Dogs...Are Expensive. And Worth It.

Ah, for the love of a dog.

Or two.

One of my Facebook friends, Joe Murphy, posted a little note on his account.

“The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400.”

Shoot.  I bet it’s more than that.

If you add the arthritis diagnosis, because you chose hunting dogs to be a part of your life, and now, they’re older and can’t get around as quickly...you should add the cost of 1.5 Rimadyl pain pills daily to that cost.  And now, we've started laser treatments to battle the arthritis.  Not to mention the bags of all natural dehydrated food.  And the natural supplements.

And if they’re still hunting and doing what they love to do, well, all I can say, is S&^* happens.  They might run through the barbed wire fence and have to have $250 stitching job.  Or, step in a gopher hole and have to have their leg set (can’t remember $$$$.)  Or, run a 12" mesquite thorn up their leg, which somehow went into the paw of their foot, and ran, under the skin, where normal humans can’t see it, up the front of the leg almost to the knee??  Took about 2 days to figure out he wasn’t just sore - so, another little operation.

And what if you have a stitch licker?  The kind that tries to “Heal Thyself” by licking any and all wounds?  Thereby dissolving the stitches before their time, and the 6” wound comes gaping open, causing yet another trip to the emergency vet for restitching?  Then, a rerun, so this time, stapling?  Ughhhh.

I think we are at around $20,000, and we’re right at the 11 year old mark with Zack.

Zanna has been relatively painless, but she’s so weird, she probably doesn’t dive right in like Zack.

But add up dog-sitting, dog-walking, dog-going-to-the-park time? I’m not even going to say.

Our boys have it right when they say they have been replaced by two Wonderdogs.

But when we die, guys - you can have Zack and Zanna, the stainless steel dog bowls, the kennel, AND the pooper scooper.  (Oh, joy!)  Irregardless of what you think, you’re still in our wills.  We do so love you both.

And oh, by the way -  the exotic granite, gold leafed doggie tombstones, engraved with Zack and Zanna's birthdays?  They're in the garage.

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For Love of Home = aka Love You, Jackie!

It’s been a pretty fun week.

We’ve spent the better part of the last two weeks in the DFW area. Though I was recovering from a medical procedure, we still were able to visit with many of our friends from the DFW area, a little at a time.  Great stuff. Thursday evening, when we headed up to Oklahoma to see Elder Son.  We booked a hotel room in that small town, drove there (I slept, I think) and promptly went to bed.

We slept late the next morning, then met Elder Son and his friends for lunch.  They were a hoot, and we can’t wait to spend more time with them.  We're thankful for the time our son is spending with them.  After lunch, we went to the facility where they work/train horses, and enjoyed even more time.

Around 5 p.m., Steve and I left to head west to another couple’s house, where we stayed for the remainder of the weekend.  We had a great time there - we figured out it had been almost 10 years since we had visited their house.  Time does fly! We played games with their family, ate great food, and hung out. Fun stuff!

We headed back to Midland today, and I was so excited to be heading home.  It feels like we’ve been gone forever, but of course, that’s not the truth.

We stopped at Munday, Texas, to visit a fellow blogger, Jackie from  For Love of Home.  She had no idea we were coming.  We had never met, up until today, so we were taking a huge chance that she might even be home. 

We pulled up in front of her house, and her husband was leaving.  He pulled up behind us, and I walked up to his window and explained what I wanted to do.  He parked, got out of his vehicle with a smile, and walked Steve and I up to the door.

I rang the doorbell, and Jackie answered, with this slightly puzzled look on her face.  

I said, “Yes, ma’am.  I was wondering - might I use your bathroom?”

She said, “Well, ummm...”  She looked past me, to my husband, and to hers, and looked back at me.

I said, “No really, my name is Janie.  And I was wondering if I might borrow your bathroom?”

We all cracked up, once she realized I was no stranger, that I was her long-time blogging buddy.

We had a great visit, and Steve and I fell in love with the both of them.    I believe Jackie  eventually recovered from her initial shock, because we all laughed a lot. We stayed for a while (hopefully not too long!), then headed on home. It was a very good day.

Red sequined shoes.  Click. Click. Click of the heels. 

And I am home, with ThatManILove.  Unpacked.  And in bed. Full of smiles from the last two weeks.  And I got to hang out with Elder Son, twice, and Younger Son, once.  You can't go wrong there, people. 

Sweet, mi vida loca.  Sweet.