Eventful Times

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. Andy turned 41. He quit his job. Our dog Lily died. And of course Christmas.

Happy birthday to Andy on the 22nd! We didn't do much - just had a couple of friends over. The 21st was his last day of work - what a birthday present! He will have to go back on the 3rd to turn in his badge and debrief, etc. But basically he's finished.

On the 20th, I came home from work and went to let the dogs in as usual, and Buddy came running but there was no sign of Lily. I went out into the yard to investigate and found her in the dog house. She was alive and awake, but couldn't / wouldn't get up or leave the dog house, not even when coaxed with food. I had to drag her out of the dog house and carry her inside. We took her to the emergency clinic and her temperature was 10 degrees below normal. The vet listened to her breathing and couldn't hear her left lung. It turns out she had a diaphragmatic hernia. This means her diaphragm was torn, probably as a result of being hit by a car several years ago before we took her in. Her organs that should have been in her stomach cavity had moved into her chest cavity.

Anyway, they said they would keep her overnight and get her warmed up, and in the morning, we would probably need to drive her to Knoxville for surgery at the UT veterinary school. We left her there and went home, and they called in the middle of the night and said that she had died. I don't really know what triggered it suddenly that day. Maybe the cold.

I am just glad that we found her before she died, and that she wasn't alone. If we hadn't taken her in she would have died on the street a long time ago, so that's some consolation. We will miss her.

We went to Indianapolis for Christmas and got to see everyone but Susan. An uneventful trip this time - no bad roads and no dogs to deal with. We came back late Christmas day. On the 26th Andy and I had our Christmas here. I got a cappucino machine which I have really been wanting and have gone through most of a gallon of milk already.

I had this whole week off and of course Andy did too. We spent the entire week tiling the kitchen floor. We are not quite done yet but almost there. See photos below. I am very pleased with it. It doesn't have grout yet, and I think that will make it look even better.

I will be back to work on Tuesday. I am not looking forward to it much, but it will be good to see everyone there again after such a long break.

I guess that's all. Hope everyone is doing well.

Becky