Settling In to A Different Routine

We are now 10 days post surgery - and today marks our first milestone and that is completion of all medication. With her middday meal today, we finished the last of the antibiotics. She was taking 750 mg of Cephalexin three times a day to prevent infection in her incision, as well as an anti-inflammatory (which was finished with breakfast this morning) and pain meds, which finished Tuesday this week. The anitbiotics required food, so she was fed three times a day through today. Tomorrow, we will return to her normal feeding schedule of twice a day.

The last 2 weeks have been physically and emotionally exhausting - thank god my parents are here to help, esp for the first two weeks. Our next milestone will be Tuesday, when the staples come out. All our work (and when I say "our", I am talking my mom and I) to keep her incision from getting infected and get the swelling out of her ankle has really paid off. I am also glad I started her post surgery crating routine immediately upon diagnosis - she has adjusted to the the crate quite well.

What this really means is an upheaval to our normal routine. Crates, gentle leaders, stuck on leash all the time - all this is a great change in her normal daily routine, and while she is a dog that is happy to go with the flow, she also thrives on routine. She has done very well at accepting the new routine of all the above.

Me, on the other hand, is still trying to figure this out. Really, the only thing I have going right now is one night of soccer - down from 3 teams, no softball, no agility (class or trials) and no volunteering. Suffice to say, this is an adjustment for me! But maybe it will be good for me - I know it has already definitely made me appreciate what I have and all the friends I have...I do miss my agility friends, and I miss running with my partner. We are bonding in a different way now...especially when I am doing her exercises and icing her knee. She lays right out and lets me do those things, and then usually stays asleep until I get up and move. She flips on her back for lots of belly rubs now, not something she has done in the past. So I guess I can say that we are bonding in a different way.

The next three weekends will be very quiet...some big football games coming up to enjoy, but other than than, nothing much. The weekend of the OSU/Michigan game, I will make my way to Pa for the first time, as I told Scott we could watch the game on neutral turf - so that he would not be surrounded by Ohio State fans. I will leave on Thursday and on Friday, Scott is taking me to NYC for the day - that should give you an idea of how far in eastern Pa he lives! We will also be going to see the TransSiberian Orchestra in Philly on Saturday night after the game (he lives about an hour from Phildelphia)so that will be a lot of fun. And the first weekend in December will be the birthday blowout in Las Vegas. :)

So a few fun things are coming up, but everyday life as I know it has changed dramatically. Something tells me that I will find something(s) to keep occupied.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. The Buckeyes won, Michigan is losing...both good things on a Satruday afternoon. Chels did run errands with me, and is resting in her crate now. I got her some apple/peanut butter filled bones, so I will break out one of those for her later.

Stay warm everyone!!!

A letter from Chelsie Belle

Dear Eggo, Cricket, Cabana, Oreo and all freinds (canine and humans alike),

Well, I am almost a week post surgery. Last Tuesday, mom had the nerve to take me to a new vet and leave me there...when I woke up, I was in pain, half shaved and in some run that was clearly NOT my mom's bed - having not eaten in 24 hrs, as my surgery was delayed due to incoming emergencies. Since then, I have endured the crate (with and without my inflatbale ecollar) am attached to someone with a leash when I am not in my crate, have been forced to potty with a leash attached to me and have been relegated to my gentle leader. SERIOUSLY?

All things being equal, what I can say is that my leg seems to work now. It is a little stiff when I get up, but my mom says that is to be expected, because I have plates and screws holding it together. I am very happy to get fresh air on my walks...yesterday, gramma and grampa did yard work for mom and I went outside and laid in my crate so I could be with them. I tolerate my gentle leader and am usually rewarded with a few Charlee Bears....I also tolderate my range of motion exercises and the ice. I much prefer the heat, but the swelling in my ankle is gone so I don't know how much more heat I will be getting.

I am very greatful for gramma and grampa...they come and spend time with me so I don't have to wear my ecollar, even though gramma walked in on me when I was asleep with it on in the crate...so I guess I really can't fool anyone any more. I do love having them here with me...either I sleep at their feet or sleep in my house, sans the ecollar. Then mom comes home and bonds with me all night!

I see Dr. Kennedy on Tuesday, which means longer walks and more fresh air on Wedensday. No more ice after that either, so that is good. I see the rehab team on 11/17 for my assessment to see how I am using my leg.

This afternoon, mom took pity on me and brought me some timbits. She said I better enjoy them, because I can't have these so much any more...not until my leg heals and I can exercise. She let granmda be the hero and give them to me. I am finishing up my last ice pack of the day, will get my dinner and then enjoy the World Series from my house while resting.

Thank you again to Adam, Keisa and Oreo for my get well card. I hope mom goes and gets me a new toy soon.

Very Sincerely,

Chelsie Belle

Princess on Board

Ok, so Chelsie and I have earned that little pink paw on the back of my car that says "Princess on Board"....

The last 2 months have been incredibly busy - trialing, traveling, guests in town, football games, and last but certainly not least, Chelsie's injury. I knew when I went into the September/October time frame that my life would be CRAZY until this weekend...and that was before Chel hurt herself. The stress of that over the last 2 weeks, along with burning the candle at both ends for the last 2 months (maybe like incinerating it) have left me totally wiped out tonight.

This afternoon, my mom and dad came over and rescued Chelsie from the ecollar...said she looked sad, but no stress induced panting or drooling. They dealt with all the laundry (sheets/towels from guests) moved the mattresses back up from the basement, made the beds and ran the vacuum cleaner, made dinner and had it ready pretty quickly after I got home. All I had to do was one more rehab session with Chel tonight, and then plop myself on the chair with my fleece blanket. Folks, you better sit down..because I have been for the last 2.5 hrs. Doesn't happen very often, but it happened tonight. About as far as I will go is to take Chel out one more time tonight and back in the house to bed.

So thank you again, ma and pa...Chelsie's rehab has been a family event. I think my mom and I have watched the TPLO rehab video 50 times between the 2 of us...they hate Chelsie being in the crate with her ecollar on, they prefer that she lay at their feet out of the crate. They were here practically all weekend so I could spend time with my friends, and were absolute life savers tonight when I walked in the door. And they will be here to start the process again all over tomorrow...minus the laundry...all of that is done.

Thank you again, ma and pa.....

Oh, Happy Day...

Chelsie's staples will come out next Tuesday at 12:30. Thank god...as I left her in her ecolar in her crate....

Still Doing Well

We are still doing well...still sticking to our walk, range of motion, ice and heat routine, despite our busy weekend of the Tuckers, tailgating and football game.

Huge thanks to grandma and grandpa, who came to babysit during all of our activities so Chel would not have to wear her ecollar. She still really hates the ecollar, even the inflatable one I bought. And unfortunately for her, I have caught her going after her incision twice. This afternoon, grandma suggested that perhaps Chelsie might like to rest on the bed...so I dragged the ramp into the house and she walked up her ramp to the bed. She is still on leash on the bed, in case she loses her little labbie brains and tries to jump off. I don't think she will, but no way I am taking that chance. I do think she is very much enjoying her time on the bed.

Here are some photos...overall, doing very, very well. Swelling in ankle down, incision looks great considering and she is walking amazingly well considering she just had her knee rebuilt!!!

Doing Well

Despite some visitos (The Tuckers, Schwartz's and McCunes) we have managed to settle into somewhat of a routine. Overall, things are going very well, considering the circumstances!

We are only 4 days post surgery, and she walks better and better every day. This is wonderful, but also very dangerous as she continues to feel better as too much activity too soon can be very harmful. She continues to accept the crate and does very well with not coming out until we release her and have a leash on her. For walking purposes, we have gone back to the gentle leader, which she absolutely HATES. With a passion...did I mention she HATES her gentle leader? It certainly makes mom feel better about controlling her movement, that is for sure!!!

She is still VERY stressed about the ecollar - she pants and drools and generally pouts in it. I bought an inflatable one yesterday that does not seem as obnoxious, but she was still panting up a storm last night. As she does not seem to be going after the incision, I leave it off at night - but I am right next to her if she starts. Hopefully I won't have to cross the "ecollar at night" bridge.

She also has a bit of fluid build up in her ankle, similiar to what humans would have after such a surgery. We are treating that with warm compresses, something else to add to our routine. We have to wait an hour in between ice and cold, so that will be somewhat of a challenge.

But overall, we are doing it. I am sitting on the floor with her in between my legs - I bought one of those armchair pillows for the next 6 weeks, just to support my back as I spend more time on the floor with her. I have gotten her to lay down so that I have easy access to her leg, and she can stay that way for ice. My left leg is actually supporting her leg, so it has something to rest on and the ice pack (green beans) can be directly on the incision. I try to avoid touching her incision during range of motion exercises - even though the guy in the video looks like he would be holding right where the incision was...ugh, not me. Plus, I think it would hurt. So I avoid it. It looks pretty good, all things considering - little fluid oozing, but to be expected. After re-watching the video this morning, I saw that part - now how did I miss this part after watching the video no less than 10 times in the last 4 days????

Anyway..all in all, going well. Mom is going to the FB game (OMG, they better win) and gramma and grampa are coming over so she will NOT have to wear ecollar....thank god. I don't know what I would do without my parents...

We will keep you posted! Thanks again for the good thoughts!

Home and Our New Routine

I am very happy to report that according to Dr. Kennedy, Chelsie's surgery went quite well. She was a very good patient - ate when they asked her to (go figure), pottied when they asked her to and was very quiet during her stay. When I spoke to the tech caring for her yesterday morning, she said she thought Chelsie might be annoyed with the "barkers" around her, that some of her kennel mates were not nearly as quiet as she was. I asked if she was sighing and groaning...and the girl said yes. I laughed and told her she was telling them to "SHUT UP" in her own way, as she does this to me all the time.

Getting her back yesterday was a bit overwhelming...we had to watch a video and then had someone come out and give us all the instructions again. For the next 6-8 weeks, she will be confined to a crate and her slip lead that is about 2 feet away from us. Her movements must be very tightly managed at all times. I was very worried about this part, but they said as long as we keep her on the leash and in the crate, we should be fine as we can't stop all movement - which made me feel better. The $$ I spent on the ramp to get her in the car was worth every dollar yesterday. We waited outside by the car when the brought her up - she tends to pull when she sees me, and that was just not a good idea yesterday. We managed to get her in the car and then loved on her...where she had limited space to move around and be excited. I flipped up a thrid row seat and sat next to her on the way home.

She came home with 10 days of antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory and pain medicine. For the next 2 weeks, she will get walked 5-10 minutes per day, have range of motion exercises and then ice. After 14 days, she will have her staples removed. 2-4 weeks see us being able to lose the ice and move our walks to 10-20 minutes 3x a day. And 4-6 weeks see us 20-30 minutes three times a day. At some point, we will start rehab, and her movement will still be limited after 6 weeks, but I do not know the extent of that quite yet. We are really focused on the next 2 weeks, primarily because of the staples - if she is not IMMEDIATELY supervised, she will have to wear her ecollar. Lucky for her, her gramma and grampa love her dearly and will be spending a lot of time with her because they do NOT want her to have to wear that thing.

Undoubtedly, the best thing I did for her was start the crate routine prior to surgery. She goes right in it when I ask her to, and I am thankful that I don't have to worry about her fighting her crate at this point.

For now, she is resting next to me on the floor. We have already been on our first walk of the day, done our first range of motion exercises and had our first ice pack. Not too crazy about the ice, but never has been - and I repeatedly consulted the video of the range of motion exercises while I was doing them. I have this irrational fear that I am going to like break the screws and plates in her knee..I know I am not, but I can't help it.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts...she is already doing better, and I am glad I was able to get this done so quickly...she had surgery one week to the day after her injury. I will keep you posted as we go along!

Chelsie Update

This afternoon, I left Chelsie at Medvet, her surgery will be tomorrow. The people were very nice, and the tech that took her wanted to know if it was OK to give her treats during her stay. Of course, I said yes.

As my vet predicted, the procedure they recommended was not the procedure he recommended. I saw pictures of both, and felt that the procedure my vet recommended was the one I still wanted to go with. Dr. Kennedy, the surgeon, agreed this was an appropriate procedure and feels she will have a great recovery. He is very happy with the physical shape she is in at nearly 8 years old.

What I did not know was how limited her activity would be after the surgery. Essentially, she will either be in a crate or on a least for 6 weeks - and I mean, she will literally have to be leashed as soon as she comes out of her crate. This is far from ideal, but the healing time is critical and controlling her movement is of vital importance.

So we are off. I will get her back on Thursday afternoon. I have been warned that her leg will look a little ugly and she will be doped up and out of it, but as long as she is my house with me, I don't care...it is already so quiet and lonely here....

I will keep everyone posted as to how she is doing!

Its a .....

Boy...for Sharon, that is. This afternoon, Sharon received her third guide dog, a male black lab named Forsythe. Sharon says he is goofy, and loves to have his booty scratched! Um, hello..don't they all???

So Truthie will have a little brother, that looks a lot like Chelsie! Forsythe weighs 62 lbs and is about 20 inches tall - Chelsie is 64 lbs and 21.8 inches tall. Sharon's last 2 dogs have been female goldens, so this will be a whole new experience for her. I am thrilled...you all know I am partial to the black labbies!!!

So please think of Sharon over the next few days...this is a huge life adjustment for her - learning to work with a new dog, learning to read his body language and trust him with her safety. Sharon has all the confidence in the world in her trainers, and this next 2 weeks will be long and busy.

Congrats again and welcome to our lives Forsythe!!!

Unwinding from the Weekend...

Well, if you had asked me 7 days ago what I thought this weekend would have been like, I certainly would have said something other than what it actually was....

For how the weekend started, it is actually ending OK. It started on Friday morning with Chelsie's injury diagnosis of a torn ACL and me realizing exactly what this means, what it will take to get her rehabbed and healthy, accepting she will have to go back in a crate for the time being....As I said, I have no problem with the crate, it is just not part of our daily routine any more. It is part of our agility routine, and that is about it. I now have a crate in the kitchen, a crate in the bedroom and a crate in the car. I bought a ramp to get her in and out of the car, and tonight, we practiced going up and down that ramp, which she did with no problem. I was initially overwhelmed at the prospect of all of this, but have slowly taken my own advice to "reach out, grab on and get a grip". I still wish this hadn't happened of course, but am dealing better with it tonight.

While I have been emotionally drained most of the weekend, I have had a little change of heart tonight. I was looking on Facebook at my friend Earl's Europe photos, realizing he had gone several of the places I had gone. We commented back and forth about different things, and I took a minute to reflect on how fortunate I have been to have seen that stuff with my own eyes and not through someone else's photos. I also realized this weekend what great agility friends I have - they were all very concerned, wanted to know when her surgery was, which doctor was going to do it, how she was doing, how I was doing...I realized just how much I love agility and the people I have met, and how much I miss it already. Chelsie seems to as well...tonight, while practicing getting out of her crate in the car, she stopped at the bottom of her new ramp in her "spot" position, the way she stops at all of the contact obstacles on a course.

I hope to be back in competitions in the late April time frame...funny, last weekend, that was about the time I had hoped we would reach MACH...but I guess that just means the victory lap will be that much sweeter. Hopefully, Scott will be able to see it as well...my chances of him seeing it are much better the latter half of next year due to all his judging assignments.

I also stopped tonight to realize that although this is a bummer, this is not the end of the world. It is definitely not what I wanted for us, and certainly adds another blow to the serious cash outlay trend I seem to have going on at this point, but on the whole, my life is pretty freakin good and I am blessed with good health, a roof over my head, and great family and friends in my life.

So we made great progress this weekend in starting to prepare the both of us for her surgery and recovery...I have already told my parents that when she is released to come home, they need to be there with me so they can hear the instructions and ask questions, because I expect that they will be spending a lot of time with her in the 8 week recovery time frame! They don't like the thought of her being alone and in a crate if they are home to watch her and she can be out of the crate.

The physical exhaustion of the weekend is now taking over...a few more things here and then we are going to bed...early. Hope everyone had a great weekend...

Crates, Laundry Baskets & More Trauma for Mom....

So, the healing time for the surgery little bean will have is 8 weeks. She will have very limited activity, and will not be allowed to jump on things, primarily furniture. This creates somewhat of a challenge, as she typically has free run of the house and can "go to bed" in all three beds in the same day if she chooses.

Therefore, starting tonight, she will have to be crated to sleep and crated unless immediately supervised. Now, I don't have a problem with the concept of a crate - I firmly believe in the crate, as a matter of fact. The crate is absolutely for her own health and safety. She was crated for the first two years of her life at home, and did just fine. But she has not been crated in the house since. She does fine at agility trials in her travel crate, but is not crated at night when we stay at hotels. She has never been crated in the car, but today, she was.

So my bedroom and kitchen are sporting some new decorations. The crate in the bedroom is the crate she stays in at agility trials. I cleaned up her crate pad and put her colling bed in it. The crate in the kitchen is a big wire crate she can see in and out of - I did not want to confine her to the corner of the bedroom during the day in a crate that is really not see through. Suffice to say, they make a decorating statement. Her travel crate will be hauled out of the bedroom every time we go in the car, and I will have to get a ramp for her to get in and out of the car, for both the short and long term healing process.

Unfortunately, every time she goes near the crate, she tucks her tail between her legs and cowers, like she is in trouble for something. This breaks my heart. The wire crate in the kitchen is big enough for me to climb in, so I got in and called her in, and rewarded her when she followed my command. She ended up getting in twice on her own, both of which she was rewarded for. My goal is to make the crate a positive experience for her so she will willingly go in after her surgery. I will start by feeding her in the crate with the door open, and then gradually close the door over the next few days.

As if that were not enough, tonight, her tags got caught on her toy basket (in a similar fashion to the grate) and she freaked out. She tore across the room - hello, exactly what she should not be doing - and flung toys everywhere. I finally got her to hold still and got her unattached...but man, scared the heck out of me...

I am off to try and put Chelsie to bed...and go to bed for me too. Hope everyone is well!!!

Update on Chelsie

This morning, my vet diagnosed Chelsie's injury as a torn ACL. When I woke up yesterday and she was still gimpy, I knew something more serious was wrong. Her leg is very limp, just sort of hanging there and she is hobbling around on three legs. Very hard to watch.

After my vet determined it was an ACL tear, I was immediately scheduled for a consult with another doctor in the practice who does these types of surgeries. He presented me with three options, one of which could have been done by him. He felt the best option for Chelsie was a procedure to be performed at OSU which essentially manuvers bone to support her knee. At first, it did not sound like an option I wanted to go with, but after letting him finish and asking some questions, I was in agreement with what he said. He also recommended OSU over Medvet (our local specialty vet hospital) because he felt the procedure Medvet would encourage did not have the data to show long term results. Essentially, Medvet is a cutting edge tpe of place, while OSU, being a university and teaching hospital, wants data to support long term outcomes of the procedures they perform. Also, one of the doctors that will be involved in Chelsie's case is one of the top in the world.

So while this is not what I had hoped for, I feel good about the treatment decision I have made. My focus now is to get her into a quiet routine that limits her jumping and movement in general, so that when she has the surgery, she will be able to recover quickly. For now, it is hard to see her hobble around - her surgery is not until 11/19, but I am hoping I get a cancellation call...

Thanks for everyone's good thoughts. Through this, Chelsie has been a trooper, and was such a good girl when everyone was prodding at her at the vet office today.

Overload

This morning, I am on overload....

1. It is raining...again. To top it off, it is 43 and raining - which really sucks. Cold, damp and miserable are the words that come to mind. I think it has been raining for the past three months? Scott noted that he has been here for 7 softball nights, and has only seen me play 2 nights. It can stop anytime.

2. I have been dealing with a skin rash of unknown origin for some time now. It is red, nasty, itchy and gross - and I have had it since the beginning of July. I have been to the dermatologist probably 6 times now, have been on three different steriod cream and sport 4 stiches in my arm and leg from a biopsy. Biopsy results show nothing abnormal - but the way this looks, I would have to disagree with that conclusion. Back in next Wedensday to get the stitches out and figure out what to do next.

3. Last night in class, Chelsie hurt herself. I took her up the A frame and heard her yelp...and she came down holding out her left back paw. Scott and my instructor assure me it was nothing I did, but I still feel horrible. She lays down and wags her tail when I touch it - I have moved her little toes all around, her ankle, her knee, her hip...and it does not outwardly appear that I am causing her any pain. As of right now, she is a no-go for this weekend. :(

4. Scott has been here for almost 2 weeks now...and after the trial this weekend is going home. I have gotten spoiled having him here - I joke around about him being my dinner and house maid, but it will be very quiet when he leaves. Comes with the territory, but still not fun. He is staying in Zanesville tonight because the trial starts early and the club got a hotel for him, so tonight, after soccer, he will be gone. I am not sure what the weekend will look like now that Chels is injured, but we will see...

All these things will pass...but they just kind of hit all at once. I am sure next week, all will be back to normal...and it will only be quiet for a few days, because then, next Thursday...THE TUCKERS ARE COMING!!!!

Thanks for listening to my rant...I already feel better. Now, if i could just get our purchasing requisition system to let me buy office supplies...all would be good. :) Here is to no more rain...

Seasons...

I was driving down Henderson Rd the other day, and for the first time, I noticed that the leaves were changing! I do love fall - except for the fact that it means winter is coming. Lots of beautiful colors to look at..reds, oranges, yellow...

As I was driving to work this morning, down Henderson Rd, I noticed again how beautiful the trees were. As it was pouring down rain YET AGAIN here, I realized that life has its trade offs...

Lots of rain = beautiful colors.

Lots of rain = beautiful flowers

Lots of rain = green grass

Lots of rain = tall grass

Lots of rain = no wakeboarding

Lots of rain = warm water for wakeboarding

Lots of rain = very depressing

Lots of rain = good time to cuddle up with Chelsie and nap

Verdict? I am tired of the rain...god only knows what old man winter will bring - but mother nature can stop showering us with her love anytime...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

No other title is appropriate.

I knew when I started planning out these few months of my life, it would be very busy - however, I was not prepared for how busy it is turning out to be! Agility comp, 2 weekends in Europe, three day agility comp...and that was just September! I have this weekend "off" from any planned activities, but the weekend seems to be filling up with things to do - which is why part of my Friday night was spent in the grocery store!!

After this weekend, it is 2 weeks of agility and then the Tucker's are coming to visit!!! I am so excited. Jodi got tix to the Minnesota FB game and turned it into a vacation for them. They will be staying at the casa Paloney, and I can't wait to see what little Dolan James looks like live and in the flesh! I am sure Chelsie can!!!

On another exciting note, I am in the process of confirming some final details for my 35th birthday blowout in Sin City (Las Vegas). I attracted quite the crowd...hopefully the Tucker's, my brother, my cousins Michelle and Kathi and Kathi's hubby Roger and my friends Adrienne and Leno from California. I am very blessed to have such good people in my life to spend such a big day with me!

I also have one other special guest coming to celebrate my birthday - his name is Scott, and I met him through agility. We have been spending some time together as of late, and seem to do very well together. He lives in Eastern Pa, north of Allentown - do the math, that is not close to here at all - which is somewhat inconvenient (ok, INCREDIBLY inconvenient!) He has been doing all the driving as of late due to the flexibility of his job and my schedule, but his agility judging schedule after the first of the year is CRAZY and means that pretty much for the first half of next year, I will be doing most of the traveling! We know things will get pretty hectic pretty quick, and are trying to make the most of every opprtunity we have to see each other. Major faults to date? His MICHIGAN-NESS!!! Yep, you read right. He is a Michigan fan. It is a source of great fun for us actually - however, I must fess up that he did go to the HOF induction for Varisty O last week, and is attending a wedding with me in December where the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe is the site of the reception. For his efforts, I agreed to have my first trip to Pa be the weekend of Ohio State/Michigan - neutral turf. There are already wagers out on that, so the Buckeyes have to win...otherwise, I have to compete at an agility trial in his Michigan jersey. I have attached a few photos for the world to see.

And on a final note, my friend Sharon's guide dog Truth, will officially be retired on October 18th. Sharon was supposed to go to class on 11/29, but they had a cancellation and they called her today to see if she wanted to come. These are the trainers who worked with her in getting her first 2 dogs, and apparently there are 2 in the kennels they feel are quite suited for her. Truthie is 10.5 years old and has earned her retirement...however, she still gets very excited when the harness comes out and very depressed when the cane comes out. Sharon knew this was coming, but it is never easy. :( We will likely see them tomorrow, and then I am going to be errand girl for Sharon on Sunday. So, all my GDB followers that have a puppy close to class ready in Oregon, stay tuned. They get home on 10/31. I can promise you that dog will have a GREAT life - nice big house, nice big yard to romp around in, a mom that likes to go for walks...gee, where do I sign up????

With that being said, it is 12 36 AM and WAY, WAY past my bedtime! Still 30 minutes left of the Galaxy/Fire game though...hmm...what is a girl to do??? Hope all is well for everyone.

And on a final notes...Happy birthday Megan Ellis!