From Comments/Updated

Perhaps you should wait on getting another dog til your family learns not to let dogs out in traffic unattended? Maybe get a fence?

See, this is the problem with the internets. Self-rightout, uninformed people feel perfectly comfortable rubbing salt in a wound.

First of all, you know GEE, I never until this moment considered how horrible it was that my dog got hit by a car. You know, to me they are just perfectly disposable. I can just pick up another at the pound, and if it gets hit by a car .... oh well. Because EVERYONE who has ever had something bad happen to their dog (whether is ran away or was hit by a car or simply got fat and had a heart attack) is a bad owner. EVERY one of them.

Same must be said for anyone who has a child that got hit by a car. Or who was in a car accident. I sure hope you've never been in a car accident, because it MUST have been your fault and you should have immediately stopped driving until you learned not to let that happen again.

Why don't you lecture me a bit more, because, you know I'm not upset enough by the experience. I care so little about my dog, and that's why we spent $12,000 trying to get her better, and that's why I nursed her every night. Cleaning up her messes, and hugging and kissing her.

For the record, when my dog was hit, she was not under my care. I was away - for one night -at a wedding. We had recently moved out to the country. On ten acres. ONE NIGHT. I thought, certainly one overnight away wouldn't be a big deal. Not long enough to take her so my sister's house (who usually watches her) because it was only ONE NIGHT. My (handicapped) father was watching her, and when he let her out to go potty (10 acre property and we're very far from the road), she decided not to listen to him. She went (unknown to him) to wait for us by the road. I think she was looking for us, really. It was a tragedy. It was a misjudgment. She wasn't ready for us to leave her at the new house (it had been a couple of weeks, but she is really devoted to us.) I certainly have never left her unattended to play in traffic. But, you know, I'll admit my mistake. She wasn't ready to be left with my dad. Even for one night. I have to live with what happened to her, and the price I paid was to lose the best dog I ever had.

If you think, somehow, that this hasn't plagued me for the weeks since it happened and that somehow your wonderful comment is enlightening on the experience ... well,than I just don't know what to say.

I do, actually. I said it in response to your comment.

Update:

Actually, there was a proper way to question my ability to be a dog owner, based on your limited knowledge of the incident. Here it is:

Oh how sad, what happened?

Or, perhaps:

How awful. How are you going to make sure such a thing doesn't happen again?

Instead, you were just mean.

Formerly "PSA ", now merely things you should know

If you, or your children,have seen Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore's movie, An Inconvient Truth make sure you check out this piece that points out the 35 inconvient errors that Noble Peace Prize winner Al Gore made.

Did I mention he won a Noble Peace Prize? That puts him right up there with Yassar Arafat and Jimmy Carter.

Updated: Michele has, perhaps, a more important PSA, so I've renamed this post. Too many PSAs and people start to ignore them.

Where I pretend this is a gossip blog

What the hell has happened to Ryan Gosling? Perhaps he gained weight for a role, but it is time for him to promptly lose it.

Now, here's something to wash your eyes out with.

Did I mention?

That there is a dead deer at the end of my driveway? And, apparently it is my responsibility. I'm supposed to drag it into the woods or something. I'll get right on that.

Expect a lot

Of posts, that is. I'm sad, so don't feel like doing anything. And what fits the bill (of not doing anything) than spending all day on the internets? I may take the kids out for a nature walk later, but I need to be around to help my dad into/out of the car for his physical therapy appointment.

Perhaps with all the dog drama coming to an end, I can start concentrating on politics again. I just read that Obama has two-year-olds giving the maximum donation. That brother has a following! Go Obama!

Not to switch gears,that's the way I'm gonna roll for now, but what do you think is an appropriate mourning period? I'm not ready (obviously) for a new dog, but I'm sorta, kinda curious as to when I might be ready? I really hate not having a dog; and it was awful waking up this morning and not seeing Greta lying over by the side of my bed.

I lectured the kids last night that if we got a dog too soon, we would constantly be comparing her/it to Greta and we might come to resent it. You know, Greta never chewed our shoes kinda stuff. Honestly, she NEVER chewed shoes. Even when she was a puppy. I've never had a dog that didn't ruin a few pairs (if not many pairs) of shoes. Ocassionaly she would take them outside, but she didn't chew.

Once, long ago, she took our remote outside and we couldn't find it. Silly dog.

Anyway, I want to wait so that we're ready, and I know such a thing varies with everyone, I was just wondering how long others have waited before getting a new friend.

End

The pain Greta was feeling was a blood clot, which had probably been there since Thursday. Treatment wouldn't address future clots (clots often mean more clots), nor would the outcome for her affected leg been at all good. So we put our sweet, wonderful, beautiful dog to sleep last night.

I'm sure I don't need to mention how empty the house seems without her.

Forward and back

Greta update:

Ok, so by late last night, we were seeing small signs that she could move her left leg. But, this morning, she insisted on going outside, and dragged me deep into the woods (stupid dog) - me thinking she wanted to take a dump in the woods. She was not curling her leg under (which she had been doing, and was a bad sign), but sorta dragging, and pulling. As if she could move it, but it was really weak. Anyway, this feverish attempt of Greta's continued; go potty or no? Finally, she's starts whining. I really don't know; but she ended up working herself up into such a fit of pain, that I had to go get a shot of morhpine from the vet. She was dragging herself around the basement; in circles, around couching, lying down and then getting back up. And the whining/crying was unbearable. It was really, really awful. She is now (post morphine and maxed-up on pain bills) really drugged out beneath the computer table. My plan is to keep her really doped-up on pain pills for the next few days.

So, giving that she was starting to move her leg, the vet's thought that she messed up her recovering pelvis, which caused inflamation leading to pain and paralysis looks like perhaps the correct answer.

Doggie Prayer Circle Needed Again

Greta popped her hip out of joint. Sigh. The vet is trying to reset it right now; it doesn't always work. Plus, about 50% of the time, it pops out again. Like it already did once. So, you think I'll be beating the odds this next time? Assuming, of course, doc gets it in.

The only good news, is that the vet is about 2 miles from my house, AND I can pick her up later today.


So, rounding up the prayer requests contained in this post:

1) Vet gets hip in place.
2) Hip stays in place.
3) That this doesn't cost me another million dollars.

Ok, so I hadn't mentioned that last one, because I figured it would be so glaringly obvious, I didn't want to insult your intelligence. But, you know, just in case ...

UPDATE:

Doc just called, her hip isn't out of place. He doesn't know what's wrong with her. All I know, is that she suddenly couldn't support her back end, and was in a ton of pain. Waiting ...

Update 2:

Well, it doesn't look good at this moment. She not moving her one leg. It could be inflammation (and thus go away) or it could be something else. Most of which are all bad. I've brought her home to see how she is in the morning.

Iggy or Cosmo?

I can't be sure which cat is responsible, but I found these on my doorstep this morning:



That second one appears to be some sort of internal organ of another little ... whatever it is that they are catching.

Another success story

This is from at least a week ago, but I didn't have AlGore's internet and couldn't comment.

Nathanial Abraham is a real role model of our society's ability to rehabilitate violent, young criminals.

He may be rapping about popping niggers and all, but only because it's art and it's coming from inside him. See, by rapping about drug dealing and killing and shit, kids will turn away from the darkness. Certainly they wouldn't get from his music that a guy could pop a dude, do a few years in a juvie facility, get released to be supported by the state, and then get a rap career.

No, that wouldn't occur to them at all. Matter of fact, I bet listeners to his music all run to join the chess club, or marching band or something.

More Greta Pictures

This is what we call Greta's Magic Carpet Ride. We put her on this blanket and drag here where it is she needs to go. She's gotten pretty used to this; and she'll climb on and lay down for her little trip across the floor.


I don't know how many more trips she'll need; she's doing really well today, but the floors are slippery and that's what really seems to be giving her the problem. This is where she is RIGHT NOW.

For Real Now

Greta, one week after the accident:



She's still got the epidural, urinary cath, and IV port (which I had to deal with and eventually remove) in this picture. And, basically this is ALL SHE DID for a few days. Lay there.

Greta earlier today (exactly two weeks after the kaboom):



I have another picture of her on her "Magic Carpet" which we use to transport her from room to room, but I'll post that tomorrow.

You ask, you get- Greta pics

I'd really like to help you out, but blogger has decided to take a crap at the moment, so it won't let me load pictures. I'll try again in a bit.

I'm baaaaack

Yea yea yea!

And, in honor of my return, it is now time to send in your submissions for the Halloween Crapsastic Contest (TM). River Rat is setting the bar high with this one:



Update:

Not content with first place, RR now wants first and second place:

Updates

STILL no internet yet. It totally sucks, but luckily I've been busy so ... yada yada yada ...

Ok; Greta, as Kirby mentioned, got hit by a car on Saturday night. She's had one surgery to repair the internal organs (put things back where they go and repair her diaphragm) and she needs another to fix her pelvis. She popped one hip out of joint and fractured the other side ( I have no idea how she was running like that, but run she did for a while after the accident.) I visited her today, and she looks ... good, considering. She was pretty happy to see us, but she is tired and hooked up to all sorts of stuff. I'm hoping, praying that everything goes well over the next 24 hours and she gets that last thing fixed tomorrow and that I can take her home on Thursday.

River Rat - where have YOU been? I haven't seen you around in ages. I've moved at least an hour closer to you ... ha ha ha!

I haven't checked my email at all - IhatedialupIhatedialup, so if any one has emailed me I'm not ignoring you, I just haven't seen it.

Anyway, Hughsnet is really pissing me off ... I ordered it last week, and as of an hour ago they couldn't tell me why an installer hasn't called or showed up at my door. I ASSUMED I'd have it running by now.

I miss everyone, and will be back as soon as humanly possible.

I've got fricken DIAL UP

Oh my God, do people actually still use this? Anyway, I'm still in the process of trying to figure out the internet situation, so in the meantime I'm suffering w/o internet. Because this is not the internet.

Now, I'm going to hit the publish button, go eat dinner, and perhaps when I'm done I'll be able to load another page.