A New Way

I've moved!  You can find me here:  Washing the World Away

He Takes Care of the Little Ones, Too

This is Sadie, my schnauzer girl.  

I love this dog.  I mean I really, really , really love this dog.  

And for the record, she loves me, too.

This past Sunday, we were able to go straight home after church.  This is a rarity since we always have Sunday "dinner" at a nearby diner.  

As usual, the dogs went nuts (we have four, 4, FOUR!) and I rushed to the kitchen because I wanted to see my girl.  As she made her way inside and then hopped up my leg, she suddenly let out a scream.  Not a yelp, not a cry, but a scream.  She slowly fell straight down and then refused to move.

I reached out to her and she rested her head in my hand and leaned against me, which I now know was for support.  She shook violently and then slowly, gingerly, made her way into the den and laid down.

Confused and shaken up, we watched her for the rest of the day.  She seemed out of sorts, but ate her supper and went outside to do her thing like normal.  Except for the fact that she stepped lightly and very slowly.

When a friend arrived later to check on her, she again screamed when she jumped up to bark at the doorbell.  The episode was the same, the scream, the falling down, the refusal to move and the violent shaking.

She had a decent night and the next day she seemed a bit better, although she appeared lethargic and weak.  I kept an eye on her as I did my chores and was relieved when she began following me around a little, which is her routine when I'm home.

However, when the Bald Avenger arrived home, all four dogs ran to the door and then Sadie started screaming again.  This time, I scooped her up and rushed her to our vet.  We were shocked at his findings.

Our schnauzer girl has suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury as the result of trampling. It seems our boxer boy, Casey, inadvertently trampled her in his haste to get to the kitchen.  The other two incidents confirmed that indeed, our boy doesn't appear to look where he's going.

Sadie has two disks that are putting severe pressure on her spinal cord.  She was screaming because she was in agony.

Knowing we only had $200 and some change on our credit card, I prayed that God could help us find a way to treat her with that little amount.  As usual, He came through with flying colors.

My schnauzer girl is once again running and jumping (although I stop her when she starts this), barking, eating and playing as a result of some excellent vet care.

We got our girl back to the tune of $196.

God is good.  

corem deo, Tara 

Senior Pictures

Just a quick showing of the most recent Senior Pictures photoshoot.  You can see more of my photography at Tara Floyd Photography.

A DIY Stuff

I am totally enthralled with the plethora of DIY blogs out there. I must have nearly 200 in my Google Reader which I go through faithfully nearly every day.

I also know that the Bald Avenger kind of wishes I wouldn't, because I always get something in my head to do and I'm off. I blame those blogs.

I've been dragging that man to yard sales for years and for years he's grumbled about nearly every knick-knack and battered piece of furniture I've picked up...until he sees the finished product.

We've furnished almost our entire house with thrift store, yard sale, rummage sale, and consignment store steals. I'm talking nearly everything that currently sits in this house. On top of that, our entire set of furniture in our den is from Craigslist.

Shoot...even our dogs are second-hand.

But what I've been working on lately hasn't cost a dime. Wait, I take that back. The mouse sander, along with my two other sanders cost a total of $19. Again, yard sale steals.

Take this table for instance.  Oops, rather take a gander at that baby.  Awesome and fascinating rays really do shoot up from this thing.  

Seriously.

Here's the table I mean...

You can't really see it because of the blinding awesomeness that is the mouse sander the Bald Avenger picked up for me.  But suffice it to say, the table is that kind of  veneer that makes me cringe inwardly every time I see it. 

  

If you could see me now, you'd see me cringing just looking at this picture.

When a co-worker offered this to me for free, I had to take it home.  Naturally, I had to have one of my offspring carry it.  In fact, the boy who carried it to my truck spoke only in a British accent today.  

I figure that's another story.

I roughed it up good...and then I painted it...

...black.

It currently resides in my family room until such time as I redo the master bedroom and then it can sit in between to "sittin" chairs.  

I'm from the south, I can say "sittin'" anytime I want to.

It's not perfect and my work is usually an example of what not to do.  But I think this turned out all right.

As long as no one sets on it.