A whole year! An entire year has passed since I last wrote in this blog. I can't believe I've been so remiss. Well, here's the scuttle-butt on what's happened in those 12 months: 1. Rusty's weight was down to 68 in July. That's huge. Our vet, Dr. Leddy, was amazed at the progress! 2. Fish Oil. Skally has been on Cod Liver Oil and her arthritis has really diminished! 3. Birthdays - Rusty turned 10 on August 16, Skally 14 on September 2, and Samson turned 5 on August 7. 4. Deaths - Our dear friend, S. Ann Baynton died the Friday after Labor Day from complications arising from her Bile Duct cancer. Her dogs, Daisy and Parker (a black lab that Skally used to play with, and her golden retriever) played with mine rigorously during that week, and the next, until the designated adopter came to pick them up. 5. Trips - we went to the beach with our friend, Dan LeBlanc and his brother Duane and Duane's family. We enjoyed a long romp on Crescent Beach where Skally, Rusty and Sammy played and played. They slept the entire way home! Yay! We also ventured to Port Angeles for Xmas, and oddly, Mom had already fallen in love with Samson. She just couldn't stop marveling at him and his very confident attitude. 6. Adoptions - We adopted Samson from our neighbor, Annmarie Doran, around the 1st week of August. Annie was moving to Las Vegas to care for her mother, so she took a leave of absence from work, and since the yard there was just cacti, and with the heat, she felt it wrong to bring him; we had known Sammy since he was a puppy, and the transition was pretty simple - although, he still has the habit of running over there and pooping and peeing in the yard. He also still sits on the back deck, looking down on her old deck, waiting for Frenchie to come out and bark with him and Skally. Okay. I know, Boring. But it's not. The last weekend, I decided we needed to go to Thousand Acre Park in Troutdale, if only to investigate this "incredible dog park" we'd heard so much of. Well, we found it - and thank goodness we had the gps! Samson and Rusty took off once we were in the dogpark part of the park, but Skally, who was low energy (she hadn't eaten her dinner or breakfast, but was still drinking water and eating chicken strips) lagged. We hiked down to the river, following all the other dog owners who were throwing balls for their dogs, or ran, or simply hiked. Skally, oddly enough, refused to go into the water - very uncommon for her. She wouldn't even drink! Rusty, of course, sated his thirst quite well. We then hiked back, thinking we were taking an alternate route to link up with the original trail. HA! This place is HUGE! We had no idea where we were. We had to have hiked at least 4-7 miles until we found the car (which we did, constantly asking directions from people who seemed to know). On the return home, Skally did her thing of keeping her head out the window, but when we got home, she dragged herself in and began shaking, sniffing, and refusing to lie down. Very odd behavior. Mom called, and I told her about it. She told me to call the vet immediately. I did. Jen, at Dr. Leddy's office told me to just watch her and she tentatively scheduled an appointment for 320. Well, after an hour, Skally had made it to the bedroom, and was resting comfortably. I brought her some chicken strips, and then brought her food to her. I also brushed her teeth (which she had angrily stopped me from doing earlier). She ate a good deal, and then went back to sleep. Now, a few days later, she's romping about, again. I'm not sure what happened, except she hadn't had any cod liver oil for a while, and with the windchill, and the amount of hiking, and her legs, probably aching from the drives to, around, and from Port Angeles, were very tired and sore...(because she spends 90% of the time with her head out the window - believe me, it's agony for her not to do this (for her and the rest of us!) We're about to head out for a walk after breakfast and some playing in the cold, frigid, 25 degree weather....my toes is froze! Happy New Year! I will endeavor to write more often and to keep a better pace on updating on events....recaps just don't do them justice, do they!?