QUICK UPDATE FOR CLEMMIE....

I spoke with the vet for the next step with Clemmie's 'situation'. And let me just say, I LOVE this vet... and after talking we've decided to give the steroids a try and forgo the biopsy and all unpleasantries. If by chance her PLE is caused by irritable bowel syndrome, the steroids will help it. If it's caused by the other option which I can neither say or spell, nothing will help.

She continues to be her little neurotic self... eating, running around, barking, and you'd never guess anything way wrong. So at this point lets pray it's IBS and the steroid can kick it.

woof woof...

CLEMENTINE.....

Clementine is one of my dogs. A retired puppy mill breeder, who came to live with me about 5 years ago. Until she came here, her life was a living hell. But, she's been living large here! She is a sweet, tiny, neurotic Yorkie who HATES men. This can pose problems, as my husband, and son are both men. But, we are working on it.

Anyway..... she is skinny, when she arrived she was emaciated, and has always been wild for food ~ of any kind. Last week I noticed her belly seemed fat. At first I assumed she had eaten a lot; it didn't go away. As the week wore on, it stayed full, almost swollen.

The dogs went to Donna, the groomer on Thursday. We've had this groomer forever. She has always been the 'family' groomer. She is a dog breeder, and really knows dogs, so I asked her opinion of the chubby belly. She was pensive. Unfortunately when she returned the dogs later, I understood why.

She said, 'I'm no vet, but I think this is whats wrong with Clemmie', and handed me a post-it. PLE Protein Losing Entreopathy. A big name for a NOT good disease. We discussed it, after she left, I had a melt down, that my poor friend Barb had to deal with~ (thanks Barb).

Friday morning I took her to the seriously,fancy schmancy vet clinic in Aurora, and saw the nicest Vet. She ran some tests (Mark's going to kill me when he sees what they cost) and confirmed my fears. Donna was right. It's not a good thing. Sadly, it will kill her.

Choices.

Shall I put her through the diagnostic testing to see just what the deal is? Testing including a bowel biopsy? Shall I let it rest and let nature take it's course? Shall I put her to sleep? I HATE PLAYING GOD.

Tuesday, I will talk to the Vet and see what our time-frame is. I can't say I feel it's fair to put a 10yr. old dog through a surgical procedure to see whether or not steroids are an option for buying time. I'm going to lobby for trying the steroids with out any surgery.

This has been one sucky week. My job is not working out for me, so decisions are needed there and my poor little dog is sick and I've had a stomach ache.

Oh, and I have houseguests. They are wonderful people ~ but ~ have I ever mentioned I HATE HOUSEGUESTS????

Seriously, is it any wonder I have stomach problems?

HAPPY LATE 22nd BIRTHDAY CORBIN!!!

As you know, my computer crashed, so I was unable to 'honor' my son on his actual birthday. But, it is at least within the same month.

Raising Corbin has been an adventure. One I wouldn't change for the world. He most certainly has a zest for life...so without further ado, I give you a peek into Corbin's life....
















So there you have it! We love you Corbin!

Leave me a comment, and I can arrange a meeting!! ; )

WHAT A FAB WEEKEND.....

Saturday we headed into the boat~ GORGEOUS day, hot, sunny....one small problem, not a lot of wind...but let that stop us....of course not.

Hot was the name of the game, let me tell you. It was HOT, SWEATY hot, I don't sweat happily...EVER. It is so not my thing...but there really was no escaping it.

We were having boat guests, so we arrived early to clean up. It amazes me how a perfectly clean boat can be left one week, only to return the next to yuck. And the 'perfect' rug that I hunted FOREVER for drives me nutty. Although it really is cute, and perfect in design, it has a bad habit of fuzzing. It's a wool hooked rug, and for some reason it fluffs EVERYWHERE. I had it dry cleaned thinking that would correct it. Not so much.

Anyway, I digress....

We cleaned up, and awaited our guests, our daughter's beau's mom and a friend... They arrived, and off we sailed out into the windless lake. We had a very leisurely sail, nothing too hair raising, or nail biting.. but it allowed snacking and chatting. After an hour or so, our city daughter joined us, and we headed out again. This time there was absolutely NO wind, so we dropped the lofting sails and threw over the anchor and swam.. Well, the guys swam.

We girls attempted to cool off, but only were able to dip out ankles in. It was a bit too cold for me ~ like 30 degrees too cold. I like my water about 90...
After the swim, we headed back toward the harbor
and decided to head out for pizza.

We ate at Uno's. Uno's is a Chicago icon. Delish, I tell you. Well worth the hour and a half wait. Our daughter's beau joined us after work (he works at Nordstrom and it's the Anniversary Sale, SOMEBODY has to work- right?)

Sunday we went to RAVINIA... I LOVE, Love, love, Ravinia. For you non Chicago readers, Ravinia is an outdoor concert place, that is in a lovely park like setting. You are allowed to bring in picnic fare, food, drinks, candelabra, furniture...whatever you deem appropriate for an evening under the stars.

I always have a tendency to overtake, but it seems like EVERYONE else does, so why shouldn't I? And it adds to the evening...all the comforts of home, glass wine glasses included!

We saw Sting. HOLY SHIT he is hot. He was accompanied by 'The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra'. That in itself was awesome.
My sister in law managed to scam us into the pavilion where we could see him up close and personal...I was pretty much gobsmacked. Seriously.

I risked my life for these pictures for you faithful readers....so enjoy.


Sorry some are a little blurry...it was hard to hold still. Very, very hard.