{on my soapbox}

I really hate to rant and rave on a normally positive blog, but recent dealings with our local animal shelter have really, excuse my language, pissed me off. I guess you would call this a true Anna's Shenanigans. :)

Yesterday I picked up 3 stray dogs roaming around my grandparents' house. It was one older male dog with two little puppies, one male and one female. They all looked like german shepherd mixes. The daddy was so sweet and came right up wagging his tale, but the puppies were a little skittish. The big daddy seemed to be in ok health, but the puppies were so emaciated. You could count every vertebrae, every rib bone, see their shoulder bones and hip bones through their skin. When I picked them up it was like hugging a bag of bones. Eventually, everyone made it safely into my car and then I had to decide what I was going to do to them. I just want to get this out there that I DID NOT WANT TO KEEP THEM!!! I guess I'm sorta notorious for finding animals and keeping them. But I do know my limits and 3 dogs is my limit.

I decided I'd drive them to Columbia and take them to one of MANY 'no kill' animal shelters the city has to ofter. WRONG! I ended up at Chad's office with my 3 tag-a-longs because he called EV-ER-Y. SIN-GLE. SHEL-TER. in Columbia. The response from all of them? "Sorry we don't take in strays from the public." Excuse me, but WHAT? These dogs are strays, not lost dogs, who need medical attention and love that unfortunately I don't have enough of to spread around 6 dogs. What am I going to do with these dogs? It was past 5:30 and I was running out of options. All the vets I called directed me to the Humane Society, which was closed. Against my will, Chad and I decide to take them there. A nurse said they have an after hours drop off kennel and spoke very highly of the organization.

We made a stop at Wal-mart to get dog food and water to feed them before we left them. Big Daddy ate fine, the little girl puppy ate fine, but the little boy didn't want any food at all. Was completely not interested. After a lot of coaxing and hand feeding we got him to eat one hot dog wienie. I REALLY didn't feel comfortable leaving these dog overnight now. I really just wanted to talk to a real person, not an anwering machine.

We get to the Humane Society off of Shop Road to drop the dogs off. After an hour of crying, screaming, begging and pleading from me, we lock them in the kennel and drive away. I couldn't stop thinking about those poor dogs all last night and all this morning. Chad said not to worry, these were our tax dollars and donations at work. Boy was he wrong...

I made a phone call to the HS this morning when they opened and found out that they don't take in strays either. Columbia Animal Services takes them, who owns the kennel outside. And, oh by the way, they were found roaming the parking lot this morning. The girl said to call and CAS and find out their policy on strays. That was it. That was my conversation. Three sentences from the HS when I called to find out how the dogs were doing. Go to their website. They're ALLLLLL about the safety and welfare of animals. They have a cruelty investigation team. They have TONS of fundraisers and are constantly asking for donations...from the public. Yet, they won't take in strays that the public care enough about to take off the streets.

So I call the CAS. From this pleasant lady (ahem) I find out that CAS holds strays for 5 days then decides if they adopt them out or euthanize them. This depends on health, temperament, and space availability at the facility. Have a good day and goodbye. I'm sorry but 5 days is not long enough to nurse a dog back to health to adopt out. I'm pretty sure I just sentenced this sweet dogs to certain death in 5 days.

The big shelters, Pets Inc., Project Pet, The Humane Society, etc. all go the the county shelters to 'handpick' dogs on death row for their 'no kill' shelters. It's a shame and a disgrace and downright disgusting they advertise all this great stuff but you can't take a stray there. What are you supposed to do?? Take dogs and cats to poorly run county owned shelters and hope they get picked to go to a better shelter BEFORE they get euthanized? I did make a few calls to some smaller volunteer organizations who sounded just as desperate as I did. They were full and seriously could not take them. I can understand that. I'm too full to take in any more strays. The bigger shelters have no excuses. It's a poor system and something has to change. I hope I can raise enough hell to get noticed. I have the weekend to find a better solution for these dogs, because mark my words they will be back in my hands by Wednesday to find a better home. I'm not going to sit back and let perfectly good dogs go to waste.

{it's a...}

...GIRL! Ahh! We are SO excited! Our appointment was at 2 today, and oh em gee did that make for a looooooong morning! Our ultrasound tech was absolutely amazing! Our little girl's heart, brain, spine, and everything in between checked out great! She was a little sassy and didn't want to cooperate with us on a few things...she probably gets that from her mama! Her heart rate was 143 and that little heart was just a thumping! She was also moving around a lot, but I STILL haven't felt anything! No worries though, our doc it was just the way she was positioned.

Little Weavus's real name is going to be......Ava Kate! She'll be named after my maternal great great grandmother, Mary Ava Kate Addison. My great grandmother, Memaw Cromer, (who is still as spry and sassy as ever!), kept telling me she 'sure does wish someone would name their little girl after her mama'. When Memaw Cromer 'suggests' something, you listen! The cool think is we were going to use Ava, after her mom, and decided on Kate as a middle name just because I liked it. Then come to find out her actual middle name was Kate. I really had no idea! Funny how things work out like that! I like to think it was meant to be!

I'll leave you with a few ultrasound pictures and my belly at 20 weeks!

This is her side profile. Her head is on my right side. She also wouldn't move her hand down from her face, but we could see her five little fingers perfectly!

Her face.

Ava Kate will hate us for this later, but tada! She's a girl! The 3 little white lines are called a hamburger.

Side profile picture!

Here I am at 20 weeks! Excuse the unfinished paint job on the wall (painting beadboard is HARD) and the sleepy terrier in the background! But, hey, at least my bed is made?

{for cayce}

I know, I know. I'm the worst blogger on the face of the earth. I would lie and say I've been reeeally busy, but the two people who actually read this blog know it's not true. :) I'm going to try and play catch up. I'll start with my 16 week appointment. FYI, I'm 19 weeks and we're going to our 20 week appointment next Wednesday. Slack I tell you!

16 Weeks
We had a great appointment with Dr. Salley again. Weavus's heartrate was 156. Chad and I bet on it before and I WON! I can't remember (because it was A MONTH AGO) what he guessed. I think it was something waaay low. Dr. Salley also said he had a 'girl feeling'. Hmmmm...we'll see next Wednesday. In bad news, I had to get a flu shot which ruined my morning. They hurt. I also kept Evus and she made my day better! I had to cart her over to the Toyota dealership to get my car fixed and she was so good! I'm serious. Best. Baby. Ever. She impressed all the boys with her spit bubbles and squeals. :)

Birthday Shout Outs
October is a big month for birthdays on the Bush side of the family. Well, our family is SO BIG, I'm sure any month is a big birthday month! We like to compare our family to kudzu. We're very invasive...in a good way...and keep on spreadin' out! Amanda's 22 birthday was on the 5th and she was lucky enough to have Carolina beat Alabama! Let's talk about a good birthday present! Also ESPN Gameday was broadcasting from the Horseshoe. I can proudly say that she didn't bring shame to the Bush name on national television. You never can tell with Amanda. I kid! :) Next was Lexi's birthday on the 6th and she turned 8! In lieu of presents for her birthday, she wanted everyone to bring dog and cat food to donate to the local animal shelters! I'm so proud of her!! This was the 2nd year she's done it! She's such a big girl now and I can't even stand it! Lexi has been taking riding lessons for a couple of years now and she even has her own horse! She's a white pony named Maggie. (Side note: Maggie used to belong to my band director, Mr. Thomas! Small world, eh?) Lex had a horse birthday party so Maggie and her riding teacher's horse Cricket came. It was a fun time for everyone! Lexi's dad, Uncle Charlie had a birthday last Wednesday, the 13th. He is such a great dad! Aunt Melinda and Uncle Charlie are foster parents. I have never met such selfless, caring and nourishing people! Lexi was one of their foster kids and they and the whole family were lucky enough to adopt her! Chad the Dad turned 30 on the 20th. It's a running joke that Chad has been 30 for as long as I've known him. We had a little dinner here for him with his parents and sister and her boyfriend and my parents and sisters and my memaw. We didn't have horses, but it was a good time! As a late birthday present we get to find out what little Weavus is going to be! And finally for the October Birthday Shoutouts, the newest member of the Bush family is going to be born TOMORROW, the 22nd! My aunt, Emmie, is having her 2nd child, a little boy, Jacob Adam. Bless his sweet unborn soul, I've been telling people his name is James Allen. Jake has an older sister, Brooke, who is an entire blog entry to herself! She is quite a character for lack of other words. We're all waiting to see her reaction to her baby brother!

Cheerleading
My little sister Jessie is a cheerleader for the MCHS JV squad. They started their competitions last Saturday and OMG, she did SOOO GOOD! It was her first competition ever and I was a hot, nervous, sweaty mess! She did so good though! She owned the mat and hit every move and her facial expressions were dead on! She is a natural! Jessie has 3 more competitions and I can't wait to see how they do!

Mountains
My family took a little weekend trip to the mountains the first weekend of October. We all had a good time and laughed a lot at each other's expense. Isn't that what families are for? :) My sister took all the pictures and you can check them out on her facebook page! P.S. it was fah-reezing!

I think that's all that happened in October. I think. Next week I'll let you know WHAT WE'RE HAVING! And I'll put up a 20 weeks belly picture, because, believe you me, this baybay is growing out of control! I won't forget! I hereby, solemnly swear to keep my blog updated. Did you read that Cayce? You being my sole reader, don't let my slip up!