Sweet photo's of your dear sweet Sunshine -

I am SO THANKFUL the GHE is behind you and celebrating a new year with you.

God Bless you Sharon

I agree totally with what Vic said. I love those sunshine photos. I can see her in my mind's eye dancing, prancing, leaping with joy and hopping through the snow like a kangaroo! That makes a very happy mind picture.

Sharon, I am so thankful that you are starting to feel like you have turned a corner. That is the best start to a new year that I can think of. Your Sunshine dog is a delight and that is a great picture you shared of her enjoying the snow. I have such a special place in my heart for all our dogs who constantly bring joy to our lives.

It has been snowing in northern Virginia since 1:00 yesterday afternoon and still going strong. The forecast is estimating 30" or more. I am fully stocked with food (was with the hoards at the grocery stores before it started) and the house is warm and toasty. Power is still on. I am looking forward to a day holed up by the wood stove with a good book, the computer, and hot soup. Mike has been out plowing for the town of Leesburg since it started - he took a change of clothes and food figuring he would be out plowing for the next few days. So funny that I am so content to be snug at home and he is like a kid enjoying being out and about playing in the snow with the added benefit of actually getting paid for it . We don't get snows like this very often, but probably more often than western Kentucky.

I am glad for Sharon's determination and strong spirit. Although the symptoms for females are different than males, this, and the accompanying article, is for everyone! I did not get the opportunity to read the entire article this morning, but I have it bookmarked for later. Thanks Sharon for sharing your experience! God bless!

Y'all make me smile. But it is a happy milestone today and even with the sunshine on the snow blinding me this morning, it's a good day. Shadows are usually gloomy things, but today's tree shadows are diagonal and blue and long, like grids across the back yard. I could almost play hopscotch from one end to another with the piles of snow making shorter shadows of their own.

Vic, thank you. I believe you have been right beside me through the entire year, even the teary moments when I thought I might not take another step, and Annie not far behind Vic.

Terri, you surely know how to enjoy a snowy day. I can smell the wood smoke from here. And Mike is enjoying it too. Nothing better than that. We are children again, each in our own special way.

Thanks Leon. That's exactly what convinced me to write the article. I had to take a deep breath before publishing it though. It could well be the hardest thing I ever had to write.

Y'all stay safe and warm through this wintery spell we've been given. The icicles forming along my roof line are long enough to feel like bars on a cage. I don't know whether I'm inside looking out or outside looking in, but they surely are pretty from either direction.

I'm so glad you're feeling better, Sharon and survived the GHE! I read it all, and will pass it on to my friends and relatives. It's important for women to know that their heart symptoms might not be the classic ones. I loved the Sunshine pics!

I'm so glad you read the article, Karen, most of us mosey through life thinking health problems only happen to other people. I had to learn the lesson the hard way.

Thank you so much, Sunshine loves to pose! Today has been a different story, the sun melted a bit of the top of the snow and a crust of ice has formed. The first time she fell through it, you should have seen the look on her face. Now she takes a very gentle step and waits for just a little bit to see if she's going to crash through to bottom or remain on the ice. Funny dog!

So glad to see you are getting much better Sharon.

That must have shocked her when she went through the ice! Dogs are the greatest! I pity anyone who doesn't own at least one.

Tarev, thank you. I hope you and your family, those both near and far, are doing well!

All true, Karen. I am crazy about this dog.

We're crazy about our Shadow too. He dark brindle is turning white now, and he suddenly went deaf. Now we're getting worried about his eyesight. It sure is hard when they get older. He was a rescue from Best Friends in Utah. He was 3 years old when we got him, and we've had him 9 years now. Since he's a small dog (23 lbs) he will probably live longer than larger dogs, but you never know.

Oh, I read about him I think in the Pets forum. Sunshine and Shadow. Wow, we were on the same page when we named them.

Sunshine was a rescue as well. I hadn't had a dog in maybe 30 years but my children insisted when I was widowed that I get a dog. They don't live nearby and I have no family here, so they were probably right. . . Though there's not a bit of crime in this teeny tiny country town.

So I started looking at the County Animal Shelter and on a cold March day, there she was. She's a mix of course, and had been a stray till a couple brought her in. She had been hanging around their home and they didn't want her, I'm so glad they didn't. She has become a treasure for me. She grew bigger than they had predicted; I had been looking for one that was lighter in case I needed to pick her up someday, then when I was sick I worried about it again. Afraid she would yank me down or knock me over, not deliberately but because she is such a happy dog. I shouldn't have worried, it's as if she knows and she is as gentle with me as any person could ever be. Amazing how dogs can sense so many things.

Sunshine and Shadow. I just think that's the sweetest thing.

Their names do sound sweet together. When my parents were elderly they had large dogs, and those dogs acted very gentle around them. They would roughhouse with others, but always be quiet and calm around my parents. They do seem to know how to act.

All of my dogs were gentle, except for Jake who was really hyper although he never jumped on us in his hyperness, but it always amazed me that they were extra gentle around babies.