Today (the 17th) is Papa's real birthday... and "lucky" him, look where he is... at the hospital. Fortunately this is not exactly a bad thing... he has two very large kidney stones that are going to be "blasted"... the other fortunate thing (this time) is that they haven't really been giving him trouble and were basically discovered with a scan. That has not alway been the case in the past. He has had episodes of when stones have blocked the kidney and believe me, that is not not good. We have made a few runs to the ER with Ed in severe pain because of these stones.
But today, these will be "gone". Everyone was so nice at the hospital, we had to get there very early, which we didn't mind, because it means a day back home and to re-coop... everyone made a big fuss about it being his birthday.... the procedure went very well.. he was under for just a few hours, and we were back on the farm enjoying a semi-quiet day.
Now, the only "bug a boo" with the surgery was the prediction of snow.. and this time, the weather folks got it basically right. It did start much later than they said, so by the time Ed had to get out and plow, he was feeling OK. and the medications were gone enough that is was safe for him to drive. We got a pretty dry snow which was helpful because on the coast it was wet and heavy. As usual the birds were tanking up before and afterwards
As pretty as it is (was) I wanted it done because I have lots going on... doggies should be heading out of the kennel AND... I'm going to meet with NEADS to finally get my next service puppy in training... Cadi ....
Ed had been out plowing, and said if I were careful the roads weren't too bad. He really wasn't up to going with me, so Livy and I headed out. I feel so blessed to have a good four wheel drive vehicle and just taking my time, I found the roads not to be horrid... heck, it's New England.. and this is what we deal with. 
The gal from NEADS met me about half way.. she found the driving sloppy too, but I was pretty excited to see this car pull up. I turned Logan into NEADS last September, so it's been a long while since we had a puppy in the house, but this one comes with a long story....
and so, here she is. This is Acadia!!!! we'll call her Cadi... she is seven months old and is from Vancouver Canada.....she was suppose to be here in October, but various reasons from paperwork to transport has her coming in just now. 
The thing about this little girl (right now) is its not in the game plan for her to become a service dog... she is (with luck) going to be NEADS first breeding dog... last fall they asked the Maine puppy chapter if we would be interested in being a part of this pilot program.... we were so excited because it means that the dog will basically be with us for her life. She will be training as a service dog to start.. just in case, because there will be many tests she will have to pass before being accepted as a breeding dog. And if something doesn't pan out, we need to have her ready to switch careers. So, we're training as such, but knowing it might not be.... anyways, on top of being asked to raise this dog, we were also invited to name her. So, our group came up with four names and submitted them to NEADS and they picked one of the names. 
I personally liked Acadia best, because it's well known in Maine and I thought the letter A for the first dog was proper. So when they picked it, I was pretty excited. Cadi is just a better call name and actually since she was called Callie in Canada... it's an easy transition. So, we met for the first time in a cold and snowy parking lot, but she already seems like she's up for what ever comes... I'll be sharing her raising with Kathleen and the group, but for the most part... she's going to be my new gal... (which the little brown dog might not be too excited about)...
so.. "stones, snow and Cadi" has made this week already one for the books in this new year....
