Bobo on his bed.

Boxer has been home a few days now after his surgery. He’s doing so much better than before. His breathing is fantastic. For those of you who don’t know, Boxer suffers from laryngeal paralysis. Here is a description from the American College of Veterinary Surgeons:

The opening to the trachea (“wind pipe”) normally is pulled open on two sides when breathing in, and then these cartilages relax when breathing out.  With laryngeal paralysis, the muscles that normally pull these open do not function properly.  When an affected dog breathes in, the cartilages do not pull open—rather, they are sucked into the opening, or in severe cases sucked shut.  Early in the condition, this creates increased noise when they breathe (called “stridor”); later, it can completely obstruct their airway, and they can suffocate.

Interestingly, this disease is part of a progressive generalized neuropathy. There is some excellent information on this GOLPP study site at Michigan State University.

I love my couch.

 One of Boxer’s favorite places to relax is on the couch. What a beautiful boy!

I also like my bed.

We recently bought Boxer a new bed and he immediately took to it. We were thankful because we never know what he’s going to like or dislike. It has memory foam and we hope it will help with his arthritis.

The weather was beautiful today – shorts and sandals! This is Boxer today reposing on the deck enjoying the warmth. He’s looking like an old boy – a sweet ole boy.

Here is Boxer after his lar-par surgery. We love you Bobo!

Thank you, Wendy, for the photo!

To: Miriam
From: Santa

Check out our Remodel Blog. We’ve begun a landscaping project.

Peanut watching for critters to chase.

I said I never would – but I did. I attended a baseball game at Tropicana Field yesterday – the Mets against the Rays.

Our seats were pretty good. David Wright, Mets 3rd baseman, treated us to some fantastic defense. All I can say is, wow!

I can’t stand artificial turf – no matter what sport. And I really, really hate domed stadiums for sports that were destined for outdoor play. That opinion still exists today. Tropicana Field wasn’t as bad as it looked on tv, but I kept looking up at the sky wishing I could see blue. I’ll even settle for a retractable roof – but let’s get some real grass out there!

Highlight of the day! Look who got a foul ball. Thole, the Mets catcher, hit a screaming line drive foul right to our seats. We all ducked low – the ball hit Emma’s seat back and became pinned between her and the seat. Santos, with lightning speed, scooped up the ball in his hands. A Tropicana usher was at our side quickly to make sure no one was hurt.

Miriam holding the ball. First time ever to touch a major league foul ball. If you’re snickering then you’re not a true baseball fan.

And, oh, yes – the Mets won! A sweep! Let’s Go Mets!

I met one of my childhood heroes recently. We were at EPCOT meandering through the different countries when we arrived at Great Britain. To my utter surprise, I saw that Mary Poppins was going to be stopping by. I do so love Mary Poppins. And, yes, dear friends, I stood in line with the other children to get my opportunity to meet the woman who brought us supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

She was everything I remembered – practically, perfect in every way!

I love you, Mary Poppins!

As I was waiting in the drive thru at the bank last week, I was also listening to Larry Vettel on am850. The question of the day was “Who’s your favorite George?”. I thought briefly and knew I had the best answer. So, I pulled out my iPhone and emailed Larry my answer, “Jennifer George, of course.” Larry read my answer on air and said he liked it. At the end of the show, Larry chose my answer as the winner. So, Friday evening we enjoyed Moe’s for dinner and watching our Gator baseball team beat William & Mary.

Go Gators!