The icky side of rescue.

I do not regret helping rescue dogs. Not one bit.

But it does get complicated sometimes.

Dustin went to his forever home late last week. Then this week, he went for a thorough checkup at his forever veterinarian's office. And he tested positive for heartworms.

Poor little sweetie boy.

That's not all that's wrong -- the vet also confirmed our suspicion that he has some kind of hip injury, and there are a couple of other things that may need attention, too. But right now, the priority is the heartworm treatment.

After I incurred some surprise veterinary expenses caring for him, a rescue coordinator recommended that I set up a ChipIn fund for Dustin. I'm not worried about recovering any of my investment, which is why I never publicized it here. My big concern is with helping him get healthy from this point forward. So I raised the target amount on the account. I know that a number of people were rooting for him to be rescued, and I'm putting this out there on the chance that they will still want to help.

Dusty, in his new backyard

Day off, but day on, too.

I took a day off work today, but I'm dressed as if I hadn't.

In less than an hour, Mid-Life Rookie is picking me up and we will make the drive to the retreat center where representatives from the Board of Ordained Ministry are conducting interviews. Her round begins at 1:30 and continues until 4:30. I'm her support person: prayer, logistics, whatever she needs of me. I'm honored to be called upon for this role, and I pray that I truly am a source of support today.

We will know before we come back home this evening whether she will be recommended for ordination in June. Prayers appreciated!

Another home found

Here's Dustin on Friday night, just before we sent him off to his new home:


He's much healthier than he was when he arrived here. I wouldn't be surprised if some other issues crop up, and his adoptive mom wouldn't be surprised either, but it's a risk she's willing to take.

After we let him out of quarantine, his love of snuggling became quite apparent:


I, for one, was glad to get him out of here, because it seemed like he had imprinted on me. ("Well, you saved his life, and you nursed him back to health," says The Alpha.) Having a dog who isn't yours follow you around like you belong to him can be a little uncomfortable, especially when you are certain that yours is a two-dog household, and both positions are already filled.

So it was especially nice that when Cherrie arrived to take him to his new home, he seemed to understand that he was going with her, and there was no sign of separation anxiety. It's also good to know that I remain his Fairy Dogmother and will get to see him from time to time. He readily settled into his new digs, and was having fun with his new Jack Russell Terrier brother -- a dog who didn't have the best start in life and who seems permanently scarred by it. He won't play with my dogs, but he will play with Dustin. Their pre-adoption get-acquainted session was the first time she had seen him act like a "normal" dog. There's hope for him yet. (Maybe he just needed an Assistance Dog of his own!)

Fostering certainly isn't all smiles and tail-wagging. I'm still not sure how much longer I can take the risk of exposing our dogs to the illnesses and afflictions that foster dogs may bring with them. It helps that we commit to keeping our dogs fully vaccinated and on preventives, and that we are willing to limit contact between our dogs and fosters, but we still have to watch them for symptoms of stuff they might catch.

And when you know you've saved one life and improved another, it does feel good.

It was bound to happen eventually.

This is Dustin. As you can tell, he arrived during the Big Texas Snow of '10.

Dustin is yet another foster dog. He's not staying forever. But he's different -- he's the first foster dog who has arrived here sick.

He's currently quarantined in the empty bedroom. He's on a few medications, including antibiotics -- which, strangely, they didn't give him on the first trip to the vet. (WTF? I told you I have other dogs here and I'm worried that whatever it is could spread to them.... my fault, I guess, for assuming the prescription drug you gave him was indeed an antibiotic, but still, if you'd paid closer attention, especially when I called back to say he wasn't improving, I wouldn't have had to take him to the emergency clinic last night.)

So, for the people who pray for dogs: Please keep Dustin in your prayers.

* * * * *
Assorted other stuff:

- Yes, we had a lot of snow here. It was gorgeous. I took pictures. May post some eventually. People in Texas never get to make snow sculptures, but snow-families of five, snow dogs, snow bunnies, and snow forts started turning up in our neighbors' yards. I took some video of the dogs out in it, but they didn't go full-on Snow Poppy like a certain someone used to do when there was as little as half an inch on the ground.

- Heard about a new project involving 2/3 of my favorite trio of musicians. I pre-ordered the CD and have claimed my four free downloads.

- Had a lovely candlelight dinner at home with my sweetie tonight. We don't go in for all the Valentine hype. This morning, while we were shopping for the dinner ingredients, we walked by the greeting card aisle. "Crap, was I supposed to get you a card?" I said in the most romantic way possible. "Uh, I didn't get you one," he answered. My response: "Oh, good, we're fine, then." And that was the end of that subject. One of many reasons we make such a great couple.

Melancholy

It's chilly and rainy here. I've been fighting off a nasty cold, and I had to relent and get some antibiotic assistance today.

In a little more than an hour, we say farewell to he who has become known as Little Bittle (pronounced lid'l bid'l).

He's only a 20-pounder, which is tiny around our house. He's been at this particular stop on the Underdog Railroad since Thursday, and tonight we're taking him to the one who will transport him to points further east. He's about four years old and will make a very good companion for someone... who I hope finds him through the rescue group soon.

Saying goodbye to Little Bittle will be bittersweet, but not that bad, all around. While I'm doing it, I'll be thinking of friend and fellow RevGal Sue, who will be letting go of her beloved cat Ouzo tomorrow. They've done everything they could for that sweet kitty boy, including this last thing that will bring him peace. But this last thing is so, so difficult, even if it is the most loving and compassionate act possible. Please be in prayer for them.

Grand... 6 grand, actually...

Photo snapped during the audience participation portion of Black Water

Well, we did indeed have a grand time last night, and we raised more than $6,100 for UMCOR's Haiti Emergency Fund. (That total would've been just over $3,000, which would be nothing to sneeze at, but at some point before the Finance Committee chair finished counting the money, an anonymous donor let him know that whatever the total, this person would match it. Awesome.) That doesn't count other gifts that were added to the offering plate in worship this morning, and still others that were designated for the same cause the previous two Sundays.

As far as the performance itself goes, if we can just make the time to go out on tour, doing the same two song sets every night for the next six months, we'll have this thing down.... (Oh, wait. That's one of many reasons I'm not a rock star.) Seriously, things did go pretty well from a musical standpoint. And it was good to see different people in the crowd, too -- not just folks from our congregation. We weren't quite at standing-room-only, but I don't think I've seen the sanctuary that full since Easter.

Twenty-one songs is a lot of work, especially when you begin by whittling the list down from 40, finding mistakes in every chord sheet, enduring waves of panic when you're certain you'll never have it ready on time, deciding exactly how to play every intro, bridge, chorus, etc. ... But I think this is the point, at least for some of us, when the pendulum swings from "This is too much trouble. Let's never do one of these again..." all the way over to, "Hey, what's our next set list going to look like?"

There's no telling when we'll actually do another concert, but I confess, I like it when the pendulum has swung over to this side.

Friday Five: Social Media

Over at RevGalBlogPals, KathrynZJ writes: I had the joy of spending time with Songbird last weekend, someone I would have never met had it not been for the blogosphere. Now we keep in touch using a large variety of methods: blog (hers a lot, mine not so much lately), facebook, twitter, text messaging, chat and email. So far there has been no skype.

It got me to thinking of the pros and cons of these relatively new means of communication and interconnecting and so I ask you the following:

1) What have been the benefits for you of social networking (blog, twitter, facebook, etc...) Too many to list here. Personal benefits have been great, but it helps me in my spiritual life and my work, too. I'm part of a connectional denomination, and I believe we are more connected than ever thanks to social media. And because I work for an organization historically related to the denomination, it's a big advantage in my job.

2) Which medium do you use the most? Or if you use them all, for what do you use each of them? I figure I use FB the most, even though it's not my favorite. I'm on there because other people are on there, and there are lots of advantages to being connected in that way.

3) If you could invent a networking site (with no limits on your imagination), what would it provide? What would it not provide? I'm a big fan of not reinventing the wheel in this regard. In the past year I've been part of a team that has tried to encourage conversation among United Methodists in our geographical area, and the decision was made to go with a non-FB platform. Hardly anyone uses it. I think there are probably deeper reasons why people don't want to discuss in a dedicated public forum, but I suspect it might've been easier for some to do so if we had just piggybacked on what many people were already using. (The person who said he wouldn't participate if it were on FB because he didn't want to be on there? Well, he hasn't signed up on this other network, either.)

4) Who have you met that you would not have met if it were not for the 'miracle' of social networking? LOTS of people. Fellow United Methodist bloggers, many of the people in the RevGals webring, even some folks in my metro area that I only discovered because of their online writing.

5) Who do you secretly pray does not one day try to 'friend/follow' you? Well, it's not a secret any more if I post it on here, is it? ;-) But I'd have to say it's pretty much anyone from high school besides the one person from there who is already my friend. This is the reason I do not put my maiden name on FB.

BONUS: What was the most random/weird/unsettling/wonderful connection you made that would not have happened if it were not for the ease of which we can find each other in the computer realm? This is a really tough bonus question! Social networking has gotten me into a lot of rewarding stuff: friendships with RevGals and others, dog rescues, blogger meetups... There's a certain kindred dog mama I'm very glad to have met, among many others... if I spent the time to link to them all, I'd never publish this post! And I love the way that second-level conversation happens so quickly when you've known someone online and meet them in person. The pleasantries are still there, but you can pretty much skip the small talk and get down to real stuff. It's a blessing.