Gracie

Grace:

An extended period granted as a special favor. 

Grace:

The condition or fact of being favored by someone. 

Grace:

The free and unmerited favor of God. 

I don't quite know how, but it seems each of my furkids throughout the years has been aptly named.  A friend of mine is an animal communicator, and she believes for the most part that our animals tell us their names, even though we think we pick them out.  At any rate, Gracie is no exception.  


I adopted Gracie 15 years ago the week before Memorial Day from a student whose family had no business with one dog, much less a litter of pups.  It was an accident - but the pups arrived and the family did right by them in finding them homes.  Three of the pups landed with teachers - the school was across the street from the townhouses where this family lived.  


Gracie barely made it home. I took her straight to my vet's office to be checked before introducing her to the other animals in the family. Right away we noticed she couldn't stop urinating and that it was totally clear.  Testing showed nothing in her urine.  Nothing.  The vet suggested we put her down right then - that she obviously had kidney problems and would always need to be outdoors, on and on.  I said no. 


Gracie had no kidney problems.  She had worms.  Lots of them.  She was getting no nutrition.  I don't know how she survived the 6 weeks she had already been on earth, but we fell in love with her and she's been our Baby Girl ever since.  


In August, we were getting Ernie prepped for a long-term job away from home.  We came back from apartment hunting and 2 weeks later, Gracie became very ill with canine vestibular syndrome.  It hit her hard, as she was already not doing well aging.  We didn't think she'd be with us long and I had to re-teach her to eat and lift her up to walk and carry her down stairs outside.  You can read more about that as well, in a prior post. 
 Mostly Art with Stray Musings on Occasion: Updates

Happy Birthday Gracie

This is Gracie now, a few weeks after her 15th birthday.  She is one amazing dog.  We are so blessed to have her still with us.  She is frail. But her eyes are clear.  She still has food issues, but she chases after the other dogs.  She sleeps most of the time, but she still initiates play with her buddy Eugene.  She's never been an affectionate dog, but she comes to me often for head rubs and touching.  I think she knows her time is running out and she is savoring what she can, while she can.  So are we.  We remain graced by her presence.  Thank you God, for the special favor.  

Challenged

Uh oh.  


Recently I decided to take an art class.  I figured I needed the commitment to make me paint more.  I sort of "checked out" for awhile and I'm slowly finding my way back and thought incentive would keep me steady.  Plus I love working with and around other artists (the ONLY time I don't mind working in groups) and one can never stop learning new and fun things to do with art stuff.  I learn much from my students and I love working with them, but it isn't the same as BEING a student with someone else as teacher. 
Alas, I could not find a class that called to me, or one that I could fit into my schedule.  


So I'm taking a writing class instead.  Hey, creativity is creativity, right?  And writing is a medium. ? yes?  Since I do have this public blog,  it certainly can't hurt.  


And now we're sharing one anothers' blog addresses.  no pressure.  um-hmmmm. 


Great thing about taking a class on a lark: I have nothing vested in it.  I have no particular goal, I'm not worried about "how to." I'm not writing with a purpose in mind. I basically show up and see what spews forth on paper.  It's quite freeing - with a Dear Diary sort of catharsis. 


So, for anyone who has been following you can expect to see a little more.  It may include topics other than art and my furkids.   We'll have to see.  


Welcome, my Tuesday night comrades.