Rain, rain go away

No matter where you live, I'm sure you've heard about Hurricane Sandy, dubbed Frankenstorm. I must admit, I'm a weather whore. I can sit and watch the Weather Channel for hours. I'm just so fascinated by mighty Mother Nature.

I know there are some of you who lie directly in this massive storm's path and my prayers go out for the safety of you, your loved ones and your property.

Since the running joke in Cleveland, OH is "If you don't like the weather, give it 15 minutes and it will change.", we're used to extreme heat, cold, rain and snow. And sometimes all in the same day. If you look at a map of the storm, you can see that we lie right on the outer edge of the system but that outer edge still packs a pretty mean punch.

I stopped at Whole Foods Market tonight on the way home from work to buy some soup because a cold, stormy night is the perfect time for tomato soup! I was waiting to checkout and the cashier, a young man in his early 20's, was lamenting about the storm to every patron that went through his line. At first, I felt sorry for him but by the time I got to him, I wanted to slap him across the face and say, "Get a hold of yourself, man!"

I hope he didn't see this picture of the Shoreway on Lake Erie, taken this afternoon.

My sister bought me this portable power station a few years back and I remembered wondering what the heck I would ever do with it. Well, tonight, I might find out.

Stay safe everyone!

Monday Morning Sophie

I tried and tried...posting her on Facebook...sending out emails and taking her photo to my neighbors, but I just couldn't find a new home for Miss Sophie. Each time I asked someone, I was almost relieved each time they said "no" because that just meant that she would end up with me.

And she did!

My sister, Lisa, was waiting in the yard with my dogs when I brought Sophie home so they could meet on neutral ground.

I told you Sophie was Dino's sister from another mister so I wondered if they would remember each other.





What do you think? Dino was excited to see her and Sophie had a look of happiness/terror on her face. I guess once you experience Dino, you never forget!





Everyone seems to be adjusting well. Millie tends to be bitchy once in a while, so I taught Sophie to make a menacing face.

We're still working on that.

Hey, check out our Crazy Beagle Lady page on Facebook!

Saturday Surprise

Hey Guys! Click on my new Facebook page on the left side bar ( "Crazy Beagle Lady") and see my surprise!

Seeing is overrated

When I first had my eye examined from Maddie's "love caress", I was told that it was a pretty significant scratch on my cornea but a follow up visit a few days later showed that it was healing well so I was optimistic.

Everything seemed to be getting better. My vision was starting to clear up, the pain had decreased and I wasn't tempted to close my eye all the time.

Then day 7 came and I woke up feeling like I had scratched it all over again. It was painful, sensitive to light, blurry, red and difficult to open without major discomfort. The bad news?

I have what's called a recurrent corneal erosion which means that the outermost layers of corneal cells aren't attaching to the underlying membrane and all the above symptoms can flare up at any time. Pretty much for the rest of my life.

Initial treatment will be using artificial tears at least 4 times a day and an ointment at night. I was using a medicated ointment and drop but I had an allergic reaction to something in them and woke up looking like this woman every morning. Literally. It was not pretty.

 

Now I'm using a preservative free drop and it seems to quiet the eye but I still have some blurriness.The bummer is that I was just trying out contact lenses but now I can't do that again for at least a few months.

 

My other options are putting a plug in a tear duct so that the eye will be better moisturized or having surgery, where they will scrape the top layer of cells off in hopes that the regenerated cells will attach to the membrane.

 

Fun stuff, huh?

 

And, no, I have no regrets about bringing Miss Maddie home. I would do it again.

Monday Morning Dino

"Damn writer's block! I'm never going to meet my deadline."

Hey, neighbor!

Guess who lives right around the corner at the end of my street since I moved?

 

 

Ta dah!!! The Griswolds!

 

You know, I thought their decorations in 2009 were a little over the top.

 

 

 

And then, after that awful storm in 2010, we all wondered if they would rebuild but they came back even stronger.

 





Now, maybe it's my imagination, but I think Clark and company have outdone themselves. I didn't think it was possible to fit anything else on that lawn, but I'll be damned if they didn't figure out how to do it!

 

 

 

Thanks, Grizzies. I needed that!

 

 

Ruh roh!

I got a call the other day from Tracy, the woman that I got Dino from last year. You may remember that they gave Dino away because she was having another child and his rambunctious ways were just too much for them to handle in their small home. They had another beagle, Sophie, who I remember as being older and totally mellow. She reminded me of Bernie.

So listen to this!

Now they want to get rid of Sophie because she's "too afraid of the baby now that he's walking". I'm trying not to judge but I know that beagles are known for getting along famously with children because of their gentle nature. I want to tell her to just wait out the toddler stage and everything will be fine but her husband (the one who told her to get rid of Dino) wants to take Sophie to the pound. She asked me if I would take her. Talk about bad timing! You know I love my Maddie but if Tracy had called me sooner, I would have taken her in a heartbeart.

I can't bear the thought of her going to the pound and I've asked everyone that I think would make a great dog parent if they will take her but so far, no luck. I do have  few friends checking with other family members to see if they approve but time is running out for Sophie.

I think you can see the writing on the wall. I'll probably end up taking her even though I'm already violating city ordinances by having three dogs since the limit is two. I know of a number of other people in the neighborhood who have three, even four dogs and I don't really think they enforce it unless someone complains. My neighbors are total animal people and would never do that.

What to do...what to do....

Monday Morning Chrissy

Nope. Not trying on Halloween costumes.

 Maddie was crawling over to me to say "good morning" in bed when her paw went right into my eye. I have a pretty serious scratch on my cornea but I don't think I'll look like Popeye permanently. Lucky for me that I work for an eye institute.

Monday Morning Maddie

 

Mom bought me this Cadillac so I can walk around the block with my brother and sister.

 

Vinny is such a good brother, he's checking the oil for me.