Calgon, take me away!

when my kids were small i contemplated how my life would change when they grew up and moved out and on.

i could take a bath with no one banging on the door needing to use the bathroom. we only had one bathroom for about a third of their lives - it just seemed like an eternity.

i could take a bath with no one banging on the door demanding the whereabouts of his/her favorite toy. scary thing is i usually knew the answer.

i could take a bath with no one calling from 911 asking if our house was really on fire and should they send help. that one was exciting - but i'm really glad they called first.

i could eat hot foods hot and cold foods cold. actually, i kinda like everything room temperature these days.

i could drink my drink without sharing it and getting those "floaters" that magically appeared. now i have four legged beasts that will lap up anything in a cup without the benefit of "the magic word."

i could watch TV that was geared towards minds that dealt with mortgages, grocery lists, and budgets that didn't budget. in other words - NO PUPPETS!

i could actually find a pen, a stapler, my keys, the bottle of crazy glue, and BOTH of any pair of my shoes without holding The Inquisition.

i could plan a week's menu that didn't include macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese toasties, or string cheese. the latter which was invented by a desperate soccer mom who was hungry from all that car-pooling and tired of eating little graham crackers shaped like cuddly teddy bears.

all that contemplation got me nowhere. . .

i used to think my bath time was too short unless i started to wrinkle. but at my age, well, let's just say i don't need any help in the wrinkle department.

i used to think food served at the perfect temperature ensured perfect enjoyment and a drink without floaters would be heaven. not so much. . .

i used to think TV could stimulate my intellect - well, yeah, no. . . yeah, i'm pretty sure, no. . .

i used to think the kids were the reason i couldn't find anything around the house. hmm, still looking for one of my boots. . .

i used to think menu planning was mindless. i realize i just eat yogurt for breakfast and lunch only having to worry about what's for dinner these days.

now i know that i sorta miss some of the above mentioned schtuff and am looking forward to another generation of Corlew's running around wrecking havoc and fun and leaving handprints and hugs every time they leave the room. . .just not anytime real soon.

silence may not be golden but it is quiet

the last two weeks have been quiet.

internet and networking issues have been plaguing our home. (we will be switching internet and phone and tv provider next month. . . there were so many people jumping ship that the install dates are 5 weeks out. so the next 4 weeks will be interesting fighting to get and maintain a connection. . . i think i will be spending a lot of time at the library.)

and i dropped my cell phone in a cup of coffee. . . yeah, i know. . . i was on a land line and my cell rang so i picked it up to see who it was, looked, and then dropped it my into my cup o' java while attempting to answer a caller's question, grab a copy off the printer and place my cell back on my desk. . .

note - out of desperation, i got on youtube and followed somebody's directions on how to "save" a submerged cell . . . my cell works. . . kinda. . .

so, the last two weeks have been very quiet.
and the weird part is. . . after the first week of panic, nausea, frustration, and incessant talking to myself - i was ok with it being so quiet.
i wasn't lonely.
i wasn't frazzled.
i wasn't grumpy.

i think i might have been suffering from a case of a severe, self-imposed "online-itis." you know, the disease where you try to stay connected with at least 97.3% of the people who facebook, email, and text message you while attempting to stay well-read on today's current events, world-wide current events. . . AND live your life in the face-to-face world of family, work, friends, and more work. . .

i think i'll pencil in a couple of weeks for an off-line vacation come August. . .

I Love Jesus but I Drink A Little - the song

i hate country music - but i think this was a product of divine inspiration. . .
i wonder if if we can sing this at church. . .

Ellen DeGeneres ~ I Love Jesus But I Drink A Little (HQ)

ok, i know it's a little long - but i had to post this. . .

T-Rex Milk Commercial

and Stanley brings us Roger

yesterday I posted about how Stanley, our lab/english setter came to help us out. today i need to tell you how Roger, our boston terrier came to help Stanley. . . and us too.

after Lacey completed high school by correspondence, tutoring, and internet class, she wanted/needed to try college. POTS was still in the picture but she had at least come to a point where she knew her boundaries (most of the time) and knew what to expect when she went outside those boundaries. (those boundaries included things like drinking enough liquids, keeping up a high salt intake, not getting overheated, making sure she got enough sleep, resting when needed.)

so Lacey signed up for some classes at our local jr. college and away she went. and Stanley, who had been with Lacey 24/7 for almost 3 years lost it. he suffered huge with separation anxiety. Dave took him to the vet and got a clean bill of physical health but Stanley was obviously not doing well. i talked to our vet's office and they suggested doggie prozac or a companion pet. well, that was not much of a choice for me. . . i'd take two dogs over one dog on medication any day. and this was Stanley we were talking about - our personal miracle worker in fur. we owed him.
so i talked with Dave. he was i think, hoping that Stanley would snap out of it and we wouldn't have to make a choice. . . but Stanley was not snapping anything. . .

in passing, we heard through the grapevine that a litter of pups had been born to Abby and Duke, Stanley's friends from where we used to live. Stanley had many romps with Duke, who lived next door and a very unfortunate one with Abby when she was puppy - she fractured a bone in her leg and had to wear a little doggie cast. Stanley did feel bad about that when we told him.

Dave said something like if we were to get another dog, a pup from them would be his choice.

i took that as a green light and called the owners only to find that no puppies were available - they were all spoken for. Ok, so much for that. so i talked to Dave about the disappointing news. Looking back, he did not seem as disappointed as i was. and he was not interested in looking for a second dog at the local shelter.

two weeks later the owners called and said a pup was now available and asked if we would want him. WOULD WE WANT HIM?????? are you kidding???? of course, we would - using the all inclusive "we." Karen did not tell Dave because she wanted to surprize him.

Her thinking. . . God's divine will. . . how could Dave argue with Him?

so two weeks later the puppy was picked up and brought to his new home. . . and we all lived happily ever after.

not quite.

Dave was not pleased and was pretty sure Karen's will got in the way of God's - Karen was not happy and did not agree with Dave's assessment of the will of God. but the puppy was adorable AND housebroken and within a couple of days there a was a noticeable improvement in Stanley.
so Roger became a Corlew dog and helped Stanley, the other Corlew dog through his separation anxiety.

so when people ask us about our dogs - we tell them Stanley is Lacey's dog and Roger is Stanley's.

POTS brings us Stanley

i have written about POTS before - twice actually. i wrote about the difficulty of living with POTS and about the whole gift of unanswered prayer that i got to unwrap.

but i didn't write to you about Stanley and how he came to rescue the Corlews. . .

it was before we had THE diagnosis - it was during the hard, dark time when we knew something was wrong but the medical community was convinced that this was depression. and yes, i would agree that there was depression - lacey depressed because of the never-ending-wicked headache and fatigue and light-headedness and loss of mobility and friends - dave and i worn out and down by the brick wall we kept running into - her siblings bewildered and tired of Lacey's illness being the focus of our family.

after a particularly depressing doctor appointment, i recieved a call from an affliate therapist who asked about Lacey and wondered if we had considered pet therapy. i assured him we had pets- a very fine feline by the name of Nelson and a tiny, tiny kitten name Lovey . "No, Mrs. Corlew - I mean a responsive pet, like a dog." we spoke for a few more minutes and then signed off. we never spoke again, i never got the chance to say "thank you."

we had given up our yellow lab the year before. Thor was Dave's dog, the son of two great hunting dogs. because Dave was not able to devote as much time to training Thor and hunting, the dog became a confused house dog. so Dave trained Thor to sit and stay and come and lay down. Thor did well with Dave but not so good with the rest of us (Becky has a good story about running around our neighborhood in her pj's trying to get Thor back home). we had bought a home in the country but on a busy road and knew that one distracted dog and one busy highway were not a good combination. Thor went to live with good friends with a fenced-in backyard and Dave decreed "no more dogs."

at our house, when Dave "decreeds" something, we all know not to mess with it. . . until we have to. i knew that discussion and manipulation were not options so i prayed. i remember laying in bed that night telling God that although i knew, i just knew a dog would help Lacey - there was nothing to be done unless HE chose to intervene.

the short story is that one of my co-workers came to me the very next day inquiring after Lacey's progress and wondering if we had considered therapy in the form of a puppy because his parent's dog had gotten in the family way and they would love to help us and give Lacey a puppy. (yep, i'm aware that that was one long, honkin' run-on sentence - i'm ok with that - try reading it out loud without taking a breath - that's exactly what the whole experience felt like)

wow! God had spoken and provided. . . how could Dave argue with Him???

Dave, Lacey, and I found ourselves on the other side of the cheddar curtain in Kenosha, meeting the mama dog, the papa dog, and all the pups. all Lacey can remember is sitting down on the floor and then Stanley was in her arms.

the owners gave us a dish towel to wrap him in for the ride home - we hadn't come prepared because Dave said we were just going to "look" at the pups. Dave was strangely quiet on the ride home. i didn't bother to inquire. . . this was between him and God.

Stanley did not cure Lacey but he did rescue us. he gave us a new focus, a reason to laugh and helped Lacey by needing to go out and be fed and be loved and love her back. he earned his place with the man of the house with his loyalty to Lacey, his gift of alerting us when she needed something, his ability to do something totally off the wall when the family's stress level got too high (yes, he opened the delivery box and ate the whole left-over pizza in the 27 seconds it took us to walk our guests to door and say good-bye - he did that all without the benefit of thumbs, we were mad but impressed).

Stanley was Lacey's best friend and smart enough to choose Dave as his next best friend. Dave accepted.

i believe in the difference a pet can make in lives of people struggling with illness.

i believe in a God who cares enough to send a puppy to a sick little girl and changes her father's mind.