A Tale about a Tail

Anyone who has been around Storm knows how dangerous her tail can be. It's the perfect height to cause some damage to a very sensitive area on any man. Little kids' faces are right in the path of harm's way. And the damage she's done to herself when she's hit it against the wall is crazy. Every time she goes to the kennel she comes back with a bloody spot on the end of her tail from wagging it against the chain link kennel she's been in. When we came back from Florida it seemed a lot worse than usual. We did the usual wrapping it with tape and gauze, but she wouldn't leave it alone. Every time we went to work she'd lick and bite the wrapping until she got it off. This only made things worse because the tape would pull out huge chunks of hair around the actual wound itself until she had a giant bald spot above the already raw spot. She just wouldn't leave it alone and it wasn't getting any better after a week of being home. 

I called the vet yesterday with a message about what was happening (we've taken her in once for this same problem a couple years ago). They called back as soon as they opened and I was able to get her in this morning. I'd already gone to work, so I had to run home and grab her. When I got home, the tail was worse than it had ever been. Without being too graphic, let's just say I could see bone :(. I knew it would make a huge mess in the car so I hurried and wrapped it loosely just to have something covering it. The vet and the vet tech took one look and said it was the worst they'd seen. When I told them how she just wouldn't leave it alone and what a problem it had already been keeping her away from it for a week, we all knew our only option as to amputate. They had room in the schedule to do it today, and she was done in about an hour. She's been fine -- tired and a little out of it -- but not at all concerned that anything happened. She's left the tail alone so far. They had to take it off pretty far up so it wouldn't keep happening and also so she wouldn't be able to reach it and lick/bite it all the time. Fingers crossed this solves the problem!

At the vet waiting for the doctor to come in.

She was super thirsty when we got home. Her tail looks so tiny!

They put the cone on her before she fully woke up, and when they went to check on her again she'd managed to chew the rim all up. They took it off to come home, but I put it back on when I had to leave for a half hour to get Syd from school. I did NOT want to be dealing with a bloody amputated stump because she wouldn't leave it alone!

Another angle of the tiny tail

Spring Break Florida Trip

The day after Brian and Celia left, we loaded up and started driving to Florida. I have to say I wasn't even a little bit excited about this trip because we were going to stay with our boss who owns a house in Naples. I mean, who really wants to spend their time off with their boss?! But it turned out to be much more enjoyable then I anticipated or expected. 

The house (where the green dot is) is right on the water. but it's not exactly the gulf. More of an inlet made up of lots of fingers of land with water in between.

Their house is absolutely huge and gorgeous. There were enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own (with attached bath!) and have some left over. We had so much space we didn't know what to do with it.

We went to lunch at the club they belong to that is for people of their neighborhood. It was right on the gulf and very beautiful. I could get used to living like that. 

This green dot shows where the club is. A pool 50 yards from the gulf, a full restaurant, and a wait staff just waiting for you to ask for a drink.

The boss's wife and I went for a walk down the beach while the guys and kids swam. We were gone for an hour and a half and saw some amazing houses. I liked all the abandoned posts from jetties and piers along the beach.

Boss belongs to a yacht service, so the 2nd day they arranged for a yacht to take us to an island they always go to to find shells. It was quite the boat, and came with a captain, drinks, snacks, and towels, for as long as we wanted it.

The day was overcast, but it was nice not to have the sun beating on us the whole time.

Ken and Syd looking for shells on the island.

Enjoying the ride.

They told us they have never gone out on the boat without seeing dolphins. We were starting to head home and hadn't seen any yet. I was getting so bummed when all of a sudden one jumped up so his face/head was completely out of the water right by the side. We decided later it was a mama and baby playing in our wake. They stayed with us for about 15 minutes before going to find some more fun. 

We had some time to sit on the dock and fish a little.

Only 5 minutes after he cast the first time Ken caught a pretty silver fish!

Back view of the house from the dock.

Ken took the kayak out for a little spin around the inlet right as the sun was going down.

Talk about high tech! Instead of having a row of switches you have to try each one to find the right lights, the bank of buttons was labeled so you knew exactly which one to push. 

I'm glad we went and had a good time. Our next trip to Florida will be to see people we WANT to see, and do all the fun Florida stuff we didn't have time for this time.

First Visitors

For Easter weekend we had our first visitors in the new house. Brian and Celia made the trek (a much longer one for them than it is when we go to see them!) and came to hang out with us for a few days. I lost some pics when I transferred from my phone to the computer, but I saved some good ones.

Annie was her happy self, except for the very first night when she had a meltdown that we still don't know what happened. She screamed and screamed and couldn't calm down for a long long time. She finally did and slept the whole night and was fine the rest of the time.

My friend Gretchen brought over so many fun toys for him to play with. Maden's first question when he came inside was "Where are the toys?" But all he wanted to play with were my weights! He could lift all of them himself, even the heaviest purple ones.

I was really worried about Storm being too big and scary for Maden. So I had them "meet" thru the sliding door for the first time. He was a little leery of her, but not scared. 

Ken held Storm down so Maden could get to know her better without her being in his face.

We had an Easter egg hunt and Annie even got a prize of a chick that peeps.

We went to Syd's horseback riding lesson. Maden was a little scared of the big horses, but Ken carried him around and made him feel better.

Playing with shadows at horse riding.

He and Ken became good buddies.

Celia making friends

Making friends

Maden got a little restless at horse riding, so he sorted and counted all the change I had in my purse. Love the things that entertain him.

We had to go to Silver Beach Pizza where they had a new fun photo opp. Couldn't pass it up!

We rode the carousel by the pizza place. For some reason they had hats the kids could wear. Maden picked a sparkly striped one.

He was a little scared when it started to move, and the hat was so big it kept falling over his eyes.

He held on really tight.

Maden wanted to try the electric scooter.

It was nice to have a car big enough that we could all ride together. 

We went to the Easter Egg hunt in Berrien Springs again. Celia signed Annie up for the 0-1 age group. She collected a lot of eggs while holding the midget. She's right up front in a white sweatshirt, and Annie wrapped in a whitish blanket.

Watching Maden play at the park before the egg hunt.

I thought Maden would be scared of all the other kids running around at the park, but he did really good at waiting his turn, and not being pushed around.

Maden wanted to go to the park, but we really didn't have time. so we went to our old house and let him jump on our trampoline that we left at the neighbor's. It was a fine solution.

We had a little birthday party for Celia with angle food cake and fondue.

Ken wheeled the basketball hoop from the old house to the new house. We were quite the parade going thru the neighborhood, with a stroller, dog, kid running/skipping, 3 adults and Syd, and then the basketball hoop. Not something you see every day.

Brian spent a lot of time with Storm finding the sunspots.

Even Annie liked hanging out with Storm in the sun.

On their last night we went to dinner with Matt, Erica, Hayden and Emerson. Emerson was very interested in Annie. She liked playing with Maden, but she really liked feeding and "helping" with Annie. Celia was so patient and nice to let her investigate for so long.

Maden stayed clean and dry the whole time they were driving here and home. That's a great accomplishment, even if it added about 3 hours to their driving time.

One funny story -- we put Maden to bed the first night and told him we had to shut the door so the cats wouldn't come in and see him in the night. He was fine with it and went to sleep. About an hour later I realized I hadn't seen Biz for a long time. I knew he'd hide as soon as he saw new people in the house. So I went looking in all his usual hiding places. No Biz anywhere. Finally I remembered that he likes to go under the futon Maden was sleeping on even when no one is here. So I tried to be so sneaky and quiet when I opened the door. Either he wasn't all the way asleep yet, or I'd been louder than I thought because when I got close to the futon to look under it, he said in a sleepy voice, "One of your cats came to see me." Sure enough there was Biz under the futon and I guess he'd jumped up on top to say hi to Maden at one point too. I told Maden I was getting the cat out and to go back to sleep. We asked him about it in the morning and he remembered the whole thing! Silly Biz picking that for a hiding place.  

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch...

We had an exciting/crazy/hectic few days right before I left for Erie and while I was gone. We had a new house in our subdivision kind of fall into our laps and we couldn't pass it up. Literally on Monday we found out we got the house, and by Wednesday we were moving things in. We got a Uhaul truck and had 2 friends come help move the furniture on Thursday so we could sleep there that night. We were terrible packers because we knew we'd only be moving a mile down the road. We didn't even tape the boxes closed -- just packed them to the top and left them like that. A lot of stuff also went into garbage bags when we ran out of boxes. Our old house is already listed, and already have some people interested in it! 

The new house is much bigger -- 4 bedrooms upstairs, with a bonus room that Syd is using as her bedroom. The basement is unfinished, but Ken already has ideas of how he wants to finish it and how to maximize the space down there. We are the first people to live here, but the house has been completed for almost a year. It feels so good to have all new carpet, floors, and fresh paint everywhere. 

Our first night in the house the doorbell rang about 5:30. We'd just been talking about what to do for dinner and dreading having to dig thru the pile of boxes in the kitchen to find anything. I opened it to see a lady standing there with a pizza and six pack! She said she lives across the street and saw we'd been moving all day so she was providing dinner. She even brought paper plates, napkins, and a bottle opener. I was floored and thanked her over and over. I'm definitely going to remember that and pay it forward. It made our first night so much easier.

With all the space we have now, we have plenty of room for visitors to come stay. Who's first? :)

Outside view of the front. 

We got a lot done in the few days before I left, but Ken did a lot of it on his own while I was gone. Everything in the garage is put away so both cars can fit in there.

Guest room #1. The king size bed fits very nicely in there.

Every room even gets a TV since that was one thing we haven't thrown away over the  years as we upgraded.

My "reading room" in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

I love not having to be in the basement anymore!

Nice big closet inside the master bathroom.

Love the big master bathroom. It's big but the space was used well. 

Guest room #2 with the futon 

We have one room on the main level that we just don' know what to do with. I think  it's supposed to be a formal living room, or family room. but it seems silly to put another couch and TV in there when everything is 5 feet away. We're thinking about putting a ping pong table in there :)

Dining room

Some of the things I wouldn't necessarily have chosen if I had had the option, but I really like how everything goes together. These pendant lights are above the bar/island in the kitchen.

Standing at the front door you can see all the way up the stairs and into the kitchen. Makes it seem much more open.