2 years ago...

Two years ago yesterday, we were welcoming Bronco into our family....

His first night was a rainy one. Oh my goodness he was so small!!

Here he is now :)

Bessemer

So my weekend in Bessemer was pretty uneventful.

Da is having a very hard time breathing due to COPD.
He is convinced that NyQuil is the cure.
He doses in and out throughout the day and then doesn't understand why he can't sleep at night.
He has no concept of the passage of time.
He thinks that my phone is "that magic light".
He says I have "magic eyes" because I don't turn on a lamp to read.
He is very grateful for help even if he protests the whole time you're trying to help him.
He tells you he's hungry by asking if you are hungry.
He really can't take care of himself but likes to think that he can.
In the (not so distant) past, I felt it was my duty to make him realize that he was dependent on us... I guess so that he would appreciate everything we do for him and be more cooperative with us.
I've recently been more and more convicted about my attitude toward him and against him.
I realize now... that it is better for me to let him believe that he is as independent as he thinks he is.
I realize now... that by serving him in a respectful way, I am honoring God and manifesting His love.
I realize now... that God has been working on me and softening my heart to Da for a long time... every now and then I harden it again... I'm a work in progress.

And finally, my walk with Monroe went something like this...

Except he was sitting the entire time.

Walking trail :)

Bronco and I spent about an hour wandering through the James D Martin Wildlife Park behind the Gadsden Mall.  He's never been in such an open space before so I was kind of nervous.  It is really a beautiful area!  Leashes are "required". As you can see in the picture, he had his leash on. I let him roam for most of the time unless I saw people up ahead.  He's such a sweetheart and just wants to be loved on but he has NO idea how intimidating it is to see him galloping toward you... especially if you don't know him.  There are several long piers throughout the park.  We rested for a little bit and watched the ducks.  They did not like that big furry white thing looking at them!  I think he wanted to go swimming too :).  When it was time to go and we made it back to the car, he did everything in his power to stay. He refused to get in the car for about 5 minutes. I had to trick him by walking him around to the other side and throwing a treat in with him.  We had a blast and I can't wait to go back and let D see how he does :)

catching up...

Whew this week has flown by & I've barely blogged!

We ended up getting financing for my dad's truck through our bank.  We are the proud new owners of a 2007 Chevy Silverado with 117,000 miles on it but it still smells and looks brand spanking new!  Dustin is so excited!


Dustin was invited to a Goodyear "Meet & Greet" this week.  He went of course!  They took a tour of the plant and explained that "you are an employee with no start date yet".  OMG!  Basically as soon as jobs open up the new hires are called and given chances to get a job.  He's working at Sears today... his first full day not training.  He will start earning commission in about a month.

Bronco & I had a doggie play date this morning after he got a good bath at Petco.  Katie's dog tucker is a Bichon Frise and Rachel is dog-sitting for her mother's Westie (Kipper).  They are so tiny compared to Bronco!!  Kipper had no idea what to think of that big white thing that kept coming after him!!  He & Tucker play well together.

Busy busy!

Whew!  I have been so flippin busy lately!  I've also kinda been in a funk... I think I'm just overwhelmed but even mundane stuff has felt overwhelming lately.  I'm ready for this to pass!
**TRC = The Rehab Center - our outpatient therapy clinic
**GRMC = Gadsden Regional Medical Center - the hospital I work for
**RRMC = Riverview Regional Medical Center - the hospital my mom works for & where my Da is
**PRN = i don't know what that stands for but it means weekend and afternoon work as needed
Monday - Work (TRC all day), lunch at the RRMC, cooked dinner, sat at RRMC till 11
Tuesday - Work (GRMC in the morning, TRC in afternoon), Healthsouth and drug test at lunch to get some paperwork to start PRN work, dinner at Los Arcos, went to Allen's to watch Biggest Loser
Wednesday - Work (TRC all day), lunch at The Alabama Gift Company, cooked dinner and took it to RRMC, stayed till 9:30
Thursday - Work (GRMC in the morning, TRC in afternoon), Healthsouth for more paperwork at lunch, enjoyed some time with my aunt Lisa, dinner was left-over pizza in the car, worked at gold's from 7-9 (next week is my last week)
Friday - Work (TRC in the morning, GRMC in the afternoon) work at gadsden health care at lunch - thanks for the reminder - Rachel, go to Healthsouth for more stuff.

Rachel thought it would be cute to put her sunglasses on Bronco...

.... and she was so right!

It's been rainy yuck lately and my sweet white dog is very brown!  I can't wait till the rain passes and we can take him to Petco for a bath!



Da is still in the hospital and still battling pneumonia and COPD.  His oxygen levels are lower at night and he has been very confused.  My aunt Lisa and mom have been sitting around the clock and giving each other breaks. We're all a little concerned about my mom because she is sitting with him tonight after working two 12 hour shifts in the ER.  After work today, I picked my aunt up at the hospital and took her to see some houses that she's been interested in for a couple of years (built by an architect that she loves... not to buy).  We found one that was empty but couldn't find a way in.  The sweet lady next door (in a much prettier house) saw us and invited us to look around her house.  It was exquisite!  Lisa was in house heaven!

Bronco!

I found this video on my memory card!  I forgot I had taken it!

The Dog House...

(Click on the collages to view larger)

The neighbors delivered the long awaited dog house today...

Humane Society Update...

So the neighbor comes over this afternoon.  First, she apologizes for "offending" us back in November (see: "Call The Humane Society" for details) which was very nice and appreciated.

Then she tells us that they have decided to buy a giant doghouse for Bronco and it will be delivered on Saturday or Sunday.  They are buying it from a lady in Anniston who had it built for her great pyrenees before it passed away of old age.  Now the lady can't handle seeing it in the yard anymore.  They are delivering it because "it needs a truck with a wench".  I have no idea how we are going to get it through the fence.  I imagine it will look like this....

Bronco!

Bronco's First Day







Bronco @ 7 Months







My baby is getting fixed tomorrow....
He's 7 months old now and sooo big. I can't wait to see how much he weighs!  He got a bath today at Petco and feels and smells so good!  When I got home, D and I took him on a walk.  He was so well behaved until there were about 10 (i'm not exaggerating) squirrels in one yard!  I was so glad D had the leash because he would have drug me across the street!

Call the humane society...

So this morning started off pretty normal. Sleep in, get ready for church leisurely, arrive about 25 minutes late but there in time for a couple of songs and the sermon which was great! We are in week 3 of a marriage series. Eric did (as always) a great job of reminding us that we must "choose to love each other". "Happy" should fall into place when everything else is done within God's will. Take divorce off the table. Reassure each other that you will never divorce and it is not an option. Will trouble come? surely as I breathe. Does God want you to do everything in your (and His) power to stay together? absolutely!

Small group was good too. 3 out of the 4 families were there. We've been talking about Acts . (Click on "Acts" for the lesson). I feel like we need more people in our home group. I would really love to see us grow. It seems like everyone I've invited is excited and then never shows up :(. If you are reading this and want to try it out send me an email.

After home group it was time for some grocery shopping while D watched football. I was talking to my friend Allen on my way to walmart and he said he would come shopping with me since he needed to as well. D, Allen, and I spend a lot of time together and have a good friendship. We ran into about 10 friends from church and neighbors who looked at him like "i don't think you're her husband". It was pretty funny.

As D and I were putting groceries away, the doorbell rang. It was our older neighbor. Her eyes and nose were red and teary. She asked if she could come in and talk to us. Weird. So she starts in with.... "you know, Donald and I really love Bronco and Donald just loves to play with her." I'm thinking.... she's about to tell us something crazy that Bronco does while we're at work that is driving them crazy and we should get rid of him. So she tears up again and says "she's just been laying out there under that tree staring into our kitchen window all day with those puppy dog eyes in the cold, rainy weather". HEY LADY.... He's a DOG! and he's a MOUNTAIN dog. He LOVES this weather. Oh and PS... Bronco is a boy!

Then she says, "We want to buy 'her' from you. Our starting offer is $200. I'm sure she's getting pretty expensive now to feed." blah blah blah... She went on and on even with me telling her "we don't want to sell him. we love him" over and over again.

So after she left, we felt guilty and let the poor baby in for awhile.

Bronco's First Night

Around 8:30 I took Bronco for a little walk down to my friend's house to show him off. She has a small white bichon frise (Tucker). They got along pretty well. Tuck was very jealous of all the attention Bronco was getting :)

Well we made it through the first night with just a few disruptions... mostly at bedtime and sunrise. I needed to get up anyways :) I had already decided I wanted to get up early and take him for a 20-30 min walk.

Around 11:30, our neighbor let his dog (Pebbles) out to potty. Pebbles barks at the wind so he was really upset to see a new neighbor. Bronco didn't seem to mind at first but then I guess it got to him and he barked a little.

Around 5 he woke up and so did I. He whined a little and then stopped. I got to sleep unitl 10 till 6. He whined a little more. So I got up and got ready. We walked for about 25 minutes. I had decided I was going to make one more small loop around the block when we were approaching our house. Instead, he turned into the driveway. He knew exactly where we were going.

He is such a sweet, calm dog! He hasn't jumped on me and he walks soooo well on a leash! He never tries to get ahead. He prefers my left side... weird. He didn't even startle when we walked by some unruly dogs down the street. He's gonna be a great dog!

Bronco's First Day...

We got a dog! A friend found him on the side of the road :( He's a Great Pyrenees.. He's gonna be HUGE! He will definitely be an outside dog... he's done so great so far. He's super calm and sweet. His name is Bronco.

Oh... PS: he's dirty because it started raining as soon as we got him. he loved the rain!