pitterpat » Matthew

Celebrating Mom’s

Patricia — Mon, 10 May 2010 07:57:11 +0000

For Mother’s Day this year Matt and Ms Yuki came over for a few hours to visit before heading out to dinner. I always enjoy spending time with them!

We met the Bennet family for dinner at one of our favorite places to eat, Mongolian BBQ on El Toro Road. Yum! All in all a very special day!

Mothering My Children

Patricia — Sun, 09 May 2010 09:14:49 +0000

38 years ago I started having my children; the oldest, Jimmy would be 38 today if he were still alive. Jason is 31 now, which is just as hard to believe. Matthew will be 28 next month and can no longer be called the baby of the family even though he is the youngest. I love and cherish my boys, and feel very blessed to be their mom. Happy Mother’s Day to me!

Bottom Left-Jimmy, Top Left-Matthew, Right-Jason

A Family Visit

Patricia — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:38:55 +0000

Matthew and Ms Yuki came for a visit this last Saturday, which is always nice. Yuki is on strict bedrest due to her recent back re-injury, and she’s not too happy about it. Matt brought his bike down and went for a short ride so I took Yuki outside for a few photos. She has gotten pretty used to using the doggy door that the Bennets wonderfully donated from their dog Anna’s belongings. Whenever she goes outside with any of us we have her use that door instead of coming through the regular people entrance. Once through the door Yuki goes bounding onto the grass looking back with hope in her eyes at me that we will play ball and it breaks my heart.

A few weeks back when Matt and I took her into the vet because she was unable to bring her back legs up and get into a standing position I never expected to hear the him say she should have a sedentary lifestyle from here on out. Xrays of her back showed her discs to be in different states of chaos. Several discs up towards her neck area are fusing together, a result of the trauma she suffered from her being hit by the truck. Almost all the other discs have little to no space in between, are full of degeneration and bone spurs. As a result the vet said he was amazed that she even recovered and could walk after her amputation. Yet despite all this Ms Yuki has a happy heart. She shows such love and enthusiasm when she enters our house which of course makes us happy. Keeping her down will be another story. How do you ask a young puppy, because she still is that, barely 3, to live like a 15 year old dog? We love you Ms Yuki, thank you for bringing such joy to our lives. You are a blessing and a treasure.

Loving Ms Yuki

Patricia — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:18:23 +0000

Being young (Yuki turns 3 in July 2010) and playing hard with her girlfriends Koosh and Queenie is just a part of who Ms Yuki is. Watching her play brings a sense of her she is in full view, her love of life shines bright because she is full of life. Combine Yuki’s love of life and play with the damage her body took from being traumatically hit last year and the end result is she has suffered a relapse.

As of last night Yuki is unable to come to a standing position or support herself once helped to a standing position. Yuki’s hind feet are once again curling under, an indicator her vet has said is a clear sign her spine is involved. An emergency veterinary appointment this morning with Yuki’s father Matt, and I, showed us what was going on. Her vet took several xray’s today of her spine and the results were not good. The xrays of her spine show her disks full of calcifiation, spurs, fusion, & deterioration. The vet was suprised she has been able walk following her accident, amputation, & rehibilition. It appears she probably injured herself by just living a dog’s life. The vet did say that Yuki is not a candidate for surgery as there is too much damage. Instead the focus is on rest coupled with steriods. Yuki will be confined to a crate for 3 weeks, allowed only to leave to use the big outdoors as her bathroom! He is hopeful that within that time frame the swelling will go down and she will be able to walk again. So, after a stop at our local pet store, The PetStop to buy a crate, Matt has taken her home with him to begin the recouperation process. My heart goes out to both of them as once again they are faced with the struggles of Yuki’s injuries. Jerry and I love them very much and will be there for them if needed.

Birthday Celebration

Patricia — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:29:03 +0000

For the last several years Jerry and I have been celebrating his birthday with our good friend Karen and her hubby Terry, because Karen and Jerry are the same age and their birthday are 2 days apart. It only seems natural to include our long time friend Jill & Steve, whom we’ve celebrated holidays and our children’s birthdays & special achievements together since our kids were wee little ones.
ps…the photo does not do justice to my fairly new painted kitchen and tv room. the colors are not this harsh, instead they are a softer green and aqua.

This year we dined at Lucille’s, and our son Matt joined us. The food was plentiful and delicious. You may wonder why I didn’t use photoshop on this particular photo to correct Terry’s eyes. In actuality I did. He just occassionaly gets a wee bit of the pirate in him that even a fancy program can’t fix!

We came home to extend the birthday celebration a bit longer with a cake and presents. Cake toppers are kind of Terry and my department. This year for Karen we found a small Belle figure, and for Jerry I brought out of his own personal archives Ken, the street fighter character from a Nintendo game. After cake and ice cream, we opened gifts, which ended up including a couple of awesome blu-ray discs for Jerry. Steve and Jill gave Jerry one on the coral reefs so we all settled in and were awed not only by the quality of blu-ray HD but also by the new TV that we have! The movie was good too!

Earlier in the day Matt came down with his new bike and Yuki. We have some wonderful trails out here that make for great bike riding and Matt was able to get in a good 1/2 hour bike ride before we headed out to eat.

While this photograph turned out a bit blurry I still had to post it to show Ms Yuki sitting by grandpa. She came and did this on her own, she’s slowly warming up to him and it’s wonderful to see. We always love having Matt and Yuki down for a visit.

Dinner Guests

Patricia — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:39:29 +0000

Matthew brought Ms Yuki down and had dinner with Jerry and I tonight. Poor kid has been fighting a cold, sounds like the worst of it is behind him and now he just feels run down and tired. Ms Yuki on the other hand is a typical 2 1/2 year old, full of energy wanting to play catch and be the center of attention. Grams was of course happy to make sure that she got her fair share of loving from Yuki. She’s doing so well, running and jumping so strong. Her front right leg is getting really strong and her sense of balance is better every time we see her. I think it’s time for Matt to have a bit of time off to recoup, maybe some pt and even a vacation! Yeah, that’s it!

Creative Rampancy Update

Patricia — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:08:36 +0000

Matthew just updated his website with a great photo shoot he did of one of his roommates and his girlfriend. You might want to go check it out, because as usual it shows Matt’s ability as a photographer to make taking a great picture look easy.

Yuki News

Patricia — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:01:33 +0000

We have exciting news to share! Yesterday morning Yuki stood up all by herself and took 3 steps with 3 of her feet! It took me by surprise as I had set her down in the backyard and ran inside the house for a minute. I was only gone a few seconds, running back out with the roll of papertowels under my arm just as she was getting up on her own. She then took 3 steps, firmly with both of her back feet solidly on the ground, using her right front leg too, before down she went. She landed safely on the soft damp grass. I don’t know who was more surprised her or I. Since then she has shown desire to continue trying, wearing us both out. She has an appointment Saturday morning with our local D.V.M., a Doctor Of Veterinary Medicine, who is also a surgeon, to discuss the amputation of her left leg. Wish her well. Thank you everyone for your continued support.

Day By Day

Patricia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:01:16 +0000

Inch by inch, day by day, the Yuki girl is making progress. Yuki can pull herself up to a sitting position now if her 2 hind legs are on her good/right side. She has tried several times to stand on her own but does even come close yet. Little by little she prefers to use the big backyard as her potty, which is widely preferred, letting out a little whine or getting overly wiggly when the time is nearing. Love her!

A Neurologist Visit For Yuki

Patricia — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:59:23 +0000

Another adventure for Yuki-neurologist visit. Dr thought she would thrive better w/out her L front leg- gives her 2 weeks till a recheck visit to make a decision to amputate or not. He felt she would recoup faster w/out it & should regain use of her back legs though to what level of function time will tell. Right now she is spending wkend with her dad & loving it! Yuki is a calm patient & so loving to us all!