Still riding that roller coaster called life!

Okay, so this has been my longest 'break' in between blogs so far.  Yikes!  So I will just pick up where I left off.

After a few days of just us & the beagles, I returned to the shelter for a new foster.  I looked at several & chose this little guy, at the time named Rusty.  He appeared to be a white & brindle pitty, 4 month old puppy, but after visits to the vet for his shots & nueter surgery, it was determined he was older, maybe 7 months, as all his adult teeth had already come in.  He was immediately a joy in our house & renamed Clyde for his clydesdale-like walk.  Nearly house broken, not too phased by his crate & intensely curious about these 2 strange beagles that were not interested in playing much!

After a week or 2, I happened to recognize a dog on CACC Rescue's facebook page (if you befriend them, beware that you will get teary eyed often...).  I had to visit the shelter for myself to confirm... bad idea.  There I saw the big cow-looking pitty that I had taken from being chained outside an abandoned apartment & to the shelter before our trip to Vegas.  He had lost a considerable amount of weight, but was still sweet as ever.  After bringing the beagles up to make sure he was okay with them, my wonderful husband left it up to me whether or not we would take him home to foster as dog #4.  A few days later, when I picked Samson up from the shelter, I was told that he was on the euthanization list.  A couple of hours with him & I could not, for the life of me, figure out why.  It must have been for space constraints.  His first visit was, of course, to Animal Care Chicago to be checked out, nuetered & vaccinated. The staff there sang Samson's praises & I would soon find that this sweet pup was as close to perfect as we have ever known.  Samson impresses everyone he meets with his perfect temperament!  He is often called 'Petey' from the Little Rascals.

Samson & Clyde became fast friends.  They love to rough house & tumble & have been thick as thieves for 2 months.  Clyde did a 1 week stint with friends of friends & that didn't work out.  Clyde's personality is much larger than his slight 33 lbs. & they were incapable of handling him.  He is a great pup & was adopted today by a lovely, local family that happened to see him wearing his hound gear 'adopt me' vest on a walk a few weeks ago.  He will love his new life with his human mom & dad & 2 human sisters. Samson has been a little down & out today wondering where his best friend has gone to.

Our first round of IVF was unsuccessful.  I can't help but feeling discouraged & disappointed.  But in usual fashion, we jumped right back onto the horse & went straight into round two.  Injections twice daily have become routine, the bloating & discomfort has not.  Yesterday, the doctor retrieved 6 eggs.  Today we were notified that 2 successfully fertilized.  Now we wait until tomorrow to hear if they survive before transferring them back to me on Monday or Wednesday.  Then comes the dreaded 2 week wait for the blood test to confirm or deny a pregnancy.  I hope our time has come. I'm really tired of being patient.  I've already vowed to go sky-diving for the first time if this attempt is unsuccessful.  And I'm not sure that I am ready to cash in on that one!!!

In the meantime, life is good.  Vegas trip 2011 #2 is fastly approaching & we are onto our next phase of enjoying our sweet & special Samson.  He holds a special place in my heart as a dog that I rescued from start to finish.  Every month, I still bring confiscated, abandoned or stray dogs into the shelter & never see them again.  Samson came into my life for unknown reasons & for now, he will be here to stay for at least a little while, when I need him most.

'He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world...When all other friends desert, he remains.'