My Sweet Old Dog

Our sweet old weinie dog, Coby, passed away early Tuesday morning.

I'm heartbroken and I truly miss my sweet buddy but I am so thankful he isn't in pain any longer.  Without going into much detail, he took a turn for the worse on Friday and we watched over him all weekend.  He passed away on his own, and for that, I am so thankful.  Making that decision would have been so hard.  I will cherish that last night when he let me hold him (he didn't want to be held or touched over the weekend) and love on him. 

People without pets don't realize how much they can become a part of your life.  We adopted Coby seven years ago when he was five years old.  He was our constant companion even after cats and birds both came and went.  I'm so glad he came into our lives as our furry child and I will never forget his sweet face.

5 Things About Coby

1.  He LOVED cheese.  He knew what the sound of the bag sounded like and would come running.

2.  He loved rocks.  The bigger the better.

3.  He loved to snuggle and be hidden in blankets.

4.  He hated having a bath but afterwards he would run around like a maniac and dive into the floor.

5.  He was crazy about people. He loved being talked to and held.  He was more social than Hubs and I!

Rest in peace buddy.  Mommy loves you.

The Weekend that Was

What an interesting weekend! 

Saturday, we (Hubs, KC, and my brother Andrew) headed to Huntsville to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.  KC, Andrew, and I had not been since elementary school and Hubs had never been.  Hubs is really into space and astronomy and we thought this would be fun.  We chose this weekend because the new Orion spacecraft was making a stop on its way from White Sands to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  The Orion will mark a new area in space travel.  Here is a local article about its visit.  We got to see the Orion up close and sign it.

While we had an enjoyable day, I have to say that the Center was way cooler when I was a pre-teen.  But it was fun.  The Saturn V rocket is housed indoors and that was really cool to see it up close.  We'll definitely take any future children to explore.

Saturday night, Hubs and I made homemade chinese food and borrowed The Help to watch.  I just finished the book and was really interested in seeing the movie.  While I was cooking, I looked down to notice little purple footprints in the kitchen.  To my horror, under my (carpeted) dining room table, our "puppy" had chewed up a purple ink pen.  My cream carpet was LSU purple!  Hubs immediately began cleaning it up with a new carpet stain remover called Folex.  Let me just say...go to Lowe's and buy Folex (less than $5 a bottle).  It is a miracle chemical.  My carpet is now 99% clean.  Still a faint pink hue on one spot that Hubs is still working on. 

Well after the carpet ordeal, we realized we didn't see Shelby.  She was hiding.  I found her...covered in purple ink.  Her mouth, white furry chest, and legs were all purple. 

She knew it was bad because she went into the bathtub willingly.  The water ran purple for several seconds and it took some major scrubbing but she is all shiny again. 

Oh the joys of parenting...err is that the right word?  She got quiet....I should have known that meant trouble! 

Thankfully we only have one chewer.  Our ancient weinie only cares about real food and doesn't chew on anything.  And it would exert too much energy to chew.  He's too lazy.

Our New Addition

Last week, Hubs rescued this sweet girl from the streets of downtown Birmingham.  She was wet (with thanks to Tropical Storm Lee), limping, and hungry.  Her pretty brown eyes and sweet personality instantly won Hubs heart.  He is not usually affected in such a way but he totally fell for her.

 We named her Shelby and she is right at one year old.  She weighed in a 40.2lbs which is massive compared to our old weinie dog who tops the scale at 10lbs. She is literally the most laid back dog I have ever met.  She loves to play but Coby isn't having that at all.

 We took Shelby over to our friends' house on Saturday.  They have boxer named Brody who loves to play so we thought they would have fun.  They played all afternoon.  We took their almost two-year-old out to meet Shelby and just like I thought, she was a complete doll to EK. 

Shelby just hung out while baby girl rubbed on her.  It was precious.

A New Addition

Tink is very photogenic.

We have a new addition to our home.  My husband (in his infinite wisdom) researched and then bought a seven week-old cockateil.  He named her (we aren't even sure it is a her) Tinker.  When she is not screaming at him, she is very loving.  Kidding.  We actually think she was quite spoiled as a little hatchling so she loves to be hand-fed and she is extremely social.  She wants to be on Hubs shoulder all the time or on his laptop.  She will tolerate me if she must.  Her wings are clipped so thankfully she can only coast down towards the floor and not fly up towards the celing fan.  Her new home is a custom built mansion designed by Hubs and his dad.  She has toys, seeds, real birdy food, veggies, and bells (which she has just learned how to use).  Already, Hubs can whistle from the other side of the house and she responds. 

There is one tiny issue with this new baby bird.  The dog is very interested in her.  He has calmed down now that she has been around a few weeks but at first he was a bit obsessed.  We are about 98.5% sure that he will just check her out and go about his business but this isn't a risk worth taking.