A happy post

My friend, Mike, at Jack & Cat Curio has honored me with this award. I was sure surprised to see my blog mentioned in the company of the others chosen. Thank you.

Now to pass it on to a few of my favorites:

Heart In My Hand-your creativity is inspiring and the honesty in your words encourage me.

The Garden Gate-visiting your blog is like going home. Like minded for sure.

A Stitch in Time-one of the first blogs I came across and still a favorite. Beautiful photography.

Yapping Cat Studio-totally fun, lots of eye candy. You make me laugh...a lot!

Small Creations-amazing talent...your creations never fail to inspire me.

The Graphics Fairy-wonderful vintage images, thank you for sharing.

Now it is your turn to share the love. Pass it on to your favorites.

My Friend, Cindy

was 54 yrs old when this picture was taken three years ago. She is on the right. We were celebrating her birthday. Yesterday, she lost her battle with cancer. She was diagnosed early last autumn. The past ten months have been hard, a constant roller coaster of hope and despair.

I struggled with whether or not I wanted to blog about her death. I decided that I wanted and needed to share what she has meant to me. I have mentioned her illness in past posts. Many of you have given me comfort in person and many of you have left comments of prayers and concern. She read your comments, and I know she was touched.

She was a one of a kind friend. Everyone who met her was instantly drawn to her. I've never known anyone who was so loved by so many. She was the first friend I made, 21 years ago, when I moved to Arizona. We have been many things to each other. We were neighbors, co-workers, confidants, and like sisters. We saw each other through everything life through our way. We laughed, we cried, we shared, and we bared our souls to each other. We could talk for hours, giggle uncontrollably, and find humor in the oddest things. I can't even imagine how much I'm going to miss her.

Teaching young dogs old tricks

Otis was always my walking partner. It was our time together. Granted, we didn't walk very fast, so there was no real exercise value in it for me. He lived for those walks, however, so it was a part of our daily routine. Now that he is gone, I decided to "try" walking with Ruby and Scarlett this morning. I never felt bad about leaving them behind before. If you know anything about Bostons, you know that they never stay still for very long. They get plenty of aerobics just chasing after the beloved, spitty ball and each other. So, after the wiggling and pogo stick imitations, we leashed up and off we went. Ruby was out the door like a Greyhound. That one has a mind of her own. Scarlett is always eager to please me and kept looking up to see if she was doing it right. We only went a few blocks, but their little legs can move! I'm exhausted, and they are crashed at my feet. I think we all need to work at this a bit more. I believe harnesses will be in order as well. Red ones...to match their collars.
Many thanks to those of you who left kind comments on my last post. Your concern and compassion will not be forgotten.
The vintage photo is courtesy of The Graphics Fairy. It is a wonderful blog. Check it out.

Otis...his life and travels

I made the painful decision to put Otis down over the weekend. It was without a doubt one of the most difficult things that I've ever been faced with. It came to the point that his quality of life had diminished greatly in the past few weeks. He had a wonderful, caring vet and we tried many treatments to ease his stiff arthritic old body. He was a little more than 11 1/2 . That's 93 years old according to the chart in my vet's office. It's a long life for a boxer, especially for a big one. As you can imagine, my heart is heavy and full of sadness that he is gone. I've always believed that dogs have a way of finding us instead of the other way around. This was true for Otis. When he was around eight months, we adopted him from a family that was unable to give him a good home. I am positive that his life would have been much different and not in a good way. He was my seventh boxer. I got my first one when I was three years old. I have had at least one, or two, or three at a time ever since. My entire life really. Even though I love the girls, our two Bostons dearly, boxers will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks to everyone who has been there for me through this. You know who you are, and your caring has meant the world. Here are a few of my favorite memories of the many trips we took with Otis and his girl, Lucy.

Yosemite National Park~their 1st time in snow

~off the coast of Washington~

~Yosemite National Park~

~near Bodega Bay, CA. He loved the beach, and would run and chase the waves.~

Taking a break

I've decided that I need to forget about updating my blog for awhile. Dealing with Otis and his health issues have taken a toll on me. I'm afraid that anything I might post will come out negative and sad. That is not what I want this blog to reflect. So for now, I'm going to focus on him, and hopefully when I come back, things will be better for the both of us.

15 minutes of fame

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone that has left me comments of support and good wishes. When you're feeling down, it means a lot. Today, I thought I'd share a story about Otis and his 15 minutes of fame. I had season tickets for several years for the Phoenix Coyotes. Absolutely love hockey! The team had a contest for ticket holders to submit photos showing why they were "real fans". On the day before the deadline I submitted this picture. We had taken a bunch for Christmas cards and this was an extra. I was never meant to be in the picture at all. I was only trying to get the dogs situated. In fact, I was pinching Otis in the butt to stay still. It was also a coincidence that I had on a Coyote sweatshirt that day. Well, they picked us to be on the season ticket along with others. I was interviewed by both local newspapers, and we made the front page of the sports section for each paper. The Coyotes asked me to bring the dogs to the arena for a pre-game ceremony on opening night. At the time, I was recovering from knee surgery, and I was nervous about walking out on the ice with two big dogs. Plus, can you imagine maneuvering them through the crowd? As it turned out, we did just fine. Wayne Gretztky even spoke to us and called the dogs "stars of the show". I didn't slip and fall, and it was a fun experience. The other dog was my Lucy. She was Otis's partner in crime until we lost her a few years ago.

Waving to the crowd.