Okay, so I let my blog slip a little. Things have been pretty busy, to say the least, with the holidays!  Where to start....

Bear is now back to his usual self, thank goodness!  He had stopped eating, became lethargic and started coughing a little.  Fearing that he was starting to come down with pneumonia from all of this I started him on cephalexin and had Dr. Kim Stevens, from Galva Regional Veterinary Services, come out to see him.  Luckily, his antibiotics had already started to kick in so we continued those and added pain meds in addition to the his daily anti-inflammatory.  Within 12 hours he was definitely on the road to recovery and, after a weekend of some rest, he was back to his normal self by the following Monday. Thank goodness!  For the remainder of the winter we're not taking any chances, he'll have to lose access to his yard overnight.

Last week things were so busy.  We were almost happy the two days that we had snow because we had some grooming cancellations (I have difficulty telling my clients no).  Wednesday Bill and I were able to finish our kids' Christmas shopping and Friday I was able to drive around the countryside catching scenic pictures in the beautiful snow (This was less stressful than Max Kursock's photo session Thursday!).  I have had some issues with my laptop which I just fixed tonight so I can't wait to post some of the pictures I took during my drive.

Friday night I received a wonderful Christmas present...Bill proposed to me!!!  I was so surprised and thrilled!  Although it was a rocky start, we've been together about 6 years and I hope that we are someday able to spend our 50th anniversary together.  I couldn't be happier!

Although my son, Brandon, wasn't with us on Christmas Day, it was still nice to spend the day with family.  My turkey dinner was a success so I was happy (even though Alex and Shelby were napping upstairs instead of eating with us....boy, they were tired!).

Well, time to think about work in the morning.  I really enjoyed the weekend off and it seemed that everything went smoothly at the Resort.  I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday!

What a rough start to the week!  Bill left while the kids were still asleep to get the resort plowed out before Susan got in at 7am.  I had received a phone call from Steph at 9pm last night saying that her car was buried in the drifts and her dad had came and pulled her out.  It's just one of the minor setbacks of having the resort in the country...have to take the good with the bad.

By the time I got to the resort after dropping off the kids, Bill was broke down with the plow truck and it was so bitterly cold.  I was running back and forth, unloading car seats and loading crates for a transport pick-up in Kewanee...gosh, my fingers were frozen.

When I got back from my transport I was able to see for myself how my poor Pyrenees, Bear, was doing.  I can tell that mornings are going to be rough for him.  He's still not able to get up without assistance.  I got him up (he's about 95 lbs) and helped him out to the yard and it broke my heart to see him do a nose-dive into the snow.  At that point I was starting to wonder if a decision would soon have to be made.  After he came in, however, he did eat his breakfast standing up.

Throughout the day, we did continue to get Bear up and do some physical therapy with him.  I could tell that he really wanted access to his yard but I just didn't want to chance it until he's able to get up on his own.  I'm starting to realize that he's more of a fighter than I originally thought.  We kept Okie, my old Pyr that we lost this spring, going until she was ready to go.  She was a fighter until the end and, until now, I didn't think that Bear had that same fight in him.  He may just prove us wrong...I hope that he does.

Time to get the kids to bed, another busy day tomorrow.

Okay, I admit it was kind of nice to feel snowed in today.  I enjoyed spending the day with the kids (wish Brandon was with us too) and Bill.  We went next door to his parents and watched the Bears game (we don't get CBS).

However, my poor Pyrenees did not fare as well overnight.  Bear will be 14 in April and he has his own indoor suite with access to his own yard at our Resort.  Much to my fears, even though we salted everything down the night before, he must have slipped and fell on the ice during the night and although he was able to drag himself back in, Darcy found him wet and exhausted in his suite this morning.  Luckily, after a morning of warmth and rest, he is doing much better this afternoon.  Unfortunately, we can't chance that happening again.  On evenings like this, he'll just have to be confined to his suite.

Tomorrow is supposed to be incredibly cold but at least the roads should be better.  Hopefully we won't have any terrible snow storms until after the holidays!  Tomorrow starts the countdown to Christmas....my grooming schedule is swamped from here on out and I still have so much planning to do for my other shop that's opening up at the beginning of the year!  Yikes!

Time to get some office work done now that my toddlers are about ready for bed (one down and one hopefully ready soon...Shelby, are you listening?!).  I wish everyone safe travels in the morning and have a great start to your week!  Tara

Last week was a little quieter and gave everyone a chance to take a breath and catch up on little projects after Thanksgiving.  It worked well for me also...gave me a chance to think about all of the things that need to get done before we move another shop into Kewanee.  So many things to get done, so little time.

On Friday, Missie and I had fun with the Marchand Christmas photo shoot.  They were two Puggles and Zoey's little sister had no idea what the word "focus" was!  It was a struggle but we made it work!



Tomorrow marks the beginning of "crazy busy" and will continue until after the the first of the year.  We love it!  I really enjoy adding the photography to the mix....it almost gives us a break  to play with our clients, something we don't get to do while we're grooming.  There are some dogs that I've been grooming for years and I finally get to see their happy, playful side.  It's so much fun and I hope that we're able to continue and expand with it.

Well, time to get back to playing with my two-legged kids...enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Tara

Okay, so I've neglected my blog over the last year!  I'm going to try my best to keep up with it but I have to admit that I tend to forget that not everyone has Facebook.

We have so many things going on right now that my head just seems to spin at times!  The holidays are so busy with boarding and grooming and now we have holiday photo sessions as well.  Darcy is putting up the Christmas tree tonight so we'll be ready for holiday photos tomorrow.  Susan was busy baking today, we will have christmas cookies available by this weekend.  As a special treat to show our appreciation, our clients with standing appointments will receive a free bag!

We are also getting everything organized for our move to Kewanee in the opening of the Pawstry Shop and Transport Station.  I am so excited and I pray that this is a success.  I know that there are a lot of clients that hate the drive and although we already transport to and from Kewanee, Cambridge and Galva...maybe this will make it even easier for some.  The Pawstry Shop will be great...the smell of a bakery as your waiting for your vet appointment next door (what better way to make ammends with your best friend after taking them to get their annual shots!).  I hope that we'll be able to expand and open an internet store soon as well.

I'm hoping that soon I will be organized enough to be able to focus more on my photography.  It's always been a love of mine and I believe I really might have a talent for it.  We'll see!

Well, all for now....off and running again!  Tara