Goose Update

No new pictures of the Goose so I am posting one of her old ones - pre-cast. She went to the Dr. on Wednesday and he says that her leg looks really good. We are leaving the cast on for another 10 days which means she is at Julie's for another 10 days. That way she can be in out of the cold and there are no stairs. We (that would be the royal we) tried putting a newspaper bag on her leg so she could go outside but she just put her foot right through it!

All in all, she is doing VERY well and we are pleased. I will be glad to have her home again, though. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words.

Happy New Year

The Christmas Goose

Shorty and I had planned a lot of things for Christmas and for Christmas gifts. This was not one of them but it was what we got.

Goose discovered, 2 days after Bug died, that she is not faster than a cow's hoof. Her knee is not involved, it's just a hairline fracture and she should be fine in a couple of weeks.

Merry Christmas and God bless us, every one.

Merry Christmas

Bug 2005-2009

Today we had Bug put to sleep. It was time. It still hurts.

I currently have 4 dogs and my daughter now has 1. Bug was living with Juls because 2 out of my 4 hate her as much as she hated them. It was a mutual non-admiration society.

Bug was only 4 when she died. It was much too soon. There are good dogs and there are great dogs. Bug was a great dog.

As a puppy, she was thrown out like trash and was found by the guys I used to work with. We adopted her out at the old abandoned plant we were scrapping. She was such a funny puppy and such a great hunter. She spent her days in the office with me and her nights at the guard shack with the guards.

Her greatest joys were "Load up!" and hunting. She was a great hunter. She caught kangaroo rats, pigeons, rabbits, cats, smaller dogs (we discouraged this) and an occasional baby goat. When the guards made rounds of the property in the pickup, Bug preferred to lead the way, not ride or follow...and she could run! I have seen this dog run 25 mph and cut to chase a rabbit I had not even seen. She kept the coyotes away, killed more than one rattlesnake, and provided a sense of security and companionship that could not be measured.

She also loved playing tug of war with semi-trucks and, on one occasion, actually came away with a mud flap. She was always there, good weather and bad, heat and ice, wind and tornado warnings. I loved her.

When she went to live with Juls, she wholeheartedly (and that was a huge heart) adopted my baby and her baby. We thought at one time that she would be happier elsewhere. She walked back, 30 miles in 2 days, to disagree with us. We never tried to make her happier again.

Bug contracted a tick-borne illness and had a cerebral hemorrhage some months back. She had a stroke and ended up blind and crippled. We thought for a while she was making a comeback. We were wrong. Until the very end, she was ecstatic to see us and tried to come to us, tail wagging. Watching her stagger was heart-rending but not as horrible as the possibility of life without her. We finally realized that we will never be without her.

...and, we gave baby Jesus a puppy for Christmas.

Yes, Virginia

I am having one of those days when I need to remind myself that good people abound in this world - and they do.

Example: A gentleman came into the store where I work the other day to pick up a prescription for his wife. He paid for the prescription with a gift card after making sure, several times, that you could pay for prescriptions with a gift card. I reassured him several times that the cards were as good as money. He was delighted.

A while later, he was at the register again, this time with diabetic test supplies. He wanted to know if he could pay for them with a gift card and, once again, I told him that of course he could. He was just so pleased. I commented on what a lovely day he seemed to be having.

He told me that he had just quit his job of 9 years to take care of his wife, who is ill. He then proceeded to tell me about the company Christmas party where his boss had given all of the employees $50.00 gift card. I said that I thought that was very nice. He sort of laughed and told me that what was VERY nice was that 9 of his co-workers had proceeded to give their gift cards to him.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.