*  Sunday night this beautiful big boy cried and cried and cried and held his left front paw in the air.  It broke my heart to hear his cries.  Monday he was listless and restless.  Tuesday I took him to the vet.  We thought it was his hips.  You know big dogs and their hips sometimes aren't good friends.  The vet poked and prodded his hips and joints but it wasn't until she started moving his head that he started crying and doing the same thing he did on Sunday.  The vet looked like she wanted to cry as well because she didn't want to see him hurt.  She said it's basically like a degenerative disk disease that humans get.  Now he's on a cocktail of anti-inflammatories and pain meds to see if that helps him.  She said surgery is an option, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, he's nine and that's old for big dogs.  But we don't want him to be in pain or suffer either.

*  What a difference.  Last year we hung all of our Christmas lights wearing short sleeve t-shirts and jeans.  I think Bryan wore shorts.  This year there is still snow on the ground and it hasn't been all that warm to even melt the snow.  But it sure looks festive!

Happy Thursday my friends!