Iowa

Iowa

Thursday, March 25, 2010

It Has, It Really Has Sprung

What a wonderful weekend! Sunny, warm..just beautiful. Phipps was jammed with people wanting to see the flower show, kids were out blading and scootering (is that a word?). I'm not sure which is my favorite time of the year...spring or fall. Right now, it is spring.
Health care passed on Sunday. An historic event, whether you are for it or against it. It seems those that are against it have become violent in their anger and frustration. People who have considerable influence are inciting people with no regards to the safety of others. Let's grow up, folks, is this the kind of message you want to give children? Throwing bricks, namecalling, targets on maps?
Enough of that! I took Ava to the vets to have her nails clipped and to talk to the doctor about heaving and upchucking digestive problems. I was watching people in the office waiting room. There was an elderly gentlman there with a collie mix dog. He was gently petting the dog and talking softly to him as they waited. So gentle. There was a 8 month old mixed lab who was full of energy, howling, barking, lunging. It was all his owners could do to contain him. Two yorkies to get annual shots. They asked the owner for her email address and she didn't know what that was. Then there was a man with a yellow lab, again, just talking to him/her and petting to try to calm the dog down. When the man with the collie mix left, I noticed the hind leg of the dog bandaged and the dog limping. I felt badly since the man seemed somewhat distraught. We become so attached to our pets even when they puke all over the house and it's sad to see them ill or in pain.
While I was talking to the vet about Ava (he suggested a different type of food for her, since she seems healthy and hasn't lost any weight) a tech came in and said something about the mix collie. The vet looked delighted and suggested that it was probably the reason why he was limping and he wanted to call the owner to relieve his anxiety. I mentioned that the man seemed very attached to the dog and the vet said that the dog was 14 years old and that he had been seeing the man and the dog for all of that time. He explained that the man's wife had died some years ago and the dog was all that he had left since the man's children all lived out of town.
Jackie, at Phipps, recently lost her dog and just got a new puppy, Madigan. Looks to be a beagle mix and what a cute puppy! Jackie knows exactly what to do with Madigan and is doing things I never would have thought of when I had a dog. She talks about socializing the dog to other dogs and to people. She has talked about taking the dog for obedience training, not because she can't do it herself, but because she wants the dog to learn to filter out noise while she gives a command. I am so impressed! She has stories to tell me every day about Madigan, and I love to hear them. Puppies are a lot of work, but they are also a lot of fun.
By the way, Ava loves her new cat food.
I got tulip bulbs from Phipps. They can't sell them because they are forced for the flower show, so they may not bloom again...but I'll try. At the very least, it will be food for the deer. I haven't seen the deer in my yard. I believe Ginger has seen them in her neighborhood. I walked around the yard yesterday to see if there was winter damange from the snow, and it appears as though most of the plants survived. The magnolia tree has large buds on it, which will probably burst open within the next several weeks.
Bird, Mippy and kids are headed south to visit family for Easter. I get to care for Oscar and Flurry, which I always enjoy. Kind of lets me have a dog for a few days.
Off to Phipps, which is amazingly beautiful and busy. Have a great day!

14 comments:

Jen said...

I like week four, Mia. Will Jackie come and train my untrainable dog? I know, there is no such thing, only untrainable owners. That's me!

Shelly said...

It is spring, and isn't it wonderful! We have promised the kids a puppy now that the weather has calmed down. This weekend we will be hitting the local shelter and looking. I never thought about socializing a puppy, aren't they naturally friendly?

Ben said...

First of all, I want to thank Tim for the generous offer. After careful consideration, I think we should again depend on you to lead our cheering squad. I understand that Ben has disappointed you, as he has all of us, but we need your team spirit, Tim.
I will only respond briefly to your comment Mia about the anger. Those who incite with hateful remarks and acts are cowards. They hide and direct. If Generals had to actually fight wars, there would be no wars.
I can't imagine my life without a dog. My dog is truly a very big part of my life. We go running together, we play ball (well, I throw the ball, he catches it and brings it back full of slobber) and we watch basketball together. He probably isn't as well trained as he should be, but he does listen pretty well. Jackie sounds pretty amazing with dogs. The pics of kids are great Mia, it was a beautiful weekend.

Jessica said...

Mia, your posts always bring a smile to my face. Glad Ava is okay. And what a great name for a dog! Nice stories about the vet's office. We do love our pets, don't we?

Bill said...

Mia, we took the kids to Phipps on Sunday and it is beautiful. I have to admit, I went, but not willingly. I truly enjoyed it, as did the kids.
Our kids have scooters, too. I had one when I was a kid, but not as racy looking as theirs.
We treasure our pets, also. We got them with the idea of helping the kids understand responsibility. That didn't work, but we all love the animals that we have.
Yes, I think the talking heads are showing our children a wonderful example of hate and violence. Good comment Ben.
Well, have to go clean up more of the yard. Wife wants to start planting shrubs. (She really wants me to plant them, who is she kidding?)

Tim said...

My dog was kicked out of obedience class--twice. It's okay. I think he's fine.

Twigs said...

The weather here has been wonderful also, Mia. Hard to beleive all the snow we had and I think I have blocked it from my mind. We still have a lot of damage here, but slowly recovering.
Pets are the best.

Cathy said...

I am so glad to see some good weather. We are having rain, but that's spring! The flowers are popping up through the beds and the trees are starting to bud. Thank goodness that horrible winter is over. The kids are like puppies, running around like crazy outside and just enjoying! Happy Spring.

Elizabeth said...

It's your blog, mia, and if you want scootering to be a word, so be it! The kids look like they are having fun. I really like that floral arrangement, Mia, but I think I like the first one best. I'm kind of a traditional person. They are all very pretty and how much fun to work with all those beautiful flowers.

SocialWorker2 said...

Hey, it's great to see another post so soon! Animals can be so good to have around. For the man with the collie mix, it probably fills a great need for companionship. There are many studies that say how animals benefit the health of people. The pictures of the kids epitomize spring, great visuals, Mia.

Mark said...

Good idea to take care of someone's pets so you don't have to get one! Kids look like they are having fun. Does Bean play hockey, too?

Lori said...

Darn, I posted and I guess I didn't get the "secret" word right and lost the post. I was saying, are we voting? Because I like another floral design. I like the colors. Do you pick the flowers, Mia? And do you get to arrange them any way you want? I love the pictures of the flowers, but the ones of the kids are great too...fun.

ginger said...

Skipper is outside as I post, trying to clean up the backyard so it must be spring. A lot of junk showed up after the snow.

We had one dog and she was the best so we never replaced her. She never did anything bad in the house and even at the end, she wanted outside where she lay down and died peacefully.

The floral arrangements are always pretty. Maybe someday, Mia, you can open your own floral shoppe. Let's all think of a good name such as Mia's Creations or Mia's
Flowers R Us.

Nate said...

Buffet is great! Good song. Don't care much for Annie Lennox. Great story about the dog, Mia. I'm sure Oscar is a much better dog than the one she has. You do a great job of projecting an image.