Penny and the Bird

Here are a few pictures of Penny chasing a big crane type bird out of our yard.  I will post pics of Oak Alley Plantation later.

She spots said bird.

 She inches closer to examine this weird fowl.

 She is thinking "I never saw one of these in Indiana."

 She tells the bird to get out of her yard.

On the mend

As usual, never a dull moment around here.  Since I last wrote Penny got really really sick for about 6 days.  She was so sick she wouldn't walk.  We had to carry her outside to potty and she didn't eat anything for 2 or 3 days.  We took her to the vet last Saturday and they gave her some medicine for her stomach and told me to bring her back Monday if she wasn't better.  Well by Monday she wasn't better, she actually seemed a little worse so I took her back.  It was one of the worst days ever.  I had to leave her there for a few hours while they ran tests on her and did x-rays.  I was on pins and needles waiting for the vet to call me.  I was seriously a total wreck all day sobbing in hysterics thinking about my little baby getting poked and prodded and her not being able to talk and tell the doc what was wrong.  When I finally picked her up I got a $411 vet bill and ZERO answers as to why she was so ill.  I was confused, scared and furious.  How could I just have spent over $500 on two vet visits in three days and they have no answers for me.  If I went to the doctor and was sick I would demand an answer!  But there was nothing we could do but take her home and hope that she would get better.  And Thank GOD she did!  She actually started getting better the next day.  Mills was right...Murphy's Law!  We took her to the vet and she instantly got better.  But if we wouldn't have taken her, who knows what would have happened.  I don't want to think about it.  But actually I have been thinking a lot this past week about how close I am to Penny and how much I really love her.  To some people who are not pet owners they may not understand.  I have pretty much been a pet owner my entire life.  I have had horses, ponies, dogs, cats, miniature horses, chickens, cows, guinea pigs, rabbits, love birds and even a rooster named Cecil as a pet.  I have probably had nearly 100 different pets in my lifetime.  But Penny is the first pet I have been solely responsible for.  Her well being depends entirely on Ryan and I.  And I think that it why I seem to have such a strong bond with her more than any other pet I have ever had.  I still remember the day he brought her home.  She wasn't even a pound and she was about the size of a hot dog bun.  She could easily fit in one palm.  She was so tiny and fragile and seriously the cutest thing you have ever seen.  Anyways, since that day she has become such a big part of our lives.  She is part of our family.  We would be devastated if anything happened to her.  I can't imagine her not being in my life.  She seriously brings us so much joy.  She has so much personality.  She makes me laugh numerous times a day.  I am so grateful she is back to her normal crazy self. 

On a different note I went to the New Orleans Museum of Art this week and City Park which is one of the largest and oldest parks in the US and also has the largest collection of mature live oaks.  It is truly a beautiful park.  And the museum was awesome as well.  I went on Wednesday b/c it is free every Wednesday and I was there about 3 hours and didn't get through all of it so I will be going back soon to check out the rest.

Friday Ryan and I drank three bottles of red wine and played a 4 hour game of Monopoly.  After spending a lot of the game not doing so well, I came back and ended up winning!!  Saturday we were so hungover from all the wine, we did absolutely NOTHING.  Literally, we didn't leave the house or our pajamas the entire day.  The only time we saw the light of day was to let Penny out back and when the pizza guy arrived that evening.  Today we went to Oak Alley Plantation for it's 5th annual Arts and Crafts Festival.  It was awesome!!  Since I didn't get to go to the Covered Bridge Festival this year (which is an annual tradition for my grandma, mom and I) this was the second best thing.  Plus we hadn't been to Oak Alley Plantation yet and I have been dying to see it.  A lot of people think it is the one of the most beautiful plantations down here.  The driveway leading up to Oak Alley has 28 live oaks (14 on each side) lining the road all the way to the house.  They are over 300 years old and absolutely stunning.  If you have never seen a live oak as I had not before I moved down here it is one of nature's most beautiful and mysterious trees.  It is absolutely huge and towering and a lot of the time the limbs are touching the ground and sometimes the trees are covered in moss.  It is almost sculptural looking.

Here is a poem I found about live oaks that I am quite fond of.

I SAW IN LOUISIANA A LIVE-OAK GROWING

“I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,
All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,

Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,

And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,

But I wonder’d how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there without its lover near—for I knew I could not.

And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,

And brought it away—and I have placed it in sight in my room,

It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,

(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)

Yet it remains to me a curious token—it makes me think of manly love;

For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary in a wide flat space,

Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend, a lover near,

I know very well I could not.”

(Walt Whitman, 1860)

Home Sweet Home

Geez, the past week has been a whirlwind!  I flew back to Indiana for a short but fun trip and got to see some of my friends a family.  I drank way too much and stayed up way too late and even closed down the bars in Broad Ripple one night pretending like I was 21 again.  I stayed at my friend Kate's house on Wednesday night and got to spend some time with her and her son Aiden.  Thursday I took pictures of my friend Jennifer's baby, Jenson, and then I went over to my friend Wiseman's house for a big ole cookout/party just like old times.  Included were lots of good grilled meats, lots of cold beers and lots of dancing on the porch.  Friday I went to Bazbeaux for pizza with some of my girl friends and then out to the bars (Midtown Grill, OPT's, Average Joes and The Alley Cat).  Have to end the night at The Alley Cat of course with a nice old can of PBR.  Saturday I went to TWO weddings (my friend Jim Priest and my other friend Troy Gilbert).  I went to both weddings with Kate Z. so I didn't have to trek back and forth alone.  I kind of felt like Katherine Heigl in 27 dresses going back and forth from two weddings, timing everything just right.  I actually had three weddings on Saturday but only made it to two.  Who has three weddings in one day?!  Only me!  Anyways after the weddings I somehow talked everyone (who was going out to the bars) at both weddings into going to the same bar (Knickerbocker) to party the rest of the night away.  We closed down the bar and then 7 of us piled into one hotel room at the Holiday Inn, where I slept on the floor like it was Spring Break 1998.  What is wrong with us?  Sunday we got up and had a rather disastrous breakfast at Sunrise Cafe.  I have never really liked that place and am disappointed every time I go.  Should have went to Triple X.  I tried to talk Shane into getting "The Challenge", which is this massive plate full of all kinds of breakfast foods covered in gravy.  It is pretty disgusting but I always try to talk someone into getting it.  He refused.  After breakfast I drove back to the WC (Warren County) to see my mom.  I hung out in West Lebanon for awhile and then headed to Hoopeston, IL to my grandma's house.  My mom, grandma and my cousin Kelcie and I went to visit my Great Uncle Leonard and then went out to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  We came back home and my Aunt Sherry and Uncle Bobby came over for a visit.  Monday my grandma and I went to visit more family and run errands.  I drove back to West Lebanon that night to see my mom one more time before I had to head back to NOLA.  Then Tuesday I got up and drove to the airport.  My trip was over as soon as it had begun.  Is this what going back to Indiana is going to be like from now on?  It was crazy, hectic and exhausting!  I had a great time but I feel like I hardly got any time to spend with anyone!  It all went by so fast and I was even there for 6 days!!  What will it be like when I can only come home for a long weekend?  Anyways, I was kind of glad to get back home to Millsy and Penny dog.  I missed them and they missed me.  The weather is changing down here and I love it!  It has only been about 80 degrees with low humidity this past week.  It is awesome!  Hopefully no more sweltering heat for a couple months!  I have a lot more to write but I am tired so I think I will go to bed and write more tomorrow.