Meanwhile 13 days later...

The past two weeks have been rather crazy, grab a cuppa your favorite beverage and settle in...

It all started Mother's Day weekend.

That Friday I had to take one of our dogs, Thumper, into the vet. Thumper, a 12 year old basset hound, was having difficulty breathing and not eating. RacerDad and I had a conversation before I went to the vet to discuss just how much we were willing to spend and what measures we wanted to take. I am glad we had talked about it. When I got to the vet, they wanted to begin running several tests to determine his condition. Any option they gave me started at $200 and that would not be conclusive nor include any treatment.

Lest you think we are uncaring pet owners, we had been down this road years ago with a poodle I brought into the marriage, $2000 later we still had to put the poor dog down. Basset hounds have a life expectancy of 10-12 years and though we loved Thumper we could not justify spending huge amounts of money on a dog that had lived a long wonderful life.

When I explained our position to the vet you would have thought I sprouted horns. She told me she could not conclusively give me a diagnosis and thus could not effectively treat the dog. I asked her to give her best guess and make Thumper comfortable. She then let me know that she felt he had a systemic infection, very common in older dogs...usually not curable. I left the vet with a strong antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory drug.

We had baseball games that Friday evening. My MIL came Saturday so that meant a day full of shopping plus baseball games. Mother's Day we went to church and more baseball games. Are you with me people??? Three days and we had seven games, it was not a tournament and it was Mother's Day weekend! I guess it is a good thing I enjoy baseball. Speedy B pitched in one of the Mother's Day games. He was on the mound for 4 innings and only threw 32 balls. He told me that was one of my presents. Gotta love him.

The rain we have had this spring postponed the majority of our games. The league needed to get the rain-outs played before this week's city championship and before the official start of tournament season. So for the most part I have been at baseball the last two weeks. I honestly lost count after I figured out we played 13 games in 5 days. That's what I get for having two boys that play ball...I have no idea what I will do when Smoda starts.

We did end up having to put Thumper down in the midst of all this. The boys took it hard, but then they are realists as well. We had adopted Thumper when he was 10 so his playful puppy days were past. When he came into the family I became "his person" he would follow me from room to room and if I stayed in one place for long he would plop down where he could see me and go to sleep. About the only "playing" he would do for the boys was howl. And boy could he howl! Smoda could make one howling noise and Thumper would join in, nose to the air baying at the top of his lungs. Smoda called the baying sound ha-rooing and named him "Captain Haroo". The boys have requested that the next dog be one they can play with...one that will run and chase balls. I guess my lapdog Trixie doesn't count, she is a miniature dachshund and really can't be bothered to play. As long as the boys pet her she will stay with them, but then as soon as they quit touching her, she is off.

What have I been doing when not at baseball??? Well....I got passports for the whole family (talk about MAJOR sticker shock!!!) All I can say is if you think you might need passports get them early! It cost an extra $300 dollars just to get them expedited. We have also wrapped up all our extra curricular activities (except baseball!), gotten in our new curriculum, cleaned out the boys rooms and mowed the jungle. I was afraid after all the rain Speedy B was going to need a machete to cut the backyard. Oh, and I joined Weight Watchers.

Knitting wise...all this baseball has been awesome for my sticks and string. I finished my green toe up socks, I really enjoyed doing toe up and will plan on doing more. I finished numerous dishcloths and made some tribbles. I also began my Summer Sock Kit from The Loopy Ewe. I love the colors! The pattern is great and I am finding it easy to remember. I did have to put it aside though, size 0 needles and a pattern did not go well with intense competitive ball!

My life should be getting back to normal. Only one son is playing ball now. Cowodie finished his season last night. His team played in the city championship. The teams were very evenly matched, it was a fun game to watch. Cowodie is a catcher and he made a diving catch for a foul ball...he got the out. He also hit in the game winning run. His grin was from ear to ear. But what warmed my heart? After the game, he looked at me very seriously and said "I think this game was my birthday present from God". I LOVE the fact that he recognizes that God deserves the glory in all things.

Well that is about it from my hearth, I have missed you all!

Meanwhile 13 days later...

http://atmyhearth.blogspot.com/2007/05/meanwhile-13-days-later.html