Ft Benning, GA and the trip that got us here :D

The day we left Hawaii - which seems like it should be a week ago not just yesterday - we got the new kennel/crate for the dog only to discover that there was no hardware or door for it! So we had to hit up K-Mart to get ANOTHER crate. There were only two lines open and of course I ended up in the line where someone was making an exchange..

We got to the airport about 2 hours pre-flight but because of having to return the one day (more like 4 hour) rental car and check the baggage and get the dog all checked with the flights - we were practically running to the gate. Made it just a few minutes before they started boarding the flight. Of course the military, when booking our flights, didn't pay attention to whether or not our five seats on each flight were close or together! So we get on the first flight and thanks to a lovely Delta flight attendant were able to swap seats with some people.

Halfway through that flight I realize I didn't have my camera bag - the one with my 'spensive, shiny Nikon camera! I went back to the row I was originally in with Anya and found it tucked way under the seat where I must have stowed it and forgotten in the scramble to get switched. We landed in LA and Robby is collecting all the carry ons while I arrange the kids and I noticed one bag missing...our "quick change" bag that had shoes, socks, changes of clothes, etc for when we arrived in the slightly more chilly Georgia. Near as we can figure - during boarding it was accidentally left behind in the gate area in Honolulu Airport. If there was a TSA shut down of the airport as a result of our forgotten bag - I extend my apologies lol.

Anyway, for whatever reason, we're all standing about waiting to off load from the plane and it takes like 30 minutes before they even open the doors (mind you we were already at the gate so it's not like we were still being pulled in or anything). We finally get off the plane and start to hunt down the gate for our next flight since our 2 hour layover is now more like an hour and fifteen minutes. After a couple elevator trips, a LONG walk through the "Steel Curtain Tunnel" of LAX and an escalator trip, we find out new gate and have about 20 minutes to feeds ourselves before boarding. If it were just Robby and I - 20 minutes would be no problem but the girls aren't speedy eaters lol.

On board the next flight (this one from LAX to Atlanta), once again we swap a couple seats with people so Robby is sitting with Jadzia and I'm sitting with Inara and Anya. This particular flight is a red-eye flight and I should note here that Anya has MAJOR motion/spacial issues. She HATES elevators, escalators, etc. Flying was no different. I also suspect she might have slight claustrophobia issues. Every time we boarded a flight she would start freaking out when I tried to get her to move into the row and sit down - just what I want to deal with when trying to stow luggage and get three kids settled. She did this even on the flight from Hawaii to LA and she'd never flown before. Anyway, since it was a red-eye I felt the need to get her calmed as soon as possible - the last thing the sleeping people wanted at midnight was a screaming, crying two year old. With a lot of soothing and holding, she calmed down and clutched onto me through the take off and then conked out.

De-planing from this flight is where we lost another item of marginal importance - one of Anya's Kai-Lan dolls. Now, Anya has a mild Kai-Lan obsession and has what we call the "Kai-Lan Army" of like 6 different stuffed Kai-Lan dolls. All but two of them were snatched by packers before I could rescue them and are currently in a crate somewhere between Hawaii in Georgia. Now one of them is probably sitting in an airport lost and found or something but trying to get back on the plane to retrieve it simply wasn't worth it at that point so she'll have to deal with one for now. (I know, I know - this trip will probably cement her need for like years of therapy lol)

Now in Atlanta, we have about a three hour layover until we are supposed to get on our short hop to Columbus so we take our time getting to our new gate (which requires more escalator trips to traumatize the smallest spawnling and airport train trip). And then we wait...at this point, though it's like 8AM Atlanta time, it's about 3AM Hawaii time and my children are all WIDE AWAKE while Robby and I are desperately trying to keep our eyes open. I was doing great until we stopped moving lol.

So our little 30 minute hop flight is delayed first because of a late flight crew - several flights were delayed for the same reason during our time in the concourse so either the flight crews in Atlanta do not feel the need to be on time - ever - or that's Delta's standardized reply initially lol. After it had been delayed almost an hour they changed the reasoning to maintenance. We finally get boarded...and then we sit. Apparently the radio isn't transmitting or something so we sit and we sit and we sit. Anya spazzes out and eventually falls asleep on my lap while we sit. Another hour or so later, we are de-planed and told to "talk to the gate agents about making arrangements...". Nice plan! The passengers scatter - some jump onto another flight to Columbus, some I suspect go rent a car and just plan to drive from Atlanta to Columbus (it's a couple hours by car). We're waiting for them to work their way through the line and Robby steps up when they announce that they "think" they fixed the issue and will be continuing the flight as planned (a couple hours late). So we reboard and take off. The Fasten Seatbelt sign is off for about 3 minutes before they turn it back on and announce that we are landing! 3 hour layover, 2+ hour delay...for a 30 minute flight!

But finally we're in the tiny little Columbus airport and Robby goes to secure our rental car while I wait with the kids for the baggage to start rolling. Nearly an hour later it finally DOES start rolling and we get everything - except one duffel bag...oh and our DOG!

Thankfully Jasper (the Dog) was NOT lost somewhere between Hawaii and Georgia or taking a mini-break in like Aruba without us. The duffel bag, on the other hand, took a bit longer to track down. Thankfully it was found a while later and finally we were off - only we really had no idea where we were seeing as we'd had no internet for a week and no real means of mapping or familiarizing ourselves with the area lol. It took a couple wrong turns but we found the rather large Ft Benning AND our hotel and then we all fell down lol.

Oh and we saw a few signs for restaurants and such that we have missed during our time in Hawaii so woohoo lol

Rest in Peace Gimli

Our dear, sweet puppy passed away this morning around six am. He was six and a half years old and very much loved by our family.

October 16th, 2003 - March 19th, 2010

We adopted Gimli in December 2003 - he was seven weeks old and could fit in our hands at the time. Of all his litter, he was the calmest when we picked him and the runt of the litter. Boy did he deceive us on both accounts. It soon became apparent that he had quite a bit of energy bundled in that tiny little package and of course he didn't stay tiny for long.

Even though he was a mini-dachshund, when he was full grown he was larger than mini-doxies were supposed to be but not fat at the time.

We found out in February 2004 that we were expecting Jadzia and eventually Gimli transferred the majority of his affection to Robby. Robby was his chosen human and they were very close.

When Robby left for Basic Training - Gimli was darn near depressed and moody but we mustered through it. While in Texas, we had three cats who Gimli loved - mostly chasing them around the apartment and playing with them. Of course the cats didn't always like his particular means of "play". But Rajah and Gimli made friends with each other.

There was never any doubt that we would bring him with us to Hawaii, even with the three month quarantine they have in place here in Hawaii. We visited him at the quarantine station as often as we could and he was well taken care of there and grew chunkier.

When the three months were up, we were thrilled to bring him home. We'd adopted Bluto a couple weeks before then and were expecting Anya a few weeks later so it was a busy start to the summer.

Gimli managed Robby's deployment better than he handled the original training but a couple months after Robby left, Gimli had severe neck pains. We went to the vet and they explained that this was an issue common in dachshunds. I don't remember what it's called, I may have blogged about it about a year ago. But they gave him anti-inflammatory medication and told us to try to keep him from jumping on furniture, rough housing with Bluto, etc. A few weeks on the meds and he was back to his old self and disgruntled that I wouldn't let him jump as much.

In August, Bluto passed away and very shortly after we got Jasper - a beagle puppy. Robby was home on leave at the time thankfully. Jasper and Gimli got along well - better than he did with Bluto I think because Jasper was never very much larger than Gimli.

A week ago, Gimli began to limp and by the following morning he was not using his back legs at all. We rushed him to the vet, who rushed us to another vet. They strongly recommended surgery to recover use of his legs. Sadly the surgery was far more than we could begin to afford so they recommended getting him a doggie wheelchair. Chances were he'd never regain back mobility but he would be able to continue leading a happy doggie life. We brought him home and started the process of getting one.

Over the course of the week, Gimli was doing fairly well considering the circumstances but he took a turn for the worse on Wednesday night. He wasn't wanting to eat or drink on his own and simply wasn't himself - even the "himself" he'd been since losing mobility. Yesterday he seemed to improve in some areas and ate and drank so we all hoped he would bounce back but as the night continued, it became clear that it was almost time. I stayed up with him snuggled with me on the couch until he quietly passed away this morning.

He was a great dog and will be sorely missed. Rest in peace puppy and say hi to Bluto for us.

Rest In Peace Bluto

Born March 18th, 2008
Died August 30th, 2009

I know it's been a few weeks since my last post and now I come back with such somber news but such is life.

Our sweet dog Bluto passed away yesterday. He had a liver disorder and seizures. While the seizures seemed to have been under control, sometime in the early Saturday morning hours he had a seizure (or more than one) while we were sleeping. He had at least 3 more from 7AM until noon that day. The vet put him on various drugs to stop the seizures but he never seemed to recover from the cluster. He was breathing heavily and unable to function Saturday and into Sunday. Then on Sunday he passed away. We don't know if the seizures were the direct cause of his death, if the liver was the cause or if there was some other underlying cause of the seizures which also caused his death.

He will be dearly missed in this family. He was a good, sweet dog and always so great with the kids.

The Case of the Doggy Bag

Last night I ordered pizza for dinner and there was still some left over. I hadn't tossed the box yet and it was sitting on top of the stove. There was also a box from breadsticks on top of the pizza box and some Trek toys from a cereal box I opened today (all on TOP of the pizza box). I went next door for a bit tonight and when I came back the Trek toys were no longer on top of the pizza box, they'd been knocked to the floor. (Mind you the breadstick box was still on top of the pizza box) Confused, I picked them up and set them on the counter. I picked up the pizza box intending to toss it out and it felt too light considering there should be slices left in the box. Moving the breadstick box, I opened the pizza box....no pizza. No trace of pizza aside from the greasy stains on the box.

Meanwhile, Bluto is wagging his big dog butt next to me like he was the best dog in the world. Near as I can figure, Bluto got up, used his nose to open the pizza box enough to devour the pizza. The toys easily scattered due to being small and light but the breadstick box still had breadsticks in it (I guess he wasn't interested in those) so the box was heavy enough not to fall off as Bluto sneak attacked the pizza. When he was done and removed his big head from the box, the breadstick box assisted in closing the lid of the pizza box leaving very little evidence of his super stealth pizza theft.

Either that or someone came in, stole the pizza slices and nothing else and left. I tend to favor the dog in this case. My dog has mad, stealth skills...and will probably throw up the evidence by morning...

It's a Dog Gone World

Just when Gimli seems to be on the mend and a happy, bouncy pup again; partially thanks to his happy pain pills; Bluto is a new medical mystery. Today Bluto scared me by having a doggie seizure. After a minute or so he was a little confused looking but no longer seizing and then he was back to normal. I'm not sure why it happened but as long as it doesn't happen again this weekend, I'll wait to call the vet until Monday and then consult with them. That was the only thing that happened of any interest today.

I had "I Love Lucy" on all day in the background though. A couple weeks ago, I saw season one on sale on Amazon for like 16$, so I ordered it. Well then the next day or the day after they had the complete series as the deal of the day for only 85$. It was one of those too good to pass up deals so I ordered it as well and gifted season 1 to my neighbors.

No Surgery for Gimli

Yet at least. The vet said that at this point, surgery isn't necessary but if he gets worse then it may be required. For now we have pain meds to give him and should keep him from jumping on furniture, rough housing with Bluto and other such things that might make his neck worse.

He has a partial prolapse of a cervical disc for anyone who is curious. So for now, at least, we don't have to do surgery.

That was the highlight of my day as Inara spent most of the night with a raging fever. She spiked to 104.1 at one point but hovered around 102 most of the night and day. She is surprisingly not cranky really - just clingy and tired. She has no other symptoms really so I have no idea what's actually wrong with her. But 104.1 fever is not a good thing that's for sure!

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

I try to make it a point to combine errands into one trip because it usually makes my life easier. But I also try not to make more than two or three stops while we're out because the kids usually start getting irritable by the end of stop three. The whole in and out of car seats thing is tough on them and me at that point. Well today I had several tasks to complete to get the whole pet deposit thing taken care of and I opted to pull it all together in one potentially dangerous trip. We needed to go to the post office (unrelated to the pets, just needed to be done), the satellite City Hall for the county registration, get a money order for the housing office, the on-base vet to register them with the office and finally the housing office to put it all together.

Surprisingly, the kids took it all pretty well. Inara started to get fidgety in the stroller while at the City Hall location but was okay getting back in the car. Anya fell asleep between Wal-Mart (where I got the money order) and the on-base bet but woke up okay and was content at least while I waited at the vets' office. She didn't want to get back in the carseat afterwards but calmed down by the time the car was moving so we were able to do the housing office. As luck would have it, none of the places were busy since we started the grand adventure at 930AM in the middle of the week. I guess that's one of the few advantages to utilizing morning hours. I still don't like the morning though.

When we got home, Anya was so ready for a real nap (as opposed to the 10 minute one she took in the car). So I got her down and got the kids some lunch and then collapsed in slump. Despite the kids being (REALLY) good for the trip, I was still tired in the end. I was ready for a nap then!

Speaking of naps, out of the blue, both Inara and Jadzia fell asleep on the couch for a little dose. It was surprising but cute. I think Jadzia only laid down because Inara had fallen asleep and then she fell asleep too. They were both sleeping under the same blanket (which I think was Jadzia's doing). I had to wake them after a little while though otherwise bedtime would have been a beast. But they woke up well enough.

Tomorrow we have to take Gimli in for his X-Rays and will probably hit up the commissary for a few things after we drop him off. He has to be dropped off in the morning and then picked up in the afternoon so at least no waiting around. He's doing really well and is full of energy today which is what keeps throwing me about whatever might be wrong with him. Tuesday he was so obviously in pain and today he'd be jumping on furniture and wrestling with Bluto probably if I let him (which I won't). I just hope whatever it is 1) can be treated and 2) is marginally affordable. He's our dog, and he's family and we'll treat him of course - I would just prefer to deplete less savings than more.

Happy Birthday Bluto

Today is Bluto's first birthday! Happy birthday you big goofy puppy!

Before we came to Hawaii, we opted to find homes for our cats. As much as I LOVED my cats, the flight and 4-month quarantine would have fundamentally altered the cats. Anya (the cat) probably wouldn't have even survived as she was 15 years old and growing sicker. Hawaii may not have let her come in anyway. Shadow, who is 10, probably would have handled the trip okay but I don't know who she would have dealt with the quarantine. She's a very, in your lap and face, needs attention kind of cat. Finally there was Rajah, who was only a couple years old and probably would have handled it all just fine - but she was also the easiest one to find a new home for given her age, health and temperament. She went to live with friends of ours which is nice for us. Anya passed away before the move and the other two were placed in good homes.

So anyway, after we got to Hawaii, Robby said IF I wanted another pet I could since I gave up my kitties (Anya and Shadow came with me pre-marriage). I decided on a dog because, while I love kitties, I don't love litter boxes. So at 6 months pregnant and brand new to Hawaii, I started looking into dogs. I wanted a puppy because of the kids - I wanted to know the dogs whole background. Also, most of the dogs listed on the shelter website were Pits or mixed Pits. I have no problems with Pits but Housing does. They had some adorable Pit mix puppies listed when we were looking that I oohed and aahed over. I found a website with Hawaii breeders for various dog breeds. I knew I wanted one from Hawaii due to the quarantine thing so after looking into ALL the available breeds and breeders I could find, I decided on an Australian Shepherd and found a breeder on the Big Island who would ship him over to us. As it turned out, her pups were already pregnant when I contacted her. In March the puppies were born and oh so cute!


In May the breeder emailed us updated pictures and we started talking about sending him over to us. Here he is as 6 weeks old:
And then a couple weeks later, I picked him up at the airport. He whined in his carrier the whole way home and he didn't even have his name yet. We had a whole list of possible names for him and when he got here NONE of them seemed quite right for him. It took a couple hours before we picked Bluto.

Dog Tired

First off, I must say - Walmart is evil. It is a horrible, money sucking place!

Well...Maybe it's not EVIL per say...

But every time I go there in need of one or two things - somehow I walk out with so much more. I went today for the whole dog leash and collar thing. I also got some shorts and tanks for Jadzia to use as play and sleep clothes, a couple new pairs of shoes for Jadzia and Inara, assorted toys for their Easter baskets, a couple of toys for Bluto's birthday, etc and so on. But I got Bluto a new collar which makes him spaz out a bit, a leash which he then proceeded to try and eat and a new harness for Gimli.

Now onto the "Fun" part of the day. Picture this, a woman with frazzled hair, a crying baby on her hip and two dogs with leashes wrapped around her legs. Yeah that was me today.

I got my neighbor to take Jadzia and Inara while we went to the vet otherwise the picture would have been even more insane. I'm so thankful I did because there was enough chaos without having to worry about those two! First there was the getting into the car - Gimli knows how to ride in the car but the last time Bluto rode in the car he was in a crate and a small puppy. He didn't even want to get in the car! Once I managed to get him in it and the doors all closed, he started whining and trying to jump in my lap. Um, no have you ever driven with a 53 pound dog in your lap? Neither have I and I'm not about to try! So he was jittery and whiney the whole trip to the vets' office. Then we get out and he tries to jump out before I'm ready for him to and Gimli is already making his way for the door. Soon I was dodging dogs and leashes while trying to get Anya out of her carseat. Once inside, there are, naturally strangers to Bluto - which means barking, lots and lots of barking. Here I am trying to sign them in and give them Bluto's information for his chart and Bluto is barking at the ladies and particularly frantic about the little cat walking across the desk. Meanwhile, Anya, who hasn't napped is about at her breaking point and she starts crying.

Finally we're all in and we go to the back. First off the room is TINY so I'm glad I didn't have to cram Jadzia and Inara in there with us. Anya is mercifully back in the infant carrier (which I keep in the car for just occasions where she'll need a place to go) and relatively calm. Bluto meets another new stranger and begins barking again. Gimli gets to go first and demonstrates for them his back problems

(actually a neck problem)

for the vet and the vet tech. While I hate to see him in pain, I'm glad they were able to see it instead of me having to try and explain it. It seems to come and go for him which makes it hard for me to understand exactly. The vet suspects he has a cervical disc problem and wants him back in for XRays to try and determine if that's actually the problem or not. If it is, then it will likely need surgery. They gave him his shots and were very very gentle with him. Meanwhile Bluto was still barking at everyone and every noise (particularly the dogs in the back barking), which upset Anya so I was trying to hold her and she was wailing. One of the techs asked if they wanted me to hold her for a minute so I could help with the dogs and I had to explain that that would only make her cry louder.

Bluto kept trying to get away from people when it came his turn to get on the table thus hitting Gimli a lot and setting him off. Finally they got him on the table and the vet tech starts rubbing him and he completely mellows out. I think he was in doggy love with her, she also kept bribing him with treats. He was perfectly calm through the whole exam and the barking had finally ceased. It was probably the calmest part of the visit. I had them microchip him and then we were done in the teeny tiny room. Wrangling the dogs back out into the hall with Anya was a sport in and of itself but we made it to the check out counter at long last.

I tried not to look shell shocked at the total and just paid my bill but I was at the time. Upon further reflection I realize that if I split it in half it was about the same as what I paid for just Gimli's annual visits, shots, tests, etc. So with two dogs it made sense, but it was still hard to hear at first. And I still have to go back for the xrays and possibly surgery...

(I love my dogs, I love my dogs, I love my dogs...)

By the time I got them home and returned Gimli to his doggy confinement, I thought Anya would be fried. She should have been fried since she'd been up since about 12:30PM. But, while she was very cranky she refused to sleep. I managed to even get her to play on the floor for awhile while I fed the older beasties. When bed time rolled around, I still hadn't gotten Anya to sleep even though I knew she had to be exhausted. I'm now convinced she was waiting for the other two to be in bed before she went to sleep because once THEY were asleep, she conked out.

The Adventures of Rin Tin Gimli

Gimli has been in solitary confinement for a couple weeks now. He seems to have injured his back and keeping him isolated from Bluto, the kids, etc for a few weeks is the safest for him until he's completely healed. The first couple of days, when he was still hurting, he took it tolerably well - almost like a relief to be away from the chaos in the house. But after that he no longer understood the need to be confined. He started whining more, scratching at the door, refusing to eat unless I was in the room with him. I've made an effort to go up and sit with him for a little bit a couple times a day if I can get away from the kids (and trust that they won't spill bood or something). It's not the same as being constantly around us but it's honestly for his own good.

A few months ago, Gimli was constantly sneaking under the fence since it's not flush with the ground. More than once we found him in a neighbors yard, down the street, etc. We got some white garden fence pieces to cover the biggest gaps and his most frequent routes and the escape attempts stopped. Well, the last couple days when I would bring Gimli out, when I went to retrieve him he was gone. Thankfully those times he showed back up before I had to go dog hunting.

This time, however, he didn't return right away. I left the kids inside the house and started hunting up and down the street and calling his name. I tried for about twenty minutes with no luck before I finally went inside. I'd decided to load the kids in the car and try to hunt for him on wheels as he'd probably gone beyond the street by then I wasn't willing to leave the kids home alone for that extensive of a neighborhood search. I'd gotten them all loaded and was buckling Inara into her seat when who should appear trotting down the street with nary a care in the world? Gimli.

I left the kids stuck in the van (doors open) and jogged over and snatched him up. I scolded him and then juggled him in one arm while trying to release the kids from their seats with the other. After everyone was back inside, I returned Gimli to his cell and now have started standing in the yard with him when he gets yard time.