Dear Beaumont

Dear Beaumont,
It's so very hard for us, but today we had to say goodbye to you. There aren't really words to say just how much you were loved, and still are, but I'll try....

It all started when Jerry decided that getting a dog while a freshman in college was a GREAT idea! I don't know all the details since I hadn't yet met him, but I know he had the best of intentions (as well as a goal to meet more girls while hanging out with you at the park!). I'm also sure that this idea was probably met with some groans of "what the heck are you going to do with a lab puppy while at school?" but he went ahead with his plans anyways, and made the adoption that would change the Reeves family....for the better, I might add.

I'm not sure exactly how long you lived in Atlanta, but thankfully Whizzy & Pop Pop took you in at Cedar Bluff. The big city was no place for a dog like you, Beau. You needed a place to run and play, and Cedar Bluff was just the place. Tons of room to run, your very own river to swim in - what more could a pup want?! I know Jerry was sad to leave you behind at Cedar Bluff, but it was the right thing to do, and you have been there ever since.

You weren't too sure about me at first, buddy. Jerry and I joke about it now, but I really do think you thought I was trying to take your spot, literally. You were so used to Jerry sleeping in his own bed at home, so whenever I came to visit and slept in that bed, you would just sort of stand beside it for a few minutes like "Look lady - I think you got the wrong place. That's my bed with my dad; beat it!" Thankfully I think I grew on you, and you realized I was pretty good with the belly rubs and throwing the tennis ball for you too.

Your love of tennis balls is legendary. We even brought our dog, Bailey, to Cedar Bluff so you could hopefully teach him a thing or two about playing catch. I'll never forget watching you and Bailey race around for the tennis ball whenever we'd throw it. Bailey didn't have a prayer those first few years of catching you - you would outrun him every single time. I think it was good for Bailey to get schooled a little bit! To this day, even though you couldn't run around much lately to catch the ball, you seemed to have one nearby at all times. It's sort of like your security blanket I guess.

One of my own fondest memories of you was when I was training for the marathon.  We were visiting Cedar Bluff one weekend, and I was scheduled to do a 13 mile run, so Jerry and I took you along and thought we'd let you go as long as you wanted, then Jerry would take you back.  Jerry was on his bike and I was just pounding pavement....and there you were, running right beside me the entire time.  There were several times that Jerry would bike farther up the road, and even sometimes disappear, but you stayed right there with me the whole time, like you were taking care of me.  You did 8 miles with me that day.  I sort of think of that as the "turning point" in our relationship, Beau.  I like to think that was your way of saying "Well, okay, if you're gonna be sticking around for awhile, I guess I'll hang out with you."

Our girls really love you, that's for sure.  Whenever we were over visiting, they loved coming up to you and laying on your belly and scratching your ears, which you took in stride.  To be such a big dog, you sure were a gentle giant. 

Even though you haven't been able to move around too much lately, the other pups at Cedar Bluff still recognize you as the alpha dog.  Tucker would try to steal the ball from you sometimes, but we always tried to sneak another ball to you when he wasn't looking....

Beaumont, I know you lived an incredibly long life, but it's still incredibly hard to say goodbye.  We know it's time, though.  It's not fair to you for us to be selfish.  You have been an amazing friend to Jerry, but I promise to take good care of him for you.  Know that any dog we ever have will always be compared to you.  Goodbye, buddy. 
Love,
Kristy

We're all here!

Yes, it's been awhile since I posted.....I went back to work in the office full time last week, so that was an adjustment to say the least. I've been doing the work at home 3 days/week thing since early March, then was at home for two straight weeks after the surgery. While I certainly enjoyed my time away from the office, I have to admit it is nice to have some adult interaction during the day again.

The knee seems to be healing nicely, at least from what I can tell. I am still using my crutches (for the most part!) and using the brace. I go back to the doc on June 1st, and I am really hoping he tells me I can ditch the crutches and just use the brace. PT is going well - my therapist is a good friend, so that makes the torture at bit better.

So things are just moving along as usual in the Reeves' household. I did come across this fun little critter on my way to the grocery store the other day:

You may have to look closely at the photo to see our little gator friend, but let me assure you that he was NOT small....brought 4 cars to a stop on the main drag of our neighborhood as he was ambling slowly across the road. Of course all the stupid humans are snapping pictures as quickly as possible (at least I stayed in my vehicle, unlike the others who were actually getting out of their cars to get a closer look - NO THANK YOU).

Here's another funny picture:

I swear she is a little boy in a girl's body. Besides the fact that she has the scraggliest hair ever seen (or at least since I was growing up, cause she's definitely got my hair), this is the dirtiest kid I've ever seen. You turn your back for five seconds and she's diving in the dirt in the backyard. And utterly happy about it.

Like New

Well, that's what I am hoping my knee is now - like new. I went in to have my knee surgery on Monday morning, bright and early. We had to be there at 7am, so Whizzy came to stay with the girls that morning to get them off to school (and she managed to get them fed, dressed, and to school by 7:30 that morning...Jerry and I are in awe).

Once we arrived I got all settled in the pre-op area, complete with my IV and then Jerry could come back. He got to meet the doc, who again explained the possible treatments he may do once he got into the surgery. After that we just had to wait a bit, so we looked like total geeks with our phones playing games and Jerry taking pictures of me with my little temperature sticker on my forehead. Eventually they came back and gave me some "I don't care" medicine (their words - not mine!), and it truly made me not give a damn. About 10 minutes afterwards they took me back to the OR, I scooted over to the other bed, and that's the last thing I remember.

Next thing I knew I was waking up being offered some coke. Anesthesia is an amazing thing. They brought Jerry back and he wsa the one that broke the news to me that they did in fact have to do the microfracture procedure. I was reeeealllly hoping they weren't going to have to do that, mainly because it just sounded like it would be painful. There was a pretty significant portion of missing cartilage on my bone (not sure which one, if it's the femur or tibia, but will ask today at my doctor's appointment), so hopefully this surgery will do the trick. Apparently if it doesn't, I'm in for another more involved surgery...but I'm not even going to go down that road yet!

So for the past few days I've just been hanging out on the couch watching trash TV, reading books, cross-stitching....doing stuff I normally don't have much time to do when I'm healthy! I wasn't having too much pain until last night. I think all of the meds finally wore off completely last night and even the percocet wasn't doing a great job of keeping the pain at bay. But I go back to the doc today so perhaps he'll have some more advice on how I can manage it better.

Carrie has been too sweet through all of this. She always wants to bring me my crutches and will come over to me and hug me and say "it's okay, sweetie." I mean, how cute is that?! Anna, on the other hand, is just as silly and crazy as ever...I just have to make sure my knee is out of her path of destruction!

Like I said, I go back to the doctor today for my post-op follow-up. We'll see what he has to say about when I can go back to work, how long I have to use crutches, and all that good stuff!