Monday, April 15, 2013

Poor Bandit!

I'm getting geared up mentally for the SCBWI conference this weekend, but Bandit is not cooperating. Last Tuesday, he went into surgery to have a tumor removed from his tail and other things (dental cleaning and check up and nails trimmed).  The surgery went fine, but poor Bandit came home wearing one of those cone collars. The vet staff, not understanding Bandit's contortion skills, gave him the smallest collar that they thought would work. The incision on his tail looked horrible. Six stitches  resembling something from Frankenstein. On Wednesday, Bandit decided it was time to remove the stitches. I thought I would have a stroke. He has this gaping incision, hanging open and bleeding.  Ok, I'll save the gory details! Another trip to the vet. He had successfully removed 4 of the 6 stitches. They could not replace them without putting him out again. The vet elected to leave as is, so now, I have the pleasure of cleaning, medicating and wrapping his tail daily. And as a bonus for such good behavior, Bandit received a bigger cone collar. Now the furniture, doorways, and my legs are banged every time he walks by. It is funny to watch the cats grow three sizes when he walks into a room! Five more days until this nightmare is over...unless the incision hasn't healed enough. If that happens, I may need to be sent to a home for some mental recovery time.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

SCBWI Conference

The SCBWI conference will be held next weekend in Tulsa. There are still openings and you don't have to be a member to attend. If you are interested in writing or illustrating children's books, I highly recommend you attend this conference. It will do nothing but benefit you in many ways. For details, check out the state chapter's website:   www.scbwiok.org    Hope to see many authors and illustrators there.

P.S. One of the benefits is listening to editors and agents from New York City.  That's a huge plus, especially if you are attempting to have something published.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Gotta love dogs!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge dog lover. (Not necessarily a lover of huge dogs!) I'm sure, if you have dogs, you will have to admit that you like your dogs more than you like some people. Yep, that's me. I lost my precious Corkie the Yorkie several months ago and my heart was broken. My daughter had just rescued a dog from the shelter and he is young and energetic. He helped to fill the void in my heart. Of course, we still have Bandit, our 7 year old lab/blue heeler mix. I've shifted all my affections to him, trying to win him over. We've always had a good relationship, but Corkie was my dog and Bandit belonged to Tony.  Bandit is more spoiled than ever. He has learned to love rides in the car, daily walks, and many treats. He's still Tony's dog, but I can tell he loves me more than
before. I have been struggling with hearing loss over the past year and a half and Bandit is training to be a hearing dog for me. It's nice to watch the progression of training. He's done pretty well so far, but recently we've discovered that he may have some arthritis in his hind legs. He's on rest (how do you get a dog to rest?) for 3 weeks and then back to the doctor for a check. Hopefully, all will be fine and he will finally graduate from school.