Randoms!

Ahhh…I shot my final “holiday” sessions yesterday. Now it’s just editing like mad to get everyone their sessions in time to order for Christmas! But I’m overdue for some randoms!

Dogs.

Now that we’re past the medical issues, I can honestly say I can’t imagine not having Lulu and Annie with us. What medical issues, you ask? Oh honey…pull up a chair (and a tissue).

Annie came to us from the shelter with a raging case of kennel cough (that didn’t materialize until she’d been here a few days) along with a sudden rash from something. Two vet visits…3 medications. Oh, then another vet visit when the first antibiotic didn’t work – and let’s toss in another medication for good measure. Woo! Then when we found out she’s actually over 1, a quick spaying.

Annie gave the cough to poor Lulu, and as anyone with bulldogs knows – respiratory issues + bulldog lungs = bad news. Oh, and when her immune system was depressed she developed a horrible allergy rash (still don’t know what that was from – vaccinations maybe?). I dropped her at the vet, who said “Oh My Goodness!” You KNOW that’s not good. Two vet visits, one steroid shot and 7 (oh yes…SEVEN) medications. We had two antibiotics. Two antacids to prevent ulcers from the antibiotics. Steroid spray. Benadryl. And eye drops. What for? Oh, how about the eye ulcer she gave herself whilst at the vet?

Naturally…all of this happened during my busiest time of year. NATURALLY!

But now – two weeks later? I’m happy to report that everyone is healthy and happy. PHEW. Well, except Vic who has had to mar his beautiful fence with several patch jobs – it turns out our dear Annie is an escape artist. Stinker.

But they’re awesome. Inseparable. They sleep curled up, play like crazy, and my kids ADORE them. Aidan and Ava have spent more time in the backyard in the last 3 weeks than all summer combined (harumph). At night – Annie sleeps in my lap and Lulu sleeps in Vic’s. Right now they’re curled up sleeping at my feet.

Books.

Right now I’m addicted to Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole series:

I kept seeing his books in the bookstore, and I loathe starting a series in the middle, so I went back to the start – The Monkey’s Raincoat. I loved it enough that I went online and bought the whole series. They just keep getting better the farther I go. And Joe Pike is my new Reacher. Ok, well let’s not go CRAZY – but he’s close.The first books were written in the early 90s, and the lingo and lack of technology (everyone uses pay phones) is pretty amusing. Similar to catching old episodes of Miami Vice on TBS. Not that I do that. Or remember the early 90s.

Time.

I just realized it’s 3:45 and Ava is still asleep. OOPS! More randoms later!