Bark In The Park

Yesterday my mom and I took our pups and met up with my aunt Cathy, my cousin Chris, and their friend Carrie, and their dogs, then went to Bark in the Park in Charlotte, NC. It was a beautiful day, though very hot...but it was a lot of fun to get together, and to take the pups somewhere fun!

There were vendors galore selling everything from dog & gift items, food & drinks to seemless guttering and air conditioning systems. (I guess in this economy, you've got to go where the people are, whether it's got anything to do with your product or not.) Rescue groups for many different breeds were on hand to educate people about their breed of choice and to try to find good homes for some of their rescues. There were also agility trials and all kinds of different contests...largest dog, smallest dog, best-dressed, a dog/human look alike contest, etc. I entered Jazzie in the Smallest Dog competition, but even though she's tiny, she wasn't the tiniest...the top ribbon for that one went to a chihuahua that weighed a little over a pound.

The Mecklenburg County Animal Control department had a booth set up where they were doing microchipping, so all the girls got microchips yesterday. For anyone who doesn't know what that means, they basically insert a small microchip (smaller than a grain of rice) underneath the skin between the shoulder-blades, and if your dog is ever lost or stolen and ends up at an animal shelter, rescue group, or veterinarian, the attendants can scan the microchip and it provides information on contacting you. Sort of like a name tag that can't fall off or be removed. One of the best things is that in a case of a natural disaster, if you and your pet get separated they can find a way to get you back together again. Laid-back Miss Jazzie didn't even flinch when they did hers, and Mom's pup Daisy whined once then stuck her tongue out and wagged her tail. Tinker the Drama Queen screamed and tried to turn herself into a pretzel, and they hadn't even picked up the syringe with the microchip yet...all they had done was pet her at that point! Two seconds after they were done, you'd have never known they even touched her. She is such a silly girl...

Another fun part was that many of the vendors were handing out freebies...the girls got cool water bowls and tons of treats, and us humans got magnets, keyrings, and other such stuff. Tinker & Jazzie got a big kick out of their first doggie-ice-cream...and they didn't even make a mess!

Tinker & Jazzie riding in style in their doggie stroller...I am so glad we had this to use, because toting the two of them around for 3 hours would have been a handfull!!




My mom and her chihuahua Daisy




My aunt Cathy and her chihuahua Pokie



My cousin Chris with her German Shepherd Lillie



Cathy & Chris's friend Carrie with her chihuahua Lucy






This was one of the runners-up for the Best Dressed Dog contest...




Winner of the Best-Dressed Dog contest...Jimmy Buffet



Mom and Daisy, panting in the heat

(Daisy panting, that is, not Mom)


And this is what everyone felt like by the time we left...time for a nap!!!

My Daddy

I got some great pictures of my dad yesterday, so wanted to post them for everyone to see! My daddy served his country in VietNam and thank God was one of the lucky one's who made it home alive. He supports his country, loves his family and his dogs, and is a hell of a good man to have as a father. He's taught me a ton about life...more than I could ever put in print. He's straight-spoken and pretty much tells it like it is, and expects people to pull their own weight but is still loving and helping at the same time. He's someone I look up to, someone that I am proud to call my dad. He's also a member of the American Legion Riders M.C. and rides both for fun and in charity events. So...if you ever see him out there on his bike...know that that's my daddy, and wave....

(If you see him out riding, you'll be able to tell it's him by the vest...look for the eagle and his nickname, Buck, on the back between his shoulderblades.)

Folks, when you're out there driving, please pay attention and watch out for motorcycles! There are people on motorcycles everywhere, especially with the weather getting warmer. Their bikes are smaller than your car, truck, or SUV. If you're not watching, you might overlook someone on a bike because you're too busy watching for people in bigger vehicles. That's where awareness and paying attention come in. Every person out there riding is someone's child, someone's spouse, someone's brother/sister, someone's parent, or someone's friend. Society tends to think of people on motorcycles as either A) hell-bent madmen, or B) crazy young punks. But there are far more regular people riding than there are people who fall into those two categories. People with honor, integrity, intelligence and morals. I have a lot of family members who ride, so please, watch out for them and everyone on a motorcycle while you're driving...

Stormy Afternoons

This afternoon has brought yet another round of storms. The day has been odd...it was sunny, then cloudy, then at 2:00 it looked as dark as if it were 8:00 at night. Then the thunder rolled, the lighting flashed, and the sun broke back out. On the way home this afternoon there were blue skies with big thunderheads rolling in...in some spots dark and some spots white. I think it's supposed to storm again overnight. Oh well...as they say...."Welcome to North Carolina, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes"!

This one's really interesting...if you look right above the trees on the right-hand side, you see some odd clouds that look vertical. Those were over the Yadkin River. I don't know for sure exactly what caused them to look that way, but it was definitely worth getting a picture of. Another note of interest...and you can barely tell it in the picture...but there happens to be a little bit of the end of a rainbow there, too. Click on the picture to bring up a larger version, then look towards the middle....there is a house there with one of the vertical clouds over it...if you look hard you can just see a spot of color that's the end of the rainbow.

Clouds a-rollin' in...

More storm clouds gathering...

This one was just too neat...the sun was so bright behind the dark clouds...

Spring Springing

It's a sure sign of Spring when you have storms every time you turn around and the flowers in the yard start to bloom. Considering that it's stormed almost every day lately and my yard's no longer plain-jane-brown....I guess that means Spring is springing!!!

Pink Azaleas...this is one of three different shades of pink, but the other two have only buds at this point...

White Spirea...this one's always pretty!

One of my red tulips....a few years ago I found tulips on sale at WalMart for 25 cents a pot, after season. I bought a bunch (probably 15 pots at least) in all different colors and planted them in my flower beds. The funny thing is, it seems like the red ones are the only ones that come up these days!

Jazzie's New 'Do'

Jazzie got a haircut this weekend! Okay folks...at the moment I'm far too broke to take her to the groomer, so I clipped her myself with a little help from my friend Jamie. It's not perfect, but I still think she looks cute! And she seems to like it. She was starting to get matts in her fur near her skin, so it had to be done and couldn't really wait until I have more money...

When she got her last set of puppy shots this past Saturday, she weighed in at a whole whopping 2 lbs 9 oz! She is now a little over 4 months old, and is probably close to finished growing...they think she may gain another pound or so, but not much...

Side view...look, you can see her collar!

Sure wish I could get the red-eye reducer to work on every shot - my little girl looks possessed again!

Next stop : The Dog Walk in Charlotte....time to go have fun!

Fronts Rolling Through

We've got a series of fronts rolling through tonight, so I snapped a few shots with my cell. The clouds have been amazing, but they're moving so fast that by the time you see something, it's changed. Anyway, here are a few I liked...

Before/After the Storm

We had one heck of a series of storm cells pass over yesterday afternoon & overnight. Thunder boomed, lightening cracked, and the wind whipped. The clouds before and after the storm were something else...I got a couple of pics from yesterday afternoon, and a couple more from this morning after everything had cleared out. Today is warm and beautiful with skies that shade of blue that only comes after a storm has passed through, and there's still a good strong breeze blowing...

Before the storm...

After the storm...

Puppy Pics

Here's a couple more pictures of my girls. It seems like every time I turn around they end up with yet another nickname...the latest version for Tinkerbell is "TinkerToy" and Jazzie is "Squeaky Toy". Jazzie got her nickname because half the time when she barks she sounds more like a squeaky toy that has been stepped on...not to mention the fact that she absolutely loves to chew on anything that will squeak or squeal when she bites it. Tinkerbell got her version of the nickname because it was just something that went along with Jazzie's nickname...plus, TinkerToys were always fun to play with as a child...

Tinker with her chewy steak...she loves any of the nylabone-type things and will drag them everywhere she goes to chew on them...

Jazzie finally held still long enough for me to get another picture...I need to start using the red-eye-reducer flash with her because she always ends up looking possessed!

More Puppy Pics

Here's a couple more pics of the girlies...

The red-eye-reducer flash works pretty well

...no more "possessed doggie" looks.

A little quiet cuddle-time in mommy's lap...

Comment Changes

Okie-dokie, folks - I didn't want to have to do this, but I have now had to put a word-verification on comment posting. It's not all that difficult...just type in the word it gives you to prove that you are a human and not an automated spammer. Thanks to Miss 123 and her very long posted comment (now deleted) all about some Chinese Emporium or some such, I've decided to make this move to keep the junk comments down some. So anyway...sorry it's inconvenient....but thanks to spammers, sometimes you have to take such tactics....

Lazy Bones

When I got back from taking Bryson home after his surgery, my old man, Tony, decided to come in for a bite to eat and a nap. I couldn't believe the position he was sleeping in...it was so odd I had to get a picture...

Awww....sheesh, Mom...why'd ya have to wake me up???

WFUBMC

Today is Bryson's 31st surgery, at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC). He has an infection in his face, possibly from the hardware that they left in (on purpose) from his surgery last September. He's been fighting ear infections, throat infections, and sinus infections for the last 6 months or so and has had round after round of antibiotics, including 3 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics. So now they are going in to try to remove the infection and any hardware parts that might be exacerbating it. We had to be here at the hospital at 6:30 this morning, and they took him back to Holding at around 7:45. Once there they put in his IV and gave him a dose of Versed to relax him, then took him back to the OR around 8:40. Surgery started around 9:05 and is expected to take around an hour, as far as we know. Bryson is 16 now and doesn't like for me to take pictures of him for the internet or anything much anymore, so I settled for taking photos of some of the paintings in the Holding Room. These were all taken with my cellphone, and unfortunately my favorite painting (a family of zebras) ended up being too large of a file for me cell to email to my account. So, you'll just have to enjoy the others instead. My favorite of the one's below has to be the giraffes...

UPDATE 1:

It is now 9:30, and they just called and said that they are done. We thought it would take an hour, but apparently only took about 25 minutes. They have put a drain in from his cheek to his mouth to help dissipate the infection, and they'll take the drain out in a week. Now we are waiting for them to get him cleaned up and take him to the Recovery Room where we can see him. Then, as long as all goes well with him waking up, he'll go home...




UPDATE 2:

Bryson is now home. He is very sore, and the anesthesia has pretty much knocked him out, but he's doing well. I drove him back to his dad's house (he lives with his dad) once he was discharged, and he went on to bed for the rest of the day. They have given him prescriptions for antibiotics and pain killers, along with an anticeptic mouthwash that will help keep him from getting a new infection (the incision is in his mouth). He has to go back next week to have the drain removed, then has a follow-up at the end of the month. It has been a long day, but all is well...

Prayer Request

Anyone dropping by today, please say a prayer for my oldest (Bryson). He is having yet another operation today...this makes #31 over the past 16 years. It should be minor, and hopefully outpatient, but after all he's been through even a little anesthesia worries me.... Thanks!

Victory Junction - Part 1

Over the years, the boys and I have spent a lot of time at Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, NC. The camp opened in 2004, and we've been there every year...most years we've gone for family weekends, the boys have both gone for week-long sessions over the summers, and we've gone for Holiday parties each December. Victory Junction was started by the Petty family (of NASCAR fame) after the death of Kyle & Pattie's son Adam in 2000...Adam's dream was to help children who were born with medical conditions that kept them from being able to go to a regular summer camp. Kids like Bryson, who would have been left sitting at home all summer if not for a place like VJGC. I cannot find the words to tell you just how amazing this place, and the people who work there, are...it's beyond definition. No matter what issues the children who attend have, they are treated as though the sky's the limit and they can do anything they want and become anyone they want to be, while they are at camp. The camps' volunteers are the best in the world...they give each child their utmost attention, there are never any frowns, and the place is full of positive energy! For more information on Victory Junction Gang Camp, go to www.victoryjunction.org.

Welcome to Camp! This is one of the buses that VJGC uses to pick campers up from the airport, and it's also used for tours and such...

Each family gets to stay in one of these wonderful cabins. Each cabin consists of a shared 'great room' with sofas, chairs, a mini-fridge, games, and table/chairs, and two bedrooms. Each bedroom has 8 single beds, bean bags, and a restroom with multiple showers and stalls. Each family gets an entire side to themselves. There are 16 cabins in all, capable of housing 32 families per weekend. (During summer week-long camp sessions, campers share the cabins with other kids in their own age-range.) Each cabin is named after a NASCAR race track and each has race memorabilia for decorations. I also want to mention that each bed is covered with a hand-sewn quilt and a hand-knit or hand-crochetted afghan and has a hand-made teddy bear made of checkerboard material (like the checkered flag awarded to the winner of the race). At the end of the weekend or camp week, each camper and family member gets to take their quilt, afghan, and teddy bear home as a reminder of the fun that they shared during their time at camp. To all the wonderful volunteers who make those items and donate them to the camp : THANK YOU!

Campers and families eat in The Fuel Stop, Victory Junction's version of a cafeteria. There are race cars and trucks hanging from the ceiling, tons of tables, and a huge fireplace. The cook-staff provide healthy meals that taste sooo good! Each meal is different, and you never leave hungry. During the day you stay so busy and time flies so fast that it seems like you've just left one meal when it's time to go eat another....but yet each time you go into the Fuel Stop, you are ready to eat again. During times when you're not eating, the Fuel Stop becomes a fun spot for an opening-night campfire (in the fireplace), story-telling, sing-alongs, morning exercises and dancing, and hilarious skits.

One of the many statues to be found within the miniature golf course...there are giraffes on roller skates, goats driving scooters, pigs on motorcycles, and all sorts of wild & crazy things to see...

Sprinkled here and there throughout the grounds are statues of people and animals. Everywhere you look there is something interesting to see. This statue is found in the barns, and reminds us all to relax and take some time for ourselves...