Melinda Mussi Lockwood

NRA Meeting in St. Louis

Off to the NRA meeting in St. Louis tomorrow. Always excited when it is close to home. We were going to go Saturday but it looks like Friday is going to have more of what interests us! Life is good in mid-Missouri.

Melinda Mussi Lockwood

Haven't been up to much recently but we did have a terrific Easter at my son's home. Jason & his wife Katie built a home next door to us when they were first married and were committed DINKS. Ah, but time passes and soon there were three children - the house was too small. They moved to Centralia, MO which is about 15 miles away and now have a 5-bedroom home on 20 acres -- much more to their liking! Don't know if I have already shared the moving-day adventure of having the chicken coop moved (Jason said he was NOT building another as it had taken too much of his time to build the first one. However, he did build it with accessibility for both children and adults -- it's a masterpiece for heaven sake).

Anyway - we trekked up to their home for Easter and had all decided to forgo the "formal" Easter dinner. We took snacks, our daughter and her daughter brought a nifty crab dip and we spent time enjoying each others company. One of the best family holiday gatherings ever. We checked out the chicken coop, the berry patch, fruit trees, and garden plots. I am most happy to report that these are, possibly, the happiest folks I have ever known. What more can we ask but that our children are happy, healthy, and successful doing what they love? They are Joseph, Jason, Nicholas, Shaelyn, and Katie.

Linda Badgley D'Agostino

Linda is on the move again. She started a new life in NC and now is headed to FL. Along the way she came across this retro Syracuse T-shirt site. Take a look:  click on the link
http://clothingscott.myshopify.com/collections/retro-syracuse

Jim and Marsha Myers

Marsha and I had our 15^th wedding anniversary in February and gave each other a trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, but for work reasons we’re not taking the trip until May 15. In case anyone’s interested, we also had a chaotic week of spring break visitors in mid-March, including Marsha’s son Tom and his wife April, their two active and friendly offspring, our grandchildren Kaitlyn (11) and Cole (8), and April’s father Gary McCurdy, who loves to come out here every spring and play golf with Tom. They took the kids to a Cactus League spring training baseball game (fun), we took them to the annual Renaissance Festival (horrible, crowded, expensive and full of bikers & bimbos), and Tom shot a 72 at Whisper Rock, one of the greatest golf courses in the West. He, at least, had a great week! 

I doubt any of the above is bloggable, but I promise photos and sonnets after we return from Hawaii in late May. Hope all is well!

Jim

Responses

Heard from Dan Sheedy
Jim Myers, Dave Costello and Glenn Prestwich, Pamela Revercomb, Melinda Lockwood,

Two emails have gone bad: Judi Manion and Teri Guhin Ayer.

So please more of you -- Respond.

Dave Costello

My wife Karen (we have been married going on 40 years) and I became boaters in 2011...something we have never done. We retired to New Bern, NC, and we are surrounded by water (Neuse/Trent Rivers); unfortunately, they are very shallow. Very wide, but very shallow. So we took our first boat course and certification test and off we go. We purchased a 19.5' Tahoe which can hit speeds of 50 MPH. I can honestly say we have not beached it yet, but I am told by fellow boaters - plan on it. Karen and I are a little leary as both of us have never been "water" people, but we continue to pursue this new adventure in our retirement years.

I retired as Director, Corporate Safety and Risk Management, Anheuser-Busch Companies (18 years). I had a similar position at Carrier Air Conditioning (15 years). Karen's last position was Executive Assistant to the Bishop, Diocese of Belleville in Illinois. We have 2 children with 2 grandchildren. My mom and dad still live in the Homewood section of Fayetteville. They have lived there since 1952. We will be visiting with them the month of May.

We also recently purchased a 38' Fleetwood Pace Arrow Class A motor-home. We are members of a local RV club and travel each month with them. Our next trip is to Mt. Airy's the first week of May. This was the backdrop for the Andy Griffith's Mayberry, RFD. http://www.visitmayberry.com/

This winter we spent the month of February in Florida with our motor-home. It was our first try at an extended trip with the motor-home. We started out on Superbowl weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC with friends, then Cocoa Beach, Fl where we met up with a cousin whom I have only been with once growing up. Off to Disney - Ft. Wilderness, in Orlando, Fl for 5 days. We then spent over a week at Frostproof, FL with some volunteer fire department members that I serve with in New Bern. I also was a volunteer firefighter/paramedic at Moyers Corners and Mattydale fire departments in NY (delivered 3 babies!)

We started our journey home by visiting Sebastian's Inlet on the Atlantic coast, meeting up with the friends we started with at Myrtle Beach. Then off to St, Marys, Georgia, and then a 9 hour haul back to New Bern, NC

This year we plan on getting a little more experience in the water (yes - we are terrified at that prospect) and eventually either a west coast trip or Nova Scotia later this year in our motor-home. As I mentioned, we will be in Syracuse in May, then off to Thousand Island's. We have not been there in over 30 years. We will also visit Boldt Castle, which I hear is now fully restored. Then back to see mom and dad one more time. My dad is 88 and his Alzheimer's is slowing him down considerably. I am blessed to have them around so long, and it so sad to see what his remaining time will be like. Very tough on my mom.

So that's it! An update from the Costello's in New Bern, NC. I will keep you updated as to our progress. Thank you fellow FM'ers for reading this. Great memories living in Fayetteville, NY.
--

Dave Costello

252-633-7898

Dogs Should NOT Eat the following:

Almonds in any form
Alcohol
Chocolate in any form
Caffeine
Avacados
Macadamia Nuts
Grapes
Raisins
Grape See Oil
Yeast Dough
White Onions
Citris Oil Extract
Persimmons
Marijuana
By Darcie of SitStay.com

Dog Lovers Please Read This

Everybody,

I did something terrible. Really, really bad.

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Nothing hurts me more than when I've failed someone I love. It's happened a few times. I was late to my grandson's birthday party. I went to the restaurant on the wrong side of town a full half hour away. It was an important birthday and I was late. He forgave me instantly and teased me that he must not be the only one getting old. Another time, years ago, my sister, my Mom and I were at a dog show in Texas. I promised Mom that we'd close up the booth early on her birthday and go out to a celebration dinner. We rearranged the booth that night. At about 9:30 my sister tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You promised Mom you'd take her to dinner for her birthday." Ah, geez. In my business mindset, I had forgotten what day it was. And to add more insult to injury, I made her walk what seemed like 12 miles that night. We'd gone to the River Walk for dinner and when we left, we got turned around and couldn't find our motel. Nobody, not even a police officer could help, "Sorry, Honey, I just moved here." No one could help us get home. There we were, carrying change which is really heavy if you haven't done that before, miles from our motel. We found it hours later, the three of us too stubborn to call a taxi. We laughed and said we'd find it sooner or later. It was the best night's sleep I'd ever had. It was Mom's 70th birthday. She forgave me instantly.

This time though, this is bad. This is nothing compared to those times. A moment of my not paying attention could have cost Kate her life. I write about the good stuff and incidents that happen every week, I have to tell you about this, too. It could save another dog's life.

I regularly eat almond butter and blueberries for breakfast. I keep the peanut butter and almond butter in the fridge...see where this is going? Dogs should not eat almonds and almond butter is worse. This is very, very bad.

I was ready for work, happily humming a tune to entertain Kate. Kate was happy and like a good dog was telling me that it was time to go. I petted her and said, "Let's grind your nails before we go, we're a little behind on that. I'll get you a treat to make up for making you wait to go walking. Hang on, Lover Girl." Meaning to reach for the peanut butter, I instead took out the almond butter and I didn't even realize it. I scooped about a teaspoon full and slathered it into the Kong so she'd have to really work for it. "Here you go, Darling, get up here and we'll get those nails done." I patted the couch and up she came. Kate jumped up and starting licking the Kong. I used the grinder on her nails and by the time I was done, she was too. She had eaten all of it. All of the almond butter. She shoved the Kong at me asking for more. I laughed and tossed it into the toy box. "Come on, Girlfriend! Off to work!"

Work is 3.52 miles from home. Kate loves the walk and I do, too. We walked briskly. On the way to work, we make a quick trip of it. On the way home, we meander, saying "Hi" to people we meet, stopping to listen to dogs bark, do a little training here and there, enjoying the evening.

Chipper's Dog Treats "These sound a little odd - but they are some of the best training treats. I do agility and small soft treats are necessary. I prefer all natural treats but boiled chicken or cheese is not pocket friendly. As the description says, these are soft, but dry to the touch. Perfect!" -- On Cue Canines

About mid-morning, Kate touched me lightly with her nose, that's her asking to go outside. "Okay, Girl, let's go." It was early for her to ask to go outside. When we got there, Kate started vomiting. It's not unusual for a dog to vomit if they've eaten or had too much water too quickly and I didn't think much of it the first time, except that it was different than a normal vomit when things come up quickly. This was more of a heaving. I held her and let her get rid of it. Poor Girl, I'm so sorry, Kate, I didn't hurt you on purpose.

About 10 minutes later, Kate was back, asking to go outside again. She didn't make it to the door. I cleaned it up. She asked to go outside again. Diarrhea. I don't tend to panic when a dog gets sick. It happens sometimes. I didn't start to really get scared until the end of the day. At about 9:30 in the evening both ends had turned to water. I knew that she was potentially in big trouble. She wasn't dehydrated yet, her gums were slick and her skin moved easily as normal but I knew that's where we were headed if I waited any longer. "What's the matter, Girl? What's the matter?" Kate put her head on my leg and closed her eyes while I called the emergency vet.

"Any toys missing? Any standing water that she could have gotten into? Possums carry disease, maybe that's what's going on. Did she swallow anything, this acts like an obstruction. Let's get the vomiting and diarrhea stopped, give her some relief, then we'll look to see what we can find." The staff and vet were very nice to us. Kate wagged her tail and went for X-rays. They brought her back to me and we waited together, Kate with her head in my lap and me racking my brain to try to remember if she picked anything up and swallowed it. No. She doesn't eat non-food things. Does she? Did I miss something? At this point I still didn't have a clue what I'd done.

The vet returned. "Nothing. I can't find anything. No giardia, no bacteria, nothing is showing up. Let's get her started on some antibiotics just to be sure that we're catching something early. She doesn't have a fever." I don't like giving antibiotics to man nor beast and I'm so glad that I didn't give them to Kate. Antibiotics can and do cause more harm than good if there's no reason for them and in Kate's condition, they could have made it much worse by killing off her good bacteria.

We got home late and Kate slept like the dead. I had my hand on her the whole night, waking often to see if she was okay. I kept checking for her breath. She was so still. It wasn't until the next morning that I found out what I had done. I reached for the almond butter for my blueberries and there, where the almond butter goes, was the jar of peanut butter. I knew instantly what I had done. I'd fed her almond butter. That's not just a few almonds in nut form, it's way too many almonds ground into a paste. Very dangerous stuff to a dog.

Lupine Collars and Leashes

Kate was fine the next day, eating and playing, taking full advantage of me, asking to go out more often, just to play and goof around. She never did refuse water. The butters have a new home apart from each other in the fridge. I will never do that again. I hate failing those I love. Nothing hurts me more. I could have killed my darling Kate. My heart is still a little heavy knowing what could have happened. I have forgiven myself, it's what I would tell anyone else to do. It's done, I can't change it. Kate is okay and back to her own happy self. I try very hard not to make mistakes. Kate forgave me instantly just like my grandson and my Mom did. You know, I think it was last week I told my sister, "You know, I don't think I've done anything really bad for about 20 years." I won't be saying that again either. - Darcie, Founder of SitStay.com

Remember Tuesday is Good Dog Discount Day!

Rick Wilson

Rick Wilson of Prudential CNY Realty was named the best Realtor in Central New York by an independant Lab.