A Hole in Your Heart

I think that everyone knows that we have a Basset Hound named Droopy.  Charles and I got him back in 2004  a couple of months after my Mom passed away.  I initiated getting him for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I grew up with dogs so once Charles and I had a house it seemed like the thing that was missing.  Secondly, my Mom LOVED dogs so rescuing a dog and making it a part of our family definitely would have made her happy, so getting Droopy took away a small piece of the loss and sadness I was feeling.  Lastly, I thought it would be good for Charles and I to take care of something together as we were still newlyweds at the time.  Mind you, we killed 50% of our house plants, but hey that at least meant the dog would have a 50/50 chance. ;-)  Anyway, after a little research I found the Arizona Basset Hound Rescue and on their website I found Droopy (he was named Cleo at the time, which seemed like a girl named to me, and since he had already had like four different names, I figured what was one more, and decided he would be Droopy).  I filled out the application and Charles and I were interviewed and our home was visited.  We passed!!!!  We were now the proud new parents of a five year old basset.  Droopy is a wonderful dog.  He is sweet, gentle, loving, SO EASY to take care of.  He really is the perfect dog for us.  He was Charles' first dog so I took a back seat when it came to feeding, walking, training, etc. so that he and Charles would really bond and they did.  They are two  peas in a pod and Droopy easily favors Charles (unless Melanie and I have a treat for him, then he ignores him like you wouldn't believe). :)

Droopy eagerly welcomed Melanie into our family and from day one he has shown her nothing but love and patience.  When she was an infant he would lick her face (leaving a drool puddle) and just sit there while she would pat at his face and try to grab his ears.  As a toddler he would tolerate her as she would fall on him or pet him maybe a little too hard sometimes.  Now he equally adores her and looks forward to their walks and loves the fact she is always on the floor which means belly rubs for him.  Melanie loves him a ton and refers to him as her brother.

Well, yesterday I took Droopy to the vet and we are devastated to learn that Droopy is in heart failure and probably only has about three months left with us.  We knew it would happen soon enough as he is approaching 14 years old and has always had a heart murmur, but it's still tough to face.  I spent my afternoon educating myself on what to do to make sure his quality of life continues as long as possible and also preparing for how to tell Melanie.  It was almost as terrible as telling her about my Dad as she just sat in my arms crying for what seemed like forever.  There is nothing worse than breaking your child's heart, but we wanted her to know he was sick so she would have time to process and also not be surprised when his time does come.  The toughest comment came this morning when I was doing her hair and she said to me, "Mommy I am really going to miss Droopy, I just love him so much.  I think there will be a hole in my heart."  All I could do was hold her while she cried again and tell her I know and how sorry I am as I too bawled.  She then consoled me with, "At least he will get to live with Grandpa and he can take care of Droopy."  She really is my daily blessing! 

Nothing but praises to God for bringing us such a sweet dog to take care of all these years and prayers as we do our best to care for him until his time is gone.  We love you Droopy!!!!

Six Months in a Nut Shell

Six months.....seriously?????  It is hard to believe that six months have passed since I last posted but it would appear to be so.  I have a ton of posts in my head that just never made it to print.  My excuse of course is that I have been busy.  Not nearly as busy as many other people I know  like my friend who has 14 adopted children kinda busy, I don't know how she has time to breathe, but busy for me and for us.  So just for the soul purpose of catching you up, here has been our last six months:

In December I accepted a position to teach for Sierra Nevada College and Washoe County School District as an instructor for their TESOL/ESL/ELL endorsement program.  For those not in education that means I teach classes so that already licensed school teachers can get an addition to their license and be specialized to teach children who speak another language other than English.  This is in addition to my teaching job so that sucked up a lot of hours in my week prepping, teaching, and grading.  Good news though, I loved it!  So, I will be continuing that in the Fall.

We did a lot of visiting of family. In February it was Charles' family in Arizona, in March it was my side in Maryland, and then just last week Melanie and I made our yearly trip to Oregon to visit my sister and brother in-law.  All the trips were wonderful and it always does my heart good to see Mel enjoying her extended family since we don't have any locally.

We also tried something new this Spring......T-Ball!!!  Boy what a time sucker, but also a really great experience.  Melanie really enjoyed it and she had an amazing set of coaches who we have remained in touch with and are honored to now call our friends.  I, of course, volunteered to be team mom (can you say sucker) which could be overwhelming, but luckily the coaches wives were equally amazing and we all pitched in and got the job done.  I learned that Mel has such a natural love of sports which is wonderful.  I also learned that I get burned out easily when it comes to baseball/softball.  By the time T-Ball was over we were only two months into the Aces season and I was done!  I took a two week break though and now we are back in the action.  That leads me to Charles.

The Reno Aces are hosting the Triple A All-Star game this year along with all of the festivities that go with it so Charles has been crazy busy preparing for that.  That fun started today and runs through Wednesday so we won't really see him but the season slows down some after that.

So, busy is the word for the past six months but still feeling oh so blessed through all of it!

Oh yeah, the pic reminds me that Melanie has also lost her two front bottom teeth so we have also joined in the ranks of many other parents who have invited some teeth hoarding fairy into our home to fly around in our child's bedroom, take her teeth, leave money, and then fly out somehow.  All in good fun and tradition! :)

Hope your last six months have been blessed and full of memories.  With love from our home to yours!