sweet boy & good friday

yesterday afternoon caroline & i headed over to athens.

we were hooking up with savannah and three of her best girlfriends for a little

friendship/noonday photoshoot.

we were forecast to have rain so i felt like i was racing with the devil to get there

& get some shots in.

basically the clouds moved on & we ended up with a gorgeous sunset

& a gorgeous spring night.

i'll be back next week to share some of these gorgeous girls

in all their Noonday glory.

 

got home late last night to find out my brinkley had been throwing up

& unable to go to the bathroom.

that followed a fitful night of sleep where

each time he moved , i woke up.

& he whimpered to go outside

multiple times ( very out of character)

& tried to "go" each time.

i called our vet first thing in the morning & was able to get him in pronto.

they love him there.

love him.

they ran blood work

(negative for pancreatitis, common in goldens)

& xrays were taken.

xrays were inconclusive for obstruction, which was & still is my fear.

(i lost a black lab years ago to this issue).

the vet felt he didn't present as an obvious obstruction case

& that since he looked stable

& that to open him up for surgery 

while it could be done

didn't seem the prudent choice.

we brought him home & have been feeding him rice, cottage cheese

yogurt and green beans.

he's been able to keep that down but still is unable to go.

we threw him some tennis balls-his favorite activity on the planet

& it's clear , he's not 100%.

i tell you what.

i just don't know how to suck it up & act all good

when things like this happen.

fear eats me alive.

i guess i love big

& i love wide open.

therefore when those i love are in jeopardy

it's a huge, almost unattainable quest

for me to trust that things will be ok.

i also realize that for many, "he's just a dog".

but for me, he's far from that.

i've been fuzzy all day & just a distracted wreck.

plus, i clearly don't function well on little to no sleep.

i praying he sleeps well & is better in the morning.

if not, surgery may be the next step.

we have tickets for the Good Friday service

which is nothing short of an amazing contemplation of the cross

& worship service.

powerful, so powerful, & beautiful celebration of our Jesus

& his death and Resurrection.

(caroline made this little diptych from some of my iphone images).

i'm praying that brinkley is all better tomorrow

& that i'm able to attend what has been one of my favorite events of the year.

we truly have so much to be thankful for this Easter.

~~

"By your wounds we are healed
  You have conquered the grave
And in your rising, we will rise
To carry your name
Above every name "

christy nockels

sequins, glitter, purple polish. all in one post.

i didn't share this on the holiday walk

because, well, it's the bathroom

(& try not to covet our 80's hardware)

but the funny thing...it's emi's favorite room that i "decorated".

poor child, lives in a home where the bathroom is the fun room.

i love to photograph brink looking out the window.

it's so cute when i've been out running errands & as i pull in to the drive

i can see his handsome face looking out the window for us.

as soon as i get to a certain spot on the driveway, he runs away & heads

over to greet us at the door.

yes, we are such creatures of habit, he & i.

wanted to share my latest obsession
&current fave color.
it looks sorta like a crazy purple color
but it dries to a nice plumy grey color which actually sounds yuck
but it's pretty. really.
scoundrel if you wondered.

ran out and did some shopping the other day.

when i unpacked my goodies ( some of which i can't show yet)

i realized i had quite the color scheme going on.

sans the plummy grey polish of course.

the little nutrcracker ornaments are from crate & barrel

& i used them as gift toppers.

i had asked santa for some wild & crazy gold glittered TOMS

which i am probably technically "too old" to wear.

so in an effort to help santa, not sure if i'd need a different size, being glittered and all

i made a very helpful run to nordstroms

& low and behold 

they had gunmetal sequined ones.

heaven help me.

i'm probably way too old to wear sequin kicks but i couldn't resist.

i wrapped them for him immediately because i really want to wear them now. right now.
just like the Butter polish, they look better in person.i promise.
just peeking out under long jeans....not with shorts or anything crazy like that. fear not.

& just in case you wondered,

here's proof that i do indeed wear shoes other than my cowboy boots.

& since we're talking shoes

& clearly i'll wear anything,

hence the sequined TOMS,

i would love your opinion.....

sequined or metallic

& haters of gold shoes, please don't respond! 

( & dan, don't worry. i'm not shopping for tory's...just an innocent hypothetical survey! wink)

i'm still shaken up, but so very thankful

earlier this week i had planned on today's post being an eloquent entry on having a thankful heart.

after what happened to brinkley yesterday,

it will be short on eloquence

but even larger on thanksgiving.

yesterday while we were out on our run,

a giant shepard run up out of nowhere & began attacking brinkley.

it all happened so fast

but i remember thinking i was going to see my dog killed right before my eyes.

we run on the sidewalk of a busy street.

brinkley quickly got out of his collar and leash.

i was screaming for someone to please help me.

they began to run back & forth through traffic,

which i think was already beginning to stop.

back & forth through the street

i'm running back & forth through the street

screaming.

i remember running down the middle of the road begging people to stop and not hit him.

begging for someone to help me.

brinkley tore off

i think the mean dog ran away from him as they approached the traffic light.

i had never seen brinkley run so fast.

a good samaritan who incidentally had two large dogs in her car,

pulled over & told me to jump in.

i was completely hysterical.

we drove towards my home.

i remember her telling me, we'll find him.

we will.

take a deep breath.

i took a deep breath.

i was terrified.

we pulled in my street & immediately saw two other cars pulled over in front of my yard.

dan was pulling out of the driveway & had stopped in the middle of the road.

all three of them were in the yard

with my brinkley.

i got out of the car

& sat in the yard holding him, sobbing.

i guess the two other cars must have seen him running & tried to follow him to make sure he wasn't hit.

turns out one of the kind people knew my hubby from when he taught 

years ago. i'm certain she is convinced he married an unstable crazy woman.

we assessed him quickly

of course he was covered in thick yucky mean dog slobber.

his feet were bleeding & he was hobbling.

i could not stop sobbing.

we got him to our vet.

he's the homecoming king at our vet.  they LOVE brinkley.

his temp was up which the vet assumed was from all his trauma.

she quickly reassured me how incredible it was that he wasn't mauled . that he survived.

i cried again.

the mean dog "only" bit him in a few places. 

they soaked his paws.

we assume from all the fighting in the street he tore his foot pads & ripped most of it off.

his nails were all bleeding from running so hard & fast.

he has a significant limp.

the vet feels certain it isn't broken

but at this point is assuming he has soft tissue damage from the running.

he's on antibiotics & pain killers around the clock.

i'll be honest

never in my life have i experienced anything that horrifying.

i was terrified that that dog will kill him,

that he'd get hit by one of dozens of cars

or that out of fear, he'd run away.

last night as i laid in bed thinking back through the episode,

i couldn't help but be emotional all over again.

i thanked god for my dog & that he was ok.

i realized that it was a miracle that he survived.

he was in & out of traffic and he crossed approximately 8 intersections.

i truly believe there were angels guarding him as he sprinted home.

& that's another thing...

despite his terror

he ran  over 3/4 of a mile & found his way back home.

later yesterday i went back out on my run

& found the dog owners.

apparantly someone had called the police 

& they showed up with animal control at her house for a "viscous dog attack call".

she proceeded to tell me how kind her dog was and how she just wanted to play.

i told her my dog was lucky to be alive

& that our little play date had already run me $150.

that my running partner might not want to run with me again

& that he was pretty beat up.

she kindly offered to help pay the bill.

dan & i will go back over there today...

he's pretty pitiful this morning

still hobbling around & very mellow 

very not himself

but thankfully very alive

& very here with me

&

for that 

and so much more

i am thankful.

i hope each of you enjoys a blessed thanksgiving

whether your thankful heart is full of more than you ever dreamed

or

whether your thanksgiving is truly a sacrifice of praise.

i have all my girls home

& we have some cooking to do

& some black friday shopping to tackle.

i thankfully have sessions to edit

& a sweet furry boy to tend to

so

i'll be back next week.

xo

a little Gryffindor student perhaps?

little bit has spent the better part of the last 4 weeks deciding what she'll be for halloween.

little miss social butterfly has 3 parties in 3 days

& had big plans for her costume,

which has changed possibly 6-8 times.

she actually had found a super cute cotton candy thing she was going to create

but boring mom that i am 

campaigned for her to use what she already has

& be a Hogwarts student.

there may have been a few tears shed...but she emerged with her own fashionable twist

on the school of witchcraft & wizardry uniform.

so 

complete with wand

time turner

& harry's scar

she took off last night for party #1.

the thing i found hysterical

is that brinkley was convinced she was going to throw

her well chosen stick wand and they could play a quick game of fetch.

i have now figured out the secret to getting him to pose!

 

surely the sorting hat would chose

Gryffindor for her!

updates & a reminder

 saturday morning was the girls last competition.

wild horses couldn't have kept madison away.

i felt certain that less than 24 hours after surgery

the last place her loratab jacked up self would want to be

was a loud gymnasium for hours watching cheerleading.

puffy face, no make up, splint on her nose

& still on meds around the clock

she was there bright eyed & cheering on her squad.

they came in 2nd place

&

received the sportsmanship award! which is a big deal...

at least a couple dozen squads there most of which were varsity

& two of the recent state champs were also there.

yay!!

 

the girls have all been coached by our favorite tumbling coach, tjuan.

caroline told me that if she'd had known she would be in a picture she would have dressed a little cuter.

what a riot!

 

yesterday madison really had a great day when this arrived in the mail!

in fact, i'm not even sure when she went to bed last night as she was 

in heaven playing with it.

have you seen the opi app? too fun

she'll be feeling a lot better today after she sees the doctor.

she's had a perpetual headache since the injury & maybe even more so since the surgery.

the nurse assured me she would get some relief today

after they remove the packing.

you just cringed didn't you?

 

when i was 35 & in for my annual, the doctor thought she felt something

& sent me in for my first mammogram.

as if that wasn't stressful enough,

i ended up being called back for another one

(which incidentally landed in the breast cancer month of october).

everything ended up ok

but now each year i have it scheduled in october. 

with pink ribbons everywhere it makes it easy to remember to schedule.

please tell me you've done the same!

if you're late, please call & schedule yours.

some recent shots during this glorious weather~

 

(ps. brinkley is all good now too.

after two weeks off from running

while his laceration healed

& he took ginormous antibiotic capsules

we finally had a run together over the weekend. love that boy)

one more thing~

minted is running a current special for blog readers

( not posted on the minted site)
promotion lasts until 0ctober 31.
15% off all Minted Christmas and holiday cards with code MERRYAFF.
This promotion lasts through October 31, 2011 
click on the little button & that will take you right over.

for the love of tomato soup

last week we were blessed with some unseasonably cool days.

gorgeous breezy days

& even one rainy day.

i can't remember the last overcast rainy day we've had here in atlanta

so i really savored that one.

best thing to do on a rainy cool day is make some soup.

i've posted once or a dozen times about how much we love

edie's spicy tomato soup.

which is caroline's favorite....even requested for her birthday dinner back in the spring.

my little herb garden in the back yard has done fantastic this summer

but i can tell my basil is on it's last leg

fear not

mr. manners is not allowed to rest his chin on the table

but he snuck a quick move on me while i was photographing dinner.

he cracks me up

he loves all his raw veggies....carrots, brocoli & cucumbers.

i would love to know what his little mind is thinking...

probably something along the lines of 

why are these humans ignoring me.

i love my veggies.

pass the tomato soup woman!....please

while we've warmed back up again

i can feel fall is just peeking at us around the corner.

looking forward to finding some yummy soup recipes.

would love to hear your favorite!