Another Good Bye to a Beloved Pet

This is my dog Hope. I had 12 good years with her. Twelve years with a companion who stood beside me, laid at my feet, and ate through doors to get to my side.  This picture was taken when we took Hope with us to Lone Pine for a camping trip. Yes, she had to stay on a lead the whole time but she loved being outdoors in the fresh air. She was my patrol dog. If the my husband was in the house, she would patrol the yard. If he went outside, she would come inside the house. Someone was always on duty.  She taught the other dogs NOT to play fetch. She would let them chase the ball but before they could return the ball to me, she would tackle them to the ground.  EVERY SINGLE TIME.  For some reason, the dogs don't play fetch anymore.

I couldn't sleep for the first three nights. It amazed me at the emptiness of the house. I have 4 dogs in this house, but it was still empty without her. I woke up every few hours knowing she wasn't there. Sleep deprivation does not aid the mourning process and isn't it amazing that we go through this emotional pain  and loss for a simple creature who does nothing but give us unconditional love. Yes it is love to those who scoff at such a thing. They are happy to see you whether you do or do not have food. They give us comfort. They make us laugh. They entertain us and in return they just ask to be at our side.

And now she is gone. The last time the house was this dark was in 2007 when Ginger passed away. We were not going to get another dog, but two weeks later Buddy showed up on my door stop.

I took him to the backyard where Hope immediately pounced on him. Pounced on him 3 times before we could catch her and hold her back.  This little dog looked at me holding Hope by her collar. He looked at Hope and checked to see that I was indeed holding her collar.  He then went up to Hope and stood on his hind legs and slapped her. Slapped her 3 times.

That was so wrong and funny as hell.

The last thing I wanted was another dog, not to mention a little dog like him.
Off to the pound he went with no hesitation. What the heck! He's small, cute and friendly.  They were closed and then I saw how many cute LITTLE dogs they had. So I found him a home and it broke my heart. I did not want another dog. I very much did not want a little dog. The thought of giving him away was ripping me in half. He stayed.

And he brought so much light back into the house. The anarchy betweens the dogs was gone. He was the first male dog in this household in decades. Even though he was the youngest of the dogs, he brought the peace.  Buddy and Hope were best buddies and how they played together.  All was well in our world.

So now we say good bye to the last of this generation of dogs. The last generation of my adult children's childhood dogs. We said good by to Ginger in June of 2007, Busy Bee in December 2010 and lastly Hope February 15, 2011.

I have the two cocker spaniels who are 11 years old along with Buddy. Daisy had a tumor removed in 2002. It's back now and Bobbie has a swollen teat. Along with swollen ears from the infections they get due to allergies and the screaming question is WHAT are they ALLERGIC to????

No new dogs. The cocker spaniels will be spending my paycheck this year at the vets office. I really need to focus my attention on them.

Now I'm done with this topic. I really miss my dog.

Redemption

I wrote Redemption during the National Novel Writing Month Challenge in 2009. I love this story BUT it needs a serious rewrite for the 2nd draft.  I hate doing something twice. I tried to rewrite it and failed big time. I ended up with my first few pages cut down to one paragraph. Augg! Not a good thing. I also discovered that all of my female characters sounded like the same person. Augg!   I tried writing a page of each person and who they were, their habits, their appearance, their quirks. Boring. I did not succeed. I put the book away.

Recently a woman started a new writers group specifically for writers of novels. She has no problem telling members that this group is not for short stories, poetry or non-fiction. Ouch! A bit harsh, but she feels there are other groups for these people.

I have to say I was a bit offended by her strict rules of conduct. What we will do, what we won't do. I almost immediately withdrew from the group after her first email.  I mean if I wanted her opinion, I'd ask for it. Darn it!

Yeah, I never was one to accept criticism at first moment. Give me 24 hours to mull it over though and I'll see it for what it is. This woman has two books published which means she has two books that are completed. Not just drafts. They are done!  What do I have?  Two very incomplete novels. I'm thinking I need to check my attitude at the door, and see if I can learn a few things. At the very least, I have the incentive to get back to writing on the book so that I have something to show. Much like the knitting group, once I started that I now have the hat completed and the sweater almost.

The only thing is that I need to really manage my time. I sure did fill the calendar what with the knitting, bunco, book club, writing and RenFair soon to start, I wanted to go to the sewing classes. When will I ever find the time and energy to do it?  I have no idea, but its good to be busy and its good to be with people.

Scott Pilgrim Hat

The end of last year I started the Stitch N Bitch craft group at meetup. com. It's been so much fun and I've met some great people who have inspired me and made me laugh. I am so glad I started the group. A guy contacts me through the group to see if someone can knit him the Scott Pilgrim hat. He sent me the pattern. I have got to say that it is a simple pattern and I loved the hat. I knew I could do it. Not only does the hat look awesome, but it FEELS awesome. It is such a comfortable fit. I already have two people who want me to knit them one. It only took me a week to knit. It's the first time that I used a "real" stitch marker and that little marker made it so much easier.  I had purchased these little cupcake stitch markers from Etsy.com. I love them. They are cute and adorable and knitting with them is a breeze.
So here is the picture of the guy Michael Cera from the film Scott Pilgrim versus the World and the next picture is the hat I knitted.

I sent the picture to the guy and he likes it too.  That's a good thing. I deliver it tomorrow night.