Just to Let You Know

Oh, it has been a long time since I posted. I try to keep up with my bloggy friends and read your lovely posts.  My blog has always been my refuge, but the past several hectic months blogging seemed last on my list.

We've had ups and downs, just as all of you have. The Maven is thriving at work after a rough fall and has just moved into her own apartment about 15 minutes from our place. She is in a good place in life.

I find myself turning to my blog at this time because I have received such support, caring, encouragement and love from so many of you. Most I've never even met in person, yet I feel like we are old friends.

You've followed The Boston Family through some of our most joyous, adventurous and saddest times. This is one of the saddest times I've experienced in a very long time.

Our sweet Boston, Sadie was taken from us Christmas night. It was dark, we were in LA just wrapping up a wonderful stay with Sammy and The Writer and packing the cars to head back home. The Maven and I were loading her car across the street and Mr T was getting Panda and Sadie into his truck. Sadie saw me and bolted. I heard Mr. Tennis yell and looked up to see that sweet face running towards me and could hear a car coming fast down the road. I yelled for her to stop but she was deaf with excitement . I couldn't look, but I heard the impact. Just a dull thump. No brake lights ever came on, no slowing or stopping to see what (or who) they had hit. Just a small black and white shape lying in the road looking perfectly fine. Not a scratch or nick. Breathing .

Mr T moved her to the lawn. I knelt over her with hope in my heart, but saw there was no life in those  usually expressive eyes. We held her as she took several last breaths and was gone.

Still reeling with shock we walked with her to the backyard where The Writer and Mr T prepared a spot to lay her to rest. It was heartbreaking. I don't think I knew what that really meant until Christmas night.

To return home without the life of the house with us was awful.. So quiet. So empty. A small dog can have a huge presence and that's what our Sadie had, a huge presence. She was my shadow throughout the day, she was Mr T's valet in the evening, she was Bumby's cuddle buddy and she was Panda's ears these last couple of years, not to mention her sister for ten.

I couldn't not tell you all, my friends. I posted on Facebook, but that's a different place. It's not my refuge, my happy place, the place where I can say anything I want. That's here and I realize that now as I face the days ahead without my Sadie. The best dog I've ever known.

Sadie Carolina

December 2004 - December 2014

Simply the Best.

A Night of Reflection and Fun

The Maven had extended an invitation to me. She was going to be attending an awards ceremony that was partially sponsored by the company she is now working for.

Me?
Awards?
 UCLA?

 TV and Film people in attendance?

Of course I said yes!

Beautiful campus!

Okay, so it wasn't the Oscars, but I still had a few fangirl moments before the ceremony when many of the nominees were photographed and interviewed on the patch of red carpet.

Fans of 'Parenthood' may recognize the young actor who plays Jabar.

'Parenthood' was one of the honorees.

There were many familiar faces and some unfamiliar ones as well.  Famous or not, they all had something in common. 

Mental illness and/or substance abuse.

While there was some media present, there was not a lot of attention paid to The Voice Awards outside of those involved.  Maybe there should have been .

These awards recognize film and television projects that bring awareness and involve characters who realistically deal with mental health and substance abuse issues.

These awards also honor and celebrate " everyday" people who have successfully managed their illness and become advocates in order to educate people about mental health as well as provide support and inspiration to those who are struggling with the challenges of mental illness and substance abuse.

When I saw this gentleman on the red carpet, I wondered what he would say.

James Wolk, from "The Crazy Ones', co-starring with Robin Williams.

It turned out James Wolk was the emcee for the event and he kicked off the evening with a short tribute to Robin Williams, which was uplifting as opposed to melancholy.

I'm not often at a loss for words and I have found this post difficult to write. While this was such a fun event to attend with The Maven, the death of Robin Williams has made me feel awkward in order to express the proper balance of sadness for his loss of life, yet happiness because my daughter is spreading her wings and becoming part of a community that does so much good.

Troublemakers

Advocacy is the perfect fit for her and she loves to be able to make a difference in the lives of people who struggle with often misunderstood challenges. So my pride and sense of fun were present, as well as my appreciation for those honored. Many who I have seen either in film or on television.

I am going to just  show some of the pictures I took with small comments and not  concern myself with trying to express my feelings.

Mr. Tony Shaloub from 'Monk'
 getting miked by Pat O'Brien (did he used to be on Entertainment Tonight?)

Ray Ramone and Lauren Graham presenting an award to the producer of 'Parenthood', Jason Katims. Exciting for me because I love this show.

And just to prove it, I'm posting another picture of 'Jabar'!

'Bailey' from 'Grey's Anatomy', she accepted an award on the show's behalf.

No event is complete without a Baldwin Brother. Daniel? Stephen?

Special Recognition recipient, Kristen Johnston:

She gave a most honest and emotional speech. If you have every heard her in interviews, you will have an idea of her enthusiasm and sincerity.

Among the films honored were two particular favorites that The Maven and I saw this year:

A a few more independent films on our list:

Some other winners in the TV categories were:

Mike & Molly

Elementary

Mom

Nashville

Familiar names and faces help build awareness, but it is the ordinary. No, extraordinary people who fight everyday to overcome great obstacles and become productive members of our world who are also worthy of our admiration. And let us remember that you can seem to have everything in the world, but if you don't have your health, your happiness and support, you can lose it all in an instant.

Nanu. Nanu.

1951-2014

Much Better Days

What a difference a week makes.  This time last weekend this black and white was still not doing well.  I thought we were going to lose her, for sure. She started rallying about Tuesday and as of today, is back to her old, formerly-annoying-now-we-don't-mind-them, habits.  Poaching the cat food, endless asking to play fetch and not sleeping 24/7.  Yay!

It had to have been the presence of her two nurses last weekend that sparked this turnaround.

Yes, I know, they don't exactly look like a good 'ICU' care team, but surely they brought some feline healing vibes with them.

Meanwhile Sadie, who decided this month was a good time to get worms, went in for her second de-worming shot at the vet:

Wait....wha????

That's the oddest Boston I've ever seen!!

Pepper, the pig was in for a 7 month check up. 

This IS California, y'all.

Speaking of pigs....

We took in some Orange County Fair sights last night:

Pepper?

  Are you in there?

Some solid black and white representation here.

Ewe get it?

Get it?

Ewe?

You....

?

Not to mention some Bovine black and white cuteness:

Always looking for good ideas for my new hobby, succulents.

So... as Dexter advised Mr. T, earlier in the week.

"It's gonna be okay, man. Panda's got at least nine lives in her too."

Hope your days are going better too!

And special thanks to my bloggy friend,   Linda, at Itsy Bits and Pieces.           . 

We talked 'short-nosed dog' issues via email and FB in the last couple of weeks, just hearing her experiences with the lovely Bailey, helped us out a lot. 

Live long, and breathe easily.- The Boston Lady

The Week That Was

That used to be the name of a TV news show, I believe. It chronicled the eclectic events that made the week's news and helped us make sense of it. Sort of.

We've had a wild ride this week!

It started out innocently enough with a Sunday visit to the bestest Flea around:

Mr. Tennis and I met The Maven and Mrs. Smith-Smith in Pasadena for breakfast and flea-ing. Mrs. Smith-Smith (The Writer and Sammy and The Maven's (!) back door neighbor a good friend who helped in the Stanley rescue) was a newbie. I was in heaven as she wanted to explore all corners of this enormous market.

We all returned to our 'red-neck roots' and sported sunburns later in the day.

I also came home with a couple of treasures (Mr. Tennis doesn't consider them treasures, but one day maybe he'll understand this -used is better- philosophy of mine).

A couple of Jadeite pots for my little succulent collection.

And a rusty old light.  Everyone needs one of those, right?

What's not to understand? 

As the week progressed things started to take a strange and scary turn.  A trip to the vet was necessary for the Head Boston, Panda, in the household.  She was coughing, sneezing and seemed weak.

Upper respiratory infection was the diagnosis.  Made sense to me.

Sadie listened through the door as Panda received a couple of injections to help her fight the beast.

She was still breathing a little hard the next morning when I got up for my 6am class, and I prepared to give her the first at home dose of antibiotic and cough medicine. Put the pills in her food and was setting the bowl down when she did a strange cough, made an odd noise and then wolfed down the food in one enormous gulp instead of her usual bite-by-bite style of eating.

From there she went into some sort of a panic fit. Trotting around the house, circling back, going out into the side-yard, trotting back into the house, over and over again without stopping.  Panting, eyes bulging, totally manic.

I had to head in to teach the Japanese who were waiting online, so Mr. T came out to watch her and see if she would calm down. When I emerged from teaching they were both gone.

Long story short, Mr. T took her to the emergency vet because her breathing was getting worse and worse.  They immediately put her in an oxygen tent and said that if he hadn't brought her, she wouldn't have lasted but a few more minutes like that.

She was running a fever by now, extremely agitated and upset. She couldn't stand or walk. It wasn't looking good. They sedated her, got her somewhat stabilized and asked for permission to do x-rays and blood work. Also a neuro exam to determine if she'd lost her marbles because of the 'fugue' we described.  This would take several hours and they would call when they had some answers.  Mr. T went to work and I drove towards home.

We do strange things to distract ourselves when a crisis is looming and my way of coping was to stop at a huge Goodwill store that I had never seen before.  It was like walking into a department store!  Great organization and great inventory.

Ever the mindful blogger, I snapped a picture of a section full of old tarnished silver.

Beautiful! I'll be back.

We were hoping to be able to bring Panda home for the night and avoid those high emergency vet fees, so I was anxious on many levels and just headed home and for some reason took a long nap.

Vet called about 3pm and said that her blood work was fine, her xrays were unremarkable and the neuro check found her to be sound (well, at least one of us is...).  Her breathing was getting better, she was off oxygen and she was still sedated.  I could come and pick her up.

They released her into my custody with sedatives (for her, not me-I wish!) and instructions to keep her quiet, sedated and cool.  I felt like I was bringing home a ticking time bomb.

Right after coming home, here's 'The Queen', passed out with her woobies.

After a restless night of panting, being sedated, running a fever, making her drink water with a syringe and numerous trips to the side yard, 'just in case'. She woke up looking like this:

Normal! (yes, I know, there's nothing 'normal' about Panda) No panting, no bulging eyes, ate food in a normal fashion, drank from water bowl, good to go!

She was even able to jump up on 'her' bed (which she allows us on) and sleep the sleep of the contented (and drugged).

Twenty-four hours and not a trace of the manic, panting, collapsing canine we encountered the previous morning.

As I write this we have just returned from our first 'normal' walk and she seemed to pant less than she has in years!  We are mystified and our wallets are still spinning from money spent at the ERvet.

Twelve years old. 

The Old Grey Mare, she's just like she used to be - reborn and bounced back like a two-year-old.

Thank goodness.

Now excuse me while I go see if those sedatives will be safe for humans....

I Couldn't Be Happier for This Lady!

Not my best picture, but that's what happens when you rush into Barnes & Noble and storm the magazine rack. with your iPhone!

Turn right to page 90 and you will find a wonderful spread by our very own Linda, at Itsy Bits and Pieces!

I have been a loyal follower of her blog for a few years now and several times a year she treats her readers to some wonderful pictures and descriptions of a seasonal showcase home in her area.  You must visit her and look in her archives at her past coverage of "The Bachman Home" exhibitions.  Lots of great ideas and clever solutions.

Oh, and if you spy a copy of this charming magazine, at least page through it and take a look at the wonderful job Linda did spotlighting The Bachman House.  I can't think of a better pairing, Vintage Style and Linda at Itsy Bits....., one of my favorite bloggers who I also call a good friend.

Way to go Linda!!!

Happy 4th of July From a Late Bloomer

This post I did in July of 2010 has always been at the top of my most viewed posts (over 4,000 views!), a fact that I find kind of funny. I've kept it just as I originally wrote it, in my early blogging days, complete with a mistake pointed out to me in the comments at some point.

I thought my family might enjoy reading it again, and some of my blogging buddies too.

Do you ever get comments on old posts?  I do every so often.  Go check your stats and see how many views your posts receive.  What's you most popular one?



For the first 15 years of my life I never celebrated the 4th of July.  Isn't that strange?  I was born in Montreal, Canada and lived there for the first three years of my life.  My family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada where I lived for the next twelve years. (See?  That's me at about age 14, nothing says "cool" better than knee socks)

I was the only Canadian in my family.  My parents were both born in New Jersey.  My two older brothers were born in West Virginia.  My father's job took the family to Montreal, where I made my appearance.


We moved to Toronto in 1962 and that's where I spent my youth up until high school age.  When I started in elementary school ( public school as it was called in Canada) the Canadian flag looked like this:

We started the day reciting The Lord's Prayer and then singing "God Save the Queen" (which I still remember most of the words to!).  Then a change came about, not sure exactly when, but think it was about 1967. Our Centennial. Suddenly our flag changed, I always liked it:

And we sang "O Canada". But the Queen's pictured remained in the classroom.

My dad retired in 1974.  I remember watching Richard Nixon's resignation speech amongst boxes in our basement in Toronto.  We moved to Dunedin, Florida and my life changed drastically.

I was the new kid in school and even the newer kid in the high school marching band.  I had no idea what a marching band was, had no experience as my American counterparts did, so I was given a job in the colorguard.  Carrying the Canadian flag.  Oh my.  How funny.

Why the Canadian flag?  Well our high school was a bit different.  Dunedin's sister city was Sterling, Scotland and the high school reflected that relationship by having it's band dress as Highlanders.  Yes, we were the Dunedin Highlanders.  Kilts. A bagpipe section. For some reason the band director felt that along with the American flag and the Scottish flag, the Canadian flag should also be part of the colorguard, and who better to wield that flag than the "Canadian", even though I really wasn't since I was born to American parents.  A technicality.

I carried "my" flag with dignity and fear.  The colorguard was always at the front or back of the band doing pivots and marching in a straight line.  Except for me, the new girl.  I always seemed to get the flag blown in my face by the wind and would end up out of line during our march.  We were not allowed to turn our heads and see where we were or move the flag from our faces.  That's how I ended up doing a solo march with the Canadian flag at the Orange Bowl in Miami where we had been invited to perform at the half-time show of the game between The NY Jets and, of course, The Miami Dolphins. There were only about 80,000 people in attendance and then the national TV audience, so I don't think anyone really noticed.  Except for our especially crazed band director who yelled at me after the show.  Welcome to America. But I did get to see this guy up close:

But I have digressed.  It was in high school that I learned all the American "stuff".  The first few weeks were spent moving my lips and trying to memorize the Pledge of Allegiance.  During football games I learned the words to The Star Spangled Banner (as well as Scotland the Brave).  During History and Geography classes I finally learned the specifics about American History, state capitols, and how our government worked.  I also learned that I pronounced words funny and that erasers were to be referred to as such, not rubbers as I had grown up calling them.  You can imagine the embarrassment a shy 15 year old suffered with that gaffe! I switched the "re" around in the word "theatre" and stopped spelling "colour" with a "u".  I also was chided for pronouncing the word "again" improperly.  The "gain" part for me was pronounced just like the word "gain". Try it, you can hear the difference. The hardest thing to drop was the "eh?" at the end of every sentence.  That's right, we actually did say that, it wasn't a made up joke. And since I was living in the south I started saying "y'all" and dropping the "g"s from words like "goin'".

My parents loved to travel and I was lucky enough to spend my summers with them in various locales around the globe so I was not in the states for those first 4th of Julys.  But I distinctly remember the first time I puffed out my chest and felt proud to be an American on the 4th of July.  My parents let me invite a friend along on a trip to Spain and we were in a small seaside resort for July 4th , 1976.  Not many Americans around, but my friend and I made banners to hang on our apartment balcony and bought horns to blow.  I felt that I was an authentic American celebrating my country's bi-centennial and was so proud. Or were we just trying to impress the cute guys who had the apartment across the way? Perhaps.

My globe-trotting summers ended when I graduated from college, married Mr. Tennis and was employed.  It was then that the traditions of July 4th really started to sink in for me.  Picnics, fairs, crowds, fireworks, and lots of flags.  Of course I married into a military family and their pride in their country and our armed forces rubbed right off onto me. 

I'm glad my kids got to grow up with the wonderful traditions that come with living in this great country of ours.  I certainly don't regret my childhood in Canada.  It gave me a unique perspective and will always be a part of me. My parents also made sure I learned about the States when we lived in Canada.  We travelled a lot to visit relatives, went to Williamsburg and Washington DC, both which gave me great insight into how our country developed and thrived. My dad and I flew from Toronto to Los Angeles in his little plane and that allowed me to understand how vast this country is and how diverse it is from one region to another. I had that same feeling of awe while driving this summer with The Maven.  What a beautiful country we have and so many different and unique people and cultures that make us what we are. 

Although we still have problems in this country and everyone doesn't always agree or get along, I still feel that I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Happy 4th of July!