Posts Tagged ‘Jake’

“Where is Jake?”

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

We were just hanging around Sunday afternoon–Tyler and I were in the living room playing the Wii  and reading the paper, respectively; Anna and Paul were building something in the playroom. All of a sudden Tyler asked, “Where is Jake?!” He said it like he realized we had seen the other dogs, but not Jake.

I was stunned and grateful I had the newspaper to hide behind. He asked again. I had to respond. I defaulted to Paul’s evasive, “What, Buddy?” while I frantically tried to think of an answer. Was he thinking religiously like where is his soul? Was it an existential question–where are any of us really? Did he forget we buried him? The poor boy repeated himself a third time. I had to say SOMETHING!

“Jake died, baby, remember?”

“”Oh, yeah.” So sad.

Jake’s aftermath

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Paul cuddling w Maggie. Tyler saw Maggie in our bed and got scared. Apparently he associated Jake being sick with being allowed to be in our bed (which was true), but assumed that if Maggie was in there she was going to die too.

Things are pretty quiet around here without Jake. Paul and I took Maggie and Katie on a hike Sunday morning before we got the kids. We both agreed it was good for us to do “the first one without Jake” on our own before having the kids do their first Jake-less walk.

Anna and Tyler both handled Jake’s death better than Sam’s. They cried when they first saw him laid out by his grave, but once we went through the photos and toys that we wanted to bury with Jake, they were ok. Tyler did a good job helping Paul bury Jake. Anna chose a photo of her as a baby, Paul and Jake that she wanted to put in the frame with the photo she has of Sam.

I did add an entry to “Kids Say the Darndest Things” page about Jake. Check it out!

Jake (1999-2010)

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Enjoying a favorite past time--riding in the car--on the 4th of July this year. He was diagnosed w lymphoma the next day.

Yesterday we buried my man’s best friend. It was so quiet when I fed Maggie and Katie this morning–no Jake to bark his hungry head off. Paul wondered when he was going to stop looking for him in every room. Never. My mom said it best: it will leave a hole in your heart the shape of your pet. And Jake was a big big dog, with an even bigger personality.

The boys after another of Jake's past times--swimming. This was also July of this year, at a local lake one morning before work. Probably after a 3rd past time--Jake tricking us into thinking he was coming out of the water when it was time to go. It always took a few tries to get him back on the leash.

More on Jake

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Jake at the vet on Friday. Dr Thomas was very surprised at how well he was doing--that he was still alive at all really. We just want him to be able to enjoy the things he loves as long as he can.

I guess I should have kept my trap shut. Jake took a turn for the worse this weekend. We took the dogs to the Dog Splash (more on that in another post), which we knew would be hard for him physically b/c of the gigantic lymph nodes making it hard to breathe. But we strongly feel that quality of life is what we are shooting for here and Jake CLEARLY had a ball swimming.

Last night he was having a really hard time breathing and we considered taking him to the emergency vet to have him euthanized. Paul laid on the floor with him for awhile and Jake’s breathing finally calmed down and Jake was able to fall asleep. This morning he was just lying around and we had a plan set for Paul to take him. Paul told the kids about it and Tyler got Jake some ice (one of Jake’s favorite treats that he gets… legally at least!). After eating about 10 ice cubes, Tyler gave him cheese, which he snarfed in 1 swallow. [[time out: spell check knows the word "snarfed," but not the word "euthanized." What's up with THAT?!]]  Then Jake turned around and snatched Anna’s bagel out of her hand while she wasn’t paying attention. Paul and I just looked at each other stunned.

So we decided to hold off and watch him for now. I have plans to travel to Cincinnati to see Sydney and the rest of my family for a few days. Worried about leaving Paul to handle all that by himself: he will have the kids T, W, Th (read: homework those nights, plus getting on the bus on W, Th, F). If he needs to put Jake down in the middle of all that, wow. But knowing Jake, he will probably be “helping”  Paul make lunches every morning for many more weeks to come.

Jake update

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Jake is hanging in there like the stubborn dog he is. We still give him the max dose of prednisone that the vet originally prescribed. That makes him eat lots and pee more. When we let him out in the morning and after work, its about a 2 minute steady stream. No wonder he is panting when we get up.

He has good days and bad. Yesterday he was running after the ball and the Frisbee some when we were in the back yard. But then when it was time for bed, he had a hard time climbing up. There is a small section of my brain that thinks that he is playing us. Because we are not sure how much longer he will be with us, he pretty much gets what he wants. He gets a can of soft food each morning (also b/c he can’t swallow the hard food so he wasn’t eating much), he doesn’t get yelled at as much when he tramples the garden and eats the tomatoes off the vine the day before Paul was going to pick them, and he sleeps on the bed with us at night. Most nights Jake and I are sacked out before Paul even starts practicing guitar so a couple hours later he has to wiggle in between us. That is always funny b/c he either does it in the dark or leaves the light on , then has to figure out how to get the lamp clicked off.

Often times there is a milestone that dying people hang on for. We are wondering if that might be the Dog Splash for Jake. Each year the city pool in Burlington closes for a week for cleaning and draining the pool. Before they do they let dogs come swim for $5. We took Jake, Maggie and Katie last year and had a BLAST.  The only reason we left was b/c the dogs’ paws were bleeding from running on the concrete and climbing out of the pool (they were not interested in the zero gravity entrance). The 2010 Dog Splash is next weekend (September 11) and we have our reservations set. Here is a picture of Jake at the 2009 Dog Splash:

COWABUNGAAAAAAA

Animal House

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Turns out Barton IS a hunter, even if he did not go outside for the first 7 years of his life. He brought a MOUSE into the house a couple weekends ago. Paul hid behind the recliner and Jake while I took care of slap shooting it out of the house where Barton handled his biz-nass.

I know it is blurry, but a great action shot.

Mission Accomplished. I will save you the rest of the story.

We also took Jake, Maggie and Katie swimming. They are so cute in the car. Jake sat in the seat like a person. Then to stick his nose out the window seems to be the be the best thing that ever happened to him. We should really all take a lesson from dogs. Fresh air = paradise.

Chillin like a villain

WHOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Barton also knew that Jake wasn’t feeling well so he let Jake cuddle with him on the bed. Paul took this pic one morning when I was already at work. So cute.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

PTTHHhhhthhththththth (sound of making rasberries)

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Elli asked me today what was up w the blog so I am sure the rest of you are waiting on the edge of your seats too.

Welp, not much. But lots of stuff that make it chaotic, herding cats is what I told Elli.

I sissied out of the Blue Ridge Parkway ride so we don’t really have a vacation planned for this year. We penciled in a few backpacking trips, both with and without the kids. Then Jake got sick, or at least we realized he was sick. Jake has lymphoma. He has responded well to the prednisone (no chemo). Paul is supposed to check back in w the vet on Monday to maybe cut back on the dosage. The lumps in his neck (I assume enlarged lymph nodes) reduced in size, but now they are growing again in size. We are doing everything we can to give him quality of life for as long as we can so he has been sleeping in our bed.  A 90 pound dog takes up a lot more space than a 9 pound cat. Whoa. Between Jake and Paul, the temperature goes up about 100 degrees. He also gets soft food (can’t really eat much hard food) and we did take him swimming recently. Here is a pic:

There is more pathetic and apathetic stuff to write about but I am SO crabby I need to go to bed now.

What snu?

Friday, April 30th, 2010

It is funny how life seems to be so hectic, but when I go to list what has been happening, there really isn’t too much.

Anna is playing softball again this spring. She is on a team w a different coach, but a couple girls are the same from last year. Funny thing about softball–the socks. One is purple and one is gold. The purple one went missing (wherever missing socks go) after 1 game. Instead of just wearing regular socks, she wore the gold one and a regular sock. Didn’t want you to think it was a gang sign or anything.

PS–the purple sock turned up this past weekend (after about 3 weeks on vacation). It was under our bed.  Imagine that–a dirty sock 2 feet from where the clothes got pulled off and dropped. Who would have thunk it??

Anna rounds 3rd on her way home.

Tyler is playing baseball (T ball really). He is the only kid who gets overhand pitched to and he SMACKS it every time. He has a great swing and really crushes it. He gets that from me I am sure. The main thing he has been doing though is GROWING! This past weekend I think he ate and laid around the entire weekend. He even put himself down for a nap (normal for me, NOT for this 6 year old boy).

What do growing 6 year old boys and lazy 77 year old dogs have in common?

A few weekends ago Paul and I went to see Simplified play at the Blind Tiger again. Their songs are great and it is always a good time (made better by the recent legislation banning smoking in bars and restaurants). Turns out the band’s drummer broke his wrist so they had a new kid who did ok. Just a little different vibe since he was new.

Simplified in concert April 16, 2010 @ The Blind Tiger

We like that band so much that their song, “Home,” was the one that we walked down the aisle to at our wedding. Lyrics:
Never thought I would be the one who,
Found someone to make me feel like you do,
It’s true I dreamed of you,
And you came in right on cue,

At the Simplified concert April 16.

Tyler and I were playing basketball one afternoon (which means I was rebounding for him–I am allowed 1 shot per 1 million Tyler shoots). All of a sudden he stops and runs over to the yard by the fence. He wanted to pick me flowers and insisted that I put them in water right away so they would last. Here is a photo of my gift:

What more could a girl ask for?

I have been reading quite a bit lately (Paul would say “as usual”). I recently finished House Rules by Jodi Picoult. She could make the phone book a best seller. LOVE her writing style. I also finished Walking on Broken Glass. It was ok. I am part way through The Irresistible Henry House. It is quirky so far. Henry House is an orphan who is adopted by a Home Ec Dept of a college in the 40′s so his 6 “mothers” rotate weekly for a semester, then he gets a new batch of mother every 4-5 months. It follows him through life to watch how messed up this makes him. It is supposedly fiction, but I think these programs really did exist. I introduced Paul to Bill Bryson and Dave Berry. That’s right, Paul is STILL reading! He even said his next book will be FICTION. Imagine that!!!

We have been riding a lot more now that the weather has warmed up. We are doing our first mountain ride this weekend. Can’t remember exactly how much climbing, but its a lot. Hopefully the bike Garmin will work to measure climbing feet like it is supposed to. Last weekend there was such a drastic change in pressure w that big storm that it said at one point that the incline we were on was 850% grade! WHOA!

Jake really misses Sam

Monday, August 31st, 2009

As you know, Sam died last month. About a week after he died, Paul said that Sam was always the dog that played w the kids the most. He said he would go back to Anna’s room and they would have him all dressed up in scarves, hats and necklaces and stuff–just piled it on him. He would just sit there w his Stupid Sam look on his mug. He said that thought came to him when he went to check on Sam’s grave and the kids had taken a bunch of stuff out there to put on his grave. Pictures, toys, dog bones, etc.

Well this weekend Jake must have really been missing Sam when Anna decided to play beauty shop w Jake. Check out the photo:

I wish I would have captured the table full of pink "tools" Anna was using.

I wish I would have captured the table full of pink "tools" Anna was using.

What goes through YOUR mind at 3am?

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Yep, its 3:10am and  I could do Calculus I am so awake.  Is it the Pepsi at 3pm or monkey mind? Perhaps that is a poll question??!?! I would ask Paul to set it up, but he is deep in sleep. Jake is sleeping in Tyler’s bed b/c Tyler has been in Anna’s top bunk for months now. When I poked my head in, Jake looked at me with eyes that were BEGGING not to be sent back to the couch–or God forbid…THE FLOOR! I let him be.

I finished an awesome book tonight (at 9pm, not just now). Time Travelers Wife. Holy CRAP! I BAWLED through the last 20 pages. Paul was chuckling at me. It was what Oprah refers to as the “ugly cry.” My nose was so stuffed up that Paul made a special effort to fall asleep before me so he could not hear me sawing logs. I take after my daddy-o on that one (sorry, Dad–you know its true! Elli does too, but I am not sure she admits it).

3:15am…#1 way to stop eating peanut butter out of the jar: Let Barton lick the spoon. I woke up with my stomach growling (add that to the poll) so my quick snack is a spoonful of PB. Which became 2 tonight. Luckily Barton is in the kitchen chair next to me (with his sleepy eyes wondering where his sleepaholic mom went to and when is she coming back) so he saved me. Bob K.–I know you will especially like this part. Bridge, I think you should send it to him at work today to make sure he sees it. Although perhaps our family website is his homepage at the DOD??

3:17am…speaking of Bridgette–she sent me one of my fav pics of myself so I will share it w you too. I had gone to surf camp that spring so I tried my hand at it that summer. Yeah, I need more practice.

Farrell Family Beach Week, 4th of July 2006, Holden Beach, NC

Farrell Family Beach Week, 4th of July 2006, Holden Beach, NC

OK, Barton is purring his siren song so I am going to give this sleep thing another shot. The alarm goes off in 1 hour and 29 minutes. Tick tick tick tick…