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How could you not fall in love with those eyes? 
Jeany with her favorite boy, Hunk...
I am Jeany, Queen of all I survey!!!
As much as I want to keep talking about the Lizzard, today I am going to take a break and talk about my other girly...mainly because it's her gotcha day, and because I didn't make much mention of her birthday back at the beginning of the month.
Five years ago today I was at an interpreting workshop in Atlanta. Scott agreed to go out to Kim's and pick up a "foster" that we had already thought about adopting but were going to "try out" to see how she did with Hunk and Henry and the cats. Apparently there was no more trying out to be done once Scott laid eyes on this pretty little yellow fawn girl named Bud's Lady Jean who allegedly tried to wrap herself around his legs from the start.
I got home and was told that she was "still in her crate and wouldn't come out," so I sat down on the floor in front of the crate and opened the door. There was a TINY ball of yellow fur in the back of the crate, and when she heard the sound of the door she looked around at me. That was all she wrote...
Eyes you could fall into...BLACK eyeliner, compliments of her granddaddy Dutch Bahama...and little ears with a grayish tint that flopped over like puppy ears... I was in LOVE. She slowly got up and walked out of the crate, came to me and pushed her forehead into my shoulder. She just stood there a moment, and then sighed.
That was the first time I fell in love with my Jeany Bean. She has been the happy ray of sunshine in our pack these five years. She's silly, she's vocal...she'll give you ten good reasons to put her on a leash and take her O-U-T to G-O in the C-A-R all the while stomping on your toes with her front paws. She will lose her mind for a treat, a turkey neck, or a Peep as I found out back at Easter. She is an obsessive licker and will CLEAN everything she can get her tongue on...Hunk has the cleanest ears of any dog I know.
Jeany changed my father's mind about greyhounds...when he met the boys he said how skinny they were, and how he was almost afraid to touch them. When he met Jeany, he proclaimed that while the boys were cute there just wasn't a more beautiful greyhound in the world than Jeany Bean.
Today is also my sister's birthday, so we have two reasons to celebrate. Thank you, Jeany Bean...Vanilla Bean...Jean, Jean, the Butter Bean... Beenie Weenie... Pretty Girl...thank you for choosing us to love you and be loved by you. I can't believe the little one that had just barely turned three that day five years ago is now eight years old...and still churning up the grass in the yard like the blonde streak she is. Happy Gotcha Day, Beautiful Girl.
Yet another Liz post...
I was watching her just now in the yard. Our neighbors have a pair of what they call "American Bulldogs" (look like pit crosses to me, but what do I know?) that were romping in their pen as my dogs were out in our yard after breakfast. Liz looked at them, then moved a few feet closer, then looked again. She continued this until she got to the fence, and then stared at them a good long time.
I was wondering as I watched her what she was thinking. Was she wishing that she could still run around like that? Was she remembering long long ago being a puppy on a greyhound farm? Or was she remembering her own puppies? She never barked or made a sound, just stood there watching with her perfect little ears raised and her head cocked a bit to the side.
I've noticed that I'm noticing EVERYTHING with her lately. As much as I try to tell myself that it's just another bad patch for our Old Gal, something is tugging at the back of my brain telling me this one is different. Maybe it's the lump I found on her side that I can't get my fingers all the way around. Maybe it's the increased frequency with which she's been having accidents in the house. Maybe it's the Parkinsonian tremor she's developed, or the Alzheimer's-like way she will go to the water bowl four or five times in a row, seemingly because she's forgotten she was just there.
Whatever it is, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of this house without her AAAAAWOOOOOF in it. I'm afraid of seeing Profile on the couch without Liz curled up next to him, rear end in the air. I'm afraid of sitting at my desk and not having a dripping wet nose come goose me in the elbow when I'm not looking.
And most of all I'm afraid of never again hearing that contented sigh/snuffle when she finally finds the spot in the sun by the glass doors. I'm afraid of life without my Lizzard.
Classic Lizzard Roach
Lizzard up front for TREATS on Hunk and Profile's gotcha day in March
I want to take a sec to tell you about my Old Gal Lizzard. (Her beautiful face can be seen in the image on the front page of this blog.)
She's had a bad weekend, and hasn't quite come out of it yet, and I'm getting scared. The rational side of me says that she is almost 15 and I should be ready for whatever comes along because it is inevitable and most likely around the corner. My heart screams that it isn't fair, that we've only been blessed with her since April of 2001 and it just isn't enough time.
Lizzard is stubborn. She wants to do everything herself, from walking up and down the stairs leading to the basement to careening off the sofa at night to "go to bed." She will balk if pulled or pushed in a direction she does not wish to go, and LOUDLY lets the other dogs know if they are in her way.
Lizzard is curious. Her diminished eyesight has led her to investigate her world with her mouth. I suppose it is a blessing to our furniture and SKIN that she had to have all of her teeth removed. She roars through life, unphased by her inablility to see and inadvertent collisions with furniture and people. Her motto is Get OUTTA my way, Old Lady coming through to investigate!!
Lizzard is affectionate...in her own way. She is not a snuggly dog unless she is cold. She is not a kissy dog unless you have food on your face. She will, however, curl up on the sofa next to you, occasionally looking up at you with those beautiful milky eyes...and then snort and put her head back down.
Lizzard is playful. When she is feeling good, Katy Bar The Door she's gonna play. She bounces around the den, playbowing and putting her mouth on everything withing snout range. She will toss toys up in the air and then look around frantically for them. She will head butt the other dogs and bark at them to join the fun.
Lizzard is mine...and I am hers...as long as she walks the same earth as I do, and beyond.
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