Shayna's Blog

After 3 posts on the Podshow blog, I've taken my blog over to Google.  Much easier and looks prettier :)  I could probably do it with Podshow, but I just don't have the patience and the fact that after 4 attempts I couldn't get the header image to look right, I give up!  So check it out at:  http://www.ShaynasBlog.com or http://pepperandchloe.blogspot.com/

Bye! 

Chloe is my 2nd female Havanese who turned a year old on December 12th of this year.  Since she came into heat in November, it was time to get her spayed this month.  I took her in yesterday to Intermountain Vet and dropped her off first thing in the morning.  Chloe is a very cuddly, loving dog, but kind of shy.  She was excited to see the people in the vet's office, but didn't like them to get too close.  When I passed her off to the Nurse, she gave me her patented "stink eye".  Unlike Pepper, who loves everyone and would go home with anyone who gave her the time of day Chloe is a mommies girl.  She has a particular disklike of men, but seemed to be ok with the vet who she had met before when she came in for shots.

I waited anxiously for the Vet to call yesterday and they did when she got out of surgery.  She did great and her blood work came back good, so that will be handy for the future if she has any problems that require a comparison.  It started snowing late in the afternoon, so I left work early and it took over an hour to get to Meridian, which is normally a 20 minute drive.  When I picked her up, she was still drowsy but gave me some nose kisses and a low tail wag so I knew all was well.  In the car ride home, she sat quietly in the back seat, looking around for her sister who is always with us during car rides but Pepper was waiting at home.

Dave came over to visit Chloe and held her in his lap while we watched a movie.  She slept peacefully and went out to go potty, but didn't eat her dinner.  She left ok, but whimpered periodically.  Last night it snowed about 2 more inches and her and Pepper went and played outside and since then, Chloe has been wimpering despite the fact that I finally got her pain pill down her after several attempts and her promptly spitting it out.  My cold also came back with a vengance yesterday afternoon so when I woke up to snow and my cold and a wimpering dog, I decided not to go to work.  Well, my friends all have my gifts here and there is the annual Mad Dogs awards today so I didn't want to miss that, so I emailed Bobbi who lives only 2 miles from me.  I drove to her house after the roads were somewhat clear and she gave me a ride to work.

Michelle, Deanna, Jamie and I all exchanged gifts which was a lot of fun.  I'll post the pictures this weekend up on my Webshots.  I'm feeling better now and glad I came in to join the festivities.  Aaron has called several times saying Chloe is whimpering so he's been wrapping her in her favorite blanky and holding her to help comfort her.  He just called and said he's going outside to play in the snow with his friend, so I told him to put her on my bed where I've left the heating blanket on for her.  Mad Dogs doesn't last long and I should be home in a few short hours to comfort her and keep her warm.

Chloe has been a wonderful addition to the family and I also made a new friend because of her.  Last year, I responded to a post of someone needing a Home Visit in Idaho for them to be able to adopt a rescue.  I responded and went to visit a family.  In doing that, I volunteered to become an Idaho contact person for the Havanese Rescue.  Little did I know, another woman in town had volunteered to do the home visit on the family I did, so when I signed up, the contact in WA sent Heather to visit my home.  We immediately bonded and found out our dogs were sisters from different litters.  Her Kaera and my Pepper are a year apart and one looks like Mom and one like Dad.  Heather and I are nearly the same age, are both neat and tidy (ok, anal) and love to talk.  We've been great friends ever since and I see her whenever I can.  So, thru Heather, I got Chloe.  Heather, who is friends with Tonisha of Hystyle Havanese in Oregon, was going to pick up her Tootsie Pop the following weekend from when we met.  She mentioned there was another girl available in the same litter and Dave and I talked about it and immediately requested pictures.  We fell in love with her sweet face and Heather brought her home to us on her own birthday, Feb 28.  Pepper immediately fell in love with Chloe just as we did and took wonderful care of her and shared everything and played gently with her.  She even taught her to ring the bell to go out and how to properly shred and destroy anything left around the house suitable for dogs.

Before I got Chloe, I had been listening and reading about raw feeding and when I found out Chloe was coming from a breeder who raw fed and after talking with Heather about it, immediately switched Pepper over and have been feeding them raw ever since.  I am continuially amazed at the difference in thier coats and their excitement over mealtime. When Pepper ate kibble, she would frequently go 3-4 days without eating and only out of desperation eat her kibble.  Now, every meal is exciting and they love to eat.  And I know the food I am giving them is best suited for them and healthy and not a bunch of corn and grain filer which brings the dog no nutritious value.  So, Heather has Tootsie Pop and I have Chloe who are sisters as well as our Pepper and her Kaera.  Heather also has Tico, a a male Havanese and Taeya a beautiful german shephard.  We get the dogs together for play dates and grooming sessions (Heather has been teaching me to groom them myself since I got the 2nd dog so I can save costs) and she even babysat them and Aaron during the HTEH company Christmas party this year.  It's nice to have a great friend to share our doggies with :)

This year, Christmas is going down a little differently than years past.  Aaron doesn't have a list.  He doesn't even want or need anything.  So sad that he's so spoiled, but I guess it makes it easier to me.  He's getting a plane ticket to his Dad's and some money on his pre-paid spending card for things he decides he wants later.  My dogs are getting a new toy box, some toys and treats.  They're easy.  They love everything, even wrapping paper, ribbons and anything else that makes a nice noise when drug around the house or shredded.

This year, I've tried to focus more on giving to those who are truly less fortunate and being "green".  If I have a gift in a brown box, it's getting a pretty ribbon and a name tag.  No wrapping paper.  The kids will enjoy tearing thru packing tape just as much as flimsy paper and scotch tape I'm quite sure.  I've also sponsed a child thru Compassion.com  I chose a little girl that share's Aaron's birthday but is 5 years younger.  Her name is Nancy and she lives in Mexico.  How fun it will be to correspond with someone from another country and I hope to be able to send her gifts in addition to my monthly contribution to her family.  I also gave greener gifts.  The National Wildlife Org has cool ornaments that when you buy, a tree is planted.  The Greater Good Network has several different sites to which your purchases benefit different causes.  My favorite is the animal rescue site because they not only have purple paws on most of the products, but they buy food for needy dogs.  As I know my animals are the quite possibly the most spoiled in the world, I know they don't mind sharing some of their good life for other doggies in need.

On the personal side, Aaron is going to live with his Dad after Christmas.  I've had full custody of him since he was about a year and a half old and this will be quite the change for both of us.  He's had a very difficult year and despite all my efforts, his BiPolar and ADHD continue to be more of a challenge than I can handle each day.  His Dad is confident he can manage him and perhaps having a male role model / authority figure in his life will be the thing that he's been missing.  We've always been together and really close since I've been a single mom most of his life so I'm not quite sure how it's going to be after he goes.  My family is not being supportive of my decision, but they are hundreds of miles away and don't know how rough this year has been.  I know they mean the best, but it is very hurtful when people that you love and hope to hear supportive things from are only criticial.  But, it is what it is.

Since moving out of Dave's house in September, this Christmas has been more of a challenge logistically.  I ended up with a tree from Nevada that my friend's boyfriend intended for his daughter but she ended up not needing.  It is nice to have a real tree is that is what I grew up having and it's been odd at Dave's for the past 5 years having an artificial.  Getting it in the stand was challenging, but it's finally up and has some lights and ornaments on it, so I guess it's good.  It will be very sad to put away all the decorations and colorful lights in my newly empier, quiet house after Aaron leaves.  My mom always used to leave Christmas stuff up for months afterward and now I understand why.  There is just something cheerful and nice about the lights and decorations.  I have thought that I may keep the lights up in my bedroom as they work really well as a night light and keep me comforted.  Dave's oldest son Matt is home from U of I and his new girlfriend Sandy flies in from her hometown on the 30th.  I think they are staying at Dave's so it will be nice to spend some time with her and get to know her a bit.  I do know she has dogs, so that's a plus in my book :)  Jeff has been vacant since hitting teenagedom last year and hopefully he'll have the Wii out for the families entertainment.  I'll take pictures, make more food than anyone can possibly eat and probably overinduldge on goodies.  

My heart goes out to the Kim family who recently lost James Kim in Oregon during a drive to visit family over Thanksgiving.  The technology community has had an incredible outpouring towards his family and I am saddened each time I think of the story and wonder how a young mother with two small children will get thru this first holiday season with her husband and her kid's father.  When my step-dad died 3 years ago, that first holiday was very melancholy and each year around the time of his passing, I am saddened by the thought that he is no longer "there".  This is also my grandmother's  2nd Christmas without my grandfather.  My Papa was a wonderful man and always had a blow up Santa that he would love to play with us grandkids each year.  I love to look at pictures and remember all the good times.  I have tons of video tapes that I need to transfer to digital so I can share them with other family members and that is on my things to do this Winter after Aaron leaves.  I also hope to take a class at George Fox University.  And maybe even join the Liberty Fitness center which is nearly in my front yard.  They have a cool massage table that I think might motivate me to go use :)

So here I am, trying to setup a blog on my favorite site - Podshow.  I have a MySpace and Facebook and a personal website, but I love how Podshow makes everything simple.  Except for how to make the header image look right.  They give dimensions and I've gotten close to it and my image still looks scrunched.  So instead of obsessing on that the rest of the afternoon, I thought I'd go ahead and post and get on with what I set out to do.

Growing up on 10 acres, when we finally got electricity I ask for a Commodore 64 for a gift.  Who knows what started my geekiness, but even back then, I wanted a computer.  For each holiday after I got the computer, I asked for different components.  I was so excited when I got the 5.25" floppy drive so I could save my work.  By 10 years old, I was keeping an electronic diary.  I always hated writing because my mind goes so fast, that only my fingers on the keyboard come close to keeping up.  I wish I still had that old media so I could read what I was thinking, but at some point over the moves in early adulthood, they are gone.

Today, I have a podcast with my 11 year old son Aaron.  We started it this summer and though we only have 9 episodes out to date, it's been a lot of fun.  I started listening to podcasts in the summer of 2005 and for Christmas that year, I got a video Ipod which I don't think has ever left my side since.  I don't do much on the forums, I occasionally email a few podcasters and I've gotten on TalkShoe a few times but I really would like some way to communicate with others who are interested in knowing what's going on with me besides the mass emails that I do when I have big news.

For those who know me, know I hate to use the phone.  I've had heavy phone usage jobs for the past 20 years and I think I've just burned out.  I love email for communication, so I figure this blog is just the next step.  There is a lot going on right now in my life so this is a perfect time to start sharing :)  Happy Holidays everyone.