How Do You Lose Your Dog In Your House?

THE EYE THAT NEEDS TO GO

I suppose that seems like a silly question, however I already have a deaf cat that I tend to misplace on occasion, so imagine how I felt at 4:00AM when I woke up and could not find my dog.  I looked all over the house.  Now you might wonder why I was so worried; it is just that he is blind and needs to have his other eye removed.  I have put off this procedure until he was once again familiar with the house in Mexico.  Last night he was acting very strange, before bedtime I could not find him and he ended up being under my bed, a place he never goes.  So after letting him out I put him up on the bed and he jumped off.  I followed him around the house for awhile and finally went to bed.  When he wants up he will just wake me or so I remember it going.  He is a long legged Jack Russell so he is not really that small so you think I can find him,  30 minutes of searching and heart pounding thoughts, of who would steal just my dog and nothing else later ideas, and I was about to cry.  If I had not tipped over a chair in the kitchen which woke the dog I would probably still be searching!  Apparently I did put the dog up on the bed at some point, we get up every hour or so here, but had forgotten, he must have felt like burrowing, I use a dozen pillows on my bed,  he just managed to get inside of one of the cases and curl up and I never saw him!  I was so relieved, all I could think of was that he had some how gone off to die as old dogs will do.  I now realize that the eye needs to come out, the air from the fans irritates it, and I have them all going in this heat.  He was simply trying to get away from any source of airflow and still be near me.  I am down one pillowcase and up one dog, and smarter for it!

Laugh often, Live with Love

Aimless Meetings

So strange I ran across another person who could have written my thoughts and my day.  The world truly is a very small place. I accidentally hit the next blog button and up popped a blog by a woman I will never meet, in a village I will never go to, who had exactly the same thoughts to share that I did!  

floating like feathers
gliding colors
blues and greens
aimless
free
all of places
I am meant to be

Laugh Often, Live with Love

Just Can't Live Without

All fun no pain!

When I first came to the Baja there were so many things that I missed from home. I did not realize how brand specific I was until it was time to go shopping and they did not have what I wanted, or if it was there, it was SO expensive that I just could not justify the expense. Then as an owner of pets flea season hit. I found that some things you just don't compromise on, and some things are more important than food! Frontline Plus and I are best friends! In an area where fleas and ticks carry some very serious diseases I have managed with Frontline to keep my pets free and clear. Normally I would not rave about a product but there are a few that have become indispensable living along the desert slash coast line. I added Ortho Home and Garden to the mix and we live relatively bug free. On the days we go to the beach I used to worry about the dogs bringing home fleas or ticks however the products do as they advertise which is why I am taking the time to share. I have three dogs and three cats and no fleas and no ticks! I put a little garden in for them to dig in and get shade so I was sure they would get fleas or ticks but absolutely nothing over the last four years. Now how well do I know it works, I took my dog home and left him with my husband, who used copious amounts of different flea products on the poor little fellow, and not until he finally got the Frontline did he get rid of the fleas on both the dog and our cat! He was amazed and of course swore I never told him about it before! So if you have flea issues and have not tried it give it a whirl, both you and your pets will be grateful!

Laugh Often,Live with Love!

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In The Begining; there is always a begining

As with all stories mine began, well it began many, many years ago, however for this story it began five years ago with my decision to relocate to Mexico permanently.  It was an unconscious decision made out of many conflicting emotions, the most intense being LOVE.  This is something my husband wants and in order for me to succeed at it I needed to just jump in and go for it!
 I have always believed and still do that the hardest part of marriage is in the act of selflessness.  It is easy to be selfish  but hard to just be selfless.  At first I was overwhelmed by the cultural life styles and the very simple fact that I needed to be the one to make the change if I was going to make this work.  Living without all the things I take for granted, water for showering and eating; electricity whenever I want, and of course just the ability to communicate were things I never thought about until they became the very things I thought about every day!!!!  When the power is out your phone is out and your computer.  It does no good to go to the next town because after all the power is out in both towns, one station for both, long line????  I know this sounds silly but I wanted to get over all the issues of relocating, all the hardships, on my own so my husband would feel better about his decision to do this.  When he comes on a permanent basis he will find someone who not only loves his crazy ideas but embraces them!  I will; probably still not speak Spanish; though I am trying, but I will know where to get the best water, the best tortillas, the best food, and the best beaches.  I will have made friends whom I enjoy spending time with because here that is all you have, time and I love it.  I will be able to coax him through the transition faze of retirement which believe me is not easy; and keep him sane; also not going to be easy; and we will thrive!  There is an element of living here that requires you to just understand that This is Mexico(TIM); from driving your car to finding the best drinking water; to just knowing that today is not tomorrow and whatever you planned is not really important; just exist as you are for the moment and live. It is the Baja way and once you get it you have it and can simply put you got it!
Laugh Often, Live with Love for today Is the Day you Have.

Profuse

It seems strange that I should once again fall victim to a heat related illness.  I taught Heat Stress/Stroke, I know more than I care to about it and yet when it comes to myself, it is the little details I always miss.  Now the fact that I did not feel well was not a really red flag, or that I slept all day, or that I was so dizzy, but HOW I over looked the profuse sweating is a mystery to me.  When you are in A/C and still  profusely sweating you better pop the top of some electrolytes and start chugging!  It just took one third of a bottle of Pedialyte, grape or cherry if you haven't tried it yet, and things just got right back on track.  Now for me the moment the profuse sweating started, okay a few moments or so after, I thought, I have been down this same road before and I seem to remember it ending badly,  but this  time I have Pedialyte, two flavors no less!  The fact that I once again did not see the obvious sign until it was almost too late and I once again almost found myself on the floor did not escape me.  I am getting better at this, at least this time I actually had the right stuff to drink, and it was cold, instead of just wishing I had it, like last season.  My goal today is to make it to the water store and the store itself to get juice and more good stuff to drink.  This season of intense heat I will  remember for each Gatorade or fitness water to follow it with actual water.  The most important thing I will remember is that too much water is just as bad as not enough!

Laugh often, Live with Love!

Pain

Perspective is everything;  each time my Jack Russell; also called Jack: also a one eyed Jack: who knew when we named him that would happen:  at any rate I digress, whenever he hits my right shin, in exactly the same spot, and I feel the pain I thank God for it.  Now most people would get upset and frustrated; however I simply remember the pain I felt when I touched my head, shoulder and knees in the hospital and realized that if not for him I would probably ; in fact most definitely be dead today! When I slipped into unconsciousness on that back porch because of my heart/head injury he never gave up trying to get help.  He would not let the neighbors in the gate so they were forced to call the ambulance that ultimately saved me.  My head injury caused me to forget I had a heart problem and I thought I was on the couch with the flu because I felt so bad.  He had also for several years been waking me up several times a night; each time I just thought he needed to go out, or that our other dog needed out, and that they just were not on  the same schedule.  Of course it turned out it was me that needed to get up and get the old heart rate up and going and he just knew it.  After my pacemaker he never woke me again.  So pain is simply put into perspective in life; he is now blind and each time he bumps me I think; Thank You God For My Life Saver.
Laugh Often, Live with Love!

Disconnected

It turns out  that the time has come to register my cell phone with the government here, that is, if I intend to use it to call out of the country.  I have no problem with this, it is just that the only way to do it, is to drive an hour and a half in either direction to do so.  Normally I would jump at the chance to take a trip into the big city for supplies, and a real mission, but the temperatures there are triple digits right now and that is not where I want to be!  I am going to have to suck it up and go it is just a matter of which day I feel like dealing with it.  Then I see the weather and realize mother nature is forcing my hand!  It will be tomorrow since a big storm is headed our way!  Since they started the new road construction we have all realized that the first storm would isolate us for a week if not more if you do not have 4 wheel drive.  While the intentions have been great, to get the bridges in, all the excavating has left us with deep trenches to drive through until they do!  So the fire has been lite and now I fear I must go!

My Life Saver

This is the dog that saved my life.  And so now that he is totally blind I am working with him to ensure that the quality of life for him is top notch.  As it turns out; other than rearranging some furniture he seems to have things under control! When we returned to Mexico I thought it would be difficult for him, since he went completely blind while at home and had to adjust there.  Well I was so wrong!  He came back here and still finds his spot at the gate to bark at the same imaginary issues, and he still finds his favorite spot to sit in the sun, and he has figured out exactly how to navigate his way back into the house both front door and back!  At the beach I keep him on the longest lead I can find and he wanders at his own pace.  When he wants to go down to the waters edge he does; however he never did learn the dangers of the tides so the other dogs still run interference with that and I let them just to keep things the same. There are people that have suggested we have him put down since he is now blind, however he is happy and healthy  with the exception of his sight.  He saved me and now I will save him; the little extra work involved is meaningless when you consider the fact that I would not be writing this if he had not been so devoted to me in the first place!  Watching him enjoy living makes my life fuller, extra work and crazy schedules mean nothing in the  large scheme of things.
Laugh often and live with love, today is what we have!