She said that she would call me and we could have coffee and look for a new temporary home for her together.  I love shopping for houses, especially for other people!!  She will be there for 6 months to a year and needs a place to call home. Just a cozy 2 bedroom house with a small yard would be perfect.

I asked her how she was going to find a place to live while she is here in the U.S., and she told me about a website that her company had told those chosen few about, where they could “shop” for homes in Canada right from her own home computer.  Well, pooh. I thought she meant we could take a trip to Canada together and look at houses!

I wish her all the luck in the world and can’t wait to go visit her in our great neighbor to the North.

I noticed last night that she was not walking well.  She had lost control of her hindquarters.  This morning, she was just walking around in a fog-like state, just following the sound of my voice as I readied for the day.  I was going to take her in by myself, but found I was too upset to do so.  So, I called my old friend, Larry, and had him come over and take us to the vet’s office.  When he arrived, he said that she just did not seem like herself.

So, we took her to the vet’s office, I made the arrangements and said a very tearful goodbye to my wonderful friend of 15 years.  She hesitated as they took her into the back, as if she knew she would never see me again.

I met Pooh in 1996, 9 months after she had been born.  She was tied to a dog house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and totally ignored, except for being fed regularly.  I took her home, along with the dog house.  She never wanted anything to do with that dog house ever again, and I can’t say I blamed her.  She was scared of her own shadow back then.  She never even barked for the first 6 months that I had her.  I thought that maybe she couldn’t.  After awhile, she came out of her shell and became a normal, well-adjusted dog.  She followed my every step too, and was always there for  me, no matter what.  I will miss her greatly.

I had her cremated and have her ashes in an urn here at home.  My peace needs to come from the knowledge that she is no longer suffering and is in a better place.

I couldn’t see spending all day at work stressing over what I could not get done within the short work week and then coming home, taking care of our little Roo and Pooh bear (two cocker spaniels – for those of you who are not familiar with the family yet), and then trying to cook a big dinner, get pies made, etc., just to get frustrated and tired out.  So, I did the pies on Thursday for Friday dinner.  It worked out great!!  I had a 20 lb turkey to cook for two of us, so I froze a lot of leftovers.

I tried something new this year.  I made the stuffing from whole wheat bread, instead of white bread; I made my pie crust from whole wheat flour (a little tougher to roll out) and made sugar free pumpkin pie.  The entire meal turned out to be very tasty.  We did not do the traditional sweet potato pie or scalloped corn, since we are trying to watch our diets a little more closely these days, but we did not feel we missed out on a thing.  The pie was great!!!

I am thankful for my family and friends, of course.  I am thankful that my father is finally at peace after a life of turmoil. And finally, I am thankful that I have another day to enjoy life.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

                                                                                         The Wooden Bowl
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.  The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.  The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult.. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.  When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.  The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.  ‘We must do something about father,’ said the son.  ‘I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.’  So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.  There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.  Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.   When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.  Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.  One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.  He asked the child sweetly, ‘What are you making?’ Just as sweetly, the boy responded, ‘Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up. ‘

The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.  The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.  For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. 

I remember one summer, back in the late 1990s, when he actually made it to the division semi-finals.  He went to Indianapolis motor speedway for the weekend to race.  And, being such a close family friend (his wife is my best friend, even though we live very far apart now), I was invited to come along for the weekend.

It was a weekend full of camping (right there at the track) and a lot of fun!!!  We sat around the campfire at night, which is one of my favorite things to do, cooked breakfast over the campfire, roasted marshmallows, had a few beers.  Just good old-fashioned fun.  And during the day we watched all the races.  I think that it is one of my favorite memories of my entire lifetime.  Good friends and a good time, there is no better combination.

So, I suggested that we start searching the Internet for ways to get a loan.   We came across a website that talked about getting easy payday loans.   We did a little reading and researched the site.  They specialize in cash advances, installment loans and title loans.  Most of the time you can get your cash the very same day, which is what she needed to do.

After she filled out the short application form, she found a store not too far from her, in Wisconsin, so it would  be convenient for her as well.  She got her money that same afternoon and was on her way to Texas.  I am happy to say that her aunt has recovered and is doing well.

Last night they came to my home and took Roo out for a walk and, as I found out later, they even picked  her “potty pads” up off of the floor and put fresh ones down for her.  They definitely went beyond the call of duty.  They are also helping to train her to sit and to not bite when she is playing.  

I plan on rewarding them well for their efforts.  Again, these are a great bunch of kids, their mother has done a great job of raising them and teaching them to be responsible people.  I think Roo will do well with a little help from her great playmates.

While we were having our weekly “date”, her telephone rang.  After checking her caller ID, she did not pick up the phone, and let it go to the answering machine.  Whoever it was, did not leave a message.  After about an hour, her phone rang again.  Again, she did not answer.  I asked her why she was not answering the phone and she replied, “It is just a debt collector”.  They  call here at least 5 or six times a day.  I got tired of the calls and just quit answering.  She said that they even call her at work!!!

She then explained that for the past 3 years either she or her husband had been unemployed (which I knew about) and had fallen behind in credit card payments.  They had actually quit paying altogether.  It was a choice of either paying the rent, utilities and putting food on the table, or paying the credit card bills.  She asked me how to stop debt collectors from harassing her all the time.

I told her about a story that I had caught a glimpse of one day on the news, and told her to visit the website.  The story was about unfair debt collection practices.  So, we looked it up together on the Internet and found out that under the law, a debt collector cannot call you repeatedly, call you a inconvenient times or places and several other things that neither she or I were aware of.

She is so adorable, I have never had a puppy this young before and am totally in love with her after one day.  She whines quite often (missing Mommy and her brothers and sisters I am sure), but she is getting better adjusted.  Poohbear, does not particularly care for the new puppy, as she has been queen of the house since I got her in 1997, but she is adjusting slowly.  Pooh will snap at Roo, but has not outright attacked her yet.  But, Pooh is old and not the playful type anymore, so she just has to learn to tolerate Roo.

Earlier today, Roo was playing with her new toys I bought her at Pet Smart.  She particularly loves this little one that looks like a squirrel.   It has no stuffing that she might swallow and a squeaker at the end of the tail.  She will take it in her mouth and shake her little head back and forth and growl.  It is so adorable to watch her play.  She loves to attack newspaper and rip it to shreds too.  She is just full of surprises all the time.

Now, for the potty training……that will take awhile I am sure.

All tuckered out