Indy Bound

Chris's first big out of town adventure without parents is quickly approaching. The Houston High Drumline leaves this Friday afternoon for regional competition in Indianapolis. I think the poor kid's a little nervous, but at least one of his room mates is a good friend and xBox buddy. They won't be back until midnight Sunday. I'll be anxious to see how this goes because he has an overnighter in Nashville at the end of March, three nights in Dayton, Ohio in early April, and the marching band has three or four nights in Orlando in mid April before the music year winds down. There's a concert band performance in early May, but that's fairly low impact compared to drumline and marching band.

Samantha's looking forward to her brother's trip. Yeah, they still fight more than I'd like to see, but everyone tells me that's normal given how close in age they are. Anyway, Sam has a school dance on Friday night (woohoo, Wayne and I get a DATE NIGHT!!!!!), and then on Saturday we're going dress shopping for the MOVERS formal evening etiquette (four course meal and a concert) class, the 8th grade formal dance, and graduation. Should be fun.

Finally, I have a confession to make. I'm really, REALLY missing Kokomo. I always considered myself a cat person while Wayne considered himself a dog person. As luck would have it, Pixel the cat chose Wayne as her person, and Kokomo the golden retriever chose me as her person. Pixel made Wayne a cat person too, and Kokomo made me more of a dog person than I was before. When I was growing up we had an awesome black lab circus puppy (really, she was from a Circus-Circus showdog's litter) named Sandy who got me halfway there, but Kokomo with her sweet disposition, big doggie smiles, and cool treat-catching trick pushed me over the edge. While not having a dog gives us more freedom and mobility, I still miss her. A lot.

Tupelo Drumline Video

It was about time I posted something a bit more upbeat. This was the first time the drumline performed with their snazzy new uniforms. Next Friday it's off to Indianapolis for regionals.

In Loving Memory of Kokomo...

I've been posting this headline entirely too much lately. It saddens me to report that we had to let Kokomo go today. After many ups and downs and a week and a half in the animal hospital, this afternoon we found her suffering for the first time. It was as if she had given up what fight she had left in her. Her eyes looked horrible, and she couldn't even turn to us when we called her name.

It was with heavy hearts that we helped her cross the Rainbow Bridge. Kokomo is no longer sick or in pain, but our house--and our hearts--are definitely emptier without her.

Written by Sam-Sam

Hey, all! It’s Sam.

A couple weeks ago, on my way back to class from band, I was pulled into the guidance counselor’s office by Mrs. Bryant. When we sat down, she immediately jumped into business, asking me what I would think of being in a program for eighth graders from all three of the middle schools in Germantown (Houston Middle, Riverdale, and Germantown Middle). I told her that I was absolutely interested, at which point I was asked if I had anyone I felt would enjoy the MOVERS program. After a few minutes of thinking, I decided that my friend John William Selberg would like it the most of all of my friends, and he also joined the program.

Last week, on Wednesday, February the 13th, the MOVERS introductory meeting was held in the Great Hall of the Germantown Athletic Center. Mom, Dad, and I all went, anxious to learn more about what I would be doing for the seven gatherings between Saturday and May 8th, when we have our graduation.

Saturday, we went to Parkwood Behavioral Health Hospital in Olive Branch, Mississippi to partake in a ropes course. After playing a few games (Name Game; Blob Tag; Giants, Wizards, and Elves; and Knotted Circle), we moved from a field to the woods. After going over safety rules, we began trying to make our way along the Mohawk Rope, which was a series of several 1-inch wires attached to trees about one foot off the ground. We tried several different strategies for an hour, but still had no luck getting across the wire. Finally, one girl made it far enough to where she could reach the long rope tethered to a tree to sections away from the first one. When that got around, two guys (Ryan and Josh) started holding the rope to help other people balance as they went across the wire. It took about forty minutes more until everyone made it to the next section, but after that, we were moving fairly quickly through the other three sections. By that time, it was noon, so we went into the hospital to have sub sandwiches for lunch.

At about 12:30, lunch was finished. We made our way back to the woods, leaving our cell phones in a box in a locked shed. This time, we were further into the woods, and when we looked up between three trees, there were a total of four wires just like the ones we had been on an hour before. Two of them had pulley-like circles up about six or seven feet above their respective lower ropes. Justin, our Aussie instructor (with a really hot accent ;-) ) tied thick, brightly colored ropes onto the threads that were hanging from the pulleys until the ropes were fully through to where they could be attached to harnesses. Then, he set his assistant up, tying her harness to a tree, because she was the other “belayer”. After three other teams had gone, it was time for my partner Malaysia and I to go up. Malaysia got to the top of the ladder, but decided it was too high for her taste, and scurried back down the ladder, happy to be back on solid ground. Another girl took her place, so I could still go up. About five minutes later, I was making my way fifteen feet up the tree to where the 1-inch wire was waiting for me to climb aboard. And within seconds, I was standing straight and tall on the wire, holding on to a staple in the tree and my partner’s hand. We slowly started moving away from the tree, but had to go back about two or three times, because I was shaking. Then, on our last try, we made it half way across the lines, and we could hardly hold hands and lean in towards each other any more because we both had short arms, and the V in the wires were spreading farther than we could reach. After standing still like that for a couple seconds, Mr. George, one of the sponsors, called up, “Sam, look at how far you’ve gone! You’re doing great!” And that, of course, caused me to look back at the other tree, that I was now almost ten feet away from, and I let out one of my earsplitting screams. I started shaking even more, and I told my partner that my feet were slipping. And with that, we let go of each other, and she was halfway to the ground before I would let go of the wire I had grabbed onto after slipping. I think that part of why she was so good at it, was because she had been part of the first group to go up, so she’d had the experience. But, finally, after hanging there for a few seconds, I let go, falling gently down the fifteen feet from the treetops.

This ropes course was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and though I was scared nearly to death, I would absolutely do it all again. Because of this MOVERS program, I have made several new friends, and plan on making even more over the next few months.

Anyways, I’ll talk to y’all later!

~Sam

Sam the MOVER

In all the dog drama, a very important event--or shall I say achievement?--got overlooked. Each year, the city of Germantown selects 24 8th grade students from area middle schools to take part in the MOVERS program, a program designed to take current 8th grade leaders and foster their development as leaders in the next phase of their life.

The program includes many exciting events like a four-course fancy meal followed by a concert at Germantown Centre to teach fine dining and concert ettiquette; full high school tours by the principal; behind the scenes looks at area hospitals, the police station, etc.; and a ropes course to build teamwork and risk taking.

They treat the kids SO well, and it really is an amazing opportunity. Samantha has asked to write a guest blog about her MOVERS experience so far, so that will be posted soon.

Dog Days

Lots of backstory here. A couple of days ago, when I asked the vet once again if there was any chance Kokomo had an ear infection, low and behold, he found one. He flushed her ears and started her on medicine. Full of hope, I expected our next visit to be a good one, but she wasn't having a good day at all. It appeared that alot of the vestibular symptoms (eye movements, the way she held her neck, etc.) were back. There's a chance the ear cleaning could have triggered it, but we'll know more on Monday. Also, Leigh Anne (her "nurse") noticed a bump on Kokomo's stomach. The doctor came in and said it was a mammary tumor. I'm not nearly as optimistic as I was earlier, but as the doctor pointed out, Kokomo hasn't been "normal" through any of this, so who knows. She's still very alert and gobbles up treats, but sometimes misses them because of the balance issues. She IS getting upset when people try to brush her hindquarters, so that's good.

She's definitely enjoying all the attention. In the picture above, Wayne gives her a rubdown in her room at the animal hospital.

I've given Leigh Anne my cell number and asked that she call over the weekend if she sees anything good or bad. I told her my priority was not letting Kokomo suffer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Oh, and to make a lovely day even lovelier, the water heater to all our bathrooms died. On a Friday of course. Sigh. I was taking the water heater's demise as a sign Koko would be much better today, not worse...

Kokomo Update

I couldn't resist posting this baby picture of Kokomo. What a cutie!

On Saturday, we went to visit Koko at the animal hospital. The vet, Dr. Johnson, was optimistic about her recovery. It appears she has something called vestibular disease, something that affects her balance horribly, but that has a good recovery rate.

I have to say Kokomo appeared to be in miserable shape when we saw her. She couldn't get up to greet us, and her neck was still radically turned to the side as if she were trying to look upside down. But the instant we talked to her and touched her...the most enormous doggie smile we've ever seen appeared on her face. The doctor assured us that she isn't in any pain, mostly just disoriented and possibly a little nauseous. And she was able to walk outside briefly that morning when they took her out to do her business. Looking at her, it's hard to believe she'll ever get her life back, but he seems pretty sure of it. I call this morning for another update. I'll keep you posted!

Black Clouds

You ever have one of those times in life where things seems to keep going wrong? While I can't say "everything" has gone wrong, a lot of important things have. Yesterday, Kokomo, our almost-nine-year-old golden retriever suffered what appeared to be a stroke. He head was tilted, she couldn't stay on her feet, and she flailed her limbs in an attempted to stand up.

Mercifully, the kids had gotten home from school, but Wayne was in the middle of a MAJOR work meeting with a potentially huge client. There was no way I could call him, but I knew I had to act fast. Sam ran around to our neighbors at breakneck speed to find help in getting Kokomo to the vet. The lady with the kids Sam babysits was heading down the street to us when the lady across the street who rescues dogs bundled up her granddaughter, backed her SUV up to our yard, and removed the back end's contents to our yard so there was room for Kokomo.

We couldn't lift the 85-plus pound dog, so Linda whistled for some guys who were working on a yard down the way to give us an assist. We finally got to the vet, a man we all trust implicitly. The technician came out to carry Koko in--to the room we had let Pixel go in exactly two weeks before. Turns out there are two things that could cause Kokomo's immobility, so they're keeping her in a padded kennel for observation. I call for an update later this morning. But I swear, this whole animal thing really gets me down. Their adoption days are some of my happiest memories, and then there's this. Sickness and potentially heart-breaking decisions to be made. Again.

We Dodged a Bullet...

As you've probably already heard by now, several tornados ripped through Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, including one a few short blocks from us that mercifully stayed in the air. The schools had the presence of mind to cancel the kids' activities that afternoon when the National Weather Service put us in a rare HIGH risk for severe weather. It was 80 degrees and sunny in February, so everyone knew something bad was going to go down.

A mall near our Sam's Club was hit hard, and Memphis International Airport closed for a short time and whisked passengers into safe rooms as the weather passed. Reports are still coming in, but more than two dozen people have died in Tennessee alone.

The kids were pretty scared after what happened in the Parker tornado back in '04. They put the cats in lockdown in a lower level hall bath, put the dog in an interior hallway with all the doors shut, and put themselves in a closet under the stairs. It was pretty hairy for a good while.

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that we were okay.