World's Worst Blogger

No doubt I could win the award for the World's Worst Blogger! I just noticed that I have been left off the list on one of my favorite blogs to read. My last blog was in April.

I think the problem is that I forgot why I was writing. No one...well hardly anyone...ever visited my blog and so I kind of thought "why bother." But the truth is that I started this blog so that I could express myself in some written form other than writing in a journal. Of course I also started it because I was grieving the death of my sweet little Yorkie, Mouse, who died on April 16, 2007.

Now I have just experienced the death of my last Yorkie...Christy died on August 12, 2008. She was just a couple of week shy of her 17th birthday...which is today! I am passionately in the journey of grieving for her. At the end she didn't have much quality of life but she still seemed to want to go on and so I have her that option...until she couldn't anymore.

The house is not empty of puppy love. Barclee, our Bichon Frise, came to live with us in early December. She turned 5 on March 1st. She seemed to be more than content to just have a loving home and stay in the background of Christy. Now Christy is gone and Barclee is trying to get used to be in the limelight! She still refuses to eat dinner where Christy used to...which was in the kitchen. No, she wants to eat in the living room where we fed her from her first day here on Audubon Drive! She is very sweet and I truly do love her dearly...but I must admit that I miss those little Yorkies very, very much.

So much has happened to me that requires writing about in order not to carry it around with me. So, I am going to try this again. Only this time I will keep in mind that I am writing just for me and if anyone should come by and visit, well may God bless them...and if no one comes that is just fine too.

But now I have to go and finish a sermon for church tomorrow. Must keep priorities straight!

Until later......

An Encouragement to Love and Spoil!

Christy Actually Awake! (Kind of!)

During the last week, Christy, my very old "dorkey Yorkie" developed an "itchy rash" which has caused her to spend a lot of her awake time chewing on herself. She has had this itchy rash before so I called the vets office to get a refill of her medicine. I was told that medications can't be refilled without a "vet visit" (which therefore gives me the opportunity to pay $41.00 for the office visit AND the prescription refill!)

Since I work during the week I had to wait to get a Saturday appointment. Actually, my favorite vet there is Dr. McK and she only works on weekends anyway so it was all for the best.

As mentioned in a previous blog, Christy is a "pet shop" dog and therefore has always been much larger (fatter!) than a regular Yorkie (like Mousie). At her peak of "fatness" she weighed a little over 14 pounds...way over 14 pounds! Today they weighed her and she came in at about 8.7 lbs. I knew she had lost a lot of weight but close to half was a little scary.

Dr. McK finally saw us after almost an hour wait! She was surprised to see how little Christy has become. I told her why we were there and while I was telling her about Mousie I could see her gently running her hands over Christy and I watched her face as she went over and over Christy's tummy. When I finished talking I said "what did you find?" She then told me the words I most certainly did not want to hear "Christy has a very large tumor on her liver...about the size of a tennis ball."

I was then waiting for her to tell me the dreaded words "it's time to let her go." I wasn't ready for that and thankfully I did not hear them. Instead she told me to take Christy home and love her and love her and then love her some more. It's time to spoil her...feed her whatever she wants whenever she wants it! (Even though Christy is deaf her ears seemed to come up when Dr. McK said that!). When I asked about how long she might have to enjoy all this love and spoiling, the answer was "until she dies." Okay, I can deal with that. At least she didn't say "next week" although I am well aware it could be..."until she dies."

So I share my story with whoever might happen upon this blog. I'm going to be kind of busy from now on loving and spoiling Christy so this might be my last blog entry for a while. Christy has been my sweet baby since December 1991 when my late husband, Chuck, brought her home to me as a Christmas present all tucked up in his jacket! She was with me when my older Yorkie, Sasha, died. She was with me when Chuck died. She was with me when Mousie died. She moved from Chicago to Lodi with me. When I met her she was 14 weeks old and I was 46. Now she is 15 years, 9 months and 16 days old and I am 61+. We have a lot of history together and I intend on making our last "whatever" as special as possible.

I feel so sorry for those poor souls who don't believe in "doggy heaven" because there surely is one. All my beloved pets are there along with millions and billions of others. God certainly loves all His creatures from the slimy snail to my wonderful Mousie and Christy!

Praise God forever and ever and ever! Amen

Something About Christy Too

This isn't the very best picture of Christy...but since she now sleeps about 20 hours a day it is difficult to get one when she is actually awake!

Christy was born September 7, 1991. My late husband, Chuck, gave her to me as a Christmas present that year. She is a pet shop dog which accounts for why her she has floppy ears and has always been much bigger than a "normal" yorkie!

Christy is a "loner" and while I am sure that she loves me in her little "doggy way" she isn't a cuddler and doesn't like to be held. When she wants something to eat I am her best friend but if she isn't hungry then she prefers to alone.

She didn't get along too well with Mousie. They both wanted to be the "alpha dog" and Christy usually won out because she weighed 14 lbs. to Mousie's 4.5 lbs. Fur went flying when they both wanted the same thing at the same time! A year or so ago Christy became blind and deaf and lost all interest in "arguing" with Mousie so the last year has been pretty quiet. She doesn't seem to miss her "little sister," much prefering to be an only "child" at this point in her life! Maybe she will stay awake for a while and I can post a picture of her face on another posting!