It has been over two years since I've blogged.I still read LJ.

Quick update.

Yes, I am writing.

My daughter received her Master's degree recently. My sons are doing great. They have good jobs on the other side of the country. I miss my kids.

My dog has settled down a lot. She's no longer reactive, and she's a great dog.

I am volunteering at a shelter, and that's how I met Pickles.(dog) He came in as a skin and bones stray, heart worm positive, and pretty much unadoptable. This is a county shelter, BTW, that has to follow county/Dept of Ag mandated guidelines when the shelter becomes overcrowded. So I had to make a quick decision, and I became a foster mom.

I hope everyone is doing great!

My husband has been gone for a few days helping my daughter find an apartment. It's just me and the dog. Husband will be home any minute now.

Last night dog woke me at 2 AM to go potty. She doesn't usually wake up at night. When we got outside I saw a man walking in the street, and he stopped and stared at us. Dog started lunging and barking. I dragged her back inside and locked the door. I hoped dog didn't really have to use the bathroom. She lay at the window all night watching and growling once in a while. She never has reacted this way to people before. Dog slept late this morning and didn't ask to go potty until two or three hours after her usual time.

I've cheated on walking the dog at the park this week. I ride the exercise bike and have the dog do sit-ups. She does get a treat for this. Then I have her do nose work. I also hide her food for her to hunt.

In other news, daughter heard from the bone marrow association. I was surprised she got a call to update her on the condition of the recipient. The transplant is working, and the recipient is doing well.

I only have 10K on the new wip, and it is a first draft, but I am enjoying building a story.

I am looking for fabulous book recommendations.

Daughter's bone marrow donation surgery went well. It's been six weeks. She's now had her stuff shipped from her apartment to the other side of the country and she will be arriving here in a couple of hours for a short visit before she heads off for new research job and then graduate school.

Dog had a paw injury so walks were on hold for two weeks. She has recovered now. Walking her has been more difficult--she lunges at trucks, loud noises, and sometimes dogs. Sometimes she'll lie down when we're walking and refuse to move. We're starting reactivity classes in three weeks.

I've started writing a new book. It has a dog in it.

Recent Read: The Art of Racing In the Rain by Garth Stein. Terrific book.

We're fine after last night's tornadoes and thunder storms. I was scared for a while watching all the devastation on the news.

My relatives live in Pleasant Grove. It was flattened. I am thankful they are okay.

Sending thoughts and prayers to those in the path of the tornadoes.

It's a tornadic night in GA. I've never heard of so many tornadoes on the ground.

My elderly aunt in Al is trapped in her house, and my cousin's house was destroyed. She and her family made it out just in time. Some people did not. I am thankful they are safe.

I'll be staying up tonight. We're under a tornado watch, and I've only heard thunder. My dog is scared. She has been acting nervous all day--won't leave my side.

Yesterday my daughter was notified by the bone marrow registry that she is a very close match to the guy who needs a transplant. They wanted to make sure she is available in May. They plan on doing a peripheral stem cell transplant. Basically what happens is that blood is removed from her, filtered through a machine to remove stem cells, and then her blood is replaced.

I haven't written in a while. I've told myself it's okay. I tell myself that a lot of times.
    

Today's walk with dog was bad. We had walked 4 1/2 miles and were about to cross a major intersection. The walk light was on. At that time two cars collided, and one of them turned over several times. Metal flew through the air. I am not sure what happened next. My dog went crazy when this happened and lunged backward. She pulled me out of the road. I fell. I hit my knees and my head. Dog was still going crazy. I held onto her. People from inside the drugstore came out and helped me. Meanwhile I'm thinking, somebody in the car that rolled over is hurt terribly bad. I called my husband and he came and picked us up. At home I got under a blanket for a while.

Dog is looking at me now wagging her tail. It looks like she's smiling. I have a headache.

I'd been anxiously awaiting my daughter's call. During spring break she visited Rutgers U. She's been accepted to graduate school there. Last night while I was reading, the front door opened and she walked in! I had not expected to see her until graduation.

We spent the evening looking at pictures of her Geo field trip in central Ca and talking about graduate school. She really loves SoCal, and she likes Rutgers a lot, too.

It seems like only yesterday she was packing to leave for college.

I've not been doing much except for taking long walks with the dog. I wish I had a human friend with a dog around here.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

My dog and I went to the Lilburn Greenway to hike today. It has narrow, paved trails and several narrow bridges without safety rails. As we were crossing one, a police vehicle--kind of like a golf cart but bigger--was heading toward us. We moved to the side. As the vehicle passed inches from us, my dog took a step back and fell off the bridge. It was about a five foot fall into swampy water. The two officers got out to help her, and one of them hopped down to help her. Then my dog gave the officer a big grin and jumped back onto the bridge. She is not hurt.

I was really scared when she was falling.

My daughter called me this morning. She is a potential bone marrow donor for someone who will die without a transplant. She doesn't know him, but she is willing and happy to do it. I couldn't be prouder of her.

Back from four mile hike. Dog is trying to bite the water in a stream.

I have been preparing my dog's meals this week because she's had some GI problems. I think the dog food I've been feeding her is too rich.

My son came into the kitchen this evening while I was cooking dinner and said, "Smells good. Is this for us or the dog?"

Friday five

1--Today's snail mail included an invitation to the USC 2011 commencement. I got all teary eyed. My baby girl will be graduating from college. It seems like only yesterday that I was helping out in her second grade classroom, and she came over and gave me a hug.

2--I'm a little obsessive about walking the dog. I do it no matter what the weather is. It makes her happy, it makes me happy and has reduced the stress in my life, and I've lost more weight than I ever imagined I could. I have joined a dog hiking group. The first hike is in a couple of weeks and it will be six miles. (The other group I joined is a meet up group at dog parks.)

3--Youngest son has been offered another internship at Intel for the summer. He is extremely busy with his college class schedule. He's taking twenty hours.

4--I'm back to revising based on agent feedback. I'm excited.

5--Currently reading two books. #1 has terrific writing but not much of an unique plot. Book #2 has a great plot but the writing is about average. Not saying which one I can't wait to get back to. I like both books a lot.

Five on Friday

1. I'm in the waiting mode to hear back from agent on the manuscript. I have not started anything new. I haven't decided what I want to write.

2. My daughter heads back to college tomorrow. She's a senior. She's applying to graduate schools. My youngest son comes home from his internship at Intel. He starts his junior year in college on Monday.

3. I've joined a dog walking group.

4. I've lost 32 pounds from dog walking.

5. My New Year's resolution comes from a quote by William Purkey:
"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth."

I decided to write my last post for 2010. I mostly want to say I am doing the final read through on the manuscript I've been working on for 3+ years. I'll send it Monday morning.

Happy New Year!

This morning one of my neighbors was out walking her two big dogs at 4:30 AM. I know this because my dog woke me with her barking. I actually envied my neighbor for being so devoted to exercising her dogs. It has been bitterly cold here, and I've been a dog walking slacker. Instead of walking my dog, I ride my exercise bike and throw treats and toys across the room for my dog to retrieve. I also reinforced her basic training with commands such as sit, down, leave it, roll over, and come. Then I asked dog to bring me my book, but she brought me her kong to fill with treats instead.

I hope everyone is staying warm!

I'm a sucker for a happy dog story.

One eyed Jack lived in a shelter for a year before he was rescued. Nobody wanted him because he was missing an eye. Full story with happy ending at http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=163664

One thing the owner said that I connected to was how One eyed Jack saved his life because he had to get out and do things with the dog.

Dog and I walked a couple of miles this morning. I like walking better than jogging. Much easier to enjoy nature. It's a little like writing--enjoying the process. Getting to the end is great, too, when you know you've accomplished something.

I am nearing the end of this revision. I don't know what's going to happen. When my critiquers and agent first gave their comments, I did not know if I could fix the manuscript. Now I can say I did it. A few months ago I couldn't walk a couple of miles either. I had to keep at it and not give up.

Friday at the park. My dog (the yellow one) is trying to get the other dog to play.



Here my bad doggie is trying to take the ball away. They did play nicely. Sometimes I intervene if the playing becomes rough.



Dog parks can be dangerous if the owners aren't paying attention. Most of the dog owners at this park are very good at watching their dogs and knowing what is appropriate.

It is a beautiful day! Dog and I were up early, and we did our two miles. When we start early, there is less of a chance (I think) of getting chased by a dog. The other day an off leash dog attached my dog who acted like nothing was happening. It was a small dog, and the owner appeared right away.

I am still revising.

This evening my husband and I are attending a red carpet fashion show. Never been to one before.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I've lost about twenty pounds now from walking the dog. We go miles a day. When I first started this, I could not walk very far. I still take her to dog training classes. I've started using the Gentle Leader collar again. I feel like we gave up on it too soon before. Whenever she paws at it now, we jog. I never was a fan of the prong collar we tried. (Everything was based on advice of the trainer.) Dog weighs about eighty pounds. Last week, she turned one year old. Yes, we had a party. I think all this dog stuff is a side effect of the empty nest syndrome.

My marked up manuscript will arrive today or tomorrow.

Recent read: The Help. I highly recommend it.