Poky's Hard Day

Today Poky the Puppy had a very hard day.

It started out badly when she found out that her mommy had gotten up and left the house early, leaving her home with her other mother.

This was so upsetting that she threw up. More than once.

The other mother called Poky's mommy and said "Poky's sick. The vet says we need to bring her in." The mommy was at her sister's school helping and didn't have a car since she had ridden there with Poky's grandma. Since Poky was sick though grandma told mommy that she could borrow her van to go take Poky to the vet.

The vet decided that Poky was dehydrated. She had to get a hydrating shot. More than one. It hurt. More than a little apparently.

The vet put her on a bland diet. We all know bland means tasteless, boring, yucky food. Poor Poky.

When Poky, Mommy and the other mother left the vet Mommy drove over a nail and got a flat tire. Poky had to sit out in the heat while Bud, the very nice and helpful man, helped Mommy and the other mother find the spare tire and put it on the van.

Then Poky, Mommy and the other mother had to drive to Discount Tire to meet Grandpa and get a new tire. Poky had to sit out in the heat with Mommy and the other mother while the tire got fixed.

Then she finally got to go home.

Poky was hungry but not for bland food. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

Poky's uncle came over after school. He laughed at Poky because the hydrating shots made her look all fat and puffy. Boys are mean. Poky felt bad.

Poky wouldn't eat. Poky wouldn't sleep. Poky wouldn't go to the bathroom. Poky couldn't walk right. Poky yelped whenever anyone touched her. Poky felt bad. Poky whined and whined.

Poky's mommy and the other mother and the other, other mother decided something was wrong with Poky. The vet was closed now. They decided to take Poky to the pet hospital.

Poky had to wait for a long time at the pet hospital.

The vet at the pet hospital pushed and poked Poky's stomach. Hard. Poky didn't flinch. The vet touched Poky's back. Yelp, Yelp. The vet says, "There's nothing wrong with this dog except that she is a drama queen." Her back hurts where she got the shots. She is fine. She's just a spoiled baby. Poky was offended.

It was a hard, hard day.

I could have told Poky's mommy that Poky is a spoiled baby and saved her a lot of time, money, grief and sitting in the heat today. But I won't because I think Poky's mommy had a hard, hard day today too.

Home again, Home again

This morning I sat on my mom's front porch, one last time, enjoying the cool morning breeze while I waited for my family to get ready to head for home. I'm afraid that I'm not going to be that cool again for a long, long time. Last night the boys were all for leaving for Arizona at 3:00 AM, but today they had a hard time getting out of couch or off the floor, as the case may be. We finally got everything loaded up and were headed out about 8:30 AM Utah time, which was only 7:30 AM Arizona time, so not too bad. It's always hard for me to say good bye to my mom and this morning my sister was there too so that made it even harder. I always feel like I am going to miss out on something fun when I leave. My mom was probably waiting for the front door to close so she could start singing the Hallelujah Chorus. I'm sure it is a relief to get rid of all the company and get back to her quiet life. (However today we left just in time for my sister, brother-in-law, their 2 sons, 1 wife and 4 kids to arrive. No peace and quiet yet!) The newlyweds headed north, and then east, to Colorado to visit with the son-in-law's grandparents while we headed south toward home. It was another uneventful trip, which I was grateful for. The sons decided that maybe if they took control of the driving we would make better time so the oldest one even drove the stretch from Hurricane to Flagstaff and the hubby and I lounged in the backseat watching a movie and a couple of episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. I have to admit, the time did seem to go a lot faster. We made pretty good time and arrived home about 7:00 PM, following a stop at Cafe Rumba in Glendale for my favorite Tropical Chicken Salad. The salad was good, but not as absolutely delicious as I remember. Perhaps the fact that I had been snacking all day made the difference. I just wasn't hungry enough to fully appreciate it. The cat-feeding, house-watching, nursery-teaching daughter and her roommates/son's girlfriend and her puppy welcomed us with much enthusiasm. I think Poky was the most excited. She had to share all her toys with us that she had hidden under the chair. However, the girlfriend also seemed happy and the other 2 girls were enthusiastic about the Rumba salads we delivered to them. The daughter had bought "welcome home cake" and we celebrated together after the hubby spent 30 minutes on the phone with Qwest getting the internet fixed. They talked him through the steps and although he didn't follow all of their instructions to the letter it is now working again. Hopefully for a LONG time. I guess it is good to be home. I just which I could figure out a way to not let the extreme heat get me down. As we were driving into Maricopa county things started looking like home and I do like living here, but honestly - which would you choose??? Actually, the 61 degrees was while we were enjoying a brief rainstorm in Flagstaff. When we left Payson it was 68 degrees, so technically if I want to be cool I only have to move 2 and a half hours north and not 12 hours north, but then I wouldn't be by any family. The past week Phoenix has had below normal temperatures (low hundreds) but now we're home and they're going up! Less than 4 months more of 100+ temperatures and then I'll remember why I live in Tempe. We have beautiful winters! Tonight I am grateful for A mom - who lets my family and me invade her home so we can have a vacation. A welcoming committee - who made us feel missed and loved. An uneventful trip - Those are the very best kind to have.

Poopy little Poky

The air conditioner at my younger daughter's apartment hasn't been working this weekend so she and one of her roommates and Poky the puppy spent the night at our house last night. Apparently it wasn't a very restful night because Poky felt the need to poop for most of it. Poky is still working on the potty training thing and isn't quite convinced that she should have to go outside to take care of her bathroom needs, especially when it is dark. Needless to say, I am glad that I have procrastinated getting new carpet. This poopy problem continued for most of the day (still at my house) and ended up with a visit to the vet. I guess I should be more sympathetic. If she is really sick then I will have to apologize to her later. Vet visits and potty training, just a couple of reasons why I don't need a puppy of my own. The noise from the other room sounds like my son, the puppy-sitter just got a lap full. I am so glad the air conditioning is fixed and the puppy will promptly be heading to her own home.
I've decided I only want grandchildren that come with diapers for at least the first year of their lives. Sorry Poky.
This is the son and Poky in happier times. His comment was "It's hard to believe something that cute could hold something that foul." After the final incident poopy Poky was all pooped out. Poor poopy Poky the puppy.

Potluck at the Park

We had a ward potluck at the park today. There weren't a whole lot of ward members there, but my family attended in force. My mom and sister-in-law were there and then all the kids and the people they share their living space with came as well. It was fun to have them all together. My mom had a new camera so I used it to take some "family" photos.



Poky was the hit of the party. All my nursery kids enjoyed following her around. She is pretty cute, I guess. Who can resist those puppy dog eyes?

Has anyone seen my son?

I have had to add a text message to my archive so I can retrieve it on a very regular basis all of the sudden. It says "Are you coming home anytime soon?" and it is addressed to my eldest son who has somehow disappeared from my life. Now, don't get me wrong. He is 22 years old and it is time for him to have a life of his own, but when he resides at my home it would be nice to know if he is planning on eating dinner with us or if we should turn out the lights when we go to bed. Adult children definitely make life interesting!

Speaking of children making my life interesting. I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Her name is Poky and she belongs to daughter #2.


This daughter has been wanting a puppy for quite a while and the mean mother that I am, I have tried to discourage her. Now about 2 weeks into this relationship she is amazed at how much a dog can change your life and how much work she is, but I won't ever tell her "I told you so!" As you can see, she is pretty cute.