Update On Duke

I didn't want to write this post, but here we go...

The vet has no idea if the mass on his back is cancerous or not. But, while at the vet, we found out that poor Duke has heartworms. Yes, heartworms. So, what do we do now?

• Well, since Duke nor Bear seems to have had their preventive care for heartworms, we're taking Bear in tomorrow for his checkup and to see if he has them too. This scares me. I can't imagine both of them being sick.
• Rocky, thank goodness, has been kept up to date on his shots and pills. He is due, however, his heartworm meds. I'm getting them from the vet tomorrow or ordering them online, depending on the vet.
• Duke needs to have surgery to remove the mass. The surgery is $600. Our vet bill yesterday...$130. Then, he'll have a recovery time of about 8 weeks or so, where he has to stay in a pen away from the other dogs - so that he doesn't do any damage to himself while recovering. Now, if the surgery is done before his heartworm stuff, he might not make it through the surgery - because of the heartworms in his heart.
• If we have the heartworm stuff first, he still may not make it and would have to stay in the pen for about 4 weeks, so that he doesn't do any damage and have heart failure....
• All in all, $2000 worth of bills, and the dog may not make it.
• So, tomorrow Bear goes in for his appointment - another $130. Pray that he's okay.
• Afterwards, Duke will go in sometime next week and have a test and xrays done to see how bad the heartworms are. Another $275.
• Now, how are we? I'm not wearing makeup this morning, due to swollen eyes. I think hubs is handling this more "manly." Which is okay, he's a man. I get it. But we're not sure what to do. It's costly, but also we don't want him to sit in a pen alone for 3 months while being sick and wondering why his brothers are out playing and he's not. Also, if Bear is sick too - more than likely we will only treat one dog and put Duke to sleep. Painful to admit.
• Also note that, he may have cancer. We don't know what that mass is.

So to say it's been a rough night/day, would be an understatement. Pray that God gives us direction on this and that Bear & Rocky are okay. I feel like such a horrible parent. I've always made sure that Rocky was taken care of on his health stuff, but I let the other 2 fall by the way side because they were older, I guess. I feel horrible knowing that maybe I could've prevented the heartworms. Honestly, I didn't know that this stuff was still out there and I'm mad that the vet didn't inform me more. But, I guess I should've been more of a responsible pet owner.

Please Pray For Duke

I didn't intend to post today, but I need your prayers! Our Chocolate Lab, Duke, has a very large mass on his back and has lost some weight. He's also not holding down all of his food. Today, he will be seeing the Vet. Please pray that everything goes great and that he's truly not sick! His cute little picture is at the bottom right hand side of my blog.

Thanks!

Baby Got Bling!

Let me start by saying that hubs and I are not the uber romantic type. Not in the least. So, when I got off of work Friday, I went to Target and bought him Saw V, a card, and some chocolate. He wanted that movie, I swear. I, on the other hand, can't stand movies like that. I hate blood and guts. Ew. Anywho, after my quick Target trip, I ran home and took a nap while waiting for the hubs to get home.

My nap was cut short due to the fact that he got off early - 5pm. That's early ya'll. Seriously. So, while watching tv, I told him about a friend of ours and how her husband went and got them a swanky hotel room and came up to work to drop off the key... I was jealous. I guess that made him feel bad, because he left to buy my present right after that conversation. He returned and we exchanged gifts (because we don't wait for anything). He liked his gift...and well, let's say I got more than a gory DVD...

He bought me a card, chocolate, and ...Earrings and a Bracelet that both had DIAMONDS in them. :O) Now, I've spent all morning looking for pictures of them both - because I cant take a good picture to save my life...and I can only find a picture of the bracelet... But, the earrings go with the bracelet, so use your imagination!

Please excuse the size of the picture...It was a horrible attempt at copy, paste, and crop...
Anyways, he did good! He always does good!
Saturday we went to the horse races - as did the rest of central Arkansas...and then went out to eat at On The Border - my fave. And Sunday we did a lil good ole house cleanin' - hubs even cleaned the toilets and SHAMPOO'D the carpets!!!! How awesome is my husband?!
Still no info on the J.O.B....HR is draggin their feet. What's new?
Also...I'm now only showing 5 of the most recently updated blogs on my blog list. So, if you don't see your name on there - it's nothing personal. My blog list was getting way too long to show!

One Prayer Answered!!!

I woke up this morning just KNOWING that today was/is going to be a great day... I went outside and decided to check the mailbox before leaving for work and then it started pouring! Ha! I immediately thought, "God, you have a sense of humor!!" and ran (in 2inch-ish boots) to the Beast.

I looked through the soaked mail and saw something from GMAC and decided that I wouldn't open it till I got to work - my luck, it was another statement saying I owed them $4,600 (no kidding, I received one of those 2 weeks ago or so). So, I drove through the pouring rain and fog and made it to work. It stopped raining long enough for me to get inside (thank goodness) and I settle in. I decided to open the white envelope that didn't have a return address on it....

It was a check from GMAC for about $39!!! Are you kidding me?! So, I immediately start opening the GMAC envelope and read that my account is finally closed and my car has "been successfully returned" and that I'll be receiving a refund of $39. I can't tell you how big of a relief that is!! A huge burden has been lifted and a prayer answered! I'm so glad that I don't have to fight with GMAC anymore and that I don't have to talk to the lovely people in India again!!!!

Thanks guys for the prayers! God does answer them! :O)

Weekend In Review...With Pictures!

We had a pretty decent weekend this weekend. We didn't do a whole lot, but still, it was nice. This was the first and last free weekend that we had - as hubs has had to work past and future weekends. Ugh. Anyways, our weekend went as follows....

Friday night: We went out to eat at Colton's and used our last gift card. (We received about $90 in Colton's gift cards at Christmas.) Then, we headed over to Target to purchase a movie (that I can't remember the name to) with another gift card. (Did I mention we received lots of gift cards for Christmas?) Then, we went to Kroger's to buy some Triple Chocolate Chunk Brownies. One of my friends from work, Joseph, has made them twice now and I decided that I must make a box for the hubs and myself. Now, some of you may or may not know, but I love to eat brownie batter (or any batter, really)...So I immediately thought of Jenn and our convo we had about this and grabbed the camera and asked hubs to snap some pictures. Yes, he thought I was crazy, but what's new?

Lovely, right?

Saturday: We finally took our old table to the Salvation Army and donated it. Our new table has been in our living room for a little over a week now. So, it was a blessing to actually move it out of there and reclaim our living room!! We bought a small table, as we have a very small space to put it in and the last table was just overwhelming the area. Below is a picture and yes, that is a Brink's Security sign in the floor and no I haven't attempted to decorate that bowl in the middle. LOL Please don't ask about the sign, I haven't an answer! :O)

And to be honest, I don't remember what we did Saturday night besides visit the liquor store in the next town over. Let me just say, that there were a lot of crazies out there! I stayed in the Beast and watched the idiots in the parking lot...at one point there were 5 people backing out at once and I watched a young lady pull out and drive without any headlights on!! Crazies!

Sunday: I went grocery shopping (yay), had a dramatic moment, and then we grilled out! We had some yummy cheeseburgers and homemade fries! Here is a picture of two of our boys - the 3rd was out in the yard somewhere. Please excuse the dirty window - the retriever likes to jump up and put his paws all over it. Also, poor Rocky's jacket is crooked and torn! Poor baby!

They were waiting there for hubs to cook their hotdogs! Yes, when we grill out - the babies get special grilled food, too!

And lastly....

I took this picture before heading out to surprise the hubs last Saturday. I say she'd enjoy this picture because she's the one who put this great idea out there - she takes a picture of herself every morning before heading out - to see what she looks like - isn't that a great idea? And since I was meeting hub's co-workers (some for the first time) I wanted to make sure I didn't look like a circus freak! I have no idea why the picture is blurry, btw.