anxiety?

i've been reading up on holistic remedies for anxiety and nervousness for dogs.  angus has always been a nervous dog, but since his "episode" he seems much more uptight.  which is understandable since his world was turn upside down.  last night it took him a good hour after we got up into the bedroom and settled in to finally stop pacing and lay down.  he was so anxious he was making ME anxious.  so, i grabbed my lappy and started reading. 

turns out, lemon balm (which i have never heard of) can be used to help sooth anxiety, as well as help with tons of other stuff.  i tried to find some oil that i could just add to angus's food, but no luck (well, there was some online but when i want something i want it yesterday and i don't want to pay for shipping).  i decided to check out the clintonville community market to see what they had to offer.  

$3.49 later i had a little baggie of dried lemon balm and a little baggie of lavender flowers.  now, what to do with them...

the oil is on the stove right now. 

i figured that putting a little on his food each night would help him relax some.  and if it doesn't... he's still getting some good stuff with the olive oil and the lemon balm.  

here's to nature!

wordless wednesday: one man's trash...

 

p52

the theme for this week is "fathers."  even though we don't have kids, i still think my hubs is a great father.  :)

the best things in life

first things first... 

angus is doing much better.  he's eating and drinking normally, walking around, and can almost make it up the stairs on his own.  he's not so keen on going down them (they are pretty steep), so he's getting carried around quite a lot.  i'm not sure he minds.  brisket is acting normal again, too.  i think he was worried about his brother.

we took another little walk at creekside.  it's so pretty there, and brisket always has such a great time.  

there weren't too many people, which was a little weird because the weather was perfect.  not too hot, with a nice breeze.  we walked around for about an hour, played in the water, and of course... took some pictures.  

all in all it's been a nice weekend, although not long enough (are they ever?).  angus has improved, we got some exercise and some much needed r & r, made a nice dinner last night, and have spent some quality time together.    

quality of life

angus has improved a little since my last post.  he is still very wobbly and gets turned around pretty easily.  the vet said that he isn't in any pain, but that he is probably queezy and is definitely dizzy.  who wants to feel like that all the time?  so, we're now starting to wonder about his quality of life.  every one always asks "are they in pain?".  well, pain isn't the only thing that you have to consider when judging quality of life.  he's confused, stressed, tired, and depressed.  all of those things play into the decision.  we have an appointment with our vet tomorrow to help us start making decisions.  i've been praying (which i don't do on a regular basis) that i will make the right decision.  when i think about how miserable he is, it makes me think it's time... but then i see him get a little better and i second guess myself.  this has been a very long week.  

angus

we had a pretty big scare this morning.  angus, our 14 year-old border collie was stumbling around, falling over, and his eyes were going all crazy.  i thought for sure he had a seizure and we were going to have to say goodbye.  

when i got to the vet, they wouldn't see me but sent me to the emergency vet.  they said that it wasn't a seizure or stroke but something called vestibular disease.  it causes him to get really dizzy and off balance (which explains the falling over and inability to walk) and makes it hard for him to focus (which explains the crazy eyes).  it happens fairly frequently in older dogs.  think how you feel when you spin around in a bunch of circles then when you stop, you almost immediately fall over.  well... that's how he's feeling.  the vet said that it should correct itself in about three weeks and that in the mean time i should give him dramamine to help with the dizziness and motion sickness.  he's sleeping pretty hard in his kennel right now, and has been pretty much all day.  which i guess is good, so he doesn't feel so bad.  it's difficult to watch, but hopefully it will clear up soon.  i wish there was more i could do for him.    

p52

this week's p52 theme is "sunlight."

Cincinnati Octoberfest 2011

belated father's day and weekend wrap up

father's day was yesterday.  i don't enjoy it very much anymore.  it just makes me miss my dad.  he passed away about 9 years ago from cancer.  it was all very sudden and happened so quickly.  i miss him and think about him every day.  he was  a really great dad, and i learned a lot from him.  he's the one who really got me to love nature and wildlife.  any time we went to the beach or on a boating trip, we would look for new birds to identify or see how many dolphins we could count from the bow of the boat.  i can only imagine what it would be like today if he were still around.  i always think of things that i want to tell him and talk to him about.  i hope he would be proud of me and what i've done with my life so far.  

the only other dad that i know that can even come close to him is my brother.  he is such a great father to his little boy.  so, here's to my dad and my brother.  the two best fathers there are and have been.

and to my sweet husband, who i know will be a wonderful father one day (sooner rather than later, hopefully).    

on a happier note, we had a great time at the jazz and blues fest on friday.  lots of good food, good friends, and good music.  the river was low, but that didn't stop people from playing in the water.  the weather was great, and we ate our dinner on the deck overlooking the water.  couldn't ask for a better evening.  

p52

i have been looking for weekly theme ideas.  i found wordless wednesday and p52.  both are photography challenges, but that's the kind of stuff i like.  

here is my first post for p52.  the theme for this week is "water."  wordless wednesday will, obviously, start next week... since it's FRIDAY! 

spin a yarn

looks like we will be hanging out in gahanna on friday night for the blues and jazz fest.  it'll be nice to get out and hang out with some friends.  and cheap dates are always fun! 

the knitter's connection convention is this weekend.  i'll be volunteering at the winding station on saturday afternoon.  i'm pretty excited about it.  not so much the winding, but getting to see what's new in the knitting world and getting to take a complimentary class.  i can't decide if i want to take the portuguese knitting class, or the tunisian crochet class.  i think both of them would be really interesting.  the only down side is that they are both at 8:30 in the morning.  i'm not sure that i want to spend my ENTIRE saturday there.  i guess it will be a gametime decision... and also depend on how much fun we have on friday night.  

i think i may have spoken too soon about my impression of the dovekeepers.  it instantly got better last night.  the storyline really started to move.  looks like things are turning around.

last night on our daily walk, brisket and i saw two muskrats.  they were ugly and cute all at the same time.  they looked like small beavers with skinny rat tails.  we watched them for a few minutes, then continued on our walk.  i like living out in the "country" because we get to see all kinds of little critters.  there are always ducks and geese in the ponds and bunnies and racoons on the edge of the woods.  i can't wait until we get a house and some acreage outside of town so we can really see some wildlife.  we will be able to put up bird feeders and owl boxes.  maybe even a bat box.  oh, the fun we will have.   

29

today is my birthday.  i am 29.  last night my husband asked me if i was excited about it.  i told him, not really.  once you get past the fun birthdays... 16, 18, 21... they all seem to feel the same.  he asked me if i was happy with where i am in my life.  i can truly say that, yes, i am happy with where i am.  i love my job and feel like i make a difference at the office.  i love my husband and what we have, even though i may complain about him.  he really is a wonderful husband and i'm glad he's mine.  i like where we live and don't feel like we really want for anything.  i have a good life.  so, happy birthday to me.  

i started reading the dovekeepers over the weekend.  i'm really hoping that it gets better.  i have very high hopes for this book.  it's supposed to be hoffman's "masterpiece" but so far, i'm not really impressed.  i'm not very far into it; still getting through yael's story.  maybe things will start getting better when new characters are brought in and their stories begin to intertwine.  the idea of the story is intriguing, though.  fingers crossed that it will get better. 

new start

so, through out college i blogged.  a lot.  not about anything in particular... but most of it was depressing and negative.  well, i'm in a very different place now and wanted to start out fresh.  i miss blogging.  i don't often have much to say, but when i do i like to have somewhere to put it.  so here it is... the new orange rhyming dictionary. 

what to expect:

LOTS of pictures

knitting news

ohio news

family updates

nothing flashy, but like i said... somewhere to put it.