Blog Fart Friday

* The Hubbster is on crutches thanks to a foot operation he had this week. I now know how to do certain things because either a) he does too much or b) I do too little. I can now change the pool filter, clean and hose out and replace. I can now attach the hose to the pool inlet and vacumn the pool. I can now wrap his leg in a plastic bag for his shower..hang on, I already know how to do that from his two broken legs he suffered years ago.

* Miss D taught her friends a dance routine and they did this at parade at school today. I was so proud of her, and all the girls were awesome. One boy came up to her after the dance and said "your dance was great. You rock". Miss D said "thanks" went red in the face and I stiffled a giggle.

* I went to the dentist today, and it was long overdue. I hate the dentist. Doesn't everyone? I have a tooth that needs attention and I have been putting it off for a long time. Because of this, now I need a root canal. Hip hip, frickin' hurray.

Are there any other words that make you scream like the words "root canal". I'm too scared to even google it. So I am booked in for next week, and I am trying to come up with a reason to reschedule the appointment. I did, however, get a clean and polish, so now my teeth sparkle. Root Canal = can I take my ipod??

* The decking on the house is nearly done. It looks amazing. The builder said that if we put all the timber together in one long length, it would measure around 3 kms. Guess who has to oil the deck? Me.

* I've been thinking about all of my friends in America on this day September 11th. You all know why. And you know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. It had an inpact on all of us in Australia too.

Bums on Seats

Have you heard the saying......

"Bums on seats"....

Well, here's 9 bums for you!

And here's the front view.....

Toto at the vet

Off we went to the vet today. I had a urine sample from Toto and that was checked for stones or a bladder infection (crystals) and that came up clean.

The vet looked at the sample under the microscope and among the usual round blood cells, I saw clusters of cells all attached together - which is not good. These cells shouldn't be there.

This shows a growth somewhere in the lower abdominal region. The blood that she passes could be urine that flows over the growth and takes the blood with it - if that makes sense. So the growth could be any where from her bottom through to her tummy, or her bladder etc etc. It's hard to know and even harder to treat. I mean, we can't take her bladder out, as she would be fairly pissed off about having to walk around attached to a bag. Sorry sarcasm and humour is all I can muster right now.

So there is something there, and we kind of expected that as she is nearly 15 years old and these things happen. We have antibiotics and anti-inflamatory meds for her and that is the way we are going. Hopefully she will pass less blood and it will clear up and if it doesn't, her quality of life is what we will look at. And right now, she is having a ball, she is barking now and driving me crazy so things are how they should be.

I was thinking on the drive home about her quality of life, actually her life in general. She (and her sister) have had an amazing life. A loving family, a safe and happy environment, great experiences (the beagle drive of '95 really stands out) and even a trip on an aeroplane! They (and us) have been very fortunate.

I am so glad we stopped at the sign that read "Beagles for sale" so many years ago.

Icecream for Dinner?

How to have icecream for dinner.

1) Cook a delicious meal of Spaghetti Bolognaise.

2) Feed the entire family and wait patiently to have your own when they all go to bed.

3) Place plate of delicious food in microwave and cover with...a metal saucepan lid.

4) Watch as handle of metal saucepan lid gets blown off inside microwave with a huge bang!

5) Take plate out and notice that dinner now is unfit for human consumption.

6) Realise what a farking idiot you are (I am).

7) As there is no bread in the house, eat the rest of the icecream left over in the freezer. Enjoy

8) Feed the delicious dinner to the dog.

(Disclaimer - I am fully aware that you do not put metal in the microwave, but admit to having a frickin brain snap and behaved accordingly).

Toto is not well

I'm feeling a bit sick about this right now. It may be time to say goodbye to our beagle Toto. You may remember we lost her sister Girlie back in April. It was heartbreaking and you can read about it Here.

Toto will be 15 years old in November. She is actually quite happy, or so it seems, she can't tell me if she is in pain because I don't speak dog. We have been letting her off the lead each afternoon (which is very unusual for a beagle because they are not known for sticking around!) and she wanders around with the kids and often runs into the paddock and chases rabbits and kangaroos. Which is where she is now.

She is having the time of her life at the end of her life. So why am I even debating this with myself?

Because she is peeing blood. A few drops here and there, but tonight she was squatting on the grass and I saw a few drops of blood and not much else. She obviously has a big problem and she can't tell me, but this is not right. This is serious. I don't know what to do. The Hubbster is going away for 2 days and I know if I take her to the vet, he will say it's time. But I HAVE to take her, she could be in pain and not be able to tell me.

And I can't get my head around the fact that she is running around chasing wildlife as I type this and I am thinking of ending her life. I hate to say this but this is fucked. I hate this decision. She's my little dog. She's smart. She's trusting. She still eats her dinner and gets around.

She lays in the sunshine during the day, blissfully unaware of what I am thinking. She loves the kids, they rub her belly and she is in heaven. She comes back from chasing rabbits and is so tired she can hardly keep her eyes open.

I know this time would come, but to lose both of them so close together is really upseting. I can't imagine life without my beagles.


(We have a vet appointment at 9.30am tommorrow, we will see what happens then.)