Chloe

I don't want to leave out my other Boxer from my postings. This is Chloe. We adopted her from a Boxer rescue organization when she was almost 2. She is THE sweetest dog ever . . . can not believe someone would give her up. Chloe will turn 4 next month.





Like Cooper, she has some health challenges. A year after we got her, she started losing her hair. Diagnosis: hypothyroidism. So she's on monthly meds for life too. Then, this past November, she just wasn't "acting herself", so I took her to the vet for a check-up. She had a large amount of blood in her urine (not visible to the human eye). After 4 additional days and $1400 of diagnostic testing with a board certified internal medicine specialist, no diagnosis and no improvement . . . and we were days away from the move. I'm now taking her to the same vet who diagnosed Cooper with Addison's Disease, and he thinks he has a handle on it. She's now on another daily med which is supposed to be the equivalent of cranberry juice for humans. That, combined with a round of antibiotics and prednisone have resulted in a much lower quantity of blood as of last week. We're hopeful she's on the upswing. Again, this vet is incredible. Symptomatically, she acts like the old Chloe. She tries desparately to talk, and her favorite trick is to wait until I'm in the shower and then come open the door and stick her nose through the shower curtain. I don't have the heart to lock the door because she seems to enjoy bursting in on me so much. :) Both of my Boxers know how to open doors --- I've never had any other breed of dog that did that.





Here's another picture of her my daughter took that she calls "Snowy Chloe".

It's been a fantastic weekend . . .

Yesterday morning, it was snowing. April 26th and it's snowing. ??? My daughter played a soccer game for the first time in the snow. And it was extremely windy. The parents were all huddled in our coats, gloves, and blankets on the sidelines while our children were in shorts and jerseys out on the field. Luckily, I had made my daughter wear leggings under her shorts, I gave her my gloves, and another parent had a hat for her to borrow. And her team won, 4-1. It was great. And it was the first of a doubleheader. So, after the first game, we raced to get something to eat and drove across town to the field where the second game would be played. And, miraculously, by the time the second game started, it was warm and beautiful. No evidence of snow whatsover. The girls were all shedding winter gear rapidly. We were down 3 players for that second game, and both of our fullbacks (including my daughter) were injured --- we lost 1-0.



On the way from the game, we drove by a bicycle shop. We've been shopping for bicycles, and this particular shop had been recommended by my friend Beth. Well, we had to stop. And boy did we shop. Ended up with 2 bicycles (at prices I'm still choking on), a Thule bicycle rack that fits into my handy dandy trailer hitch I had put on to move out here, 2 helmets, 2 bicycle locks, and 2 rackbars so I can actually haul these expensive little 2-wheelers on my expensive little bike rack. But I couldn't be happier. Until yesterday, I had not ridden a bicycle in over 30 years!! I was so nervous to get on the bike and ride outside the shop . . . but I couldn't buy it without riding it first, right? No, the cute salesperson wasn't going to allow that --- those guys are all about service, and he wanted me to have just the right bike. The first one did not work --- ouchie --- that seat hurt. The second one, I fell in love with and took right off down the street. I didn't crash! Yea! My daughter was so proud. And I was so glad I got them . . . she told the sales guy (who told me) that "the move has been really hard on my mom and really expensive. I didn't think I would get a bike for 2 or 3 years." So after I controlled the tears coming to my eyes after that comment, I gladly handed over my credit card. Here is my lovely new bike.

So today, we took a long bike ride. It was so much fun. And a picture perfect day, sunny and in the 60's. We rode to a park and played on the swings, then rode through the Rodeo Drive of Colorado, a/k/a Cherry Creek North, onto the bike path next to Cherry Creek. We had a blast.

I was so confident from my renewed sport (which brought back a ton of great childhood memories by the way), that I came home and fired up my Dad's Portable Kitchen that I had bought him many years ago and that I got after he died in June 2006. I had never used it, was intimidated by it --- I don't know why, it's a charcoal grill after all, and the owners of the company are good friends of mine and have given me all sorts of booklets, tips, and recipes, but I had never used it. I moved it to Colorado and bought it a nice heavy cover from Smith & Hawkins to protect from the elements, but have never used it. Well, today, I flipped that cover off, loaded the charcoal, fired it up and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. And they were goooooooood! I'm so excited that I finally used it. I'm already planning what I will grill next!

After dinner, we took the dogs for a walk. And, what I've been hoping for ever since we moved into this area, an extremely cute man carrying his groceries approached and asked if he could pet our dogs. (Well, yes, of course, cute man . . . pet my dogs, ask for my phone number, etc . . . ) But I was being cool, making great conversation, excited that this guy obviously was a neighbor, and, at that moment, right when things were going so well . . . Cooper, in his excited state over the cute guy, lost all bladder control. And, because he was jumping and wagging side to side, urine was going everywhere . . . including on cute guy's shoes. (Sigh) Suddenly, he needed to get his groceries home. Darn it!!! I did not need my dog's urinary incontinence to blow an opportunity! Oh well, I'll just have to take some non-dog walks and see if I can redeem myself.

"Ma'am, we've made an arrest"

Those were the words uttered by the Little Rock detective when I answered the phone earlier this week. The thieving woman who stole checks from my mailbox and used them was in jail. Yea!!!! Yes, since I moved, I have been the victim of both forged checks AND identity theft from a credit card. And . . . yes . . . it is the hell everyone says it is in trying to deal with it. When I moved from Arkansas, I did what you're supposed to do --- completed one of the forwarded mail forms with the Post Office and had my mail forwarded as of the day we left town. And I was living my new life in Colorado, thinking all of my mail was being forwarded. Silly me.

In early March, on a Friday afternoon (these things always come on a Friday afternoon, don't they?) I received a letter from Citi Cards stating they suspected fraudulent activity on my Shell gas account. Huh?? My Shell gas account wasn't a Citibank account. ??? And the numbers weren't the same at all. So I politely called Citi Cards to tell them they made an oops, and it must be someone else's account at risk. Well, lo and behold, . . . . it was my account. Unbeknownst to me, Shell gas company partnered with (i.e., sold my information to) Citibank to offer me, without my authorization or knowledge, a platinum Mastercard, with a $10,000.00 limit because I'm "such a good customer", i.e., "gosh ma'am, we were doing you a favor". Well, they sent the fully loaded, ready-for-purchases card to my old address in Arkansas. And either because there is an "insider" at the post office who lifted the card there OR because the post office stupidly delivered my mail to the mailbox of my not-yet-sold house, some evil, nasty person/people got the card, called the 800 number to activate, AND (slimiest of all) used my daughter's name as the password on the account. Then they proceeded to spend $9,600.00 in 8 days in February until CitiCards, in their infinite wisdom, thought "huh, something doesn't seem right here" and cut them off. The slimy, rotten criminal bought lots of gas, lots of clothes in Little Rock, lots of meals in Little Rock, Memphis, and New Orleans, and topped it all off with a $1400 limo ride in New Orleans.

As I'm trying to come to grips with what has happened and having to deal with the credit card people, the FTC, the Arkansas Attorney General, the credit reporting agencies, and local law enforcement in all the cities (because by gosh they won't cooperate and work together I've learned), I get a notice from my credit union 3 days later stating that I exceeded my limit on my Visa. What???? I never use my credit union visa. ???? Apparently, my credit union, also as a courtesy to me, mailed out 3 Visa checks for my use. The thoughtfulness of these companies in awarding me because of my great credit history has now resulted not only in theft of my identity, but also now stolen and forged checks . . . the same slime bucket or a different one . . . unknown at this point . . . (do I sound bitter? well that's because I AM!) stole the checks. This last slime bucket is the one in jail. She is not the smartest criminal because (1) she wrote a $2400 check to herself and deposited in her own account and (2) (and this is the one that makes everyone laugh ---- I'm not quite yet to laughter stage) she wrote a check to a photographer for a "sexy lingerie shoot" as the photographer described it. So the police have all of her lovely photos as evidence.

The police can't tie her to the credit card theft yet, but she has spent the past 2 weeks in jail according to the detective. I hope she rots there!! In the meantime, I continue to battle my identity theft. In the past 2 weeks alone, I've received notices from 3 other companies that someone has tried to open accounts in my name. My initial credit card fraud alert expires in a month, and I'm trying to get the 6-year one, but it is not easy to do. Everyone from the police to the FTC to the Attorney General has told me this will be a life long battle. I've spent over 10 hours just going through various accounts on my credit reports --- accounts from the past 22 years-- trying to make sure everything is as it should be. I've closed every account I had except for 2. No more gas cards, no more department store cards. 1 Visa and 1 AmEx. That's it for me. I'm in the process of trying to eliminate all direct mail offers and eliminate all unneccessary mail. For utilities and other bills, I'm getting them switched to on-line so I will not receive a paper copy in a mailbox.

This same thing happened to my niece in Fort Worth when she moved from her apartment to a house during the same time period. The Fort Worth police indicated they think these things are all tied to insiders at the post office who get your information that you're moving and then, boom, you're a target. I sincerely hope it never happens to you.

Cooper

This is my male Boxer, Cooper. He almost died recently, and I learned he has Addison's Disease. His adrenal glands are completely shot, and he will have to take a monthly injection of Percortin, which I've learned to give, for the rest of his life. I'm very thankful to my veterinarian who diagnosed him in 2 days --- from my research, Addison's is very difficult to diagnose. Cooper is a "snuggler", and on this particular night, he just wanted to be held. I know that feeling . . . wanting to be held by your mom when you're feeling bad . . . I still get it and sure wish my mom was around for me to crawl up into her lap and be held. So glad I still have the memories.

Happy Earth Day!

This Earth Day has been the most significant one to me yet, I think because I am living in Colorado. There are all sorts of promotions and sales in celebration of this day. My daughter and I visited our favorite independent book store that distributed free canvas bags to each customer with the purchase of a book. There is a huge push to do away with the plastic bags the grocery and big box stores use to sack your groceries and other purchases. Now, anytime we go to the store, we refuse a bag for our purchases unless absolutely necessary. As of today, we have enough canvas bags to begin carrying them to the grocery stores. And, being in walking distance of Safeway and Whole Foods, we try to only walk, not drive, to the stores. My daughter has become even "greener" since moving here --- because of her, I no longer buy plastic water bottles --- we refill our non-BPA Camelback bottles. I recycle, both at home and the office, and we're in the process of buying bikes so we can rely even less on the car. My new city is very bike-friendly, lots of lanes and trails for cyclists and walkers. We're both trying very hard to "reduce our carbon footprint". My downfall of the day was purchasing Thai take-out for dinner on the way home from the bookstore. If we had just eaten in the restaurant, we would have avoided those take-out containers. Darn it --- oh well, the fact that I'm even having the regret means I'm being more conscientious --- so I'll give myself a break. :):)

A New Beginning

In August 2007, I decided to shake up my own world, move my own cheese. In the past 6 years, I've gone through a nasty divorce, a subsequent broken engagement, and the loss of both parents within 11 months of each other. Enough is enough. With the exception of 2 1/2 years in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after getting my undergraduate degree, I lived in Arkansas my entire life. While I've been fortunate to travel to many wonderful places, I've never lived anywhere else. So, in August 2007, I answered an ad in a professional publication and applied for a position in Colorado. Colorado! Could there be a more wonderful state? Lots of sunshine, lots of snow, beautiful mountains, environmentally conscious, easy to get in and out of in terms of air travel, and, best of all, no humidity or bugs to speak of. I didn't really expect to get the job, but it was time to start the process of getting on with my life . . . and it wasn't going to happen if I just sat back and waited. Tried that, didn't work. So, oddly enough, I got an interview . . . a phone interview. If you haven't been out in the job market for a while, as I had not, this is the new thing. A group of unknown people on the other end of the phone, asking you questions, listening to your voice, judging how you respond to questions (probably making gestures and facial expressions with each other that you, poor interviewee on the other end of the line, can't see). Somehow I made it through that process, despite my Southern accent, and was offered an in-person, all expenses paid interview. So I thought . . . well . . . I'll have a nice trip, get to practice my in-person interviewing skills, see a great city. Well . . . apparently the interview went well because three days later I received The Call. And . . . sometime after that (it all gets hazy at this point), I accepted the job, put my house on the market, and started getting ready for my next adventure . . . only this one wasn't going to be in the safe confines of a state I'd known all my life.

So, the morning after Christmas, the movers came and packed all of my things, except for the few things I would take with me . . . in a UHaul trailer that I would pull with my newly installed trailer hitch. On December 29, 2007, I loaded my young daughter and 2 Boxers into my car and away we went. We arrived to snow on December 30th. It's been an interesting 4 months. I decided to create this blog to chronicle some of my experiences as I attempt to assimilate to life in Colorado. This way, my beloved friends back in Arkansas can keep up with me and, hopefully, enjoy a little bit of my new state. Hope you enjoy!