Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Hinotori]

 

[FirewifeJess]

Just got back a little while ago from Rainmom's house. It was a great visit (although the kids weren't listening very well) and we got to sample some of her amazing vegan no bake cheesecake. Um...I'VE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN!!! We all ate every last bite and before John started licking his plate I took it away

She has some very great pens set up for the chickens and all her birds are so cute! The kids jumped on the trampoline and LOVED her dog (except William, who finally offered one "I'm not afraid anymore" pat to his back before we left). The Grange was pretty neat too, and they're all set up for their chick shipment on Thursday.

My kids are playing outside in the sunshine now, the chickens are out messing up the yard and I don't even care because I got 7 eggs today, for the first time in over a month! Hooray!! Now I need to figure out dinner and get the house cleaned up; thinking about making myself an iced latte too.....

 

[FirewifeJess]

Oh and did I mention I'm spoiled rotten and get to go to Renee's house tomorrow? I love all my BYC friends.

 

[Imp]

So other than a few short posts here and there I haven't been around much. I've been lurking though trying to keep up with what's going on with everyone!

Yes, I have been busy with theater stuff. We had auditions and callbacks for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS which will be running through May at Tacoma Little Theater. Oh My Gosh. What extremely talented singers we've got cast for that production. It's going to be a fantastic show!

SadieSue,
I'm looking forward to the show, "Little Shop of Horror" Amazon offered me a deal and I purchased 8 tickets. We'll be there May 18th.

I've also begun rehearsals for Reservoir Dogs in Olympia. This is going to be such an interesting show in so many ways and a great challenge for me as an actor. I feel grateful for the opportunity to learn and do things I've never gotten to do before onstage playing a character unlike anything I've played before.

And I'm planning on going to this one too.

So I didn't post much since before the holidays. It was a busy time, but then right after the holidays our beloved Golden Retriever, Gryffin, got very sick very fast.

I'm so sorry about Gryffin


This past Christmas

Russ

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

My husband will be home really late tonight. So for dinner i tossed a pork roast in the crock pot with potatoes, celery, onions and carrots It's going to be yummy and i can leave it cooking all night on low. When he comes in if he's hungry he can eat.
i got it at safeway, Their pork loin is on sale. I got one for only $20 and will make 7 dinners from it. I cut the middle of it up into pork chops, and each end is a small pork roast.

Loin chops are way better then bone in pork chops. So much more you can do with it. I am trying to stock up on foods that are basically low carb. I can have meat, and most veggies. I'm not supposed to eat starchy foods of any kind (potatoes, corn...) I added one large potato to the crock pot. I'm pretty sure it will be fine to have it in moderation.

Oh and cleaning out my refrigerator the chickens are loving it. My celery went limp, found a lemon, I don't remember ever buying a lemon. Bag of salad i bought yesterday is already getting slimy.
And I realized when i got home i forgot to get milk. *sigh* I guess tomorrow i'll have to go get my husband milk. I even went into the milk section and got me some Dark chocolate almond milk. I wish I could get my husband to switch to soy, and almond milk so we could drink the same milk.

 

[robj]

So other than a few short posts here and there I haven't been around much. I've been lurking though trying to keep up with what's going on with everyone!

Yes, I have been busy with theater stuff. We had auditions and callbacks for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS which will be running through May at Tacoma Little Theater. Oh My Gosh. What extremely talented singers we've got cast for that production. It's going to be a fantastic show!

I've also begun rehearsals for Reservoir Dogs in Olympia. This is going to be such an interesting show in so many ways and a great challenge for me as an actor. I feel grateful for the opportunity to learn and do things I've never gotten to do before onstage playing a character unlike anything I've played before.

Also, because we are playing professional criminals, (me being the crew boss) one of our rehearsals will involve spending a day with a guy who will show us how to hold and shoot guns. That will be my first time even holding a gun. Then I had an offer from another friend of mine who told me he'd take me to an indoor shooting range and teach me to use a real gun for the price of the bullets. I think I'll take him up on the offer just to aid my comfort level. I don't want to look like a newbie onstage...
The process for this show is truly amazing. I also have to learn to -
"die" onstage since I get shot at the end during a big shootout. Awesome. I hope my brittle old bones learn to handle the fall correctly during lessons with our fight choreographer!



So I didn't post much since before the holidays. It was a busy time, but then right after the holidays our beloved Golden Retriever, Gryffin, got very sick very fast. We noticed right after Christmas he wasn't eating, but I got ill myself for over a week and was in bed nearly all that time. I told my husband to get canned dog food for Gryffin because that would typically prompt him to eat and when I could, I was up cooking rice and boiled chicken for him. When I could finally get out of bed, I made a vet appointment for our boy. He was at the vet's on a Monday where they ran a multitude of tests for him because by this time he was very lethargic. Gryffin, at only 5 1/2 had always been a very happy, energetic dog so it was clear something was wrong. On Tuesday they called and said "you have a very sick dog". His red blood cell count which was supposed to be around 50% was only 20% and we were advised to take him to an emergency clinic for an ultrasound to determine what might be going on with him. He was given a ton of meds and we were to bring him back to our vet on Friday to see if the meds had made any difference in his red blood cell count.

On Friday morning he collapsed twice. His legs just went out from under him. DH and I had to roll him onto a blanket so we could carry him down the stairs to my car so we could get to the doctor. When he got to the front lawn he was able to walk slowly down the slight bank to where I had pulled up my car.

At the vet clinic, they took another blood sample and said his red blood cell count had gone down to 8%. He had a condition called AIHA, or Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia, is a disease where the body's own immune system fails to recognize red blood cells as "self" and begins destroying these cells as if they are foreign invaders. Not only that, but he had Evan's Syndrome which attacked his platelets as well.

They suggested the possibility of blood transfusions but said that even with those treatments there were no guarantees he would get better. DH broke down and said he couldn't stand to see Gryffin so unhappy and confused as to why he couldn't do any of the things he was used to doing. And all this time my sweet golden boy wagged his tail every time someone new came into the examining room, and then would lay his tired head back down. These were painful moments. His decline had been so rapid and so thoroughly wracked his body, we chose not to put him through any more treatment. His ashes came home two days later because my daughter who had been home for Christmas when he seemed perfectly healthy, never got a chance to say goodbye. Over spring break, we'll take Gryffin to our favorite ocean beach and send him down the creek that runs out of the woods and into the sea.

It's been a difficult process to let him go. He was always such a HUGE and happy presence in our home that the void left is like a vaccuum. Even when we hadn't seen him for 20 minutes and would find him out in the yard watching over the chickens and I would call him in the house for a "cookie", it would be a celebration because we were together again. He was a wonderful companion, a great working dog, and effective protector of all that were part of our household. He did a fantastic job keeping our home perimeter safe.

We'll find someone new to love eventually because I think the best way to honor a well loved dog is to welcome another into your home, but I will tell you, when I go out at night now to close up the coops, the nights are a little darker, a lot more threatening and more lonely than they ever were before when I had my "urban farm dog" to accompany me.

Here are a few of my favorite pics of our beautiful Golden boy. Thanks for letting me share.

At 8 weeks -


First time at the beach - 4 months


How could we ever say "no" to that face?


DD Lily playing with Gryffin at the "secret" beach




Loving the snow -


This past Christmas

AHH I got all teary as you went on with your story I feel so bad for your loss. Give it time the right dog will find its way home. We went through the the same sort of thing with Harley our Golden and Gryffin's twin by the way. We found or right dog Tucker he's awesome not Harley but awesome in a Tucker sort of way. Hang in there

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:

So I didn't post much since before the holidays. It was a busy time, but then right after the holidays our beloved Golden Retriever, Gryffin, got very sick very fast.

I'm so sorry about Gryffin

Russ

Awesome! I'm glad you're taking advantage of the Amazon deal. That is going to be one FUN show! I'll be watching from the control booth every night calling the show cues, but I'll try to find you either at intermission or right after the show to say hello.

I will be posting the date and times for Reservoir Dogs soon so that if a group of BYCer's want to meet and carpool together we can make plans in advance. HoneySuckleHills and I even talked about a Sunday matinee so we could meet up for dinner in Olympia somewhere afterwards.

And thank you - I know that Gryffin's passing was not news to a lot of friends on Facebook, but I was in kind of a funk for a couple of weeks and it did prevent me from participating much on BYC. Each day gets a little better though - DH and I are lwaiting for a reputable Golden Retriever breeder referral here in the PNW from a friend of mine who raises and shows Goldens in Ohio. Once our future puppy is established in the household we will be adding an adult rescue to the household. All dog/puppy plans are on hold until May when my theater schedule clears up somewhat though so I can concentrate on training a new four legged family member.

 

[mikeyb]

So other than a few short posts here and there I haven't been around much. I've been lurking though trying to keep up with what's going on with everyone!

Yes, I have been busy with theater stuff. We had auditions and callbacks for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS which will be running through May at Tacoma Little Theater. Oh My Gosh. What extremely talented singers we've got cast for that production. It's going to be a fantastic show!

I've also begun rehearsals for Reservoir Dogs in Olympia. This is going to be such an interesting show in so many ways and a great challenge for me as an actor. I feel grateful for the opportunity to learn and do things I've never gotten to do before onstage playing a character unlike anything I've played before.

Also, because we are playing professional criminals, (me being the crew boss) one of our rehearsals will involve spending a day with a guy who will show us how to hold and shoot guns. That will be my first time even holding a gun. Then I had an offer from another friend of mine who told me he'd take me to an indoor shooting range and teach me to use a real gun for the price of the bullets. I think I'll take him up on the offer just to aid my comfort level. I don't want to look like a newbie onstage...
The process for this show is truly amazing. I also have to learn to -
"die" onstage since I get shot at the end during a big shootout. Awesome. I hope my brittle old bones learn to handle the fall correctly during lessons with our fight choreographer!



So I didn't post much since before the holidays. It was a busy time, but then right after the holidays our beloved Golden Retriever, Gryffin, got very sick very fast. We noticed right after Christmas he wasn't eating, but I got ill myself for over a week and was in bed nearly all that time. I told my husband to get canned dog food for Gryffin because that would typically prompt him to eat and when I could, I was up cooking rice and boiled chicken for him. When I could finally get out of bed, I made a vet appointment for our boy. He was at the vet's on a Monday where they ran a multitude of tests for him because by this time he was very lethargic. Gryffin, at only 5 1/2 had always been a very happy, energetic dog so it was clear something was wrong. On Tuesday they called and said "you have a very sick dog". His red blood cell count which was supposed to be around 50% was only 20% and we were advised to take him to an emergency clinic for an ultrasound to determine what might be going on with him. He was given a ton of meds and we were to bring him back to our vet on Friday to see if the meds had made any difference in his red blood cell count.

On Friday morning he collapsed twice. His legs just went out from under him. DH and I had to roll him onto a blanket so we could carry him down the stairs to my car so we could get to the doctor. When he got to the front lawn he was able to walk slowly down the slight bank to where I had pulled up my car.

At the vet clinic, they took another blood sample and said his red blood cell count had gone down to 8%. He had a condition called AIHA, or Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia, is a disease where the body's own immune system fails to recognize red blood cells as "self" and begins destroying these cells as if they are foreign invaders. Not only that, but he had Evan's Syndrome which attacked his platelets as well.

They suggested the possibility of blood transfusions but said that even with those treatments there were no guarantees he would get better. DH broke down and said he couldn't stand to see Gryffin so unhappy and confused as to why he couldn't do any of the things he was used to doing. And all this time my sweet golden boy wagged his tail every time someone new came into the examining room, and then would lay his tired head back down. These were painful moments. His decline had been so rapid and so thoroughly wracked his body, we chose not to put him through any more treatment. His ashes came home two days later because my daughter who had been home for Christmas when he seemed perfectly healthy, never got a chance to say goodbye. Over spring break, we'll take Gryffin to our favorite ocean beach and send him down the creek that runs out of the woods and into the sea.

It's been a difficult process to let him go. He was always such a HUGE and happy presence in our home that the void left is like a vaccuum. Even when we hadn't seen him for 20 minutes and would find him out in the yard watching over the chickens and I would call him in the house for a "cookie", it would be a celebration because we were together again. He was a wonderful companion, a great working dog, and effective protector of all that were part of our household. He did a fantastic job keeping our home perimeter safe.

We'll find someone new to love eventually because I think the best way to honor a well loved dog is to welcome another into your home, but I will tell you, when I go out at night now to close up the coops, the nights are a little darker, a lot more threatening and more lonely than they ever were before when I had my "urban farm dog" to accompany me.

Here are a few of my favorite pics of our beautiful Golden boy. Thanks for letting me share.

At 8 weeks -


First time at the beach - 4 months


How could we ever say "no" to that face?


DD Lily playing with Gryffin at the "secret" beach




Loving the snow -


This past Christmas

A very handsom doggy. I am so sorry for your loss. He will remain in that special place in your hearts.

 

[SadieSue]

Actually, here is the work in progress poster for Reservoir Dogs with correct dates and times. Notice that the schedule is broken into "Men" and "Women" since there are two different casts. My image is third from the top in blue, but I won't be on the final poster since there are so many "dogs" in the crew we can't fit everyone on the poster.

 

[Imp]

Awesome! I'm glad you're taking advantage of the Amazon deal. That is going to be one FUN show! I'll be watching from the control booth every night calling the show cues, but I'll try to find you either at intermission or right after the show to say hello.

I will be posting the date and times for Reservoir Dogs soon so that if a group of BYCer's want to meet and carpool together we can make plans in advance. HoneySuckleHills and I even talked about a Sunday matinee so we could meet up for dinner in Olympia somewhere afterwards.

And thank you - I know that Gryffin's passing was not news to a lot of friends on Facebook, but I was in kind of a funk for a couple of weeks and it did prevent me from participating much on BYC. Each day gets a little better though - DH and I are lwaiting for a reputable Golden Retriever breeder referral here in the PNW from a friend of mine who raises and shows Goldens in Ohio. Once our future puppy is established in the household we will be adding an adult rescue to the household. All dog/puppy plans are on hold until May when my theater schedule clears up somewhat though so I can concentrate on training a new four legged family member.

My next door neighbor and her family are involved somehow in GR rescue. There have been many living next door. Right now only 1, well and 2 golden labs, and a border collie??


Russ