My New Venture

Good morning everyone!! A lot of you have noticed that Im not here that much anymore. However I am on G+, and have another WordPress site! Yep. I opened up shop so to speak. Go check it out and add me on G+ if you’re there! 

 

http://morganramirez.com/

 

 

A Different Kind of Birth Story

Let me start by saying that this is a very personal post. I have been toying with writing about this for a long time, but always get stuck somewhere between sharing too much of something so personal and helping someone.  I was finally convinced a couple weeks ago that it’s time to tell the story, the story of Giovanna Phoenix Ramirez.  My intent is to tell people what happened, so that maybe people that have been through something similar would know that they aren’t alone, and God forbid, anybody that goes through something similar in the future may have an idea of what to do in the middle of the chaos.

So let me tell you what finally pushed me to write this.  I was at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic at Loma Linda, for my 33-week check up, and when I was scheduling my next appointment, the nurses were writing a referral to another patient to see a doctor in my town.  I live two and a half hours away and there is only one OBGYN in my town, I’ll call him Dr. M, so when the nurses mentioned the doctor’s name I knew that she was from Ridgecrest.  I turned to her and asked her if she was from Ridgecrest even though I already knew the answer.  She replied that she was, and asked me if I was. I said yes, and she next asked me why I wasn’t seeing Dr. M. I couldn’t reply for many reasons, which I hope you’ll understand by the time you’re done reading this, so she asked me if I was pregnant with my first or second to which I replied “It’s my second only because the doctor you’re seeing lost my second”.  The nurses immediately jumped all over me saying, “Don’t say that!” and then began telling her it would be fine. As I looked at the girl who asked me and watched her face drop I thought to myself that maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, but after thinking about it for a while and talking to those close to me, I realize that if I help one person by telling my story, then it’s completely worth it.  So here’s the story of Giovanna Phoenix Ramirez.

The month of July 2009 was full of big plans and big events for our family. We were moving into our first home that we had been building the previous four months.  We got the keys on the first of July and started moving in immediately.  It was the standard self-move full of boxes, clothes, and furniture.  On the second of July, I was busy steam cleaning our couch because I had noticed that there were black spots on it from some boxes that had been set on top of it.  Now, at this point I was 20 weeks 6 days pregnant.  We already had one son who was a little over a year old and decided to keep the sex of the second a surprise.  The pregnancy had been going great. Completely different from my first. I felt healthy, energetic, and happy! I was sick with my first a lot, and felt drained throughout the pregnancy, but this pregnancy was different.  Because we hadn’t finished moving our furniture in, we were staying at my parents for the night.  During the middle of the night our son, who was sleeping with us, woke up from a nightmare.  After consoling him, I got up to use the restroom and noticed that I was bleeding.

Before I continue, I want to talk about the town I live in and the hospital for those that aren’t familiar with Ridgecrest.  I live in a town of 26,000 people, and the nearest metropolitan area is about an hour and a half away.  We have a hospital that has no ICU or capability to handle major emergencies.  Patients are usually transported to Loma Linda or Bakersfield, C A if they need care that Ridgecrest Regional Hospital cant give.

When I noticed the blood, I wasn’t sure what to do. My whole family was sleeping, and the pregnancy had been going so smoothly I didn’t want to freak out needlessly. So I called my insure providers nursing line.  The nurse said that I should seek treatment, but that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  I woke up my husband and told him what was going on, and by this time, my mom was already up.  My husband encouraged me to go to the hospital. We headed off to the E.R. at about midnight and left our son with my mom.

We waited about an hour in the E.R. and when we finally saw a Dr. he said that I probably had a urinary tract infection, prescribed me some anti-biotic and made an appointment for me to see an ultrasound technician the next morning.  Apparently, the hospital didn’t have any ultrasound technicians on call.  So I went home and barely slept.

My husband and I woke up first thing in the morning to go see the ultrasound tech.  At this point, we still hadn’t found out what we were having. We already had a boy and we were fine with whatever we were having next.  When the ultrasound began, the tech. asked us if we wanted to know the sex and we said no.  As the appointment continued, the techs face began to look more and more concerned.  When she left the room in the middle of the appointment, my husband and I knew that something was wrong.  She returned and said that Dr. M said he wasn’t our doctor, and she asked us if we had been seen somewhere else.  I explained that he was in fact our doctor and had an appointment with him next week, and had seen him throughout this pregnancy as well as my first.  She called him again, and he said that he would see me at my next appointment.  She couldn’t hide her concern anymore, and told us that we needed to go get treatment somewhere, anywhere. She told us that she suspected that I had an “incompetent cervix” and I had started to dilate.  I was at 3 centimeters already.  We were in shock and weren’t sure what to do next. We asked what we were having as we were leaving, and got amazing news that we were having a little girl!

As we were leaving the hospital, I called Dr. M and his nurse told me that his instructions were that I should just lie down and try to stay in bed until he saw me next week.  Dr. M didn’t seem that concerned, and I wanted to trust him.  I felt that if he wasn’t worried, I shouldn’t be.  I didn’t want to overreact.  I know someone that overreacts about every health concern, and after awhile you stop listening to them. I didn’t want to be that person so we went home. I wanted to trust my doctor. Trust that they wanted to do the right thing and would never put me or my baby in harm’s way.

I stayed still Friday day but by that night, my bleeding had picked up.  My husband and I went to the ER again, and this time I insisted on being checked into the “B” Wing.  The “B” Wing is the Birthing Wing within the hospital.  They called Dr. M who then said he wasn’t treating me for anything and I was discharged faster than I had been checked in.  I went back to my parent’s house where we were staying picked up our son and went to our new and empty house.  Luckily, my husband and my dad had put together our bed and enough things that we could stay there.  I was worried and confused. I cried myself to sleep.

The next day I stayed mostly still.  I was up and down, but refrained from doing anything strenuous.  That afternoon I was using the restroom and I noticed that a bag of bulging water was protruding.  I told my husband and we dropped our son off at my parent’s house again, and we headed to the hospital.  I checked myself into the “B” Wing again.  The nurses called Dr. M again, and he said that if I wanted to, I could stay, but that he still wasn’t treating me for anything so I could only stay one night. Every time I tried to show the nurses the sac, it would recede.  I’m not sure if they believed me or cared.   We laid in the birthing wing listening to the nurses discuss who was going to Dr. M’s house for his 4^th of July party, and who was going to wear what.  I was astonished, mad, sad, confused….you name it that I still hadn’t been seen by Dr. M and that part of it was because he was having a party.  I cried myself to sleep again, but this time in the hospital.

The next morning I woke up to use the bathroom, and the sac was showing. I called the nurse in to see it, and she finally called Dr. M confirming that she had seen it.  At this point, he still hadn’t seen me or my ultrasounds to make any type of diagnosis himself. She told me that he would be in later that day.  An important point to make is that not only was he my OBGYN and had been treating me throughout both my pregnancies, he was and had been the Dr on call.

Dr. M finally showed up towards the end of the day.  He asked me what was going on, and after I told him everything, I asked him why he hadn’t seen me.  His reply was that it wouldn’t have helped if he did.  I believed him at the time. I was exhausted physically and emotionally, and had never been given an actual diagnosis by a Dr to research.  He again told me that he could not admit me to the birthing wing because he wasn’t treating me for anything. He told me to go home and wait, that the birth of my little girl was only a matter of time.  He told me that because it was so early in my pregnancy, that if she was born so early and kept alive that she would have Cerebral Palsy at the very least.  I started crying…harder.  I kept saying that I was scared I was going to have her at home and I didn’t know what to do. Dr. M pulled my husband aside, gave him a specimen bucket along with surgical scissors, and told him where to tie and cut the umbilical cord.  He left with our number and said he would call to check in on me.

The next day, Monday, my husband and I drove an hour and a half to Lancaster for a second opinion.  In the first two hours I had more care and attention then I did in Ridgecrest. I had a heart rate monitor hooked up, blood work, ultrasounds etc before I could even blink.  Within two hours I had been checked into the Birthing Wing and assigned two Dr’s, a regular OBGYN and a high risk OB.  The put me in the trendlenburg position and prepped me for surgery just in case the high risk OB prescribed it.

Later that day, the specialist came in to see me, and we told him what we had been going through.  He didn’t want to hear about what the other Dr hadn’t done which almost made me feel ashamed for feeling as if he hadn’t done anything to help us.  He did however want to do an emergency cerclage and diagnosed it as an incompetent cervix.  As we finished telling him about how the bag had been exposed, he no longer wanted to do the surgery.  He said that the bag had been exposed to bacteria and it was only a matter of time until the bacteria ate through it, and if he were to sew my cervix, it would only speed up the process.  He also said that I had dilated too much by that time to safely put in a stitch.  The Dr. gave me the option to stay at the hospital for as long as we wanted or until she was born. I talked to my husband about it, and decided that the outlook for our little girl was not good and that being away from my son and family was not something I could stand to do in such a hard time.  We checked out and went home.

Over the next few days I stayed in bed, cried a lot, denied the situation to myself, talked to this little marvelous girl in my belly A LOT. I let her know that I thought she was an incredibly strong little being and that whatever she decided to do, I would support her either way.  I apologized over and over to her for not having a healthy and sound enough body to keep her safe and sound until she was supposed to be here on earth with us.

I started becoming ill… My husband and I slept with the bathroom light on every night.  The surgical scissors, specimen bucket, and tons of towels had been laid out in case I delivered her.  The thought of having her in the bathroom made me sick to my stomach every day.  I was scared to go to the bathroom. What happened if the bag came out and I delivered her? I had already dilated and I knew she couldn’t be that big. My husband and I barely slept, barely talked, and cried a lot.

By Friday, July 10^th I was running a fever, had been bleeding heavily for over a week, and had become increasingly weak.  Dr. M still hadn’t called to check on me so I called him.  He said that he would be right over (this was in the A.M.); he didn’t show up until about five in the afternoon.  He did a quick exam and said that I was becoming septic and that I needed to be induced. He told me to show up to the hospital the next morning at seven.

We showed up the next morning July 11^th, and began the induction.  I don’t remember much except for the immense pain that the contractions were bringing.  It wasn’t long until my little girl was born.  No one was there to catch her, and I just remember asking if she was alive.  The nurse told me she was and asked me if I wanted to hold her.  I was crying so hard I couldn’t bear to look at or hold her.  I felt ashamed that my body had failed her and that I hadn’t done more.  I held on to my husband and cried.

The next thing I knew I woke up as I was being wheeled out of the delivery room and was told that I was going to need emergency surgery.  I woke up again later after a couple of transfusions.  The Dr examined me and cleared me for release.

After I woke up and came to, I wanted to hold my baby girl.  The nurses brought her to me along with some photo’s that had taken. She apparently didn’t live more than a minute or two.  She weighed over a pound and was almost a foot long.  I looked at her little face when I was holding her, now 22 weeks old, and she looked just like me. My son looks just like my husband and my little girl looked just like me! She had my nose, my eyebrows, and my lips… my everything. She was perfect. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, just the house that held her.

I had to fill out the birth and death certificate before I left.  We were given the option to leave her as a Jane Doe but I couldn’t do it. I felt that I couldn’t do anything else for her, the least I could do was give her a name and an identity. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and I wanted to remember how perfect she was. My husband and I had always like Giovanna for a first name, but had never discussed the middle name. I had brought up Phoenix a couple of times but it wasn’t met with much enthusiasm.  This time when I brought it up, it fit perfectly.  We named her Giovanna Phoenix Ramirez and went home.

The next time I left the house was for a checkup with Dr. M. I told him that I was still bleeding heavily and he said he wanted to check to make sure everything was okay.  He did an exam and had found that he left large pieces of placenta intact.  He removed them right then and there.  I felt even more humiliated and sick.  He told us that God must have chosen us for a reason and that this experience had encouraged him to go back to church again.  He told us that if we weren’t strong enough to handle this God wouldn’t have given it to us and that we needed to find faith.  We went home.

My husband and I went to work shortly after, but neither of us dealt with the public that well.  Friends made comments like “If it makes you feel better…” or “why didn’t you” some people disappeared all together and others acted as if nothing had happened. While some disappeared, others showed up as expected and expected angels. My supervisor at the time referred me to grief counseling and let me work from home. He is one of my favorite people to this day for the guidance he gave me.  My dad checked on me and listened, a lot. My best friend and cousin held my heart from afar. Most importantly, my husband and I learned to work through it together.

Over the next couple of months, I talked to Dr’s about what happened and researched what could have been done.  I could have received an emergency cerclage if caught early enough and given medication to stop the labor.  I should have trusted my instincts and not relied so heavily on the Dr.  I should have been assertive and demand that I receive the proper care, but now I know. I know that I can refuse treatment, and if I don’t get the treatment I want or deserve I can go get it somewhere else.

I would be lying if I said my husband and I have completely pulled it together since this. I still think about her daily, as does he. We sometimes find moments that bring all of the thoughts and feelings rushing back, but don’t know how to properly cope, or try to handle it on our own.  Anniversaries of the day she was born and the day she was due have come and gone and it affects me every year.  I’ve pulled out of the depression I was in, and have re-evaluated my relationship with just about everyone, but most importantly my four-year-old son and my son due in just a couple weeks.  We don’t get a do over in this life. It’s here, it’s now. Do the best you can with the one’s you have.

 

 

30 is the new 20…

Oh goodness, I hope not. I turned 30 a couple of weeks ago, and the weeks leading up to that were a little bit of a rollercoaster.  I was happy to be done with my 20’s one minute, the next minute I would feel upset that I wasn’t “young” anymore.  See, I was looking at 30 through a 21 year old’s eyes.  30 was ancient to me. If I was to have a conversation with someone past 30 (and not a good friend) I subconsciously thought of it as unsolicited advice.  And I’m sure many will now see me as giving unsolicited advice.  And guess what….I’m okay with that.

Looking back at the last year, with the help of this little blog, I have realized a couple of things about myself and my life. For example…

#1. I have a crazy busy life! And I loved it that way! Absolutely loved it. In the last couple months I have figured out, that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.  I felt that I needed to prove to myself and maybe one other (if I’m going to be completely honest)person that I could handle the world on my shoulders, and I’ve finally figured out that it’s not worth it.  I have cancelled my plans to continue on to my masters degree and instead am planning on taking the test for my professions certification.

#2. I am constantly searching for something to fulfill me.  Now, I don’t mean like a child, or a family, or a career. I mean something that is purely selfish and self-fulfilling.  I wanted to do something only for myself, that would make me happy. I didn’t care if it made anyone else happy.  I went through a running spree….the next great marathoner I was not! I started a blog…which is hit and miss for me sometimes. I’m walking this line of how much do I share, how much do I keep to myself? Do I keep my real personnality in check or do I just let it all hang out?  I wanted to buy a coffee shop, or open a day care! My most recent adventure in photography finally fit the bill though.  I know because I’ve been obsessed for over a year…that’s a decade in my time. Im not worried about if people will like my personal work, I mean I hope they do, but it’s not my #1 concern. I think I’ve finally found that one thing! Yay!

#3. I have a pretty awesome life. Like everyone I have had some very hard times, that I wouldn’t wish on even my worst enemy, but in between those hard times are great times!  I have been very blessed at work. I had an amazing boss who gave me plenty of good advice and reality checks. I have an awesome little boy who cracks me up at least hourly. He teaches me patience daily, and has pulled me through some of my hardest times in my life. He really is my heart. I have an amazing husband. We have gone through our hard times as any married couple will tell you they have if they are being honest, but were still here! He’s an amazing father. I never have to worry about going on travel for work, because he’s competent. That was very important to me when making my “list”.  I live comfortably. I don’t have to worry about how Im going to find food to put on the table, or how I’m going to clothe my family.

I’m looking forward to my 30’s.  I pictured myself knowing how to handle situations better, how to talk less and listen more, how to not take things so seriously, to rise above things. Basically I think that I’m going to be able to rise above myself and put more effort into the bigger picture.  I want to bring more babies into this world, and become more involved with the March for Dimes. I want to learn how to take better photographs and use off camera flash so that I can become involved with NILMDTS.  I want to build another house where we will stay forever. And I want to be comfortable with the decisions I make, and not look outwards for validation.  The 30’s will be great! Thank you everyone for joining me on this rollercoaster ride!

8 Easy Tips for Lens Flare (Tutorial)

This is my first ever tutorial as promised. Hopefully it’s understandable and easy to simulate :).

I first started exploring photography almost a year ago today, and part of that exploring meant pouring over blogs and reading tons of websites devoted to photographers.  I love almost every type of photo out there, but the ones that always caught my eye were light and airy. Many had these amazing little rainbow circles that were almost magical to me! Come to find out, it’s actually something that isn’t wanted by many photographers, thus the invention of lens hoods.  Well! I am not one to go by the rules, so after many months of experimenting I’ve figured a few tricks out to get that little rainbow circle in my photo’s. Btw the rainbow circle is called a lens flare sometimes refered to as a sun flare.

Hint #1: It’s easier to produce a lens flare with a crappy lens! All you kit lens owners rejoice!!! That’s me too btw! So even if you own an awesome $1,500.00 lens but have yet to master the lens flare, pull out that first lens you bought or that came with your gear.

Settings:

Lens EF50 f/1.8 II
50mm
ISO 100
1/500 sec f 2.8

Hint #2: Focusing. It’s practically impossible to focus when you’re shooting straight into the sun. So I block out the sun with my hand while I focus and expose for my subject. I have my focus set for center focus so once I get it, I will recompose and then click.

Lens EF-S55-250mm f/4-5
1/250 sec at f / 5.6
ISO 100

Hint #3: Exposing. This one took me FOREVER to get. I admit, I still have a way to go figuring out exposure. I’ve abandoned the meter inside my camera, because more times than not, it’s wrong. Or maybe not “wrong”, just not what I’m going for. So here’s the trick. Set up the histogram to show on your display. I was terrified of histograms, but trust me, they aren’t THAT bad. :).  When going for lens flare, most of the time, if not all, the background will be blown out. Who cares!? It’s part of the creative process that comes with the look we’re trying to achieve.  So expose for your subject.  And over-expose that by a little more so you don’t have a black blob.

Lens EF-S55-250mm f/4-5
1/250 sec at f / 5.6
ISO 100

Hint #4: Shoot during the golden hours. If not, you will be on the ground aiming up, which isn’t bad, it’s just not always as easy.

Hint #5: You can actually see it through the lens! I look for the flare in my viewfinder. When I can see it, I know that I have it.  It’s not as big on the photo as it is in the viewfinder though so don’t be shocked!

Nifty Fifty
1/320 @ f / 3.2
50mm
ISO 100

Hint #6: Different apertures will give you different shapes. When I have my aperture opened all the way up (think low numbers) I get round flares. When I have it closed (higher numbers) I get more of a hexagon shape.

Nifty Fifty
1/100 sec @ f / 3.2
50mm
ISO 100

Hint #7: Different lens’ have different colored flare.

Nifty fifty
1/1000 sec @ f / 2.8
50mm
ISO 100

Hint #8: Have fun!

This is my absolute favorite that I took when I first started trying to get lens flare!

EF-S18-55
1/20 sec @ f / 29
33mm
ISO 400

This Past Month….

Hello all you out there!!! So I bet you’re dying to know what I’ve been up to? Well, as usual I have been very busy with dinosaurs, mammoths, and blushing brides, oh my! I think I’ll keep this post to the dinosaurs and mammoths though :).

On September 3rd…wow is time flying by or what?!…we went to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. This trip was prompted by the movie Night at the Museum and Romans fondness for dinosaurs. Well its more of an obsession really. My days are filled with talks about dinosaurs, or hell just talking to imaginary dinosaurs that are sitting on top of the house or next to us at dinner. I digress…

Do you see the pitiful look on his face? It looks like he’s hating life. The only thing he was hating at the moment was that he couldn’t ride the T-Rex like the kid does in the movie. He lives a hard life I know.

Almost a smile here. Lol! Oh my…

Once he got over that little reality check it was all good. The museum was beautiful and much bigger than I expected.

This is one of my favorite photo’s from the whole day. I love catching him when he’s in his own world. He may not be looking at me but I know exactly what he’s thinking and feeling.

The next day we headed to the La Brea Tar Pits. No dinosaurs, but plenty of prehistoric creatures!

Roman and Sal are pushing a rod into tar. I was amazed that there was tar coming up in the middle of LA. It smelled kinda…well, like tar.

Here’s Roman with Manny :). He had such a good time and keeps asking to go back. I just got an invitation to a Halloween event being held there and I’m thinking we might go.

On an other note….Im nearing my one year mark. Oct 6th is it people! I will be turning the big 30! So much has changed, yet so much has remained the same! I plan on doing at least two more posts before than. Hey…that will make it the most I’ve blogged in a couple of months! Hehe. One post will be a tutorial on sun flares. Ill do that tomorrow, and of course, one will be on my birthday. I cant believe it’s almost here!

I’ll Trade You!

So it was time to get my hair did! I was looking a bit…..yeah! So we traded photo’s for a cut and color!

This little cutie is Emery! He is soooooo stinkin’ adorable! He was so easy to work with! By the end of the shoot he was my little shadow!

She also has a handsom son and georgous daughter! Lucky lady!

A little funk for ya…

I’ve got a couple more coming for you guys! And….Im gonna catch up with all your blogs!!

My First Wedding

A little over a month ago I photographed my first wedding for a friends mom. I was scared, nervous, excited, nervous, scared. Wait did I already say that?? I stayed up late studying after studying. Lots of studying in the Ramirez house. I knew I only had one chance to get it right. They knew I’m new to this. Still…wasnt totally comfortable.

I am so thankful that it was a friend, and a laid back momma. You hear that you should never photograph a friend’s wedding, but luckily it was a friends mom. Well, maybe it turned out awesome because the bride and groom were great.

This is the lovely bride. Lupe!!! I ❤ her tons! Everything went great. Some things, well everything, was a learning experience. I learned that a flash can only handle so much before going bizzerk on you. It started running through all the programing modes and making this weird whirling sound at the reception. Yeah, maybe I should look into a new one… 🙂

I figured out I need to find a good slide show maker. Any suggestions? I learned that I don’t have to stay on manual the WHOLE wedding, shutter priority will work too :).  I learned to wear something comfortable!!! Lots of studying….lots of learning.

I want to thank the Lopez family for letting me be a part of their beautiful day! They were truly wonderful, and trusting. I seem to catch breaks every now and then, and this was one of those times.

On another note, I have a ton on the way for all y’all. I have two families, a boy who decided to paint his face with mommy’s makeup when he was supposed to be napping, and another wedding :).

First Senior Moment

Not that kind of senior moment :).

I was in San Diego again for work last week, but this time I took my cousin with me who will be a senior next year.  We headed to Imperial Beach on Coronado Island. Here are a couple of pictures…

I’m so glad I was able to do this for her! She’s beautiful and I learned a lot without any pressure! Still a hobbyist and completly okay with it :).

Sea World and My Hiatus

 Ahhhh….I’ve been on Hiatus for a while. I feel like I’ve been saying that every time I post for the past couple months. LOL! But what can I say! I’ve been living life! I do however look forward when it’s not so busy with the “musts” but full with the “I get to do what I want to do”, like post more often, take more photo’s, spend long nights at my parents pool, wander in the desert, all that good stuff. Soon! I’ll be done with school in December so I’m hoping for some time after that. That’s if I don’t roll straight into the masters program. Shhhhh!!! Not sure how many people will be happy with that decision, but sacrifice in the present will lead to benefits of plenty in the future.  Or that’s what I like to tell myself anyways!

 

So I owe you all a HELLO, well anyone that still reads this, but I’ll just let the polar bear wave for me. As you can tell we went to Sea World last weekend. I was in La Jolla for work last week so the family came down to spend some time at the amazing hotel and hit up Sea World. Sal and I also caught a football (soccer) game on Wednesday. We watched Real Madrid vs. Guadalajara Chivas. We had a great time, and Sal was like a giddy little school girl watching Christiano Ranaldo play. He had the camera and I think the majority of the pictures are of him. Which is fine by me!!!

Roman recently watched Free Willy from beginning to end and is now in love with whales. So we got up Friday morning and headed to Sea World to meet all of Sal’s sisters and kiddo’s.  We knew we had to see Willy (Shamu- but try telling Roman that) and didn’t have anything else planned. There were so many of us that we didn’t really make plans besides that. Before the show started we stopped to see the seals. We fed a couple of seals, and one blasted seagull that took a sardine right out of my hands. Damn him! LOL!

We saw Nemo and Dori too! 

I have a photography challenge coming up where I will be in low light so I tried my hand at high ISO with no flash. I thought it turned out pretty good. Not good enough, but not bad. Maybe a little more brightness in LR? Anyways, this was the shark exhibit that Roman loved. He usually runs through these tunnels not really paying attention, but this one had his full attention. What is it with guys and sharks? For any of you interested, it’s shark week right now. LOL!

Finally, in the artic area a beluga whale giving the crowd a show :).

R.I.P. Cheech

Well I had mentioned that Cheech was sick and at the Vet’s. I went to pick him up today when a chat with the vet revealed an issue. He had a shunt. The short version is that his blood wasnt being filtered properly so it was poisoning him.  He wasnt living a very fulfilling life.  And while we were talking about what to do, Roman crawled in the kennel with him and put his hand on Cheech’s forehead and hit it with the other hand. He said “Cheech is all better”. I was a little mortified and smiling at the same time. I didn’t know we had a faith healer in the family until tonight. Roman has pulled us through so many dark times. He is seriously the reason were functioning as well as we are. To what level can be argued though :).

The photo above was from a couple of weekends ago when we went fishing. He didn’t like the water and this was him hesitating on the bridge.

Our time with Cheech was too short and sick. We will miss him a very much, but I know all dogs go to heaven and we’ll see him on the other side.