August 2013 - Gracie's 6th Birthday!

    My beautiful, sweet doggie, Gracie's birthday was on Friday and we are celebrating today. We are so happy that she is still here on this earth with us! Our prayers were definitely answered and it means the world to us that we can pamper her this year.  She's hasn't had an easy time with this and she still gets these weird seizure/spasms from time to time and they do pass but it is scary when its happening.  Her skin is much better now but she has scars from her infection. I know she can't understand anything since she is a dog, but I tell her how much I love her and how beautiful she is every single day. Today she even grabbed one of Ashley's toys to play and it was just hilarious.  With this brain disease the different meds keep her disease in check but cause so many side effects.  Sometimes she seems sleepy all day and doesn't want to do anything while other days we see signs of our puppy girl who wants to play tug of war and wrestle with her Daddy. I just pray that she stays in happy spirits and is able to stay with us for as long as possible. Love this baby girl! **) -SS

April 16, 2013

Today is Tuesday April 16.  Yesterday there was a horrific event in Boston, Mass and today most of the world is still trying to understand why, why &-why on earth would people plant bombs to explode at a marathon?  This is just awful.  How can a person not have thoughts/feelings about the results of their actions?  Why is it that people hate other people so much and have no regard for human life?  I feel sorry for people like that.  I find myself wondering what happened to them to make them that way?  Everything is not always black and white and people who believe need a serious wake up call.  I just don't know how people can treat other people badly and what did they experience in order to make them so hateful and evil?  How can we help people like that before they do bad things to other people?  Our society has its faults, yes, but I don't know why people just feel the need to hate other people for no reason. ??  Why can't people respect life and the blessing that it is? I wish more people would embrace the differences among us.

I'm not perfect, nope--not all all.  I know that when I was younger I made some stupid mistakes and didn't always consider my actions before doing them.  I still make mistakes from time to time but I try to learn from them now in order to not repeat myself.  Reflection is a powerful feeling because you can thoroughly explore the memories in your brain and compare what you know now to what you knew & did in the past.  This helps to provide a new understanding of how you would have handled things differently and what you can do in your own future to ensure that you don't make the same mistakes.

Our country is very diverse and we make up a variety of cultures.  Why can't we teach the younger generation to respect differences in other people and find the beauty in their uniqueness?  Giving up is not an option.  The only way to change our world is to spread the word and do something positive and encouraging to make a difference.  Practice respect for one another, stop discriminating against people for being different and instead support one another even if you might not believe in the exact same things as they do.  Practice patience and lead by example, that is all we can ask of one another.

March 2013

WOW... time FLIES by, doesn't it? My Gracie is still doing ok but could be much better.  Her skin infection ended up spreading to both her legs, behind her tail and all over her stomach.  She is on yet another course of antibiotics and we are trying a new combination of creams to see if they will help.  The vet was pleased that some of the skin does look a bit better, its just a shame that its not gone completely.  She did have three different spots appear on her face, but they have since disappeared (thank goodness!!) and the same happened to a few spots that appeared between her paws but have also gone away.  We were also told to decrease her prednisone which we did until we got to 10mg only 2x's a week... but then she had a few symptoms of the GME return.  We are now back to 10mg per day instead.  We don't want her to relapse, yet we want to get her off the Prednisone. UGH! This is so hard, especially with her skin issues but when you look into that face you know that everything is worth it. She is so incredibly loving and just wonderful.  Her face makes me happy.  I'm so glad that she seems okay with everything as she still eats, drinks, snacks and plays like a normal doggie. **) Now to concentrate on my own issues! Final exams and assignments this week for school and eye surgery for me on Monday. Fun stuff up in here!
-SS