Little Boy Blue

So I have a card today that I made for a few challenges. Not for anyone special, or for anyone not special. Just for the challenges.

Before I go into the specifics of the card, here's a little story for you. Last night Gary and I went to a Diamondbacks baseball game. We were offered free seats in a suite at the ballpark; a reward, I guess, because we had bought a 10-pack ticket package this year. Hey, I jumped at the chance to sit in a suite--a new experience, right? Cross off another item from my bucket list. I have been told that you get great food in a suite that you can't get elsewhere in the ball park. For real? I have no idea. Because when we got there, we were told that there was no food available in the suite last night. So we had to go buy our food at the Diamond Level concession.

A few years ago, the food available in the Diamond Level was outstanding for ballpark food. We loved it. So, this year when we bought our tickets, we made sure that we had Diamond Level seats. Great food this year? Not so much. In fact, I am sure that you can get better at the other seating levels. About all they offer is a cheese-steak sandwich or burgers for $8.50. Fries with that? Another $6.00. Yuck. I want a wonderful stir-fry or salad. What the heck? And then I asked for iced tea, only to be told that they were out of it. ???? How can you be out of iced tea at the beginning of a game? Anyway, my sandwich was edible, but not delicious last night. So I opted for red licorice for dessert, as I love me some red licorice. Oh, good grief. It was so stale I could hardly chew through it, and I threw most of it away.

The suite was too warm, as it had a low ceiling, which held in the warm hot air. The seats were no different than any other seats in the ball park. Not more comfortable, which I actually expected they would be. We were pretty far down the third baseline, so it was a little hard to see home plate. All in all, if I was complaining, (and, make no mistake about it, I am), it turned into a fairly unpleasant experience. Except for the game. Now, that was really fun! The Dbacks won in great fashion, complete with one player hitting for the cycle--which I had never seen before. And the guys got their bats going after scoring no runs for the past two games. The evening was not a total loss. But the moral of this story: the next time we are offered free tickets for a suite, just say no. Or, more politely, no, thank you very much.

Today was ginormous fun. Yes, I am being facetious. Most definitely. I took Donovan to the physical therapist. And spent $195 for the first appointment! This did include an exercise disc and some joint medication.So there was that. And there is the fact that he will only need 1/2 hour appointments from now on. The rest of the appointments should only cost $50 each. (Only?) But I got to see all the exercises that I have to put him through, (hopefully I'll remember them), as well as the swimming pool workout. Or, as in my case, the bathtub workout. And let me tell you something. The only thing worse than doing physical therapy yourself is having to do it for/with your dog. Pray for us both. Please. Pray that we get through this with no biting, broken limbs, or death by drowning. I am afraid. I am very afraid. Mostly that I won't do it right, or that I won't be as religious about it as I should be, or that I'll accidentally hurt Don. Crossing my fingers here, people.

I will say that Don is quite the little swimmer. He started swimming the minute he was released into the water and kept going for 6 minutes. Not bad for his first time in a pool, huh? The therapist--oh, can we just call him Jeff, to save time? Easier for me than typing out "the therapist" each time I mention him. So why did I take so much time to explain this? I don't know--sometimes I amaze myself at the nonsense I come up with. Anyway, Jeff said that Donovan was a very strong swimmer. Jeff also mentioned that he didn't feel Don's knee pop out of place during all of the exercising and swimming that Don did today. Thank heavens for small favors. And, according to Jeff, there is an 80% chance that this therapy will take care of the problem, thus eliminating the need for surgery. I am planning on it being 100% successful. I have heard about the gory 6-week recovery that dogs must go through after knee surgery. And I don't plan on that for Don. (To say nothing of the extra $1800 it would cost!)

At least tomorrow I don't have to put Don into the tub for swimming therapy, as he only needs that every other day. However, the rest of the exercises must be done daily. And I am not overly thrilled about the walking twice a day that we are supposed to do. The temperature was 102 yesterday, today, tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future. I don't relish 10-minute walks in that heat. Which means I must get up early to walk the dog. Really early. You know--like about the time I am usually going to bed for the night. HELP ME!

Emough. Enough of my moaning and groaning. Even if you aren't tired of it by now, I am. So let's get on with the card I have made today.

I have several challenges to enter with this card. I just kept finding more that fit what I was doing and figured, why not? I may as well enter them, too! The challenges are, in alphabetical order:

Cheery Lynn Red, White and Blue Challenge
Digital Tuesday Tag It Challenge
Dilly Beans Sugar Challenge
DP2 Mo's At the Park Challenge
Love to Create Summertime Fun Challenge
Oozak Two Papers and Embellies Challenge
The Outlawz Copic/Promarker Favorite Color Combo Challenge
TTCRD Summer Lovin' Challenge

I have to apologize to The Outlawz Copic/Promarker gals. I have not submitted my favorite color combo because I don't have one. I find myself using different color combinations with every card I do, because I pick what will go with my papers, not what colors I like to use. In fact, I have tried various red combinations that I really abhor using, (due to the difficulty in coloring with reds), just because my papers have required the use of those reds. Please forgive me for  submitting something I colored with my markers that paired with the designer paper I chose!  ;^)

My image for this card is "Justin's Ice Cream" by Mo's Digital Pencil. I printed it on Cryogen CS and paired it with a stamp from the SU Pendant Park collection. I used a digital sentiment by Create with TLC and two Tim Holtz Adage Tickets. The dies I chose were: Cheery Lynn's Victorian Picket Fence, Magnolia Doohickey Vintage Tag, and Spellbinder's Classic Stars. My papers are from the Basic Grey Life of the Party collection and SU CS. I used SU ink, a Signo Uniball white gel pen, and Glossy Accents on the image after I had colored with it with the following Copics: E0000, E000, E00, E11, E13, E31, E35, E37, C00, R02, R24, YR20, BG0000, BG02, BG05, BG07, YG93, G82, G85, G94, G99.

Well, that should do it for this edition. If you read the entire post, I offer you my sincerest congratulations or deepest sympathy, whichever should apply.

Hoping you all have an excellent week!