Jake Drama...yes, more.

So the last several weeks have been quite hectic for a variety of reasons. The number one reason is our Boykin Spaniel, Jake. He's our nutty, crazy, dog but I have come to love this little dog now more than ever. A few weeks ago Jake had some mysterious accident. It was a Sunday night after his nightly outing. Jake came back inside the house and appeared dazed and confused (more than usual). His eyes were dilated and he began walking funny. We soon realized he was going down hill and off to the animal hospital we went. This was our second visit to this hospital so we knew the drill. At the hospital he could no longer walk. They did x-rays and blood work and could not find a problem. The doctor figured he had sustained an injury to his neck or possibly a slipped disc. We had to leave Jake overnight and I just feared for the worst. The next morning we picked Jake up and took him to our regular vet. It was so sad, he had been given some pain meds and had to be carried in to the vet on a small stretcher. Of course tears are streaming down my face once again. I thought we would be saying our goodbyes shortly.

Jake remained at the vet all week. Long story short it was a waiting game and we didn't know if Jake was ever going to walk again. The vet concluded he likely did fall and just hit his neck just right causing swelling around his nerves. The crazy dog leaps off the deck all the time and rather than taking steps one at a time, he leaps up all 3 in one jump. I'm sure it was a fall.

We picked him up the following Friday and didn't know what to expect. We brought him home and soon found out. Jake couldn't walk or hold himself up. Amazingly, within a matter of days Jake was walking around on his own and seems to be about 90% recovered, which may be as good as he gets. He can't walk too good on the hardwood floors and often falls down, but maybe he'll learn to slow down! He is still wearing his vest so we can lift him up/down the deck steps, but otherwise he's back to his old self! JT and his dad have a project this weekend to build a ramp. Jake is going to have to learn to use the handicap ramp! He'll likely never be steady enough to take those steps. Ahh...I have a better appreciation for what it must be like having kids! I have to think this is the last major problem Jake can have...it just HAS to be! He's a nut, but he's my little nut!

Happy Birthday JT 6-21

Happy 39th Birthday JT! Hope you had a great birthday! Jarrett's was yummy :-)

Foster Visit Summer 08

They're back! It is that time of year again. The Foster clan descended upon the Schneider household Father's Day weekend. It was good to see everyone even though it was so short! We babysat the twins for a few hours while everyone else went to Graceland. We did good all by ourselves! We even changed some diapers!

Long time...no post!

Wow! It's been a long, long time. I seem to fall into this 6 month slump of being totally absorbed in work, and daily minutia and forget to blog about the minutia. Honestly, I can't think of anything particularly exciting since March. The highlight was April when JT and I went to visit our friends Molly and Chad in Knoxville. I wish I had taken some pictures!

We're back.....for a little while anyway :)

Slugs

I felt like this creature this weekend...a slug...though not as alarmed as he seems.


It was just one of those weekends...we were slugs. I'm sure everyone has them. It was cloudy and drizzling rain off and on over the weekend. We barely left the house, and that's OK. I did manage to do a couple of loads of laundry and hung out with friends for half of the Memphis vs Vols game Saturday night. I really could care less about college basketball, it was just the hype around the game that made it interesting to see who won. This is Memphis. I was sure I would see coverage of mayhem breakout downtown after the Tigers lost, but everyone seemed civilized.

Roux sure seems worn out from his afternoon of chewing his snake toy to shreds. His picture about sums up our weekend here at the Schneider house. Time to get back to the Oscars viewing...

Route 70 Party

70 years is quite a milestone. We celebrated my father's achievement of this milestone with a surprise birthday party on February 9th. I believe he was truly surprised and he seemed to really enjoy himself. Of course, being the 'baby' of the family and having no children, I was left in charge to pull together all the planning and details. I guess though, it's not all about me! He had fun and his friends and family came out to help him celebrate, so it was a successful party!

My parents took a trip last year down route 66 and they both had a great time. Dad has sold cars for years and years and has a love for old cars. I thought the theme of "cruising right along on route 70" and comparing him to a classic car was appropriate.

Down in the Delta

I've heard good things about the restaurant Morgan Freeman co-owns in Clarsksdale, MS called Madidi. The blues club, Ground Zero, we've heard is also the place for real deal blues muscians from the area. We decided to check it out with another couple this past weekend. It was good, and we had a great time, but we would not rate the food at Madidi as great. Even though they knew we were coming, there was no Morgan :( The food highlight was the crispy fried oysters in brandy cream sauce and the blue cheese au gratin potatoes. The blue crab potstickers were good, but nothing special. JT and I ordered identical plates, which never happens! I was craving red meat and we both ordered the 8 oz filet with spinach madeline and blue cheese au gratin potatoes. We both ordered our steak medium-rare. Mine was definitely medium, if not a little medium-well. Neither of us enjoyed the spinach madeline, which was spinach, baked with bread crumbs on top. I was not sure what "madeline" meant but I was expecting something creamier.
I had high hopes for the molten godiva chocoalte cake with vanilla bean ice cream. The cake was missing the molten lava that is supposed to ooze out. It had been baked too long.

We then headed over to Ground Zero blues club. It was a neat little place. There was definitely all types of people there - young, old, black, white and everything in between. The music was good and had people out on the dance floor (excluding JT and Sean). It was a fun experience but now that I've been there and done that, I wouldn't be too interested in going back. It was a bit far for dinner and music (1 hour 30 minutes). I think it would be more fun to spend an afternoon checking out the old downtown stores and having lunch at Ground Zero. Their soul food has had good reviews and caught national attention. It is probably better than Madidi!
Check it out at http://www.madidires.com/