My Sunshine Sick Day

Ahhhhh, look at this day! Sunshine, blue sky, and snow. For all that know me, ya'll know I'm being tortured right now.
I've been so very lucky this entire fall/winter season dodging the 'illness' bullet. However, yesterday morning I awoke to a scratchy throat and a nose stuffed with boogs. Sorry for the details, but I'm sharing it because it truly caught me off gaurd. Call it karma, but the day before I was bragging to someone how my immune system was made of gold and I was above getting sick. I suppose, though, spending everyday with two little dudes in my face and one with a runny faucet for a nose, I am bound to catch something sooner or later. Today is my day to recover. Today is my 'sick day' to mend the sore throat and feel better. Although I'll admit I am itching to get outside in the beautiful sunshine Duluth is sporting today. Yesterday we had a blustery snow day and today is quite the opposite, lending this town to natural beauty full of snow and sunshine. If I had it my way I'd be cross-country skiing, but can't do that on a 'sick day', can I?

Kel and I forgot to mention Eddy's ailments this past month. Our pooch went 'under the knife' February 16th to curb her progressing left shoulder limp. The vet told us she had major inflammation in her shoulder joint which connects to her bicep muscle. Synovial tendonitis can become a debilitating disease if not cared for properly. An injection of corticosteroids provides the quickest symptomatic relief. About 50 ml- 100 ml of cortisone went directly into her shoulder joint. Most dogs who suffer from this are retrievers who chase balls, go figure. The motion of running as hard as you can and sliding to a screeching halt wears and tears on the shoulder area. Yes, this makes a lot of sense! The great news is surgery has been successful thus far. Ask Eddy and I bet you'll hear a different tune, but the time really went fast. Poor girl had to stay inside ALL day and ALL night, no exercise for a month. Mom (me) weakened this past Tuesday and walked her..a few days early..as it was about 60 degrees and sunny...AND still light outside after 6pm. So far she's had two on-leash walks and has loved it. Part of me wanted to remove the leash and just let her run, but then the month would be wasted and that would be naughty and irresponsible of me. I will say this much, a walk/run/hike without watching Eddy bound through the forest is just not the same. I've never appreciated my four-legged canine companion as much as I did on Wednesday on our walk through Chester Park. I'm so glad she's back and gonna be fine!

These photos show scenes from Blizzard 2007. Our car was almost covered from all the snow. Grand totals were around 39". The streets were all just as full of snow.