April Showers Bring May Flowers...

Mahoney is learning new things...including funny faces!

She also loves Tali, and Tali tolerates her...but loves her trail of snacks that she drops!

She also loves the slide and climber toy we got for he to play on, she calls it her "Weeee"!

It's been a crazy month, but it is ending on a great note.  My dad spent a few days in the hospital late last month and the scans revealed nothing while he was there.  So they made him swallow a camera that filmed his gastrointestinal tract from one end to the other....and I am so thankful that that test proved clear! I am awful and look up every symptom and every medication (in fact Mike taped the audio from today's appointment for me), in the hope that knowledge is power..well knowledge is also very scary. Dads symptoms could either be a bacterial problem or the C word, thankfully it is not the C word.  Yay!!!

It's been a busy month, I have had lots of time with Miss MJ though.  I sometimes forget how exhausting an almost 2 year old can be.  She is smart and gives her Grammy a cuddle at the exact time I need one.  We are getting ready for Miss Roslin's arrival too.  I cannot wait to see her enter the world! It's my job to take pics and video of her debut.  I get to go with Arrielle to her appointment with the midwife this week, I love getting to hear the baby's heartbeat. 

Tali is adjusting into our home well.  The first three weeks were like having a newborn!  He was not sleeping well at night, it took a couple weeks but we got it down now.  I won a contest with our adoption group when I wrote a short essay about what having greyhounds means to me.

 This was my prize! A fancy martingale collar with matching velvet tag collar and leash.  I am excited to try it on him.

I promise, promise, promise to not go so long between blog posts again.

Five Times Lucky....

Well....after a lot of healing and thought and discussion...we have decided to adopt a greyhound again.  This will be our fifth greyhound.  In the past we have always jumped right back into the water (so to speak) and adopted again right away.  But, losing Key was so quick and unexpected that it took a real long time for my heart to be ready.  Lee was ready long before I was.  Last Thursday, I was on facebook and saw a picture of a greyhound making a funny face, and for the first time I felt a smile instead of sadness.  That smile turned in to a text to Lee to see if he was still interested in adopting again, which turned into me emailing the adoption coordinator from the group we adopted Key from.  That led to filling out the application, phone calls...and finally to them picking out a greyhound they think would fit perfectly into our home...not as easy now that we need a greyhound to be not only cat friendly, but small child friendly as well.

On Saturday, I received an email and some pictures of Tali (racing name SE's Tali Elim).  A red brindle male, who weighs about 65 pounds and is missing part of his tail (not sure what happened there).  The adoption coordinator spoke with the doctor that brings the dogs to Washington, (this doctor also put Key's damaged leg back together, so she knew how sweet Key was) and she also said Tali would be a great fit for us.  We said yes!  It's really easier for them to pick the dog for you, than to get your heart set on one.

Above is a video of Tali winning a race in 2012, at Palm Beach Kennel Club in Florida.

This is Tali...I swear a greyhounds eyes can see directly into your soul.

Tali arrived in Washington last Saturday and has since been spending time with a foster family. They do this, so they can make sure the dog is ok with cats, and just being in a home in general. Tali was still racing in early January of this year, so he is fresh off the track...and we will be his first real home.  It also gives us time to get the kennel back out and get ready for him to come home.  

So, we dragged the kennel out of storage, found a great deal on a dog bed...ordered a bag of food, got some treats for potty training (they come pretty much potty trained, but its better to reward than scold) and found a few dog toys.  We still need to remove part of the couch and put it in the garage for the time being and actually set up the kennel...but we have a day or two. Friday is gotcha day...we will meet the foster family at Starbucks Headquarters in Seattle (how appropriate for me huh??, there is also a Starbucks across the street to get a latte to sip on for the ride home) then load Tali into the truck and catch the ferry back home.  We shall see how it goes from there....wish us luck!