I lost my Barney today.

He hadn't completely been himself since the blizzard a couple weeks ago, but in the last few days he was really not doing well. He was having a hard time keeping balance and it seemed like he had trouble moving around. He hadn't been eating much, and on Thursday night he wouldn't even take his pills in the pill pocket (and he loved them - you never saw a dog get so excited about taking medicine!) I also noticed he had lost quite a bit of weight (you could feel his ribs - and when they weighed him today he was down to 13 pounds.) He was having a harder time getting around this morning, and could barely move out to the car. I carried him into the vet's office and held him on my lap in the waiting room - he didn't even try to jump off. The tests at the vet found that he was in the very end stages of heart failure and had pancreatitis - and they couldn't treat one of these two things without the treatment making the other one worse. The stress of the tests got to him too - he couldn't even raise his head when they were done (although he had been able to walk into the exam room). It was the decision I never wanted to make - but it was the best thing for him. It was time.

Nana was there too (she had an appointment to get her claws clipped) We brought her to him so she was able to say goodbye too. Barney's vet is a high school friend of mine, so it was good that he was the one to do it. David and I were with him until the end, talking to him and petting him and telling him how much we loved him and would miss him. He looked so peaceful at the end - more relaxed than I'd seen him in a while.

Needless to say, I've been a weepy mess ever since. I had him for almost nine years. It wasn't long enough. It never is.

I miss him so much. He was the best dog in the world.

Barney Rosenthal: March 1, 1996-February 19, 2011.

Current Mood: crushed

Apparently I haven't done this one as recently as I thought!

( Same questions, mostly new answers )

On the way home from getting gas, I turned on the classic rock station - just in time to hear Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

AIEEEEEE!!!!!!

In other news, it was a really busy day at work today and tomorrow will be just as busy. Yay for 4th quarter! I will be glad when we are done with Thanksgiving and December midweek events.

In lieu of writing an actual novel (or attempting to write one) during NaNoWriMo, I'm going to write something in here every day this month. At least that is the plan. : ) It will be good to get back into the habit of writing more or less regularly.

So I begin with something that made me feel very old recently. Via Facebook, I found out that someone from my high school class is now a grandmother. Granted, she had her daughter during high school and that daughter is around 20 now, but still. It is weird to think about people my age with grandkids!

Lots of people on my friendslist have made posts about the new ability to crosspost entries and comments from LJ to Facebook and Twitter. Because I am too lazy to make the same comment to everyone's entry, I'll just address it here.

Although I'm actually on Facebook and Twitter much more than I am here (though I do read my friendslist daily!), I will not be syncing this account up with those sites. I have no interest in crossposting any entries or comments from here to Facebook and Twitter. All comments I make on anyone's LJ entries will stay there.

In other news, hi! I'm still alive. : )

Today: Stayed late at work to get caught up on some things - I'm so behind! (Welcome to fourth quarter at work - our busiest time by far)
Tomorrow: Should probably stay late at work again but I also have to get to my parents' house to gather some stuff to donate to Amvets.
Wednesday: APO Alumni Association fellowship at Dave & Buster's.
Thursday: Jaycee membership meeting/elections. Also, packing!
Friday: Half a day at work, then drive to Bloomington!
Saturday: Mu Chapter's 80th Anniversary! I wish some more Brothers from my era were going to be there, but it will be fun.
Sunday: Drive back from Bloomington.

It's going to be very busy but the weekend should be a good time. I can't wait to show David the IU campus.

Now, if only this cough would go away...

Yikes! That's quite a bit of neglect.

So here are a few things that have been going on...

+ Had the Jeopardy audition earlier this month. I passed the 2nd test so I could get a call in the next 18 months. Didn't do as well on the mock game as I wanted, though...most of the categories during the time I was playing were, shall we say, not my strengths, though I did do better at the end. Cross your fingers for me!

+ Moving into the new house in a week! It is odd to think this is my last official week as a Bolingbrook resident. Of course I am nowhere near packed...where is the Magical Packing Fairy to do it all for me? ; ) I've changed my address with the post office and with magazines but I still have to do it for my driver's license and reregister to vote at the new address. I can't believe how much work goes into a move - even one just a short distance away!

+ Friday marked the one year anniversary of the day David and I met in person. : )

+ I signed up for a second session of Pilates at work and have been keeping up with it. I noticed that I have been able to balance much better than when I first started - not that this translates into "well." ; ) But at least I can hold some of the positions for a few seconds now!

- I have been so tired lately. All the abrupt weather changes are not helping, nor is Barney's sudden desire to be an early riser. (He's decided that 4:30-5am is a GREAT TIME to wake up and go out.)

- Did I mention the weather here has been awful? It's been raining like crazy this month. Up until this week it's been chilly more often than not, too. This year has just been brutal for weather!

- And I need sleep.

David and I will be signing the lease on the new-to-us-but-keeping-it-in-the-family house in the next couple weeks. We will be moving in at the end of June!

I look forward to that more and more every time I take the tollway to work...soon I won't have to deal with it anymore. The biggest traffic hangup will be if I get caught by a train on Belmont. And it will be so nice being able to come home for lunch - I know Barney will enjoy it too. ; )

(Why yes, this is copied from my Facebook page. ; )

( Cut to spare your screen )

Despite trying not to catch the cold everyone in my household had, I failed miserably and have been feeling icky all day. What a way to go back to work! Luckily, there were no major crises that happened while we were closed - a few minor crises, but nothing super out of the ordinary.

The annual year-in-review entry to come tomorrow or so. : )

Back to work tomorrow. I'm so not ready to go back to getting up early. : ) (I've had a seriously odd sleep schedule while I've been off!) I had all these grandiose plans of productive things I was going to do in the week and a half I was off. You guessed it - I did exactly none of them! I did get to spend a lot of time with David, which was nice. I saw him every day this week except Monday. It'll be weird having to wait to see him again until Friday! I am not sure what we'll do that day, but Saturday is our chapter A & I banquet so he'll accompany me to that.

I am hoping the day goes well tomorrow! I am always a bit nervous to go back to work after I've been off for a while - I'm hoping there were no crises!

(Note: A slightly modified version of this was posted on the Lush forum. If you think you've seen this before, that's probably why.)

There were actually quite a few highlights for me this year. It didn't start off super-well, but it got much, much better.

( In chronological order )

Monday: Went to leave for work and found out my car doors were frozen shut! Luckily the SUV's doors were not frozen, so I was able to take that, but it took quite some time to get all the ice off and defrost it. I ended up getting to work at 9:30. Luckily my supervisor was cool about it - I took a half hour lunch that day, stayed til 5:30, and stayed until 12:30 today instead of leaving at 12, so the time's been made up. Still, though, I hate being THAT late.

Today: Snow, snow, snow! It started just after lunchtime. Luckily I had taken a half day today (my intention was to go to the APO Anniversary dinner in the city!) so I got home just as it was starting to get bad. Our office ended up closing at 3pm but the roads were just a complete nightmare. David had a six hour trip home from work! Needless to say, I didn't make it into the city. I did take Barney for a walk in the snow and he had a good time.

I am so not looking forward to digging my car out tomorrow. Maybe we'll have a snow day - we'll see. At least the major stuff is done at work. Thursday will be our group's white elephant gift exchange and Friday will be our holiday party (we are going to be closed in the afternoon for the party!), so that will be fun. Then I will work Monday and Tuesday and that's going to be it until January 5. : )

I really need to start updating this more often! Here's what's been going on...
( Birthday )

( Work )

( Reuniting and reconnecting )

( NaNoWriMo )

Oh, there's more - but some of it is embargoed til tomorrow. ; )

Actual headline on ESPN.com just now:

Current Mood: amused

So I talked to the veterinary oncologist today - they got Barney's biopsy results back. And...

all they found in the biopsy was normal esophageal tissue! The vet thinks they might not have been able to scope far enough to get at the mass...But since he's eating and drinking and acting normally and it doesn't seem to bother him, she thinks there's no need for treatment or anything more invasive. We just have to keep an eye out to see if it looks like it's getting worse - if he stops eating or starts coughing up a storm or puking everything up. They also want him to come back in a couple months for a follow-up check on his heart murmur. But he's been cleared to get his shots and go on as normal!

Thanks for all the good thoughts and vibes - talk about getting quite the scare! Of course it is still a mystery...but things are looking good for him!

In other news, two days from now I will be in Washington DC! Woohoo! I am so ready for a vacation, especially since work has been crazy busy lately. (I thought it would be slow with the holiday coming up - ha ha on me!) If you are in the area and want to meet up, let me know. : )

Yesterday we went back to the specialty clinic for the follow-up. The good news is that he responded very well to the new heart medications so they were able to do the CT scan. They found a giant mass constricting his esophagus - the vet said she's amazed that he eats as well and as much as he does without throwing it all up! While he was still under they biopsied it and we should know the results on Monday or Tuesday. He did really well under the anesthesia, which is good. The vet told me he would probably be a little groggy and out of it last night. When they brought him out, though, he was all excited and was jumping up and down and running around. Of course, he didn't quite have his footing fully at first and slipped and slid and fell on his butt a few times! He had to go out every 10 minutes last night, it seemed - due to the diuretic he is on and the fluids he got during the CT scan, plus he drank a whole bowl of water when we got home. (Luckily the vet cut the dosage of the diuretic!) He is in a good mood today, seems to be eating and drinking normally, and isn't quite the peeing machine he was last night.

In other news, I am planning a much more relaxing weekend this weekend than I had last weekend. It was carnival and I think I was there working all but two hours that it was open! Never again do I want to put in THAT much time there - I was so ready to drop by the time it closed on Saturday. I wanted to take a recovery day from work on Monday, but we sent out insertion orders on Friday afternoon and I knew it was going to be crazy. One week from today I will be in Washington DC - woohoo! : )

I took a half day at work today because of Barney's appointment at the specialty hospital. Of course two rather complicated things came in late in the morning that had to be done today - I ended up leaving a half hour later than planned. At least it got done and it kept me too busy to worry too much!

Barney and I got to his appointment on time, despite hitting every stoplight between here and the clinic. The vet did an echocardiogram to check on Barney's heart and see if it would be safe to give him anesthesia for the CT scan, but they felt that it wasn't safe at this time. The vet upped his Enlapril and gave me two more medications for his heart. I'm going to bring him back in two weeks - the meds should get his heart issues under control enough that it will be safe for him to go under anesthesia for the CT scan.

They did take more Xrays and did an ultrasound on the area where the mass is. It turns out that it's not actually in his lung, but closer to his esophagus. It's pretty deep in his body so they couldn't safely get a sample of it. The mystery deepens!

The good news is that he's gained a little more weight back. He is now a little over 18 pounds! The vet also said he was very good through all of this and that everyone loved him.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers - please keep them coming. : )

Barney was supposed to have a dental cleaning and some teeth taken out last Thursday. His bloodwork the week before was good but the vet needed to take some Xrays first, to make sure he could handle the anesthesia. (since he is older and has a heart murmur) Well, when they took the Xray they found a large primary lesion in his lung which the vet is almost positive is a tumor. To say I am shocked would be an understatement, especially since he'd been in remarkable health since I've had him. I'll be taking him to a veterinary oncologist on Thursday to find out exactly what we're dealing with and what the prognosis is and will decide what to do from there. (I also have the name of a holistic vet in the area, recommended to me by someone my mom knows who takes her dog there for the same thing) He's still his normal happy active self and isn't acting like it's bothering him. (When I came home from work on Friday he leapt over Riley, who was visiting, to get to me because he was so excited to see me! It was so cute!) I think that's making it a little easier to deal with. I just want to keep his quality of life good and keep him happy and comfortable for however much longer he's with me.

The encouraging news was that he's gained a little weight back since he started taking the antibiotic a couple weeks ago. He also seems to have a much better appetite - that's a good thing. : )

If you could spare some good thoughts and prayers for Barney, I'd appreciate it. He's a tough guy and a fighter but he has a really, really tough opponent.

It's officially booked...this Labor Day weekend will find me in Washington DC! I found a really, really good package deal on Expedia (better prices for DC than Toronto), plus it also includes a $100 gift card for gas. I could not turn that down! : )

So far I'm pretty open as far as exactly what I'm going to do. I definitely want to go to the Holocaust museum and some of the other museums. Otherwise I am open to suggestions.

I'm super excited. ; ) Yay for vacation plans!

Current Mood: excited