Life is a Zoo

Bipolar, ups, downs, and how my animals help!

2011-06-13T03:57:00.019-08:00

This is Sophie, our indoor cat and Spike, or Wizzer Bean, our Chihuahua.

Every time I write I have this mini panic session about what people will think about the post. Will they think I don't love my kids b/c I write about my animals? And then I think, this is about animals and God, not my family. And I write.

I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 about three years ago. Basically it means that I have a chemical inbalance in my brain that causes me to either be REAL HAPPY and active, or REAL SAD and in the bed. If you want a more scientific explanation, go to WebMd and look up Bipolar 2. I tried to copy and paste the link, but for some reason, it isn't working.

This illness of the brain can be treated with medicine- but it is a constant guessing game- in other words, a certain medicine may work for a while and then it may stop working. I have been through all phases of this lovely disorder. I have been manic, talking everyone's ears off and not able to shut up, wildly creative, having unending energy and able to take on the world. I have been depressed, so depressed that I didn't want to live anymore- in a never ending black hole that swallows a person up and there seems to be no answer to the hours long crying spells, feeling of hopelessness, and massive doses of guilt for everything that seems to be my fault. Often during these spells, I am angry at the world and I tell everyone. I have thankfully learned to stay off the phone or computer when I am in a depressed and angry state b/c the feelings I am having are temporary but the damage I do to other people is not. I have also been in the numb and dead place. This is the place that many meds put you- in a world where everything is grey- there is no happy, no sad, no feelings about most anything- it's like being in a coma- you are alive, but you are not fully present. You go through the motions of life but you feel tired, uninspired, and just emotionally dead. I am coming out of a nine to 12 month emotional coma now. You don't know you are in a coma until you wake up and realize how much of your life has gone by and you don't remember it and for me, I think, " Where in the hell have I been?" You realize that you have missed a year's worth of birthdays and anniversaries of your neices, nephews, and other people that you love. (Even in my coma state, our kids' birthdays and immediate family's birthdays are celebrated b/c it doesn't require a trip to the post office!???) And I go into a frenzy of cleaning, decluttering, and trying to regain some sense of balance. I overcompensate to try to make up for the time I lost and feel even more guilty that I "let" myself stay in the coma. That is ridiculous thinking, but, it is is how one feels.

My husband and children are amazing through all of these crazy waves. My husband is calm and steady and patient. My kids know that I am either crazy happy or I am crying and need to sleep off the depression, and when I awake, I will be myself again. (Whoever that is!) They know that I am always doing the best I can and that I love them all fiercely. To live in this family means we are much more open about our feeling than most families are- b/c we can't just hide Mom in a room and pretend she's ok when she's not. They have great social lives, and I don't let my disorder get in the way of that. Kids come here, they go to other kids' houses, they participate in church activities, etc. I actually have "normal " friends with kids and they tell me they wish they had my ability to let a bunch of girls come over all the time but their nerves can'[t handle the mess, the noise, the chaos. They feel guilty b/c their kids never have sleepovers or have friends come over en masse. We all feel bad about something, don't we??

My saving grace on my really bad days is my animals and God. God uses these little creatures to show me that I am never alone and that he hasn't forgotten about my bruised and hurting heart and mind. For some bizarre reason, all of my animals love me in a very intense way. They crave my attention and touch. Even my cats are like this, and people who come over comment on it all the time. When I am having my worst day and have to " put myself to sleeep"(take a sleeping pill to sleep for a few hours) to keep the dark thought away, my animals are SO CONCERNED. I will lie in bed and Sophie will insist on getting as close as she can to me, and will literally put her paw and touch my face, over and over. She has never scratched my face and when she is content that I am ok, (when my sobbing stops and my breathing is regular again) she will curl up next to my stomach as close as she can get. My chihuahua is the same way. Spike and Sophie are great friends- they are about the same size (5 lbs) and they spend hours wrestling on my bed. Yes, a cat and a dog. When they are finished playing, Spike goes under the covers next to my stomach and Sophie lies on top of him with the covers in between their two warm little bodies. As I try to calm myself and let sleep come, the feeling of them both pressed up against me is like a balm to my soul.

It is like God is using those animals to physically touch me and say, " I am HERE!!!" They have no alterior motive for being there- the bed is shaking and my pillow is wet and yet they stay.

On my good days, I derive so much comfort from the smell and feel of my little horses. They are horses completely, except for their size. I breathe in the lovely scent of them- a mixture of hay, warmth, and horsie smell (I know horse people know what I am talking about). And they nuzzle me and I think, " This is so worth the bad days.". My dogs and cats are so HAPPY when I am happy- they seem to understand that " Mama is back". And even if I have been in an emotional coma for months and haven't given them the physical and emotional attention that they crave, they are never peevish with me. They are just happy to see me again and they rejoice in my elevated mood. Now, please know that even when I am down and out, my animals are always fed twice a day and have clean water and beds. What they miss is my spending time with them and showering them with affection. Sometimes I think that means more to them than the food.

Why all the fuss about the animals and not people? Because I don't relate well to people when I am very depressed, and I overwhelm most people when I am manic. When I am emotionally dead, I don't communicate with people outside my family AT ALL. A bit confusing for the average human, but the animals seem to "get it". Since I can hurt other people with my words when I am depressed or angry, I have learned to retreat when I am down, to keep from saying or writing something mean or angry to another person. When I am manic, I am so busy catching up that I don't feel like I have time to talk and when I do, I unknowingly dominate the conversation b/c I feel like a coke can that has been shaken and the top taken off- months of news and emotion come flying out and I cannot shut up. This doesn't mean I don't care about the other person at all- if anything, I am overly empathetic- I feel other people's joys and sadnesses like they are my own, usually. (That gets real complicated when I try to help friends that are hurting in their own lives and do an amazing job when I am manic and then have to say, " OK, I can't handle your issues anymore b/c I am feeling suicidal, so I have to sleep." because my mood shifts. ) HUH?:??? People just DO NOT UNDERSTAND and they can't, because I live it and I don't understand it. My family on both sides and all of my friends are amazingly loving and patient with me and I am so grateful for that. It must be bewildering to not know "which Anne" you are getting. I find that if I am having a bad day, I won't answer my phone b/c I don't want to hurt anyone or feel guilty b/c I feel like a "negative Nellie", which I am not unless I am depressed, and then I am NOTHING BUT NEGATIVE. And I honestly cannot help it, and people say things to try and swing me toward positive, but it won't work b/c the chemicals in my brain are messed up and my brain honestly tells me that everything is bad, worthless, and how can everyone not understand that? When I am happy, you CANNOT GET ME DOWN. :0 Music makes me joyous, poems make sense, life seems like this wonderful grand affair and I cannot remember why I was ever depressed to begin with. The only humans who truly get it are my friends with depression or bipolar, which becomes amusing b/c we make jokes about each other and will often text things like, " I am in the cave, how are you ?" " I am having an amazing week, are you out of the bed yet?" I do have several " normal" friends who love me no matter which one I am and to those friends, I am deeply indebted.

I think most believers in God are programmed to believe that God will always use people to minister to us, or scripture, or a sermon, or something along those lines. Don't get me wrong, my immediate family and extended family bless me immensely- my friends help me feel less crazy. And God does use His word to comfort me. But there is something very unique about an animal touching your face over and over with her paw that just SCREAMS, " I LOVE YOU!!! DON"T GIVE UP!" And I know that the message is not from my cat, but from God, who created her. When you pray for God to give you a sign to hang on for one more day and a 36 lb soft shelled turtle appears in your driveway 30 minutes later, it might as well be a billboard. I used to be shocked and now I just say, " Thanks, God, I hear ya!" And I get my bewildered family to help me move the beast (after weighing it) to the swamp behind our home.

The last little dear creature God used in my life was Herbert. I will write about him next time. It is truly an amazing story and I have to say, even Herbert's little billboard shocked me. :)

Long winter!

2011-03-19T09:47:00.003-08:00

Hey everyone -it was a long hard winter here and although I live in Florida, it was still a bad winter. I am just now feeling up to writing again, but feel very rusty. :) Not much to write about now, until I get some pics on my camera- but we are still here and still running the zoo. :) I recently found out about a couple who have a REAL ZOO, and their TV program is called My Life is a Zoo- I thought that was pretty funny, since I have had this blog for years- I'll have to go visit THEIR WEBSITE. :)

What we do when it rains!! :) COW EARS!!!

2010-11-26T12:56:00.006-08:00

So what do you do when you have 14 dogs (five boarders for Thanksgiving) and it rains? Bring out the cow ears!!!! COW EARS?? I know, many of you give your dogs pig ears and didn't even know you could buy cow ears. Well, let me tell you what- after giving my dogs cow ears, I won't ever give them pig ears again. I also order "sweet cheeks" from Christi's Canine Cafe and those are the cheeks of cows- they smell like vanilla and the dogs LOVE EM!!!! Cow ears are thin, not greasy at all, low in fat and calories and an average dog like Gracie can take 30 minutes to chew through 1/2 of them. Yes, I buy them and then use loppers to cut them in half. They are so much cheaper than Bully Stix and other chewy treats. Since I am waiting on a shipment from Christi of sweet cheeks and beef tendons, we are happily chewing away this rainy day with our cow ears. There's a link to Christi's Canine Cafe on the first page of my blog on the left- go visit her- she is THE BEST and she inpects everything she ships before it goes out. She does not carry cow ears, but everything she carries is AWESOME. It's less expensive than Petco or Pet Supermarket and I can feed the treats to my dogs without fearing that they'll be dead in the morning b/c something was REALLY made in China and is laden with some bizarre toxin. Gracie and Quinn are shown below, somewhat blurry, I am sorry to say, munching away while it pours.

You can comment as anonymous!

2010-11-26T08:09:00.002-08:00

Hey everyone- my sister in law said she couldn't leave a comment b/c she didn't have an account with yahoo. You can always leave a comment!!! Click on the bottom option which says, "Anonymous" and then leave your comment and your name if you want. AND WOW- I see visitors from GREECE ( I love Greece, would love to go back!), China- have friend adopting there as I type, and so many other places- I am thrilled that so many people are reading my blog. I have alot of advice in here about health issues in dogs, so look around or you can email me if you have any questions at JonAnne@aol.com.

It's either feast or famine around here!!

2010-11-19T04:32:00.014-08:00

Here is Emily, our oldest daughter on the night of her induction to the National Junior Honor Society. I am biased, but I am telling you, she was the most gorgeous girl there!!! :)

This is Janie, Jane Jane guwl, or just precious to me. She is one of our owner surrenders, who has advanced breast cancer. She is my heart dog. She loves to snuggle up where ever it is warmest and stay there. She is probably 12 by now and has just been the greatest dog.

Yes that is a cat, named Jackie, lying down on Gizmo's back while Cavallino looks on with interest. Wonder why we call it Pharaoh's HAVEN??? They are best buddies!!!
The picture to the right shows Julianna giving Gizmo a bit of sweet tea- yes, he IS a SOUTHERN HORSE!!! Julianna is such a responsible horse owner and we are so proud of how well she takes care of Gizmo.

There's an old saying, " It's either feast or famine." That means, things are either really great or really awful. I am telling you that is the case here at the zoo. We will go months where no one gets sick or dies and then BOOM, out of nowhere, we have weeks that seem they will never end. The past three or four weeks have been "famine" weeks. We had two cats with abcesses, one that I treated and it healed up in 24 hours, and the other that took three vet visits, two surgeries and 10 days of round the clock treatment ( hot wet compresses, eye drops, and antibiotics by mouth- ever pill a cat? NOT EASY AND NOT FUN!) and an Elizabethan collar. I am usually a pretty stoic person but after dealing with blood and pus for 10 days, I literally lost it- physically and emotionally. I don't throw up unless I am pregnant, period. Well that 10 days with the cat's face did me in. Happily, Truffles is all better now and I am getting some sleep. He was such a good baby.

So now is feast time- literally and figuratively. My oldest daughter was inducted into the National Honor Society last night and I am getting some of those kids as volunteers here. HOORAY. The kids will be on a cruise for Thanksgiving week so I will have a week of rest and working with the animals. HOORAY. I will miss them terribly but am so grateful they will have a nice memorable week with their grandparents. Here are some random pics of things here- I am still too tired to match subjects up with names and stories. But I should be able to come up with some good stuff next week while I am having a lighter week! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

The Minis are coming the Minis are coming!

2010-10-02T06:41:00.005-08:00

Well this is one excited family. Around October 19th, we will be the proud owners of two miniature horses. They are both males, and the buckskin paint's name is Gizmo and the bay's name is Cavallino. We purchased them from a lovely couple named Debbie and John Driggers at Delta Shamrock Farms. Gizmo is around four months old and Cavallino is six months old.
Why you may ask are we getting two miniature horses? Well, there are lots of reasons. We have always loved horses and once owned a quarter horse named Chap. Julianna and Emily spent a year riding at a friend's ranch and were both good riders and very much loved it, but Julianna in particular LOVED IT. Last October she broke her ankle (not related to the horses) and it healed and she did rehab, but several months later she began to have weakness, sharp shooting pains, and discoloration in that foot. After x-rays, MRI's and several doctor visits of all sorts, we got two diagnoses of CRPS. CRPS stands for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which is a nerve illness and it used to be called RSD (Reflexive Sympathetic Dystrophy). We have two friends with this illness and it is capable of rendering someone wheelchair bound or in horrible pain for life. The good news is that many times it goes into complete remission in children. It's a hard syndrome to understand but the basic way it works is that when a part of the body is injured, the CRPS can travel to that part of the body and tells the nerves there to continually fire. This causes the sharp shooting pains, sensitivity to cool air, or even a fan blowing on that part of the body, severe pain, and weakness. The solution for this is to desensitize the affected nerve by using that part of the body and trying to get the nerves to "shut off"- not completely but to stop "overfiring".
Jules has had the episode in her left ankle which lasted for four weeks and a couple episodes in her right hand causing pain from her ring finger up to the wrist and weakness in that hand and wrist. Riding horses is not permitted, due to the risk of severe injury if she were to fall off the horse. We can't put her in a bubble but we have to limit the chances of her getting severely injured. So that means for the time being that riding horses is off the menu. So we prayed and talked and started thinking about ways that she and our family could still enjoy horses without the risk and my dear friend Laurel suggested getting a couple of miniature horses. They cannot be ridden due to their size but are horses in every other sense of the word. They are about 30 inches tall at the shoulder when full grown and are very easy to keep. So for Julianna's 12th birthday we took her to the Driggers' farm and told each girl to pick out a horse. I thought she was going to faint. So Jules picked Gizmo (the girls named the horses) and Em picked out Cavallino. This is very much a family project and this will be another way for us to spend time with our children at home, outside, and all helping with the care, feeding, grooming, and loving of these tiny treasures. The hand exercise in grooming and training them will be just what the doctor ordered for Julianna's hands and will be great for both of the girls. They can be walked like dogs (funny, huh?) and taught to do tricks, but mainly they are going to be here to be loved, trained to be handled, and to be another great way our family can bond. As the girls get older there are alot of things competing for their attention- good and bad. We encourage the good things such as youth group, good friends from school and things like that. This will be another good activity that they can share with those friends and family. We'll keep you posted on the babies' progress. Right now we have a run in shed to build and a pasture to get ready. YIPPEE!!!

Gracie and her grief!

2010-09-30T10:25:00.005-08:00

Gracie as a pup- below and Gracie now

Our little boxer mix, Gracie Rose is in mourning. She had a best friend named Abbey, who was a lab/pit mix. They were best friends. They played for hours on end and chased each other in the yard constantly. Abbey was young- and started showing her "pit" side little by little. First there was food agression- no problem, we feed all of our dogs in their crates. Then came toy agression- problem- she and Grace would growl and "play fight". Then one day all hell broke loose. Abbey had a toy and Grace went up as usual to grab it and Abbey went INSANE and we were lucky to get her off Grace. Mind you, she was a year younger and smaller than Grace. We called a hundred people, from pit experts to pet psychologists and got the same answer- " It is only going to get worse, rehome Abbey." Well, we did and Grace has not been the same since. She mopes under our bed and still grabs a toy and runs outside and looks around like, " Where is she??" So we are asking God whether we can fill that spot or whether another needy dog (we would only do a rescue puppy with no pit bull in it) needs to come here to have a home. This is Gracie's puppy picture, and another of her now. We're trying, Gracie Rose!!!

I have the E Ticket and it's not all it's cracked up to be!

2010-08-23T04:06:00.008-08:00

Well, for my girls, today is back to school day. Emily is in

eighth grade and Jules entered middle school (6th grade)

today. They were ready, happy, loaded down with their

books and schedules and Jules might have been a bit nervous

but overall, they were READY. Em assured Jules that she

would walk her to her homeroom and any other classes

that she needed help finding and I felt really proud of both

kids.

I have homeschooled for two years until a back injury derailed me so I have experience in both kinds of school-homeschool and public school. I also taught in public school for 10 years. (We don't have money or desire for the kids to be segregated at a private school.)Each year that my kids have been at public school I drove them to school in the morning and they rode the bus home in the afternoon. WHY? Because I wanted to pray with them on the way to school and bless them before they entered their day. Some mornings were glorious prayers and other mornings I was so fatigued it was, " God I am too tired but you know what they need, please do it today."It was a special time for us- and I loved it.

This year both kids got on the bus this morning and will be riding it home this afternoon. Ok, no big deal. Except that when Em rode the bus sometimes in the am last year, I still drove her to the bus stop at her friend's house to have those last few minutes to pray over her or tell her how capable she was or just to say, " GIVE ME A KISS, NO I AM NOT WEARING LIPSTICK EMMY!"

So they were going to walk to the bustop today. Good.It's time for them to do that. I ran out and said to them" Please don't go, I"ll eat you up, I love you so!" (an old

favorite we say all the time from the classic story Where the Wild Things Are.) Em looked at me and said, "OH MOOMS, do you want to drive us to the bus stop?" " YES YES YES!" Jules said, " I wanna ripstick to the bustop." (A modern day skateboard).

Then she looked at me and said, " But I will ride with you guys." So I prayed the most thorough prayer a mom can pray in 2 minutes and they kissed me and out they got.

I got home and Jon said, " YOU GET TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TODAY!" I looked at him and said, " Yea, only I don't want to really." He said, " Rest today

read, do whatever!" I said, " I feel lost today Jon." Not sad, not depressed,

not unhappy, just kind of lost feeling- like someone gave me a freeE ticket at Disney (if you aren't old enough to know what that is, it was the tickets that let you go on the COOL RIDES AT DISNEY like Space Mountain or Pirates of the Carribean and when your E tickets ran out, you had to either buy a whole new book of tickets or ride Dumbo or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) It was a treasured thing. So I have the E ticket and am standing in the middle of Disney World thinking, " But there's nothing I really want to ride today." BIZARRE? You bet. I told Jon, " They are growing up and learning to live without me."-they now do their own laundry, make their own lunches,and have always done their own homework,

unless they were stumped.I don't ever and will never "bail" my kids out of an assignment they forgot or left at home or waited until the last minute to finish. "And Jon, that is good and right and profitable for them, and I know that. But I miss them. I miss just knowing that they are upstairs being silly and making stupid dance videos. I miss driving them to school and having six minutes to pray instead of two. I missTHEM, the essence of THEM in my home." He said, "I understand."

So while there may be mothers settling down with a cup of coffee today saying, " Praise be to God for school starting!", I am not one of them. I want the E ticket but I want to go on the rides with my kids. That doesn't mean I want to homeschool- I know that I cannot and do not want to educate them to the standards that they are educated by six different individuals at school. I am honest about that. I don't have the energy to do it with excellence.I just wish kids still came home for lunch- maybe we could hop on Space Mountain and then they would say, " WOW, Mom, that was awesome, wanna go again?" And we could. But E tickets don't exist anymore, kids don't come home for lunch anymore, and there is a mom in Florida who is going to have to adjust to riding the rides alone.

Maggie is safe and sound at Tony's house!! Hooray!

2010-08-21T03:55:00.004-08:00

Well, our Ibizan Hound is being fostered by a very nice person named Tony and his wife Leah. They know dogs like I do- they are more dog oriented than people oriented. (Compliment to him by the way.) Maggie has settled in well. She has had horrible allergies and we couldn't afford to get her tested and do the shots and that broke my heart. More importantly she had been showing agression toward some of the dogs and has tried to kill one or our IGs twice. Well the night before she was to be picked up I was crying my eyes out and I said, " God, I want you to give me one HARD FIRM NON ARGUABLE SIGN that this is the only way. The next morning I was out with Maggie, Quinn, Abbey and Grace. All of a sudden Maggie had Abbey nailed against the fence and was going to tear her UP. I broke it up and had Abbey come with me and BOOM Maggie ran up and did it again. Maggie had never shown any agression toward Abbey before and there was no "reason" for this agression on this morning. I was shaking all over with anger and fear for Abbey and every doubt in my heart about Maggie having to go just went POOF like a flame being burned out. I said, " God thank you for this hard and inarguable sign."

God knew that Jon and the girls and I love this dog with all of of our heart and I guess he knew I needed some sort of loud billboard kind of sign. So she went to Tony's the next day- I never cried until that morning when I opened the fridge and saw the package of ham and I just fell to my knees sobbing. Ham is what we used to put her meds in or reward her with ham after we gave her the meds. Oh my Maggadocious, we loved and do love you so much and I will never see your picture without tearing up a little. If we could have changed your aggression, I would have begged borrowed or stolen (not quite) the money for your allergies, baby. I miss you but I know you are being a blessing to Tony and Leah and they will see how much you were loved. I know Tony will find her just the right owner and that Maggie will bless that family as our surrenders bless us. Janie was nine when she came here with breast cancer- it's been 3 years and she is old and quiet but she has been such a blessing to our family and I love her so very much. I know some person will say as I have of Janie's old family, " God thank you for the family that loved this dog and thank you that she is part of ours, we love her so very much."

PS. This is not Maggie, but it is a picture that shows the grace and majesty of these very intelligent amazing dogs.

New good homes needed for Abbey and Maggie!

2010-08-17T03:34:00.006-08:00

Abbey on left sucking on my hand and Maggie on right looking sad with allergy meds.

Maggie's allergies will not cease and the next step is allergy testing which can be upward of $700 and Abbey Dabbey Doo needs another puppy to roughhouse with. So, ICHUS (Ibizan Rescue) is working on finding some great people to take Maggie and pay for her allergy testing and shots and give her a great new home and I am checking out come prospective homes for the Abbeymeister!!! I took them both in bed with me last night and cried and cried. But we are not the BEST homes for these dogs and that is what rescue is all about. So say a prayer for me, for the girls, and for the new owners of these precious gifts from God.

Donna and Lainey come for a visit!

2010-08-06T04:29:00.001-08:00

Well we had our good friends, the Clarks come this week. Their kids were participating in power up clubs for our church and my kids were recovering from 2 straight weeks of vacation. Donna and Lainey, their adopted 4 year old Chinese doll stayed with us. I taught her how to swim last time she was here so she was eager to get in the pool as soon as they arrived. Julianna did a superb job of watching her and playing with her in the pool- even without her floaties!!! We so enjoyed hearing her laugh and be silly. She also LOVED the trampoline. She would just giggle and giggle when she fell down. I am certain that Julianna will be a mommy one day or at the very least work as a superb babysitter. WAY TO GO JULES!!!!

Rejoice for the son that was lost is now found!!! OUR HAITIAN CHILD RALF IS ALIVE!!!!

2010-08-05T04:14:00.007-08:00

Two days ago I got a Compassion envelope in the mail. Usually it is a letter from Jane or Ralf or updated pictures of them. However, since the earthquake hit Haiti, Compassion had no news of Ralf, only that he was missing. Every day since that earthquake, I have prayed for this boy and asked God to tell him in his heart that his American sponsors had not forgotten about him and to believe in God and hang on. I asked everyone I knew, including my favorite bagger at my grocery store, Morris to pray that Ralf lived. But I got no update from Compassion, so I assumed the worst, but still thought of this child so often. When I saw the manilla envelope and saw it regarded Ralf, my hands began to shake violently and I began to say, " Please Jesus, Please Jesus, please let this be good news!" I opened the envelope and there was a picture of my Ralf- taller and thinner and with a very serious look on his face and eyes that had seen I don't know what. I began to shake and sob and sob and sob with joy. I called Jon at work and cried to him, " RALF IS ALIVE JON, OH HE LIVED!!!" I called Compassion and they told me that the only news that they had was that Ralf's home was destroyed but he was alive. I know nothing of his parents or his siblings. I sent a massive email out to all the people who had been praying for him and told them that our prayers had been answered. I wrote Ralf immediately and just poured my heart out and told him that I had no idea who he had in Haiti but that his American family was crying and praising God that he was alive. I so want to see this child. I want to hug him and see his face and touch him- I never thought I would hear of him again. Thank you God for sparing this impoverished angel. Give him the strength he needs to survive whatever trauma he suffered and may suffering now. Give us a way to encourage him and be his family if he needs one.

If you have never sponsored a child, it is a very special thing to do. We have developed close bonds with the four kids we have sponsored and have lost two of our African kids to tribal warring and relocation and when you get that letter or death or relocation, it hurts like it is your own child- lost or dead. So to hear that our Ralf was alive was even more precious to us because the two children we lost were both boys. I continue to pray for the nation of Haiti and all the other children there who may be orphans or have severe injuries or have experienced such horrible loss. I wish I could scoop them all up and bring them home. For now, I will just rejoice in this child being alive and pray for the day that I can hug him and he can see and know that his American family truly loves him.

A review of a book I just read- a must read!!!

2010-08-04T09:51:00.005-08:00

This review is not written by me, but I have read the book and I think it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is honest, warm, and very encouraging. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and found the nutritional advice to be great. I actually emailed Daniel and he emailed me back and I hope to meet him when he comes to Jacksonville in August. Read the review and know that I give this book FIVE STARS!!!!

God Said Not Yet!: One Man's Experience With "Terminal" Cancer
by Daniel Edward NeffEdition: Paperback
Price: $13.99
Availability: In Stock
6 used & new from $13.07

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
An Inspiring Book About One Man's Battle with "Terminal" Cancer, June 22, 2010
This review is from: God Said Not Yet!: One Man's Experience With "Terminal" Cancer (Paperback) "God Said Not Yet" One Man's Experience With "Terminal" Cancer By Daniel Edward Neff God has a wonderful way of bringing friends and acquaintances back into our lives. I remember Dan, as we called him, from the time we both attended the same church. We were never close friends, but attended some of the same singles events as we were both single during that time. When I left that church, I lost touch with Dan but heard several years later through a mutual friend that Dan was fighting the battle of his life--he had the "C" word--"the most feared word in the English language," as he describes it in his book. So when Dan contacted me to read and review his book, I jumped at the chance! Here is the back cover synopsis: "When I placed my faith in God many years earlier, He promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." I would find out if that promise was true. From the initial diagnosis, to the time I died on the operating room table, to being faced with a (literally) life-or-death decision regarding the bone marrow transplant procedure, to the alternative treatment that He led me to, God never abandoned me. The doctors said my life was over, but God said, "Not Yet!" This book is his journey through the time of his cancer. But it is so much more than that. The theme of the book is about his hope and trust in the living God who breathed life into Daniel at the moment of his conception and who breathed healing into Daniel when he needed it most. It is about the path he took to find God, the love story of finding his beautiful wife, Linda, and hearing and submitting to God's calling on his life. Scriptures abound in Daniel's story that encouraged him and Linda throughout the two-year period of Daniel's cancer and treatments. Finally, there are several books and websites recommended for reading and gaining knowledge on some of the treatments that Daniel experienced. This book is an absolute praise report to God! Dan clearly gives all honor and glory to God for his healing. All of us are or have been affected by cancer. We either have a friend, a relative or perhaps even we've experienced cancer personally. This is a book that you will want to read and or share.

Fun in the Mountains!!!!

2010-08-04T04:44:00.005-08:00

We went to Little Switzerland NC to visit my parents in their mountain house and we had such a great time. We hiked to Linville Falls, spent a day at the Gem Show, and biked 17 miles downhill (most of it) on the Virginia Creeper Trail and most importantly spend time with Mama and Daddy. The weather was gorgeous and we truly loved being with them and in the mountains. I have more pics to share but they are on Jon's camera, so these will have to suffice for now. Mama and Daddy, thank you for the gift of being able to fly up there and for all the fun things we did. We love you!!!

Peace like a river...................Thanks to some folks who need to hear it!!!

2010-05-16T02:33:00.006-08:00

Well, it's finally come. Peace. Praise God. It's been a rough six weeks, but the calm after the storm has finally arrived. It didn't arrive in one big chunk but in little ways. Peace, to me, is the feeling that everything is as it should be. Now I don't mean that literally- my house is a wreck, my wood floors are mountains from flooding, and sand is everywhere, but the storm inside my heart has ended.

What am I talking about?? Well, the last six weeks have been full of death (read earlier blogs- a friend of my brother's committed suicide and two of our healthiest cats died very quickly and suddenly. ) Added to that was more drama in my original birth family than I could deal with and some memories that I had buried long ago came rushing over me like a tidal wave. ( I am not adopted, I refer to my birth family as my original family and my kids and hubby as my immediate family.) Added to that were additional worries about Bucky's family, and no way to help except to pray for Vicky and the kids.

I called a time out from visits or phone calls from some people I love very dearly. Not a permanent time out but a temporary one until I could literally get my feet under me. I found that once my family (brother and sister and my husband) knew about some childhood issues I had been through that maybe I could breathe easier and was that ever the truth. I found I had been anxious that Daddy would walk through the door, wanting to talk, or to drop off a tool, or Mama would call, or that if I called anyone I might get them on a bad day. I felt I couldn't lie down and pray without waiting for the dogs to bark announcing an unexpected visitor. Once I knew I could abide here in my house with my kids and husbands and animals with no surprises, I was like a different person.

I would like my original family to know that I love them very much. They know that, but love is action, not words. And I haven't felt like I have been in action much. I think that is one of the hardest things for me to understand- and I have been asking God to show me how to deal with it. My love language is someone who loves me calling or writing me an email or text once a week or acts of love like bringing me medicine when I am too tired to drive to the pharmacy. I don't care about gifts, or cards (they're nice but not neccesary) (Deb H, you are the card queen and I love your cards), or anything else. Just a "thinking about you but too busy to talk" email is amazing. It is for me an instant pump of helium to my heart balloon that may be coming down. Someone answering the phone when I am crying and them saying, " I"ll get your meds, Anne." is LOVE TO ME. It is " this person really does care and think of me occasionally" feeling. People can tell me they love me till they are blue in the face, but if I feel like I got forgotten in the shuffle of their very busy lives, I get so depressed. Now, most of you know I have bipolar 2. This has nothing to do with my illness- it's the way I have been forever.

With that being said, there are some people I would like to thank.

Debbie H, thank you for getting my medicine and making me feel like it was no big deal.

Mama and Daddy, thank you for picking me up at the car place when the "2 hour no big deal" wait became a five hour one and my dogs were in the house about to pee everywhere. Thanks for picking up my prescriptions. Thank you for everything you've done to help me, more than I could name. Thank you for my self esteem, you'll never know how much I have needed that and it was the one thing I never struggled with as a kid. NEVER. I know you know I love you always. Let's have dinnner here soon, I haven't had you since Dad's party.

Mom and Dad Trinkle, thank you for your constant love and support and for giving me peace about not coming to camp this year- what a gift that was. I thank you for all you have been to my kids and my husband and to me. You have shown me what God's love looks like lived out.

Susan, thank you for listening, caring, and understanding why I needed to tell you. Thanks for not being angry at me when I screw up, you have this amazing ability to not see people's mistakes, only their good sides, and I need to learn that from you.

Joyce, thank you for never shutting down the communication between us, even when you were frustrated or angry with me ( I am sure you have been at times.) Thanks for being my other sister. I love you so much and miss you so much, I am crying. :) You are so special to me.

Mike, thank you for making the effort to call me and I am sorry for my frustration. I am trying my best to understand how to communicate with you and I love you with all my heart. I am sorry for hurting you. We're good.

Jon, God only knows what a gift you are to me. Thank you for texting me from work just to say, " How's your day going, honey?" WOW, I feel so loved when you do that. I can't even tell you how loved I feel. Thanks for being the girls' chauffeur when I am in need of sleep. Thank you for your holding me when I felt like I would cry myself to death. Thank you for understanding how much I love other people and that I do mess up but you know my heart and thank you for that. Thanks for being more than I deserve and such a gift from God to me and our children. I hope and pray each day that I make you feel just that loved. If sandwiches are love then you are stuffed with them and love, literally and figuratively. :)

Laurel, thank you for everything you have always been to me- a sister, a best friend, a sounding board, and a true loving soul. I know I have been that friend and sister for you too, but you need to know that I thank God every day for bringing you into my life.

Emily and Julianna, the last thank you's go to you. You are such beautiful young ladies and most importantly, your souls glow with God's love. You are my reasons for getting up in the morning and the last thing I think of when I go to bed at night. Your mother's day cards healed my heart more than you will ever ever ever know. The words you wrote were like literally sewing up my heart. I know I have made some mistakes in life, but you are my pride and joy and God uses you to show me that I must have done something right amidst all my mistakes, when you remember something I said to you, or you remember that man looks at the outside but God looks at the heart or you tell me that I am the best mommy in the world.

This post was 'all about me" but it was really all about the other people in my life and how much they mean to me and I hope everyone feels that and knows that I care about your lives too and I know I have shown that to all of you. I love you all, Anne

We love you Cookie Conker!!!

2010-05-07T06:23:00.003-08:00

I don't know how many more deaths I can take. On the left is a picture of two of our cats, Bella on the left and Cookie on the right. Cookie died Wednesday of heartworms. Yes, it is very rare in cats and no, we had no idea he was sick. I saw him under my van, which is a place he never goes and I knew INSTANTLY something was wrong. I called Jon and we brought our dear Cookie Monster in the house and I knew he was going to die. After doing rescue for so long, there is a smell of death that lingers on an animal when they are dying- that sounds bizarre and hard to believe, but even my kids know that smell when we used to get very sick squirrels. I begged Jon to take him in, as I knew I could not take this particular cat. You see, Cookie is a very special baby to me. Several years ago, our neighbor's dog killed my kitty Moses in our front yard- he didn't actually die until we we at the ER vet, but it was a horrible traumatic death. I never go out and get a new animal when one dies but a sudden traumatic death is like a scene from a movie that won't go away. So the girls and I went to Animal Care and Control and I saw Cookie and I knew he was the kitty. He hated thunderstorms and I always let him inside during them. I had a premonition that he should be an inside cat, but we have allergies and I just attributed my over protectiveness of him to the fact that Moses had been killed outside. He was killed by a disease that mosquitoes carry. Dr Rockefeller, my vet saviour called me from her office and said, " Anne, honey, it's not good." I said, " I know, Renee, I know he's going to die, he smelled like death, but WHAT IS IT??" She told me and said, " He's going down fast." I said, " Put him down now." She was so dear and asked if we wanted his body which was the most beautiful cat body in the world, with the most remarkable markings on it, but I told her through my sobs, " I cannot see his face again, I will just die, Renee." She said, " I know, I am the same way." And she said she would take care of my baby for me. I asked her if she would tell him I loved him and I was so sorry and she said, " Of course." "I'm so sorry, Anne, I am so sorry." I said thank you and hung up and held on to Jon. He was our Cookie Monster, Cookie Conker, Tootie (rhymes with cookie) Tonter and so many other little pet names. When people know you have seven cats, their reaction to the death of one is either, " Oh, that's too bad". or there are dear souls like Dale who weep with you because they know that each one is as special as the rest, no matter how many creatures you have. Thank you Renee and Dale and to all my friends who texted me to tell me how sorry they were about our baby Cookie. (He was six years old but always my baby.) Renee, when you get to heaven, God will put a special jewel in your crown shaped like a paw and say, " You will never know what comfort you gave Anne Trinkle by sending her animals to me so sweetly and with such love and empathy." I love you.

For my brother and everyone who loved Bucky

2010-04-13T09:16:00.006-08:00

As I laid in bed this morning, my mind was still reeling from the news of one of my brother's oldest and dearest friend's suicide. I have hurt for my brother and his buddies who all grew up together here in Mandarin. Bucky was known as Bucky to all of us, his given name was Walter Woolfe Jr. Most of my memories of him are from my childhood and teenage years- he spent a lot of time at our house and I spent a lot of time at his house with my folks and brother and sister. I remember a tall, handsome man with dark curly hair and a mustache most of the time. He gave real hugs and always took time to talk to me even though I was just Mike's "kid sister". He never made me feel like he didn't have time for me and in later life on the few occasions I saw him as an adult, I was always OVERJOYED to see him and give him a hug and he always asked about my folks, my kids, etc. He and his brother had a monkey and a mean as snot Chihuahua named Timothy. :) I loved both of them. I loved his parents- Kay used to sit me on her lap and read me stories- one in particular that I cannot remember the whole title of, " The Hag, the Bag and..................." I was always begging her to read it to me and she always did. I did feel true love from Walter and Kay- Walter would always swoop me up and hug me like I was the most special little girl in the world and I loved him very much. I have such vivid memories of Bucky and Carey's room (you had to step down into their little room and it felt like a cool little hideout place) and the way the house was laid out and I learned to swim in their pool- my sister taught me and I spent many happy hours there.
Bucky always looked right at you when he talked to you- he gave you the feeling that you mattered. I loved him like a brother. My mom always welcomed my brother and sister's and my friends to the house and it was always such fun when he and John would come. I hadn't seen Bucky for 7 or 8 years, but he was one of those people you always hoped you would run into sometime at the pharmacy or somewhere in Mandarin. I wanted to write this for Mike, Billy, Mark, John, Chip, and all the other guys and people who loved Bucky and were his childhood and adulthood friends. I know you are hurting and I wish I could hug each of you. I really do. I will write his ex- wife and children a note and send it by snail mail- they are in such pain. So many people are hurting- I hope all of us can heal and that Bucky can see us and hear us and know he was very very loved and is very dearly missed. The thought that keeps me going on the days I am crying so hard is that he and his birth family are all together (that's my personal belief) and that there is finally peace there. Vicky, if someone forwards this to you, I love you and our family would do anything for you - ANYTHING. His memorial is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of April 24 at Mandarin Park. We love you Bucky.

Patches and her nine lives

2010-03-28T09:29:00.011-08:00

We have a troubled child here at the zoo. Her name is Patches. She has been with us since 12 weeks of age, from a puppy mill. We didn't know it was a puppy mill when we went. Once I got there, I realized it was a puppy mill and I had two choices. Leave (I had my 2 and 3 and 1/2 year old children with me) or stick it to them. So......... the dog I was supposed to get was "sick" and they refused to show the "sick puppy" to me. That's when I KNEW these people were not good. So I played my best cards- I told them I would take the all white dog and if they knocked 50% off her price, I wouldn't report them. I bought the puppy, got home with her and reported them anyway. She was sick as could be - worms, diarrhea, lethargic, you name it. We took her to the vet immediately and they told me she would be fine but she was one sick pup. She has never been "right in the head". She has always had an extreme distrust of strangers, has always loved to play fetch with her special ball, and has had questionable vision, thus making everything new very frightening to her. She has also had an uncanny and aggrevating ability to scale our 5 foot fence so she could be with us in the front yard, and then jump back over when we go in. She is 8 years old and we love her dearly.
The picture above looks like I am holding her head sternly- I am not, I am trying to get her to stop looking around and licking my ears so we could take her picture. The picture below shows her neck and if it makes you woozy, you shouldn't be a human or dog mom. Trust me. This dog has an amazing ability to heal. She also has an uncanny ability to get into TROUBLE. She has run away from dog sitters for 2 days at a time, is a fear biter at the vet, and has been hit by a car with not a scratch or bruise on her. All of this makes us sound like horrid owners, but we are nothing but the opposite. When we learned she had run away from our first dog sitter, I prayed for the last five hours of the car drive home and cried for the entire five hours. After we got home and called and called, she came running out of the woods, covered in ticks, from pin head size to huge engorged ones. We wept and thanked God for her safety, checked her for injuries, bathed her, handpicked ticks off of her and next time she boarded at the vet, in a crate. Now, if she doesn't come to a person upon meeting them, we disqualify them as a dog sitter.
Her last misadventure happened on Thursday between 2:30 and 4:30. Our dogs are often left in the safety of our yard while I run errands. I came home and Patches ran up and Emily said, " MAMA, PATCHES IS CUT UP!!!" I looked down and saw her throat and about died. I stayed calm as usual, assessed how many cuts there were and called my vet. The lacerations were so clean that I knew immediately that they were from something sharp in my neighbors yard- there was not a speck of dirt in them, nor were the edges jagged, so I knew that was in our favor. I rushed her to my vet and Dr. Nguyuen (pronounced Winn) was amazing- she told me they were clean lacerations and I told her, " I will do whatever I need to do, but I am not taking this dog to an ER vet- I trust you." Since Patches will try to rip the hand off any stranger on a good day, I told them to bring me the smallest nylon muzzle they had and told the tech to stay away from the dog, I would hold her for the exam. Glad I did that, when Dr. Nguyen came close to look at her, she went CRAZY, almost came off the table and by the time I got her secure, I was covered with blood and the tech and Dr. N were saying, " Thanks for knowing your dog." I suggested they sedate her with me holding her and then I would leave. I laid on my neice's bed for the next hour and picked her up, all sedated, stapled up, and her tongue hanging out of her pathetic little mouth. Bless her heart.
Fast forward to next morning. She was ready to eat, ready to go out and by day three she wanted to chase her ball and cleared the dang fence when my back was turned. ??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So she's on leash duty now and I don't know what she's made of, but I wish God had made me out of the same stuff. I don't know if she's one her seventh or ninth life, but I am not worried, she obviously is intended to stay here with us and give us years more of laughter, love, and heart attacks.

And a partridge in a pear tree......................

2010-03-23T01:59:00.004-08:00

I write so often about the dogs, that sometimes I
forget to include the smallest creatures of our home.
This is Izzy (short for Isabella), one of our two
cockatiels. They are Julianna's birds- the other
one's name is Holly and used to belong to our neice, but we convinced her to give her to us when her schedule got too busy and college was looming quickly.
Our cockatiels love each other very much- they preen each other all the time and sing back and forth to each other (they are caged together). Izzy learned the Gator Fight Song from Holly and Holly has learned I don't know what from Izzy. They love to look in the mirror and will just make all sorts of noises to the birdies in the mirror. They are devoted to one another, when we take them out to the pool porch, the other bird screams like he has been murdered. (We have to take them out there one at a time to reduce them flying into the pool). So we make a trip and then QUICKLY go back for the second bird and oh, the screaming is horrible until they are together in their outside cage.
Julianna is an amazing owner and takes very good care of them. She loves them dearly. Often when I am listing the animals we have at our home, I feel like adding , " And a partridge in a pear tree" at the end. I guess these are the partridges. :)

Facebook FREAKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-01T13:42:00.003-08:00

I don't know what other people do during the day, but I assume that people with jobs (real paying jobs) work while they are at work. I assume that stay at home moms work while they are at home. So how is it that so many people can spend SO MUCH TIME ON FACEBOOK??? Is this while they are home after the kids are in bed, during their workday, or are their kids learning to potty train themselves while they are playing FARMVILLE???????????????????????? Oh my gosh, I have to say I am beginning to hate Facebook. I get "virtual flowers, lattes, quiches, zucchinis" and all other sorts of crap that frankly I don't want and don't have time to look at!!" Ok, if this is someone's hobby (like reading or watching a show, fine, but I know people who are honest to God on there for 3 hours STRAIGHT. Are you kidding me?????? Is Mafia wars your REAL LIFE???????????? People log on to tell you what they ate for breakfast, that they went to yoga, that their kid made straight A's in school or that they just found an amazing recipe for truffles. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? Maybe I am just a sourpuss, but I don't need to know that you have gone through your 3rd box of tissues with your cold, or that you painted your fingernails blue with black stripes, or that your take out was YUM YUM! I don't know that much about my own family. In this house, we work and we play. I spend most of my day cleaning and taking care of animals, kids, my husband, and our property. I don't have time to pull real weeds much less pull them on Farmville. I think it has become a "virtual reality" for many people as a way to escape from their real lives and that's fine, but when you are pulling weeds in Farmville but haven't emailed your friends in months, something is wrong. I get friend requests from people I don't know EVEN through other people- why are they requesting to be my friend if THEY DON"T KNOW ME?????????????????????????????????? I am THIS close to closing my page, I swear. If I get another "join the support Tim Tebow's commercial club" request or another "could you water my fake plants while I take a virtual vacation", I am going to come loose on someone and it's not going to be pretty.

Here's Julianna!!

2010-03-01T11:03:00.002-08:00

And here is Julianna- 11 and having fun all the time- you cannot get a serious picture of the child. She was with a good buddy who took this picture. She is smart, loyal to her friends, VP of the student council and my little nurse when I am sick. She's a good kid and is a good example to her friends!!!

Here's Em and Jules is coming!!!

2010-03-01T10:53:00.002-08:00

Sorry folks- I haven't updated the girls pictures FOREVER. Here is Em's fall picture. She's 12 going on 13. No, she doesn't wear makeup. No, she isn't a hoochie mama. She is a great kid, scripture on her tennishoes and not a label slave (as she puts it.). She is my number one vet assistant and blood or gore doesn't bother her. She picks great friends and loves to hug me. Jules is next. Sorry for the five year delay. :)

Updated pictures coming soon!!!

2010-02-07T07:35:00.002-08:00

Everyone must be wondering if my kids are still six and eight. :) I deleted their pics today and will replace them with some new ones soon. We lost the hard drive and once again I lost years of pictures, so I will really have to dig to find some. When will I ever learn to back up my pics????????????????? :)

Samson is in doggie heaven and I KNOW IT IS TRUE! AMAZING STORY!!

2010-01-25T16:31:00.013-08:00

Well, I share stories of miracles, sadness, things that make us laugh here and all of it is true. And I always have said that God is a very specific God. Today was such evidence of this- this story will truly amaze you but please know it's true, because it happened to ME.

Samson is our 17 year old greyhound and most of you that follow the blog know his story- he was given to us five years ago and we thought we would have him for a few months. The months turned into years and he is the finest dog we have ever owned- hands down. He has been my "soul dog"- the one really special dog in your life. He was a fast runner and was the fastest dog here for a long time- then we noticed him limping. So, our vet told us his knee in the rear left was just shot with arthritis, so we put him on Deramaxx for the last 2 or 3 years. Well in July of 09 he was doing very badly- his arthritic knee was hurting him alot and he didn't get off the couch at all during the day. I called Dr. Rockefeller, my vet and told her it was time. Jon dug his grave and we waited the two days for Dr. R to come. Samson did a turn around that was like a miracle- he was playing and running- and Jon said, " He saw that hole and said, " NOT YET FOLKS!!!"

The last few days Samson has been in horrible pain and his bad knee has been collapsing under him and I knew today when I looked at him that it was the day to send him to relief. So I took him in and Dr. Eslick , who is also my vet, but not the one who knows Samson said, " So we are evaluating him today?" And I was shaken- I had told them I was bringing Sam in for a PTS. (Put to sleep). I said, "NO!" "So you want him to be put to sleep today?" And I am thinking, " AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH why is she asking me this?" But it went peacefully and I cried all over his beautiful brown nose and sang him all his songs. I had alot of special "Mom and Sam" songs I sang to only Sam. I left and thought, " His body is made new and his soul is at rest." I was driving home and I saw something standing in the road and as I got closer, I saw that it was a GREYHOUND. He looked confused and walked in the middle of the road and off to the side. This was in a residential area, so he wasn't at a huge risk to be hit but I noticed he was limping and didn't have a collar on. So I stopped and called him to me and he came. I thought, " Well, he's got to be microchipped, I'll take him back to my vet and find out who his owner is." His nails were well trimmed and he was at a good weight and lots of muscle, so I knew he wasn't a stray. I tried to coerce him to get in my van and he yelped like, " NO WAY LADY!!" I then heard a motorbike behind me and a 70 year old man said, " Thank you maam." I said, " Is this your dog?" "Yes, maam, he just slipped away from me." I said, " Well he's limping, I don't know if he got hit or not- but PLEASE PUT A COLLAR ON HIM, I am headed home after putting my 17 year old greyhound to sleep." He smiled and said, " Well thank you again." The dog ran to him and off they went. And I was filled with JOY- it was like God saying, " Don't worry, it was the right day, Anne, and I have him and here's a little miracle for you. I HAVE NEVER EVER SEEN A GREYHOUND WANDERING IN OR AROUND A ROAD, EVER IN MY LIFE. It's just not something you see. So Samson, thanks for sending me that reassuring message that you were protected and taken home like this old man's dog was. I love you Sam Sam.

Prayers for Ralf and for the dear people of Haiti

2010-01-23T05:25:00.005-08:00

We have sponsored a boy in Haiti named Dakens Ralf Losier- he is 11 and we've sponsored him since he was six. We do not know if he is alive or not. Compassion is an amazing organization and we had an email the day after the earthquake letting us know that they would be searching for each of the 2.500 children they serve in Haiti and would let us know of his fate ASAP. I fear to put his picture up but I want him to know we love him very very much and have thought of little else in these last days. I cannot watch TV or videos on the computer- I sob. We chose a boy in Haiti when we lost our last African boy child to tribal warring years ago. This child is known as Ralf to those that know him. We got a letter from him 5 days before the earthquake hit, full of news and good cheer and wishes for a Merry Christmas. (There is a delay of letters getting from us to him and vice versa due to the translation needed.) I had written him immediately back and I pray that he got it before the earthquake. It's a huge world and a small world, so if anyone happens to hear of anyone with his name please email me. WE LOVE YOU RALF. WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU OR YOUR PARENTS OR YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

Melange a la Maison de Trinkle (aka the zoo)

2010-01-07T11:11:00.010-08:00

I sat down to write today and thought, " There's so much to write about and there's no ONE thing to write about over the next thing." So, the word melange came to mind- it is French for "mixture". I think about it as a mixture of a variety of things- a bowl of multi- colored fruit or a group of people with 20 different shades of skin. Here, it means so many things. In many ways, things are always the same here- there is always alot of work to do, I am almost always joyful to do it, and our population stays about the same. Recently we had a really wonderful happening. Our green cheek conure, Bob, who was rehomed for safety issues 2 years ago with a dear friend (we were fostering a dog who thought Bob was something to eat). So we occasionally spoke of Bob and how he was doing and how we missed him. The foster dog got adopted. One day I was on Craigslist and there was an ad for a green cheek conure- I never click on those. I did. The ad said, " Bobby is for sale and I need to find a home for him immediately." Well, I called my friend who we had placed Bob with and she told me SHE had to rehome him for her dogs were trying to kill him and she had placed him with a nice young mom who had named him Bobby. I screamed, ' KAREN, HE IS ON CRAIGSLIST!!" Long story short- Jon and the girls FREAKED OUT, we called this young mom and Jon rushed over to get our beloved bird.He is the tiny bird with the burgandy feathers on his stomach. I cannot tell you how happy we all were but Julianna in particular was in tears over the reunion. He had been in smoking home with the young mom and had developed a fear of small kids. Karen of course, being a wonderful and amazing animal lover did not know she had placed him in a smoking home- and had interviewed this chick real well. We just love Karen. Bless his heart- he's fine now- very happy to be here and not afraid of anything. He is sitting on my shoulder as I type, trying to eat either my glasses or my neck. :) Very nicely and gently. God is specific.

We lost our dear Galina, as you read in our last post. Heartbreaking. Yesterday we went to a warehouse where we buy our bird food at a great discount (Deviney Enterprises- that's for you Anne- love you!) (If you live in North Florida or South Georgia and want some of the most GORGEOUS SEED AND FRUIT for your birds- go there. You can email me at JonAnne@aol.com for their address. Their prices are amazing and they sell almost every pet food you can think of, not just bird food. and we talked these poor folks ears off. There was an orange winged amazon in the office- we asked, " Anne, is he yours?" "No, he is for sale for a friend of mine." I went on and played with Anne's dachshaunds and the next thing I know Anne says, " Holy smokes, look at that." Jon was rubbing "Buddy's " head. I said, " What?" " Anne, that bird HATES MEN!!!" I just smiled and said, " Yea, I know, my hubby is the bird whisperer." Jon went on to talk in this super sweet voice and rub and rub this bird's head. Well, he's here now, his name is Monkey (he is so funny, he likes to hand from his feet from the top of his cage and looks just like a little monkey bird). No big investment- but a new great home for this fun bird- he makes the funniest littlest noises and is SO EMOTIONALLY SOUND. This is a delight for us as most of our birds are rescues, thus have messed up heads. Monkey is the yellow cheeked parrot with the golden eye.

Sam continues to live and even his bad breath brings me joy- every day with this amazing dog is a delight. Janie still has breast cancer but is doing well and sleeps next to my stomach each night. Gracie Rose is having a false pregnancy and it is about to kill me. I have NEVER EVER EVER EVER waited too late to have a dog spayed and time got away from me and she went into heat - of course we do not have any intact animals here, so she couldn't get preggers, but I felt like the worst doggy mom in the world. :) I keep telling her, " I am so sorry, little girl." My morals about certain things are almost too much. :)

We still deal with cold weather, occasional bouts of diarrhea, dogs who won't listen and having to keep up with everyone's shots or wormings and ALWAYS TOENAILS. But pretty much this is the life I love and my family loves it too. We all get tired sometimes and don't want to do our chores, but then we hear a meow or a version of "happy birthday to you" from Pepper or Gracie shows us her favorite toy by wagging her butt all over the place and you just forget your tiredness and laugh and smile and God gives you one more burst of energy. It's heaven on earth for us.

Galina is gone- many tears at the Haven

2009-12-29T12:04:00.002-08:00

Well, this is very hard to write and harder yet, because I cannot find any of Galina's pictures. Galina was one of our "showed up at the doorstep" one day kitties who stayed for five years. She was one of the most gorgeous cats I have ever seen- she was a long haired cat with a gorgeous white "ruff" around her neck and four white feet. She was non vocal- but spoke volumes with her body language. She always wanted to smell your hand before she would let you pet her and then preferred to be pet on her body, not her face. She got along with everyone and was always in the garage or in the sun. I cannot write about her death very much as the memories of finding her hurt so badly still. She had a severe UTI which we didn't know about and would have no way of knowing about and the poison from her kidneys spread throughout her body. I went out to feed and she was lying under my van and I knew INSTANTLY that something was VERY WRONG- I grabbed her and yelled to Jon, who was sleeping, " Jon, Galina is very sick, I need you right now in the kitchen!" We rushed her to the ER vet and learned what was wrong and that she was hypothermic (her heating pad was 1 foot from my van but she couldn't get there, I guess) and that the cost to try and save her would be over $1000 and the vet thought it was too late. I said, " Please put her to sleep." I cried like an animal- I was in a white t shirt with her blood and fur on it and I was barefoot- I cared for NOTHING except rushing her to the vet- nothing else mattered. We brought her home for the other cats to say goodbye to and buried her in the backyard. A sudden death here is a horrific thing for all of us, but especially for me. We are prepared for old dogs and cats to die and it hurts, but it isn't like this- this is like a stabbing knife and I spent most of the day in bed yesterday sleeping, as when I was awake my mind was filled with visions of her, the syringe the horrid ER vet left with us that had her bloody urine in it, and her nuzzling against my shirt on the way to the vet- completely paralyzed but she could feel her face and for once in her life she wanted, NEEDED me to stroke her face- I stroked the whole way there, and said, " We love you little girl- hang on, we're going to get help." She responded to my touch, moving closer to my hand and resting in my armpit. I will not advertise the emergency vet we went to, but the vet there was abrupt, ugly and just made the whole thing more horrific. I know she is with my other kitties who died of old age and I pray that she will tell them hello for me and spend the rest of her days in the sun, being admired by the company she is in. We love you little Galina. I love you so much little girl- I am so sorry I couldn't save you- I am so sorry I didn't know you were sick- I am so grateful that the last thing you knew was my hand, my voice, and the warmth of my body. I miss you so.

It's December and I am on blood pressure meds- coincidence or not????

2009-12-05T15:52:00.005-08:00

Well there is one type of medicine I never thought I would be on and damned if I aren't on it- blood pressure meds. It makes perfect sense- I have gained 20 pounds on my bipolar 2 meds and I have been pretty stressed out lately, but ME?????????????? So, now I have the hard work of getting these "Seroquel 20 " off- (it has a nickname because it is SO COMMON) and trying to find a "natural remedy " for high blood pressure. Mercedes, girl, I need your advice. I can't find my camera (one of my kids "borrowed' it) and I don't have time to take any pictures of my darlings. We just changed hard drives, so all my pics are on my OTHER hard drive which is upstairs.

But, I have decided this- I love Jesus, but I hate December. I hear Christmas music on November 27 and my jaw clenches. I want Christmas to be about a peaceful manger, not shopping and mailing and pressure and CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR 30 STRAIGHT DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! So if there was a month that I would have high blood pressure, this would be the month. Thank goodness the animals don't know what month it is, because if Pepper started whistling Christmas Carols in this house before December 9 (my 43rd birthday), his goose would be cooked. (He's a parrot, by the way). So my way of coping this year is I am not sending Christmas cards with pics of my beautiful girls. I figure every mom deserves at least 3 Christmases when she doesn't have to send cards, and this is my first. (I think it's my first, did I skip a year 10 years ago???????????) Don't remember. I am determined to make this a quiet and peaceful Christmas and since I don't like shopping or going to the mall, I think I can do it. I'll stay home and make our little manger and not get freaked out by the huge trees with all silver or all gold decorations or the signs saying, " There's still time for Christmas delivery!" (Well, there should be, when you sent that catalog, it was December FIRST!) And no, I am not a grinch, I am just a Jesus follower, and the last time I checked, Jesus got THREE presents and much after his birth. What in the world has happened to that simple message? I am claiming it this year, even if I have to stick my fingers in my ears and say, " Nah nah nah I can't hear you!" in stores. :)

Samson should be named Lazarus

2009-07-29T04:10:00.005-08:00

Pharaoh's Haven is a place filled with miracles. It is a place that witnesses amazing gifts from God each and every day. Recently we were the recipient of an amazing miracle. Our oldest dog, Samson is 17. In the picture he is one looking at me instead of the camera- so typical. He has been with us since the age of 14. When he arrived here, he was very thin, anemic, covered in fleas, and I expected him to live at the most a few months. 14 is pretty old for a Greyhound, so I took this dog in knowing whatever time he had left we would give to him with great joy, comfort, and love. He quickly became my "soul dog". If you've ever had that one great dog in your life, you know what I am talking about. He is the epitome of all that is amazing in dogs and desirable in humans. He is gentle, kind, patient, long suffering, honest, and has the soul of a Southern gentleman. That is the way I describe him to people, since most people need a "human comparison" to understand a dog's soul. His first three days here after a bath to remove more than 100 fleas, he did nothing except sleep, eat, and go outside to go potty. I honestly thought we was going to die then. After three days, he got up with this new look in his eyes like, " Ok, I am back- what's on the agenda?" He loved to run in the pasture with the other dogs and was pretty darn fast for an old man.

After a couple of years, I noticed that his back leg was causing him pain, especially on rainy days and in the morning. I have arthritis and have the same symptoms on the same days so I knew right away what it was. I took him to see our dear vet, Renee Rockefeller at Augustine Loretto Animal Clinic and she examined him and said, " He has a very crunchy knee, Anne." Turns out that the back left knee was so filled with arthritis that is sounded crunchy when she manipulated it. So I said, " What can we do?" She recommended Deramaxx (doggie Celebrex) and we went home. The medicine worked wonders for the old man- he could bear weight on that leg again and his appetite improved. He wasn't tearing out in the pasture anymore, but that was ok- he could walk without pain. After about a year, he started to not respond to the meds as well and his appetite would come and go and he would spend all his day on the couch (it's HIS COUCH) and not want to interact or go on walks. We went to the beach last week and left him in the care of our zoo sitter, whose name is Betty and who is God's gift to our family. She is an amazingly gentle and intuitive woman who is the best zoo sitter we have ever had in 15 years. When I got home on Saturday, Sam was far away- he greeted me of course, and then got on the couch and slept. He wouldn't eat that night or all day Sunday. His eyes had the "death look" that all animals get when they are near death and it's a look I've seen MANY TIMES. People get the same look - they look past you to somewhere far away and they are not "here" if that makes any sense. I knew it was time. I cried so much on Sunday that I busted the blood vessels under my eyes, and thought I would die from the pain. Now, mind you, I have put at least 6 old dogs to sleep here, many of them dogs we'd had since puppyhood, so it's nothing new to me- I take them to ALAC and hold them while Renee puts them out of their pain. I cry and it's sad but when I leave I feel relieved that my dear dog is out of pain and in doggie heaven. I have never mourned this hard over any dog, and it was quite frightening for me to feel such intense sadness even though I knew it was time.

I called Renee on Sunday, sobbing my guts out. She said, " It's Sam, isn't it?" I said, " Yes, it's time." I told her, " I feel a very strong feeling that he is not to leave here, so I need you to come to the house and put him to sleep when it fits in your schedule." She assured me she would call me the next day with a time. All that afternoon I sobbed on this sweet dog's fur and told him how much I loved him and what a dear dog he was to us. Jon dug his grave outside before work on Sunday. The kids said goodbye in their way- the tears would come after he was gone- they don't mourn in advance, bless their hearts. I gave Sam his meds as usual Sunday as I thought, " I don't want him in pain anyway even if he is going to die." On Monday, he hopped off the couch and came in the kitchen and ate breakfast. I am thinking, " That's nice, but weird." All during the day, he was up and out, asking me for bones that he hasn't asked for in a year, and very frisky. I was freaking out. Renee called at noon on Monday and said, " How is 11:30 tomorrow for you?" I said, " Renee, I need to talk to you. He's like a different dog." I went on to tell her about his appetite, behavior, and walking around and even running in the yard. She said, " Well that's great news!" So we said, " The grave is there, and we'll just keep it covered until it's time." (We had covered it anyway to keep the little dogs from falling in it.) On Monday and Tuesday I did not recognize Sam. I took him on a short walk down our street and he ran ahead of me. He hasn't done that in over a year. Even our dear friend Mercedes said, " Anne, he hasn't looked this good in MONTHS!" So I knew it wasn't wishful thinking on my part. Sooooooooo, maybe God gave us an extension because of the horrible sadness, or maybe Sam saw the grave and thought, " Wait guys, I am just sore, not ready for the grave yet!!!" Either way, I said out loud to God while walking with Sam- (trying to keep up with him to be honest) "God, I don't know why you gave us this gift, but I thank you and I praise you for it- I truly thank you for giving us a few more days or months with this amazing dog." So I sing Sam his silly song that I have sung to him since his first days here- I can't write it or everyone would laugh at me because is is a truly silly song but part of it is " I love Sam and Sam loves ME!" I am grateful that I get to sing that silly song a while longer.

New batch of squirrels here!!

2009-07-10T02:15:00.013-08:00

Well, I was really surprised to get a call from the vet that has my number for squirrel rescue! Nesting season is April and August, and we've not had a single windy storm in while. There were four newborn squirrels- someone was trimming a tree and down the nest fell. We got them quickly and they were in great shape- not dehydrated or injured. There were two girls and 2 boys. On the first night, Lily, one of the girls, crawled under the heating pad and died- I've never had one do that before-the other three have been with us for almost two weeks and they are doing great! They are up to almost four cc's of formula every 2-3 hours and their eyes should be opening soon. Their names are Sammy, Squirt, and Emma. Emma is the smallest, but a very good eater. We are taking them to the beach with us and I am FREAKING OUT because I have to leave them with someone for four days while we fly to NM and I am super protective of them- when you have worked your fanny off to keep a squirrel alive for 2 weeks, getting up every 2 hours in the night, you really freak about leaving them with someone else. Here are their pics. God is so amazing- they are tiny, precious, and love humans. They do not make good pets and will be released at my mom's house when it's time. People ask me all the time why we don't keep one and it's because squirrels are not one of God's creatures that can adapt WELL to caged life. If they are injured or brain damaged, that is a different story, but if they are healthy, they don't do well in captivity, so please don't be tempted to keep one- it's also against the law ( I think). In the meantime, we are enjoying them and I am finally at the point where they can go overnight without a feeding- Jon feeds them at midnight and I am up at 5 am normally, so they eat again then.

I often use them as an example of our dependence on God, and even took them to a women's Bible study (not these guys- one from a hurricane years ago) to show the ladies that without God feeding us, keeping us clean, and stroking us, we would die, just like these squirrels. And unlike humans and God, squirrels never run away from the humans caring for them, but instead move toward my voice- the hungrier they are the faster they move. Sometimes in their eagerness to eat, they get frantic and I have to gently hold their head and show them where the syringe of milk is. God's like that too- we get all freaked out and God has to get our heads and hold us down for a minute and say, " I've got what you need- quit flipping out." I really need to remember that right now as we have two vacations coming up and getting ready for vacations is a HUGE trigger for me and my bipolar depression. I am fine once I am in the car or plane but the week beforehand, I get totally wigged out, frantically all over the place and sadly, I don't look for the the "syringe" of comfort that God is holding right in front of me- I just keep running all over, trying to figure it out on my own. Maybe there was a bigger reason that I got this group of squirrels at an unusual time- I need to remember them when I get paralyzed with so much to do. I am constantly amazed at how God teaches me through these animals- never fails and since I understand animals so much, I learn about God all the time. (Not to say I don't learn about him other places too, but face it, I am here at home more than I am any other place.) I'll post more pics when their eyes open, which should be within this next week. :) So exciting for them to see whose voices they have been hearing. By the way, Julianna is a super squirrel girl- she fills in for me when I am sick or gone and she does an AMAZING JOB.

The zookeeper's Mother's Day gifts!

2009-05-12T04:46:00.006-08:00

When you take care of two children, a home, and some 30 animals, you had better think long and hard about what you ask for when Mother's Day comes up. At first I thought about luxury- how nice it would be to have someone else file my nails and rub my feet and put pretty polish on them. That idea got thrown out as I realized that the polish would last maybe 3 days on my hands, with all the washing I do, and my toes never show, because I wear running shoes 24/7, literally. So, I thought about what would truly make life easier. And my dear husband surprised me and did it before I could ask. While I was out with Em, Jon cleaned my upstairs room/office. You see, Miss Gracie Rose had found the Crayola Clay in four lovely colors and had taken her sweet time in getting into each color, leaving clay and paper EVERYWHERE. It was more than I could deal with, so for two weeks I ignored it. Yes, I know, you are wondering HOW I could ignore it. Well, I don't go up there except to sleep once in a while, and I stepped over it and went to bed. There were also various items in the upstairs hallway that needed to go to the battered women's shelter store but had gotten stuck in the hall, just waiting. When I got home, the hall was CLEAR and my room was CLEAN. I could have cried. In addition, he helped me trim 9 sets of dog toenails, 4 beaks and 12 parrot toes. This is no small feat, if you pardon the pun. Then, to finish it off, when our disposal died, he called a friend and installed a new disposal and the instruction manual was my Mother's Day card and I LOVED IT!!! I told my children that all I wanted from them was to sit on the floor and play some games together and be a team about getting the birds fed and watered. I got two lovely homemade cards which are two of the most beautiful ones I have EVER GOTTEN and I felt so loved and special. I love being a mother- I am blessed with two gorgeous and lovely acting girls, a very thoughtful husband and 30 other "children" that are worth all the trouble they put me through. :) One good nose kiss or bed snuggle from a dog is enough to make my day, ANY DAY. And enthusiastic hugs from my girls are the best gifts I could ever get from them. I am a blessed woman. Thank you Lord, for my family, my own mothers, and for my life.

For Donna

2009-05-04T10:10:00.003-08:00

My dear friend Donna who blogs like a fiend bugged me about my recent lack of writing. I don't know why I haven't written, I just haven't. Nothing amazing or spiritual or even amusing has happened until last night. Pepper, our African Grey put on a show last night like we have never seen. Pepper was rescued from a sad home that was dark and from someone who didn't believe cleaning the cages was HER job and he had very little interaction. We've had him almost two years and we think we are seeing him almost at full blossom just now. (Bird rehab much slower than dogs.) She (we don't know if he's a he or she's a she so bear with me- we refer to him/her in both ways all the time.) has a vast repetoire of voices and sounds and words. Here are a few of his favorites. "Good girl!" (He says this whenever a dog comes in as we have had to praise Maggie SO MUCH for coming in as she used to be terrified of thresholds.) "Good night Pepper bird" "Goodbye" "Hello" "Wanna go out?" (Again in regards to the dogs), "Woo HOOO"- heard by me all the time as my kids can't hear me over their stinking radios unless I use the grandma yell. Well last night he cracked us up. He loves to dance with me- which for him consists of him bobbing his head and saying Hoo hooohoooo." Last night I snapped my fingers and he started "cracking" his beak while dancing, and then he made a PLLLLLLLLLBBBBBBBBBBBB! sound like a kid sticking out his tongue and blowing- and then he burped and started laughing. It was a LOUD BURP. We were all just dying laughing - he has finally relaxed enough to open up and show his true colors. He still won't allow us to touch anything but his head and his feet, but I think in another 10 years we'll be able to cuddle him. Good thing they live so long.

God doesn't take his gifts back!

2009-03-05T03:47:00.003-08:00

God gives all of us gifts. We can have gifts for teaching, counseling, raising children, showing compassion, or rescuing animals. And as much as we would like to sometimes, we cannot give those gifts back. I have a new squirrel who was brought to me very very deyhydrated, near death and covered with fleas. It took 4 injections of subcutaneous fluids and hours of trying to get him to eat before he finally TODAY he figured out how to suck on the syringe. Now, I am exhausted and was talking to a friend. She said out of love, " You've got enough on your plate, you need to not take in any more squirrels, etc." I wanted to say, "Well, YOU NEED to quit dragging your plants in and out of your garage and just let them deal with the cold." She has taken her plants in and out of her garage at least four times due to this nasty weather. To me, that is "too much on HER plate". But I wouldn't tell her to stop caring about her gift- loving plants. I would love to have the ability as some people would be able to- to fling an almost dead squirrel into the woods and never give it a second thought- but I am physically unable to do that. Nursing that squirrel is my gift and as tired as I am I cannot give it back. Nor, can I give back the gift for taking care of my husband and children and teaching them everything I think they need to know. I have a friend with six adopted kids with special needs and people think she's nuts. IT"S HER GIFT- SHE CANNOT GIVE IT BACK. While you may not agree with other people's gifts, don't argue about them, because God gave them and I don't think you want to question HIS wisdom.

God's grace

2009-03-02T02:51:00.009-08:00

I am short on time but wanted to say that there are no accidents with God. I took Sassy to Petco last night to get groomed and at the last minute had to get some dog food- on my way back there I ran into a friend that I had been praying I would see. We talked for a long time about a certain situation going on in my life that has been very trying. And while I was there, there was a very lovely young woman who had a litter of puppies that were to be euthanized and she rescued them. I don't EVER STOP at adoptions- after all- I am a rescue- retired, but still- I don't adopt puppies. In fourteen years of doing this I have NEVER adopted a mixed breed puppy(Sassy was five when we adopted her) or even LOOKED at mixed breed puppies in pet store adoptions- literally. But something made me stop. And there in the middle was this tiny little mixed puppy and after talking to the rescue woman, I discovered that she needed a foster home for this little tike, as she needed to be fed four times a day (she's the runt) and a ton of TLC and this woman is a teacher. Now, she didn't know me from Adam's house cat, but when I asked her what I could do to help (God was telling me that this young woman was hurting and needed some TLC of her own) she said, " Could you take this little girl home and give her some attention and foster her for me?" Now, she saw something in me that she instantly trusted- was that God in me? I hope so. So we have a little mixed breed pup who weighs three pounds who we have named Gracie- (It is by grace we are saved and not through anything we do ourselves). This little dog and her littermates were saved by the grace of this woman. So next post, I"ll post pics of Gracie- now named Gacie- I leave out the R. She's so cute and I am so glad that I could allow Ana to sleep a bit better last night. Right now, I have puppy poop to clean and pretty girls to feed. :)

Shut up about the pink shirt- where is everyone's BRAIN???

2009-02-19T07:23:00.004-08:00

I am so fed up with the cops doing the investigation for Haleigh. First it was the 17 year old girlfriend put her to bed, then it was she was in the bed with Haleigh. Now they are saying there is a possibility that she wasn't home at all when Haleigh was taken. Now, if I put a child to bed and then got into my own bed, I would remember that. If I slept with the child in the child's bed, I would remember that, so why is this girl having such a hard time sticking to one story- either you tucked her in and slept in another room or you got in bed with Haleigh- how hard is that to remember????Then it was "she was wearing a pink shirt and undies" and then it was "no pink shirt- we have the pink shirt." Ok, maybe I am the only person on the planet who thinks like this but WHOEVER TOOK THIS CHILD SURELY PUT DIFFERENT CLOTHES ON HER AND PROBABLY CUT AND COLORED HER HAIR. So why is the media still stuck on the damn pink shirt. We are not looking for a child in any certain outfit, for God's sake- we are looking for a child who could be wearing ANYTHING- boys' clothes, a baseball cap, overalls, you name it- kidnappers do not keep the child in the clothes they found them in -that is just common sense, or at least it is to me. I know this because it is a well known fact that when kids are abducted from stores like Walmart, the abductor takes them into the bathroom, cuts their hair, throws different clothes on them (making them look like the opposite sex) and then walks out of the store and no one notices. So can we please post photos of this dear child with a progression of what she would look like with a boys' haircut, red hair, blond hair, black hair, or a buzz cut? Because at this point, she could look NOTHING LIKE HER PICTURE and no one would notice her as a boy, or with short red hair, or dressed in a purple dress. COME ON MEDIA- quit wasting time asking about the damn pink shirt- surely your minds are quicker than this??? And the investigative team should quit wasting time giving us updates every day only to say, " There is no pink shirt and no, we cannot answer any questions at this time." WHY IS THAT AN UPDATE??? Is that supposed to make Ronald FEEL BETTER??? Stay off the TV and look for the child, please. Don't get me wrong- I so want to find this baby- but I am so sick of the investigative am holding these ridiculous update press meetings only to tell us nothing. Does anyone else think about the possibility that the child could look totally different now? Why aren't new pictures of her being posted? SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!!!! We care about every missing child because we are parents, so I pray for Ronald every day and for Haleigh's safe return, but having lived in Florida my whole life, I have to say that after 10 days, I don't think she will be found alive. Miracles do happen and I am still praying for one, but if I was Ronald Cummings I would be skinning the media and the sheriff's office alive for wasting every one's time with updates that have no new information and for not posting new pics of how Haleigh COULD LOOK NOW. In the meantime, I will continue to pray and send this post to the Times Union. Maybe then someone will think of updating her pictures. Heavens.

I finally succumbed to the lure of..........FACEBOOK!!!

2009-02-18T03:41:00.002-08:00

All my younger friends who have been hounding me can finally smile- I am on Facebook. I had a long list of why I didn't want to deal with Facebook-

1. I don't have time.
2. I don't have time.
3. I don't have time.
4. It's going to be some sex predator place with naked women everywhere.
5. My kids will want to be on there and THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE ON FACEBOOK. PERIOD.
6. It's not as cool as everyone says it is.

Well, I still don't have time but DANG, IT IS FUN. I haven't yet seen any naked women, thank the good Lord- and I have connected with a ton of college buddies, which has been AWESOME. My kids are able to see pics of people I have told them about like my first college roomie, Steph, and my first real boyfriend, Daniel. I've been able to see what became of the people I went to London and China with and able to just keep up to date with local friends- a nice way to pray for their sick kids, get pics of their life, etc. I am still not ready to let my girls be on Facebook- I don't know enough about the privacy settings yet. Now, we've got to get Jon's gorgeous self on there- he's pretty interested. Have I said lately that I won the lottery with this man?? Well I did, and when all his old girlfriends see him on Facebook, they are going to be JEALOUS. Hee Hee Hee. Sorry ladies, he is so mine and so happy to be my own private zookeeper. :)

Taking applications for anyone who wants to take over my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome! Qualifications below

2009-02-16T04:20:00.004-08:00

Note to readers- I am pretty much in remission from CFS now and lead a pretty normal life except for occasional "crashes"- meaning I will overdo it one day and spend the next day in bed. Many of these symptoms were the ones I experienced in the first two years of having the illness. I am a very happy and busy woman now, but occasionally I do get FED UP with being tired after doing some ordinary thing like washing the dogs. :)

Well, it's been 15 years of having this disease and last night I decided I've HAD IT. I am taking applications for the next person to take this ailment and leave me free of it forever. There are many qualifications, so before you fill out the application, please read over what it takes to own this disease.

1. You must be able to quit your job in moment's notice. Note, having money in savings is a must or you must not be the bread winner in your family.

2. You must be very patient and able to tolerate huge amounts of pain. If you cannot deal with joint pain, constant headaches, sore throats, and sore lymph nodes, stop reading now.

3. You must give up your right to lift anything over 2 pounds on some days - you will need two hands to put milk in the refrigerator, will not be able to take clothes out of the washing machine, or drive a car that has a stiff steering wheel. You will not be able to hold a blow dryer above your head for more than 5 minutes, so short hair is a must. (Plus the fact that short hair doesn't look as dirty and greasy after lying in bed for 3 days straight as long hair does.)

4. You cannot be one of those "I won't take medicine for any reasons!" people. You must be willing to swallow any pills that your doctor tries on you, as well as have the ability to swallow $100's of dollars worth of supplements, some of which are as big as your thumb. Clear out two cabinets for the massive amounts of natural herbs, seaweed tablets, vitamins with extra b-complex, colostrum, and prescriptive pills you WILL BE TRYING. Most of them won't do a damn bit of good and you'll eventually throw them out, but you must try and try you will and you will try with a good attitude, always.

5. You must love your bed more than anything else in your life. You will be spending a lot of time there. On any given day you may sleep up to 17 hours. Your sleep will be non restorative and you will sweat through 4 or 5 changes of clothes a night, so keep a stack of clothes next to the bed and be prepared to wash alot of wet clothes and sheets. Doubling up on pillowcases is a must. Layering towels underneath you is always helpful so that you don't have to wash wet sheets every day.

6. Be prepared to lose at least 15 IQ points. This is called "brain fog"- it will render you helpless to complete sentences, will have you calling family members to tell you how to get home from WalMart, and cause you to have a panic attack in the grocery store as suddenly you have no idea where you are and why you are there. This will come and go with no warning. You will be reduced to calling spoons, " the thing that you eat soup with", and looking at the dishwasher and asking your spouse, "What goes in there to wash it again?" You must get over it and stop crying at the fact that you feel like someone with brain damage, because you ARE someone with brain damage and the MRI proves it.

7. You must be capable of seeing at least 15 doctors, many of whom will suggest that you are depressed or going through menopause at 30. You must be able to muster up the guts to ask the receptionist, " Is there someplace back there where I can lie down, because I can't sit up?" You cannot be discouraged when you have to wait more than an hour to have your blood drawn and you will teach yourself to love needles. You will teach your children to never fear needles or having blood drawn. You will be willing to humble yourself to call someone to pick you up from the doctor because in the hour and a 1/ 2 that you waited, your hands and arms have become numb and driving would now be dangerous.

8. Get used to saying the words, " I cannot make it tonight." You will be saying that alot- as well as "I won't be able to keep that appointment", and "Sorry, Mommy cannot go on the field trip-it's too much walking for me." Get a tough skin about people staring at you as you sit against a wall in Walmart while your spouse shops. Better yet, get a stadium seat and carry it to all malls with you in the event that there is no bench to sit on and then ignore people's glances. Become familiar with the feeling of losing your breath - a trip from the bed to the bathroom will cause it and climbing stairs will be almost impossible, for the exertion will make you sit at the top of the stairs for five minutes before being able to get your breath.

9. Be prepared to either lose or gain tremendous amounts of weight, and instill in yourself an iron will that even though you would rather peuke than eat, you will pour mustard on a slice of turkey and swallow it whole because your body NEEDS PROTEIN. Remember the tricks of your youth with downing foods that you hate because all food will become repulsive to you when you are most sick, but you must eat or you will get weaker. Cereals and sweet foods will be all you want to eat, but you will resist eating them as you know that they will make you sicker, so you force down spinach salads and McDonald's cheeseburgers because your body can only fight with strong soldiers in your body.

10. Make sure you have married someone who is patient, understanding, willing to pull more than their fair share, ready to believe your unbelievable symptoms, and go alone to many family functions. This person will be the closest to God you will ever get in your life and their love will keep you going on days that you want to give up. The love of this person and their encouragement will allow you to stop stressing and rest.

11. Last of all, get to know God really well. His word and his presence will be the only thing that will keep you from killing yourself on some days. You will spend hours begging him for pain relief and sleep. His promise of healing will be a promise that you cling to night and day. You will spend so many hours in bed that you will learn to pray for everyone you know constantly.

Now, do I have any takers??? Thought not.

Praying for Haleigh Cummings and not scolding our watch dog any more!!! Video monitors for our kids' rooms???

2009-02-13T03:52:00.002-08:00

Five days ago, a five year old child in Satsuma, Florida was taken from her bed. Her name is Haleigh Cummings. The story is that her dad's 17 year old girlfriend put her to bed at 10:00 and when Ronald, her dad, got home, she was missing. Later on the paper said that the girlfriend has been sleeping WITH Haleigh and never woke up when the child was abducted. To see this father on TV would make anyone cry- he is absolutely devastated- he was at work when she was taken from her bed. He looks at the camera, sobbing and begs for someone to bring her home. What heartache- how would you sleep at night? I cannot imagine this man's grief. And we all know that with every day that passes, the chances of her being found alive narrow. I am not being mean- it's just the truth- we've had so many missing children in Florida and the stories almost always follow the same script- child is missing, they search for days, the search discontinues, eventually the child is found dead. I pray this is not the fate for this beautiful little innocent angel. I am posting the website with her picture for everyone to look at - we never know how God might use us to help find a child. http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12017905&ch=4226713&src=news

This has made me really think about our home, it's safety, and the safety of our daughters. We have an excellent watch dog in Maggie- she is an Ibizan Hound and hears things long before we do- and she barks VERY LOUDLY. We yell at her, we put her bark collar on, and we scold her. Not anymore. Last night my girls fell asleep on the couch and Maggie slept right next to them- did I move them to their beds? NO. So, if you have a watch dog who annoys you, think about this- if that dog hears something in the night that you cannot hear because you are sound asleep, wouldn't you pray that dog would bark? Let them bark- it might just save the life of one of your children one day. Of course, we all need to lock our doors and windows and I personally think it would be a great idea to keep a baby monitor in our kid's rooms at night- to hear any sounds that they might make- they even make "baby video monitors" that show your baby sleeping- if you had one of those and someone attempted to abduct your baby or small child- you would have SOME INFORMATION about the abductor- sex, size, color of hair, what time it was, etc. I think it is time that we all started thinking ahead of these deranged beasts. If you feel silly for spending $150-200 on a camera monitor, imagine what price Ronald Cummings would pay to get his little girl back.

I knew they had souls!!!

2009-02-10T04:24:00.004-08:00

Ok, I've been called an animal freak my whole life. People look at me really strangely when I tell them that yes, I am a Christian, but I TRULY BELIEVE that animals have souls and go to a heaven. Well, I just saw a video that nailed it down for me- I'll include the link if I can find it. It is a video of a dog who gets hit by a van on a six lane highway- other cars drive over him without hitting him again. Out of nowhere, another dog crosses THREE LANES OF TRAFFIC to get to the injured dog. He puts his paws around the injured dog's neck and PULLS HIM BACKWARDS over THREE LANES OF TRAFFIC- bit by bit, inch by inch, until he has pulled the other dog to the side of the highway. He even looks left and right at one point to watch for cars. The road workers (who were not attempting to cross traffic and help the hit dog,) see the dogs cross to the side and go over to assist them. The hurt dog lives. It is a video that is unbelievably hard to watch, but watch it knowing that the dogs don't get hurt again. It will SHOCK YOU. I have always known that animals have souls- that they are capable of helping others and that they do care about humans and other animals, but this was the nail in my coffin so to speak.
My question is this- why in the world would God create the animals BEFORE HUMANS and take such pride in them that He asked Adam to look after them if they were soulless bits of rotting flesh? I don't believe that. They might not go to my heaven but I think they will be there- what heaven would be complete without God's creatures? Recently, I've seen examples of how animals are superior in their acts of kindness and compassion that a lot of humans. There were climbers getting to the top of Everest. They come across a man that was climbing Everest as well, but he was sick and was off the trail to the side. He was very sick with hypothermia and elevation sickness. DO YOU KNOW THAT ONLY ONE PERSON STOPPED TO HELP HIM??? The rest of the hikers (probably 30 in all, in different groups, at different times) saw him, knew he needed help, but did not stop because they had worked their whole life to climb Everest and by God, they were going to get to the top. How sick and wrong is that? The man who stopped and got help was a hiker who had hiked Everest before and wanted to hike it again, but he said that he could not leave a fellow human to die and go on with the hike- it was WRONG. Mamas dumping their newborns in dumpsters? Mama animals will not abandon their babies unless their own life is in mortal danger- there are some exceptions out there of lower classes of animals who eat their young, but I am talking about mammals here. Elephants form a circle around an expectant mother elephant- facing outwards in a tight circle- so a predator cannot strike the mother and baby. They stay like that for days afterwards- allowing the mother elephant to find food and keeping the baby in the circle. When an elephant dies, the animals cry tears and will stay by the dead family member for weeks- many times not leaving to get food for days. They cry and trumpet and the sound is gut wrenching and very soulful. Animals can predict storms, epileptic seizures, and earthquakes- was that ability given to us as humans? Do we have an instinct that tells us to RUN because a giant tsunami is about to engulf us and our children? NO. Can one human feel another human's seizures coming on? Nope. Can one person detect cancer by sniffing the other person's skin? NO. WHY??? If they are nothing but flesh and bones, why would God waste His time giving them these amazing capabilities? I know for my own life, my animals have created more comfort at times than all the humans I know put together. They love regardless of our actions. They protect us when their own lives are in danger. They save other animals- sometimes even animals of other species. A good example of this is the next video - a leopard who kills a mother baboon only to love and protect the day old baby baboon nestled in the dead mother's fur.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpfvkeo0KBc&feature=related This is a truly amazing video to watch.There are books written about these astounding examples and after reading many of them, I can absolutely convinced that animals do have souls and in some cases are higher on the scale of morality than many humans. So, think what you want of me, but I know that I will be petting a giraffe after I see God. http://www.youtube.com/user/elephantsanctuarytn Here is a video of Tarra and Bella- an inseperable pair- dog and elephant.

Here is the link to the dog rescue video. You will see related links on that page- a stray dog who saves a bullfighter- etc. They are beyond comprehension.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vxkx7wFMro

My advice about your dogs- Anne's "doggie Bible"

2009-01-28T14:17:00.008-08:00

I find that I am always getting asked advice about other people's dogs and I love helping out, so I thought I would send this out into cyberspace- feel free to email to your doggie buddies. This advice is built on 35 years of experience with all kinds of dogs and all kinds of "issues". I have spent my life watching dogs, so alot of what I have learned is from experience with my own dogs, and the rest is from books, vets, and other rescue people. I am not a vet, but I am almost a vet tech. :) I will list advice based on what I get asked most often and if you have other questions, feel free to write! I am amazed at what people don't know about very basic things so I will start there. Don't mind my "attitude" in my writing- it's just me. I tend to have pretty strong feelings about much of which I am writing.

Feeding

Do not ever feed a dog any food that wheat, soy, or corn in it. These are cheap fillers and are not good for a dog. If you think about it this way, it makes sense. A dog is a domesticated wolf. Period. Do wolves eat corn? How about wheat? SOY????????? No, dogs are meat eaters and any grain or grass they would get as a wild wolf would be the tiny amount in the stomach of the rabbit or rat that they ate. Pay a little more now, scoop less poop and literally cut the vomiting episodes out for good, unless your dog is sick, of course.

Feed every single dog at least twice a day. I DON"T CARE WHAT YOUR SCHEDULE IS. Feed the dog in the morning and at night. This will prevent stomach issues and eliminate "torsion"- which is twisting of the gut which happens in larger breeds when they are starving and they scarf down one meal very quickly. This leads to death if the dog is not operated on. Marley died for this reason- remember the book? Dogs get low blood sugar just as we do and feeding them twice a day just makes sense if you think about it. I feed less food and also give my dogs treats 2 times a day. Small dogs and young puppies are more prone to have low blood sugar seizures, so always feed them 3 times a day. Adult small dogs may not need three feedings, but young puppies MUST be fed at least 3 times a day. The brain will not develop properly if it is starved of sugar. Lazy owner, dumb or dead dog. Simple.

Water- clean it out every day- yes, dogs will drink pond scum but ONLY IF CLEAN WATER IS NOT AVAILABLE. If you don't believe me, put an old bowl of water next to a brand new clean bowl and watch your dog. I TOLD YOU!!!!

Wet vs. dry- Ok, listen to me- it makes NO DIFFERENCE IN YOUR DOG"S TEETH WHAT YOU FEED. Yes, I said that. You should give your dogs something to scrape their teeth on regardless of what you feed, but as with us, 90% of their potential teeth issues are INHERITED. I had two dogs that were fed the exact same food for 12 years- one lost 6 teeth and the other did not lose ONE. So I know this is the truth. If your dog has a nasty mouth by heredity (small breeds and toy breeds are more prone to this) you should take extra care to give them bones to chew on. I personally don't have time to brush my own teeth twice a day, much less my dogs. :) JUST KIDDING.

Food allergies show up most often as redness on the tops of the paws, red ears, and an itchy dog. There is no food allergy test for dog- it is just trial and error. If you think your dog has a food allergy, go to a good pet store and get some outlandish food like venison, salmon, or elk. Try your dog on that (NOTHING ELSE) and see if it improves. Salmon oil and Norwegian sea kelp are also super helpful.

Behavior

90% of all behavior or eating issues are related to one thing- lack of exercise. If a dog is not allowed to run, walk, or get some intense exercise, they are going to get into things and refuse to eat or be a picky eater. They will also be more prone to leg breaks (toy breeds) and arthritis as they age. If you find your dog being bad or not eating, ask yourself this question FIRST- "How much exercise has my dog had today?" If the answer is NONE, it's your fault, don't scold the dog- get your fanny outside and walk or run your dog. Now, if your dog is sick, this doesn't apply- of course. A happy dog sleeps alot. My dogs spend from 10am -5pm outside every day unless it is cold or rainy. Thus, they sleep HARD from 5pm- 6 am. Puppies are no exception- if they are bored, they will chew, ransack, and be a pain in the tush. They are curious, so provide TONS of different kinds of toys for them- especially REAL RAW BONES. Go to the butcher shop in your store, ask for some raw soup bones. Put a sheet down for your dog and supervise while you watch TV- easiest puppy sitting ever.

Sick dogs
- if you are tuned in to your dog, you will KNOW when your dog is "off". Look in their eyes- are they sad looking? Are they off their food? My rule for sick dogs is this. Take their temperature first. Use ANY KIND OF THERMOMETER- a sick dog will have 102.5 or higher. If they have a fever, go to the vet- NOW. Take a stool sample with you. If the dog is not running a fever and has vomited, do not offer the dog any food for at least 12 hours. Then offer chicken and rice. If you are too tired to cook, buy rice cereal for babies and chicken baby food- and keep these for these emergencies. Add extra chicken broth as dogs can dehydrate quickly. One day of sickness is "watch and wait". Second day is "go to the vet". The only disclaimer to this is if your dog has blood in his stool or vomit, GO TO THE VET NOW. Many times a dog will eat something in the yard that disagrees with him or her and after 24 hours, they will be as right as rain. A second day may indicate something more serious. If the vet tells you that your dog has colitis, email me. I am a pro at colitis. It's nothing to be freaked out about, but it does require diligence and alot of nursing on your part. If you work and cannot give the dog fluids by mouth, please leave the dog at the vet- a dog with colitis should not be left alone all day. If you have a good relationship with your vet, ask them to show you how to give a bolus of liquid under the skin. It is the best and most reliable way to keep a sick and feverish dog hydrated and it is not difficult, nor is it expensive. Basically you buy a bag of Ringer's solution at the pharmacy and insert the needle under the skin facing down and allow the fluid to flow underneath the skin slowly. There will be a lump there but that will go away as the body absorbs the Ringer's solution. Your vet will tell you how much your dog needs and how often to give it. This one thing will save you alot of heartache. Until you have tried to get 12 syringes of water down a dog's mouth that is sick, you won't know why I suggest that every owner learn to do this. Pharaoh, our first dog, was sick with colitis quite a few times and GOD BLESS HIS SOUL, he let me give him syringes of warm water or broth in his mouth even though he was miserable. He knew I was helping, but it is tedious for the dog and the person. I love that dog and he will always be the best example to me of what a good dog or human should be.

One other thing I would like to yell at every owner- LEARN HOW TO PILL YOUR DOG, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!! You would not believe the number of dog owners who crush up pills over their dogs' food when all they need to do is swipe the pill through some butter and put it deep in your dog's throat. The problem with crushing up the pills is this- if your dog does not eat all of the food or lick the bowl clean, how much of the medicine did he actually get? People say, " I can't pill my dog, he's impossible." Well, I've pilled dogs for 30 years and this is what I can tell you- teach the dog that if he's a good pill taker, a treat comes immediately afterward. I give my dog Maggie her allergy medicine and then immediately I say, " GOOD GIRL, WANNA TREAT?" and I then give her something divine such as summer sausage or chicken or some other goodie. (She has environmental allergies, not food allergies.) This is such a routine at our house that when she hears the Benedryl bottle come out, she runs into the kitchen. Our African Grey now says, ' Good girl Maggie- wanna treat???"- That's how often we do this. The dog would swallow a watermelon for me. The best stance to take is from the back, in my opinion. Crouch with your body over the dog, behind them sort of- then open their mouth and put the pill WAAAAAAAAAAAAY back and actually push it down their throat. Butter is great because it makes the pill slippery and it tastes good. After a while you can do it from the front because the dog won't struggle anymore. I pill all my dogs and cats from the front. If you just cannot handle that, put the pill in a piece of hot dog- most dogs won't chew it, they'll just gulp it down.

Dog medications
- your vet is either forthcoming or he or she is not- it's that simple. I am blessed to have honest vets. There are some drugs that are human formularies- meaning they were made for humans and dogs can take them. Other drugs are pet formularies only. YOU DON"T HAVE TO BUY HUMAN DRUGS FROM YOUR VET!!!!!! If your vet tells you that your dog needs Keflex or Prednisone, ask if those drugs are human drugs or dog drugs- then ask them if you can please get them at Walmart or Publix- many antibiotics such as Keflex are FREE at certain stores. Your vet's markup on these drugs is ridiculous- save your vet's drugstore for "dog only formularies". And if your vet refuses to write the script for Walmart or Publix, get a new vet, NOW. I cannot stress the importance of the honesty issue enough. I will address this more in the next section.

Your vet and what you should expect from them

I have been using Augustine Loretto Animal Clinic for almost 15 years. When we moved 20 minutes from their office eight years ago, I tried all the vets between me and them. I went to SEVEN vets and found all of them to be either dishonest, egotistical, unethical, overpriced, or ignorant. I promptly returned to ALAC. I have taken over 75 animals there in the last 15 years, so I know what to tell you about vets.

Price- you don't want the cheapest vet around, unless it is just for shots. You don't want to go to the most expensive vet, either. Price should play very little into your decision on a vet- this should be your last consideration and I will tell you why. A cheap vet is not a great vet and an expensive vet is not a great vet- a great vet is a great vet apart from their price sheet, period. You should get a three year rabies shot and IF YOUR DOG HAD ALL OF ITS PUPPY SHOTS FOR THE FIRST YEAR, your dog should not need other shots, period. The only exception is bordatella for dogs who stay in boarding facilities. If you think I am loony, look up "vaccination protocol adopted by American Veterinary Schools on Yahoo or Google. A healthy dog should only need a rabies shot and that every three years. This is another indicator of the honesty of your vet- if they tell you that you must bring in your dog every six months after a certain age, run like hell. If they tell you that your dog must get its yearly shots regardless of the dog's exposure to other dogs, get another vet. Think about this- if your dog stays in your yard and never comes into contact with other dogs or other sick dogs, why in the world would you need to vaccinate against distemper when your dog is six years old? Where is the dog going to get distemper? I see more dogs get auto immune illnesses because they were vaccinated to death in the first five years of life. You can save money and tears by discussing your dog's specific vaccination needs with your vet. Again, this is a very good indicator of the honesty and integrity of your vet.

Qualities of an exceptional vet- an exceptional vet should look you in the eye and listen intently to what you have to say about your pet. You are your dog's advocate and YOU live with the animal 24/7, not the vet. The vet's job is to take your information and use his or her knowledge to find out what is wrong. A vet who won't listen to you or a vet who rushes you is not worth your time or money. The vet should be willing to teach you about your animal- if you want to learn, which every owner should want to learn as much as they can about their animal's condition. A great vet will tell you the numbers and names of the blood work or whatever and then go into a thorough explanation of what those numbers and names mean. Often I ask my vets to tell me "in kindergarten language". I have never been rushed in 15 years- EVER. If the vet has an emergency come in, then they should be willing to call you on the phone and explain later. A great vet will call you after a surgery. A great vet will allow an established client to page them in case of an emergency. A vet who tells you that they "don't take call" and to take your dog to the emergency vet without talking to you is not a vet worth having in my opinion. Many times I have talked to Dr. Prince on the phone and he has saved me a trip to the Doggie ER, which by the way, is a wonderful place when you need them, but you will pay a standard $74-$150 fee JUST TO WALK IN THE DOOR. No, I am not kidding. Obviously there are times to skip the page and run straight to the ER- hit by car, seizures, vomiting blood, etc.

The other gauge to know whether a vet is good is how they behave when it comes time to put down a beloved animal. Any vet worth their salt will not rush you through this horrible process but let you take the time you need to pet, love, cry over, and say goodbye to your animal. Dr. Eslick, one of my four vets, once sat for 30 minutes and told me, " I am not putting this precious cat to sleep until he is purring and drooling." My cat would drool when he was very very happy. So, she sat and I pet Spaz and then after a while when he was soaking my lap, she talked to him and told him what a great kitty he had been and gently put him to sleep. THAT'S a great vet. Lately, Dr. R has been our friend at this time and I see her as the angel who sends my dogs to heaven. She gets teary eyed (for me) and always gives me a big hard hug when I leave and that means more to me than she will ever know. SHE CARES. That is the most important quality of a vet besides knowledge- compassion. If a vet acts like a pompous jerk, pick up your dog and say, " Thank you but I 've changed my mind about your being my vet- I don't care for your bedside manner." AND THEN LEAVE!!!!! They need to know that they are being callous. I've done this myself with one of the seven vets I tried and I have heard that since he heard it so much, he is now working on being more "people friendly".
Boarding your pet
The best option for boarding your dog is to find a family who boards animals in their home. Often you can find these on Craigslist or ask your vet if they know of anyone. The next best option is a pet sitting service. You shouldn't pay more than $25 a day to board your pet ANYWHERE. Beware of pet boarding facilities (including vet hospitals) that charge you extra for things that should be standard. For example, we once took our birds to a local vet's office (not my regular vet as they don't board birds) and we paid $15 per bird per day. That's pretty good. I asked the attendant how many times a day someone would talk to them or take them out. "Interaction is $10 extra per bird per day." was her reply. If I hadn't been desperate I would have left with my birds. INTERACTION IS EXTRA???????????? Don't pay extra for them to pill your dog (they are supposed to be doing this because they love animals, remember?), to walk your dog, or to interact with your dog. There are plenty of people out there who would love to nickel and dime you to death and those folks are not doing this for the love of the creature- it's all about profit. If someone is doing something for profit and not for the love of the animal, I wouldn't trust them with any of my animals. A professional pet sitter would consider all of the above things to be "standard" with any pet sitting fee. If you cannot find a pet sitter in your area, contact the rescue group for your breed in your town- they would probably be very happy to dog sit for you to offset the cost of their rescue work, and they know your breed better than anyone else. This is not hard-you just google, " Italian Greyhound rescue, Jacksonville Florida" or whatever and you'll have 2 or 3 options within an hour's drive from you, probably. Alot of rescues will dog sit a breed that they don't rescue- as long as there's not a huge size difference. For example, we dog sit Italian Greyhounds but we wouldn't dog sit German Shepherds- we might sit a poodle, or another small breed. Always go in and look around at wherever you are leaving your pet- look for holes in the fence, sharp wires ,glass, or anything else that might injure your pet. If the place is nasty- LEAVE. Don't worry about hurting some one's feelings- your dog is more important than their feelings. Always sign a release stating that you give your permission for the individual to take your dog to a vet if necessary if they cannot get in touch with you and SPECIFY WHAT VET THE DOG IS TO BE TAKEN TO!!! I have heard more horror stories of dogs being taken to "the local yokel" vet and having disastrous results. It is YOUR RIGHT to have your dog transported to the vet of your choice, period. Make sure that is stated on the release and sign it and have the dog sitter sign it.

Pet stores

This is real simple. Don't ever buy a dog from one. If you want to know why and are prepared to have your guts ripped out, google or yahoo the term backyard breeders or pet shop breeders and watch some video- it will be enough to make you run from every pet store you see. PETA is a great place to find those videos. Most people have no idea what goes on behind the pet store's pretty presentation. It's ugly, vile, and very dishonest.

Why should I choose a rescue dog over a purebred dog from a reputable breeder?

I have very strong feelings about this and here is the reason. In the USA in one year, 8 million dogs are taken into humane societies or animal care and control facilities. 4 million leave alive. 4 million dogs (at least) are euthanized each year. ANYONE WHO IS ADDING TO THE POPULATION OF DOGS IN THIS COUNTRY is adding to the problem. I know good breeders and they breed maybe 2 times a year- I have no issue with that. Someone has to keep the lines clean and make sure there are healthy and genetically correct dogs out there. Remember this one thing- dogs in rescue are not "problem children" always. Many times they are victims of "problem parents"- people who divorce and give up their dog, people who switch breeds like they change underwear, people who find they are expecting a child and can't POSSIBLY handle one dog and one baby.(If you can't juggle one dog and one baby, the teenage years will kill you.) What's wrong with their dog? NOTHING, except it had the sad fate of belonging to someone who didn't take their committment to the dog seriously. That sounds harsh, but let me say something. If you can take your dog to a kill shelter and leave it when there is nothing wrong with the dog, you have no heart- there are many other alternatives to kill shelters. Rescues are always ready to take in dogs and if the first 10 that you call are full, keep calling. There is NO EXCUSE for anyone to leave a "good" dog at a kill shelter. So, if you want a grateful dog who will spend the rest of its life thanking you for saving its life, get a dog from a kill shelter or from a local breed specific rescue. Let's put the backyard breeders OUT OF BUSINESS.

I hope that you have learned something you might put to use one day. I've been blessed to be able to help many owners with their problems so feel free to email me if you have a question that I didn't address here. My email address is JonAnne@aol.com. Enjoy your dog and realize that they are valium covered in fur. :)

My new assignment from God!

2009-01-20T14:14:00.002-08:00

Well, God tells me things sometimes and they are almost always bizarre things that I would never think myself. A few examples are- adopters lost their dog 5 hours after they adopted him and God said, " Take Sassy and you will find Milo." Well this dog had been missing for 6 hours and they had been callng him the whole time. I took Sassy and within seven MINUTES we had found him and I got my finger under his collar and he was safe. Insane. Another time it was, " GET AWAY FROM THAT TRUCK NOW!!!" I did, and five miles up the road, there was the truck on fire, with a car stuck underneath it (the person in back of the truck which would have been ME, had not been able to stop in time when the truck caught on fire, and so this sports car was 1/2 under the back of the burning truck. I know the voice and I LISTEN. Well, the last announcement, " I got you through it and now I want you to write about it." I knew instantly that he was talking about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and my almost complete healing from it. (Meaning that I am not bed ridden anymore but still have rough days sometimes.) Well, dang it, Lord, I don't want to take on such a serious hard task. But I will. Well the first 20 pages have written themselves- the words have flown out of me like I was just moving my fingers and the words were there. Very weird, but not weird because I knew if this was really from GOD, it would be like that. Always is. Don't know if it will make any difference to other CFS patients but I sure hope it does. Look for it on the New York Bestseller List!!!!

Heaven has a new gentleman dog

2009-01-02T06:35:00.002-08:00

It's taken me a few days to be able to post this. Most of you who keep up with my blog already got my letter. If you look to the left of this post, you will see a picture of Pharaoh, our 14 year old Ig, the first one we ever had. On December 31, we had to put him to sleep. He had been carrying around cancer, hemangiosarcoma for about two years. This is cancer that originates usually in the spleen or liver and then spreads slowly. It is most often first noticed as lesions on the skin that look like blood blisters- you have them removed surgically as long as you can, and when they become too large and too many, you make the gut wrenching decision to put the dog to sleep. On December 31, Pharaoh has been lying on an old comforter on the couch and got up to go outside, and when I came back in, I saw a large puddle of blood- the size of a bread plate. Jon immediately realized where the blood came from and we went and found him- he was sleeping peacefully under the oak tree and the bleeding had stopped. (He was lying on the side where the bleeding was, which is why we didn't notice it.) We all looked at each other and Julesy said, "Today is the day, isn't it Mama?" "Yes, baby it is." Dogs can bleed out and die from these and we always said we couldn't bear that possibility. So we called our dear vet, Dr. Rockefeller and got showered and dressed. All the way, we told him what he had to look forward to- being the fastest again (he had lost that honor a while back to Houston), being able to eat all he wanted, being thin again, being able to see and hear again. I told him that the feast at God's table was amazing and that I wanted him to tell Spaz and Izzy and Bianca and Pancho and Panchita hello and to tell them we loved them so much. I will have to copy and paste what I said about him because I'll never be able to say it that well again. I came into the living room today and saw him and started to go over and pet him and say, " Hey old man, I love you.", but it was a beige comforter- and I cried again.

As most of you know, Pharaoh was our first IG. He was 14 years old and the "once in a lifetime" dog everyone dreams of having. He was a gentleman and the first dog we introduced every new pet to when they came here- hamsters, cats, other dogs- whatever- he would lick them and love them and then they knew they were in a good place- we used to call him our ambassador to all living things. He was in no pain at all (these things don't hurt- they just look ghastly) and he left the world in the hands of our dear Dr. Rockefeller who has been our vet friend to ease our darling dogs all to heaven and we so dearly love her for being that angel. It was not a hysterical scene for any of us- just a sad thing that we all knew was coming. He was the reason for our loving this breed. We want to thank Carol Harris for such a fine and noble dog. We often said that if ever we wanted to clone an animal, he was the one. I have owned many many dogs and many have come through my doors as rescues, but NEVER will another dog have 1/2 the dignity, kindness, and character of this dear old man. I am on my new laptop, so I don't have a recent picture, but he is on my blog, first page. :) I love you, old man. You are no longer deaf or blind and you are the fastest runner again, buddy. Tell our other babies we love them and enjoy the buffet at God's table. Love, Mommy

Don't celebrate the HOLIDAY if you don't believe there was a HOLY DAY!

2008-12-15T13:18:00.004-08:00

OK, I have simmered down enough to write this. The other day I was in the office of my daughter's school and the principal was talking to the secretary about which books were approved for volunteers to read aloud to the kids at the school. He said ( I am not going to put it in quotes, for I don't remember EXACTLY what he said.) that we only want the volunteers to read the books that focus on the HOLIDAY of Christmas, not the HOLY DAY of Christmas. He said that the books about Santa and parties are fine, but we don't want any about the birth of Jesus. I was standing there and I paused, and thought, " Don't do it Anne." But I had to. I said, " But Dr. So and So, if there was no HOLY DAY, there would be no HOLIDAY." He said, " Oh, I don't want to get into that with you." Now, keep in mind that this man is CATHOLIC. But of course, he has to abide by the rules of the St. John's County school system. I wanted to throw up. I have over the years watched good Jewish friends observe Hanukkah and not observe Christmas and I have thanked them. I have said, " Thank you for honoring your beliefs and not cheapening mine." Then I have had Jewish friends who are married to Christians who do both- that's OK, I guess, but when people who are ATHEISTS or who do not believe that Jesus is the son of God give presents on his day, it just makes me furious. I don't celebrate Hanukkah, because I am not Jewish. I don't celebrate Ramadan because I am not Islamic. I don't celebrate Kwanzaa because I am not an African American. While I respect these people and understand why these people celebrate these days, I do not celebrate them, because it is not my RIGHT to celebrate them. I would never cheapen someone else's religion by celebrating their holidays just so I could feast for seven days or open eight nights of presents or whatever. So, if you are celebrating Santa but don't believe in Jesus, pick another holiday or go investigate the manger. You might find that the HOLY DAY is a whole lot more life changing than the HOLIDAY. :)

Rehoming and a "NEW HOUSE!"

2008-11-22T16:14:00.003-08:00

Oh my heavens, I am tired. In the last six weeks, we have rehomed six of our foster dogs, repainted our daughter Emily's room (after 10 hours of wallpaper removal) and painted the girls' bathroom (finished today) and gotten new carpet and a new couch that DON"T REEK OF DOG PEE. For the first time in 14 years, I can lie on my carpet and KNOW that there is not one drop of urine on it. Praise be to God. We found great homes for the dogs and the only dogs in the house now are Quinn, Samson, and .......................... Maggie!!!! I am way too tired to tell the whole story now, but basically, I grew up with a mom who bred and raised Ibizan Hounds. They are the love of my life. I always wanted one as an adult and Maggie was in rescue and now she is here and she is just amazing. She reminds me so much of one of our dogs, Hotep and is named for our last surviving Ibizan, Maggie. My old school and college friends will remember the Ibizans at my mom's house. Here is her picture. More later after I die and resurrect.

I'm back with a bang!

2008-10-29T12:37:00.003-08:00

Well, every fall I get into a "funk"- my depression kicks in with the cold weather and so does an old neck injury, so I have been going to PT and sleeping alot, but I am up now and ready to be creative again. I guess I will write about the things that have gone through my head alot lately. You may agree or you may heartily disagree, but here's my take on two things- Michael Phelps and pink ribbons. The idea for this starting rolling around in my head after I bought some club crackers and there was Michael Phelps. On the box. What box has HE NOT BEEN ON??? What magazine cover, what TV show, what newspaper? "Yea, well he won 8 gold medals in swimming, Anne!" SO WHAT. There is one thing in this world that I think indicates how screwed up our morals are as Americans. What honor and glory we give athletes and how little glory they give God for their talent. I just looked up the top NBA salaries and they START AT $24 MILLION DOLLARS A SEASON. Am I the only one who finds that just a bit ridiculous? Now, Michael Phelps worked hard, and he trained hard, but the bottom line is that God gave him the talent He has. And who does he thank??? HIS MOTHER. His mom was probably was a huge influence on him and I have nothing about his mom or him, but I just think that there are some other people who should be on cracker boxes, cereal boxes, and magazine covers. How about Jimmy Carter, who has been promoting peace in the Middle East for the last 20 something years- where is he? How about the missionaries who give medical help to those in Africa dying from malaria? Have you seen THEM on the cover of People lately? Have Katie and Matt Lauer interviewed THEM?? No, they interview a girl who got herself into $22,000 of debt buying Gucci purses and Prada shoes at $200 a pop and getting her hair done for $300!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT??????????? For God's sake, Matt, get a life, get some priorities and quit making heroes out of idiots.
My second question is this- why is everything around me pink? Now, before you go getting all testy about me not being sensitive to breast cancer, let me say this- I love and personally know some very WONDERFUL AND FINE breast cancer survivors. So I am not against breast cancer research. BUT, why aren't there purple ribbons, blue ribbons, orange ribbons, green ribbons, and black ribbons all over stores? Why doesn't Cystic Fibrosis have green ribbons all over the paper, the grocery store and magazines? Why can't I buy Prostate Cancer coffee in an orange can? Why can't I buy a blue umbrella to help fight Lung and Throat Cancer? You know why??? BECAUSE WOMEN ARE DETERMINED. And they will work their butts off to get a cure for what affects them most and I think that is AWESOME. However, I think that if you were to look at mortality rates ( I tried to do this and couldn't find it fast enough) you will see that there are LOTS OF DISEASES with much higher mortality rates than breast cancer and where are their ribbons??? Get some women on that, would ya? I want to see Cystic Fibrosis knocked out too.

A new chapter in life begins, and an old one closes.............

2008-09-28T05:25:00.002-08:00

After long and careful deliberation, we have decided to stop rescue permanently. We are rehoming the foster dogs we have and keeping our personal dogs, most of whom are old, (over the age of nine). Pharaoh's Haven was started to help older and abused dogs find a permanent home, and we have helped place over 100 dogs in that time. We now are looking forward to spending time with our parents, our kids, and attempt to have a "normal" life. We have downsized one other time but this will be permanent. We have 6 dogs to rehome. We have several good leads but could always use other names - people who know IGs and would give a dog a forever home. I won't be writing alot in the next few months as there is much work to be done here- reviewing applications, rehoming dogs, visiting my folks, and making plans for the holidays. I am here, I am fine, and this is a good step. Prayers are appreciated as always. Love, Anne

Kids are doing great- adjusting beautifully!

2008-09-09T07:32:00.002-08:00

I am happy to report that the first two weeks has been pretty free of bumps in the road. Both kids like or love their teachers and their experiences have been pretty positive. Homework isn't drowning anyone yet and we've ALMOST gotten into a routine. Sunday school, junior high, and all the "extra" stuff starts right when school starts, so we were thrown from a "no schedule" into "oh my gosh, we are supposed to be there RIGHT NOW!" kind of mind frame. That's kind of a bummer, but that's life. Now if I can just straighten out which nights some of us will be home, none of us will be home and two of us will be home, I'll be fine- means I can plan real dinners when we're all home and lighter ones when it's just one or two of us here. :) I would really prefer Oprah's chef, so when you see her, tell her the delivery address for dinners is 2819 St. Road 13. I'd really appreciate it.

2008-09-08T07:02:00.010-08:00

Angels among us- amazing song and here are some of my angels!

2008-09-07T13:04:00.003-08:00

My dear and very loved friend, Becca, who owns 14 birds and has a pretty tough life of her own, knew I was going through some struggles and made me four homemade cd's. There is Christian, gospel, country, and feel good songs on there- she makes me laugh- she's got a praise song and then the next one is "When Doves Cry" by Prince. :) She has been such an angel to me- always a kind word, a hug, and lots of encouraging emails. She didn't specifically mention this song when she dropped off the cd, but it was the third song and I was driving and played it three times in a row. It's such a comforting and true song- I encourage you to find it online and listen- it was done by Alabama, written by Becky Hobbs and I think Randy Travis does it too. Here are the lyrics.

I was walking home from school on a cold winter day.

Took a shortcut through the woods, and I lost my way.

It was getting late, and I was scared and alone.

But then a kind old man took my hand and led me home.

Mama couldn't see him, but he was standing there.

And I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers.

Chorus

Oh I believe there are angels among us.

Sent down to us from somewhere up above.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours.

To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.

To guide us with a light of love.

When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees.

Theres always been someone there to come along and comfort me

A kind word from a stranger, to lend a helping hand.A phone call from a friend, just to say I understand.

And aint it kind of funny that at the dark end of the road

Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope

Chorus

They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places.

To guide us with their mercy, in our time of need.

To guide us with a light of love.

I have experience these angels- whether they are TRUE angels disguised as humans or whether they are just exraordinary humans, it makes no difference- they have been my angels in times just like the lyrics above in bold. I know I have been their angel as well- angels always stroke each other's wings, it is never a one way deal.

Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (or sister, this is my paraphrase)

Becca- I have told you- we talk each day and she is a beautiful person. Becca- you are such a blessing in my life. I love you.

Sari- a young but OH SO WISE dear friend who has gone above and beyond the call of duty and has listened to me pour out my heart many times and takes my kids on dates when I am sick. I love you Sari.

Felicia- a friend from high school who has never lost touch with me even though I have been reclusive at times- positive, fun and she and Mark love us very much. I treasure this very long friendship with all my heart even if I am slow to show it. I love you Felicia.

Debs- a highschool roomate- has always loved me for ME- interested in my life and always sends a birthday card EVERY YEAR with such dear things written in them. Thank you Debs- I love you.

Laurel- a new but old soul friend who is my twin seperated at birth. She understands me so well and is such an encouragement when the idiots in life get me down. I love her so much and her move to Texas just about killed me, but maybe she will come back. I love you Laurel.

Belinda- my friend from Jax that used to homeschool with me- she has offered such Godly advice and really cares about my mental health. She got an IG and learned what loving a dog can bring to your life. We love to talk about makeup too! :) I love you Belinda.

Kay- a rescue friend in Ocala who is wise beyond her years and a kind loving soul. We got Trego from her and then had to return her when she became a bird eater. :( Kay has offered me such wisdom in times of great sadness or confusion. I love you Kay.

Christa- another rescue friend who got into rescue because of me ( I am sure she rues the day.) We've had our spats and crap, but we love each other very much and we are the ones who "speak the truth in love" to each other about animals. (We both tend to want to keep everything that comes in the door, but she is much more adept at adopting them out and has helped me adopt out alot of my dogs.) I love you Christa.

Steph- a mother of five special needs adopted children who is a SCREAM. She makes me laugh on my worst days. Her blog is Raising the Hoovers and it is my daily perk me up. I love you Stephanie.

Donna-my friend here in Jax who has taken in my kids during tornado warnings and has listened to me pour out my frustrations over my health. She and I are very different but I need her quiet and calm advice alot. I love you Donna.

There are many more and I am sure I am forgetting some, but these are the gals that I talk to or email at least once a week and they are the ones WHO KEEP UP WITH ME and I keep up with them. An angel always has time to care, no matter how busy their wings are. :)

What's the facination with birds, anyway???

2008-09-06T03:40:00.003-08:00

The pics are- me with Freeman, my blue quaker- named after Morgan Freeman, my favorite actor in the world. Dudley in the dog food and doing the "eagle" show. Pepper looking terrified.

You know, I used to wonder what all the fuss was about birds. I was pretty much a self proclaimed bird disliker. Not a bird hater, just a "could care less" kind of person. Then we got Ranger- our blue headed pionus. He only furthered my view that birds are mean and beastly animals. He preferred Jon and became quite nasty with anyone else. We'd had parakeets and cockatiels, but please, they are just THERE. Then Em got Kito and I watched this amazing bond develop between them. He truly LOVES HER. He ADORES HER. And Emily has never loved another one of our animals with the passion that she loves that little bird. He preens her eyelashes, he kisses her, he snuggles with her. HUH??????????? Now we have taken in 5 other rescued parrots and I see now what the big deal is. Birds are pretty darn amazing. Now, this isn't to say that I am crazy over all my birds, because some of them annoy me to death, but I have to say- they are very smart and very affectionate animals. How is that you ask? Well, my blue quaker, Freeman is a vocal bird. He fears many things and his normal response to anything strange or unknown is this LOUD "ACK ACK ACK!!!" Annoying to say the least. But, when I pick him up and make soft clucking noises to him, he clucks back and gently nibbles my nose, eyebrows or ear. He ADORES ME. He will sit on my shoulder for an hour and just cluck and nibble. No, he can't talk. No, he doesn't do tricks. I don't care- I don't care if any of the birds ever learn tricks- I don't have time or the energy to homeschool parrots. Pepper, our rescued Amazon Grey is a closet talker. He talks up a storm when noone is around. Here are some of his vocalizations. We have no idea who Arnold is, by the way, if you were going to ask. :)

"Hey Arnold!!! Come here, Arnold!!"

"Goodnight Pepper bird!"

"Come here, hey, come here, come here!"

"Good morning Pepper bird"

"ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

can imitate a car alarm, says hello when the phone rings, and makes lovely whistling noises.

He has 3 different voices- the deep voice of a man that we don't know, HIS voice, and a high pitched voice. It's hysterical.

Dudley, the severe macaw is more limited in his speech but he is HYSTERICAL. He is in love with Emily. She is his "wife". He will protect her with more fervor than a bulldog. Come near her when he's on her lap and you will be missing a finger. He plays peek a boo under the covers, can hold the tip of his wing in his beak and look like a ballerina or yoga expert, and says, " DOOP DOOP DOOP". He dances to music. He's a scream. He makes us all laugh.

So, now I am a bird person, and I realize why so many get sold or given away or neglected- they are the emotional and intellectual equal to most 2 year old humans and need a ton of stimulation and interaction to keep them happy and content. That's why we tell people to really research birds before getting them- they are a high turnover pet. And they don't do well being rehomed over and over like dogs do- dogs adapt, birds don't always. It took Pepper 4 weeks to talk here and 6 weeks to step up without shaking all over like we were going to beat him. Even now, we are not sure if he will ever allow us to pet him. He is terrified of someone touching him ANYWHERE. Birds take patience, love and more patience. Because they are more intelligent than the average dog, they are more suceptible to mental illness, especially if not given the stimulation and 'mind exercise" that they need. When left in a back room and ignored, they can become mean and hateful animals. And it's hard to spend time with them if you have the average work schedule of most adults. You get home, you are tired and the last thing you want to do is take the bird out and play with him. But, like a child, you MUST DO IT or the bird will become a brat, just like a child who is ignored. God made them to fly and we caged them and asked them to be content. Hardly a fair deal, if you ask me. But since I cannot free my birds, I try my best to rotate toys, give them new foods, and take them out and challenge them. Jon and the girls are also a HUGE PART of this. That's why we tell most working people to not get a bird, and if they must, to get a smaller bird such as a green cheeked conure or a cockatiel- the bigger the bird, the bigger the needs are. We are not perfect bird owners BY ANY MEANS, but because there are more of us and we are home more, the birds do get a good bit of attention. They are an integral part of our humane education program in the schools and the kids get a kick out of Jon's funny stories of how many times a bird poops or "when you get married in 20 years, what if your wife HATES BIRDS??" The kids just die laughing, but it is a good point for the kids to think about before they go home begging for a pretty macaw. :)

2008-09-01T10:08:00.005-08:00

Sassy tries to become an IG

2008-09-01T07:07:00.007-08:00

This is our beloved Pomeranian Corgi mix, Sassy. She normally has long bushy hair and is groomed by a groomer every five weeks. However, with the recent events of our life, I just have not had time to call the groomer. Yesterday I got desperate. I started with scissors and cut and cut and cut. Then I buzzed her to the skin. She doesn't look at cute as she does when my groomer does it, but she is one HAPPY DOG. She runs around and acts like she is FREE. She resembles a Gremlin when she sees something and her ears are up- all eyes and ears. It gave me something to smile about today, which I desperately needed.

Middle school stupidity

2008-09-01T04:50:00.002-08:00

Ok, I heard from friends that it was coming. People I trust told me that middle schoolers are mean. People told me that middle schoolers are fickle. So I thought I was prepared. But last night when Em's best friend's best friend from Chicago texted, " BYE LOSER!" to my sweet daughter, I thought I would KILL SOMEONE. Emily has never met this girl, but has been told by K (Em's best friend here in Jax) that she is the "nicest, sweetest girl." Her mom also insists that this girl is nothing but light and kindness. So she texted Em last night, " HEY!" Em texts back, "Hey!" This girl texts back, "BYE!" So Em, confused, texts back "Bye, why?" and this nasty little chick texts, "BYE LOSER!" We saw the texts. We have the texts. There is no dispute that this girl wrote this ugliness. But does K defend EMILY?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. She defends her friend in Chicago who has now lied and said she never texted that. So my child is crying because HER BEST FRIEND is defending a mean and lying girl. This is awful. And what is worse, Em begs me not to get involved. I want K's mom to know what a nasty and lying little witch this Chicago chick is, but no, I have to just sit here and watch my kid cry. I am so tired of watching this kind of trash play out. My kid is not perfect, but she is NOT MEAN and she is LOYAL TO HER FRIENDS. And she said, " K gets mad at me when you interfere, Mom." So I have to just watch while K picks the wrong side AGAIN and keep my mouth shut. WHY????? WHY DO KIDS DO THIS??? So, now I am thinking of calling these wonderful Chicago parents and telling them to tell their "nice and kind" kid to leave my kid the heck alone. At what point does a parent just need to CONTROL THEIR KIDS??? AND AT WHAT POINT DOES ANOTHER PARENT NEED TO SIT DOWN AND TELL THEIR KID WHAT MISGUIDED LOYALTY IS??????????????????????????????? So I go to God and pour out my heart and the heart of this little Emily who is caught between a mean girl in Chicago and a girl she loves here, who won't believe BLACK AND WHITE. I hate mean girls.

How I got into rescuing squirrels and some cute stories and pics of squirrels we have had. Story of poor little Lazarus-

2008-08-30T03:09:00.013-08:00

The pics above are- me with Fay after a feeding- Soleil sat on my shoulder the whole time and watched but never had any intent on hurting or even coming near the squirrels. Fay was the smallest squirrel we got. The next picture is of Gabriel eating. The next is either Lucky or Sadie, I can't remember which. The last picture is Lazarus before he died. :(

April and August are squirrel nesting and "hatching time" in Florida. April is a very stormy month with high winds and August is of course, hurricane season. So we get a lot of squirrels who fall out of their nests in these two months. Fay was particularly brutal for the babies this August. I called some local vets and gave them my name and cell phone number for rescuing baby squirrels. I am not a licenced wildlife rehabber, but I certainly have done my share of rescuing baby squirrels and raccoons over the years and have known how to do it since the age of nine, when I found a baby flying squirrel in my yard.

My folks were in Mexico and I was in the care of our dear black maid, Naomi. Now, Naomi did not care for critters of any sort, so I knew when I found that squirrel that I was on my own. I thought in my nine year old mind, "Who would know what to do?" So I called the zoo- looked up the number and asked for someone who knew about baby mammals. This dear person told me exactly what to feed and how often and that baby flying squirrel, whom I named Skitterray, thrived for a week. He would glide from my shoulder onto a hanging rug in my sister's room and scamper all around- he ate well and was very healthy. He was fond of sleeping with me and being nine and loving all animals, I let him. One morning I awoke to him under my knee, dead. I was devastated. I looked him over for any signs of respiratory infection, blood, etc. I knew that he had suffocated and I was just crushed. I went outside to bury him and on my way back I heard a squeaking, and there on the ground was another baby squirrel- a regular grey one. Even at that age, I thought surely God had placed him there just for me, to ease my pain, so I picked him up and proceeded into the house with him, much to Naomi's dismay. He then bit me very hard and ran off. I decided that he was NOT in any danger, and needed to be outside. So I freed him and he was fine- wet and angry, but fine. So from that day on, I have rescued squirrels. People who know me know I know a bit about wildlife, so over the years we have gotten calls from folks with baby raccoons in their garage, squirrels on their grass, etc. Jon and I have nursed many mammals back to life in our bathrooms. It's such a joy.

This year, we were inundated with squirrels. I have two friends that help me with the squirrels- one is Becca, my dear dear bird friend and the other is a new squirrel friend named Alana. One woman had kept the baby squirrel she had found, bathed him, and fed him for two days. She described him as "healthy and running all around and eating great." When she got here, and I took the squirrel out, Jules immediately said, " Oh gosh, Mama, he's SICK and he smells WRONG!" The lady looked at her like she was out of her mind. I said, " Yes he is, baby." " I just changed that bedding though." I explained that the smell was not urine but necrotic tissue- rotting skin. I asked if she had seen any wounds when her DOG BROUGHT IT TO HER. She answered no. I turned this precious baby over and there were three gaping wounds, one on his stomach and one under each armpit. I told her we would do the best we could and I would get back to her. Upon further inspection, we discovered (don't gag) that this baby had maggots in all three wounds. So we immediately went into action- Emily held the flashlight, Jon held Lazaurus still and I picked out the maggots with tweezers. It was AWFUL. I called a friend who is equipped with antibiotics (Alana) and she came immediately. We worked on him for 40 minutes. He had over 50 maggots under his skin. She said, " He needs to be euthanized." I agreed but it was Sunday afternoon and all the vets were closed. He lived for two more days. No one could have saved this squirrel- his wounds were just too bad and he was too weak to endure SURGERY and you don't sew up puncture wounds anyway. It was just an example of how people think they are doing good and they don't realize that there is more to it than just feeding the squirrel.

On the other hand we have had great success with the rest of the squirrels- they have all lived and are now with Alana and will be released into the wild when they are ready. Here are some pics of them - they are so small and frail and precious. Thanks to Becca who took them from me one night when I had a sinus infection and a migraine and was throwing up and kept them alive until Alana could take them. I LOVE YOU BECCA!!!!

The little things people say................... judgemental or not??

2008-08-29T13:38:00.004-08:00

Today was an ordinary day. I went shopping and when they asked, "Plastic or paper?" I answered, "Paper, because I use it once for my bird cages and then use it again as mulch." The girl doing my groceries whom I know, said, " You are just a joy to be around!" I looked at her and said, " Is that a joke?" She said, " No, Anne, you are truly a joy to be around- you are always smiling and you do so much good in your little part of the world." I am telling you I almost hugged her. Life lately has been filled with some people saying some pretty ugly things to me, thinking I am off kilter, and picking me apart about truly STUPID THINGS. So when Patti said that today, I thought, " Thank you God for that nice compliment." You see, alot of people like to judge me without being here or without knowing my situation. If there is one personality aspect I HATE, it when people are judgmental. Jesus hated people judging others as well. The Pharisees were Jewish leaders of high standing in the Jewish community and they despised Jesus as they didn't believe He was the son of God. They tried to trap him in mind games, word games, and judged him unmercifally. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus spoke to this many times-

Matthew 7
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Luke 6:36-38 (New International Version)
36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

In Psalms and Proverbs, mention is made hundreds of times of the fact that God alone is the judge of the entire earth and all that inhabit it. Go read any Psalm and almost without fail, God as judge is mentioned.

This leads me to believe that when we judge others, especially without knowing the specifics of THEIR SITUATION, we are not pleasing God. It doesn't matter how often we go to church or how often we teach Sunday school and it doesn't matter how good we look on the outside. If we judge others, God will use that same measure (kind or not kind) to judge OUR ACTIONS.

It is not difficult for me to not judge others. My mother and father, while not perfect did drill one important thing into my head. "Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins." I think of that ALL THE TIME. I am not perfect, and I know I am NOT GOD. So when others make a judgement call about me or my life based on my blog, the fact that I have depression, or the way I dress or the number of animals I have, they are missing out on ME. That's sad. I tell my kids on a daily basis if they mention that someone is weird or scary or whatever, to remember that they don't know THE FIRST THING about that person's situation. That makes them stop and think, " Hmmm, maybe she dresses that way because she is depressed." or "Maybe his mom isn't home to wash his clothes and that's why he smells bad." In such a sad and miserable world, wouldn't it be nice if we could all just stop for a minute and put ourselves in other people's moccasins?? I am sure God would be pleased.

No blog entries for a while

2008-08-27T06:25:00.002-08:00

Hi friends,
Life here has gotten real busy with school starting and I am swamped. So I am taking a 2 week break from the blog to get myself together and keep the world turning here. I'll be back.

Post Fay pics.................

2008-08-23T05:27:00.005-08:00

Here are some post Fay pics- first these are pictures of Sadie, the little squirrel that we've had for three weeks- she is with a rehabber, scheduled for weaning and release pretty soon- she was an ANGEL. We all miss her and love her very much. The next picture is of the "cat station" in the garage- Izzy and Cookie are hanging out, trying to ignore the loud generator- they have a litter box nearby so they wouldn't have to go in the rain. The next photo is a picture of the tree that fell on the power line BEFORE FAY. We lost power for eight hours that day but Lee the magnificent restored it by nightime. Dang big tree.

FPL, smell, and hell. (Rated G) Not to be believed, but every word is true!

2008-08-23T02:55:00.006-08:00

PS. I was going to add pictures to this post, but my kids used it during the storm to take pictures of all kind of things and AMAZINGLY they didn't put it back where it goes- big shock, eh? I'll post pics of this lovely event later, after I sift through the extension cords and flashlights and find the dang DANG camera. (Using all my self control here.)

Well, I cannot even begin to relay the events of the last 48 hours. But I will try. Our power goes out when the wind blows or when the rain falls on a good day. FPL is our service provider. They came out two days before the storm (we lost power for eight hours before Fay even came near us) and trimmed back some trees hoping that it would keep our power on. No such luck. I was in full disaster preparedness action- filling up water jugs, filling up old flashlights with new batteries, buying a family sized camping lantern, bleach, etc. Thank God for a dear FPL employee named Lee- he was our knight in shining armor twice. Well, we didn't have power for 12 hours- I call my sister and beg her to let the girls sleep at her house- she happily says, " Sure!"- during this time I got 2 calls from people with baby squirrels. Bridges were being closed and all hell was breaking loose outside. One couple came here and the other gal I met. So I had 5 baby squirrels that needed power for their heating pad. Easy- I'll go to Mama's- she's got power. But no air conditioning and it's 83 in her house. So Jon stayed here with no power and hooked up the generator and took care of the rest of the zoo and I slept at Mama's with no air (window open and Fay winds blowing through- it was fine) and got up every 3 hours to feed squirrels. (If you are feeling bad for Jon for being left here, don't- he got the better end of the deal.) It is MY CHOICE and I AM GLAD I AM SAVING THESE TINY LIVES, but I was SOOOO TIRED.
I call Lee on his cell phone ( long story, but I did not flirt with the man, I swear!) and beg him to come. So then dear Lee restored our power at 9:30 am- we cleaned, washed clothes and flushed toilets- BAD IDEA. You see, we are on a septic tank- and our drain field was flooded from the FIFTEEN inches of rain we got. If you are not familiar with the system, basically you have a huge tank in your yard that holds all the solid waste from your home- shower, sinks, toilets- the works. When the water level outside of the tank gets too high, the solids mix with the rain water and back up into your toilets or your yard. Now, this doesn't mean we had solid waste in the yard or the toilets, but it smelled like we did. So all toilets were off limits- we had to close them, close the doors to the bathrooms and not use sinks, showers or washing machines, lest we add MORE water to the already flooded field. So, now we are going to the bathroom, showering and doing laundry at my mom's . THANK GOD SHE HAD POWER. My girls are still at Aunt Susan's from the night before to sleep in a cool house. Thank God for sisters with power and patience. So our house is hot, the dogs are not happy to go out in the POURING RAIN and there is this vague methane odor in the house from the septic system. NICE. JUST LOVELY. Now mind you, during this I am totally focused on the POSITIVE and saying, " Thank you Lord that the kids are safe and comfortable, thank you Lord for Mama and Daddy's house having power, thank you that we have a generator- etc. I am not complaining and whining. I am getting a TAD stressed out, but I am a grateful girl for everything that we DO HAVE.
So when the power comes on, we clean and clean and vacuum and do everything we can because I KNOW IT"S GOING OUT AGAIN. Sure enough at 3:30 that day, the power goes out. But this time the house is at 75 degrees and it's clean- I WAS READY. Lug out the generator again (Jon is at work) and take the girls to ANOTHER friend's house to spend the night. (My dear sister called to let me know we were under a tornado warning and I didn't want the kids here under 150 foot, 100 year old oak trees.) I call Randy and Donna and say, " Can you keep my kids until our power comes back on? We're under a tornado warning and I do not want them here under these huge trees!!! (Keep in mind I am still going to my mom's every two hours to feed the five (six including Sadie) baby squirrels who are thriving and completely unaware of any stress. (I have to insert here- I am still having my intestinal problems and I am having my monthly blessing that tells me I am still capable of populating the earth. I am so so hot, I have cramps, and I have to run to Mama's every time I have to go to the bathroom. Are you getting the full picture here?) Then there's a tornado warning. I take the girls QUICKLY to Donna and Randy's and tell them, "Keep them safe for me, I'll be back when there is power." It is 7:30 pm. Thank God for friends with power who take pity on us. On the way home, I see an FPL truck. I think, " Now, there is a tornado warning, but there is your power saviour." Easy choice, I turn around (it's POURING), get out of my van and knock on his window. Scared the poor man to death. He rolls down his window and I tell my story of woe, very clearly and without emotion. ( I am soaking wet and am clearly no threat to him.) He looks on his computer and THERE WE ARE. He chooses BLESS HIS HEART to come do us now (seven houses are without power in our little area) and without going into the agonizing detail that I could (it was hell and involved calling 4 different neighbors, my husband, etc) I find out where the problem is and he flips a switch and WE HAVE POWER AGAIN. At this point, I tell him which Walgreen's my hubby works at and that if he EVER NEEDS ANYTHING medicinal to call me and that Jon will fill his gout medicine in record time if he ever needs a favor. It is 9:30 by now and it is still POURING. I am soaked and I haven't been home in over 3 hours. (By the way, sometime in all this mess, I called a squirrel rehabber and said, " PLEASE TAKE THESE SIX SQUIRRELS!!!! She met me at Walgreens and took them- thank you Alanna. I was so relieved- I had kept Sadie alive for three weeks and the little ones for almost 48 hours- and I was SO DONE. I walk in the door to LIGHT, AIR and lots of dogs who have either waited frantically for me to come home, or lost their patience and their bladder on the floor. NO BIG DEAL- I AM A HAPPY GIRL. Nothing can make me sad now, because KENT FROM FPL has restored our power. Praise the Lord. My neighbor has moved his car to our driveway because the road from our house to his house is under 20 inches of water. YES, 20 inches. There are fish swimming across our road and a huge gorgeous heron standing there looking regal. Em got pics on her phone. My brother and sister in law saved our kayak from being washed away as Mama and Daddy's little dock was completely under water and the big dock was about to be. So, here I am now, in a cool, clean house, with my dear little computer and a cup of coffee. We will be using Daddy's house for toilets and showers for a while and a septic company comes Tuesday- it's just the rain though, I know the tank doesn't need to be pumped out. The dogs are calm, fed and can now go outside because the RAIN HAS STOPPED. Now, if a certain branch leans on the power line, our power will go out again, but my thermostat is on 73 (mind you we keep our thermostat on 78 or 79 ALWAYS) and I am READY for the power to go out again. I think.

New arrivals at the zoo- one is an old new addition! Tips if you find a baby animal in your yard after a storm!!!!

2008-08-20T11:33:00.010-08:00

Here are the new arrivals at the zoo! First we have Janie- Janie is about 7 years old, is very very tiny and frail and is a SWEETHEART. She belonged to a woman who used to be "into" Chihuahuas and IGs and then got "into" blue heelers and was going to take Janie and her other two small dogs to Animal Care and Control. Someone who is a mom to one of Jules' friends told her, " Don't take Janie- I will take her to someone who I know will take her in." So here she is, so happy to be an inside dog and grateful for a quiet spot to sleep and food to eat. She is so little but she loves to eat. The next arrival is a baby squirrel named Sadie. She was brought to us by someone who found her on the ground in her yard. In these pictures, I had just woken her up so her eyes look sick, but she's NOT- she's just tired. She came about 2 weeks ago, after the pinkies died :( and she is doing great. She is eating 8 cc's of formula at each feeding and is close to being weaned to solid foods, and then we will release her in stages at my mom's house, as we have too many cats and dogs here for her to be safe in our yard. FYI- if you should ever find a baby bird or squirrel- look for the nest FIRST and put the baby back if you can- if not, keep it QUIET and WARM and DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FEED IT. Then call your nearest vet or zoo and ask them who is a rehabber in your area. Most baby animals die from shock. You can prevent that by putting them in a box with a heating pad on LOW with lots of towels to keep it from being overheated. Baby animals have to be warm for 2- 3 hours before you feed them or they will die. Don't handle it unless you have no other way to keep it warm- I have been known to put baby birds under my shirt and lie down or sit there for 2 hours, if I don't have access to a box or heating pad. Keep your energy QUIET. Breathe slowly and don't freak out- that alone can cause an already stressed out little one to stress so badly that they die. I know for a fact that my holding one little bird on my heart for an hour is what kept it from dying. It was in major shock and it needed the comfort of a beating heart and warmth. The last picture is of course,Berkley. He was going to a friend from a vet, but she rapidly discovered that trying to keep up with a 10 week old puppy while working is IMPOSSIBLE. Since she worked at a vet and I know her well, she was a great option, but it was just too much. So he is here, and he is like our consolation prize since Max and Willow went to my friend in Cape Coral to be adopted out, which KILLED US. We hated to bust up that little family after everything they had been through. We don't keep young dogs EVER, but we just feel he belongs here and we easily have 3 dogs that will be gone before December. :( ( I mean die from old age or be put to sleep.) That sounds so morbid, but you can just tell when they get to a certain stage that things aren't going to get any better. Anyway, we're thrilled with our new zoo members and they are adjusting REALLY WELL. With Fay coming or not coming? we may get in more squirrels, so we are prepared- we have a box all ready with syringes, milk, heating pads, etc. The girls love this!!! They don't have school until Monday due to the storm, so we're going to have a nice long weekend. YAY!!!!!

Finally back on and here comes Fay!

2008-08-20T06:12:00.008-08:00

Well, we were without power for eight hours and without phones and internet for six days due to a huge tree falling. I thought I would lose my mind without the computer. So now we are back and Fay is coming. I hope we don't lose them both again. Things here are just "weird". It's raining, we don't know whether school (the girls are supposed to start Friday) is cancelled or not, I am still sick with diarrhea, and it's forcasted to rain for the next SEVEN DAYS STRAIGHT. Owning 15 dogs with that forecast is NOT FUN. Am I complaining? No, because it's not a big deal- I just feel kind of "off". I don't know where my kids will be, don't know when to let the dogs out, have a baby squirrel who needs to wean but won't and I feel tired and blah. I can't even write coherently today- dang. I will post pics of Sadie on the next post- she's a new baby squirrel that came about a week ago, right after the pinkies died. She's doing great and very healthy. Berkley stayed here- we had someone who was interested in him but realized that he is too much work for them with their work schedule. So we got a consolation prize named Berkley. Here he is, so cute and smart. He is half poodle (the smart part) and half Ig- the cute part.

HOW DO YOU DO THIS????????????????

2008-08-14T04:31:00.005-08:00

Most people are very complimentary of what we do here. I get the following comments all the time-

"You are surely doing God's work." (Well if I was a missionary I'd be CLOSER to doing God's work, but this is where He put me for right now and I do talk about God with almost everyone I talk to so it is God's work.)

"I am in awe and amazed at what you do."

"How do you do this? I can't keep up with one dog."

"Thank God you and Jon do this."

"How do you do this, it's unbelievable"

"I am so proud of the work you do."

So for the most part, I get positive marks for my work. Occasionally I get some angry and bitter person who thinks I am a nut, or that I am wasting my life. That doesn't bother me, though. I am really in touch with what is right, good and what God wants me to do. We don't live in filth, our kids are well taken care of, and the animals have the best care available. So, it's our work and we are happy doing it. The only job I remember loving more than this one was taking care of my infant and toddler girls and working with crack babies. ( I know, that sounds horrid, but taking care of innocent babies of all kinds has always been WHAT I DO BEST.) I loved holding those tiny black (most of them) babies and helping soothe them through withdrawals, feeding them, changing them- all of it. I LOVED IT. I would love to do that again one day. The work is the same - you are loving, nurturing, calming, stroking, feeding, murmuring to, and holding a tiny defenseless creature- whether human or animal. It's exactly the same work. It's gentle and loving work. (Of course, there is a larger responsibility when raising human babies, of course, but the actual motions are identical.).

Now as for the actual, " HOW DO YOU DO THIS?", I think people want to know- how do you schedule all of it and how do you have time for your kids or yourself. That's easy most of the time, with the only difficulty being when new animals arrive - and then that takes about 48 hours to find the "new rythym". So I thought I would let you see the schedule here- now granted, it changes if a child is sick, a dog is sick, or if we have a brand new zoo member who requires extra TLC. Surgery throws everything to heck and back. (Pica's surgery threw us off for a good three weeks.)

5-6:00 am- I awake or Jon awakes- whoever wakes up first does the morning shift or one of us wakes the other if we are running behind or not feeling well or just plain tired. The greyhounds get let out first, then let back in and given two dog biscuits. Then the porch dogs are let out and let back in. Porch dogs are fed breakfast. Greyhounds and inside dogs are fed breakfast. Then someone takes Pica out on a leash to do her business, as she is still on restriction. The cats are fed. The baby squirrel is fed. (Somewhere in here, for me is a piece of Ezekiel toast and coffee and my ADD meds- the sooner I have that, the better I feel to do all of this.) The girls wake at any given time and I make their breakfast or they make it themselves, depending on what they want- we do stress independence in our kids and we think that it is a GOOD AND HEALTHY thing for them not to think they have a waitress, maid and butler working for them. The kitchen looks like holy you know what in the mornings- it just does and I know that once the girls are at school it will all get cleaned up. So I just ignore it until the girls are gone.

7:30-9- roughly, the girls are taken to school and I uncover all the birds' cages and take out all the bowls and give fresh food and water. The girls are required to take care of their own personal birds before they leave for school. No tv in the morning unless you are ready to leave and your animals are fed and watered.

9:00- all dogs who are on meds get their meds, all dogs go out if it is sunny- they run and play and have a great time. I vacuum every day and clean the kitchen, start a load of laundry. From 9:00- 12:00 is when I am inside, doing my wifely and motherly duties.

12:00-3:00-Dogs are crated on porch with AC if it is hot. If weather is nice, they may stay outside. On rainy days, obviously this schedule is a joke- I am constantly running back and forth putting dogs out and letting them in, to avoid 13 wet dogs. It's no big deal- a pain in the tush, but we're all used to it. During this time I catch up on phone calls, laundry, scheduling, or nap (rare, but it happens).

2:00- 3:00- varies by day but I always try to feed all the zoo BEFORE MY KIDS GET HOME. That way I am open to JUST MY KIDS from 3-5 or 6. When the kids get home, I am mom, not zookeeper. I make a snack, they sit and tell me about their day and I ask questions, help with homework, etc. When the kids are done with homework, they have afternoon chores and then they can play or get on the computer etc. Their afternoon chores are easy like "feed the cats" or walking the greyhounds, or taking out the trash. Nothing too stressful. Dogs are out from 3-6 pm.

5:00- this is when I always feel like exploding or losing my mind. I don't know WHAT IT IS about 5:00 but I am tired, hungry, and it seems that EVERYONE WANTS TO CALL OR COME OVER. I HATE IT. I take the phone off the hook, I tell people not to come over between 5-7 and I am much calmer that way. There is some frantic energy in the air between 5-7 if I don't take the phone off the hook and allow people to come over. So I have learned to work with that. I have also learned to snack with the girls at 3:00 so I don't get low blood sugar at 5:00. The birds are vocalizing- they get some special treat to shut them up- like a piece of fruit or a small cracker- that solves THAT problem. I fix dinner and wait for Daddy to get home, or if Daddy is working late, we have easy suppers. I long ago quit beating myself up for my kids not getting five fruits and veggies a day- I don't, Jon doesn't, they don't, it's ok. IT"S OK. :) The do get fruit at least twice a day so if veggies are 3 times a week, that's fine.

6:00- zoo is closed. Birds are covered, dogs are porched for night and lights in house go off. (Encourages birds to rest.) This is a nice time of day here- the girls watch TV quietly or read or get on the computer or sometimes we play a family game. It's peaceful. On rough days, I may go to sleep at 7, or stay up until 9. Everyone is in bed by 9:30.

10-12:30 pm- Jon comes home if he has worked late, lets all animals out for final rest stop and then all are back in crates or house for the night. Jon is a night owl, so he doesn't mind doing the last let out and let back in of the day. Thank God for that. I am still asleep unless a squirrel needs to be fed or someone gets sick- then I am up feeding or cleaning up. Then the next day we start all over. As Kate says in Jon and Kate plus 8 (I hate her attitude and I don't endorse the show) "It's a crazy life, but it's OUR life!!!"

Willow and the pups off to new home sweet homes!!!

2008-08-13T02:25:00.006-08:00

Saturday I am meeting my dear friend Christa, who runs RocketAngel Italian Greyhound Rescue in Cape Coral- her website is listed on my sidebar. She will take Willow and the puppies and Daisy and find great homes for them and get them all sterilized. She is a pro at this and has successfully placed over 130 dogs in the last four years. She has alot more time at her discretion than I, and has an application and screening process. We are meeting in Orlando and I hope to see my brother and sister in law while I am there. It has been great watching them bloom and play- My bathroom floor will be free of "pee pee pads" and pee pee. Heavens, puppies pee ALL THE TIME. It will be hard to see Berkley and Willow go- we have all gotten attached to them- Max is a bulldozer- you get the feeling from watching him that he will be FINE no matter where he goes- Willow and Berkely are a bit more tender and vulnerable acting to me. But I am grateful for the help placing them. Have fun in your new homes, little ones.

Sisterly love

2008-08-11T10:54:00.014-08:00

Here are my girls yesterday after a long day of pinky duty. :) (They watched, I fed.) Emily had been thrown in a pool and landed on someone else's head with HER HEAD, so she's had a headache for a couple of days. THANKS UNCLE RANDY!!!! :) Anyway, Em wanted to sleep THERE with her sister and Jules was quick to let everyone know to BE QUIET, EM IS SLEEPING!!! (That should have quotes but I am tired.) These girls have their moments of anger and arguments but I have to say that they love each other deeply and would defend each other to the death. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU TWO!!! They truly understand the love of God. I want to say a huge thank you to Randy and Donna Clark, some of our dear dear friends from church who watched the girls all day Sunday so I could rest and get over this bug. They took them to church and kept them until 9pm. What love that is. Thanks guys- we love you. Randy and Donna are the ones who adopted Lainey from China this spring. They are great folks.

PINKY SQUIRRELS!!!!!!!!!!!! My kids are young wildlife rehabbers!!! YAY GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-11T10:12:00.008-08:00

Update on Tuesday- Charlotte the little girl is doing great!!!!

Well we never know what God is going to surprise us with on any given day. Today was extra special. While I was in the shower, Jules ran to me, " Mom, I checked the messages and someone called about three baby squirrels!!!" I am in mid shower which becomes end shower VERY QUICKLY. I yell to the girls- "Call her back and tell her I am coming." They were too shy. I called her and basically she had three pinkie squirrels that had fallen out of a nest that was so high up that we would need a cherry picker to put them back.Putting baby squirrels BACK is always the first priority. But that wasn't happening. So, I said, "Keep them next to your body and stay calm- don't let anyone hold them and stay in a quiet place away from loud kids." :( So 15 minutes later, me and my very trusted helpers were at her house, getting the squirrels and rushing to my vets for syringes and Ebsilac. We got home and waited for 30 minutes to make sure they were warm and then fed them. You have no idea what a PRECARIOUS job it is to feed pinkie squirrels- one wrong move and they aspirate the formula, get pneumonia, and die. My girls benefit in so many ways from our rescue work. They gain self confidence, compassion and responsibility. They also gain knowledge that might help them in future life if they ever take care of animals. Here are the pics of the 2 little boy squirrels and the little sister squirrel with my children. You can tell how tiny they are by the size- my friend who is in wildlife rehab guesses 10 days at the most. They will go to her soon And my kids know that they are CAPABLE and TRUSTWORTHY WITH A TINY LIFE. Good stuff. PS. Update- the two boys died- we got to them too late- they had fallen 30 feet out of a tree and both had injuries. I am in charge of the little girl and seem to be doing better.

Our purposes in life..............

2008-08-10T12:27:00.005-08:00

WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE???

A recent disturbing phone call prompted me to write today. It made me think about what people's purpose in life is. As a Christian I believe that my purpose is to love God with all my heart and love my neighbor as myself. I also believe that whatever I do should help other people and not hurt them. My free time should even be proof of this. In other words, everything I do should be helping, loving, and good. I am not always successful at this, but I am careful not to say things to people that are mean or untrue or hurtful. Now, I have to admit that if I have been off my medication for depression for any length of time, I can say ugly things, but I am careful to quickly apologize and explain that I am truly a different person when I have not had my medicine.

Our purpose is to help other people, to love them, to treat them as we would like to be treated. My kids have grown up around this and just this morning Emily and Julianna were apologizing to each other for their short tempers as we ran late for church. I was so proud and I told them why. Kids need to know that apologies are God's pride. We all can be grumpy and say things we don't mean. The important thing is to recognize that and humble ourselves and say "I am sorry." My kids are the joy of my life and I could not be prouder of the fine young ladies they are turning out to be. They have grown up in love, constancy, and forgiveness. I know one day when I stand before God, I will not hang my head in shame over my parenting of those two.

What we spend our money on and what we spend our time doing tells the world what is important to us. If we watch sports all the time, that is important to us. If we read, that is important to us, if we nurture kids and animals, that is important to us. I believe that at the end of my life I want to know that I spent my time well on things that matter. I don't want to think that I wasted my life on things that have no value. When I die, noone will care that I didn't miss one hour of the Olympics, but they will care that I saved 100 animals from being killed. When I die, noone will care how much money I earned in the stock market, but they will remember that I loved my kids well. When I die, noone will care that I had the biggest or best house, boat, car, etc. But they will care that I told the truth and was willing to be a four in the morning friend. I am always thinking of how I can do better- how can I please God? What is my purpose? It's a good question to ask. This post was not so much to praise myself but to allow all of us to think, " What do we do with our time and how will that matter when we are gone?" I have a long way to go, but I hope God honors the efforts I make now.

Nasty bug!

2008-08-09T13:00:00.009-08:00

Well I wish the bug I've had was as lovely to look at as these, but it ISN'T. Wednesday while Mike and Sari were here, my stomach started hurting. I thought it was the Motrin I took. Then Thursday after putting Bianca down I had the big D. I thought, " Well, stress can cause the big D." Then I kept having it- and it was getting worse- I started seeing blood and I got so weak I could not stand except for going to the bathroom- over and over. Finally on Friday, I told Jon, " I have got to get this cultured and see a doctor- I have NEVER been sick like this before. So we went to the Urgent Care Center (with my cup of bugs), I laid down the whole time, and he gave me Flagyl (antibiotic for nasty stomach bugs) and some Donnatal for the horrible pain in my stomach and cramping. 24 hours later, I could stand. 48 hours later I can help out around here a little. For those first two days, I honestly felt like I was in hell. I was sweating, freezing, sweating, soaking wet, and too weak to change clothes, so I just put more covers on. I was so weak that the only way I could get Jon or the girls to bring me food or meds was to dial the house phone from my cell phone. (I was upstairs away from the general population and common bathroom so noone else would get it.) Thank God Jon was off and my kids can fend for themselves as everyone was somewhere else doing fun things. I also forgot to take my antidepressants for three days which added to the depression I always get while being sick made me a raving LUNATIC. I wanted to die, I wanted all the animals to die, I wanted someone to kill me. I lay in bed and wished for Bianca's fate. ( I am serious- I wanted someone to put me to sleep- I thought about calling my vet, but I was pretty sure they wouldn't do it, even if I paid them. It was really really bad. Any little thing that someone said to me made me cry- I was a mess. But the good news is that I am feeling better- almost want to eat real food and haven't visited the bathroom in six hours. Jon and the kids did a great job taking care of the zoo. Thank you guys. Note to self- if you are going to be sick, make sure Jon crams the Lexapro down your throat!!!

Bianca- 1998?-2008

2008-08-07T10:03:00.005-08:00

Today was a sad first for us. Even sadder, it will be taking place over and over as we take care of senior citizens. It is part of a job that we love,(taking care of seniors) but it is the part of the job that we dread. I took Bianca to be euthanized. Bianca came to us three years ago from Animal Care and Control with her sister, Tigger. She was a quiet, calm, peaceful dog who loved to be held like a baby and loved to lick me behind my ear. A year ago she was diagnosed with Pemphigus which is an auto immune disorder where the body attacks itself- her skin would break open with sores and the pads of her feet would seperate from the muscle of the pads. It was awful. My wonderful vet, Dr. Bouchelle diagnosed her and told me that it wasn't a war we would ever win but we could give her time with steroids. So she has been on Prednisone and Azothiaprine for almost a year which caused her to gain a tremendous amount of weight, take on fluid, and be voraciously hungry 24 hours a day. She has been uncomfortable and stays sleeping when she is not eating. So I decided today after praying about it for two weeks- it was the day. I cried so hard I thought I was going to throw up but when it was over, I felt such a weight off my shoulders. I held her and stroked her and told her to tell God hi for me. She went peacefully under the loving care of Dr. Rockefeller while I stroked her and told her what a wonderful dog she had been. She will be cremated. I usually bring our animals home but I didn't want to bury this dog. I wanted her to be returned to dust so her sad overweight body can be shed and she will have her new body in heaven. (Don't even start with me about animals, their souls, and whether they go to heaven.) The kids are sad but understand that euthanasia is the final act of love an owner can give an old or sick dog. Pray for Tigger- that her grief will be not too hard to bear and that she will eat. We love you, Bonki- Boogers. We love you so very much, Bonk Bonk. I will post her picture as soon as I can find a good one that shows her before she became so swollen and tired. :)

Thank you to some really special people, Mike and Sari!

2008-08-07T04:15:00.006-08:00

In life there are friends, and then there are FRIENDS. I am so grateful for two of our friends, Mike and Sari- Mike works at Walgreens with Jon as a pharmacy tech, and Sari is his girlfriend/gonna get married to girl who studies psychology at college. Where do I start with these two? First of all, they are family to us. They come here often to hang out and eat with us and our kids consider them like an aunt and uncle. They are a joy to be with. I could hang out with Sari ALL DAY LONG. She is super bright, intuitive, compassionate, honest, loving, and a real friend to me and I thank God for her. Jon and Mike have a great friendship and often kill people on tv or the computer together. That's real friendship between men, you know.

Yesterday Sari called me with a semi- desperate sound to her voice- "Hey Annie, what are you doing today?" I replied, " Cleaning, organizing, cleaning, organizing, cleaning puppy poop and helping Jon get the house ready to shampoo the carpets, why?" "I HAVE GOT TO GET OUT OF THIS APARTMENT, CAN I PLEASE COME OVER?" "ABSOLUTELY- I'll be happy to see you!". So in about an hour, Sari and Mike walk in our house and I thought, " Oh, thank God, I need some help!" So they LITERALLY SPENT 12 HOURS with us- they folded clothes, they vacuumed carpets, they adored puppies and new mommas, Sari helped me go through my jewelry box (nightmare) and get my bedroom into shape. They let dogs out, they walked dogs, they let dogs in, they cleaned up after dogs, swam with my kids, they did it ALL. Now, that is a real friend. And I cannot tell you without crying how much it meant to me. We hadn't been able to get on top of things since the last five dogs came in- our children are first, the animals come second, and then the house comes last. So guess what was falling apart? Not my kids and not my animals. THE HOUSE. And Sari is a pro at organizing things- it's HER GOD given gift. So today I thank God again for Sari and Mike and tell them, " WE LOVE YOU!" "THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!" They know that if they call us at four in the am with flooded carpet they have a place to stay- for as long as they need to. I would post pictures of them, but we were ENTIRELY TOO BUSY yesterday to take pictures. I will get some from Sari and add them later.

Em's new middle school look!!!

2008-08-06T09:06:00.002-08:00

Hey everyone- we wanted you to see Emily's new haircut for middle school. She got it layered all over and today is day 2 so it doesn't look EXACTLY like it will but you can get a general idea- very polished and styled- we love it and so does Em. It was my gift to her for middle school- she's not a fru fru girl, so nails or clothes weren't needed- but a new haircut was a big ego boost for her. WE LOVE YOU EMILY BEMILY BOO!!!!!

Pharaoh's Haven two step- don't ya wanna join in???

2008-08-06T04:32:00.013-08:00

There's a new dance craze sweeping our house, called the Pharaoh's Haven two step. I know you will want to join in after you read how much fun it is. It is neccesary to have puppies to do this dance so if you don't, you'll have to come here to do it. You need bare feet or tennishoes- either will work-
Step one- step in poop
Step two- lift foot in air and scream or moan (depends on your age and tolerance for poop)
Step three- Hop to bathroom, sink, or outside hose
Step four- mumble or scream about how much puppies poop
Step five- clean up feet or tennishoes
Step six- look at pup's faces and think, "Gosh it's good that they're so dang cute or I would kill them." SEE ABOVE PICS FOR PROOF OF CUTENESS. :)
Alternate two step- we do this dance more often than dance #1
Step one- watch pup poop or pee on floor
Step two- moan or scream as above
Step three- clean it up
Step four- ask yourself and God, " Now why am I doing this again, Lord?"
Now, we thought that by limiting the pups and their mom to the master bathroom we could avoid the Haven Two Step, but it hasn't worked out in theory. For instance, when Jules decides to take the pups out front with their mother, one will stop and do their business FAST on the wood floor- thank God they haven't hit the carpet yet- everyone else has. In fact, today is shampoo the carpets day. Honestly we need to rip it all up forever, but we can't afford more wood floors. So, we will do our best to clean filth (that's an oxymoron) and keep looking to God for guidance. The good news is I am setting up my own Petfinder site to get these guys homes SOON, and then life will be back to some sort of quasi- normal. Today I wrote the mom of the house we got the pups and Willow from a long heart felt letter about God, hope, and the way God can help her get order and loving discipline in her home- Pray that it goes over well.

New fosters here at the zoo! VERY SAD SITUATION- PRAYER NEEDED!

2008-08-05T07:40:00.027-08:00

Lately things around here have picked
up a notch. My friend Christa called me
about Daisy, the little black dog- she is
a purebred IG, one and a half years old
and very very frightened of most things. She was living in a nice clean trailer with a very wonderful man who just couldn't handle her constant peeing in the house. I totally understand. It's an IG- they are so hard to housebreak. She is doing well here and will be adopted out soon.
The picture above is Max, ( I think- I never know where the pics will wind up.) His mom is Willow- a 5- 6 year old, fawn female IG. She is the mother of Max and Berkley- two IG/poodle pups that are eight weeks old. Berkley is the one with shaved hair, that has speckles. My friend Michelle and I went to get the three of them last night. The people we got them from had probably 14 dogs of all breeds- a great dane, some Samoyeds, dachshunds, poodles, then snakes, - the house was very very dirty and this family has some definite issues and it was a definite rescue. The woman who contacted me is the responsible one in the family and I am so glad that she made the choice to allow us to take the dogs. She is spaying and neutering the rest of the dogs and that makes me very happy. This family could truly use prayer. Pray for baby A, her mother, and just the whole family. I intend on contacting the mom at a later time and discussing the treatment of her children by the father. That's all I will say, but you can fill in the blanks. It was BAD. One of the individuals is studying to be a wiccan (a modern day witch). I absolutely told them about Jesus and told them that the only way to change their life was through Christ. As always, God had me there for the dogs, but more for the people who needed to hear that Jesus offers hope. They told me that the mother (Willow) was "Schizo" and would not come to me. Nothing could be further from the truth. She was in a loud and chaotic house and IGs do not do well in that kind of environment. She is very happy here and very very concerned if her puppies leave her sight. We will make a decision about them after the pups are old enough to be away from their mom- they are weaned, but emotionally the mother and the pups are NOT READY to be seperated, especially given the recent change in their lives. As always, God showed me AGAIN that my work for HIM is through his animals- that is how I reach the people. Amazing. I never cease to be amazed at how SPECIFIC GOD IS. He is so beyond explanation. I am in awe. I have no contempt for this family, I just so want those children, that one week old baby, and that entire family to know what peace, love, and order looks like with God.

Why I won't change!

2008-08-04T04:52:00.007-08:00

I was prompted to write today based on my friend's blog entry about the heat. http://www.parentingthehoovers.blogspot.com/ This girl is so funny, she should do stand up comedy. I was her roomate in college. I don't envy her life and she doesn't envy mine, but we sure are good friends. Anyway, her blog about hell made me think about life in Florida doing rescue. When I say I won't change, it has to do with clothing, not bad habits or my thoughts about things- God is always at work on my heart telling me things that need to change. I was comforted the other day when we visited Shirley's place- she was dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, tennishoes, and a hand towel. A hand towel? Yep, across one shoulder, a white one, that stayed there the whole time we visited. For what purpose you wonder? To wipe sweat out of her eyes and forehead every five minutes. I thought, " Oh thank God, I am not the only one!" You see, when you live in Florida, you have two options. Only two. Stay inside ALL DAY or get wet. When you walk outside, it takes maybe 5 minutes for your delicate underthings to get SOAKING WET with sweat. Then it soaks through to your shirt and shorts. So when you live in Florida, you have several ways you can deal with it. If you are a clean freak, don't live here. You will change clothes every time you go outside- not good for your energy bill, not good for your washing machine and certainly not good for your work load. Your other option is to DEAL WITH IT. This means putting on antipersperant several times a day, buying stock in Shower to Shower powder and using it liberally and getting used to feeling damp all the time. In my business, you are going to stay pretty damp all day and your clothes are going to get dirty- dog paws, bird poop, cat hair, you name it, it's on your clothes. So, my motto is "change when you have to". I change shirts about three or four times a day and I take a shower at the end of the day when all the dirty jobs are done- not don't get me wrong- when I LEAVE MY PROPERTY, I am always showered, clean, makeup is on and I look like a real person. But around here, it's strictly trying to keep up. And five showers a day I don't have time for. I love short hair and I love shorts. Don't worry, my hubby is the same way- so he's not horrified to see cat hair or dog paw prints on my shorts. It's life around here. In fact, Jon said, " Anne, let's make a deal- you check my shirt for bird poop when we leave the house and I'll check yours, ok?" "That's a great idea, babe!" Not romantic, but it works. Horse people have the same experience- you are soaking wet by the time you groom, much less by the time you ride- and if you are going to stay at home and muck the stalls, you are not showering in between. When the chores are DONE, (never around here) then you luxuriate in a warm shower and lots of soap. And wait for the next time you have to walk outside. So I look at the clean people (the really clean ones with the high maintenance hair and face) and wonder, " Don't they get soaking wet too?" They do a good job of disguising it, but I bet their face is sliding off on their way to the car from Target. The only difference is my face, although sliding off, doesn't WIPE OFF- it's strictly my skin. Thank God.

Very very cool place- wonderful woman!

2008-08-02T15:49:00.004-08:00

Today we went to Fallin Pines Critter Rescue in Christmas Florida. The owner, Shirley Canaan, is a treasure of a woman. She has four acres of the most tastefully done cages and enclosures you can imagine. I don't know the exact count of exotic animals at her place but I would guess at LEAST 75. Some are permanent residents and some are adoptable. She has kangaroos, wallabies, prevost squirrels- our personal favorites, African Grey Parrots, Macaws, Lovebirds, ground squirrels, chickens, ducks, baby calves, bunnies, tortoises, a Nile Monitor (her personal favorite - NOT) and a horse, LORD, I can't remember everything. And above all, lots of baby squirrels that she hand feeds every four hours around the clock. She has a contract with Orange County and when an exotic animal is brought to them, it goes straight to Shirley. Once she had 69 baby squirrels at ONE TIME. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPOSSIBLE THAT WOULD BE???????????????? Amazing woman. And that 69 may be another number- I am awful with numbers, but it was HUGE. I have hand fed baby squirrels and let me tell you, it is a HUGE TIME COMMITMENT and very very wearying. She was gracious, friendly and best of all, has the best sense of humor and we loved her. She is not open to the public- but we were buying a cage from her for our outdoor sunning time and so she let us see the place- what a treasure she is. I highly recommend donating to Shirley's rescue work- she does what few people are willing to do and she has not gone on vacation even for ONE DAY since 1988. She has few volunteers- really only a great couple that come each weekend to help her- and she is always gracious and cheerful on the phone which she has attached to her hip at all times, as Orange County calls at all hours, even two in the morning. Here are some pics from her website as my DANG CAMERA died there- I WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAD. We're going to go back and donate a day to her- we don't have any money but we do have time and since we're a rescue we know what needs to be done and she makes a list. She thinks we won't come back (she gets a lot of empty promises) but she doesn't know the Trinkles. :) WE LOVE YOU SHIRLEY!!!!!!!!! Here is the link to Shirley's place- http://www.fallinpinesrescue.org/residents.php-

Successful trip to Gainesville- YAY Dr. Apelt!!!

2008-07-31T07:42:00.004-08:00

Well yesterday's trip to Gainesville turned out better than I anticipated. I was so relieved to have Dr. Apelt take the wheel. He was pleased with her range of motion and the one spot that I thought was infected was actually the place where the pin is and it is trying to come through the skin. So, the action taken was to take out her stitches and put another bandage on (Dr. Apelt was kind enough to do hot pink again, he knows she has a fan base), and to make her rest more. No more antibiotics or anti- inflammatories, thank God- so she's eating well again. AWESOME! So, here is a picture of the two things Pica does. She is either in her crate with a heating pad or taking a walk in the yard on a leash. She does have bed privileges with Mama when I nap and she lives for that. I think Dr. Apelt was truly happy to see her and see how she was doing. He is all the things someone wants in an orthopaedic surgeon- intelligent, intuitive, compassionate, handsome, and very skilled in his area of expertise. (The handsome part is just a bonus.) :) We discussed her next surgery and he was more than helpful about that as well. I left there feeling like a million dollars and so did Pica. I hope we were a bright spot in his day as well. We go back next Friday to see if the skin is healing around the pin better- I hope we see good things. The other thing I love about U of F is they have these lovely ladies there who are volunteers and their job is to greet people and their dogs and help you with any questions you might have. A lovely lady (can't remember her name) with dark hair and bright blue eyes yesterday fawned all over Pica and made me a cup of coffee because my hands were full with Pica. That is just such a nice thing- when you drive that far, it is so nice to have such friendly and warm people taking care of you. It really makes me not dread the trip. So on to the next part of life- another young female named Daisy comes in today- we'll see how she is. Always something around here. :) I LOVE IT.

Back to Gainesville- agggggggghhhhhhhh, I am so tired- I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!!!!

2008-07-29T09:36:00.005-08:00

Here is Pica snuggling with Daddy at the beach.

Oh my gosh, this is getting so old. After two days on her new antibiotic, Pica is once again not eating and acting yucky. So, I called her surgeon and he wants to see her tomorrow. I will feel much better after seeing him, I am sure. He has the ability to instantly access a situation and know what to do and makes you feel very at ease. I hope he offers to keep her until she is completely healed, the stitches are out, and she can run. ( I can dream can't I?). Other than her tummy bothering her, she is fine- she's walking on all legs and acting like a million bucks. Crate, leash, crate, leash, crate, leash. Poor little sweetie pie. I feel for her. I'll keep you posted after I get home.

There's dog food in my lingerie drawer- and other top hits at the Trinkle house!

2008-07-29T05:19:00.008-08:00

Note to reader- after this blog, I skipped the real world and vacuumed and dusted EVERY SQUARE INCH of this very large house- just in case you were worried that my standards were slipping. :)

Well, this morning something happened and I said out loud, " Boy is that blog material or WHAT?" (With this many animals, someone is always hanging on my every word, trust me.) If I didn't love this job so much, I'd hate it. I mean it. If it wasn't for the smiles on the faces around here, some days I would cash in my chips. Today was so TYPICAL that I had to share so you all would sigh and realize how easy and non complicated your own lives are- I am such a giver, huh??? :) I got up and my dear husband had done the morning let out and feeding of bones to shut everyone up. He and the girls headed to Wild Adventures today with the youth group. So I got up, helped them gather what they needed for the trip and then I started about my morning routine. First to clean out the water and food bowls of all the birds- no problem. Then to feed the dogs, who by now have realized that the Milk Bone they got was NOT BREAKFAST. So I mix the food- warm it up (thanks to my parents for letting us borrow their 30 year old, 100lb, Panasonic "Reggie Jackson" (long story) microwave as ours mysteriously died while we were at the beach). I then head into the bedroom, as Quinn and Trego have their feeding stations in our bedroom and bathroom. So, I have the sea kelp for Trego's skin condition on my dresser. WHY?? I have no idea- I brought it in there and it just stayed. So, I am scooping out sea kelp into the bowls and mixing like a mad woman and a piece of dog food flies out and lands where? In my lingerie drawer, specifically on one of my silky nighties. I took a picture so you could see what I am referring to- the dog food bowl is on the right, the sea kelp is the white container with green writing and the nightie is the melon colored thing in the drawer. I just laughed, grabbed it, and thought, now that's blog material- how typical. I fed the dogs, changed their water and promptly went to the computer.

This job requires so much of a person and of a family- a sense of humor being the top priority. You cannot take ANYTHING too seriously around here. Nothing is sacred and our belongings are just that- stuff. God uses our animals to show us that we ought not "lay up treasures on earth where moth destroys, rust collects, or in our case, dogs vomit water on it." (That's not a direct quote from the Holy word of God, but it fits.) Emily came down today and said, " GROSS!!! Everything in THAT basket smells like James' pee." (James is Jules' hamster.) The old me would have asked WHY and HOW DID THAT HAPPEN, and rip into Julianna. The new me just sighs and says, " Ok, I'll take care of it." It's just too much work to figure out what happened, why, and lecture someone about "if you leave your clothes out and let the hamster play on them, he's going to pee on them." Now MIND YOU, I don't think a clean pile of clothes was used as James' playground- these were clothes that were left in the hallway for God only knows what reason. And they didn't smell like James' pee- they smelled like wet towels. Sort of, with a hint of rodent urine. I know some of you are laughing your fannies off- and the rest of you are totally grossed out. The second group needs to quit reading right now- the rest of you get ready to laugh some more. (My college friend Stephanie, my church friend Donna,rescue friend Christa, and my bird friend Becca are about to wet their pants, right now, I bet. Those are my real friends.) So I walked to the laundry room and threw them in with bleach and detergent and came back through and discovered that Trego had drunk her new clean water (DOGS LOVE NEW CLEAN WATER!) too quick and had "urped" it back up- on the wood floor- no biggie- grab a dirty towel, mop it up, and throw that in with the hamster clothes. This does not phase me in the least. On to the next "thing". Pica pooped on the dining room floor- she doesn't do that often, but since she's been on restriction to the house, it has happened a couple of times- so am I ticked that she pooped on the floor??? NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I am overjoyed that it was on the wood floor for once and HOORAY her poops are firm again- YAY YAY YAY!!! My day is made. (The prior antibiotics tore her little tummy UP.) Now, on to triage duty. What is that you ask? Well, triage here is deciding which animal(s) need medication, love, or food and in what order. Freeman the blue quaker is absolutely angry and screaming to me from his perch and he has not had much attention, so he is first- he gets to sit on my shoulder while I type. Then on to the dog with the auto-immune disorder who is on Prednisone and another drug- yesterday she didn't eat at all and slept in my bed (reserved for the sick dogs) and I need to know if she's feeling better today. Yep, Bianca is hungry. YAY. I feed her and move on to Houston- who has had diarrhea for a week due to Trego chasing him. She was a racer on the track and evidently Houston bears some resemblence to a bunny and he's much faster. Poor Houston- now that we know what's causing it, we don't allow the biggies out with the littles and my WONDERFUL VET tells me what to give him, how much and asks if I have it on hand. (I had to take another dog in yesterday for an ear infection and I asked about Houston then.) I should have a shuttle to my vet's office. I LOVE MY VET. So, Houston is given Metronidizole and given his first food in 24 hours- he eats- YAY!!!!!!!!!! This is a GOOD DAY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very good day. I know, you are shaking your head. The biggies need to go out, and then I check on Pica- she's not eaten- dang. Then the biggies need to come in and I am thinking, " This stinks!" And there is Quinn at the door, with a huge smile on his face and I think, " I LOVE THIS!!!" Back to the computer to write some more.

Now, as an example that I have not dragged my dear hubbie and children into this kicking and screaming, look at Em's face, holding Dudley. TRUE LOVE. He is in breeding season and he has chosen Em as his mate. He is crazy over her. He snuggles with her, throws up for her (highest form of flattery) and chases off anyone who wants to come near her. (No, Kito is not neglected- he is always taken out first and played with more.) Jules came running in yesterday, breathless with joy. "Mama, Mama, Freeman LOVES ME NOW!" "Oh hooray Jules, you did it!!!" Freeman is "my" bird and he wouldn't let anyone but Jon hold him and Jules was just determined that the bird should love her too- so every day she would try to make friends with him. The look on her face was PRICELESS. My kids aren't thinking about boys- they're thinking about BIRDS. Awesome. Cool. Hope it stays that way. Oh dear, I have to go- the real world called (I hate the real world) and told me that there is a 1:00 opening for a teeth cleaning and that I NEED TO TAKE IT, as it's been a year since my last cleaning. I'd rather do hamster laundry.

Pica's drama

2008-07-28T05:53:00.003-08:00

If you really wanna know what you're made of, take your dog for patellar surgery. AGH. We took Pica to the beach with us and she did GREAT. Her incision was looking better each day and then 24 hours after we finished the Baytril, it looked inflamed and yucky again. So the day I left the beach, I dropped off the perishables at home and went to the vet. Now we are on Clindamyacin and Metacam (something like that- anti inflammatory). She is going Wed to U of F to have x-rays. I am so tired. She is now hating the crate, hating the collar, and ready to play with her IG friends. She is walking on all four legs and doesn't seem to be in any pain, but this one place on her leg just will not clear up. She ate like a pig today after a dose of the antiinflammatory, so that's good. I need to unpack my suitcase and clean my house and I am exhausted. I know this will all end soon. I SO DON"T WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! But she does look cute in that soft collar, doesn't she?? In case you are wondering, that is to keep her from licking at her sore spot. It's so much kinder than the hard plastic ones. She can sleep in it. Pray that this antibiotic works and that Wed's visit to U of F is a good one. Yawn. Where's the bed?????

The beach makes me SICK!!! We had a great time anyway!!!

2008-07-27T09:25:00.003-08:00

Here is Jules with Zippy, the "come back to life hermit crab.

Here are the three baby ducklings. To the right is Matthew, our cousin, with the girls. The bottom picture is Jon with Em's bird, Kito on his head.

I haven't learned the art of moving pictures, so if the captions are totally messed up, figure it out. :)

Every year, our family goes to Crescent Beach for a week in the same condo. We've done this for seven years. It is the highlight of our year along with our trip to visit Jon's folks each summer in Virginia. It is one of our most important family traditions. Well, when the kids were little, it seemed that one of them always got sick that week- ear infections, bad cold- you name it. Now they never get sick, but 24-48 hours after entering that condo, I get SO SICK with what I think is a cold- which then rapidly turns into a sinus infection. This year I carried antibiotics with me- thank the Lord. I think seriously there is mold or something in that unit that makes me sick. I was in bed for three or four days but the rest of the time we had A BLAST. (Jon and the kids had seven days of great fun.) We had lots of visitors this year- Felicia and her family came on day one and we always love seeing them. Matthew, the girls' cousin came down for a couple of days and they had a great time- playing with hermit crabs and drawing Pokemon. Then the girls' friends Katie and Abby came. The Clarks came and spent the last day with us. Mike and Sari, good friends were great to have there too. We spent alot of time on the beach and did have some inside time to visit as well. WE LOVE THE BEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I am starting drugs before I leave next time. ) :)

Pica rejecting suture material- please pray!- updated Friday night and Laurel's surgery went well!

2008-07-17T05:54:00.005-08:00

Update as of Thursday evening- they think that with a few more days of the antibiotics and moist heat 3 times a day that Pica's swelling will go down. The good thing is that she is not running a fever and she is putting weight on the leg. She stayed at the vet all day so that was a relief to me- and they didn't charge me anything. :) My bird sitter called- her dad has Alzheimer's and he had put her cell phone in HIS POCKET and didn't tell anyone. The battery went dead so it didn't ring and she didn't know where it was. I laughed my head off. She came with her hubby and they were delightful and the birds really liked her. So the day went as it should have, thanks be to God. And more importantly my friend Laurel had her surgery and everything went well- she won't know the biopsy results for four more days so keep praying about that. Thanks to you all for praying and writing- it made me feel loved and supported.

The picture on the left shows how I feel. I feel like I am going to scream and throw up. The swelling on Pica's leg hasn't come down the way Dr. R expected it to and she's concerned that her body may be rejecting the internal stitches or that she may have an infection in the joint or the bone. I took her in today - she was supposed to go back in anyway but this morning when I saw her leg, I felt like a bowling ball had dropped into my stomach- I have this amazing gut when it comes to my children or animals- it is amazingly accurate - I can look at my oldest daughter and know 2 days beforehand that she is getting a cold. I am the same way with my animals- it's a blessing from God and a curse at the same time. ANYWAY, I left Pica with Dr. R and she is going to consult with Dr. Apelt at University of Florida about what to do. Possibilities include- exrays, stronger drugs, and I don't know what else- I guess it COULD mean a trip to Gainesville and them opening her back up but I AM NOT LETTING MYSELF GO THERE. In the meantime, my bird sitter won't call me back (we leave in two days, she needs to come and meet the birds) and we leave for the beach in TWO DAYS. I am going to puke. No, I am going to pray and trust that God will work this out. All of it. I will rejoice that the beach is 40 minutes from our house and that if a trip to Gainesville is in the cards, it's only 1 and 1/2 hours away. I will thank God for what He's done so far. So pray for these things

that Pica will get better with minimal invasion

that my bird sitter will call

that my gut will settle down- I am taking Jules' prevacid right now

that everything will work out so that noone has to make trips back and forth to Jax or Gainesville, and if we do that they are minimal and will have little effect on our family's time together in Crescent Beach.

Thank you. I ask for prayer because I KNOW THAT IS HOW GOD WORKS. I am confident that when I ask for prayer, that things change for the better.

Pica's progress- small bump in the road, but she's better now!

2008-07-16T02:57:00.003-08:00

Pica has done very well since surgery but I was concerned with some slight swelling and a spot less than the size of a tack head that was starting to look infected to me- she was supposed to get her stitches out yesterday (July 15th) but my vet Dr. Renee Rockefelller looked and said, " She is developing a small infection and she needs something for the swelling." She looked back in her records and we had all completely forgotten that she had a similiar reaction to the suture material during her spay surgery when she was eight months old. SMART VET!!! SO, she's on Baytril and Deramaxx- the first is good antibiotic and second is like Motrin for doggies. OH MY GOSH- after ONE dose of both meds, six hours later she was like a doggie on crack- ate like a horse, wanted to walk and walk, wasn't wanting to sleep anymore- was like, " OK WORLD HERE I COME!" It was an amazing transformation. She wanted to jump on the cats, Julianna and any other friendly looking soul. So we are taking her to the beach with us on Saturday and I am sure she will enjoy walking on the beach and having a change of scenery- she's clearly sick and tired of the crate, but has to be in it for FOUR MORE WEEKS. And we'll do it - we don't want to compromise that precious and very expensive leg for anything. I just wonder who is going to have her energy while we are gone- might need to up my Adderall. HEE HEE HEE!!! (ADD meds that give you energy.) Thanks, Dr. Rockefeller for being such a good diagnostician and detective. I'll bring her back for stitch removal and YOU can take her home and entertain her. Hee Hee. Other note- Quinn's stitches are removed from his missing toe and he's walking much better- again, Dr. Rockefeller put him on Deremaxx and a different antibiotic and he was a different dog- he has this wide gap where the toe used to be and we call him our "velociraptor". I will miss him alot when I go to the beach- he's my love bunny.

Off to the beach, finally!

2008-07-14T08:58:00.003-08:00

Thank the good Lord we are leaving Saturday for the beach. I am plumb wore out as the old folks say. Having 3 or more animals on meds and having one that needs special care (Pica) is almost too much at one time. But God is faithful and when I start feeling like it can't be done, he sends me a message through my mind, my kids, the Bible or one of the animals. And then I laugh, realize how great it is that I am doing something important with my life and go on. Today, for example I dropped a 10 pound cage tray on the top of my foot , sharp edge down. (Is there a dang foot curse going on around here or what??) I thought I was going to pass out. I came in the house and sat down and started to cry- I never cry from pain- NEVER. The girls were on me in a flash- Jules elevated my foot, Em grabbed yogurt and Motrin and water (I can't take Motrin on an empty stomach) and they put ice on it. I couldn't move- I was sweating and according to the girls, WHITE AS A GHOST. :) Thank you God for these little girls who have doctored so many animals and have been doctored so much themselves that they know what to do when Mom is incapacitated. What a blessing and how precious to me.

So, Pica and Kito, Em's bird are going with us, they are both ill- one with a leg and the other plucked and gets so depressed when away from Em, we felt he would be better off to go with us. The rest will be in the care of the Spauldings- a wonderful family who cares for our zoo as well as we do- better in some ways because there are so many of them and so few of us. :) We couldn't go on vacations without this family so we are so grateful for them. We do have a bird lady coming in to take care of the birds- some of them are persnickety and would bite the Spauldings. We will go for walks on the beach, watch hermit crabs maneuver sand castles and mazes, sleep (my favorite part of the deal) and all play games together at night or watch movies. The one very sad thing for us this year is that for the first time in seven years, our neice Elizabeth and our nephew Matthew will not be going with us. They will be doing Power up Clubs, and that is helping spread the gospel of Jesus' good news to kids who need to hear it, so we'll forgive them. But we sure will miss them ALOT. We love you two. Very much. I won't be blogging from the beach (WOW) and will only take my cell phone for emergencies and to talk to Laurel and Becca and Donna. (My three best friends.) There is ALOT to be done before we leave- so the kids and Jon and I are busting our tails daily to get it all done. But then it's seven days of sun, rain, Wings, hermit crabs, waves, sleep and coffee on the beach with my dear little Julianna the early riser. Thank you God that we can go. We need the rest.

IT WAS A SPLINTER, NOT CANCER- it's coming out!

2008-07-13T13:48:00.006-08:00

I am so excited that I am shaking. I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT. Jules swam in the pool twice today and she just came in and said, " MOM, the black spot is GONE!" I looked and there, in it's place was white flesh with a tiny black stick in it. So now all we have to do is get the black stick out of her foot (she screamed and said she'd rather have another MRI and an IV- she is hysterical about splinter removal which is probably how this nasty little stick never got reported to us!) I told Jon that I felt like with it was changing daily and becoming closer to the front of the skin and that the body was indeed trying to push something OUT and he totally agreed with me. And we were right. So sorry, Dr. Hahn, we WON"T BE SEEING AN ONCOLOGIST- it's a DANG SPLINTER just like the original MRI said. (The original MRI said it was consistent with a "foreign body lodged in the foot.") WOW. Jules said to tell you thanks so much - that she loves you all!!!!! Thank you for praying- I knew somehow God would heal this foot- I really did believe that. Thank you so much for praying- we can now go to the beach and RUN on that foot without pain. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS. Jules just ran in here after I posted and said, " MOM THE STICK IS GONE- there's nothing there but a tiny hole where the stick was!!!!!!!!!!!!" So praise the Lord again- no stick removal tonight!!!!

Hermit crab resurrections and hamster discoveries!

2008-07-13T03:59:00.004-08:00

Well sometimes I just marvel at how God works around here. Don't get me wrong, we've had our share of deaths, sadness, and parakeets that drowned in the pool (just one). But lately we've had two pretty unusual and if you ask me, miraculous events. The first involves Zippy- the hermit crab with the purple shell that is on the left hand side of the blog- Jules' crab. Well, hermit crabs die. It's a fact of life. And when they die, they often are found in parts- legs, body, claws- all seperate. We bury the parts, say a prayer, Jules or Em shed a few tears and then the next time we go to the beach, we buy another one. We are aware that hermit crabs molt as well. They lose legs and then grow new ones. Well, months ago Zippy died. Jules brought all the parts to me, crying. We were just going to bury the parts, but Jules said God told her to bury the shell too, and put it on top. So we did, (I am not going to argue with something my kid said God told her to do.), we made a cross and buried him. While the kids were in VA two weeks ago, I came home late in the afternoon from shopping and went behind my van to make sure the cat water wasn't hot or dirty. I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there was a hermit crab crawling across our driveway, more specifically a purple shelled hermit crab. I almost choked. I called Jules very quickly on the phone and said, "Jules, I want you to think and answer this question. Which crab died most recently and what color was his shell?" "Zippy, MOM! And he was purple with spots underneath." I said, " I am holding him." "WHAAAAAAAAAT?" I then went on to tell her the story- well our front door is a good 100 feet from our driveway. She went crazy- Mom, there has to be a mistake- he was DEAD, MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " I know, honey." So I said we should name him Lazurus. You can say he just molted- but I saw the PARTS. I don't know what happened, but he's alive. What are the chances that I would see him on the driveway before he disappeared forever into the grass? Pretty darn slim. I saw that as a sign of encouragement from the creator who made him.
Last night, James, Jules' hamster escaped from the ball. Around here, a loose hamster is not a good thing- most of our dogs would stand over him until we got there, but some of them might eat him. (Trego most specifically). Well at ONE TWENTY IN THE MORNING, I was awoken by something and I got up to eat and drink something. I was walking back to the bedroom and Jon was getting some milk bones for the dogs out of the laundry room closet. I was passing the laundry room, looked down and there was James, just sitting there, looking at me. And there were all the dogs, completely oblivious. I was so stupified and sleepy that the only words I could get out were, " HAMSTER HAMSTER, GRAB THE HAMSTER!!!" Jon whipped around and picked him up and he is safely in his cage. What are the chances of me being up and he and I being in the exact spot where the hamster was- or did the hamster COME TO US??? We'll never know, but again, I found it nothing short of a miracle- this is a big house and I counted that hamster as gone forever. The above images are not our animals- just ones I found on the web. :)