Our Tree is in tatters and so are our Hearts

Well, Folks, it's over. All those hours and hours of shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, cleaning, baking, cooking, wrapping, shopping - and it's all done for another year. But it was fun while it lasted, wasn't it?

Our Christmas tree is in tatters. Ole insists that we keep it up until after New Years, but I don't know if it's going to make it this year. It's looking a bit on the ragged side these days. Here's why:


Little Miss Medora seems to think it's her own personal climbing tree and has made it to the top numerous times. And she's difficult to remove because she wraps her body around the trunk of the tree and then peers out at you from the branches with her head almost meeting her tail. Stinker!! I keep readjusting the lights and ornaments, and they keep becoming unadjusted about as fast as I can adjust them. On Christmas Eve we squirted her with the water squirter so many times she was soaked, and started thinking it was a big game. I've never confronted a cat before who didn't HATE getting wet - but this little fur ball doesn't seem to mind. It's become a game of "Nyah, nyah, na boo boo, you can't get me!" Right now all we have is a small spray bottle to go after her with. Ole says he's going to bring the Super Soaker in from the shop. You remember those powerful huge squirt guns that could fire a stream of water 500 feet? Well, maybe not THAT far, but a long ways anyway.

Just an aside here - Ole, as you've probably figured out by now, is always full of weird, strange ideas. One winter when it was really cold here he filled the super soaker, stepped outside the door, pumped it up and let her rip. The water got about 10 feet into the air, froze and landed on the deck with a tinkle. It was so cold the water froze in the air before it hit the ground. Okay - enough of an aside.


Then of course, we had the neurotic Miss Daisy who spent the evening trying to guard all her "babies." She'd carry them around, squeak them a bit and put them in a pile where she thought they would be out of the way - couldn't risk getting them tossed out with the wrapping paper, you know. When someone would get to close to them she'd snap them up and move them again. Unfortunately she couldn't get them ALL in her mouth at once and would have to make several trips. Poor dog was a nervous wreck all evening.

Then we have Mr. Cool - Senior Citizen Simon. His method of dealing with all the chaos is to pretend it doesn't exist. Maybe it'll go away then, right? He spent Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day with his nose stuffed in the wooly afghan.

I must say we had one of the nicest Christmases we have had in a number of years. It was peaceful, quiet and very laid back. Lovely Daughter and Lars were here, we opened presents after we ate, then watched the latest Harry Potter movie that Lovely Daughter received as a gift. Sitting by the fireplace in a dimly lit room with a very full stomach and an egg nog or two made all of us pretty sleepy so I don't know that any of us saw the end of the movie.

Ole made breakfast on Christmas morning, then there just happened to be things left under the tree from Santa so we had more "gifties" to open. Then, because Lars has never seen any of the early HP movies, we had an HP marathon on Christmas Day, with lots of ham sandwiches and other leftovers in between.

Santa Claus was REALLY good to me - I got a new digital camera - totally unexpected. It's a new 10 megapixel Olympus with an 18x optical zoom and two image stabilizers. I was so thrilled. Lovely Daughter and Lars certainly went overboard for Ole and me also. We were truly gifted people this year in many ways, especially because we were all able to be together and be relatively healthy.

Speaking of health, our tree isn't the only thing that is in tatters - so are our hearts. Several weeks ago Ole had to take Beau to the vet - we couldn't put a finger on exactly what was wrong, it's just that he wasn't his normal, happy self. The vet did a panel and found the white count to be high but couldn't find anything else to indicate what the issue was so put him on an antibiotic and within a few days he seemed fine.

Toward the end of last week we noticed that things weren't right with him again. Because of how he was acting we thought he was having a bout with constipation (sorry if that's TMI), but then that seemed to clear up also. Over the weekend and through the holiday he would have periods of time where he would curl up into a little ball and sleep - not typically the Beau dog. This morning Lovely Daughter dropped him off on her way to work and I knew within five minutes of his arrival that there was something terribly wrong. Beau is normally a very happy-go-lucky, can't lick you enough dog. This morning he came in, gave a couple of licks, no jumps and went to lay down by Ole's feet in a little curled up ball. It became quite apparent that he wasn't comfortable as he would get up, turn around and lay down again, whining all the while. It also seemed very difficult for him to breathe. He seemed to be panting all the time - couldn't catch his breath.

I've had one dog die from a heart attack right in front of my eyes, and some of the symptoms were similar. But the thought that came to mind with the previous weeks' constipation issues was a twisted intestine. So I immediately called our vet - the one we've been taking pets to since 1972 - and wouldn't you know - the vet tech that is definitely NOT my favorite there answered the phone. I explained the stress that Beau was having and asked if he couldn't be seen immediately. Her response: "I'm sorry, Dr. **** is completely booked today, we have NO openings." I called several other vets, who of course were completely booked, and why should they try to squeeze me in since I've not ever been a client of theirs. The more I thought about the response I got from the tech at our vet's office the angrier I got. Don't tell me that some little dust mop scheduled to get his annual shots takes priority over an animal in distress and pain.

I called her back and informed her of such and told her that Ole was on his way into their office with Beau and I expected that he would be seen immediately. Ole told me later than when he arrived he had to wait about 90 seconds and they brought Ole and Beau back to one of the rooms. The vet was wonderful, and of course she knew nothing of how we had been "put off" by the tech. Anyway, that's not important anymore. What's important is Beau.

After a thorough exam and x-rays she was able to determine that fluid is building up around the OUTSIDE of his lungs causing his breathing difficulty. He is scheduled for an ultrasound on Monday to determine exactly what kind of fluid it is and that will answer the question of what is causing the fluid buildup. She gave Ole four possibilities. One is caused by inhaling plant material, especially pine needles, which then pierce the lung and cause an infection. The second was something similar but caused by the lymph nodes being infected. The third was heart disease and last but not least was the Big C - cancer. Unfortunately she wasn't real positive on the treatment of any of these. Yes, they do treat animals with chemo, yes they do drain fluids from chest cavities, but the results aren't always real positive. One of the treatments would require his chest to be cracked and drained, depending on what kind of fluid it is and where it's coming from.

He's on some heavy duty antibiotics for the weekend, and as much water as we can get him to drink. He's supposed to stay quiet, and you all know how much he loves to run by the truck. I just got off the phone with her (the vet) and she warned me that he could get into some serious breathing difficulty over the weekend, and told me what to do and where to take him.

I have an inkling it's going to be a long weekend at the Ole & Lena estate. If you believe that animals have a soul, please say your prayers for Beau. Even if you don't believe that, at least keep your fingers crossed for our jolly, always happy boy dogger.

Bits & Pieces & the Ya Ya Sisters

Christmas Eve sunrise in my backyard this morning - isn't it pretty? The only thing is if you believe that old wive's tale "red sky in the morning sailors take warning," we must be in for some nasty weather. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow isn't good, but at least by the time it hits we'll all be tucked in at home safe and sound.



And then this little lady came to feed at my birdfeeders this morning. She's been hanging around for several weeks now, coming every morning about 9:30 and again around 4:00 to feed. I've seen her mate only once - he's so handsome. I hope nothing has happened to him. But maybe he's being a typical male and is holed up back at "the cabin" and she's hauling all the groceries home to feed him.



My Grandma Sofie's Christmas cactus is blooming. Yup - it belonged to my grandmother who gave it to my mother who gave it to me. It's about three feet in diameter, so finding a good place for it to live can sometimes be difficult since I don't have a huge living room or dining room. It goes on a camping trip every spring when the weather warms enough and vacations outside all summer until the temps get down into the 40s in the fall. About the time it starts to set buds it's time to bring it in so it can become spectacular for the holiday season. The old gal never lets me down. Unfortunately when this picture was taken it wasn't in its full glory yet. There are a ton of buds that will open over the next several weeks, and then it will shoot out flowers off and on for the remainder of the winter. I've repotted it once in all the years I've had it, and it's so huge now that Ole has to hoist it around for me. I wonder just how old it is.


And here it is Christmas Eve. I KNEW it was coming, but I did't think it was coming this quick. Why am I always behind the eight-ball anyway. And then I choose to sit here in front of my computer wishing all you folks a Merry Christmas when I should be out there fixing food and finishing wrapping presents. Oh, well, that goes to show all of you just how important you are to me.

Last time I wrote I was looking forward to my get-together with my old school girlfriends - you know - the ones that all started first grade together and graduated high school together. Well, us Ya-Ya Sisters met last Wednesday night at the home of one of the gals. And we had the BEST time - even more fun that the first time we got together. Some of us brought pictures and we hooted and hollered until our stomach muscles were sore. We have so many connections over all those years - same boyfriends, same teachers, some of the same life experiences. Several of us had other commitments later in the evening so we called it quits about 7 o'clock, but it was really hard to leave. So we'll do it again sometime the end of January. Then I'll get a picture of what we all look like now - I promise.

I'm going to sign off now - wishing all of you a Merry Christmas. May you all enjoy it with your friends, families and fur babies. I've got to get cookin'!!