Playing

It only took a month...

Several bribing attempts...

Forced close proximity...

And persistent nagging from the youngest Janney...

But it FINALLY happened:

They started playing together!!

If you listen to the video, you will hear what sounds like a vicious animal attack and songs of the Humpback Whale which later turn into sex noises.  Phil said it sounds like a rabid ferret attacking a Humpback Whale.  Cause that happens all the time in nature.  I think the Humpback Whale is an endangered species, so PETA would never allow it.

The vicious animal would be Cotton.  The Whale is Taylor.

Taylor completely stops playing once she suspects you might be looking at her.  So we spent Wednesday evening pretending to ignore both our dogs while straining to watch them out of our peripheral vision.  Exercise for the eyes as we saw.

Friday and Friends

Usually, I love Fridays.  Friday is my favorite day of the week.  But this last Friday totally sucked.

-  I have some inflammation in my eye that, if it keeps coming back, is probably caused by an auto-immune response.  I thought by getting rid of my thyroid, I was getting rid of my auto-immune disease (Hashimoto's).  Hopefully now that my body can't attack my thyroid, it won't start attacking my eye.

-  The dog we were hoping to get our puppy from was due on Thursday.  According to the breeder, we are pretty far down on the list for a puppy so we are at the mercy of mother nature.  We are hoping like crazy that the dog has LOTS of girl puppies but we have been preparing ourselves for some disappointment.

In reality, these feelings of waiting and disappointment are scary to Phil and I for another reason completely unrelated to the dog.  Because Phil and I have had some problems having a baby, adoption is definitely an option we are considering.  And while I think adoption is wonderful and I always figured we would end up adopting someday, HAVING to adopt and CHOOSING to adopt feel very different to me. 

In addition, we are very aware of how emotional and heart-wretching the adoption process can be.  And if we are this anxious and nervous about a puppy, how tremendous will those feelings be when it is our future child?  After all the heartache, worry, sadness, and fear of the last year, facing that process seemed impossible.

-  Phil's dad had a procedure done Friday to put in a drain to drain the excess bile from his liver.  One of his last tumor treatments caused some scar tissue to form in the main bile duct.  Since the bile can't get out, it is backing up into the liver, causing his liver to be engorged and his liver function numbers to be all out of whack.  They can't do his next tumor treatments until his liver function numbers are back down.  And since the first attempt to fix the bile duct didn't work, they have to do this drain thing.

Before they put in the drain, they did another CT scan.  The scan showed that there is a third tumor is that bigger than the other two and the other two tumors have also grown.  The doctors don't feel like they can't wait very long to treat the tumors so they will need to do that before his liver function numbers are down to where they should be.  And that can increase the risk of infection when they do those treatments.  If your liver gets infected, you die.  Needless to say... Not great news.


Things felt like one step forward and two steps back.  Like there was always going to be something there to kick us back down.  And Phil and I were pretty upset.  Even though we didn't exactly feel like being social, we had plans to meet with our friends Ian and Morgan at a local bar so we did that.

{I got the bar a little before everyone else, so I read my new book}

I am SO GLAD we had those plans.  A couple of beers, some hilarious awkward conversations (courtesy of your's truly), and a LOT of laughs were just the ticket to snap us both out of our bad moods.

Saturday morning things look a lot differently.

-  My eye is probably fine.  And even if this thing keeps coming back, my doctors are on top of things.

-  If we don't get a puppy with this litter, we know of a couple of other litters that are due pretty soon and we would be close to the top of the list for those.  And if we end up going through the adoption process, we will take everything one step at a time, knowing full well that our future family is worth every tear and moment of turmoil.

-  Phil's dad's doctors are working really hard to stay on top of his tumors and his liver function.  Even if they can't open the bile duct, the drain can stay in for a long time.  And since men (well, Ed at least) don't wear skinny jeans, he can hide the drain without anyone even knowing.  Just got an awesome mental image of Phil's dad in skinny jeans with a pink T-shirt.


Life is messy.  Especially right now.  But that is ok.  Even though sometimes it feels like this stage of health problems and bad news will never end, I know that isn't the case.

{Image found HERE from my pinterest}

And until our season of challenges ends, I am so grateful for friends that will commiserate with us and then distract us.  When we are through it all, we will take you out to drinks.  Our treat.

Random Random Random

I am tired and can't think of a lot to write about.  So I thought I would do a random mix of pictures and words.  So... enjoy!

Here's what it looks like when I slack on the laundry.  I finally fold it and it feels like we have brand new wardrobes.  What you can't tell from this picture?  It took another 3 days to put the clothing away.  My housekeeping skills are awesome.

I got to spend last Saturday here, watching the Beavers finally win a game.  Arizona's coach got fired about 2 days later because apparently if can't even beat the Beaver's you don't deserve a job?  Whatever.  I'm a Beaver Believer through and through.  It's a building year, folks.

Hopefully we can have a repeat performance this weekend against the BYU Cougars.  I especially liked the punt-fake.  And the blocked punt.  Let's do that again, Mike Reilly.

Part of my job this week was to go look at asphalt and take pictures of it.  I was near a field of cows and they did NOT like my presence there.  Camera shy I guess.  I did my best to try and convince them I was no threat to them, that I didn't eat beef.  They saw past my lies.  Who am I kidding?  I made chili with beef in the crock pot that morning.  Man I am offensive.


I took my temperature last night when I was in bed (out of curiousity) and it was 95.8.  95.8!  That is almost 3 degrees below the average.  Pretty sure I am half-way to dead there.  I blame my thyroid.


And I spent most of the day yesterday thinking it was Thursday.  That would make today Friday, which it is NOT!  I hate it when that happens.

Dog Hair

I loathe dog hair. 

I don't just hate it.  I don't dislike it.  I loathe it.  I despise it.

Our dog is so stinkin' cute.  People tell us all of the time what a good dog she is, how well behaved she is, how cute she is, how soft her fur it.  I don't dispute these things.  I will take a little credit for her behavior.  I think I really missed my calling and probably should have been a dog trainer.  I can't take any credit for her cuteness (God made her that way). 

But that fur... it sheds like crazy and gets EV.ER.Y.WHERE!!

I vaccumed.  It runs from the vaccum.

I used the swiffer.  It works pretty well, but some of it gets pushed around.

I used the swiffer vac.  Still some there.

Swiffer mop.  Yup still there and now it is wet and sticks to the floor.

I try to wipe it up... I can't.

I have "joked" with Phil in the past that I am going to shave the dog.  Maybe wax.  After cleaning today, the idea doesn't sound so crazy.  I know it is probably "cruel" and will freak the dog, blah blah blah. 

I probably won't do it.

I can't even get her to stand still for a bath, how would I get her to stand still long enough to shave her. 

Totally unrealistic.

I just found dog hair in the newly washed dishes straight from the dishwasher...

I'm going to lose it.

Thank goodness for Taylor we don't have any clippers.


Love, Mrs. Janney

D.C. Squirrels

We spent one day of our trip (should have been more but THAT is a different story) in Washington D.C.  While we walked around, we had a chance to see something truly unique:

D.C. Squirrels

Phil and I were able to get pretty up close and personal with some squirrels while on this trip.  This surprised me given me recent history with squirrels.  But I guess east coast squirrels are a little more daring.  That and I didn't have my car so they knew they had nothing to worry about.

Here are a few of the things I learned on my day in D.C. about squirrels:

1)  There are white squirrels.  Didn't know that.  But we saw one near the White House.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.

2)  Ever see a squirrel urinate?  I did.  On the sidewalk.  2 feet away from me.

3)  Squirrels can apparently climb into a garbage can, grab a rather large apple core, and then proceed to climb back out of the garbage can.  He then let me take his picture.

He's looking at me!

(SIDE NOTE:  Do you think P and S are still togther?)

I think I prefer squirrels in a city to pigeons.

{Taken in Venice, Italy}

Love, Mrs. Janney

State Fair

On Labor Day weekend, our family made our annual trip to the state fair.  This year did NOT disappoint.  Here are some highlights:

The view isn't always nice.  Gotta love the state fair around sunset, when the lights come on.

DRAGON!

How cute is THIS?!?  He walked right up to the face painter and said he wanted the Green Lantern mask.  When the face painter said she didn't know what that was, he simply pointed to his shirt.  Stephanie said David picked out that shirt specifically for the face painter.  So he is a little Green Lantern.

This might have been one of the best parts.  We went to look at the newest piglets.  There was a crowd around the pig pen and a bunch of the piglets were eating (obviously).  In front of the large crowd, David says, "The piggies are on her boobies."  To which Jeffrey replies, "They must have gotten their suckling reflex early."  It was funny.
Can't wait to see what next year brings.

PS - A couple of years ago, Foster Farms gave out "No Plumping" T-shirts for free.  We grabbed a couple.  Towards the end of the night, I decided to put mine on David (who was 1 and a half at the time).  The shirt was like a dress on him.  We then let him walk around for a little bit until he was tripping on  the shirt.  It was pretty stinkin' cute watching a baby walk around in a huge shirt that said "No Plumping."  I wished I had a picture.  It was the best Foster Farms ad I had ever seen.

RIP Mr. Squirrel

Phil had to be dropped off at the airport really early this morning (6:30). And since last night was Tegan's wedding, it was definitely a late night for us.

To compensate for my lack of sleep, I was SUPER alert when driving home from the airport.

I first get on I-205 heading south and see something going across the highway. As I get closer, I can see it is a squirrel. A squirrel with a suicide wish apparently.

I should mention for those not familiar with I-205 that the part closest to the airport is not populated. There really aren't even that many trees located in the vicinity at this point. So my thought is:

Where did this squirrel come from?

As I am pondering and looking around for a source of the squirrel he is making his brave and noble journey across the highway.

He made it through the first lane.

Then he makes it through the middle lane.

My car is rapidly approaching the squirrel. I am cheering the car for the squirrel make it in front of me in time (picture me motioning it across the roadway whilst driving).

He is halfway through the lane...

Bump. Bump.

Didn't quite make it.

NOTE:
These events all happened within about five to seven seconds and I refuse to get in a car accident trying to avoid an animal. After all, this totally could have been Geico squirrel or whatever insurance company those commercials were for. I didn't really have time to assess getting over.

RIP little squirrel. I am sorry.

Add it to my list of sins for church today. Man that list is getting long. Kind of like this post.


Love, Mrs. Janney

I like Peanut M&Ms

Phil and I were in bed last night... reading (like I would post about anything else.  Come on people, my mother reads this sometimes).  Phil is currently reading a book written by a comedian.  The comedian was for some reason describing the three parts of a woman's cycle:

1.  The "Are you really crying at that television show?" phase.

2.  The "No you are not fat and you have plenty of clothes in the closet you can wear" phase.

3.  The "Just throw a bag of peanut M&Ms at her and run" phase.

(I may have paraphrased a little.  I can't remember the verbage exactly.)

Naturally after Phil told me this, I immediately asked him if I was that bad.  Poor guy... walked right into that one.

Phil's reply:  "Well you definitely do the first two occasionally."

NOTE:  I have sobbed like a baby during Project Runway before.  Not because someone was being eliminated or anything.  But because the contestants were being mean to each other and that really bothered me at the moment.  Hormones anyone?

Phil continued (and this part kind of surprised me): "But at no time have I felt the need to treat you like a bear."

Not me!

Well that is good to know.  :)


Love, Mrs. Janney