Farewell Good Friend

Friday was a very sad day for me. My mom called and told me our beloved dog, Max, passed away. He was OLD - we're still in debate exactly how hold he was, but he was 15 or 16 years old. He had a good life, and he served our family well. You never think about a dog's duty until they are gone and you remember all the things they did or were a part of.

We got Max on a sunny afternoon during the school year, I believe I was in 7th grade. I remember getting off the school bus and sitting in my driveway was an adolescent (11 month old) German Shepherd....Just sitting in the middle of our 200 ft drive way in the country. I immediately stopped and called for my dad to come "save" me. No one answered. The dog continued to sit in the middle of the driveway. So, I sat down at the top of our driveway, waiting for my dad to come rescue me from the beast. FINALLY after a while my dad appeared out behind the pump house, laughing, telling me to say "hi" to our new family dog, "Max".

Max was wonderful! He was friendly and energetic and LOVED to fetch. He LIVED for fetching the ball. My dad had found him in a newspaper ad "Free to good home" - purebred German Shepherd. The previous owners didn't treat him well as he was terribly thin and very timid. They, thankfully, had to get rid of him because they lived in an apartment that allowed "small dogs". Last time I checked a 90 lb dog is anything but small. So that is how Max became part of our family.

We almost lost him that year. He decided that our neighbor's flock of geese were pretty fun to chase and um...Kill. We did everything to try to stop him. That included taking the advice of our elderly neighbor who told us that tying the dead goose around his neck for a few days would cure his desire to go after them. UGH! It was AWFUL. But nothing stopped Max. He kept killing them. That spring we had the worst flood of all time. Our driveway had been completely wiped out by rain run off. One of the utility trucks got stuck at the top of our driveway and while they waited for towing assistance, we started to talk with him. He of course complimented Max and we told him that if he wanted him, then he could have him because he had issues against the feathered friends. The man welcomely accepted our offer and told us he would come back the next day to pick him up.

The next day the man came, with his daughter in tow, with a brand new leash and collar to pick up the dog. I begged and pleaded to let us give him ONE MORE CHANCE. Thankfully my parents agreed. The man and his daughter were terribly disappointed but we promised that if he killed ONE MORE GOOSE, we would be giving them a call. Max never touched another goose.

It even got to the point where the geese would be on our back deck, and Max would just lie there, without lifting an eye.

Until... I was 18ish years old. (it HAD to have been at LEAST 5 years later). Audra and I don't share too many fond memories together but we did have one very funny bonding moment over this dog. I came home one summer night, it was probably about 10:30 at night. I went in the house and Audra immediately started knocking on my bedroom door. With sibling rivalry at its best, of couse I pushed her away, until she whispered "Max killed a goose! we have to bury it!"

We still remembered nearly losing Max and knew if our parents ever found out, that would be it for Max. In reality though, there was NO way we'd EVER get rid of him at that point but we were young and we remembered those solemn words our 'rents told us. Audra had found the goose that day and put it in a black garbage bag and hid it in one of the sheds - waiting for me to get home. SO there we were, digging an inconspicuous hole in the middle of the night, like two criminals trying to cover up their murderous crime. We never uttered a word to ANYONE about it until 3 years ago when Robert and I came home for Thanksgiving. We were recounting the tale of Max's young killing spree and my mom had said he hadn't touched a goose since. Audra and I sort of glanced in each other's direction..."well mom...there's something we never told you about...." My mom was APPALLED. We laughed and laughed about it. But, it was like Max's ONE LAST HOORAH before he decided that he was no longer in the business of killing geese.

2 years ago, our friends approached us, wanting their GSD, Australian Shepherd, Blue Heeler dog to have a litter of pups before they spayed her. In their eyes a female "Whatever" should go through the natural events to complete her as a dog, cat, horse, whatever. Max had never been fixed when we got him and since we lived out in BFE, having an in-tact male was never an issue. My mom suggested Max as the father and they agreed. I remember my mom calling me telling me that Max and Blue had "Done it" and we were all so excited. I really wanted a Max puppy to raise my children with. June 30 the puppies were born. I was there to witness it. I picked out a little puppy that had two white socks and after 4 hours of life was nursing and wagging its tail, not really even aware that its little cute tail was wagging away. Before the puppies were born, we had found homes for ALL of them because everyone in our neighborhood wanted a Max/Blue puppy.

I have Max, Reincarnated. Scout is very much like his dad. Wonderful temperament, loves to be a part of the family, and lives to fetch the ball. His eyes are the very same as Max's, gentle, calm, kind.

So Friday my mom called and described Max's last days. He was old, his hips were arthritic, he had started to lose control of his continence, but it didn't stop him from continuing to discipline the two puppies my mom had of "his", or carry the tennis ball, that he once exuberantly chased after, or climb up the flight of stairs to sleep outside my mom's bedroom at night. Tuesday night he no longer could make it up the steps and I think that is when he gave up. Wednesday he laid on a makeshift blanket that my mom made for him in the living room but she knew the end was approaching. Thursday he stopped eating and went downhill fast. My mom's friend Jennifer came over to help and provide support. Max resisted letting go but my mom sat by him, comforting him, telling him that we all loved him and we'd be ok with out him. She said his ears perked up at the sound of each one of our names. He finally passed on Thursday night. I cried when I found out the news, I cried all day long, I am still crying, typing these words.

He was one of the best dogs I have ever met in this world. Scout is a close second, but I will never forget Max.

Max, we love you, always. Thank you good friend

Max and Macie - June 2006

Same kid, different dog June 2007

The first belly shot...

Today it happened. I popped - or at least that is what the public has implied. So far there has only been one woman at work who had been touching the belly. I thought, before I got pregnant, that it would really bother me. BUT, surprisingly it doesn't bother me at all. (let me say though if some stranger at Target came up and decided to cop a feel I might have to slap them!)

I met my horse friends for lunch today...goodness I love those gals! We're going to the Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010 - and I can't WAIT!!! I loved being able to chat about the baby. And Tammy looks great! I can't wait to meet Baby B in two weeks (Seth - I know you're reading this!!!)

Anyways, when I got back from lunch, I ran into a woman I work with and she stopped me in the hall to talk a work question. In the middle of our conversation, she stopped, looked down and said "You can really tell your belly is out there now! There is no question you're pregnant!!!" Followed by a patting of the belly.

Later that afternoon I had a meeting where another coworker asked me if I am feeling the baby yet. I can feel tickles - like a bug crawling in my pants. As she leaned down and rubbed my belly, she told me she's getting us a "ticke me elmo" for the baby. I thought that was cute!

Tonight I decided to take a picture. Well - here it is! Me at 16 weeks, 4 days pregnant.

We'll have you in and out in 15 minutes or less!!!

Yesterday was our first "standard" pre-natal appt. I hit the 16 week mark (40% done!) on Sunday. Does that mean I'm technically "twice" as pregnant as I was last time? (as if, I'm LEAPS AND BOUNDS ahead this time!)

We got to the Dr's office right on time and they saw me right away. Took my weight - I had gained 2 pounds in a week but considering the amount of CRAP I ate over the weekend combined with actually keeping food in me, I'm not terribly worried about it. I'm still down -10 pounds for the pregnancy. My blood pressure was normal. The nurse brought me into the examination room to listen to the heartbeat

The nurse was trying to find the heartbeat and kept missing it. After what seemed like an eternity waiting to hear those little heartsounds, I told the nurse that I *think* I usually feel the baby in my lower left abdomen. She moved the doppler in that direction and bam! There it was! The heart beat was in the 160's so perfectly healthy and normal. After we heard the heartbeat, the doctor came in and felt around on my belly. He said everything looked perfect, to take it easy and assured me that I can't squish my own baby. (Irrational fear maybe? I don't know - but I have been starting to half way listen to Robert about bending over and what if I break the baby?)

From the time I signed in at the reception desk to the time I jumped off the table was less than 15 minutes total. Gotta love that

I wasn't terribly worried about the heartbeat, but I was worried that I might be losing my mind about feeling the baby. NORMALLY You don't hear of someone feeling movement until around 16-20 weeks, however I have been feeling flutters for about 4 weeks now. But... I kept thinking that maybe it was just my imagination and I was making it up. Heck, for all I know, it could have been indigestion movements, I don't know. However, my fears of insanity quickly vanished after the heartbeat was found exactly where I feel the little tickles.

For the record, I hope this little one is TICKLISH because I am going to tickle the crap out of it when it comes out because all day I feel like I have ants in my pants. In a panic I have felt around for a bug crawling around just to realize it's the baby tickling me from the inside. It's a wonderfully sickening feeling and I can't wait until the movement is more severe and Robert is able to share this amazing feeling with me.

Last Monday's appt, the technician guessed we're having a little girl. I'm getting more and more used to the idea of a little girl (I still don't care either way though if she might have been wrong). And I really do hope it's a girl for my mom's sake - since she has started compiling little girl clothes for the baby. Even I haven't purchased anything for the baby yet! I can't wait until I can though!

Maybe I'll get brave enough to take pictures of my belly soon. I'm still worried it just looks like pudge and not baby belly.

What Honeymoon???

In every pregnancy book and website you read, it always says the Second Trimester (weeks 14-27)is the "honeymoon stage" of your pregnancy. Your morning sickness has subsided, your energy has returned, and you are not feeling the physical annoyances of carrying around a baby (swollen feet + swollen ankles = cankles).

Well, let me ask - when is this "honeymoon" supposed to happen? Because I have been in the 2nd Tri for 2 weeks now and I have never been so sick. My hateful child is probably paying me back because I was telling everyone on Thursday and Friday how much better I was feeling. That soon ended on Sunday.

Sunday started off ok. I got up around 8:30 and ate breakfast. Wheat Chex and 1% milk - something I have ate before and felt fine afterwards. Not Sunday. By 9:15 I was visiting the porcelain throne and seeing my breakfast for a second time. NOT FUN! I brushed my teeth and started on my "spring cleaning" project for the day. It's amazing how pregnancy can minimize how bad puking really is. Usually after a good regurgitation of a once enjoyed meal, one feels awful, looks for sympathy and goes to bed...or at least that is what I used to do until now.

Our bedroom furniture was terribly dusty and needed a good wipe down. I got out the bucket of hot water, added some murphy's oil soap and started cleaning. It was then that I started feeling a little crampy and told Robert about it. He immediately put me on bed rest. So much for finishing the bedroom furniture. The cramps weren't BAD, but they were a little disconcerting. I hadn't felt any cramps since the very early beginning of the pregnancy. I immediately picked up my trusty copy of WTEWYE (for non-preggers people - that stands for "What to Expect When You're Expecting"). No where in the book could I find that cramping in the 2nd Trimester was normal. I visited many message boards, asked pregnant or proud parent friends, frantically googled "2nd Trimester Cramping". And received mixed messages. Some resources said it was ok and normal, others said to call the emergency room. I opted to just stay in bed.

Robert brought me lunch consisting of Easy Mac. (Why is it that when you start growing a child, your palette reverts back to when you were 5 years old? Cravings for PB&J, Pop Tarts, Chicken Nuggets, Mac & Cheese... and the thought of broccoli will make one turn their nose in disgust!) At any rate, I gobbled up the Easy Mac and drank some ice water. 10 minutes later that doomed feeling came over me and once again I got to revisit my once enjoyed meal... CRAP!

I was worried. I was crampy AND sick. This wasn't a normal feeling for someone who is supposed to be on their HONEYMOON!!!

Monday morning I called the doctor. While I had been able to keep a piece of toast and peanut butter down, my cramps were still lingering. The nurse was patient with me and invited me to come in and see the On-Call Doctor at 1:15. Sign me up! With Robert in tow, we headed to the Clinic. I stepped on the scale, surprised to find that I have lost another 4 1/2 pounds (that is a total of 11 pounds lost so far). My blood pressure was "perfect". They gave me another ultrasound to check on those cramps. We got to see our precious hateful child. The baby had it's hands up, clasped together and was probably taking a nap, or was in a starvation coma since I had managed to eat 3 corn bread muffins and a piece of toast in the past 48 hours... Note to self: Eat not for you but for your unborn baby...

The technician told us the baby looked perfect and asked if we wanted to know the sex...Um... is the sky blue??? She told us not to start painting the nursery yet but guessed that we are having a baby GIRL!!! I thought for SURE we were having a BOY but we'll take it either way! It was a relief to see our little girl's heart beating away at 165 bpm.

The doctor came in afterwards and touched on my belly a few times and told me the cramps were probably caused by Round Ligament Pain and there wasn't anything to worry about.

I felt at times I was probably overreacting. No, Scratch that... I WAS overreacting... But...Robert assured me that calling the doctor and going in was not overreacting but playing it safe. It's so nice to know that I have a husband who is so supportive of me and doesn't think I'm too much of a drama queen. I know I am truly lucky!

And for my final words - Welcome Maybe Baby Girl Morgan!!!

Check out those bones!!! Guess that Ice Cream after dinner is paying off!!! (Robert told me that the baby is now too "skinny" and I need to start fattening her up... give it time...)

Isn't she precious? I can't wait to meet our baby in October!

Mom's Pork Chops

Tonight I made my mom's "famous" pork chops. I don't think my mom knows that these are "famous" but I think I would venture to say this was my favorite meal as a kid. I introduced it to Robert a few years ago and after a few raised eyebrows and strange looks when I said "pork chops and corn"...he too enjoyed them. They probably aren't the healthiest in the world but they are SOOOO good.

Ingredients:
Thin cut pork chops
flour
salt & pepper (and other spices)
can of corn (or two!), drained

In a plastic bag (although when I was younger we always used brown paper lunch bags) add flour, salt, pepper, and whatever spices you decide to pull out of the pantry. I would help my mom and it was a lot of fun adding the spices. Place the pork chops in the flour and SHAKE them up in the bag (again one of my favorite things to help with when I was a kid!)

In a skillet - an iron one preferably, add some vegetable oil to coat the bottom and heat the oil on medium-high - so it's hot when you put the pork chops in. Note - this is one of the ONLY times I used vegetable oil versus olive oil when I cook. Brown the pork chops on each side. once the second side of the pork chops is golden brown, add the corn and turn the heat on medium-low. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until you notice the corn is getting a caramel brown tint to it.

The heat from the skillet cooks the corn and the pork chops stay moist.

I serve this with mashed potatoes and brown gravy.

SOOOO good! I know it sounds terribly bizarre but really it makes a GREAT down home cooked meal. And if you're like me and like those little bits from the bottom of the skillet, then this meal is for you!

Move baby move!

Today the weather has been a little stormy. The national weather service issued a Thunderstorm Warning and so we all ran downstairs to the Severe Weather areas to wait out the storm. We went to the gym and watched the red blob move across the screen. I felt the flutters I have become accustomed to in these past weeks but didn't think much about it. At 2:45, about a hour after we all sardined ourself in a room, we were released. I was hoping that Robert would be able to leave shortly after but he surprised me by actually having a meeting to go to... so I waited, pondering why I would ever want to car pool again with him - regardless of the cost of gas and the ever warming of the globe. And then... it happened... Out of nowhere, I felt a feeling similar to the feeling you get as the roller coaster approaches the top of the track, shortly before the initial free fall. It was almost sickening. Immediately after the overwhelming feeling of stomach in my throat, the baby moved! It was a definite movement inside of me!!! Like a knuckle rubbing my insides. I haven't felt it again since. I can't wait until I do though!

Time for a change...

Lately I have felt more and more compelled to jump on the blogging bandwagon. When I first jumped on, I think I was that person who ran after a train and barely caught the rail before it was completely out of touch... I was limiting my blog to the small projects, recipes, crafts that I do... and then I realized that A) I don't like taking pictures of food...it's not me... maybe after I get my fancy new Nikon D60 it might be more fun and B) I'm a lazy butt and don't "embark upon" nearly as many projects as I thought I had. Thus - I'm introducing "Sarah's Blog". I can now be found at www.sarahsunoriginalblog.blogspot.com I would like to record my random thoughts I have during the day. Sometimes I'm funny, sometimes I suffer from Foot in Mouth disease - you've heard of it...Open mouth, Insert foot...but hey, that's me...and for now we'll blame it on the pregnancy :-) As part of my BLOG Creation, I am also going to discontinue my livejournal account...why? Because I have like 2 readers/friends and I would like my voice to be heard. Or rather, I would like to try to get more opinions on what I'm writing about...maybe that's it? I don't know. So anyways, there you have it. I hope you enjoy, I hope I get a reader or two. And for the people (DANA) who wanted me to take photos of food... I will post those projects and recipes on this page as well.