Highlights of the Last Two Weeks

It's been two weeks since my last post and I honestly don't have a reason for why it has been so long.  Sure I am busy with school and work but what blogger isn't busy with life?  I know my life doesn't revolve around blogging, or it shouldn't, but I also want to put in a decent amount of effort into it.  I can't have a "journal" of my life to look back on if I don't post right?

Moving on to the highlights of the last two weeks...

October 29th one of my friends turned 21 so she had a birthday party at a local bar.  Costumes were welcomed so it also doubled as a Halloween party I guess.  I didn't put much effort into dressing up - a plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots so I guess that means I was a cowgirl?  Like I said, not much effort went into that.

I considered going out at all a success in my book.  I haven't discussed this on my blog but since a breakup a year ago I haven't been very social.  It wasn't done purposefully but when you lose touch with those people you hung out with in high school and didn't really care because you had your boyfriend when you lose the boyfriend what are you left with?  Your family and yourself.  I'm definitely working on growing from this experience and breaking out of my shell to make new friends and meet new people.

I considered going out a success because there was only one other time I have gone out since the breakup in October of 2010.  Definitely room for improvement but I have to start some where and it's OK to start small.

The other big highlight to the last two weeks would have to be that Bo, our almost 6 month old puppy, started limping.  Today I took him to the vet and discovered that his elbow joint in his right front leg didn't form properly so his bones are rubbing on each other which is painful, or will be painful.  There is a surgical option but at this time we don't really know much about it because the vet said she would go with the other option for now.  That other option is anti-inflammatory medication and some chews that will help with joint health.  Bo will deal with this for the rest of his life but will be able to live a normal life for the most part.

Going into this I was scared that something would be seriously wrong with Bo and I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle that after going through something similar with Duke roughly 6 months ago.  If you missed what happened with Duke and want the story you can start with this post here, then read this post here, followed by this post, and finally this post.  I can't really go through it again because it makes me teary eyed still.  Duke is always in my heart and he won't be forgotten.

Sorry this post took a turn to the negative side.  Back to the positives, I went out to a party to meet up with friends and Bo while not 100% is going to be OK.

Tomorrow I will be running the same route I ran at the beginning of the semester.  Mission Accomplished! is the post I wrote about the first time I ran this route.  My goal for tomorrow is to beat my previous time of 19:07.  I haven't been "training" to do this but I have been more active that I was before I ran the route at the beginning of the semester so I think I can accomplish my goal.  Wish me luck!

I've got to study for a test for tomorrow night.  My goal is to do do better on this one than I did on the first class for this semester.

Do you ever consider something small as a success simply because it's a step in the right direction?

Are your pets simply pets or are they your fur-babies and are part of the family?

Family Picture Day!

Exciting news today here at Living and Learning!  Well I think it's exciting news anyways.

Last night I started (finally!) typing up part one of my Country Fest 2011 recap.  I was hoping to have it all typed up before going to bed but of course pictures started taking forever to load and I just wasn't going to wait for them any more.  I'm hoping that either tonight or tomorrow part one will be posted!

And now for the other exciting news...

This past Saturday my parents, Bo and I finally got to meet Bo's dad, Henry!

R-L Sydney (mom) w/ Mark, Bo w/my dad, Henry (dad) w/Jon

Bo also got to see one of his sisters, Hooby (like Scooby but with an H and no C), and one of his brothers, Spencer, who Mark and his family decided to keep of the litter.  I wish I had more pictures for you but I don't because someone, I mean me, has misplaced my camera battery charger.  Pictures with my phone just don't turn out the best.

And it's hard to take pictures of the puppies when I had an English Setter named Miley sitting on my lap pretty much the entire day.  I tried to get Bo to pay attention to Miley so he could learn to be a cuddler but it didn't work out so well.  Probably a good thing considering Miley was 27 pounds and Bo is already 25 and still growing!

Bo was a full 5 pound heavier than Spencer so I'm crossing my fingers that Bo will have more of his dad in him than his mom.  It may be hard to tell from the picture above but Henry resembles Duke a lot in looks and size.

Duke 4/22/11 83lbs

Henry and Duke look alike because they have some common breeding in them.  In fact, Bo's grandpa Hubert was also at the field dog trial (where we all met up because Henry was running) is in Duke's breeding and was Henry's dad.

There are talks of trying to get all of the puppies back together this winter some where so everyone can see how the others are doing.  So hopefully we'll get a chance to see Hooby and Spencer again along with the rest of the siblings.  There are 9 total from the litter.

Monday I received an email from Mark saying that they received many compliments on Bo from other Gordon breeders and other people that were at the field trial.  Guess we picked a good puppy huh?

I want to share this with you but it has nothing to do with Bo or dogs at all.  Friday night my family went to my grandparent's house for a fish fry.  While there I had the pleasure of meeting Wyatt.

Hi there!

Normally my uncle wouldn't keep a bull calf but because he's a Red Holstein Wyatt found a spot in my uncle's heart and they're going to keep him.

Wyatt knows his name and is just the cutest thing ever.  Don't you agree?

Aw shucks, you're embarrassing me.

Hey! Where's the milk?!

Paige is creeping in the background of that last picture.

Sorry for getting random on you here at the end.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far.  Can you believe it's the first day of September already?!  I know I can't believe summer is coming to an end already.

Happy Friday Eve!

If Heaven wasn't so far away...

I'd take my bird dog Bo huntin' one more time.

Those are part of the lyrics to a Justin Moore song that took on a whole lot more meaning for me this weekend.

Friday morning my mom called the vet.  She, my dad, and my brother ended up taking him in that morning.  From the time Duke was last seen by the vet on Tuesday May 31st a bunch of lumps formed.  From what I understand he had some in his lymph nodes, in his stomach area, and one which I had noticed along his spine.  The diagnosis was that Duke had cancer and getting anaplasmosis (the tick carried disease) basically made the cancer flare up and start to show symptoms.

It was determined that the best option was to put Duke to sleep.  The vet was ready to do it during that visit but my parents said they couldn't do it while I wasn't there.  They were given some new pain medication for Duke to help keep him more comfortable until the next day.

Friday night was tough.  I found myself wondering what is harder; knowing they're going to go and having to wait for that time to come, or having them go unexpectedly?  I never came to a conclusion.

Saturday I had an appointment to go to.  My parents went with me and we brought Duke along.  Once we got home we only had a few hours left with him.  We each took some alone time with Duke.  During mine I told him that everything would be better soon.  No more pain, you'll be able to run again, you can hunt all the pheasants, mice, and rabbits you want, and you'll be able to play fetch as much as you want because there will always be a ball thrown for you.

The time came for us to go to the vet.  My brother decided he didn't want to be there so it was just my parents and I.

About a half hour after arriving at the vet we were on our way home.  We took Duke home with us and he was buried next to our first dog Babe.

I went home and laid on the floor on top of Duke's doggy napper for a couple of hours.

Duke is in a better place and our house now feels empty.  This is the first time in 22 years that my family hasn't had a dog.  This is my first time without having a dog in my whole life.  Later this year in October will be the first time in 31 years that my dad will not go to South Dakota pheasant hunting.  We're dealing with a lot of firsts right now.

The selfish side of me didn't want him to go and still wishes he wasn't gone.  But I know he is in a better place now and that my family will heal.

Yesterday was Duke's 10th birthday.  I know he had the best birthday he could have ever wished for.

I miss and love you always and forever Duke!  I'll see you again some day.