I missed church today

Spent all day in the Animal Emergency Clinic because my dog Tank got hit by an SUV in front of our house. He was in bad shape when we brought him in and we were in the waitingroom for hours until they told us anything. We thought his back legs were broken, his pelvis and maybe even spine. He's huge so it took them a while to get him sedated enough to x-ray him. They finally brought us, my sister Barb and I, into a tiny room and showed us x-rays and told us that he couldn't stand or walk. But the good news is the x-ray didn't show any broken bones or spinal damage. They told us they would keep him on lots of drugs and do some more tests and call us in the morning. They finally brought us back to see him, he was in a room of kennels with crying howling dogs and as we approached his cage he looked up and started crying and whimpering so much. He kept trying to stand up as we opened the door and kneeled down to him but he couldn't get up. I lost it. Up to that point I had kept my composure and had remained calm and collected, as I always do under traumatic stress or crisis. Not this time. His leg was shaved with an i.v. in it and he had one of those big plastic collars around his head to keep him from biting it. I've never seen him so unbearably desperate, it broke my heart.
As are faces were still wet they showed us the bill. Needless to say it was massive. We're sacrificing Christmas and neglecting a few bills but we'd much rather have him home and well. Man I knew I liked Tank before, but I had no idea how much I loved him until I saw him in so much pain today.

We got a call around 6pm tonight telling us he started to walk and that we could pick him up tomorrow! It's been a long day and I have a headache, I'm glad today is over.

Me and Tank, heading to the mountains this past summer.

In his winter sweater I made for him.

Monday update: We picked him up from the hospital today and he's doing very well. Still hobbling a bit and keeps groaning because he hates the thing around his head. Here he is, totally drugged out.

In my pants

Andy, Jorma, Akiva, and Justin, my hats off to you as always. And I can't wait for their album release.

I started horseback riding lessons today. 20 years late. I've seriously wanted to be the Man From Snowy River since I was about 5 years old. It just makes sense. I have no idea how it's taken me this long to start riding. In about 3 months I'll look something like this.