Recent ATCs

I'm participating in another ATC swap on the About.com scrapbooking forum. I didn't have time to make up alot of different cards for this one but I'm happy with the two designs I did finish.

The stamps on this card are from Viva Las Vegas Stamps. I wasn't sure if this was Lucille Ball or just a random woman. The man and the thought bubble are also from VLVS. The wording is from a stamp set called "That's What She Said" from Stamp Camp. Love those stamps and I've been wanting to use them for a while now. I colored in the images with Prismacolor colored pencils and I added a little bling for her earrings.

This one also uses a stamp from VLVS. I used some pages from an old phone book for the background. She is colored in with Prismacolor colored pencils. Then I added some red Stickles for the earring and sunglasses. You can't tell in the picture but I filled in the sunglasses with Glossy Accents. The wording was made with my Dymo label maker.

Things have been so wildly crazy here. In addition to getting ready for the graduation party this weekend, I've made several trips to the vet for both dogs.

Max is 9 years old and the tumor on his side has gotten too big to operate on. When we took him in for his annual check-up I was in tears thinking we were going to have to put him down. He was having a hard time getting around and I knew he was in some pain - not sure how much though. The vet suggested we try some pain meds to help him get around a bit easier. So we are trying that. He is taking something for arthritis pain and another pill for pain associated with cancer. He is also on a glucosamine supplement. But I'm happy to report that he is doing so much better - it's almost like looking at a different dog. I'm not sure how long he may be with us, but I'm hopeful that he will make it through the summer and fall.

Sparky on the other hand, well - let's just say he's being Sparky! LOL :) I swear this dog was put on this earth to try me. Anyway, he had such terrible yeast infections in both ears. He won't let anyone touch his ear flaps and growls whenever I tried to clean them. So needless to say, they just got worse and worse. So the vet put him on an oral anti-fungal med and a hypo-allergenic dog food. I thought this would be great - I can't force a pill down his throat but I can throw them in his food and he will just eat it, right? Wrong! He refused to eat the new food and I had to chase him around the sunroom trying to get this pill down his throat. That went on for about 5 days. Then I called the vet and told them he was refusing to eat and I was having a hard time with the pills. She suggested adding rice to his food - he still refused to eat. I added carrots, broccoli, green beans and he still would not eat. After a couple more days, I took him back in and he had lost 12 lbs. Good for him but not the best way to loose weight. So he is now on another food - sweet potato and fish - that he seems to like and eats without hesitation. He spent a day at the vet's office so he could be sedated and have his ears cleaned. He is now getting a daily dose of Otomax in his ears and actually let me do it! I think he likes having his ears massaged after the meds go in.

Then tonight I look down at him and there is something terribly wrong with his right eye! I immediately called the vet - at 5:02pm - thankfully they were still there. Dave and I took him right in. His eye looked like it had rolled up into his head but it was actually the third eyelid that we were seeing. His lower lid is droopy and he looks like he is squinting at times. I noticed the squint a couple of days ago but decided to just wait and mention it to the vet when he was to go back in a couple of weeks. After much struggle, the vet was able to get some stuff in his eye to fluoresce when light was shined on it. No scratches or any damage to the eye. So now what is going on? Two things - 1) he could just have some irritation or 2) he could have Horner's Syndrome. So he is on a steroid/antibiotic eye drop for the next week. If that doesn't clear it up, I'm not sure what to do. Fortunately it isn't something that is hurting him.

I've been sitting here for over an hour waiting for my Wishblade to cut out 25 little 2009's for me. It keeps getting hung up on something - possibly too many nodes? Whatever, it's making me really frustrated!