2009 - My Look Back

The year started out pretty good. On the 1st we had a simple meal at home with just a few people. We ate and watched movies. No fuss, no muss - my kind of day. Then I met some friends on January 2 for lunch and some discussion about my hobby - letterboxing. It was a nice way to start the year.

So lets recap 2009. I continued my picture taking and you can see my progress at As I See It 2009. I have found that I am really enjoying this picture taking project. I will definitely continue this year and you can see those photos at As I See It 2010. For some reason I had a little more difficulty finding things to photograph this year. I think that when I did As I See It 2008 it was easier, maybe because it was new. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed 2009 as much as 2008 it just seemed harder. Anyway I am looking forward to photographing 2010 and continuing to better my skills.

As for my hobby - letterboxing, it has been a bittersweet year. The year started off with an interview. I was contacted by the Albuquerque Journal and they were interested in doing an article about letterboxing. I had mixed feelings but eventually agreed. The article was titled "You've Got Mail" and you can read it at Astro D's blog in her post 15 Minutes of Fame. The article turned out well but it also exposed the hobby more than I liked. The boxes I have planted received many visitors this year and for the most part I received positive comments but unfortunately there were a few really nasty ones. The most recent was in November. That one really knocked me for a loop. The comment I received literally told me I should have wrote the clues to state exactly where the box was. The jist of the note made it sound like I should put markers along the road leading right to the spot where the box is hidden and then place a flashing red light right over the box. It just took away all the joy of the hobby. I have since pulled back from the hobby - the enjoyment I felt had greatly diminished. I have done some letterboxing since then but not like normal. And I will think long and hard before I place another box and let it be scrutiny for another bitter letterboxer. For now I am pretty much keeping to myself with the hobby and I will wait and see what 2010 brings. As for my letterboxing adventures this year here is what I did. Thomas and I took a winter trip to Bosque del Apache and to Las Cruces - this was to see the birds and to do some letterboxing and you can read about it at The Forest and the Crosses. I also made sure to get out to letterbox on February 16 - my anniversary date. That story is at Three Year Letterboxing Anniversary. In March Astro D and I headed to Texas for T.A.L.E. 6 and we were joined by Bell Motel for part of the trip. You can read all about it at Texas Heritage Letterboxing Trip. It was a great time - I always have fun with the Texas letterboxers. Then in April Thomas and I took a long weekend to go to Oklahoma for a letterboxing event at Lake Murray. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed meeting some new friends. You can read about it at Oooooooooklahoma! to find out what we did there. In May Thomas and I took the train to Chicago. While there we did a little letterboxing, those stories can be seen here. Then in July we spent the weekend of the 4th in Broomfield, CO visiting Thomas' brother. I did get to do quite a bit of letterboxing in the Centennial State while we were there. By August I was antsy to do some more letterboxing so I jumped in the car for a few days in Arizona. I letterboxed along I40 to Gallup, then continued along I40 to Flagstaff, I made it all the way to Williams before turning around and heading home. In September Astro D, rubberpeace and I hosted a letterboxing event - El Rancho de Los Letterboxes. It was a good event, very relaxing with some great boxes and some really nice people. I think everyone had a great time. Thomas and I usually try and take a couple of vacations a year and in the fall we traveled to the Oregon Coast. We did a lot of letterboxing and a few other things. You can read all about the trip at Letterboxing on the Oregon Coast. This brings us to November and the horrible note that put a damper on my letterboxing enthusiasm. Besides these trips I did quite a bit of letterboxing in New Mexico especially around Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I also got to meet quite a few letterboxers throughout the year and that is always nice.

We took quite a few trips this year and most of them I mentioned when I talked about letterboxing so bare with me as I list all of our trips. We traveled to southern NM to Las Cruces, I took a trip to Texas with Astro D. Thomas and I went to Ardmore, OK for a long weekend at Lake Murray. Our major spring trip was an Amtrak train ride to Chicago where we spent an incredible week. We also spent the Fourth of July weekend in Colorado. I then took a trip by myself to Arizona for a few days. And then we took our big fall trip to the Oregon Coast. Our last trip of the year was a week in Lafayette, LA visiting my family for the Christmas Holidays. Mixed in with all these big trips we also took day trips in and around New Mexico. It was a great year for traveling for us. We had a great time and some wonderful memories.

As for our health we are doing pretty good except for maybe being a little overweight and having high cholesterol. With medicine the cholesterol seems to be under control and both Thomas and I are starting to pay more attention to our diet and exercise. Hopefully in 2010 we can lose some weight and help our health a little more. And as for my detached retina things are going well. The retina is attached and has healed but I still have blurry vision in my left eye. You can read the whole story at Detached Retina.

You may remember at the end of 2008 that we had to say goodbye to our bulldog Boudreaux. And in December we adopted a blue heeler mix and named her Daisy. Well at the end of 2009 we decided Daisy needed a playmate and we adopted another blue heeler mix and we named him Buddy. The two dogs seem to be becoming good friends very fast. They sure have livened up the house.

2009 was a pretty good year and I am hoping that 2010 will be just as good or even better. Happy New Year everyone - best of luck to all of you.

Remembering A Friend

Today is an anniversary. The memories associated with this anniversary are both good and bad. One year ago today we had to let our wonderful bulldog Boudreaux go. He had been getting weaker and he also had a very large tumor on one of his legs that really made it difficult for him to walk. I have so many good memories of Boudreaux. He was a very loving dog and loyal to no end. He had a very sweet disposition and would constantly follow me around the house. During the day when we were at work or running errands he would stay in the house and greet us warmly when we returned. When we traveled to Lousisana to see my family for Christmas he would accompany us on those trips. He really traveled well and loved being in the car. He also loved attention - he always wanted to be petted but his favorite thing was to be rubbed on his belly. I really miss him and the house has had an emptiness that I don't think will ever be filled. On that day one year ago my heart was broken and it was one of the saddest days of my life, of course with time I am feeling better and I know we did the right thing by Boudreaux. My memories of his twelve years with us are still vivid and I treasure each and every one of them. So here's to Boudreaux - I love you and miss you my friend.

Our Little Girl Is Growing

Daisy is now six months old. She has grown really fast but still has all the qualities of a puppy. She has tons of energy and loves to play - she can play fetch for hours without even slowing down. I have also been taking her for walks with me. I want her to learn to stay near me when we are walking - I don't mind if she goes off a little bit but I want to be able to see her and I want her to come to me when I call her. So far it is working out well. At the end of the month we are having her spayed, no reason to bring more puppies into the world when there are tons that need adopting. Check out the Santa Fe Animal Shelter - they have plenty of animals for adoption.

After we lost Boudreaux I didn't think I wanted another dog so soon but I have to admit that I have become very attached to Daisy. She is a very loving and loyal dog. We had some trouble with her chewing on just about anything that she could get to. Now she has learned what is off limits to her and she only chews on her toys. She is also completely house trained and even though she was suppose to be an outside dog she seems to spend quite a bit of time in the house and she sleeps next to the bed. And even though she is not that big (she only weighs 26 pounds) she still has grown pretty fast and doesn't look like a puppy anymore. I am not sure if she will get any bigger or not - I am really not sure what size she should be. I am really hoping that I can train her enough that I can start taking her hiking with me. She does pick up on things quickly and she seems to know her boundaries so I thinking the hiking thing will work out well. I just wanted to write an update on our little girl and share how she is growing.

Good-night, sweet prince . . .

. . . And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Horatio, act v, scene ii

Boudreaux
November 5, 1996
November 3, 2008

For over a week now Thomas and I have been dealing with some health issues with Boudreaux. He had several visits to the vet and he even stayed a couple of nights. He had a large growth on his right front leg that the vet called a nerve sheath tumor. They checked him for other tumors and didn't find any. So we were given the options to deal with the tumor and we gave them a lot of thought. Not only did we weigh our options we looked at Boudreaux's overall quality of life. For a little over a year now we have been noticing quite a few changes with him. His eyesight and hearing had deteriorated considerably, he had no ligaments in his hind legs and he was also becoming incontinent. With all these problems it was hard for us to make a decision with the options given us by the vet. Here were our options: 1) surgery to remove the tumor [with the understanding that there were considerable nerves and blood vessels in the area and there was no guarantee that they could remove the tumor]; 2) leg amputation or 3) euthanasia. Obviously, we chose option 3. We felt that with all the other things going on that he would have had a hard time with the amputation and even if they could of removed the tumor it would have probably returned in six months. After talking to the vet and to each other and spending time with Boudreaux we chose to make him comfortable and to let him go. It wasn't easy, but as I watched my Sweet Prince drift off to sleep I knew he was in a better place. Thomas and I have been concerned for over a year now that he wasn't the energetic, happy dog we had raised. He slept most of the time and rarely left his kennel. Even though he has only been gone a few hours the house and our hearts already feel empty. We already miss his scent, grunts, groans and snorts. He was a wonderful companion and was a big part of our family for twelve years. He will be greatly missed. Good-night, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

My Little Boy

Boudreaux is now a little over 11 years old. He was a christmas present in 1996 and he immediately became "my little boy". He is a very special part of my life. I find that as he has gotten older I make it a point to spend a little more time with him. He has a hard time walking so playing fetch is out of the question. His eye sight has deteriorated and sometimes I think he doesn't really see me anymore. But I sit with him, rub under his chin and on his belly and he is "my little boy" all over again. I see the changes of old age in him - bad eye sight, hard of hearing, difficulty controlling his bladder, moving slower, sleeping more and at time he seems a little confused. But I love him more now than the day Thomas brought him home. And I am treasuring every moment with him since I know that the day will come (and all too soon, I might add) that he will no longer be with us. This makes me a little sad but I know I wouldn't change anything. He is the most wonderful dog I have ever owned - "my little boy" has become "my old man" - and I love him.

Ballroom Dancing for Dogs

While having my morning cup of coffee I was perusing the spring issue of the Continuing Education Catalog for the Santa Fe Community College. I am always looking for an interesting class to take. (I am hoping to slow down the effects of dementia - it seems to be creeping up on me.) So, I came across this course offering and it got me to thinking. It is a class to teach you to dance with your dog. I have a dog - a wonderful English Bulldog named Boudreaux. Would I want to learn to ballroom dance with him. I decided "NO". No offense to dog owners or dog lovers out there but I decided that this was just going a little too far. And to pay $75 for this was just way over the top. I love my dog - I really do but this class is not for me. I think I will stick to the basics - going for a walk, playing fetch, etc. I guess this goes to show you . . . there is something out there for everyone.