we got a puppy!!

my friend from work had labrador puppies. i was talked into going and looking at them. whelp, you know what that means. WE GOT A PUPPY!!

jack is obviously a proud big brother.  introducing baby brother howard levi (howie) aka rooney. he's a triple named dog. #lotsofnicknames

howie is the cutest puppy ever. i mean, seriously!  so handsome! love this little guy

we took this pic the day we brought him home. he never sits still. it was amazing to get one good pic. so excited to have howie in our lives. we love him!

halloween: jack's kissing booth

guest posting by jack

my mama wanted me to be a kissing booth for halloween.  she says i'm always giving out kisses for free and that i need to earn my keep.

slobbery kisses are extra!

i have a current licker license

the kisses are only $1. that is pretty cheap as far as i know

she tried to get a hundred different angles of my costume.  she can be crazy at times....

yep. my kisses are doggy style.  with a huge tongue and lots of love

this is about the time i saw some other dogs walking down the street.  how embarrassing to be caught in this predicament!

see, i am not being tortured.  it is fun having a photo shoot in my honor

there you have it!  come get a kiss!

Jack is an Addison Dog

my sweet boy jack started getting sick 1 and 1/2 weeks ago.  It started with vomiting and progressed rapidly to lethergy, lack of appetite, and tremors. jack lost 9lbs. it was obvious jack felt sick.  he was weak. he was disinterested in everything i tried to do to encourage him. i was worried sick.  i was scared to death. i could not imagine my life without my sweet boy. he was so young at heart just 9 days ago and now he was an old man.  what is going on?

i took jack to two different vets to figure out what could be wrong with the boy. he had blood drawn, iv's placed, x-rays.  the poor boy was getting poked and prodded all over.

jack wouldn't look at me as i left him at the vet.   he felt like i was betraying him.  poor little guy

jack has never been so skinny.  his little gut was sunken in and he actually had a cute little waist line. i wish he didn't

poor little jack with his iv in place

you can tell jack is sick.  he has no sparkle in his eyes. he has no energy at all.  he looks miserable

oh my poor baby.  even sick he is the most handsome dog on earth

jackie was diagnosed with addisons disease 9 days after getting sick.  addisons is an endocrine disorder that affects so many things.  really to get a good grip on the disease, you just need to google primary addisons disease. as you can see, once we started treatment the sparkle in his eyes returned.  he is almost back to his old self.

he is so happy!  he will be on prednisone and procortin for the rest of his life, but once controlled addisons is an easy disease to live with.

my boy is BACK!!!

and he loves those rocks!  i am so incredibly grateful for all the prayers and support sent our way for the last 9 days.  it has been a roller-coaster, but now that we know what is wrong we can treat it and he can live a long healthy life.

i will never forget....

all pictures taken by me in september 2001.

i was in the world trade center at the exact moment they were hit. only it was one week prior to sept 11, 2001.  on tuesday sept 4, 2001 my friends and i were heading to the statue of liberty.  we had taken the subway to the world trade center stop and were leaving the building about 0845 in the morning.  as we left the building, i looked up.  i could not believe the magnitude of these buildings.  they were so tall that you had to bend backwards to see the top.  i remember thinking that we should go to the top.  but we didn't.  i told myself, "next trip".  little did i know there would not be another chance.

everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the grim news.  i was sleeping.  my mom called me and her only words were, 'turn on the tv'.  i jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs.  i watched in horror as america was attacked. i was sick to my stomach.  i was crying. my heart broke. new york is my home and it was being attacked. we were being attacked. i ached for the people of new york.  the people that i had come to love.  i ached for america.  i prayed that people everywhere would be comforted through this devestating time.

at the statue of liberty facing downtown manhattan.

this was taken to capture the short red building. i had no idea until it was developed that i had both the north and south tower of the world trade center in my picture. they were enormous.

view from the empire state building

i feel so patriotic.  i love the good old U S of A.  sept 11 made me even prouder to be an american.  through the trajedy, i saw people come together.  it gave me hope.  americans are strong.

i am proud to be an american.  where at least i know i am free.

after watching all of the 10th anniversary tributes, i feel hope.  i feel hope for america and hope for our future.  may god bless america now and always

this is one of my favorite pictures and is quite possibly the most epic historic photograph taken in my lifetime. i am thankful for the police and firefighters.  may god bless them. i am thankful for their sacrifice on this day and always. 

the battered woman

day 1

day one. 12 hours later

day 2

day 4

1 week later

2 weeks later

4 weeks later

the accused: gus. but could that innocent looking dog actually do that?

yes he could.  5 weeks ago as i was making my bed, gus ran down the hall and jumped full speed onto my bed.....hitting me in the orbit in the process.  he knocked me to the floor.  i am lucky the hematoma stayed inside instead of causing massive amounts of bleeding.  as you can tell, it has been a long healing process.  i still have remnants of a black eye FIVE weeks later.  i think he broke my orbit. 

my favorite part is the looks that i have been getting for the last 5 weeks.  people certainly assume the worst.  it has been entertaining to say the least!