Lilly's Recovery

I helped Lilly down the steps and we're currently sitting in the front yard, enjoying the mild summer temps. Even got her to hobble/walk around the yard a bit. She seems to have perked up a little. Still calling the vet tomorrow (and may be taking her in). Just the way it is but she'll be ok in the end. Took this photo of her about ten minutes ago. She's adorable! Ya gotta love that nose.  : )

Lilly - How Do You Keep a Lab/Collie Calm?

Think my dog, Lilly, tore her ACL again. Doesn't even have the stitches out from the first surgery yet. She can barley walk again. Not sure how I'll pay for it. How do you keep a lab/collie from tearing around the house as soon as she feels better? Another surgery will be $1,000 again. Goodbye savings. I'm sure the vet will let me make payments this second time around (hopefully) but the real question is how do I prevent her from tearing it a third time? It may be time to kennel her when we're not home. At least until she heals up. Poor girl. We've never done that before. She's going to think she's being punished.

Empty Nest

On the left is Alex, my daughter, and on the right is Mary, my fiancé's daughter. Photo is from prom a few years ago. Reminiscing as Alex left for college yesterday and Mary left today. So quiet, odd, and lonely without them. We are finally a true empty nest.

Portland Rose Garden

Tripping through old photos and happy memories. Took Alex 'home' in 2011, to Oregon, where I grew up. I miss my home state. It has everything: the ocean, beautiful beaches, mountains, lush valley's, gorgeous gardens, culture, high desert...everything.  I took this photo at the Portland Rose Garden. Lucked out with this shot. Beautiful and relaxing place, I miss the gardens. Awesome trip with Alex, we had so much fun. Not only did we spend a few days exploring Portland, we also spent a week on the coast, soaking up the sun and surf. Photo was taken on 2011-06-17.

Lilly and her ACL Surgery

Lilly, our beautiful and sweet lab/collie mix, had ACL surgery on Friday. Silly dog torn her ligament while racing around the house. Photo is of Lilly healing and getting some sun in the front yard. Her mood and mobility are definitely improving. She still needs help getting up the back steps but is getting better every day. She's learned to be weary of me holding cheese, my MO of pilling her, a hateful task no one else in the house will take on.

Alexandra

Alexandra, a natural beauty… Easter 2011. My daughter was just about to graduate high school and was getting ready to start her first year of college down in Florida. Her degree? Aerospace engineering. But now she’s thinking she wants to be a computer programmer like her mom.

Saturday Happenings & Wisdom Teeth & Ireland

Alex is out of commission due to her wisdom teeth. Poor girl has been throwing up since last night, still unable to keep food down. Thankfully Gatorade is staying down. Bruised cheeks, chipmunk cheeks, upset stomach, unable to sleep. I never had my wisdom teeth taken out. Is this level of misery normal? If she isn't better by end of tomorrow, doctor said to come back on Monday.

Chilling with her in the master bedroom all day due to her wanting to stick close to momma. I've been loading and setting up apps onto my iPhone and iPad to pass the time. Flickr, Tumbler, ifttt, 500px, Instagram, Blogger, WordPress, Google+, and all the others I normally don't have much time to play with. It's a huge geek world out there.

I was going through my Flickr account and found this photo I took and uploaded years ago. It's of a castle near Doolin, Ireland with the Aran Islands in the distance. I took Alex to Ireland for her 14th birthday (Feb 2007). We drove all over the country, coast to coast. Amazing and wonderful mother/daughter trip.

Tibetan Buddhist Nun Refugee - Rougpo

Ani Gyaltsen Choedon (Rougpo) is a Tibetan refugee I just began to sponsor through the Rime Buddhist Center & Institute of Tibetan Studies.  (The Rime Center Facebook page.)

Rougpo is a Buddhist nun and so beautiful! The refugees are those in exile from Tibet with no family to care for them in India and Nepal. The money goes 100% to the refugee and helps pay for their food, clothing, studies, etc. It's a pretty amazing thing to make such a huge and direct impact to someone else's life.

Every day Tibetans risk their lives by walking across the Himalayas simply for religious freedom. Refugees who make it to India or Nepal have few if any job skills and they live in abject poverty. It hits me hard that we so easily forget how fortunate we are to have religious freedom in the U.S. To practice whatever we believe. We don't have to leave everything in our lives, walk over the highest mountains in the world, and enter a life of abject poverty where your life can literally depend upon another human halfway around the world. Very humbling.