I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been a big fan of bran muffins. Visions of dry, mealy bites of food come to mind, don’t they? That was why we were pleasantly surprised when we tried out this recipe from America’s Test Kitchens (or Cook’s Illustrated). We happened to catch this cooking segment on Food Network a few weeks back and they made them look so good.

They are absolutely delicious: moist, chewy, full of tasty raisins (we like the golden ones best), and made with good-for-you ingredients. We’ve made them twice now and they last us all week for breakfast. One is enough to fill us up for the entire morning. They have staying power!

Why not give them a try? I’m sure you’ll agree they are the best bran muffins you’ve ever eaten.

Sorry for my outburst of personal misery the other day. Sometimes it all just gets to me. I know my small problems are nothing compared with some of the awful things other people go through. I hate to be a whinger. Thank you all for your support via emails and comments (and even a visit!), it means a great deal to me.

On top of Sailor, Alex broke out in a horrendous “hot spot” on his face and needed treatment. It’s amazing how quickly they can crop up and become an infected and inflamed mess. Poor Alex is now sporting the newest dog fashion of the one-sided-facial-shave with the “must have” accessory—the plastic e-collar. Oh woe is he! Three times per day he has to have his antibiotics and his wound cleaned and spread with panalog. He is not the best of patients to be tended by one with not much patience. We are managing. My legs will have bruises for weeks and the furniture is also suffering the brunt of his inadequacies of maneuvering with a plastic cone on his head.

Sailor has started on the last chemo protocol that we can try. This one is a five week cycle. He gets two different drugs injected at the vet, then home with prednisone and another drug (Matulane). He goes back in 7 days for another injection and stays on the at-home meds for another week. After that he gets three weeks off. We won’t know if this one is working until after the second injection. We are hoping he can handle this protocol as there is a 30% chance that he could become sick from it (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea). It’s even more expensive than the previous treatment. The Matulane alone was $236.00 for 14 capsules! ouch.

It’s been gloomy and rainy all week, but it looks like the sun may just come out today. The grass outside my window is actually looking green and the forsythia hedge has a glow of yellow about it.

Lately I’ve been thinking way too much. Some things in my life are totally out of control.

Sailor’s lymphoma,  which by the way as of today is no longer in partial remission, but out of control. At least out of mine. Since I don’t believe in “divine intervention,” I guess we are on our own.

The sale of our house in Colorado. Trust me; these people looking at our house don’t have clue what real houses or real life looks like. “Dated” ( read 10 yrs) is what we are hearing. Hmm… have we come forward as a society like Las Vegas that needs to raze everything in sight in order to keep up with what the current fad is? What has happened to timeless classic? Have we become a cookie-cutter society? So sad.

What about you, aka “my readers?” I get a few comments now and then. I’m not even sure people are reading and getting anything out of anything I write. I have always hated those people that whine about nobody commenting on their blogs. I don’t want to become one of them. I started this blog to keep friends and family in touch with what was happening in our lives. I guess I got greedy when a few people started to read. I would love to have more interaction with people reading my blog, but again, this has not happened and is out of my control.

Frankly, when I read other people’s blogs and they have over 10 comments I don’t feel the need to add mine in. In my mind they already have enough people commenting that the don’t need my simple opinion.

I need to take control over the things in my life that I CAN control. I’ve not yet decided what those things are exactly, but I need to work on a list and move forward. I’ve even thought of restricting my blog to family and friends only. Rick thinks I am nuts regarding this. I’ve had so many comments left by

spammers that you never get to see because of my enabling comment moderation it’s disgusting. It’s very discouraging when the number of comments that I have to approve are junk vs. viable.

Sorry to burden you all (whoever you are!) with this tonight but I am feeling very low. Maybe tomorrow will be different. It hasn’t been a good day.

A note: Thank you to all of you that either comment on the blog or let me know you’re reading by emailing me. I appreciate you all!

Yesterday’s weather was very spring-like. Beautiful blue sky, warm sun, and just the slightest breeze. Nothing like the gray skies, wind, and chilly rain that we’ve seen so far this year. We got out and worked in the yard a bit, getting rid of leaves that didn’t get cleaned up in the fall. They are everywhere! We made some good progress. At least our front yard (after professional clean-up) is now prepared and ready for the grass to start growing. Just when that will be, I don’t know. I snapped some pictures of the only things showing signs of life in my yard.

This tree in the front yard is always the first to show signs of budding. I don’t know what kind of tree it is but I will soon since I finally bought a tree identification book.

These bushes are planted along the front of the house. I don’t really like them but I don’t know what I would put in their place either. When it flowers (which is has decided is now) it’s kind of pretty. I think it’s called a Chinese-something-or-other.

The forsythia bush in the back flower bed has a bud or two waiting to pop.

The wild onions that proliferate our back yard are growing like crazy. I should put them in a salad or something. They are flavorful. (Note: that’s Alex enjoying the yard behind them.)

The daffodils are making progress over my photo of two weeks ago, but not much.

And that’s about the extent of spring in my yard. Today it’s back to being gray and sullen outside. By noon it’s supposed to be raining. I know it’s not the way the saying really goes but I’m hoping that all our March showers will bring April flowers. I’m not complaining, truly I’m not. I’m just tired of Winter and more than ready for Spring.

Some of you may be wondering how Sailor is doing since his diagnosis of lymphoma and his resulting chemotherapy. It’s been kind of an up and down journey so far. The first protocol which he had started the last time I wrote had to be abandoned after his nodes doubled in one week after the third treatment. It was very discouraging for us since this is the protocol that 80% of dogs respond well to. Not so for Sailor. Although he tolerated the chemo extremely well and was not at all ill from the treatments, it obviously was not working.

We started a new protocol five weeks ago. Instead of having a treatment every week this particular protocol is given three weeks apart. It had a 50/50 chance of putting his cancer into remission. After the first treatment his nodes decreased by about 2/3 during the first week and they stayed down for the next two weeks. On his second treatment our vet was discouraged that the nodes were still not normal; hence no remission. She was skeptical that the second treatment would have much effect. We went ahead with the same protocol anyway and made an appointment to have him checked in two weeks time instead of leaving it the full three weeks. Her thinking behind this was that if it was not working and his nodes increased in size again, we shouldn’t wait another week before switching to a different protocol.

Today was his two week appointment. I had been monitoring his nodes during that time and could not really tell any difference in them. Some days they would feel slightly smaller but it was not enough to be certain of. The vet confirmed that they were approximately the same size that they were two weeks ago with no changes. This is not the greatest news, but neither is it the worst. Her term was “partial remission.” Hey, I never thought I’d be glad to hear those two words, but I am. He has even gained weight. This might just be due to my giving him extra protein in the form of cooked meats added to his kibble which is supposed to be good for fighting cancer. I’ve cut back on the amount of kibble and give him at least 4 oz. of fresh meat at every meal.

Sailor doesn’t know he’s sick. He gobbles his food, has a high energy level, his coat shines, his eyes sparkle. He groans and moans when I hug him in his little Sailor-talk. We can’t ask for anything more right now than his quality of life.

We went in today fully expecting to switch protocols and start a new one, but we were all in agreement that we should continue with this one until it isn’t working anymore. So, no chemo today but we will go back in next week for our normal three week treatment. We are keeping our paws crossed that his nodes continue to behave! He will never be “cured” of this cancer but for now we are managing to keep the monster at bay.