IT WORKED!! - James Update

It's been a long two weeks! I have hit just about every fast food restaurant in my area filling James' order of desired food since he says the hospital food is not good. I even got a call this morning at 6am to do a Starbucks run (which I didn't...too early & too cold!). James' speech is coming back and he sounds better every day. He looks great and as of this evening he was transferred to the VA hospital in Palo Alto. I have been praying that a bed would open up there since that is the VA hospital that will be able to continue his recovery and he would get the proper care that he needs! So this evening I did my last fast food run....James requested a BigMac, strawberry shake w/ french fries and a package of Suzy Q's. Before I could even make it to the hospital he was calling me... "Hurry up....Hurry up..there are here to take me!" Of course I hit every red light on the way and when I got into the hospital they had him on the gurney outside his room ready to go. They waited for me. I plopped his BigMac in his lap, gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek...told him to behave.....and off he went! I am sure he will be calling me once he gets settled.

Keep the Prayers Coming...It's working!

My son's father James, had a falling accident this past Monday where he slipped on ice/snow and hit his head. He was taken to emergency in Lakeport on Wednesday where they air lifted him to Santa Rosa with bleeding on the brain. His speech was very garbled because of the pressure. Through prayers and good thoughts they have now moved him from ICU to a regular room, the bleeding has stopped and slowly his speech is coming back. They will be transporting him to a VA Hospital within the next couple of days to continue his recovery. Please continue to send good thoughts and prayers that he will fully recover from his ordeals as he has had a difficult time since he has returned from Iraq this past June. XOXOXO Suzi & Shane

NONA JEAN

We fostered Nona for one week and today she went to her new foster home. I met the lady (Debbie) who drove 2 hours to come pick her up. She has puppy raised for us in the past and just fell in love with her. Debbie is happy to be fostering a puppy through the holidays! She has three has other dogs for Nona to play with. I was able to sit and talk with her for awhile and let her know about Nona, her schedule & the middle name I gave her (Jean). I gave Nona a kiss & hug and told her I would see her again when she to was all grown up & turned back in to CCI for advanced training!

Teddy is Not Sure

A few weeks ago by the request of my doctor I took a sleep test. Since my Mom has sleep apnea he wanted to make sure I did not. It runs in families. My test results came back that I had sever obstructive sleep apnea. Apparently during the test I stopped breathing 66.8 times per hour which equals a little over once every minute. Also, I only had 28 minutes of "good" sleep out of 5 hours & 59 minutes of my total sleep time. Gezzz I wonder how long I have had this and how long I have been functioning on 28 minutes or so of "good" sleep per night?? In any event I picked up my CPAP machine today. They told me that it was going to take a while to get use to it and to acclimate myself with the mask to wear it in the evening while watching TV, reading or?? So as I type this I have it on. Teddy is just beside himself. He does not know what to think about this getty-up and looks at me with a pitiful look and is not sure if he should come up to me. I am sure it will take a while for him to get use to it...just as it will be for me. Lets all hope I finally get a safe good night sleep!

Shopping

Now that Shane has his drivers license I sent him to do grocery shopping this evening. I wrote out a list of items that we needed and attached it to the Safeway weekly flyer and off Shane and my brother Rick went. It's my understanding that Rick pushed the basket as Shane grabbed the items. Well, I am not quite sure what happened but we defiantly will be trying some new and out of the ordinary foods!

My First time as A Puppy Foster Home

I don't know why after working 12 Years at Canine Companion for Independence I broke down and said I would help with fostering a puppy! Throughout the years I would occasionally foster a dog now and then but never a puppy. I really do think I have lost my mind! Although, last night was pretty mellow....I took Nona out for the last time for the night at 10pm and put her back into the crate and she slept until 5:15 this morning without any accidents in the crate! I was surprised & happy. I woke Shane up at 6am to watch her while I took my shower and got ready for work. Poor Shane was outside with her waiting for her to go potty. He looked so pitiful & was complaining that he was cold. When I got out of the shower I found the both of them (Shane and Nona)lying on the dinning room floor all wrapped in his comforter sleeping. I asked if she went pee....."No Mom, its cold out there and if she has an accident I will clean it up" I told him that was not the point to "clean up" an accident....the point was to prevent one!" In any event she piddled on the floor in my bathroom. Shane not happy cleaned it up. Today at work went pretty well. Nona got a lot of attention from my co-workers as well as Ted and some even took her for a few minutes to their desk. Around 6:30 this evening I was tuckered out! All I wanted to do was take a little nap. Teddy was starting to get a little annoyed about this puppy idea. I put a baby gate up between the dinning room and family room so Nona does not get on the carpet and have an accident and so Teddy has a place to get away that is just his own. Nona put herself in the crate so I thought it was a good time for me and Ted to cuddle on the couch and get that needed rest. I was just getting comfortable and up pops Nona. She had moved the baby gate and made her way to into the family room. I put her back into the dinning room and the baby gate back in place. As I settled myself back on the couch I watched her. She stuck her little nose into the slat of the baby gate and pushed it out of the way! Over to the couch she ran. Soooo this was my best idea on how to get a nap!

We slept for about 30 minutes.

It all went down hill from there. Nona did not want anything to do with doing her business outside even though we spent many hours out there..waiting... only for her to come in the house and potty. And she did not want anything to do with sleeping at all......She had me up every hour on the hour crying, barking, howling and throwing a tantrum. On top of that I also had my prank phone caller who has called me for months calling me all through the night. His last call was at 4am and I just laughed at him because I was already awake! I actually took Nona out of the crate at one point...wrapped her in a blanket and rocked her to sleep. I think that was around 1am. Once she fell asleep I put her back in the crate only for her to wake up again at 2am.

Who would think something this sweet looking would have a set of lungs on her that would make my ears pop!

Today, Saturday we are going to do things a little different.

The 3 "N's" NO NAPS for NONA!

I Think I Have Lost My Mind!!
In the middle of conference planning I offered to foster...only foster a puppy until a raiser is available. This time of the year it is hard for us to find people to puppy raise since its a lot of work and during the holidays people don't seem to want to take on anything extra. So what did I do?? I brought home 9 week old Nona today. She is a black lab & golden cross...and just as cute as she can be...but boy does she have a set of lungs on her! I have not had a "puppy" in over 20 years and I feel like a new mother...worried that she might do this or I might do something wrong! She has already piddled in the house twice and pooped once. Thank goodness for wood laminated flooring!!! Got to love them. Teddy is taking it better than I thought he would although I don't think he likes the fact that she is using his crate...oh yeah...let me tell you about this crate training thing!!! You put the puppy in the crate for no more than 20 minutes at a time (except for night time) and you are to work the puppy's time up to about an hour or so. Well,today was Nona's first experience with a crate and she hated it! She cried, and barked and howled and.......ugg! I let her out after 20 minutes and played, ate dinner, got "HeartGuard" & advantage..and played some more...took little walks outside, ate leaves, went up and down the back stairs, followed Teddy, played with Teddy and conked out on the throw rug in the kitchen. I picked her up slowly and put her in the crate...she slept for about 20 minutes and was back up again. So we started most of the process over again...played, pooped (outside this time :) took little walks with Ted...and when we came back into the house she put herself in the crate I took her out and played with her some more....she put herself back into the crate and went to sleep!