I have a great vet and a dog who is suprisingly beyond the age of a typical newfoundland.

Tasha is 12 1/2 and still chases the neighbor’s cat (kinda of slowly though) but it’s a little tough for her to get up off the floor and climb the stairs, but boy does she want to so she does.

Today my vet finally suggested that Tasha is a great candidate for Acupuncture. He is a well known practioner  and though so far we have gone all allopathic/Western medicine with Tasha, I’m glad that we will get to delve into this area of his expertise! It’s the reason that I chose him as our vet – knowing that we’d have these options if they were necessary.

Poor Tasha. He said he can feel how swollen her back knees are with arthritis and that it’s not just difficult but painful for her to do those things (lifting herself up off the floor, climbing the stairs.) She’s been on awesome glucosomine related products for years (Cetyl-M) This will be the last resort of keeping her happy and healthy for as long as we can and I’m really looking forward to it. Becaues of my travel, we can’t get started until the end of June with the weekly sessios, but we have some other allopathic med for her in the meantime – which is like super duper aspirin.

Robert Scoble has done an amazing thing in sharing one of the most personal experiences of his life on his weblog that is read by tens of thousands of people. Over the past few weeks he has blogged through his mother having a stroke, the experience of being with her in the hospital and of her passing. When he got the call that she had died, he blogged about it before even calling his brothers. That may sound harsh to some, but I definitely understand the outlet.

Robert has worn his heart on his sleeve in his blog for many years. When I first met his wife Maryam, I felt like I was meeting an old friend from reading so much about her in Robert’s blog.

So these posts over the last few weeks seemed very natural, though horribly sad, to read from him. I am very close to both of my parents and I very selfishly want to put off experiencing this pain until I have to. And these posts were scattered in the midst of his usual gazillion “what’s going on in the world“ posts. It was all Robert, all the time, as always.

Something he wrote that I will never forget is this:

At some point in the afternoon I started crying. She must have heard because she put her hand on my face and carressed it like all mothers do when their children are in pain.

She was trying to make me feel better. And she was communicating with me that it’s all OK. That she’s OK. That she isn’t in pain, even as her body is laboring to make another breath. That it’s time. That there is still a mom left inside her broken body that won’t last her very much longer.

Robert and Maryam [who likely have the largest support network in the world], because I am so incapable of standing in front of a wall of sympathy cards that I once sent a friend a funny birthday card instead when her mother passed away (and she understood and was very grateful for the laugh), here’s one more hug for each of you.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

We think this is really cool.

My sister is now selling the 2nds of her dog products (www.katiesbumpers.com) through Sierra Trading Post. Apparently the owner has been stopping by her trade show booth for years to check out her products, but without stopping to talk. This past time he finally did.

Check it out! The seconds just have little blemishes on them. They are still awesome.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

One of my favorite journalists (and bloggers) in Vermont is Seven Days writer, Cathy Resmer.Cathy is just cool and I love her take on the world. I meant to write about this a few weeks ago when she did a story on a hidden treasure on the Vermont/NY border that is drawn down the middle of Lake Champlain. A sculpture by Rodin! And not only is it by Rodin, but it is of Camille Claudel, one of France’s other best sculptors. I remember seeing a wonderful film about her back in my NYC days.

Recently, Cathy and her partner had a baby – her partner was the “bio-mom”. This may have created a conundrum at Mother’s day with two moms now on hand for Graham, but Cathy doesn’t see herself as a mom and they had it all worked out before Graham was born. She has a wonderful essay about this in last week’s issue with the highlight for me being when she felt “out-maternalized” by a new father. A great read, whatever your kid calls you.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

Sitting in front of a computer all day and all night has it’s downsides, not just on your social life, but after years and years and years, it can (along with age, of course) wreak havoc on your vision. I’ve always had 20/20 and not needed glasses. I finally got some glasses for the computer a few years ago and haven’t used them a lot because they give me headaches after a full day. But now I suddenly can’t even read road signs any more until I’m about 5 feet away. Afte months of complaining about this latest threshold and thinking minor adjustments to my environment will correct the effects of strain on my eyes (with my husband laughing at my denial as I near the age of 45 (6 more months – eeek!) I finally went back to the opthamologist today.

And the results are that my vision is still 20-20. So why can’t I read any more? Why is the world a blur? Apparently, the optical profession is discovering that this meaurement and stigmatism are NOT the only two factors that effect our eyesight. And although I have no stigmatism and my eyesight is 20-20, I can still be having bad problems with my eyes. There are depth perception issues and even some double vision. So we’ll try a few new prescriptions (yes I am talking BIFOCALS – well, transitional lenses)and I have to be more consistent in using them and I get to also have a pair plain old reading glasses at my bedside for reading at night. In that case, the magnification is really the only help I’ll need.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

I was flipping through the latets Forbes Small Business (May 2006) this morning and nearly fell out of my chair when I read the last sentence of this letter to the editor. It was in reference to a recent issue filled with a number of articles on women-owned businesses. I can’t believe the guy actually signed his name and business name, too!

As a senior man in the small-business world (I’m 64), I read with great interest your articles about the growth of woman-owned businesses. You discount why men succeed at a greater rate than women – which I think is because men are more realistic. From the time they are little girls, most women are taught that looks, rather than learning to be smart, matter in business. Women cake on a fake face every day to alter their looks, yet expect everyone, especially men, to comply with feminine prerogatives. That has a chilling effect on business negotiations. Incessant narcisism is rampant in the feminine mind, and it can and does cloud business judgement.

Richard Royce
President
VenturEXPO Group
Pasadena, Calif.

I wonder if he knows that the Narcissism began with a man named Narcissus.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

Giant breed dogs don’t have a long lifespan but my dogs Tasha (12) and Daisy (11) are not only very old for Newfoundlands but unbelievably healthy at their unusual age. Here’s a little 8 second movie (only 364KB) of them on a walk last week. Daisy is on the leash and Tasha is in front. People who own Newfies cannot believe these dogs.

Tasha came to me as a rescue at 2 1/2 yr old with bad knees. She had 3 operations on her 2 back knees when she was about 3 or 4 years old. She has been on Cosequin for many years but we switched to something called Cetyl-M a few years ago. Tasha was always athletic. Tasha definitely has problems with those back legs now. If she is on the tile floor, it is really hard for her to get up (slippery) and she is pretty pokey going up and down stairs. But she is eager (and able) to go for long walks and still even runs a little. She’s not a powerful dog anymore, but she still amazes us.

Daisy who is a year younger is one of my parent’s dogs (they are breeders). All the other dogs at my parents knew that it was pointless to chase stick or a ball if Daisy was around because she aways got there first. Daisy still runs and jumps and chases – very very strong and powerful still. She has not been on anything until about 6 months ago we put her on Cetyl-M too. The vet says she’s like a 5 year old Newf. Even her coat is still dark and rich.

Its one of my husbands favorite ways of teasing me. At least he doesn’t end it with “Ma’am”. 🙂

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

The power went out for a short while today. Though I have no idea what stroke of luck caused this to happen on a 70 degree sunny day, I took great advantage of it and planted peas in the veggie garden bed. Most things can’t be planted until after memorial day. But to sate my need to get gardening, I have seeds for a bunch of things that can get started early.

ok I retitled the post – didn’t want to trick anyone into reading about my garden ….<g>

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

My parents’ dog Celeste just had her first litter. She had 10 gorgeous little things. Here are the first pictures: http://www.blueheavennewfoundlands.com/blueheavennewfoundlands/April2006LitterCeleste.htm

Celeste is Daisy’s great grand-daughter, so these are Daisy’s great great grand puppies.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org