Who knew that Leslie could be such a Great Pillow! She is so tolerant of Mary!!

Well, Tis the Season-for me to lose my ever-lovin' mind. Austin Boxer
Rescue sent out an impassioned plea for foster homes. They and
many area rescues are out of space and they had some cuties
posted who needed immediate help or else. So crazy me, with
agreement from spouse, emailed. ABR actually had an email from
a family in S. Antonio who had found a Boxer Mix 1 year old puppy
and they couldn't keep her. So after a night of sleep and prayer, we will go pick up our little Foster Christmas Present on Monday.

I know, I am officially insane! But I feel that this was something I was being called to do. We are home this Christmas and short term, we can save a really sweet dog and help it find its forever home.

As much as Oliver has destroyed lately: another 2 dog beds, another wallet, 3 more remote controls, the legs off Mary's bathroom stool & 2 pairs of my dress shoes--I still love that big dumb dog so much. Our life would be so boring without the laughs that he and Leslie bring to us. I just know that little Christmas Puppy is meant for a loving family somewhere. We just need some name suggestions for her!!!

Merry Christmas to All & a Happy New Year!

What a pain in the ear my dog can be!

He is also very tough on my child's education. We had all our Family Religious Ed group over a few Sunday's back and put the dogs in our room, so they wouldn't trample the little ones. And thus occurred the revenge of the penned up Oliver. Tally at the end of the Sunday: 1 pair of really nice dress shoes, 1 Texas Geography book--gonna have to replace that one, and the lid of the clothes basket.

And the chewing begins again. Bought him new squeeky balls, play toys and he even sneaked one more of Jessica's stuffed animals out of her room. And now the Phone. Good thing we have 2 handsets, but this one really took a beating! Still works though, but it pokes the stuffing out of your ear, and the display doesn't work. But at least it gets a dial tone. Thanks Oliver!

Another Duck bites the Dust!

Really Oliver? The breast cancer awareness duck? Sigh! Just when you think that everything is settling down around here, along comes another destructive action. The Polly Pocket doll was not a crushing blow like losing the duck, but that doll was so neatly dissected that I have to wonder about Dr. Oliver. We all liked the movie Avatar this summer, but Oliver got hold of the McDonald's toy and it was all over for Ang!

Jessica is doing well, just having seizures again--the new kind--Gelastic. Love the dogs, but if they bark, here comes a seizure. Had to explain to my bestest friend Joni about those. They look like she is laughing, and unless you look into her eyes--it really looks like she is happy. Until you see the fear in her eyes--the "why am I doing this and I can't stop" look.

She is loving being back into school at Rosedale. Her favorite time this summer was at the TxP2P Conference and her buddy Joel came and they got to sit together for the Sara Hickman concert!

Mary and Leslie

When is it my turn to run??

I should have been named Godzilla!

Ahh, summer has arrived. I swear this dog's mouth continues to grow, even though he has probably reached his maximum growth for his age. The dogs are so happy now that Leslie is done with heartworm treatment and rest restrictions!! They play and play, then Oliver starts to limp and they both lie down and go to sleep.

So, what has Oliver eaten lately you may ask? My good slip-on sandals--rescued once already got finished off when silly me forgot to put them higher than a table top. Many more toys have gotten tossed after being eviserated of all stuffing (most of which passed fairly harmlessly thru Oliver digestive tract). A new toy or two have been quite a hit--I will have to post those photos of him and Leslie-they are great! A new trick Leslie has that just cracks everyone up is her obsession with the flashlight. Joe can play this game forever--shine the light & she will run in circles and practically up walls to catch it. Oliver, dumb as a stump sometimes, just chases Leslie -- with no clue whatsoever to what she is doing. Hilarious!!

I swear though, if I have to buy another watch band for Joe's watch--I may scream! Oliver sneaks into our room and snatches that up, along with the occasional sock or hair scrungie--he just loves gnawing on the leather I guess. So it may not be Toyko--but Godzilla the house eater continues his munching through our belongings. But we love him--the goofball!!

We need these funny distractions as Jessica has been pretty sickly since all the traveling in June. She just doesn't bounce back from any travel--her body just doesn't have the stamina. She is enjoying summer school (when she wakes up), but Libby & Mary are having fun going with her as peer volunteers. So we will just keep plugging away!

And then another notch to His bedpost!

Really Oliver?? Just destroy the back porch!! It is bad enough that we get dive-bombed by wasps, but first he completely destroys a big pot with soil -- and eats a good portion of the dirt. Removal of said pot, leads him to then eviscerate an entire bag of unused CHARCOAL. I know they give you liquid charcoal when you have been poisoned or overdosed at the hospital--but this gives a new meaning to Digestive Upset. The Lord only knows what disasterous effects this will have on poop pick up Monday.

Sigh!

Back to His old Tricks!

Is any comment needed here? Bored Dog, Big Pot, Lots of soil--Sigh!

Heartworm treatment is a success!!

Whew! We survived 4 weeks of Leslie imprisonment. It was awful. Oliver was depressed and eating my hair ties again, and papertowels, and socks. Found at least 4 hairties and 2 socks in the backyard--sigh. But following a day at the vet, the blood word came back heartworm free!!! Although she has to slowly work back up to regular levels of activity--you can feel the joy around the two dogs. Oliver just never leaves Leslie--they are so close! Except when he is teaching her new tricks. Like eating Q-tips out of the bathroom trash can, snacking in the garbage can when we leave the door open and sneaking into Jessica's room to steal yet another toy.

But we are so happy they are rolling around chewing on each other and NOT the furniture!!

Heartworm Treatment is NO fun!

We have truly bonded with Leslie and she brought a level of sanity to our home. Oliver stopped eating everything in site and just chewed on Leslie. They played tug of war with stuffed animals stolen from Jessica's room. The ran and played and played and played. Until the heartworm treatment! We were clueless of what treating heartworm entailed. 4-6 weeks after treatment, we have to keep her from getting her heartrate--AT ALL!! She is in the crate or up on the couch with Mary most of the time. Oliver is so conflicted!! He has started eating the house again. A new favorite--toilet paper off the roll--totally amazing to have him come walking down the hall, a mouth full of TP, it trailing behind him, unrolling down the hallway. Sigh. Time to close the doors again!

2 weeks to go until they test her blood again and see if we killed all the heartworms. June look sweet, but still so far away!

Hmmm, Yup--it can be a little worse, but chewing gum always helps lighten the mood!

Oliver really didn't do well with the anti-inflammatory for his hips. Wow!! What a mess to clean up, I am still feeling sullied by what he did all over my wood floor in the office. But he is now feeling much better, back on his normal food. Like hangers and packages of chewing gum. He has an uncanny ability to lull us into believing that he is settling down, now that we have added Leslie to the family. They play and run and have so much fun! And then we find him munching his way through the Mystery flavor gum I bought the girls. Into the trash it goes, and when we come back 5 minutes later, he has my peppermint Trident--and he is just going to town. So how long does gum stay in a dog's stomach?? Sigh.

Unfortunately, the old saying, "when it rains, it pours" has come true here. Leslie went in for her first vet vist and Voila--yup, heartworms. I easily say, Yes, we want to do the treatment. Note to self--find out what the treatment is FIRST! She will go in right after my campout with the Girl Scouts, stay in for 3 days and 2 nights, then she comes home and cannot Elevate her heart rate for 4-6 WEEKS!!!! Auuugghhh--we got her to finally play with Oliver. To stop Oliver from eating my house and now, NO MORE PLAYING. No walks or runs or any excitement--for 4-6 weeks. I may truly need that beverage far sooner rather than later. IF Oliver doesn't eat all the liquor bottles in the house first.

And so it goes!

How do things always go from Bad to Worse?

Love this darn dog! So I got him a friend to test drive. Leslie, a boxer and rhodesian ridgeback mix has come to stay for a short visit. She came on Easter and Oliver thought he had died and gone to doggy heaven. He chewed on her and ran after her and "jumped" her....And she ignored him completely. So he just kept at it until he collapsed in his chair. Then he couldn't get up. And the crying began. Oliver cried all night, so I got no sleep until multiple baby aspirins helped him sleep. So off to the vet he went. Diagnosis after several xrays, pain meds and an overnight stay--Severe Hip Dysplasia. Very severe. So he is now on almost as many medications as Jessica. Luckily the dog eats Anything!! So down the hatch go the pills.

But what about Leslie? The family loves her, but she doesn't want to eat. She tolerates Oliver chewing on her but does not play with him at all. She loves to climb up on the couch and lay on everyone & sleep. She is a bit overweight. Sweet and loveable dog who also will go for a run with Joe. Just what we wanted the first time around. But now I have fallen in love with my big dumb house eating dog Oliver.

I need help!!! How do I crush my family and send Leslie away? If I don't and Oliver keeps trying to eat Her, jump her, run her all over the place until he is crippled--Sigh!!

I have a dog with a disability now. And he is clueless. But at least the xrays only found 1 staple in his gullet!!

Ashes to Ashes, Dirt to Dirt

Sigh! Had a migraine this morning. I felt it coming on last night, probably because I only had one cup of coffee. Took advil and went to bed on time. Jessica woke me at 3 a.m. She was so Happy!! Cooing and moving around. She was so excited when I tried to tuck her back in and turn on her Harry Potter CD. No luck--she did not go back to sleep and my nagging headache kept me tossing and turning. Then I would get up, tuck her in, and go back to tossing & turning again.

So, weary and in pain, I got up to pack lunches and get the girls out the door. Thank God for husbands!! Joe pitched in, finished lunches, finished meds, all while I hung my head over the sink and lamented the fact that I had taken advil on an empty stomach!! Once everyone was gone, I contemplated going back to bed, since I could only see out of one eye. But Oliver needed tending. First I heard the gnawing sound I have come to dread! There he was, chewing up the bottom of my rocking chair again--underneath where Joe had anointed it with insanity sauce!! Did I say this dog was unintelligent--NOT! So I shooed him outide, but left the door open. Hoping that the nausea had subsided, I got up to eat some oatmeal and Low and Behold--there stands my dog, with Ashes dripping from his jowls. He had been eating the ashes which had fallen in the catchplate under the grill. I gagged!! He lumbered over, opened his mouth and then I saw the dark, hummus like dirt embedded in tongue and teeth. I ran for the bathroom!!

Why, why, why??? I guess ash washes out the flavor of dirt. Who knew?? I made the decision and drove to PetCo--please give me the bitter stuff to spray on my house.....

Jessica's & her attendant situation

When Oliver eats nothing but his food during the day--things sure are mundane around here. But it does leave me to ponder how Jessica's role in our life has evolved over the past year or so. She is 19 now, and as of 1-2 years ago, we started having more attendants in the house. We have someone here from 3:30-9:30 or 10 most nights. This has been helpful in many ways. I don't have to worry about beating the bus home from work, carpool or errands. Joe and I can go to dinner or a movie, because someone is here. But what it caused was the increasing absence of Jessica from our events. We have a race or meeting or special service at church--and Jessica stays home with the attendant. Mary or Libby have a concert or a play, and Jessica stays home with the attendant. I have become increasingly sad about this situation. Our afternoon attendant gave us 2 weeks notice and I am starting to consider not filling those hours right away. I have to look at summer and how to arrange things, and I actually find myself looking forward to having to take Jessica along to events again. Funny how you desperately need help, but when you get it, you feel you lost something in the process.

I am not buying another Dog Bed!!

Such an unintelligent dog somtimes! Oliver was obvoiously bored outside during my Girl Scout meeting today..... Because when Joe went out to start repairing the lawn mower--he fins Oliver resting in his lawn chair and the new dog bed, now with a huge hole chewed into it, surrounded with brown stuffing. Aaauuugghhh! That darn bed was $40. Why chew up your own bed? Okay, I know he did it to the first one, but I was so hopeful that if I covered it with a blanket--then he would not think to chew it up. It hasn't lasted but a month so far. Sometimes I could weep, but I think we have an appointment to meet with a man about a second foster dog names Leslie--another clumsy, sweet and clueless boxer in need of a home and someone to play with.

Am I just asking for the loss of more furniture? Or will this be the answer to our house eating dog's need for a friend?? Time will only tell....

One chair leads to another

Having disposed of 2 raggedy old blue chairs to the curb due to Oliver's gnawing, we moved my beautiful purple rocking chair into their place. I love my rocking chair. And when I came home today after walking/jogging a 1/2 marathon with my dearest friend and neighbor Joni, what did I find?? Shards of wood and purple paint, hewn from the front of not one, but both front legs of my beloved rocking chair. If I hadn't been cramping, swollen and in pain--I might have chased Oliver around the house, but no, I allowed Joe to begin his ingenious new program to deter the wonder dog from eating every belonging we are attached to. Hot Sauce. Not just your run of the mill hot sauce, but Insanity Sauce. The only sauce Joe has ever eaten and actually been in pain due to its ingestion. So onto the gnawed tips of my chair. They are now chewed, purplish and red/spicy! You can smell my chair. Oliver went over, sniffed and sneezed and walked 2 feet away, head bowed--Defeated!!!!

Okay, so maybe I can take the smell of insanity sauce applied throughout my house. But now I will worry about the other items which are, as of yet, unadorned. Will he go eat those instead?? Or will the smell drive us from the house?? Two items are anointed--but I may have to put my foot down on this behavior modification plan. With the rising heat of Texas summer coming--rancid hot sauce might keep us all away!

Another cushion bites the dust!

Just when I think I can sit down and check my email.... The remaining couch cushion, torn but safe up on the table, was placed back on the couch by a considerate spouse or child and......

A little about the Geisingers

Who are these busy, overscheduled, overcommitted Geisingers? Meet Husband & Dad Joe, bread-winning, mechanical engineer, small business owner, runner, cyclist, duathlete, paddler, Scouter, friend and all around awesome guy!

Meet Wife and Mom Patty, volunteer extraordinaire at Texas Parent to Parent, Oak Hill Girl Scouts, SJN Catholic Church, Small Middle School, VC2100 Mom who is training for Philmont, not running enough to do a 1/2 marathon this soon, extrovert.

#1 and only Son Joshua, College Redhead, UT Men's swim team manager, UT Cycling Team crazyman, Economics/Kinesiology/Dietician student all rolled into one, who is crazy enough to agree to accompany Mom and Sister to Philmont to hike 60+ miles this summer.

Jessica, our curly red-headed angel, 19 and enjoying her school Rosedale every day, music loving, sleepy, tube-fed, undiagnosed with multiple disabilities whose life we all revolve around! Please don't call me "Annie" again switch hitting fiend!

Libby, Libby, Libby on the label, label, label is daughter #2. A darling girl who is a sweet as she appears, but can have a core of iron if you tell her what her homework is--it will get done or ELSE! Girl Scout Cadette, wonderful friend, hiking maniac and all around really Nice Girl!!

Mary, Mary quite contrary, but #4 child is one of a kind!! How her wild youth has given way to Middle School delight. Friends and fun surround her, she runs, bikes and climbs. Throw in a boat and she is your girl!! All activity, all the time--but oops I forgot to turn in my homework makes her Mother groan!!

Oliver the Wonder Dog. Adopted before Christmas, is a Boxer and American Bulldog mix who eats everything left unattended!! Lonely, needs a friend other than Mr. T, the new hampster in the house. Do we see a Buddy in the Geisinger future?

Mr. T (formerly known as "Can we adopt him if he doesn't have a tumor?), Whew--no tumor so Mr. T, also known now as Houdini--has escaped from his cage twice but was found!! He is the love of Oliver's life--who can sit for an hour and watch him running on his wheel. Libby loves him dearly and we have only had him a few days!

Wow, I started a Blog as an experiment

We have had a joke going in the family since Christmas that I should start a blog called "What Oliver ate Today", because everytime we turn around, Oliver has eaten another part of our house or another belonging. To date Oliver has eaten:

the bottom of 2 chairs (now sent to the curb for bulky item pickup)
an old stool
4 remote controls (2 replaced and 2 duct-taped)
2 phones (both replaced)
multiple used Kleenex (in the hundreds--ewww)
hair scrungies (found in the after digestion stage in the back yard)
socks, socks and more socks (of every color and also in the backyard)
a wallet (salvaged)
a watch (salvaged)
1 box of Girl Scout Peanut butter sandwiches (ate all of them)
pens, pencils of every type
2 paperback books
1 Barbie doll
2 cushions of the couch
all 4 cushions on the outdoor bench
his 1st dog bed (shredded)
the arms off of the lawn chair
the seat and hand rests of the tandem bike
multiple stuffed animals which were not his for the playing
14 packages of pepper and parmesan cheese from Mr. Gattis (that stopped him up a bit)
drawstrings for the window shades
the rocking chair (saved)

BUT

He has yet to chew on Jessica's wheelchair, feeding pump or feeding tube......
but he did gnaw on the feeding bag once--sigh!


So on we go, I wanted to write a short article for our volunteer newsletter at Texas Parent to Parent and although I have watched

Julie & Julia

I have never ventured into BlogLand. I hope to write more about Jessica and her multiple disabilities and undiagnosed medical condition. Either way, we are a bunch of silly, crazy Geisingers who love life, each other and Oliver the wonder dog