Goodbye 2011!!!!!

I am so glad to see 2011 gone...gone....gone. It was a horrible year financially and medically. There were a few and I mean a few bright spots. First, D got the new pellet stove installed.

It's passed Nutties inspection. She likes to sit on the bricks but prefers.....

Laying across the top of the little round table where the heat hits her directly. The purchase of the stove was a decision I made by basically telling D., "Call on this and go pick it up." It's an older Lopi and had a few things we needed to replace on it. It was a little over $3000 new and we bought it for around $200 and threw in two new parts totaling I think $175. It's been running like a charm since then.

There are a few finishing touches that need to be done, like some paint spots need attention and the bottom trim piece needs to be fabricated. Other than that, it's a wonderful little stove.

It keeps the bedroom and hallway comfortable without being too hot or too cold. This is the first year during foggy days the back half of the house wasn't freezing cold. All in all, it was a successful purchase and project.

S & S brought little E over for Christmas. As you can see D is hating being a grandfather. There are just two sad things about this picture. The little Bear and D's finger.

What's wrong with this picture? Come on, if you read the previous blogs you'd know D lost the end of this baby finger in early November. What's that on his ring finger???? Well, in early December he almost cut off the end of it. That picture is of the good side. You don't want to see the rest, it looks like he put it through the meat grinder. His "hand surgeon", yes he has a specialist for that, was able to save this finger also. Although he's almost cut the darn thing completely off, it was a better job than the baby finger because he didn't destroy the bone.

He is starting to see the funny in it though. He told the doc, "Well, if I hadn't shortened the baby finger in November, then I would have completely lost it because the saw blade bypassed it and went into my ring finger." Yep, it was a room full of warped personalities because we found that hilarious!

So, we've saved another finger and once I have my car back....oh did I forget to mention the clutch went out on the truck so D's been shuttling me back and forth to work for a week? We're waiting for parts to come in. Once they do and the truck in back up running, I'm going to head to HD myself and walk right up to D in the tool corral and say, "Sir, my husband keeps cutting off his fingers because he refuses to buy the right tool for the right job. Would you please show me where the Forsner bits are and recommend which one I should buy for him? I have $40 cash right here!" LOL! Yep, that's the first thing on my list when I have my wheels back.

Yesterday (New Years Eve day) sucked. The Bear woke up not doing well. She'd peed and pooped all over herself and tracked it all over the family room carpet, kitchen and laundry room. She was out of sorts and couldn't stand up. We gave her the meds the vet had just upgraded and waited for things to settle down.

D went to work and later in the morning I kept hearing a thumping. I finally found her under his desk and she couldn't get up. She'd wet on herself again. I put her outside and she kept falling down. When she was finally able to stand she stumbled in a circle completely confused. I wrapped her in her favorite blanket which was an old bathrobe of mine and sat in my chair holding her and telling her it was okay to go.

She was having trouble breathing and really struggling so I called the vet and we decided it was time to put her down. We set an appointment for a little before one in hopes she'd just go to sleep. I didn't have a car so Scott came and took me to the vet when it was time. The Bear had wet on me two more times before the trip.

Nissie knew what was happing because she sat with her head on the Bear for the longest time. Okay, until the Bear started having horrible gas. Then it was, "She's your dog mom, you take care of her....I'm moving to another chair until the air fills!" Hahahaha! Fair weathered friend.

Scott took us to the vet and Dr. C. took her in to give her that final shot. She said the Bear died before the shot took affect. She said she had just put the needle in and she was gone. She continued the shot just to make sure there was no pain at the last minute.

So the first day of this year 2012, D spent lovingly placing the Bear in "Bern's Retreat" near where Pepper is buried. I have to think she decided on leaving this earth yesterday so we could start 2012 on a fresh footing.

All I can say is, if it weren't for little E being born, 2011 would have been a complete waste of time. So I guess every cloud has a silver lining.

Here's hoping the upcoming year brings happiness and safety to everyone in the family.