RIP Sweet Mercy

I can't begin to tell you how hard this post is to write.

I've written about Mercy a couple of times, and you can look at the tag on the bottom of the post window to read about her.

On Saturday morning, Caryn and I had to make the decision to release her from diseased and broken body. She had been struggling with Canine Renal Failure for a few months, and while she had put up a valiant fight, she simply reached the point where she couldn't go on further and maintain any real quality of life.

If you had told me 16 months ago that I would be a complete and utter basket case over the loss of a 5.4 lb dog, I would have questioned your judgement of my sanity. Today, however, I'm having trouble reading the screen through the lens of tears that keep swelling up in my eyes.

So many wonderful people have written us or posted on her facebook page, telling us about how she inspired them with her courage, forgiving nature, and indomitable perseverance.

What I do know is that I'll never be the same because of her short time with us. I'm a better human being because she let me love and care for her.

Lined up

The "Gold Star Building" on the Oklahoma City University lined up perfectly with the nearly full moon as I stopped at the grocery store this evening.

Weathered stop sign at the office parking lot

Pblblblblttttt

Man, I'm not happy about this. Without a doubt, this is the best thing to come out of fast food in years. I love that salad, and it's only 7 Points Plus for a half salad. The next best choice is the Apple Pecan salad, and that's *9* points. Not happy, nope, not happy at all!

Wendy's better be bringing this salad back next strawberry season.

The flag on the tower

It's the fair, they'll deep fry and chocolate dip anything (and put it on a stick)!

For some reason, I find the sprinkles to be the most disturbing aspect of this...

For the more savory croud, there is:

Drive-in waiting for the show

Caryn and I went to see Smurfs and Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Caryn's loaner phone

That's a Nexus S. Nice phone. Almost a shame to have to go back to the Inspire 4g, but it is back from the repair shop and Best Buy wants their loaner back.

St. Louis, Day and Night

The view from my hotel room in St. Louis



Same view, at night

Better than a Loch Ness Sighting..

Seen on SW 44th and Western in Oklahoma City...

I love me some moving water shots!

Scenes from the Waco photo shoot

My very talented Daughter-in-law Sasha helped us out this weekend by taking some pictures of the grandson. I got to play "meta-photographer"...

The Old Bridge in Waco

One of the sites that Sasha was using for Austin's photo shoot last weekend.

Flags in the wind

Penny / Tracks

If you hear about a train being derailed in Waco -- I don't know nuthin'

The old green chair on the curb

15 years, 4 cruises, and a divorce and marriage ago, my mom brought this chair into my house. She was babysitting for my now-ex-wife and I when we went on a cruise that I had won from Computerworld magazine. She got the chair from a thrift store so she would have a place to sit that was a bit more comfortable than what we had. Since the ex HATED the chair, I took it with me to populate my bachelor pad when I got divorced about a year later.

The chair has moved from Trophy Club, TX -> Dallas -> Richardson, TX -> San Francisco -> South San Francisco and now Oklahoma City. Over the years, I've been told that I needed to put the chair out on the curb probably 1,000 times or more. I'm not completely sure why I resisted, but the chair remained.

For the last couple of months, the chair has sit against a door which we simply aren't opening. It faced away from the TV, so no one but the dogs sat in it. The decision to put it in the "next large trash pickup day" has been ruminating basically since we got to OKC, and as late as last night, Caryn and I had decided that its time was not here yet and that we would wait one more month. Alas, this morning brought a more reasoned tone, and out the chair went.

Bye old friend...

A wee bit too soon...

A disclaimer -- I didn't put this sign up, I'm only reporting it...

On the front side:



and on the back:



Apparently, someone had some issues with the violet-eyed one's somewhat stormy romantic life...

Perigree Moon

Spring is springing in OKC

The Redbud is the state tree of Oklahoma, and we have one in our front yard.







One thing I miss about San Francisco is the "sticks" that they sold at Trader Joe's. Luckily, we have some of these in our front yard too.

It's hard to believe that just 6 weeks ago, it looked like this outside.

My granddaughter

Piper was born back on Groundhog's day (Feb 2nd).

Ain't she a darling?

Root canal? -- (BREATHE) that sounds pretty good (BREATHE)

I'll admit it -- I'm a major dentist weenie. Luckily, the happy gas makes both me and the dentist MUCH happier people.

This guy showed up on my desk today. I think he's the new overlord.

This is the industry that some Oklahoma Senators want to protect

Last year, the Oklahoma legislature passed SB1712, the Commercial Pet Breeders Act, which provided a framework to help alleviate the problem of Puppy Mills in Oklahoma.

With the advent of the November elections, some Senators in districts with large numbers of breeders see an opening, and they are attempting to gut, if not completely repeal the CPBA before it even gets a chance to start to work.

The Tulsa World published the results of a poll showing overwhelming support for this law. Yet there are 4 bills being argued before the agricultural committee designed to stop the progress in it's tracks.

If you are an Oklahoma reading this, we need you to contact the members of that committee immediately and tell them not to let the breeders need for profit outweigh the desire of the majority of Oklahomans to bring an end to this blight. Tell them that we will not stand for our great state to become the worst puppy mill state in the union.

Tell them that the picture above is not and will not serve as Oklahoma's legacy.

Agricultural Committee Members and Contacts

Senator Eddie Fields – Chair
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 514B
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5581
efields@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Becky Welch

Senator Ron Justice
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 423
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5537
justice@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Linda Terrill 

Senator Mark Allen
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 415
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5576
allen@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Suzanne Earnest

Senator Patrick Anderson
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 417A
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5630
anderson@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Kathie Gasaway  

Senator Don Barrington
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 515
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405.521.5563
barrington@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Sandra Shelton

Senator Randy Bass
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 528B
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5567
bass@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Donna Ambler

Senator Jerry Ellis
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 535
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405.521.5614
ellis@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Jean McCurley

Senator Tom Ivester
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 529A
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5545
ivester@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Pam McLerran

Senator David Myers
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 519
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405.521.5628
ingraham@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Betsy Ingraham

Senator Frank Simpson
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 513B
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5607
simpson@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Glenda Colbert

Senator Anthony Sykes
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 426
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5569
lewis@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Tonya Lewis

Senator Charles Wyrick
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 521
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5561
wyrick@oksenate.gov
Executive Assistant: Linda Bostick

Snow bug

The day was just warm enough and the snow had just the right consistency for sculpture.

Wylie

While we don't foster this goofball ourselves, he is still one of my favorites. He is youngish and playful, but not destructive. His little underbite just makes you laugh. He is, however relentless. You can almost see him thumbing through the Acme catalog looking for the next wacky device to use to try to catch the roadrunner.

By all means, if you have ANY interest in adopting this guy, contact us through our website at www.okyorkierescue.org.

Mercy in the anemone

Mercy loves her little pink bed with the white fringe. It sorta looks like a sea creature, hence we call it an anemone.

Baxter being his cute self

Kaiser

Wow, I suck. I couldn't go 3 days of posting in a row without missing one.

Oh well, here's picture of Kaiser



Kaiser came to us the Sallisaw, Oklahoma shelter. At his initial vetting, he tested positive for parvovirus. Parvo is about 70% fatal in dogs, but with the help of some massive antibiotics and close watched isolation, he survived.

He's about a year and a half, and loves to play, which, of course, gets him into trouble with Ziggy. Add to the fact that he's obviously never been around a lot of dogs before, and he doesn't have very good doggie manners, he's spending a lot of time away from the pack in "time out". He really needs a home without other dogs initially and no small kids.

Adeline

One of our newest foster. She's named after the long suffering girlfriend of Nathan Detroit in the classic musical/movie "Guys and Dolls"

Addy is about 10 years old, according to the vet. She's missing all of her incisors (hence the tongue sticking out). The day after she came to us, she went into heat.

Yesterday, she was spayed, and she's staying with one of the other foster moms for a few days so that she can be isolated from males.

She'll probably be available for adoption in about a week or so.

Mercy + a blatent attempt to get some money for the rescue!

Y'all remember Mercy, right? She was the girl with the tumor in her mouth, the wet lungs (later found to be emphysema, and luxating patellas.

Well, she's doing REALLY well (in major part due to you wonderful folks that donated to her chipin). She's always going to have problems, but absolutely nothing stops her. The tumor is gone, the emphysema is being controlled, and she sleeps in a warm comfortable bed each night. She is starting to trust and even enjoy lap time.

She's also got a forever home -- us. We adopted her right after Christmas.

So, anyway, the Bissel corporation (maker of fine rug cleaners, among other things) is sponsoring a contest. Each week, the dog with the most votes will move on to the finals, with the winner of the finals getting $10,000 donated to the rescue of their choice. Mercy is registered here (http://bit.ly/votemercy) with the proceeds going, of course, to OK Yorkie Rescue. Voting opened today, and each person can vote once a day.

Mercy would not be here if it wasn't for OK Yorkie Rescue. Please help her give back to the organization by voting, and letting your friends know. Then go back and repeat every day. We'll let you know if we win a week and can go to the finals.

Yep, I'm going to try to restart this dang thing again.

Sorry guys. I got lazy. No pictures since September is pretty lame, I know. I even missed the "best picture of the year" (though, to be honest, did I have any that really fit that bill?).

At any rate, let's give it another go, shall we? Maybe it will last a week, maybe I'll get in 353 pictures this year. You never really know, do you?