Training Update for Bill

Week two and so far so good. He should have that fourth stripe and his scrambled eggs before we all know it! Don't ask! But it's a good thing. :)
More to come.

Another Success!

This is Patrick. Another one of my rescues that has been living with my my volunteer foster mom, Terri for about 6 weeks now or so. Tonight, he went to his new family who I am so thrilled about. A mom and daughter who live together out on the beach. They love Patrick and I am confident they will give him a GREAT home. Terri cried when he left and ofcourse that made me cry. Bitter sweet. Terri has grown very attached to him, but she was glad to see that his new family are so sweet and accepting of Patrick.

How could you not just love that sweet little face!


Patrick with his new mom.
Patrick with his new sister.
Patrick leaving with his new family. Bye Patrick! We will miss you. We hope to see you again one of these days! :)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Yes, We are one of those that can't wait to put up their Christmas tree. Actually, it's mostly me that can't wait. Bill would have probably done it next week if it were up to him. We have bought our Christmas tree from Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Corwin since we moved here in 2005. Fellow Michiganders to Bill. Very sweet (hard working) older couple. We learned something new about them today. They raise reindeer! His male is worth about $ 10,000 and his female about $3,500. They currently have 10! Cool huh?


Once we got to the tree lot, it took us about thirty minutes to pick out the "one". For some reason, it's like picking out the next member of your family (if we ever actually do that). In a sense, it will be a member of our family for the next month huh? I do have to water the dang thing right? :) We didn't name him at first, but I have since decided to call him "tree". Fitting isn't it??
When we found "tree" Ernie the tree man was busy helping another customer. I asked Bill if he would guard "tree" so no one else would claim him. Here is Bill "guarding" Tree! :)
And me, petting "Tree". Hello "Tree"! Tree is now fully decorated in his new home. I should have posted a pic of him all done up. I will get one up soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of friends and family who keep up with our Blog, we would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I heard on the "Today Show" that the average american will consume 5000 calories tomorrow,,,, I thought I was going to vomitwhen I heard that. That's so sick. I also saw Paula Deen FRY cranberry sauce yesterday and that was equally disgusting...... so with that,,,, happy eating and what every you do,,, don't vomit! :) (from over eating that is). Love- Jo &Bill

Reality Check

Well, Bill left for Captain training today. It did not dawn on me that his days of flying as a First Officer are officially over until I saw the above image. I came home from work, walked into one of our guest rooms that Bill uses as his office and I saw his FO cap with his wings and epaullettes sitting there. To me, it looked very strange becuase he flew his last trip as an FO last week and I didnt realize it until now. A part of me felt sad, I'm not real sure why becuase this upgrade will be a very good thing for both of us. So now, it's back to training which will last 6 weeks or so. Then sitting reserve in Atlanta living at the grace of crew scheduling (the pilots call them "screw" scheduling cause,, well you get the picture) and working his way back up the seniority ladder. A long yet rewarding process this has been for Bill. I'm so proud of him and for those of you that know us well, know that this has been a LONG time coming for him. We are not real sure what his schedule will be like for the next couple of weeks, but for now it is Monday thru Friday in class, which means we will have saturdays together for now cause he will have to leave on Sunday afternoons to make sure he gets there in time. I miss him already, but I am also very excited for him!

Crazy Lucy!

Either she HATES being short, or she wanted to get a rise out of Bill and I. She has been getting up on this table lately and she KNOWS she is not supposed to be up there. I am afraid she is going to jump off and get hurt. I could not help but get a couple of pics cause it was just too funny!! :) Dont her front two feet in the first pic make her look like a seal? haha!!!

Update on Baxter

For the latest update on Baxter, please visit Jen and Brandon's blog. THere is a link from our blog listed over to the left under "frineds".

Update on Baxter

I just got off the phone with Jen and they are optimistic that Baxter might get to come home Monday or so. The attending physician (after her examination) did say that Baxter is not paralized. THANK GOODNESS! He is however, having trouble even standing on his own, and this is probably due to some swelling in the brain along with a herniated disc? He may still need surgery and that is what Jen and Brandon are waiting on now. He is in an MRI now, and will find out something as soon as he gets out of his MRI. If it is determined that no surgery is needed, Baxter will be sent home with a sling to help him get back on track as his leags learn to walk again. He will probably need help going to the bathroom and the sling will help with that. I am so happy with this news and we will all remain hopeful that Baxter can return home happy and healthy.
More to come.

Jennifer and Brandon need your prayers!

I am posting this post on behalf of Jennifer and Brandon. Today started out as a beautiful day. Brandon got in last night from Birmingham. We all had plans to take our dogs to an event that Jennifer's work is sponsoring called "Barking by the Bay". An annual event put on by the Bay County Humane Society. Long jump contest, frisbee throwing, vendors, food, etc! When we got there we were walking around, enjoying the events and later on Brandon decided to throw the frisbee with Baxter. Baxter collided with another dog and he yelped REALLY loud and immediately fell down or just layed down on his side. We all knew he was hurt, we just didnt know the extent of his injury. I ran to get Jen and Brandon's truck. I drove it across the lawn so the guys could load Baxter in the back. We got him to a local vet in town and Dr. Laroux examined him and decided pretty quickly that he needed to go to University of FLorida Vet Hospital or Auburn University. She was guessing a head/neck or spinal injury. She did some routine tests,, poking, prying, pulling type of thing and said she couldnt really do much more there. She did give him a fast acting aniti-inflamatory injection, but right now Jen and Brandon are driving Baxter to Gainsville to the Univerysity of FLorida Veterinary Hospital. Jen are Brandon are okay, but they sure could use some crossed fingers and lots of prayers. Baxter is sleeping and Brandon is in the back laying right beside him. Baxter is not in pain, but he is unable to move his hind legs. I, myself, believe in miracles and I KNOW that there are angels in that vehicle with them! Please pray and keep them in your thoughts,, those you that know Jen and B, know how much they love Baxter and Dougan! This has been very tough for both of them. We LOVE you Baxter, and we need you to hurry home!

Halloween Pics

I'm trying to convince Jen that this hair color looked really good on her... I call it the "skunk"look,,, I wonder if we can find anyone here in PC to actually do this for her? :)
So,,, what do you all think of my pumpkin? Yes! I carved this all by my little self and I have to say,, I was a little impressed! It took a long time, but it was pretty easy.
How about this little cutie? I have no idea who she is, she was just one of the trick or treaters that showed up at our house....... I asked her mom if I could take her picture. :)