Precious and Fragile Things

That's my laptop and the world's saddest dog nuzzling underneath it. That is, until I ask if she wants to go outside.



And magically, there was no more sad dog.

Stupid me left a casserole dish and a bowl on my coffee table. It's been so hot during the day that I was going to wash more dishes tonight after it cools off. Well, I don't need to worry about those two dishes anymore.

When I left to run errands and pick the kiddo up from school, I had to let Sasha inside per usual. While I was out, her Tail of Doom(TM) struck again and knocked the bowls off the coffee table, and despite falling a short eighteen inches, the casserole dish completely shattered (I'm kind of impressed by how thoroughly destroyed it was too, I almost suspect Sasha has gained the capability to throw things). And, as it always happens when I have to clean up broken ceramics and/or glass, I am now sporting two band-aids, one on each hand because I am that talented at injuring myself even when I'm being super careful.

Glass has been picked up and I've vacuumed, but kiddo is under orders to wear his sandals until I have a chance to go over the spot with the vacuum again since it never fails that I always inevitably miss a sliver or two. Started getting a headache due to the heat and possible slight dehydration (been sweating a lot today), so needed to take some meds and sit down with some fluids.

Bought a very cheap box fan for the living room. It's helping circulate the air and cool everything off. Whenever the kiddo goes down to visit Mom this summer, one of my uncles is sending up a window a/c unit with her that I can install here in my living room window so we can stay cool when summer really hits.

Rent is paid, refrigerator and freezer are restocked as is my pantry, plus I've already purchased some snack foods in anticipation of a hungry boy being home more often after Monday. Stress has been reduced considerably. Now if I can get this headache to go away.

I think either I had a ghostly visitor last night or Jack can jump rather high.

I was sleeping peacefully, having fallen asleep pretty early last night. Suddenly, the overhead light popped on and the strings you pull down to turn the light and/or fan off and on were swinging wildly and clanging together noisly. Jack was at the foot of my bed looking up at the light, and I heard Sasha scratching at the door wanting to be let back in (she'd asked to go out before I fell asleep; this was about three hours later).

Now, my bed is pretty high up all things considered, and I'd guess there's about two-and-a-half-foot gap between the mattress and the strings. Why Jack would leap for them, I have no clue. Maybe he heard Sasha scratching at the door and I wasn't waking up fast enough to his liking to let her in. Or maybe he was trying to play around.

Or maybe it wasn't him. All I know is that I did turn off that light and that the strings didn't swing themselves like that after the light being turned on, something caused it. This house is very quiet at night, so the noise is something I remember clearly after I woke up.

A few minutes ago, Jack strolled in through the cat door proudly carrying something large in his mouth. I saw fluttering out the corner of my eye and I freaked out thinking he was bringing in a small mammal. (Allow me to pause here to mention that once he brought me a dead mouse as a present...in my bed.)

Well, I finally cornered Jack and discovered it was not a mammal but an insect. A huge moth to be exact.


(For size reference, that's a college-ruled sheet of notebook paper.)

I immediately tried to rescue the moth (and take the above picture), which proved to be no easy task as Jack was disappointed I'd take his toy away from him and Sasha, who has been the Bug Eradicator(TM) since she was a few months old, decided she'd try and eat the moth too. Both she and Jack gave me pitiful and confused looks as I pushed them away and tried to capture the moth. (Okay, Jack was more glaring than confused.)

I did manage to get it outside, but unfortunately it can't fly anymore and can only flutter around on the ground. Even though I freed it, Jack went back outside through the cat door and carried the poor moth back into the house to bat around some more.

Never a dull moment here.

Nearly one year ago, I found this puppy on the side of the road in the middle of the night. It had been raining non-stop that day and it was expected to continue throughout the night with the temperature dipping below freezing. I had spotted her a few hours earlier, and as I drove my ex to his house I asked him to keep an eye out for her. Sure enough, there she was, running along the side of the road.

I stopped the truck, and we managed to chase her down whereupon I discovered she was soaked to the bone and shivering. I took her home, gave her a bath, and the following week, took her into the vet for a check-up and her first round of booster shots. She weighed six pounds and I could easily hold her in both of my hands.

As a reminder, this is what she looked like two days after I found her:



Taken on: March 3, 2009. Approx. 6 weeks.

And here is Sasha today, January 24, 2010, now weighing in at fifty pounds and unable to fit in my lap let alone my hands:





"Arrrgh, belly rubs! My nemesis!"

You can't really see her paw here, but the swelling has gone down, and while it's still red and looks kind of ugly, the antibiotic spray and pills are making a difference. So, it's healing and has reverted back to its normal size, or close enough to it that you really have to look at it.

Jade puts the kiddo's new soccer stuff in his room.

Sasha follows her into the room and checks out the window.

SASHA: "BARK!" (Hey, come here!)

JADE: "What is it?" *looks out window* "Oh, it's just Penny walking around in the yard."

SASHA: "WOOF!" (There's something there!)

JADE: "Yes, it's Penny. You know, the other dog who's been here since before you joined us."

SASHA: "BARK WOOF WOOF BARK!" (There's a dog. In the yard. A dog. In the yard.)

JADE: *sighs* "Don't worry, it's Penny. You sniff her butt every day."

SASHA: "BARKBARKWOOFWOOFWOOF!!!!1111oneone" (Dog! In! The! Yard! Intruder!)

Jade gives up, tells Sasha "Stay!" and calls Penny in. As Penny enters, Sasha bolts out the door, hackles raised.

Sasha goes to the sideyard where she spotted Penny. She starts sniffing the ground, running around the entire yard, trying to find the dog. Eventually, she gives up and comes back inside.

JADE: "See, I told you, it was just Penny."

Sasha flops down on a vent, panting heavily.

SASHA: (I'll find that dog. Mark my words.)

And as of Sunday, I am thoroughly convinced Sasha has canine ADD.

Jade returns home from errands.

SASHA: "OMG YOUR HOME! YOUR HOME YOUR HOME YOUR HO--OMG BUTTERFLY!" *pounce*

Cue five minutes of chasing and pouncing on various bugs in the yard.

Want to know what happens when one beautiful cream-colored puppy is allowed to play outside for 20-30 minutes (tops) on a hot summer day?

This happens (note the steam cleaner in the background so you can see just how badly timed her adventure was):



Have I mentioned that I also steam cleaned my couch and that it was a huge pain in the ass? I'll give you three guesses as to what furniture she jumped on after I finished taking pictures to document her adventure, and the first two don't count. What kills me is how absolutely pleased with herself she is. She's been prancing around since I dragged her back inside and away from the neighbor's Shi Tzu, her newest four-legged pal. I don't care that she's three times his size; I think he's a bad influence on her.

( Two more under the cut. )

Tomorrow, in addition to all the back-to-school shopping Mom, kiddo, and I are doing in Aiken, there'll be a trip to the groomer's for Sasha since there is no way in heck I can bathe her by myself. Also tomorrow, I'm purchasing one of those invisible fences, which will keep her in my yard and away from giant mud puddles, and maybe that'll save my couch and carpet from muddy dog hair.

Just so everyone remembers, this was Sasha the day after I found her back in March:



She could easily fit inside both of my hands and weighed a mere six pounds. She was roughly seven weeks old.

Here is Sasha from tonight, sitting on her favorite spot, the back of my couch. (I'm continually amazed she manages to lay up there despite how much bigger she's gotten. This has become her spot while Prissy still claims the other end of the couch for her own.)



She's now roughly six months old and weighs 38.5 pounds (as of two weeks ago). She comes up to my knee now - the same height at my other dog Penny, and one of her paws fills the palm of my hand. So much for a tiny puppy.

( Three other pictures under the cut, including one of her tongue. )

Since it hasn't been ungodly hot the last few days, I think tomorrow I'm going to try to get some shots of Sasha and Penny outdoors. If I can get some shots of them together, I plan to get the prints done up at Wal-Mart so I can frame them and hang them up. I'm going to do the same with a picture of Gwen, and then try to get some shots of Prissy where she doesn't look like she wants to devour me. (Easier said than done with her.) I have a wall that needs to be decorated, and I think dedicating one to all the pets would be nice.

I realized last night that I haven't posted any new pictures of Sasha in about a month. Anyway, here she is at roughly 18 weeks, looking very pretty and adorably cute.



( Three more under the cut. )

This morning started off with a visit to the vet for Sasha. She received her last set of booster shots plus her rabies vaccination. It'll be one year before she needs another set of shots. I've scheduled her for a spay in July, and then she'll not need to see a vet again until next May, assuming there are no maladies in between then of course.

She weighed 28.4 pounds today, which is a gain of 8.4 pounds in four weeks. I was told today she may stay under 50 pounds, but looking at the size of her paws (which cover the palm of my hand) she could go over 50. It's still too soon to tell. She'll be weighed again in July when she goes in for surgery, and I'll buy more flea and heartworm medicine then just to make sure she'll be getting enough medicine for her size. (I've got enough to last me until July/48 pounds, whichever comes first. I'm pretty sure July will be first.) I'm laughing because when I saw her on the side of the road at six weeks of age, I assumed she was a small breed dog. After all, she fit neatly into both of my hands with a little room to spare, how on earth could she get so huge? That'll teach me to rescue poor puppies stranded in the rain and freezing cold. ;)

This afternoon, I'll drop the kiddo plus dogs off at Mom's house, and then I'll be heading to Atlanta for a couple of nights. I won't be back until sometime Sunday evening barring any mishaps or emergencies. I'm planning to have the kiddo at Mom's by 3:30 and leaving town by 4:00, but I'm really not sweating it too much since Sam doesn't get off work until around 8:15 tonight, and it'll take me roughly four hours to reach Atlanta. (Actually, it only takes me about 3.5 hours, but once I hit Atlanta, I have to get to the otherside of it to get to where Sam lives, plus I have to fight traffic, and on a Friday night, I bet I-285 and I-75 will be fun to traverse. Oh well, at least I have a big-ass truck that people think twice about screwing with.)

Y'all be safe, and if you're going to participate in a flamewar this weekend, remember your flame-retardant undies. ;)