Sandy update

We brought little Sandy down to the vet on St Stephen's day to be put down. He was miserable as could be and we reckon he must be over 12 years old (although he acts and looks like a puppy). When we got there the vet said his temperature was sky high and he wanted to get some IVs and fluids into him as well as an abdominal scan. It all sounded a bit much considering they were looking for 'growths' and the like in his stomach, but sure Sandy is 12+ so even if they find something is it fair to put him through surgery etc?

ANYWAY, they took him away (cry!) and told us they'd phone in the morning. They phoned and said the scan had found nothing but he was still very ill. So they'd give it 24 more hours and then decide what to do.

Today we got a phone call saying his temperature was normal and he was back to being fine. I swear that dog has nine lives!!! It's been horribly lonely without him around the house, and whilst I acknowledge that he is "only" a dog he still has a major presence in our house!

I don't know what's going to happen next but fingers tightly crossed he will be ok.

Of course this makes me think of people who are ill this Christmas, and my thoughts go out to all the families who are dealing with difficult human situations right now.

Merry Christmas...and lucky socks

It's the post morning Mass, pre afternoon snack time, and I'm uploading my new CDs on to my laptop so I thought I may as well pay here an ole visit. And, well.... I didn't get a car. Yet. I still have my fingers crossed...ahem.... I did receive lots of equally nice things though. My sister, the copycat, managed to buy my brothers and my mom the *exact* same things as I did. Only she bought hers up the north so had no way of returning them (although I suspect she would have found another excuse if she had bought them down the road). Luckily, because I am extremely nosey like to make conversation, I discovered this a few days ago and managed to change mine. And nobody had to know. Until now.

The sock factory must be very grateful for our family this year, I think we are responsible for at least half their profits this year judging on the number of pairs of socks that we all got. I think I alone got 12 pairs (no joke). And then bizarrely, last night I was coming back to my car after visiting a friend and I stepped on this Kenneth Cole bag that was beside my car door. Only when I stepped on it, did I realise there was something inside. I was a bit dubious about picking up what was essentially a piece of rubbish from the ground (not that I don't care about the environment or anything..) but luckily because I am extremely nosey am rather curious, I bent down and peered inside. And lo and behold, there were four pairs of socks!!! New socks I might add. So I instinctively kicked into Jessica Fletcher mode (without the murder) and thought if I could find the receipt, if it was paid by credit card, there might be a name or some clue of some sort. But alas, it was paid by cash (who would spend €20 on socks???) and it was purchased a week ago :( So not entirely sure what to do, I put the socks in my car, left the bag back on the ground and brought them home. I was told by my family to give them to my brothers. So that's what I did. They now own about 18 pairs of socks each, two of which are luxury wool socks.

In order to ''pay it on'' I think I'll go give some money to charity or something.

On a sadder note, my doggy is not so festive today. We were going to bring him to the vet to "say goodbye" but he seems to have perked up a little bit but unfortunately it doesn't look like he'll be with us long. I got a present from him today too, a Topaz gift card, seriously. We were joking last week, because the Topaz gift cards were being advertised on the radio. And I was like, who on earth would buy someone a gift card for a GARAGE?!?! It's like giving someone money...only unlike money, they can only spend it in a particular shop, in this case, a garage. Well obviously my Sandy didn't hear the jokes!

SNOWWWW!!!

Has not come...yet. Quite frankly, I'm content without. For two reasons.

1. My car doesn't start when it's cold outside. At all. So I do not relish walking in the snow for a bus. (Still have my fingers tightly crossed for a new Audi for Christmas though ahem)

2. My college is about 3miles from my house. It takes about 20 minutes to drive in the morning, 25-30 on a bad traffic morning. Last year we did have snow. And the whole city came to a complete standstill, literally, nobody knew how to drive. So it took me 3 hours and 45 minutes to get home from college. And I think that snowfall measured about 2.5cm.... !!!! Seriously, and people freaked out.

So while I'd love a white Christmas, I'd be happier with my Independence and my ability to drive quickly!

Oh dear, another couple of months have passed and no blog post. This is a good sign though. I am incredibly busy with college and work and life and *thankfully* my health is great. *Clunks head off wooden table here* I am back to clinic for bloods on Monday, but I think I have made it a year without IVs and about 6 months with no oral antibiotics. The only trade off of this is that I have no anecdotal stories to tell you about hospital life or appointments and, weird to say, no even complaints, imagine!!!

Whilst I was away this past summer, one of my doctors left. One minute he was there and then *poof* he was gone. And now one of the transplant nurses is going too. The good people seem to be dropping like flies in that madhouse. It's true to say you don't know what you have until it's gone. Despite this nurse only ever managing to successfully taking my blood once the entire two (three?) years she was there, she was definitely a good 'un. She'll now be teaching the nurses of the future something about being nurses of the future. Bah humbug!

We get our Christmas holidays start this Friday and I can not wait! My brother (the BFG) comes home from Australia/the rest of the world next week. My car has also developed this attitude whereby it does not start if it's too cold outside. I'm serious. It means I now check the weather every night so I can make plans of how to get places the next day, ie if I need to take a bus. Ridiculous. In reality however I say 'bus', but during the day, there's usually a car in our driveway so luckily I've been fortunate to borrow when my car has frozen over. But I'm more concerned about going out somewhere in my car and then it having a hissy fit and refusing to take me back home. And my Dad does NOT like the prospect of lending me his 2L turbo engine car; he prefers to have either my (multiple car bumps - admits she'd fail her test today) mother drive it around so I can have hers, or for it to sit wasting its life around in the driveway. The fact that I barely peep over the steering wheel is of no relevance to the issue. Or the fact that I'm a fan of speeding while making 'vroooom' sounds with my mouth and cackling wildly.

So to conclude, I have my fingers crossed tightly for a new car this Christmas. My dad nearly choked when I asked for an iTouch because of the cost, but I know with his logical thinking will mean he will have no qualms about spending a small 20k or so (I want a reliable car this time after all) for his darling daughter.