So here I sit, it is Super Bowl Sunday. Not going to a party, but having a party with me and my pups. Again, things have changed here in the Kruger household.  Winston, my 14 year old whippet went to the bridge one year ago last Friday, Feb. 1, 2012.  He was getting more and more confused, his bones were getting heavy and he was just not my boy.  So once again, my vet came to the house and helped make his journey to the bridge easier.  The house was so lonely, so empty with just 3 whippets left.

We moped around the house and it just felt empty.  Winston had been with me since May 25, 1987 when I lived in California, he made the trip out here to North Carolina with me.  Winston, my rabbit Tahoe, and I drove with my car packed with a computer, clothes, dog and rabbit things and music.  It took us 5 days and it was pretty ok.  Winston had been through so much with me - girl friends, then no girl friends.  Moving to houses, apartments and finally to our own house in May, 2004.  He went through numerous knee surgeries and 3 shoulder surgeries, always making sitting by me while I recovered.  I still miss him every single day.

Again, things work out like they are supposed to work out.  I've always wanted a puppy from Sharyn Hutchens at Timbreblue Whippets in VA.  As my luck would have it, someone decided not to take the puppy they had reserved.  So I got the call!  The theme for this litter was Paris in Winter.  The pup that luckily joined our family is Timbreblue Pierre de Lune.

He has been a joy, a rascal and a snuggle bug and has fit in wonderfully with the other dogs.

Sometimes Pierre is way too smart for his puppy britches!  He was the smartest in puppy class, learned the tasks easily and had a blast.

Here is Pierre in October at the annual Timbreblue puppy Reunion!! We had a blast!!

So our family is now four again.  The change is from older to 1 old (Hailey who is 13) to Lorrie and Sterling both 4 to Pierre who is 13 months old.
I have been having quite a writers block for sometime now.  So hopefully the block is gone.
Tell your people you love them.

Winston at 14 years old

Winston is my first whippet. He came to live with me May 25, 1997, a birthday gift from an ex girl friend. I loved picking him out, I sat on the floor, covered immediately with baby whippets!!! He pushed his way to the front, came up and laid down on me. I moved away from all the pups and he came back, pushing everyone else away and laid down.......I guess he was mine. He slept on the floor right next to me. He was so small, he could fit in my shirt pocket. Winston was very happy and trained quite easily. Fast forward to a bit over a year later, Winston in his crate in the back seat, my rabbit Tahoe in her crate in the front seat, all my clothes, stereo, computer and misc things that were not in storage and we began our trip from San Francisco to North Carolina. What a ride!! We stayed in Super 8 motels as they take dogs. I never told them about the bunny! It took us 4 long days. Now here we are 13 years later - I am a North Carolinian, a Dukie and content and happy. Winston is getting old and deaf and cranky, he is stiff and sometimes, more often lately, confused and stops and stares. Then there are times he can hear me open a bag of chips.....he will come flying out of the bedroom, like a spry little pup! I know his days are coming to an end. I also know I have given him a good, safe life but it is nothing compared to the gifts he has given me everyday of his life.

Thought I would post a poem or two of mine. Never sure if anyone actually reads my blog but here goes:

If you had known me when I was younger
Saw the light in my eye,
Walked with me on the beach,
skipped a rock 5 times
maybe you would love me now.

If you had sat on the porch
Watched a firefly drift to the pine top
Accepted the warmth of the dark night
Moved close to hear the quiet
Maybe you would love me now.

If you had tried to hold what remained, the skeleton of a prior me
Watched the lifeblood drain away
Felt the barricades being erected
Bloodied your knuckles in attempted demolition
Maybe you would love me now.

Maybe the confusion over visible behavior
Stubborn masking fear,
Fear guarding abandonment
Would be clearer, would make sense
If you knew me when I was younger.

If you knew me when I was younger,
When the present fear was replaced by trust.
When my soul was forgiving,
With regular childhood scars,
Would you have loved me?

If you had loved me when I was younger,
will you love me now?
tk 2005

Not Like I Used to Be....

I used to recover quite quick, knee replacements- back at work in 10 days, rotator cuff surgeries back at work - 2 weeks. Numerous scope surgeries on my knees, always quick back. I had surgery on my right ankle- tendon/ligament repair and an osteotomy of my heel (cut it through and moved it over) on June 21st. First 6 weeks a cast and no weight bearing, second 6 weeks a boot with partial,increasing weight til Sept. 12. This surgery has kicked me in the ass! Pain from surgery has been minimal, the exhaustion and just plain bone tired has been extreme. I have gone to work 2-3 days a week then need 3 days to recover. I guess at 56 I expect to recover like I did in my 30's and 40's.

So what I have learned is to slow down, (like I have been telling my pre med students for years), enjoy each day.
And mostly enjoy my dogs- let them lay with me, pet them til they sigh and snuggle in for a nap. I have worked from home but not like I used to, I have kept up with my work but it hasn't been my priority.

I hope I can keep it going- I like this part of me.

Saturday Blog Hop

Rest in Peace Brigitte Green

Today I and many dog lovers lost a wonderful, kind, strong advocate for whippets, amazing woman.
Brigitte lost a battle with esophageal cancer and it's subsequent surgery today. She will be missed by many.
She made my world of whippets better. She never made me feel dumb, answering any and all of my questions. I never met her, but talked regularly on the computer.
My world is brighter because of her, and darker because of the loss of a bright spirit.

The Moment of Peace

"The Moment of Peace" - Turn off the TV and radio, put down your arguments, differences and weapons and just sit and be mindfully silent and present with each other and life for just an hour. The biggest single gathering of meditation, prayer and mindful silence in the history of the world ... ever! www.themomentofpeace.com

Goal
1 million people
in Mindful Silence,
Prayer & Meditation
for one hour

When
8:00pm, Saturday
18th June 2011
(in your local timezone)