From time to time, I return to my blog.  It is more like visiting a long lost friend, or opening a present you have tucked away just for that special occasion. I have lost track of site visits, how often anyone comes by to check in, but I am still here.

You see, the life of a blogger, to call it that, is solitary. I got complaints from family about how much time I was spending checking in, coming up with material, posting and what not.  I was missing out.

Since my last post, a lot has changed.  I have retired from the Phoenix Police Department as a lieutenant and the reason for the move, was I was offered a great job with our local transit agency as the Director of Safety and Security. I was going to have to retire in two more years (October 2016) to be exact and this was a once in a lifetime.

Our boys are now 13 and 11 and sprouting mustaches and body odor.  Oh, the joy of boys!  I have not written or worked on any of my short stories in the literal sense or the tangible sense (pen to paper) but boy or boy, have I thought about writing!! 

My lovely dog; the one listed in a few posts ago, has since undergone drastic jaw surgery.  It is called a mandibularectomy.  I was devastated. She is the daughter I never had and "mama's baby girl".  I would do anything for her.  She had a benign tumor in her mouth that I had removed in January 2014, but it was the type to grow back and the only "cure" was to remove part of her jaw.  Of course when explained that in the veterinarian's office, we both echoed "Oh, we don't want to do that!!" No more was said.  I wished I had done my research.  It of course returned as they said it would, one year to the day almost. It came back with a vengeance I might add.  It was now affecting her ability to eat and had taken on the odor of dead fish. 

I begged for a specialist, someone to give me some sort of positive news. Someone to tell me that a partial removal of my dog's jaw was not the end of the world.  And I got it.  In the form of an oral dental surgeon who specializes in just these sort of things, and he has done a bunch of them.  His words were, via the vet at the hospital I visited and with tears streaming down my face, "Dogs do just fine with part of their jaw removed."

Within 3 days, she was being prepped for surgery and it has been almost a month.  My baby girl is just fine.  She never gets a break.  Hip dysplasia, bad knee, strained foot tendon, allergies and now this. She has the heart of a lion and love for everyone. 

I went off on a tangent but just wanted to share.  Let me know if you are also still out there.  It is late, I don't have time to proof read and I am writing off the top of my head. 

Please knock, I will answer.