Happy 2009, y'all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR FRIENDS!

As you can tell by my very late posting, Mrs. Southern Housewife had a bit too much champagne and white wine last night! Oh, dear! But, I did wake up in enough to see sun climbing over the sky from where I sit each morning.

How lucky are we that our beautiful Creator has decided that we are worthy of another year? Another year of making memories. Another year of finding the eggs hidden in the grass. Another year of doing canon balls in the pool. Another year of snuggling with the hubby with a warm glass of hot apple cider. And another year to celebrate His birth and life with the world. Today I give Him my praise and thanks for all my fortune last year, and the fortune he will bring in 2009. May you glorify Him today, as well and be thankful for all the love you will receive this year. Y

How did you spend the last day of 2008? Hubby and I woke up early (amazingly!) and noticed that our sweet baby was biting and scratching at his fur. I took a look at his skin and the poor dear had scratched it raw! And I noticed one tiny, nasty little flea walking about. I gasped and grabbed that sucker and ran to flush him down the toilet! My baby had a flea!! Of course we began to freak out just a bit and immediately called the vet, praying to God that not only would they be open but that they had a spot in their schedule to see him. Praise the Lord, they were open and they said that although they were booked, I could come in at 9:30am and wait in the lobby for the Doctor to have a couple of open minutes.

So, I jumped up, ran to do my Bible study for the day, check emails and got ready. My poor baby just sat there itching and looking terribly uncomfortable. Getting him into the truck proved just a bit difficult. I think he knew where he was going. What a sad puppers.

Please excuse my very dirty truck and ginormous dry cleaning bag!

Happily, we were right on time, checked in, and 3 minutes later, we were given a room! Thank you, Jesus! Once in the room, he started pacing back and forth, all the memories of this place beginning to flood in. I could have cried for him.

The vet came in, looked at his skin and wanted to take a culture, so he got out this scary razor blade thing, and scraped his skin under is poor arm. He took it braver than I ever would! Thankfully, the culture came back free of mites, mange and the like and the vet chalked this up to either seasonal skin allergies or an allergic reaction to a flea bite. (Did you know that allergens that make humans sneeze, make dogs break out on the skin? Very interesting!) And since the vet found no more fleas on him, he gave him some medicine and a soothing shampoo for dry skin and sent us on our way. My Southern Puppy has seasonal allergies about three times a year, when the weather changes, so sadly, this is something we are always dealing with. Thankfully he did not have to get a steroid shot this time. And thankfully he did not notice a very quiet and very sly visitor that was looking in our little appointment the whole time! Can you spot him?

So, even though our last day of 2008 started out a bit harried, we were able to still relax and enjoy it before we headed out to spend the evening with some very dear friends and neighbors. The girls drank some yummy wine, and the boys had some beer while we played multiple games of gin rummy and Apples to Apples. I have officially resigned myself to the fact that I no longer attend major parties on New Year's Eve. It wasn't but a couple years ago that there was major pressure to find out what people in the know did that night, and to either snag an invitation or throw your own shin dig. Even though I miss it sometimes, I also was very pleased to not have that pressure riding on me. We were able to enjoy a quite, but fun evening with friends we adore. And we didn't have to deal with the highways that can be quite scary with drunk drivers on this night. We were able to make the long trek home across the alley on foot. ;)

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve! Blessings to you all!