March has started off fairly well. So far the weather has been quite nice and I haven't gotten pneumonia! And I don't plan to get it! Instead I am making plans to visit Charlotte, NC.

Thanks Captain Kirk!! I followed Bill Shatner's advice and went to priceline.com. I put in a bid for $100 less than the actual ticket price and got it approved. With taxes included, although I have to make a connection in Pittsburgh, I saved just a little over $150. Next time, I'll have to bid even lower. LOL

Of course, this is the month for birthday's in our family and now is my turn to get older (on 3/14, I will be all of 38 yrs. old!).

After two years, I finally made it back home to North Carolina. The only problem is that home is no longer in NC, since almost all my family has crossed over the line into South Carolina. (I took this pix to prove to my "Yankee" friends that I made it safely with no plane crashes and no airline strikes!)

My Family (in no particular order!)

D O N N Y		Angie
		Coming Soon! a new niece
Kayla (mouseover to get a close-up of this cutie!)

Jon	Lisa
Don't be shy, Jenny. Step up and let Uncle mIkIE take your picture!	Jonathan isn't camera shy!	The only time Jackson held still.

Dennis is catching 40 winks before the party

The Big March Birthday Party

My "baby" brothers! :)

	GrandMother (or "Nana" as the kids know her), my Mom (now "GrandMother"), and Lisa getting the fixin' together.
(Uh oh! GrandMother wonders what I'm up to.)
	GrandMother learns all about webcams, as she smiles for my camera.

Jon doing his best "Blair Witch" impersonation

Jon is looking for trouble


Lisa fussing at her "biggest" child!

Thanks Everyone!

I had such a wonderful time visiting all of you. Having lost Randy, Dad, Apple, Elektra, EightBall, LBB, and Hershey over these last 5 years has really depressed me and left me feeling alone and this was just the shot of sunshine that I needed in my life.

I thought I had finished writing things about this month; but life stepped in and threw me another curve.

Ever since we lost Elektra and Eightball, Triumph has been kind of depressed and sluggish. I think he actually enjoyed playing the "old man" of the house. However, just before my trip to Charlotte, he began to have some problems. I noticed that he was having problems getting up and walking around, so I made plans to take him to the vet the first part of April to get his hips checked out. However, upon my return to home, Triumph's health began to deteriorate quickly. Just one week after my trip home, I took Tri to the vet's. The x-rays showed that his belly was filled with fluid, making it hard to tell if he had a tumor or not, and whether his liver or spleen were infected. When I called the vet on Saturday morning, he had very bad news for me. Triumph was already having liver and kidney failure, probably due to the tumor that was confirmed by a second x-ray.

As with all my babies, I quickly drove to the vet to be with Triumph at the end. I was quite shocked by how much sicker he had become. Although he didn't move at all when the vet brought him into the exam room, Triumph did open his eyes. I saw that sparkle of recognition and love shining there, and knew that he knew that I was there. I told him that Randy was waiting for him, along with his mom Eightball. He had been so motionless before the injection, that my vet had to use his stethoscope to make sure that Goobie had gone.

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