A Year In Review: Christmas 2010

Once again I have decided to put our annual Christmas letter online. I figure that saves me a trip to the copy store (I don't have a printer) and it saves a tree or two. And you don't need to worry about recycling it. Heck, you don't even need to read it if you don't want to. Especially since you do have to go a little out of your way to find it. All the way to the internet...

I am a big fan of getting Christmas cards in the mail- especially if they have photos of you or your cute kids or just your cute pets...and love reading what's been going on in your life (although letters I am finding are few and far between but that's ok, keep the cards coming!)...I figure it's only fair that I give you what I like to get. I have become a Facebook addict this year and my FB friends have seen many of these pics already, but for the rest of you, here is what we've been up to:

January: I am sad to report that our black Lab Raven lost her battle with lymphoma on January 6th, 2010. I was grateful to have one last Christmas with her. She was our protector, the alpha female of the pack, and she is greatly missed. We went to Cannon Beach for 2 nights in the middle of January with Rocky, Grace, Kipper and my folks. We spread some ashes of Chet and Raven into the surf since it was one of their favorite places to go.
The end of January I went to Asheville, NC for specialized training in high volume spay neuter.
On January 28th Grace celebrated her 6th birthday with her friends at the roller skate rink.

February: On February 19th we lost our Lab Rocky to laryngeal paralysis. She couldn't breathe that morning and sedation did not help so I knew it was time. It was pretty devastating to lose her so soon after Raven. We won't forget those girls.

I took Grace tubing at the end of the month- super fun!

March: The first week of March I flew to Cabo with a friend for a little grown up fun in the sun. The last week of March we rented a house in Port Ludlow for Spring Break. I got to bring my nieces along and the girls had a lot of fun.

April: Grace walked in the Procession of the Species parade with the Olympia Free Choir. She was a Tiger.
I signed up for a B&W film photography class through Metro Parks. We took an overnight trip to Forks (it was very rainy but we had fun exploring the tidepools and no, we didn't see any vampires)
Oh yeah, and Grace got lice. (thanks kindergarten!)

May: We walked for the March for Babies in Tacoma for the 7th time. It is something I feel is important to honor Grace's life and bring awareness to premature birth. Our friends Ciera, Amy, Scout and Elliot walked with us this year. As well as my mom and Kipper. And tragically, we lost "Patty Catty" to cancer on the 29th.
June: Grace finishes Kindergarten! This is a drawing she made of her and her first crush :)
We had a garden in the brand new Fox Island Community Garden. Took a day trip to Seattle with friends to the Seattle Art Museum to check out the Kurt Cobain exhibit.

July: I officially started my housecall euthanasia business- Peaceful Passing. The end of July we flew back East for a vacation in Wildwood, Philly and Bristol RI. It was great to see so many cousins and friends!
August: Continued our vacation, swimming lessons and camps.


Sept: Back to school- 1st grade for Grace. Had my first mammogram (came out normal). We got a new kitten that Grace named Milo. He prefers Pekingese over people. Bumbershoot with Kevin. Rescued a scabby cat we named Sasha.


October: Grace wanted to be Princess Daisy from Super Mario Bros for Halloween. I had to commission someone on Etsy to sew it. It made it here in the nick of time. Of course it is falling apart after wearing it once but it made her happy. We took a short trip to Chicago to visit my sister. It was quite windy in the Windy City.
November: I turned 41. This time no trips to Paris or the Virgin Islands. I did get to go to Portland with my sister and brother though. Voodoo donuts. Powells. My sister came home from Law School in Chicago for Thanksgiving and it was fun getting to spend time with her. We rescued a little Peke that needed her eye taken out.
December: Went to the Christmas lighting in Leavenworth for the third year in a row. This time the folks came along. We got to take the girls for our second annual Nutcracker in Seattle (thanks Grandma). On the way up to Seattle Grace lost her first tooth (the upper one doesn't count because she had to have that surgically extracted)!


So in all it was a pretty good year. I have cut back at work and am struggling financially a little but mentally feeling better which I think is more important. I am grateful to have work in these difficult times. I recently renewed my California veterinary license and am going to try to schedule some relief work in the Golden State in 2011.
I am looking forward to leading a spay neuter campaign in Iquitos, Peru in October with Veterinary Ventures. If you are feeling generous you can make a tax deductible donation towards this campaign by going to the link :)

This year we are thankful for our health, employment, family and good friends, and a roof over our heads.

We wish you all the best for 2011.

xoxo
Suzanne & Grace
Kipper, Mitchell, Peanut
Ringo, Ocho, Henrietta, Sasha and Milo

The House Feels Empty- Rocky 1996-2010

Yesterday morning I had to say goodbye to the last of my 'original' dogs, my 13 year old Chocolate Lab-Vizsla mix named Rocky. Her loss marks the end of an era...an era spanning 15 years beginning when I first met "Chet" (and Steve) in 1995, and ultimately building our dog family together adding Rocky, then Raven and finally Lucy. Having 4 large dogs in the house was a challenge...honestly, I don't recommend it unless you have a lot of time and a lot of land. But we did our best. When we moved into our house on Fox Island I could tell the neighbor's weren't thrilled..Luckily they also liked dogs..
This year has started off rough as we lost Raven to cancer just a month ago. I knew that it was only a matter of time that we would also lose Rocky since she was diagnosed with laryngeal-paralysis in December. I chose not to put her through surgery due to her age and other medical problems, and potential serious complications. I wasn't sure how much time we would get until she had her final crisis.. I feel lucky that we made it past Christmas, actually.. She was symptom-free for the most part until this week.
We got Rocky answering an ad in the paper for a 'free spayed 1 yr old Chocolate Lab Mix'- she was owned by a family in Princeton Idaho and came with the name Rocky. They were giving her away because she wouldn't stop chasing the birds that they collected (go figure, she is a bird dog!). Steve and I were looking for a companion for Chet because we spent a lot of time at school and thought he might be lonely. Well, the two of them never really cared one way or another about each other!
Rocky was a HIGH ENERGY dog! She ran and ran and ran- she chased any bird, seagull, rabbit, mole, squirrel, etc... She was also the Queen of Counter Surfing and Pantry Raiding.. The baby latch on the pantry was to keep her out..but on many occasions I would come home from work to find everything in the pantry eaten (if I hadn't checked the latch)..Luckily she had a stomach of steel and never suffered from 'garbage gut' or pancreatitis...
In her youth, when she met a new dog at the park she would greet them with incessant high pitched barking.. She wasn't aggressive...just so full of energy that she had to let it out..
Rocky always thought she was a lap dog- whether you were driving in the car or sitting on the sofa..she would try her best to get in your lap! She was also Queen at De-Squeaking Squeaky Toys..She could get the squeaker out of anything...pretty quickly..and then she was bored of the toy! Before Grace was born she was also my bed buddy- she liked to sleep on the bed, usually under the covers...when I was pregnant I was worried she might cook my little embryo so I had to ban her from the bed...She reluctantly settled for the sofa..Rocky slowed down a little bit in the last few years but not a lot! She always loved a trip to the beach...she would run down the coastline chasing gulls..I feel lucky we were able to take her to Cannon Beach one last time just last month..We'll miss you Rocky Girl...

Goodbye Raven

Tonight I had to say 'Goodbye' to Raven, my 11 1/2 yr old lab. Raven came to be part of my family it feels like a lifetime ago..I was working at Barnacle Bills (pet store) in Pullman..I was a newlywed and starting my 3rd year of vet school. It was Fall of 1998 and a customer brought her in to the store claiming she rescued her from a neighbor in her trailer park who was leaving her outside in the cold and starving her.. She knew that I liked Labs (I had two already) so she asked if I would take her.. Well Raven was an adorable puppy so of course I said "Sure!".. I really didn't PLAN to keep her, though.. I thought she would make a good dog for my parents since our family dogs (Rags and Lulu) had both recently passed away.. (I couldn't imagine that they might be enjoying their state of dog-less-ness). I brought Raven home (much to my then-husbands dismay), offered her food and let her eat until her stomach was huge and hard as a rock! (in hind-sight that was not the smartest idea.. I know better now!) That first night home I tried to make her sleep in a crate..But she cried and cried and I caved in and soon she was sleeping in our bed! (again, not winning points with the husband).. When she got too big for the bed I let her sleep on a dog bed next to our bed, I never tried to make her sleep in the crate again...My plan to give her to my parents was forgotten as I became more and more attached to my 'baby'...Some of my more vivid memories of her as a puppy involve her chewing up numerous pairs of expensive leather shoes belonging to Steve (yet another reason he was not a fan).. I remember suggesting that he pick his shoes up off the floor.. And he said "Why can't we teach the dog not to eat the shoes??" I replied "Because it's easier to teach you to pick up the shoes".. I did not take Raven out in public in Pullman for the longest time for fear that I might run into her prior owners and they would accuse me of stealing her and demand her back!
Raven also happened to be the first dog I ever did a live surgery on- The dog I was assigned to spay in our Junior Surgery Lab turned out to be already spayed so I had to schedule a make-up lab. Since they didn't know when they would be able to get another victim (I mean PATIENT) for me I asked if I could spay my own dog. I got permission and then I was started to get nervous. It is scary enough to anticipate performing your first major surgery, then when it is on your own baby..I mean PUPPY...it is even more frightening. I was doing alright until it was getting time to close...Suddenly the instructor said "You look kind of pale. Maybe you should scrub out." Well I definitely felt very hot under all the surgery garb and lighting...I don't know if I would have fainted or not, but I did let my friend Roger finish up for me.
Raven may have started off the baby of our dog family (Chet, Rocky and Raven)..but soon she grew to be the biggest and decided she wanted to be the Alpha female of the pack. Chet was a mellow dude, he didn't put up a fight. Rocky try to fight it, but she lost. And so Raven became Alpha. She got respect. She was always considered the good dog (Rocky was always the bad one).. She didn't trust people wearing hats (especially cowboy hats).. She was a good watchdog. She never pulled on the leash. She didn't countersurf. Before her hips went bad she always laid flat on her belly with her hind legs frog-legged..Whenever I asked her to give me a kiss, she would do it relunctantly, while softly growling (she wasn't much for kissing!)..If you tried to make her do something she didn't want to do, she would drop to the floor and roll on her back. It looked innocent enough ("Bellyrub anyone?") but in reality she was saying "I DARE you to try to move me"..
She enjoyed going to the beach but wasn't much of a swimmer. Raven was never sick. She was healthy until she was diagnosed with Lymphosarcoma in September. Chemotherapy helped us get 100+ more days together... Raven was my friend and companion offering unconditional love through vet school, my marriage, my baby, my divorce and the first decade of my career.. I will cherish all those memories..She will be missed...