What a Week!

Have you ever noticed when someone asks you, "What's new?" or "What have you been up to lately?" it's hard to answer the question?  You know you've been busy.  Days are filled with activity and weeks start running together.  Once you sit back and think about it, things start to become clearer and you remember all the stuff you've done!

Well, we've had one of those stretches!  Mommy officially graduated from PT.  She will continue on her own and hopefully keep progressing with the nightly walks she takes with Daddy.  It's probably a good thing her PT is over because we found out Daddy's surgery will be on Friday, April 29.  It will fix his ruptured bicep, so he won't be able to use his right arm for a while.  That will be tough because he is right handed.  Ringo and I are going to have a sleep over at our friend, Jennifer's house for the first few days after the surgery.  The doctor said Daddy will have some discomfort, so he will have some "happy" pills to help.  Mommy will also take care of him.  When Ringo and I come home, we will help, too.

Last Friday, Mommy and Daddy went to a concert.  They saw Pat Benatar, Mommy's favorite female singer.  They had a great time.

The next morning, Mommy and Daddy went to a Donate Life Ambassador recognition brunch.  They met a very nice man who was an outstanding keynote speaker and kidney transplant recipient just like Mommy.  His name was Bruce King.  It was a beautiful day, so we spent some time outside when they got home.

We celebrated Rudy's Birthday on Sunday, April 24.  He would have been 12 years old.  We think of him often and really miss him, especially Mommy.  He was such a cool little guy with tons of energy (even more than little bro, Ringo!).  Without Rudy, there would be no Rudy's Little World (or Blog-spot)!

Along with all of the activities I just told you about, we have been doing stuff around the house to prepare for Daddy's surgery.  He has been working on a massive project for school.  We have also filled a few book orders and prepared for an event in May.  So, I guess we have been busy!  Now that I remember all of this, do you think anyone will ask me, "What's new?"

Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab

Injuries, Surgery and Real Shoes, Oh My!

A couple months ago, I hurt Daddy.  I didn't mean to, but it happened.  We were playing tag on a nice sunny day.  Daddy reached out to tag me and I ran right through his arm.  All of a sudden the fun stopped.  Daddy was in pain!  Ringo and I ran over to him.  Ringo jumped up as if to say, "Daddy, Daddy are you okay?"  I looked down because I felt really bad, then looked up with my big brown eyes saying, "I'm so sorry Daddy, I didn't mean to hurt you.  We were playing, right?"  Daddy looked down at us and said, "Come on fellas, let's have dinner.  I'm okay."  His arm was dangling and looked really weird.

The pain was constant and his arm turned black, blue, purple and other colors!  Mommy asked him to go to the doctor many times.  He finally did this week.  He needs surgery!  Daddy has a ruptured bicep.  The doctor wanted him to have surgery next week, but Daddy wasn't ready.  He has a big project at work and wanted to do more research on the procedure.  He and Mommy are going in next week to talk to another doctor and ask questions.  Anybody know a really good orthopedic surgeon? We want this done right the first time.  Daddy will be out of work at least a week, not able to lift any thing for three weeks, weight limits for 4 - 6 months and a cast!  We will have to figure out how to do many things around the house without Daddy's strength to help us.  A few projects around the house will be put on hold.  The worst thing for Daddy - no motorcycle.

It's a good thing we are a great team!  That is our big news... on the lighter side, Mommy wore real shoes for the first time in over a year and a half!  She said it felt strange!  She was very careful and walked slowly for a short time.  She gave herself a mild concussion earlier this week, but at least she got to see many colors of stars in her head!

Ringo and I are great - someone needs to be healthy in this family.  We are excited about spring and the book orders we've been having lately.  A nice size order was sent to a hospital, a few books to our Canadian fans, one out East and six titles locally.  Not a bad ten days!  We hope it continues!  I think we are in for an unusual and exciting Spring!  Wish us luck!

Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab

Daddy Saves the Day, Mommy's Promotion and More Celebrating

We all know that Daddy is a super hero.  Well, recently he saved the day again.  Daddy works at a library system.  While doing some work at one of the branches, he noticed that the children's librarian was very stressed out.  When he asked what was up, he found out the performer scheduled for a children's program had not shown up.  Daddy offered to step in and read some Rudy stories.  The librarian was so relieved and Daddy was a hit.  The room full of children expected to hear an opera singer, but they got to hear awesome Rudy stories and Daddy even sang the "Rudy O'Tooty" song! The kids loved it!

Recently, Mommy was promoted to once a week for her foot physical therapy.  Everyone is very excited about her progress.  It has taken almost a year, but she has learned how to walk with a normal stride again and has gained a lot of strength back!  She gives much credit to the anti-gravity treadmill that allowed her to walk without bearing weight.

As I said in my last blog, we love to celebrate.  Last week we celebrated Mommy's birthday - and we celebrated all week!  She spent time with family and friends.  Of course, her favorite celebration was Ringo and me dancing to Birthday Bear's singing.  She loves that so much!  I don't know where that bear lives, but he shows up every birthday and then goes away!

On March 15, we light a candle for our older brother, Dexter.  He went to the Rainbow Bridge many years ago.  St. Patrick's Day is March 17th, so I think we will celebrate that day as well.  I think we should read "Rudy O'Tooty" and sing Rudy's favorite song.  What a great idea!

Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab

Many Things to Celebrate

In our house, we like to celebrate... even the normal everyday stuff.  We celebrated Valentine's Day (kind of - Daddy was sick), President's Day (a day off!) and National Love Your Puppy Day (my favorite).

We celebrated the nice break from Winter this week with 40 degree temps and sunny days!  The snow melted, so we don't have the nice soft landings when playing Frisbee, but it is nice to soak in that sun!  We celebrate that Ringo is getting old enough to sit still so we can brush him!

More importantly, we celebrated a huge milestone for Daddy.  He was recently recognized for 25 years of service at the Dakota County Library System.  25 years is a lot!  I don't even have enough toes to count that high!  We are so proud of him!

Mommy had a couple of Donate Life Ambassador events.  One was meeting fellow ambassadors at the regional office and hearing their stories.  The other was going to a high school and talking to two health classes.  She was very excited about it when she came home.  Both Mommy and Daddy were impressed with the students and how engaged they were.  We look forward to doing more of those talks in the future.

Our tribute to Ali fund raiser is still going, so it's not too late, if you would still like to donate.  We have received some very nice emails from people who knew Ali.  They thanked us for doing this project.  Here's a link, if you are interested.

Daddy has started his Spring semester in school.  He will have one more class after this one - then we will celebrate his graduation!  He has worked very hard!

Hoping for green grass soon!
Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab

Update on Big Project, Remembering Rudy

We had the little tease last blog about our big project...  due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to postpone the launch of our project.  We received a call about a production issue - we could have the product with a mark on it OR wait, which lead to the delay.  This project is too important, so we want it to be perfect!

We hope to launch in a few days, so here are a few details.  We have created a new version of our first book, Rudy Gets a Transplant.  The new book has 32 pages and is hard cover.  We included a tribute to our dear friend and illustrator, Ali, who passed away in September.  We have seen the finished book and it is beautiful!  With this book, we hope to raise some serious money for a charity close to Ali's heart.  We also hope to continue sharing the importance of organ donation.

During the launch we will tell you more about the charity, "Wishes and More" and it's fabulous work for chronically ill children and their families.  This book has been a labor of love.

We remembered our dear angel, Rudy, yesterday.  Three years ago, he crossed the rainbow bridge. We think about him every day, he is truly loved and missed.  3 years, wow!

Last weekend we had a sleepover at our house.  A little guy named Bump came over.  He was cute and small.  Only 10 pounds and a bundle of soft fur!  In some ways he reminded us of Rudy - mainly the size and the little tongue kisses.  He was very smart and quickly learned our routine.

Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab

New Year News

2016 started out with a bang - literally.  While driving on New Year's Eve afternoon, we ran over something looking like a pile of snow.  Well, it wasn't!  Bang!  Our tire blew and the rim got crushed.  Daddy managed to get the "Rudy Mobile" over to the side of the road and a guy came over and helped put on our spare.

Now for some good news!  After a lengthy process, Mommy found out she is an official Donate Life Ambassador.  She had to fill out several forms, write an essay, do a background check and an in-depth interview.  We are very excited!

She will be doing some of the same things we already do at our programs plus speak to high school driver's ed. classes, nurses, organizations and businesses, training, official events and possibly parades!  We are looking forward to this new adventure and hope to expand our outreach.

I have been feeling great since I started my new thyroid meds 3 months ago.  I feel like a new puppy!

We had a bit of a scare with little bro, Ringo recently.  Last week, he woke up at midnight making a strange noise.  It sounded really weird.  He wasn't exactly choking, but it sounded like there might be something lodged in his throat.  Off we went to the ER.  Daddy took Ringo to the hospital, while I stayed home with Mommy.  The vet figured out that Ringo's epiglottis wasn't in the right place and the noise was called a "reverse sneeze."  Puppies do that to try getting the epiglottis back into place.  It wasn't working this time, so Ringo was getting a bit stressed.  The doctor gave him a shot to clam him down and it really helped a lot!  They finally got home at 2am.  We didn't get much sleep that night!  Ringo is back to normal now, but this could happen again.  At least we will know what it is next time!

Already so much excitement and we are only two weeks into the new year!

Right now, we are experiencing a very cold spell.  That means single digits for highs.  Ouch!  It's hard to play outside in that kind of weather.  Just like most things, it shouldn't last long.

We are also working on another big project, but I am not ready to share the details - yet.  Soon!  We hope in a week or two... how's that for a teaser?

Love,
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab

Happy Holidays - Wrapping Up 2015

We hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season; we sure did!  As the year draws to a close, let us reflect on the last year and look forward to the new year.

We had a relaxing Christmas Eve and Day, highlighted by a nice meal, watching Charlie Brown Christmas on TV, listening to the Carpenter's Christmas CD, playing with our new toys, a candle light service and seeing Star Wars in 3-D!

Ringo and I had a play date and spa appointment.  We feel so much better with all that shedding hair gone!  The mani-pedi's were a nice treat, too.

Mommy and Daddy visited with my Uncle John and human cousins, Jake and Lauren.  They had a great time.

We look forward to a visit with Aunt Tammy and fuzzy cousin, Barkley this Saturday.  We will have some nice fluffy snow to play in!

2016 is only a couple days away and we look forward to an exciting year ahead.  We are taking on some new volunteer activities, which I will explain in great detail next time.  Right now, I just want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, fun-filled 2016!  As always, thank you for all your support!  We couldn't do it without you!

Peace and Love!
Boomer the Mellow Yellow Lab