Daily Archives: November 27, 2012

Nov27

Foster Child

Posted on by
Foster Child

Okay, so apparently something inside me felt like I didn’t have enough on my plate, because a month or two ago, I finally got involved with trying to be a foster home for rescued Italian Greyhounds (that’s what Stevie and Bonnie are, in case you didn’t already know).

I have been interested in doing it for quite some time, but working as a teacher wasn’t exactly conducive to the hours needed to help with an Iggy-in-need. Now that I am at home most of the time (and now that Evie is starting to be less crazy when she is feeling well!), I can spend more time with the dogs throughout the day.

So I contacted my local chapter of IGCA Rescue (Italian Greyhound Club of America) about two months ago after seeing that they were getting a lot of dogs needing foster homes until they could be adopted out. It’s a pretty hefty process- they do actually call your references and there’s a few applications you have to fill out.

Evelyn does make things a little more complicated, however; we can’t foster a dog that has too many unknowns. It has to be able to handle a rather vocal and growing infant and be relatively calm and friendly.

Enter Selena:

This sweet little girl was saved from a puppy mill. She is about 8 years old, and a tiny little thing! Rescue was pretty sure she was in a real home at some point in her life, because she is so good about going potty outside and LOVES to snuggle with people, but somehow she landed in a Oklahoma puppy mill. While there, she developed some awful cataracts and a horrible case of glaucoma in her eyes, and so she is almost completely blind. The glaucoma was so bad, they thought she would have to remove her eyes, but this sweetie has been reacting so well to her medication that her eyes are no longer swollen and you can tell she is feeling so much better.

As I said before, she LOVES to snuggle. She is seriously the sweetest, easiest foster dog in the world. We feed her, and then she just wants to snuggle on the couch or on a doggie bed all day. We interrupt her cuddles to take her out for occasional potty breaks, or feed her, or remind her that she should drink water, but she has been so sweet and perfect. And that little tail of hers does not stop wagging when she hears you talking to her or when you are petting her. She LIVES for loves!

She’s also getting along well with Stevie and Bonnie. We were worried they’d be too rough on this little girl, but now that the novelty has worn off, they tolerate her really well (she occasionally wants cuddles and invades their spots, and they are really nice about it) and only need to be reminded occasionally to be gentle because she can’t see them. The other morning I walked downstairs to see this cuteness with Jared and the three dogs:

This picture is Iggy heaven in a nutshell.

Anyways, we are really enjoying this little girl. It’s going to be hard to let her go whenever that time comes, but whoever ends up with this sweetie pie is going to be a really lucky person, because Selena has A LOT of love to give. I am excited about this opportunity to give a little extra love to a dog who hasn’t had enough of it in her past. She is a real T-R-E-A-T!

Nov27

Thanksgiving Recap 2012- Wah wah.

Posted on by
Thanksgiving Recap 2012- Wah wah.

Sometimes life throws curve balls at us. Other times, it feels like life drove our car into a concrete wall at 60 MPH, and then, for good torture measure, gave us a paper cut and poured some lemon juice on it.

I’m feeling a little more like the second right now.

Our Thanksgiving was supposed to be awesome. Jared had the whole week off from work. His sister was coming in; we hadn’t seen her in a year, and she’d be meeting Evelyn for the first time. We were getting our foster dog (more on that in a later post!). We were going to take Evelyn to see Santa at the local mall, even!

It all started to go downhill when Jared got a bad cold. He started feeling under the weather Thursday or Friday of the previous week. He then had to chaperone a church youth dance that Saturday night, and by Sunday, he was pretty miserable. Sarah, his sister, was supposed to get in around 7 PM Sunday evening… but due to a bizarre airport switcheroo/delay, didn’t make it until midnight.

Monday we had to take my car into the shop for some problems. So, the only car available to us was Jared’s monster truck, and the only person who is vaguely comfortable with driving that beast on the road was Jared, who by this time was pretty much holed up in our room with a heating pad stuck to his head to help relieve the pressure. So, we stayed home and watched a lot of TV and played with Evelyn. Wednesday my car finally became available again, but all of us were feeling kinda off (except Jared, who had finally given in and gone to the doctor, who diagnosed his sinus and two ear infections and gave him antibiotics, so he was starting to move and interact like a human again…). So we didn’t do anything.

Thanksgiving was good, except for the “offness” continuing. Even Evelyn was showing slight signs of feeling unwell with a little cough. We decided to keep an eye on it, because it wasn’t like the doctor’s office was going to be open on Thanksgiving.

Despite that, I made a pretty good dinner, if I may say so myself. We tried brining a turkey for the first time. I am not sure how effective that was, but hey, it was a new thing. We had a delicious cranberry fruit salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and with the leftover cranberries, I even made my first attempt at cranberry sauce for the turkey! (It was actually pretty decent for a rough experiment.

 

After going into a Turkey coma, Friday showed us that Jared, despite his attempts to prevent it, had been kind enough to share his germs with the rest of us. Including Evelyn. Going to the pediatrician showed that she did indeed have RSV, a cold variant that is more dangerous for infants because it likes to get down into the chest, which can cause bronchitis or pneumonia. Poor baby was not feeling well.

(By the way, it is never fun to be told that you might have to take your baby to the ER over the weekend if she starts having a hard time breathing due to this virus. And, even though she’s miserable, you can’t give her anything. And, Mom, btw, you can’t take anything either since it could affect her feeding.

Sarah rallied the troops by taking us out for dinner (which was very sweet, considering how incredibly boring hosts we were and the fact that Jared got her sick) that evening, which was good because by Saturday, we were all down for the count.

Now THAT is an exciting Thanksgiving, wouldn’t you say?

Okay, despite the sarcasm, it really was a good visit, and Evie loved getting attention from her Aunt Sarah. They had some sweet cuddling sessions! Hopefully it won’t be another year before we see her again, because she is pretty dang cool. As if Evie’s onesie could lie.

Anyways, I guess the moral of this story is families share a lot, which is good, except when it’s germs. Then you are welcome to keep them to yourself. Next time Jared is sick, we’ll lock him up in the office room and install a doggie door to slide meal trays and medicine under until he is feeling well again.

Just kidding, dear. Kind of.