Charna

~*~ CHARNA MARIE CHALUPCZYNSKI ~*~

I received some sad news yesterday. Charna, my first baby puppy, had to be put to sleep. She had been sick for several years and she just seemed to get a little bit worse everyday. She used to get ear infections all the time and had become deaf from the repeated use of medicine to stop the infections. She had numerous lumps, bumps, and tumors that had developed over the last couple of years. Well, from what I understand, she started having nose bleeds recently. According to the doctor this was due to tumors that she developed either in her nose or in her brain.

Poor Charna.

She put up the good fight, but it was time to let her suffering stop.

She loved her Aunt Maura and always showed her affection anytime I came to visit. Even after I moved away, and my visits with her became less and less, Charna still remembered me when I'd come to visit. We would share an "Aunt Maura cookie" which was a cookie that I would give her just because.

Her tail would wag like crazy when I was around. She wanted to be near me so I could pet her and love her. And I did. Even though she was older now, she'd still act like a puppy whenever I saw her.

For Christmas I would get her a big rawhide chewy and she would hoard that thing and growl at anyone who tried to take it. She loved her rawhides.

I will miss you, Charna. I hope you have lots of rawhide chewies in heaven.

I love you

Quality Time

Today was a great day. I got to spend some quality time with my husband today.

Our day started early. We were up and out of the house by 8:30 and headed to Celebration for the local Rotary pancake breakfast and 5K run. Don't get too excited. I was there for the pancakes not the run! They had several booths there including the local civil servants (fire, police, EMT, etc.) and a couple of clowns working with balloons and face painting. Well, I can never pass up a chance to get my face painted so after reviewing the books showing all the possible selections, I got my face done.

Although I really wanted something a little more purple, I had to settle for kind of a pinkish color. Bust sprinkle in a little black and white and you've got a pretty swirly face. The topper...just a hint of glitter!

They also had a silent auction at this event. There wasn't much there that I was interested in, but the did have several long tables of items (mostly gift certificates) from restaurants, spas/salons, etc. If you're not familiar with how silent auctions work, you just write down your bid and if no one outbids you, you win.

Well John and I had gone through the tables a couple times before we decided to bid on anything. I bid on a 3 day/2 night stay at the Wyndym Resort in Orlando and a gift certificate to a spa in Kissimmee. I know that Orlando isn't that far from here, but it was for charity and I thought it would be a great way to pamper myself a little. After having a bidding war with a couple of people, I finally won the bid on the Wyndym. As for the spa, I got a $50 gift certificate for $25 without anyone fighting me for it.

The big draw to this event was the pancake breakfast. I wasn't too impressed with that. You got 2 pancakes, 2 sausage links or patties, and some fruit. They also had coffee and oj. While the portions were fine, the food quality wasn't the greatest. Plus the pancakes were cold, and so was the sausage for that matter. But again, it was a charity event, so I'm a little more willing to forgive.

After breakfast, we headed for home stopping first at JoAnn Fabric. Usually this is an exciting event for me, but this time it was just a little bit satisfying. I don't know if I just wasn't in the mood or if that pancake breakfast was trying to settle in my stomach but having a hard time that prevented me from being able to really concentrate while I was there. We left and I had only a little bag to show for the effort.

We also went to Bealls. I love Bealls. It's a great store and they have some very nice clothes. They also usually have some good deals. Well, we thought we'd stop to see if we could pick up a few new holiday/seasonal tops for my mom. Last year she wanted some new tops at Christmas as all the women at her apartment complex seemed to have a different holiday top for every day of the week! We got her a few last year, but decided to start a little earlier this year.

We picked up a couple new Christmas tops for her, but we also got a couple of Fall/Thanksgiving tops too. Now I have to get to the FedEx store so I can get these delivered before the holidays!

After our stop at Bealls, we went home. The dog was thrilled to see us and I needed a nap after all that excitement! I'm always thankful to be able to have some quality time with my husband.