start of the funerals for our Dallas officers that were killed a week ago today.  It's been crazy with the POTUS here and literally hundreds of officers from other states, cities and Canada.  It's been solemn. 

Today was wear blue to support the police.  Have y'all heard any of the speeches from our Chief Brown? He's been amazing and such a great leader.  

My mom is in town and has been staying with my grandma for the last few weeks. It's my turn for her to visit and so Todd is picking her up today from east Texas and she will stay with us until she leaves Tuesday morning.  I'm so happy to have her back .  I only get to see mom once a year if I'm lucky so twice is so awesome! 

Have a great weekend. 

Lila's long night

My sweet poor baby Lila hurt herself good.  Yesterday I had makings of a migraine so as soon as I got home, I laid down for a nap. Y'all have to know that's very unusual because I've never been a napper so I felt like poo!  Todd came home from work and I remember him closing the door so the dogs would let me rest.  Earlier, Lila had jumped on the bed and laid down next to me .  

It was a little after 8pm when Todd came in and he was holding Lila and asked "What do we do"?  It was a very deep open wound on her leg and I knew we had to take her to emergency vet clinic.  Being new to the neighborhood, I looked to see if there was a closer one than the one we knew of near our previous home. Luckily there was one super close and they were great. 

Todd realized the wound when she was constantly licking it but at first he didn't think anything of it.  She also went and laid into her kennel which she only does if she is scared or not feeling good. Lila ended up having to go under so they could clean the wound and sew her up with stitches.  

We got home a few minutes before 10pm. The dogs have always slept with us and so we all loaded into the bed. Lila was so stoned and woozy from the medication. She couldn't sit up and would lean and fall over. She had the clear cone on her and it scared her.  I was up all night with her. Lila was very restless and would be sleeping and then just sit up and act like she wanted to jump off bed.  She was having bad doggy dreams and every now and then she would whimper. It broke my heart! 

I didn't want her to get off bed so I he's onto her all night.  I thought maybe she would be safer in her kennel. She would be more confined and her little bed is in it. So Todd brought it in our room and we put her in.  That lasted about 10 minutes and she started whimpering.  Then Todd laid on floor with her but she still cried so we took her out and put her back in bed. 

This morning, we took the cone off her and I put a scarf around her neck to try to keep her from licking . I found a neck ring that is inflatable and is alternative to the cone online. Todd is heading to petco now to find one. That will be better than the cone so she can eat and not run into things as much. 

I hate it when my babies are hurt! We have no idea what happened but we think it might have been from a small fence around our bushes in backyard.  She is always on the prowl and she gets under everything.  

We have to take her to get stitches out in 10 days. Wish us luck for trying to slow her down for that long.  

Warning , her wound is graphic.  

This is what we hope to find so she doesn't have to wear cone. 

Mosh posh of stuff

Yall!!! I really did not mean to let so much time go by after my last post.   The A to Z challenge though did kick my butt and I moved the second week of the challenge. I am STILL unpacking but I have most done. I think I’m finally heading downhill with some progress.  Todd had the idea of hosting a small Memorial party at our house and so that has me motivated every night.   

One of my best friends (Kimi) is married to a construction contractor (Craig) and 2 weeks ago, they came over and he built me a kitchen bench with storage. It was a huge game changer for me because I desperately needed the storage space. Our house is so much smaller and we lost tons of cabinet space and storage .  Todd painted it last weekend and I have a friend sewing a bench cushion for us. I will just use throw pillows for the back.  I knew I wanted one when i saw that our dining area had the space for it.  We paid for all the materials and he built it for free as a house warming gift.  So awesome!!

This is the unpainted version. It's now white to match the walls. 

My birthday was Tuesday of this week and so I’ve had some dinner plans after work and didn’t feel like blogging once I got home.  I’ve been having a terrible terrible time with allergies this year and they got the best of me yesterday.  I think I  have a full on cold again which is just great!!! I feel like Poo again and my nose is raw from blowing and rubbing all day long.

So do you guys use Facebook? I will admit that I’m a huge social media fan of Facebook, Instragram and Pinterest. I use Twitter too but mostly in spurts.   Anyway, I love it when its my birthday on Facebook!! I had over 200 friends post Happy Birthday to my page.  It absolutely made my day and reminded me of how lucky I am to have good friends and family.   One of my favorite gifts I received was from my Sisternlaw Paula. She is so talented and is a high school art teacher.  Paula painted portraits of Jax and Lila in costumes.  They are so dang awesome!! I cant wait to hang them on the wall soon.  Whats funny, is that I held the painting of Lila close to the ground to show her and she came right to it like almost in a little jump.  Todd and I both laughed because she recognized something. 

A friend made this meme and posted to my page on my birthday. Jax and Lila in our chair. Lol

May is Lupus Awareness month and I know if you ARE friends with me on FB you’ve seen that I’ve had my profile, cover and posts about Lupus. Well tomorrow is May 20^th and is Put on Purple Day. Purple is the chosen color for Lupus and its just a way to have people ask questions and be more aware.  I actually work from home tomorrow but I will still have my purple on and would love it if you wanted to join in. 

There is not a cure for Lupus yet. It only gets worse. My mom has Lupus and its changed her life dramatically.  Its all she can do to just get out of bed and move to the living room chair.  Taking a shower is an accomplishment some days.  I do this for her and for my sweet friend Marla who is much younger than me and has Lupus. She’s an amazing young woman with quite a story!!
If you want, you can tag me on FB, IG, or send me email of you wearing purple......

Have a great weekend!

A to Z- "B"

So today is Saturday and we are BLAZING through our house packing BOXES with a vengeance.  We’re currently living in a 4 bedroom ranch style house that is filled to the brim.  We want to be at least 95% packed for the movers next Friday. The good news is that we paid this month’s rent full rent with out pro-rating it so we have a few weeks after closing to come get the small straggler pieces.

 My hubs and I have already shed some BLOOD through this mess. I got a fat paper cut when grabbing some cardboard boxes and Todd broke a glass candle holder and cut his finger.  I should add Band-aids to list of must-haves during a move.

So let me tell you a story about what my “angels” did yesterday ( Friday).  Normally on Friday’s, I work from home which also means my dogs get a break from going into their kennels all day.  I had to go into the office for half day this Friday though because of classes I was training. A little after noon,  I came home to a huge mess in my kitchen and living room.  My dog Lila is onry! She has done much damage in the 18 months that we’ve had her.  We joke that she’s “from the streets” and is ghetto girl. Her shelter name was Sweets so she’s Sweets from the Streets!! Hahaha.  She has taught Jax some bad habits.  Anyway, ironically we even bought an expensive trash receptacle that locks so that she couldn’t get into it.   That’s a BRILLIANT idea IF you remember to lock it!!!!  I had made a plate for Todd on Easter when he didn’t come because he was sick.  It had baked beans, mashed potatoes, smoked pork loin, green bean casserole, and a few other items I cant remember.   He never did eat it so I threw the whole platter in the trash.  We had take out Mexican food one night and we both had leftover beans and rice that we didn’t eat.   BELIEVE me when I tell you , they ate good!!  

So they were very BAD and they didn’t get any more treats for the rest of the day.   They knew they were in trouble when I came in and the look on their faces were Busting of guilt. 

I only took a few pictures because I had to get busy cleaning it up, eat my own lunch and then work from home office all in an hour.

How can you stay mad though at this cute face? 

So here is a song for you today.  Bad Bad Thing- Chris Isaak

  Have a great weekend y’all!!  It’s supposed to be BEAUTIFUL and BRIGHT  this Sunday in Dallas.  Yay!

BOTB winner and my squirrel fiasco

Hello everyone!! How was your long weekend?  Did you do anything  fun?  I'll tell you more about my weekend later but i can barely keep my eyes open right now.  I didnt get much sleep at all last night.
My battle last week was between the cast of Glee and the young female vocalist Lorde and the song was Everybody wants to rule the world.  This was a very close battle and it was tied up until just a few days ago and a few more people voted.  The winner is Glee by 2 votes.  There was 10 votes for Glee and 8 votes for Lorde.   Thank you to all that stopped by to vote.

Yesterday morning i had breakfast with one of my ol college buddies at the cafe thats down the street from me.  We had to meet early because i needed to be on the road to head to east Texas to see my grandma Nanny and its 2 hours one way to get there.  Todd was still asleep when i left the house and the dogs always follow me out to the backyard when i leave. I left the back door cracked open so the dogs could come in and out without bothering Todd. We do that all the time.
After breakfast i ran home to brush my teeth real quick and to see Todd .  He was sitting in the recliner and said that a bug or something must have crawled under our bed because Lila was going crazy. She is trying to get under the bed and behind the bed to get at it and she's been obsessed.  She does that.
Fast forward to several hours later when i got home from the country, Lila was still obsessed with whatever it was under our bed. Todd said he got a flash light but didnt see anything. I may add that Todd needs new eye glasses.  Anyway, we were trying to settle down and go to bed around 10:30.  Lila was jumping on the bed and then down on the floor and pawing under the bed.  Then she started crying and whining and was completely on her side with her legs under the bed.  I knew that there was something she was obsessed at and i wanted to see.  I got out of bed, walked over to Todd's side of the bed and got completely on my stomach. I stuck my hand under and felt something fuzzy. I thought it was a toy or something and i got the flashlight and LOW AND BEHOLD- we had a squirrel under our bed.  I then jumped on the bed and said to Todd- UM we have a live squirrel.
Our bed is a very heavy solid king size bed and its hard to move.  We grabbed some plastic bags and i got the laundry basket. LOL!!  I had to close Lila in the backyard and she fought me the whole time as i was carrying her. She wanted that squirrel so bad.  We shut the bedroom door and pulled the bed back. It actually didnt move. It was alive  but barely.  All we could think of the squirrel in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas vacation and the squirrel gets on the tree and jumps on everyone.
We took it outside and put it over a small part of our fence so the dogs couldnt get it.  Lila still wanted it.   The squirrel sat up and chirped and it made me sad.  Lila still was crazy last night and we left our bedroom door open so she could go back and forth. She kept standing at the back door and then running into our bedroom.  The little stinker got the loaf of bread that i had just brought home and left it on the dining table.  She pulled that down while were in bed and then Jax got a few bites of it this morning. I heard this rustling noise and i looked under the chair where Jax was and found the loaf of bread.  Thats when you know Lola is obsessed because she never shares anything with Jax but she left it to go outside and look for the squirrel.
This morning the squirrel was still there (it had died) and Todd had to throw it away.  I hated that it died but i am very glad it didnt die under our bed and i'm very glad it didnt get caught by Lila in the house.   I cant believe it not only got in the house but all the way down our hallway turned left into our master bedroom and got under our bed.  Crazy!!
I really hope this day goes by quickly. I have so much to do before i leave on Friday and i am so tired.

#Lilagram

Yall I am swamped today at work!! I should have posted last night but was too busy watching the season finale of Game of Thrones. 

 My little girl Lila loves to sun. She will find the sunniest spot in the yard and just bask in the sun.  I opened the door yesterday and saw her laying on our patio loveseat.  She's so dang cute! It looks like she's doing a Marilyn Monroe pose.  

Have a happy Monday!! Hope you had a great weekend.  I'll tell you more about mine tomorrow. 

A to Z April Challenge- Adorable Animals

So you have my permission to laugh. Totally!! I have been a terrible blogger lately and am lucky to post once a week at that.  The funny thing is that I signed up over a month ago to join the blogging challenge of posting everyday for the month of April.  Craziness I tell you!  Truth is I really do want to give this a go.  The posts may not be long and I don't have a certain theme but post I will. I'm also not saying it will go perfect or smoothly but again I want to give it a whirl.
Today is April first so the letter A is my topic.  I want to post about Adorable Animals and by that I mean I my sweet precious adorable fur babies Jax and Lila. 
They bring me so much joy and I love coming home to them every night after work.   They are kenneled and recently I've been trying to test the waters to see if they have to be kenneled all the time when we leave to go somewhere.  They were so good for about a week then they got bored and destructive.  I have to say that it is all Lila.  We adopted her last October and we have no idea what kind of life she lived before us. She has a very deep and ugly scar around her neck which brings me to tears every time I think too much about it.  Lila acts like a dog who has missed many meals. She can smell a snack in my laptop bags and goes for it when I'm not looking.  Jax would never have that about going into my bags. 
I work from home on Friday's and when I stepped out a few weeks ago to grab a bite to eat for lunch, I came home to my brand new Harley Davidson back pack that Dad got me for Christmas- torn to pieces. I literally cried because I just had so much going on personally that it was the last straw.  What used to be 2 separate zipper pockets is one big one because they tore a hole right through one of the compartments.  I had a muffin and a granola bar that I had from when I was traveling for work the previous week.  I also had a package of hot chocolate which is very hard to clean and very messy if it gets torn to shreds and chocolate powder on everything. 
Needless to say that they lost their privileges of being loose out of their kennel.   I still cant stay mad at them for long and I love their sweet faces.  Jax is just one big love bug and he wants nothing more then to sit on our laps and cuddle. 
Here are some pictures of my furry babies:

Todds expression cracks me up. 

So I will be back tomorrow and the following day and even Saturday. Wish me luck! 

Wordless Wednesday

Jax and Lila

My new shelter dog Lila and our rocky start

Last Thursday I had 2 friends that were sharing a shelter facebook page over and over. I should have just passed over but I stopped to look at the available dogs they had. This particular shelter is over capacity and were lowering their normal adoption fees more than half.  The dogs were also spayed or neutered and micro-chipped. I just had to register her micro chip online (55$ lifetime).  I came across this sweet face who  they named Sweets and was in love instantly. She was listed as a Chihuahua mix which is exactly what Jax is.  The problem was that I was at work and was about a good 45 minutes away from the shelter. Its first come first serve and a lady had commented above me that she was on her way.
 When I got home that evening I sent a private message to the shelter group asking for best way to reach them because I only got an automated message when I called. I didn't want to drive all the way  over there the next morning if she was gone. They replied back to me after 6 which is when they close and said she was still there. I was so excited! I had sent the picture to Todd asking her what he thought and if we could have her and he was OK with it.
So I had already taken last Friday off to finish decorating and getting ready for my party. I certainly didn't plan on driving a few towns over to adopt a dog.  Before I had left, the lady who was also interested had actually gone to the pound but wanted to bring her dog the next day to have a meet and greet with each other. She commented again that she was on her way.  I was the first person there when they opened and they grabbed her and put us in a little room so that we could get to know each other.  She was very curious and checked out the room because there was cat toys and a cat scratching post in there. I picked her up and held her for a minute and then I put her down. She walked to the door and then came back to me and jumped on my knees to pick her back up. That was it. I was in love and knew she wanted some attention and to be loved.  I paid for her and we were on the road less than an hour total.  I am not so sure she's a Chi mix though. She looks like a combo of Miniature Pinscher and Dachsund in my opinion.
I called Todd and we decided to name her Lila.  Lila is also a character off Sons of Anarchy like Jax.
Its kind of funny why we named her that. Lila on the show was a porn star and had had a rough life. She was married to Opie who got killed last season. She no longer stars in the movies but is the producer and director of the films and is kind of turning her life around for the good.  My little Lila has had a litter of puppies in her past life. Its obvious by looking at her little boobies. She was abused in the fact that there is a permanent dent in her neck where she must have had a collar that was too tight for too long and she has issues.  Lila will be spoiled rotten and have a good life once we can get her straightened out.  Friday was miserable. She screamed and howled like I've never heard when I would go outside to decorate the yard. She bit Jax and was way too aggressive towards him. She became very attached to me and wouldn't let him near me. If I picked him up she totally lost her mind! She jumped and screamed. I was in tears. To add to it she got out of the backyard twice from under the fence. She ran away when I opened the door and took off. I hadn't had her an hour and i'm chasing her down the straight screaming and crying. She doesn't come to any name yet ( then) and ran into the street. A white SUV SLAMMED on his brakes and almost ran over her. She ran back to the sidewalk and kept running and then down an alley. I was bawling my eyes out and huffing and puffing because I am too fat to be chasing her. She showed up in the alley from another yard and let me pick her up and carry her home.  When she got out from the yard, she at least ran to me and not away.
Lila is very sick. She coughed and threw up the whole night and I was exhausted. I took her to the vet and was there by 8am when they opened.  Because I was having my party and certainly hadn't planned on having a new dog, I had made arrangements for Jax to have a sleepover with his friends where he stayed when I went to Sturgis.  The vet boards for the night but they're not open on Sunday's which meant we had to leave Lila there until Monday morning.  The vet said she didn't throw up once. She wasn't home 5 minutes when she did her hacking like she had a fur ball in her throat.  Lila is having trouble breathing, she has a runny nose and she gags nonstop primarily right when we go to bed. Its terrible. She will be in somewhat deep sleep and then sit up and cough so loud. I haven't slept this whole week.  Todd is taking her to vet today because we cant do another night of this.  Y'all, I love this little girl and pray that she has nothing serious.  Lila is skin and bones and you can feel her whole spine. The shelter said she was between 2 and 4 years old. We have no idea what she's been through.  Jax is also sneezing now and choking and so she may be contagious. 
When I brought her home on Monday from picking her up, she was like night and day compared to the Friday before. She still doesn't like Jax all that much but she's calmer and not aggressive.  Todd met her for the first time Monday because he had worked another all-nighter and didn't come home Saturday until after I dropped her off at vet.

They both insist on sitting on me

Lila loves climbing in our laundry basket. So cute!

At our meet and greet in Shelter

I cant wait for her to be fattened up and playing and running like a happy dog.  Prayers please.