Where do I start? Actually yesterday I guess...
Yesterday I went to my last day of swim practice for the long course season. I came home and took Nate to work because the 4-runner he just purchased last week is in the shop! Yep, we sold the big red truck because diesel prices are so brutal & Nate found a little 4-runner that was the right price & bought it. It's not been great so far, it over-heats, we don't yet know why.
So, Nate arrives at his office (an hour & a half late, what are they going to do? fire him? HA). I come home, let out our poor dog Shadow, feed her, rest a little, shower, then I go to let Shadow out again & her leg is swollen. It's HUGE! I feel so bad for her, she's been through so much. Has she been in pain for long??? I rush to get Sloan ready for her TaeKwon Do class, get the kids out the door & I call Nate to have him call the Vet so I can find out if Shadow should come in right away or wait over night. The Vet says that the earliest she will be seen is today anyways, so that was added to my to-do list.
So today. I wake up, have a swim lesson & come home so Nate can go to work (in a car he's borrowed from his AWESOME friend Charlie). I make breakfast, medicate the dog & get the kids dressed to head to the Vet. We drop off Shadow & head for the gym - I need a run. I run 3.5 miles & swim 2300 yards. Lots of good that does me. I am driving a car that has a check engine light on & is acting really funny... Did I mention I am leaving for State Swim Meet tomorrow in Cleveland, MS??? Nate has me meet him at his friend's auto shop, so now I need to grab lunch for the kids too. In checking the car we find there is something wrong with my transmission - both of our cars could end up in this shop, the 4-runner is already there! But, Nate's friend Joe isn't comfortable "dabbling" in transmissions so we take the car over to a transmission shop (Ammco owned by a couple of my swimmers' parents). They think that my car will not leave me stranded on the side of the road, give me a couple of tricks to stop it from acting funny & when I have time (HA!) I can come in to have it repaired as it means they will need to order a part.
I head back over to the Vet (it's 4pm now & none of the kids have had any rest today - no nap for Will). The Vet tells me that Shadow will have to stay at least over night. Her infection is very bad & it turns out we aren't very good at caring for our poor sick little dog. (At least that's how I feel right now - I am very tired though.) We were giving her all of ther medicine & putting the medicine on her wounds, but we didn't realize how aggressive we needed to be in cleaning her wounds. We were being very gentle (her leg is shattered you know), apparently the area needs to be scrubbed. UGH! Now she may need another pin to stabilize her leg. Wow!
At this point I've still got to go to the grocery store, make dinner for the kids, get them washed & in bed. (All of this has thankfully been done right now.) Nate has 2 remotes this evening & is not anticipating being home until at least 10pm - I know, all of this for a job he won't have in 13 days.
One of Nate's employees did get a firm job offer. That's incredible news considering how recently the buy-out was announced. Hopefully an offer will come in for Nate very soon.
Our life story sounds like a bad country music song right now; broken dog, broken vehicles... Tomorrow will be less eventful I hope. I have to go finish my ice cream (it always makes me feel better) & start to pack for the weekend.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
July 17th, 2008 - What a day!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
July 15th, 2008 - Changes...
I know, with 3 kids it is impossible for life to go on without any changes... We've seen a lot lately. In the past year Nate's youngest brother Jeff moved his family; wife Tiffany, son Jace & daughter Natalie up to New York state. Nate's middle brother David & his with Jenny had their 3rd child - Gus. I wil have to put some pics up in a later post.
Yesterday we found out that the company that Nate works for has sold the 2 radio stations where he is the GSM. These stations were sold independently to 2 different station groups. This means that as of August 1st Nate does not have a job. We are optimistic & hopefull. We are hoping to be able to stay in the area as our kids are in school & I have a part-time job with the swim team, but we are not counting on it.
We would appreciate your prayers - and any leads you may have ;). We know this will all work out & hey ~ it's not like we haven't been through this before!
July 5th, 2008 - This post is NOT for the squeamish!!!
As many of you may have already heard we had a little event on Nate's birthday this year. Our yellow lab, "Sunny" attacked our black lab, "Shadow". This attack almost killed Shadow & was very stressful for everyone involved. Shadow had to be rushed to the Animal Emergency Clinic in Jackson as this happened on a Sunday afternoon.
Sunny bit Shadow's leg so hard it was crushed. The pink bandages are covering the external apparatus holding the pins in place. She has 3 pins securing her leg right now. They won't heal as separate bones again, just a bony mass that they are hoping will work well for her. There were so many fragments that her leg had to be stretched a bit to keep it even with her good leg.
She was sedated for our visit, but still very good with the kids. She layed on my lap the whole time & only tried to move when Nate moved out of her line of sight.
The yellow bandages are holding her IV in place. She recieved IV fluids for quite a while & the antibiotics until the day before we picked her up to go home.
She still loves to give kisses. I was so worried that she would not have the same attitude towards us, she seems perfect in that respect.
She really seemed to love the attention. You can see 2 of her many staples from this angle. She has 3 more on the other side & countless stitches that are dark & cannot be seen in the pictures.
The repair job on her leg, really pretty good. We really didn't expect her to even make it through this.
That's Will's finger. He was trying so hard to be gentle. He's used to being able to play with her.
She loves the kids so much.
Shadow didn't want us to leave when it was time to go after our visit. She has a follow up around July 18th where they should remove the staples. I can't even find any of the stitches so I believe they are all gone. She will have the pins & apparatus on her leg for at least another 4 weeks after that. Our vet is hopeful that she will walk & even run again with her leg once it has healed - which just amazes me.
We were at a BBQ for Nate's birthday when this happened. The baby sitters did call, but since Shadow had hidden under the deck we didn't know the extent of the damage until we got home. We are certain that this was an unprovoked attack by the other dog & we were forced to make the decision to take her to the shelter. Once the shelter understood what had happened they let us know that they would be unable to place her in another home. They do believe that she had some pit-bull in her. Sunny was a shelter-dog, just like Shadow; the shelter here in MS where we found her was a no-kill shelter that has since shut down so there was no chance of returning her to that shelter.
We are considering another dog, but will probably go with a breeder the next time so we can evaluate the temper and health of the parents of the puppy we choose.
July 4th, 2008 - Happy 4th of July!!!
Every year on the 4th of July our area has a 5K called the Watermelon Classic. I ran (for the 1st time) this year & Sloan did the 1 mile fun run as well.
Sloan has her number & is ready to race.
Me with Sloan. The 5K was 1st & the fun run for the 12 & unders was after the 5K was completed.
There was also a costume competition for the 5K. I think my friend Kellie had the best hat! Lots of the walkers participate in the costume competition, it makes the whole event so fun!
I am so proud of Sloan! She ran her race the whole way - didn't stop to walk even once!
June 27th, 2008 - Celebrating our June Birthdays!
My husband & my son both celebrated birthdays this month. Will's is on June 6th & Nate's is on the 29th. Nate's parents came in town for a few days & we were able to celebrate with them some.
We went to eat dinner at our favorite local Sushi/Hibachi restaurant. It was unplanned - 3 of us wore green!
Nate's mom, "Grandma" with Evie & Sloan. Sloan has a bit of a black eye left over from her fishing trip. She managed to hit the basket on the 4-wheeler with her face... who knows... I wasn't there. I was in Tupelo for a swim meet when that happened.
Nate with his dad, "Grandpa".
Nate goofing off with Will. Look at Will's cute face & Nate being silly!
Will demands to be fed with chop sticks in this restaurant. Here he's eating squid salad - my whole family loves the stuff!
Sloan with her tuna sashimi. We have gotten smart & order her smaller pieces now, but it's kinda cute to watch a 7-year-old struggle through chop sticks & huge pieces of raw fish...
Grandma likes the FIRE!
Here we are! Me, Will, Nate, Grandpa, Evie, Grandma & Sloan.
Will likes his hat & sword.
Our waiter is multi-talented.
Sloan & Evie got hats too even though it wasn't their birthday. Sloan looks a little cross-eyed here.
Evie likes her hat too!
Nate's hat is HUGE!!! Our waiter liked the way it turned out!
Will doesn't know what to think of Daddy's hat, but we try to get a pic anyways.
The kids had to try on Daddy's hat also...
Evie had Grandpa try it on for good measure as well!
If anyone is wondering; Will got the typical 2-year-old fair for his birthday. Lots of clothes. He's wearing a 2t or 3t & is just average size. We are waiting to have "early-intervention" come in for his speech until after school starts. The doctor wanted to see how he progressed with his sisters home for the summer. He doesn't communicate very well, NOTHING like the girls did when they were 2. The main problem we have found with this right now is his temper, it makes him a little mad when we don't know what he wants or needs. Physically he's doing great! He's still medicated for his reflux, but we've seen real progress & think he will be on once per day maintenance medication just like Sloan & Nate. He's a happy little boy most of the time!
Nate got a new tatoo for his birthday. It was what he wanted.
Evie has officially out-grown Sloan. We knew it would happen sooner or later, but this is really a little sooner than even we thought. Sloan weighed in at 49lbs this summer & Evie at 50lbs. Evie is also 1/2 inch taller than Sloan. They are wearing the same size clothing & shoes still. Sloan is very perceptive & seems to understand her stunted growth. She's still pulling her hair & still sucking her thumb, she's a very anxious little girl.
I just keep on doing the same stuff; coaching, parenting, Junior League, I manage to stay busy.
June 16th, 2008 - Swim Team
We elected to participate in summer swim team again this summer. Even though the girls are still swimming with the year-round team as well. Who knows what we were thinking...
Here's Sloan getting ready for a race. Their suits were SO cute. Below are a couple of videos of the girls swimming in their races.
They are not the fastest on the team, but they really enjoy themselves each summer. Even though it wears everyone out!
Monday, July 14, 2008
June 14th, 2008 - Pat Green at Jubilee Jam!
And it's so great to be an Aggie! Here we are with Pat Green & the entire band after their great show in Jackson, MS! The only thing that would have made it better is if we had all been at The Tap!
June 14th, 2008
I am sure you are all wondering, "Do they go out on the boat anymore???" Yep, we sure do. Every time we get a chance. We just don't get a chance very often...
Me on the wakeboard. Nate's not been boarding as much as he has had a pulled muscle.
Still tons of fun though.
Here's Lizzie chillin' on the boat with us.
She's a pretty good boarder herself!
June 6th, 2008 - The Heatwave!
I participated in the Heatwave Triathlon again this year on a female relay. I have had so much fun with this event! Open-water swims are very challenging & this year's swim was pretty choppy.
Here are the ladies of our team; (r to l) Kelly was our biker, Ginny was our runner, & me.
This is me with Mariel. She is actually a swimmer on the team that I coach for.
We are a bunch of winners! Me with Tripp & Kelly. We all happen to work for The Courthouse!
May 30th, 2008 - TaeKwon Do Testing
Sloan tested for her Senior Blue Belt today.
Here she is lining up with her group to begin testing.
This is a great action shot of her sparring.
She did achieve her Senior Blue Belt at this testing. We missed the awards ceremony though.
May 9th - Evie's Dance Recital
Evie had her dance recital this weekend. I ended up with Strep & then had a swim meet so Nate did most of the work with Evie & he did a GREAT job.
Evie looked AWESOME!
She was where she needed to be, when she needed to be there.
And she had a BLAST!
May 2nd & 3rd, 2008 - The Crawfish Boil
Each year one of the radio stations (Rock 93.9) where Nate is the GSM participates in a HUGE crawfish boil with tons (literally) of crawfish and many really great bands. This year we were lucky enough to have our friend Corey come to town & go with us.
Me with Corey - our self portrait. Those are his glasses - it was night time...
Me with Meghan watching the bands (and some interesting people) from the deck.
Me with Nate at the end of the night (finally). He's so busy each year at this event that we don't get to see each other much.
