Sad News about Shrek

Just to be clear... he is not about to die. The title sounds rather dramatic. Still, we did receive some terrible news. Shrek was just diagnosed with Cushing's Disease, an illness that is sadly common in older dogs and not curable. He has a tumor pushing on his pituitary gland in his brain that is causing his body to release too much cortisol, or stress hormone. This means our poor doggie is super-stressed out ALL the time, as if a toddler messing with him and a move was not stressful enough on him. The vet described it as that feeling you have the next day after you pull an all-nighter, and poor Shrek always feels like that.

We have him on chemotherapy in pill form, which he will remain on the rest of his life. This type of doggie chemo does not have the same side effects human chemo has, but the vet said it might change his temperment once it starts working. As long as he is alive and happy I would do anything for him! Shrek is approximately 10 years old and still quite able to get around so we hope he still has many years left in him. Plus, he is Leila's doggie "best friend" and quite an important part of our family.

Rodeo Girl

We love the Rodeo. We made it out there 3 times this year, which is a lot with a toddler! The Livestock Show and Carnival are very well-run and Leila had a blast. Her favorite thing? Was it the Ferris Wheel? NO. The Super-Slide? NO. Pony ride? NO. It was... The goats. That's right. Regular old goats in the petting zoo, which was FREE. In fact, we like to talk about what she dreams about, and one of those things was goats. Don't ask me, I don't get it either!!! I think it is cute though!!

The McKinney's were kind enough to meet us up at the Rodeo a couple of times to spend time with us. Mary joined me in one of my favorite parts of the rodeo-- Fried Anything! For those of you not familiar with Texas, one of the great gastronomic delights in our state are fried or specially crafted foods made just for the State Fair and the Rodeo. This year, we tried Fried Key Lime Pie and Fried Smores. I passed on Chicken Fried Meatballs, Chocolate dipped Pickles, and Jalapeno Lemonade.

Leila and her Mimi and Dude outside of the Boardroom--VIP at 2 years old

At her school Rodeo pushing fake cow patties with a noodle--haha someone at that school is very creative!!

She loved the Pony Ride and did not need Mom this year to walk her, she did it all by herself
Look at that huge smile while feeding the goats!

The 3 of us enjoying the Carnival together

Hanging out with Tim McGraw

I figure if I am going to finally do a post, it had better be a good one.... so here it is. Last night Patrick and I went to our only Rodeo show (unlike pre-kid days, where we would hit 3 or 4) and we saw Tim McGraw perform. AND met him in person. That's right, check it out below. Patrick, Laurie & Tim... who is smaller than Patrick, as you can see. He was really nice and we chatted about his show before it began. I thought the show was terrific, the reviewer for the Chronicle is obviously not a fan. Tim was my first country cd I ever owned, my dad gave it to me for my 16th birthday.

I will try to do a whole Rodeo post on Leila later. Til then, this will have to do. Pretty cute, huh?? This was at her school Rodeo.