07.05.08
Posted in ElisaLou at 5:35 pm by Elisa
A couple days ago Andy took three of our four dogs in for their annual vet appointments. Zoey wasn’t due so he loaded up Barley the golden, Astro the coyote mutt, and Shiloh the beagle mutt into his car and with and with Austin’s help took them up the road to see the vet.
$999 later he came back. No lie, nine hundred and ninety-nine freakin’ dollars. UGH!
I didn’t want him to take Astro. Astro is old old old. We found him on the street in Austin (fully grown) in 1993. So we have had this dog for 15 years. Who knows how old he was when we found him. He can’t hear, can’t see well, and is frail. We have prepared ourselves for his passing for the last year, and I just didn’t think it was worth dragging him in since he never leaves our house. But he did, and of course they wanted to do blood work, especially since he has a big growth on his side. So now we know that Astro is old, and also most likely has cancer (the vet left a message today about his “results”- didn’t sound promising). And while it is sad to hear that he probably has cancer, we also know he has had a very long happy life, and he is OLD, very old for a dog his size. Oh and he also has an ear infection.
Then there is Shiloh- she also had ear infection. All else was fine with her crazy self.
Barley the Golden has had allergy issue her whole life. First there was the testing, expensive! Then we find out she is allergic to everything. Nice. Then the shots that we give her each week, that don’t work. Then the steroids to keep her from going nuts. While we on vacation she got a big hot spot on her head so they shaved that- she is a mess! Oh and she is a tad overweight. 103 pounds, they like for her to be about 20 lbs. lighter. Oh and she has an ear infection too.
Sigh. So today I took her out for a walk on the hike and bike trail- I am going to try to get her thin again. Funny how people stare at you when you are walking a huge dog with a gaping head wound. It felt good to be moving again though- I have had a tension headache for about 2 months now- or so it seems. Getting out and running with Barley felt good! There were a lot of people on the trail, including a woman riding a bike with a little Zoey dog in a Baby Bjorn type baby carrier thing. When Barley saw that (she was very tired by that point) she turned and looked at me like, “HEY! That looks like a great idea!” The thought of me riding a bike with Barley strapped on my back had me cracking up the rest of the way.
And the question we keep getting asked- no we will not replace Astro when he dies. We prefer to have only two dogs, but since Shiloh and Zoey equal (in weight anyway) about 40lbs. they really only count as one. Right?
Off to watch a soccer game- Happy Saturday Night!
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Posted in ElisaLou at 10:56 am by Elisa
the weather took a turn for the better and the kids actually swam before the fireworks.
It wasn’t as crowded as it has been in the past which was very nice- easier to keep track of the kiddos.
A very nice night.
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07.04.08
Posted in ElisaLou at 5:45 pm by Elisa
We are still battling cool temps so there will be no swimming when we head over to the pool to watch the fireworks. In fact I think I may even take a sweatshirt. Crazy weather!
Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend!
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07.03.08
Posted in ElisaLou at 11:53 am by Elisa
for the backs of these pillows I used this super cool decorator fabric that I have been hoarding forever. I wanted to cover a chair or two with it but it hasn’t happened yet so I decided to go ahead and start using it. It is so soft and plush.
We have had an abundance of Bailey Bag orders lately, must be the bag of the summer.
I have plans to make my kids some new pillow cases for their small travel sized pillows. This last trip they were dragged through the Columbus, Memphis, Detroit, and Austin airports. The older boys had sports themes but Cole’s was still the Disney one from the trip in January. Updates are needed since they also sleep with them in their regular beds. Since I didn’t do it in time for the beach theme- I need to figure out a summer one.
Pillows can be found here
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07.02.08
Posted in ElisaLou at 1:20 pm by Elisa
reminds me of that book A bad case of stripes.
Only his version is more Patriotic.
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Posted in ElisaLou at 12:46 pm by Elisa
One morning at around 4am a storm blew in while we were at the beach. It was loud and all of a sudden one of our windows blew into the room. Not the best way to wake up! Andy put it back in and all was well. The next morning we went for a walk on the beach, there was all kinds of stuff washed up everywhere. I took a few shots of the pier, the waves were actually pretty decent but there was so much seaweed floating in the water there was no way I was going to get out in it.
Cool to look at though.
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Posted in ElisaLou at 6:44 am by Elisa
Since I got a nasty email accusing me of making fun of the guy below I just want to clarify that he was not some homeless mentally ill guy. If you look close, he has his car keys in his hand.
Austin was having a festival that day called Keep Austin Weird. You can learn more about it here. Keep Austin Weird is a slogan that is used to support local small businesses. You can also learn more about it here.
We chatted with him for a while, he was inviting people to head down to the festival and to the Dog and Duck Pub. He was dressed up in a skirt and he happened to be missing a few teeth. There were lots of people roaming around that day in crazy outfits.
That’s what is so great about Austin. It is weird and diverse and full of fun silly people.
And for 5 years I was one of them.
I realize that it is sometimes hard to “read” someones intention on a blog or email but my intent was not to make fun of him. I try to only make fun of myself. Well and Andy too, he’s always a good target 
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07.01.08
Posted in ElisaLou at 3:34 pm by Elisa
ok well you probably can’t tell from the picture but my screens were installed- yay!
I spent the day getting the floor cleaned up, lots of tree crud that I had to use a shovel to get up.
Boys are getting their butts kicked at football camp. Well Austin is. Blake’s group (because he is younger) isn’t “challenged” as much as Austin’s group is. Austin came walking in (barely) saying his legs felt like lead. Blake seems fine- he has three friends on his team, Austin knows no one. It’s also funny because these football players are very hard-core with Austin’s group. Giving him a good taste of what it would really be like to play.
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Posted in ElisaLou at 8:22 am by Elisa
So after the 105 degree heat and dried up grass of Texas we come home to 70 degree weather and long super long green grass. I was so chilly yesterday that I had to close the windows. Austin has lots of mowing to do. At least the flowers all look good.
As for the questions about San Antonio, it is well worth it to stay on the River Walk. It is about 10 degrees cooler down there (at least) and so nice to walk right out of the hotel and be there. The Sheraton is there on the river.
The boat tour is worth the time and money. The older boys liked hearing all the history.
The Mexican Market is worth your time too- lots of cool stuff for great prices. I found some really cool metal stars that I wanted to bring home and hang on my screened porch but I didn’t buy them- now wish I had.
Yes, it’s hot. But you get used to it.
We walked the grounds of the alamo but didn’t go inside because the line was long and it was hot.
And then it was on to Austin
which always feels a bit like home
had to ride the Zilker Park train. Only in Austin will you find a guy hanging out a Sunday afternoon playing music for the train riders
turns out his name is woode wood- he posted his info on my flickr page just moments after I posted his picture.
interesting story.
Dinner at Hula Hut
didn’t see Lance there though
But check out this guy my mother-in-law picked up while we were there (just kidding)
He was missing a few teeth and was quite the talker.
In other news… a new bag on the way and more pillows soon!
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06.30.08
Posted in ElisaLou at 6:38 am by Elisa
and tired.
We got in close to midnight last night to a bunch of crazy happy to see us dogs.
Boys were up by 6:45 for football camp. Insane I know. But they really wanted to do this camp with Mike Vrabel
who plays for the Patriots but is back here during the off-season. He (along with a bunch of other former Buckeyes) host a three day football camp for kids each summer. It’s only 8-noon but the boys are going to be wiped out later today, and probably a bit grumpy.
More later on the rest of the trip-
tons to do today
loads of laundry
pay the pet-sitter
gift-card for my sweet neighbor that watched the house and dogs
clean the floors
un-pack
give Zoey a bath
grocery store
blah blah blah
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