It has been quite a week. My wife and I have been (impatiently) waiting on Ian to become interested in potty training. All of our friends have warned us about boys being difficult, and they have said it would just all of a sudden take hold. Well they were right…sort of. Potty training is at least headed in the right direction (pun intended) although we still have our issues with lead time and if Ian is locked into an activity you better remember to force the issue and make him go to the bathroom or there will be clean-up at Taco Bueno (sorry Taco Bueno). This week things have gotten much better and given us some hope! I have to say that all-in-all this has been one of the most frustrating processes in my life. I can’t wait until this one is learned and followed.

Now for the one-eyed dog. Our cocker spaniel is 13 years old and has, for the most part, been a healthy dog. She has allergies that require prescription food and has had a couple of minor issues but mostly she’s been great. After an eye infection in her right eye, and an ear infection in her left ear she developed glaucoma in her left eye. This progressed rapidly and within a week she lost sight in it, it became swollen and even ulcerated (looked awful). We had to have that gut-wrenching conversation we knew we would one day have to have…do we put her down or continue to treat her. Gracie even knew it, as she spent an entire day laying at my feet in the office while I worked. She hasn’t done that in years. We decided to treat her eye for a while and see how things went. Of course once she was treated she got new life and we decided to have her eye removed. For the record it’s a touch decision to take out your 13-year-old dogs eye. It was the right one. She has acted like a 10-year-old dog ever since! If we get a few more months of happy dog then I am happy we did it, just couldn’t have lived with the alternative.

So how do you wrap up a week like that? By going to see Garth Brooks in concert of course. I am not a country music fan by any stretch of the imagination but I have to say he put on a hell of a show! My wife is a big fan and we went with a group of friends making it a great night. This concert was one of the loudest places I have ever been, and it had nothing to do with the music. Garth is LOVED in Oklahoma (he has a home a few miles from ours) and after 7 sold-out shows in two weeks he knows how okies feel about him. One thing that continues to disappoint me at all big events is the number of people who choose to watch a majority of the show through the screen on their phone. I’m all for social media and keeping in touch but you don’t need to live broadcast the thing. Take some pics, record some memories and enjoy the show through your own eyes. I am guilty at times of this as well, typically for me it is through the viewfinder of a Nikon, but nonetheless it is still not the best way to experience life. I am going to make an effort to heed my own advice and start enjoying the world around me, and not focus on sharing pics of it with you. Sorry. If I do take a pic, I’ll share it later.