Mash

Round the horn update:

Lucas in Coat 1
Lucas in Coat 1

Lucas is doing very well. He is much better than he was in October. I don’t know if it is medical, or if he just likes being the only dog in my world at his advanced age. He is walking 1-3 miles a day now. He is only going out to pee every 3-4 hours now instead of every two. He has only gotten me up in the middle of the night to go out twice in November-December as opposed to at least twice a week in October. He lets me sleep until 7 some days instead of getting me up at 4 or 5. On advice from a pet store lady i am adding yogurt to his meals which is encouraging more licking and slower eating. With the slower eating, he gets less air in his stomach and is MUCH less gassy than he was before i started doing this.

Lucas in Coat 2
Lucas in Coat 2

He is running a little bit some days. He did kill a groundhog on Nov 15th which made him very happy. Mom gave him the turkey heart on Thanksgiving and he was ultra excited. That day he humped Tippit, one of the active dogs in our neighborhood, whom he usually ignores. And Tippit’s mom lent us this fleece doggy coat which he uses on the cold days.

Lucasnote
Lucas note

He is even getting along with the new Vice President of Cleanliness my mom hired.

Toys for Tots Mixer
Toys for Tots Mixer

I re-connected with an old golfing acquaintance to do some networking and planning. He turned me on to this group, and i have been going to a few events and committee meetings to do some personal and professional networking. A few of us showed up to do same day registration for an Arthritis Foundation Charity run – which was hectic and fun! I am gathering info from the local church community to open some new volunteer opportunities for the group with local soup kitchens.

Vance is doing well. He has had no recurrence of whatever weird infection attacked his hand a while back. 14 months after his heart surgery he is doing great. He is back at the gym regularly doing cardio and pumping the old iron.

Pappy is doing OK. It can be hard to gauge his mood sometimes, but his general health has been good, and the numbers related to his diabetes have been consistently in the good zone. It is still difficult-impossible to get him to go out and walk, but we can still trick him into it with Shopping! I take him to Lowes or Wal-Mart and he drives the cart and i drag us back and forth from one side of the store to the other. We have also started going to the huge pet store together because we can take Lucas in there too. Lucas likes to shop for new treats and Pappy likes to look at the fish.

Mom is looking forward to the end of the semester and a little break and some Holiday Cheer. We already had this semester’s piano party at the house for her kids, and she has had a few concerts recently and a few more are on deck. That lady is made of energy!

What’s in my Ears and Eyes lately?

The Pretty Things – S.F. SorrowOne great song from the album

and The Floaters – Float On – You gotta see the moves

Reading The Song of Ice and Fire Series (where Game of Thrones came from) e-book editions via the kindle app on my computer and iPhone. Started Book Three last night and i dig it. Really great Maps!

Watching Legend of The Seeker on the Netflix. It is not too bad. I am interested to check out at least one of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth books upon which the TV series is based. I love fantasy books. I read all the classics and then got into the Dragonlance series and Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. Somehow i never picked up Goodkind and another contemporary Robert Jordan and his popular Wheel of Time series. I may have check that out too.

That is the short version. I hope you folks are all doing well and staying warm!