My girl is 8 years young today! Check her out with her red velvet puppy cake she got when I went to visit my friends Midnight and Harley in Kansas City. Ain't she cute as a bugs ear? She's got a bum wheel, but we aren't going to talk about that on her birthday.
... I had the worst Christmas to date. It was December 23rd (dah, one year ago) and I was at the gym, grabbing one last pre-holiday workout, (like it really mattered) before I began all the cooking/cleaning for the 16 people I was hosting for Christmas Eve. It was snowing, the roads were slightly greasy, and as far as I knew that would be the biggest challenge of my day. I speed dial my cute hubby to check on the status of his end of the bargain (getting Miss Kato her daily dose of exercise). "We had an accident, but don't panic, it's all gonna be fine." It must have been pure hell to have to say those words, and besides he knows I'm the panic-er... one of us has to be. "Kato got a little slice, and we are at the emergency room. They are checking her out now." I smell his lie like his farts in the car. I 34b-line myself right to the best veterinary emergency room in the West metro (Eden Prairie-bless those folks) to meet them. He DID lie. It's not just a, "slice," she has been impaled by a unseen steel fence post sticking out of the snowy turf at a 42 degree angle. Forty-two must have been our unlucky number as this was the number of stitches it took to mend her torn hide. Gulp. I know. It makes the 8 stitches I had on my bum sound like a day at the park. Eight hours later the Doc surfaces and tells us she has completed the difficult task of putting Miss Kato back together again. We had already cancelled the holiday festivities and left 16 others without Christmas Eve plans too. I can't even write about taking care of her that night. It makes my tummy turn and flop. It must be what MOM's feel when they are taking care of a very ill child, who can not communicate or understand where this pain is coming from. They all broke it to me lightly. If Dr. Silverstein had told me right away it was about the worst he had seen, I would have lost it. If I had known it would be 2 weeks of sleeping on the air mattress in the living room, and another 4 with my hand tucked under her chest (in case she tried to move or lick) I would have lost it completely. Completely as opposed to being about 10 seconds away from loosing it everytime I saw gunk coming out of the drainage tube she had in her tummy. It was about as blue as I have ever been. So, anywho to make an already long story short... Now, I scratch her chocolate brown head, tickle her salt and pepper chin and trace my finger along the long and jagged scar and hope she doesn't remember one year ago. Then, I dream about the Louis Vuitton handbag I could have had instead of paying those vet bills. Ahhhhh, what the hell, she is totally worth it.
If I seem a little cranky, well I am! All this talk about summer being over and fall taking off it really bumming me out. Fantasy football-fine. Leaves turning burnt colors-fine. Sleeping with the A/C off and the windows open-fine. Knowing old man winter is breathing his frosty breath down the back of my neck-not okay! I want more of those doggy summer days! Come on, you know... The H-O-T ones where a Skinny Cow ice cream sammy melts faster than it can be consumed. The afternoons where even Miss Kato gets a tasty treat of her own. If you have a fury friend of the K-9 variety you owe them a Frosty Paw for putting up with your bad habits (and sometimes bad morning breath). Take advantage of this last little teaser (aka Indian Summer, P.C. or no?) of summery weather, perch your bummer on your front porch and enjoy a creamy treat together (hell, live a little and skip the sun screen for once too!). Capture the moment on camera and submit it to the Frosty Paws site and you may be selected to win a one year's (in people years) supply of Miss Kato approved frozen treats. Come on, you know you wanna.
It's a little ghetto, but it gets the job done. For a hound who loves everything water having a bath is about her least favorite thing in the world (aside from having her temperature taken, yup, rectally). She 's not much of a grudge holder but she won't even look at ya when your in the act. For me it's a summer luxury to roll out the ole hose and scrub her down right there in the driveway. No tub to clean and no back-breakage getting her in and out of that tub. Rinse, lather (with none other than John Paul for pets by Paul Mitchell), repeat rinse and dry (I call this her hobbit look). Start to finish 6 minutes 23 seconds. I have it down pat. The best part of the whole experience last night? Wrapping up the K-9 bath with a "jet" shot out of the hose right square in the back of my unsuspecting hubby (I didn't know he could move that quick). The revenge? I must admit it was pretty sweet... Him launching a frigid glass of water through the screen on the second floor managing to hit me straight down the back as I water the flowers below (WTF?). Never a dull moment and never an opportunity lost. 
When I first met my hubby in college it didn't bother me to "sleep" along side him in his jail cell (twin sized) bed. I say "sleep" because in this early stage of love I didn't mind all that closeness. You know what I mean, the hot (as in sweaty feet hot), spooning situation where you can't roll over to get comfy (no room), where you don't want to sleep to hard (in case you drool or snore), and where being completely entangled in one another doesn't bother you (much like a straight jacket wouldn't...). The way I see it once we moved past the gooo-geee-gaaa-gaaa stages of L.O.V.E. we yearned for some "normal" sleep habits. The relationship blossomed and our legs were able to sprawl out a bit in the cool, crisp sheets of my new queen size bed. Suddenly I started to sleep sounder (more sound, whatever) with him next to me and felt a little out of sorts if he wasn't there. This stage lasted through both of us graduating college and kept on until we got our first townhouse together and then we adopted Miss Kato (we are rule followers-doin' all this stuff in perfect sequence). I remember when we went to "look" at Kato's litter of puppies-I won-we brought her home that same day. The first night we put in her in a box by my side of that queen size bed... she cried... non-stop... for hours... my hubby asked, "what the hell did we do?"... and I cried (go figure)... then finally realized if I slept with my arm hanging off the side of the bed tucked under her soft, puppy, belly she would finally sleep... and we did too. Fast forward a few years and we got engaged (thought he'd never ask), sold our starter house, bought the house in the Grove and got hitched. I still slept better when my hubby was sawing a log (forest some nights) next to me, but we both secretly loved one or two nights with the bed all to ourselves. And then I made a pivotal decision in our life as husband, wife and domestic animal. While the hubby was away on business I invited Miss Kato to cuddle up with me in that queen size bed... and she never left. I decided the queen ain't cuttin' it. We finally made the leap & purchased a king size bed after many nights of clinging to the edge like a Mount Everest climber You see, Miss Kato falls asleep in a cute, little, ball at our feet but ends up on her side with all 4's pushing straight out (she's a total bed hog). Until last night. I brushed and flossed like the good b cup I am and when I tip-toed to crawl in bed-well, you can see the picture. Who knows what's next.Some are born to round up cattle, or sniff out bombs/drugs or help guide the blind and some, well, some are born to be spoiled. This is livin' the high life if you are a 76lb (hopefully) Chocolate Labrador Retriever on a sunny afternoon. When we first brought her home (an impulse purchase/adoption that would forever change our lives) we tried to be the best pet owners we could be. Feed the natural instincts of her breed like loving kids, sniffing out birds and the love of the water (hence the kiddie pool idea which you see today). This is probably pool number 4 or 5 since I have taken to backing right over them when we are too lazy to empty it out at night and I screech out of the 'hood late for work. If you live a little ghetto style the pool can also double as a great cooler for massive amounts of ice chilled brew-ha-ha's (the thought is still makin' my tummy shiver). Sunday, recovery day, in our neck of the woods was a great day and we rang it in by sleeping off hangovers until 9:30am (those J-ston kids are such bad influences) and not showering til 9:30pm (P.U. gross we both admit). Once we got our bummin' butts outta bed we tried to think of every excuse to stay outside a little longer. We watered trees and the pansies (still living!), washed and waxed not one but TWO automobiles, received 3 solicitations from our neighbors to do theirs next (these guys think they are so funny) and while we had the hose out we let Miss Kato have her inaugural Spring 2008 swim. I know, there is something wrong with us (I admit it) but we love our furry friend. At least she didn't go potty in the pool-she is trained better than some kids (and sadly some adults).
Can you believe it is Thursday ALREADY? I am back in the big apple and will bring you somethin' fab from the East coast tomorrow.
I'm not saying man's/woman's best friend isn't worth their weight in gold, just saying my 80 pounder (she is up 6lbs just like the rest of us this time of year-oopppps) is worth more than that... both literally and figuratively. Wow, has modern veterinary medicine come along way since the farm days when dogs just got a little "shot" of whatever the other barn yard animals got. About this time each year we head on over for the annual round of vaccinations and a little check up by Dr. Rich to keep the brown bear healthy. We happily hand over our weary check card to the tune of $350.00 and know that we are getting off easy. Miss Kato has been one spendy companion (note to self check into pet insurance). I mean who even knew that a dog could tear an acl requiring surgery and 4 weeks of hydro-therapy (yes walking on a treadmill submerged in a tank of warm water) at the U of M. I have no idea what she got herself into that causes her to break out in a major case of the hives resulting in an emergency room trip for some sort of steroid shot. Of course their was the time the experts think she suffered from speenic torsion (don't even ask) which meant an early morning visit not only to the regular vet but also a day's stay at the emergency room. It was completely freaked out the time she got stung right in the eye by a bee and her eye socket swelled to look like she was holding a golf ball behind her lid (no wonder her face is getting all grey). Then this winter the "big accident" when she was impaled by a mostly snow submerged steel fence post. Resulting in about 35 stitches, a drain tube, 3 medications, a narcotic pain patch and 10 hours in the emergency room, five follow up visits and a lonely Christmas holiday filled with me in a mild depressive state (another mental note-should have asked for a narcotic patch for me too). Throw in a ex-ray to find out she had not swallowed a tennis ball rather just had major gas, a stick puncture through the kinda-webbed-part of her toe, a case of kennel cough, a few ear infections, and a couple of bladder infections for good measure and we coulda had ourselves a BMW 5 series. Ah well, who needs a flashy car anywayz. But tell me where else you can find a running partner who NEVER bugs out of a workout. I would do it all over for a furry friend who wags her hearty tail when she sees you open your eyes in the morning. I mean it is all worth it to get a good laugh of outta her "de-fuzzing" a new tennis ball (she just has this thing for the nap). You'll likely only find this amusing if you are a dog lover too...
Posts
All Comments
Awesome Graphics and Myspace Layouts at pYzam.com
