10 Things - 29 January 2017

I'm grateful for ...
1. This silly dog
2. The way my life has changed for the incredibly way better since this doggie came home to me
3. Today's beautiful, sunny, 65°F weather
4. Carrie Fisher's books
5. Having Bear's office just in the next room
6. Jasper, of course!
7. The fact that I did not drink that beetle with my Diet Coke yesterday
8. My brother, Rob, who is presently working very hard out on our deck
9. The fact that I am able to sit here in my safe home and write this on my nice computer
10. Hope

Fortune Cookie Musings - The Series Continues

So a while back, I started a series reacting to fortunes I pulled from the sometimes delicious and sometimes crumbly and stale fortune cookies I get when I order Chinese food. Here's another installment.

Today's fortune is (and I'm reusing some of these slips of paper, so I may have already taken one run at this idea) "Today you should spent some time to search in yourself" [sic].

I have spent some time in introspection today, writing a couple of blog posts (I have more than one blog) and reading. Yes, I see reading as a form of introspection because I am having a conversation with myself and the author. It's not a one-way deal.

But does "search in yourself" mean something else? Is there a road map in there, that if I dig down in my mind's eye I can follow my pulse into the center of myself? If I close my eyes, I think I can do that. I think, I sense. I breath, I feel light-headed. Who is this woman sitting in this chair in this body typing with her eyes closed? Is it still me? Who is me? Am I the child, the girl, the young woman, or the 54-year-old wearing glasses and feeling the weight of time (both physically and mentally)? Is time a weight?

No, I haven't "imbibed" or "inhaled." All I did was eat a cookie...

10 Things - 22 January 2017

I'm grateful for ...
1. The chance to see a glacier up-close (this one is Margerie Glacier)
2. The chance to actually stand on a glacier (in Jasper National Park) and drink straight from the source
3. The fact that I do not live on a glacier :)
4. Living in Colorado
5. My camera
6. Every friend I think of as I am writing this
7. The mindfulness I am learning each day with Sparkles (instead of asking "what if" I concentrate on "what is")
8. The ability to go for a drive with my dogs
9. Having a job
10. My computer

Sparky's Past Life

A dog's paw is not supposed to look like this. See all the wavy lines and then the massive blurry area? Sparky's paw was broken sometime when she was much younger and never repaired. But that's not the worst of it. X-rays of her pelvis show that she must have been hit by a car with enough force to break it, and then it "healed" on its own in a way that makes it painful and difficult to walk normally. I saw this in her when I adopted her, but I didn't know why. I am furious at whomever hit her or her owners at that time for not seeking veterinary care. But I can't judge folks I don't know. I am just furious for Sparkles. The pain and anguish she must have gone through!

The vet says there is no way to fix Sparky's paw (unless we have a pin put in) or the soft-tissue damage in the shoulder and elbow that cause her leg to stick out in a strange way. She says there might be a way to fix the pelvis, but that would require going in surgically and rebreaking the pelvis and then hoping it heals like it's supposed to. In the meantime, Sparkles' quality of life would be greatly reduced.

Therefore we are going to make her as happy as possible under the circumstances. Lots of intermittent play, nothing too hard or long. Only play with small dogs that can't bowl her over (if I had only known that a week ago!). Pain meds. Cuddles. Several short walks a day rather than three big ones. Kisses. Cuddles. Play. Love.

10 Things - 15 Jan. 2016

I'm grateful for ...

1. Water
2. Civil rights activists
3. Freedom
4. Growing things
5. Breathing things
6. The wind
7. Still skies
8. Friends
9. Dogs
10. President Obama

10 Things - 4 January 2017

I'm grateful for ...
1. Sparky! It's a girl, and her full name is Louisa May Opal Sparkles, but we'll go with Sparky.
2. The Longmont Humane Society, where we adopted her.
3. Left Hand Animal Hospital for the free new-pet checkup.
4. Home carpet-cleaning machines.
5. Perspective.
6. The health and fitness professionals I work with.
7. Carrie Fisher's book, Wishful Drinking.
8. Knowing I have friends.
9. The ability to write fairly well.
10. Getting home safely in a snowstorm.