Present Participles for January 2015

Easing back into having just three of us here, again. Much needed phone conversations and texts, now that our oldest daughter is back at school. They have a short winter term at her school that most students don't attend so she has been home from mid-December till this past weekend. It was nice having her here-but I know she is glad to be in her own routine again. That doesn't stop me from wishing we were all in the same house again. 

Watching as our goldendoodle pup, Morgan swirves between being an ornery "teenager" puppy and that sweet, calm dog I can see her growing into. She laid at my feet for a long time today, as I worked, just quietly watching out the door.

Making funeral plans. It is my second/part time job, working for our church as funeral coordinator. We had one on Monday and another tomorrow. It has been so sad-the service yesterday was for a 21 year old and tomorrow is for someone who was 57. What is unusual is that she will be my oldest. Before her, my charges have been for people 56 and under. Tomorrow will be my 8th service. It has been just a little over a year. So blessed to be able to serve people hurting, aching, hollow and in need. But I take them into my heart and love them, pray for them and hurt alongside them. It can be an exhausting process.

Reading-still-Shadow in the Wind. It was good at keeping my attention for a while. The story seems rather good, but with my work for my husband's company, my first business trip and learning as much as I can about marketing, plus funeral coordinator job, the compartments in my brain are full at the moment. And this book required thinking. How do you break down time to read for work/nonfiction and play/fiction?

Loving my new nephew-he was born on the 24th. He is the only baby on either side of the family, now. Most nieces, nephews and our kids are between 3 and 20. My oldest daughter turned 20 on the 23rd. Hardly seems possible...

Posing-Headed back to yoga and loved it! Although, this week's class starts in a few minutes and I'm not going... I am getting there more frequently. And until this latest round of 6 inches of snow + some ice, I was running well. 

Listening-to the dog barking... She has decided to take after our beagle and bark. Ugh. We are working on it. Most people in our neighborhood do not-they let their dogs out into their fenced yards and do not control the barking. I find it frustrating and then I remind myself that I'm moving... But my current neighbors are great people and if the barking is worst problem, I'm lucky!

 Learning- Trying to gather, read and digest so much new information with this marketing job. Feel like I'm learning a lot, but not learning as fast as I used to! :)

Playing- Stupid Trivia Crack game on my phone. Love trivia but hate the constant interaction with it... Which is how I feel about most social media right now, I guess.

Enjoying-where I am in this life right here, right now. Sure, bumps along the way and I dread the big bump/waves coming, but I feel blessed and lucky right here, right now.

What are you doing this month?

Doodles, Balloons and Great Photos!

Just wanted to send a shout out to fellow blogger, Thimbleanna. She took some wonderful photos of dogs and balloons in a recent post. Just excellent photos! Since the dogs are doodles like my goldendoodle, I got an extra big smile out of them. :) Enjoy!

Change

It's funny. Sometimes I don't blog because I don't have anything new to say. In other instances, I don't blog because I struggle with the quality of my writing. In some cases, I am an absentee blogger because I am mired in the posts of social media. This is not a time like those.

My One Little Word for this year is "light". It should probably be "change" or "new".  It seems like I have had a lot of changes lately. This odd phenomena started when I had a mole removed. As silly as it sounds, it was a big change. I've had it all my life, on my right cheek, right up on the cheekbone. My mom once had an identical mole on the opposite side of her face-we had mirror-image moles. She had her mole removed when it got to be quite large. I did the same-bigger than a new pencil's eraser. It wasn't a "cancerous" mole, my dermatologists said. However, it would keep getting bigger, and my face is small, so it was quite noticeable. Once it was removed, it felt like a big change.

I also worked on another aesthetic change-getting my teeth fixed. I had braces from 8-12+ grade. I had them removed before my senior pictures, and replaced for a few months after my freshman year in college, but they didn't do permanent retainers, when they removed braces, then. I had the plastic kind that slipped over your teeth. Once I was expecting my first daughter, and had some morning sickness, I stopped wearing them. My teeth slowly moved out of their perfect places. However, over the last few years, they have moved exponentially faster and got harder and harder to clean due to their proximity to one another. So, I started the Invisalign procedure. I am so excited for the final product.

Sad vs happy changes... My big dog passed away and then we got a puppy-Quite big changes in the pet department. Both big changes to my heart, as well.

Changes in my profession also sailed along. I officially accepted the fact that I was moving away from teaching, cleaning and sorting my supplies. I stayed put in the realm of funeral coordinator. I still have that job, and happily, it's been a slow business lately-knock on wood. With that freed time, I wondered... "what else?" My house is quiet, when I'm not working on teaching Morgan commands, and even then, it is only I who speak. I started researching how to make my husband better at social media for his business posts. I found I really enjoyed the topic, reading and learning about business. Who knew? :) I talked with two women I knew in the business field, who knew me-my first "networking" appointments. They were adamant that I could make the transition. My husband had been saying this for a long time, but he's married to me so he has to say nice things, right? ;) I also set up a meeting with one of his partners, on my own, and spoke with him. He was in agreement. They are meeting about possibilities of me helping out in a more permanent capacity with their company. We will see what changes come from that. In the process, I am reading several books about marketing, mainly in the social media realm, and business analysis. This would be a huge change.

We are making changes in our home, as well. We had some companies look into remodeling, and after pondering the choices, we are building a new home. It won't be done until May or June and it is only about two blocks from where we currently live, but will have such better use of space. I am incredibly delighted. I have no reservations about this or the occupational jump. They both feel like the right steps to make right now. The right changes to make.

One last change that is fairly big for me, and then I will stop for tonight. I have always loved running. Long story short, over the last two summers of half-marathon training, I have battled injuries. I haven't given myself time to heal. This year's half was slower than I'd hoped and was by no means a personal record. However, I finished. Normally the thought of resting from running makes me sad and restless. This year I am going to keep running, but cut down on my milage and begin to try some other things like pilates and barre. I enjoy yoga, definitely, but am ready to try something new. With these as two new possibilities of cross training, running seems like a fun "extra". I'm hoping these will help me change my fitness level, away from the running only plateau I have put my tent up on. Once I feel successful, I know it will help me change some of my bad eating habits, too. That's how it works for me, it's all a cycle.

What changes are you experiencing these days, Reader? I hope they are good changes.

Dog Training

We have a puppy. A puppy who is growing like crazy-45 pounds and 8 months old. She is adorable, especially right after a nap. She is very smart. However, she is stubborn and likes to do things her way. We started a puppy obedience class last Wednesday and will be working on it for the next 7 weeks. The first week she seemed to catch onto commands quickly, until she was bored with our treats, spit them out onto the floor and laid down to watch the other puppies. That was fun. ;) However, the instructor had string cheese with her, and when she took Morgan to show her as an example, Morgan was enamored with the cheese. So, I have purchased string cheese, cut it up and have been keeping in my pocket-it has already improved her walking. She still has bad habits-it hasn't been that long... During the class, I was getting frustrated that she wasn't learning and the instructor said, "Remember, class, these are puppies! They aren't going to learn these commands in two minutes. They may, but then they may not follow through with them next week!" That was good for me to hear.

The instructor gave us the link to this video, explaining the method of training we are using. It is an hour long, no dogs are in it, and it is just a person talking... However, it was informative! It is Michael Ellis's Philosophy of Dog Training.

I also have been so lazy in training Morgan on our invisible fence. She is a puppy, so we would still have to keep a close eye on her-she would very likely eat things and get into things without supervision-but to have to keep her on the leash is a pain sometimes. She would really benefit from a good run around the yard! So, I have debated paying the Invisible Fence people to come out and train her (the lazy way to train her, as the harder way is to do it myself...) I also considered the cost and began to search for Invisible Fence Training videos. I found an actual Invisible Fence video online, but it kept saying it was illegal to copy or distribute, so I'm not copying the link here. ;) I did find this one which also seemed like a good resource.

Glad to be blogging again. :)

Blowing Off The Dust

As you can see, I haven't posted in quite some time. Up until a couple months ago I hadn't even sat down to read the blogs I regularly read, let alone sit down and put forth the energy necessary to string together thoughts for a post that someone might want to read. Not due to excessive accomplishments in my daily life... Just uncertainty-uncertainty of what to post, what would even be interesting enough to readers. Topics appeared in my mind, on and off, but how to piece together a few paragraphs escaped me. I wondered if I should just keep using my blog as a journaling tool, or to share specific information, crafting paragraphs for discussion... I am still unsure, but I am tired of the blog sitting dusty, covered in cobwebs, so I write. Today I start with a catch-up post, updating on those things that have been keeping me busy.

Things were happening in my small corner of the world, keeping me busy on and off. I have had the joy and exhaustion of the goldendoodle puppy-

she is an adorable fluff and definitely an energetic puppy. She is very smart, but doesn't always have the desire to please me. ;) I am excited to train her to be a service dog of sorts. I would love to have her visit elderly or children, people who would just benefit from contact with her. However, I haven't been diligent with her over the summer, so I need to dig in again, even more so as she becomes the dog version of a teenager. ;) She already loves to call the furniture her own, which we never let our other two do... She doesn't chew or dig on them, which is good! :)

Our two teenage daughters are both home for the summer, which has been nice. We have continued running, enjoying spending time together and even gotten ice cream a few times. :) I have been blessed with my daughters' company on yoga nights, ridden bikes with my oldest up to the town farmer's market and ran with each of them. My husband and I have gone on runs together and biked, gone to dinner and enjoyed new seasons of MasterChef and Royal Pains. Family time continues to be my joy. We have also been able to head up to see my family, including grandparents, some who have been ill and in nursing homes. It is sad to see my maternal grandmother not remember my name, but on the occasion she recognizes me, I take that and tuck it away in my heart.

My funeral coordinator job sat silent from December to May. Then I worked on five funerals from May to last week. There were a variety of circumstances surrounding them: two men who died unexpectedly, two people who had been ill for quite some time, but were still fairly young and one woman who had been a beloved member of the greater community. Some were celebratory-based on faith and belief in their life after they left this earth. Some were more somber-such an unexpected loss for them, that even though they relied on their beliefs and faith, their families ached from their loss. In each, I felt my calling to this job as fresh as when I started. I was so glad, I felt so blessed, to be there for the families in their time of need.

I finished my chaplain training, but haven't been on any visits, yet. I feel like the training helped my in my funeral job, though, in teaching me how to respond with grieving families. Both the training and job have been a blessing to me. They aren't where I saw myself a year ago, but I am glad I am in this spot in my journey.

 Where are you, Reader? I hope wherever this post finds you, you are well.

Morgan

Well, I didn't have to dream for long. We had done our research, we knew what we had in mind... My husband and I knew we were leaning towards a goldendoodle. We were looking for a mild-mannered dog, since our last two were/are a bit on the neurotic side.

We had heard that people who get goldendoodles were concerned about the poodle parents. So, we took a trip-about an hour and a half drive-to meet the parents at a breeder's home. The breeder asked us the size range we were looking for, since she would have two sizes. We told her the larger (50-60 lbs) size. She then brought in the male/father/poodle. He was amazing. So friendly, sweet, and liked us better than treats! :) That sold it for us, I think. Then she brought in the mom who was also lovely, although she liked the treats. :) Then, the puppies.

When we went, we knew from looking on her website that they only had females available. But, someone who had a deposit down on the last male backed out. Since we had males previously and my weim was such a loving dog, I thought I would want him. My husband, younger daughter and I held and snuggled with all five puppies. The pup who cried and wiggled the most like he wasn't comfortable was the male. My husband had the biggest female and she snuggled into him and sat calmly. When I took her she gave me a kiss and snuggled more, eventually falling asleep in my arms. Adorable. My youngest daughter loved and snuggled her, too, delighted. Although we loved all the puppies, this girl was the sweetest and most calm, which-after the two guys we had before her-seemed great! :) Let's hope that is her personality as she grows.

On the way down my husband asked about name choices. When we got our first dog, he said we could pick the dog and he'd pick the name, eventually naming him Merlin, after Merlin the magician in the King Arthur stories. So, I reminded him of the precedent and he went to thinking. He said how about a girl could be Morgan-I asked if he meant the sorceress Morgan Le Fay from the Arthur stories. He said yes or Guenevere? I said definitely Morgan. We didn't even discuss a boy's name. So, we will welcome our lovely new puppy, Morgan Le Fay in mid-March. :)

Dreaming

We have been discussing getting a puppy. The rational side of me thinks of the work, the mess, the being tied to home, and general puppy stress, let alone the stress it could cause Percy... But the dreaming side of my brain looked at puppy pictures on Pinterest and oohed and aahed. I checked the local humane society, as well, looking for a young dog that would fit in our home. My husband held firm saying no to any puppy that crossed our minds... until a labradoodle/goldendoodle was brought up. He made the mistake of saying he'd take one of those aloud and the hunt began. We have been checking/calling/emailing local breeders, calling our vet and beginning to research. Dreaming...

Sweet Dog

I haven't posted in weeks, again. I have been caring for our big dog, our weimaraner Merlin, who had begun to decline rapidly. If you stopped by recently, you saw my previous post about his visit to the vet. His big fatty deposit had begun to grow again and he could hardly get around. My time was spent on my new job and snuggling/caring for my sweet dog. We knew his time was nearing. My girls and I had discussed it, and cared for him knowing it was nearing his end.
On Tuesday, Dec. 17th he didn't get up all day, and he hadn't been eating much for a week. I had even made chicken and rice, and put broth in his food, but he unusually wanted neither. So, I called the vet and they asked a lot of questions. They asked us to bring him in for a consultation. We did so. They told us it was time to put him down, which was what we expected, but still so hard to hear. We have had him for 13 1/2 years. He was my sweet shadow, following me around the house even right up to the end. He could barely carry that big bump, which was stealing all his nutrients, leaving his legs weak and scant of muscle. And, yet, the night before he died I woke in the night to hear him struggling to get up the stairs to sleep outside my bedroom door, per his usual. It's also strange not to have him anxiously awaiting us as we return from a run, he would pace the house until we were all home again.
On his last day, as he just laid in his bed, we covered him with a blanket. Our other dog, Percy, who didn't usually interact directly with Merlin, laid with his head on Merlin's legs. He sensed it was time, as well. Poor Percy has wandered around our house looking lonely. He laid on the blanket we covered Merlin with and won't let us remove it from his pillow.
It was hard, still is at certain moments. Those first few days, opening my bedroom door and expecting to have to step over him, and he isn't there, it tugs on my heart and makes me so sad. When the girls were off to school and my husband was off to work, Merlin was always tagging along, going wherever I went. Now, Percy sleeps in his bed and Merlin isn't here. It is strange-a void is left in his place.
When we would go away, our neighbors would care for the dogs because Merlin didn't like to have to go somewhere else like a kennel. I texted some friends when we had decided to take him to the vet, our neighbor being one of them. She asked if her youngest son, who is an animal lover and cared so much for Merlin, could come say goodbye. It was so sweet watching him care for Merlin, and Merlin trying to give him some tail wags. After Merlin's passing they came by again, this time with a gift. They had donated money to our local animal shelter in Merlin's name "In Memory of a Good Friend". Such a sweet gesture. It still brings me tears to think of. We went and picked up his ashes last week. I have them in a nice wooden box with the certificate from our neighbors, a card that came on flowers from my sister in law and a card from our vet. I found a nice etsy shop, too, that had wooden frames you could personalize. I ordered one and now just have to decide on a picture.
I will get to blogging more, now, Readers, since the busy Christmas holiday is over and my snuggling and caring time for Merlin has passed. I do appreciate you stopping by.

Social Media Monday

I got off track again the last few weeks. Been very busy. However, back on schedule for today... :)
Social Media for today is from my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I posted it to all three.
My sweet dogs-so glad Merlin is on the mend. Was pretty worried while stayed overnight at the vet. #dogs

Merlin had a spell Thursday. He couldn't stand and had some other odd symptoms, like leaning his head to one side. My youngest daughter and I were very worried, and my husband was on his way back from a business trip, not to arrive for two more hours. My father in law came to help me get him into the car, because his 83 lbs was a bit too much to do on my own. I was so thankful my in laws had made it back earlier in the day from their month long trip. Merlin couldn't get up on his own-not even half of himself, so I was worried it was his time. I called the vet and they said to bring him in. We got Merlin to the vet and he stayed overnight. They said it could be anything from an ear infection to a brain tumor! He ended up having an inner ear infection, way deep in his ear, causing dizziness so he couldn't get up. It also caused him to be ill a few times before we headed to the vet, too. After fluids and meds, he is very happy to be home. He still seems a little sleepy but doing much better! The vet said he doesn't seem to be near his "time", yet, even though he is 13-91 in dog years! And for that I am very thankful. :)

Dogs

This summer my husband took our aging dogs to the vet, as he usually does. Our biggest dog still has his LARGE fatty deposit, bigger than a basketball, now. The vet insinuated that we were just "keeping him comfortable" now... although last summer they didn't think he'd last the year, but here he is, following me around. The little dog's odd lumps are growing as well. Both dogs still get around and are still on their schedules, eating, barking, loving. However, if the doorbell rings, they don't hear it and when new people come in they don't often react, well, they look at me, see if I'm happy to see that person and then go back to sleep. They are like old people who nap all day. :) I know their times are coming and it saddens me. The house is already so quiet...

Photo

I posted this photo on all my sites: Instagram, which posted to Twitter, which posted to Facebook. :) Our girl came home after the funeral this weekend. Our dogs had really missed her and wouldn't leave her for long, coming for snuggles. She loved it, as she had missed them, too!

Wondering

Hello, Readers. It's been a little while, again. Much going on, but at the same time, little...

My vegetable garden has not been fairing too well-too much sun and too many critters eating them-insects and mammals.

Our oldest daughter was set to get her driving temps last week. We went, she took the computarized test, she passed and onto the paperwork. We took everything in, but her birth certificate didn't specifically list her gender so it was unacceptable. We went back early this week with the only other copy we had and it didn't have the state's health department seal, so we have to go through a process to get a new copy mailed to us and take it back... She was sad. She was so looking forward to driving.

Our dog, the weimaraner, has become very skinny-losing a lot of weight. We took him to a vet who did blood tests, and the tests came back good-especially for a 10 year old big dog. Still, we wondered why the lack of interest in food and great loss of weight-he'd lost 14 pounds! We took him back on Tuesday and they sedated him to check his teeth, did some scans and swabs. We should know more tomorrow or Monday as to the results of those. It was rather strange around here without him on Tuesday. He came home groggy and stumbling around-very clingy after his visit. I dropped him off at 7am and he wasn't seen to until 2 or so-so he was hungry since he hadn't eaten since 7pm the night before, stuck in a kennel which he doesn't like and away from his family. He was a sad dog. He sure was happy to see us when we arrived to get him, though.

My husband hasn't been running much since my last post. He had fallen off a jet ski and bruised a rib, so that's taken a bit of the wind out of the sails. I'm still working on training for the half marathon, either way. Just will work out better for me, I think. I did 7 miles last weekend, again.

I have attempted digital scrapbooking since I posted last. I have a lot of work to do before I will be happy with a layout. Strange, how I was feeling good about paper and hands-on and now I feel new and uncertain. I am unsure of what to write and what to document first.

That isn't the only are of my life where I am uncertain. Still no word on a job for the fall and the pool is nearly dry of opportunities. Hopefully we'll see it pick up next week. I have heard jobs are scarce, it's not just me, but it's hard not to let it eat away at your self confidence. Someone important in my life says I need to find a new passion, something other than teaching since it's not looking good. I am wondering about this. Wouldn't it be hard just to pick up a new passion and set aside the old? I have heard from so many that I'm great at what I do-teaching, but that's in a substitute setting. Maybe it's just people being nice, saying what I want to hear... the little voice whispers these things to me. It's hard not to let it eat away at the faith that says God has a plan, He will guide me... where am I going? I feel nowhere... I'm trying to have hope. So many people have advice and opinions-just get a long term and that foot-in-the-door will get you there (I've had 4-5 long-term jobs, now...), just get into another district and that will help (done that, although my husband thinks not enough... but then what-how do I choose where to go? long-terms or daily jobs... one doesn't know.) It's difficult. The waiting and the worrying that I'm not good enough, that I'm stuck. Also, the not knowing what to do-get in a district where they know and like me well? Keep moving around so many know me and I will have opportunities? Just the politics and knowing the right people? Sigh...

I have felt tired, run down, lazy lately. It's affected my running and who I am, I think. I am beginning to wonder if it's this lack of confidence from the job... or the really hot weather? Am I just wilted? :) I have read several blogs, lately that have been balm to my soul-pictures and smiles in the words, too. :) This isn't the type of post I like to write-after all the title of the blog is positively mom-but sometimes it's just good to write about the things that are weighing on you. Although when I hit "publish post" I am filled with the sense of "you don't have it so bad! why are you posting that! many people have it much worse!"

Take care, blog readers. Things will perk up soon! :)

December 5

My goal was to get 25 cards out per day, the first day I sent out 23 and yesterday I sent out 27! Yeah! Although, I have to sub this afternoon so I won't be getting as many done. I have to clean house this morning, too, as is my Friday morning ritual. :)
The beagle has been completely fine, even up to his usual mulch eating antics, yesterday. :)
The weekend plans are busy: the husband is going tomorrow to a college basketball tournament (two games) in another state with his father, brother, and brother's father in law. They leave at 9am and return at 9pm. Both girls have "scale olympics" for piano, where they play for judges tomorrow 11:15-1:15 or so. There is an auditorium where I have to sit and wait for them... although I do not get to hear them play, I just wait, which will be a great time for me to finish Christmas cards. :) My oldest did this two years ago, I think, and I finished quite a few cards that year. :) Only one problem, no beverages while in the auditorium waiting, so I will finish coffee in the car after getting them checked in at the registration table, then head to the auditorium. :) I also invited my mother in law and sister in law over for pizza tomorrow night, to pass the time, as well.
I am planning on getting a run in today at 11. I got the latest edition of Runner's World Magazine yesterday. It always inspires me to get back to running. It had a page on setting goals. It mentions telling others about your goals to hold yourself accountable to them. So, I have set mine.

• Running 6 days per week by 4-24-2009 (my next birthday)
  
• Running in the mornings-must make it a daily habit, because that's the time that works best for our family schedule.
• Go to bed early (to get up early!)
• Run a marathon in under four hours in 2009-probably the half in the spring and the full in October 2009

I set these yesterday and didn't get up today, thus the run at 11, which gives me time to drink my coffee this morning, get a run in and shower before reporting to the school office to sub. :)
Last night we went on a (very cold!) walk as a family in the dark. The dogs loved it. We went about 8 blocks, four out and four back. It was fun. I slept better last night than I had in a while. When we got home, our youngest made hot chocolate with marshmallows and, on her own, she drizzled chocolate syrup on the top-it was very pretty, restaurant looking! :)
That's all for this morning. I hope your week went well!

Just to get the day started

Some sites I'm looking at this morning:

• Advent Conspiracy (Referred here to Stacy Julian's blog, am looking at it for the first time this morning.)
• Running With Cancer (Way to go on finishing the Seattle Marathon, Michael!)
• Addicted to Scrapbooking (sales and giveaways for the holidays)
• Snapfish (Uploading pictures that I took of my nephews and niece when they came and played last night=lots of FUN! :))
• Ali Edward's update on her December Daily (I wish I could be this creative and have it turn out so wonderfully!)
  
• I've also done the usuals: email, Google Reader of my blogs I read daily, comics.com where I read arlo and janice comic, cnn, msnbc, espn, the sites I skim each morning.

The beagle is himself today, completely. I was warned yesterday by hubby (with info from coworkers) that this might be the first of many seizures... I wonder if he's had any before this, but I wasn't here to witness them due to subbing?

Will try to post more later.

Dec 3-Poor Dog

Today has been rather eventful. It didn't start out that way. All I had planned were the daily tasks (Molly, I just make lists, and yes frequently it's the same thing day after day! :) And no, I don't get everything done/organized all the time, I just keep trying. :)) I also had more Christmas cards on my list. I have planned that 25 per day should have them done by the weekend. Yesterday I wrote out 23, so I was close.
While I was working on some cards, our beagle got up, stopped oddly on the basement stairs (I was working in the basement and the dogs like to be by me when I'm home alone.) He stopped and looked like he was waving. Then he went into the kitchen and I heard him fall above me. I ran in to check on him and he was shaking, with a blank stare, couldn't stand. It seemed very much like a seizure. I was unnerved, which in turn unnerved our other dog, but I quickly shooed him away. I held the small dog until he seemed to calm, a bit. I tried to tempt him with a treat, which usually has him running to me, although today he didn't seem to even notice. I let him outside and he ran like his legs were on strings going in different directions, like he didn't have control of them. He "went" and then sat in the mulch shaking. I went out, got him, picked him up and carried him to a comforter we had in the basement. I checked on him throughout the morning, went to meet the hubby for lunch, came home. The dog always comes to greet me at the door (I really worked to overcome his indifference to me, and we've grown quite fond of each other. :)) He didn't come today after lunch. I was more worried, still. I went down and he didn't even lift his head. He didn't wag his tail, which is a signature response, as well. I talked to him, petted him, and he rested. Later, he snored, in a deep, deep sleep for quite a while. About four hours since beginning the episode, he got up, stretched, visited with my oldest daughter, now home from school, and I, and went to his pillow bed, where he lays now. Scary. Yes, he's a dog, but part of our family.
Although he has appreciated the attention, our other dog has not. He's barked at me, nudged me and let me know he did not like this a number of times, today. Today's photo for the December Daily scrapbook will be the dog/s, I think.Here is a photo of them last month. We have two beds, but they end up on the same one. :)
The lunch with the husband was very nice, and we went to Starbucks after, as well. Had a lovely time, kept me from worrying about the dog. However, I didn't get very many cards done today, although I did get some wrapping done.

7

I finished 7 miles today! 9 minute mile pace, so I was really happy! I didn't feel great and it wasn't as cool as it has been when I headed out. But, I did it! :) I'm not feeling totally like myself, but I do feel like I'm headed there.
Olypmic comments: Women's marathon, Deena Kastor, ugh. Looking for Ryan Hall or the other US men to pull out a medal!
School starts this week. I'm excited and nervous. I wonder if it's because I'm subbing in someone else's room, with their way of doing things, or if I will get excited and nervous each fall, starting with a new class?
Practices for my daughters have begun. Our oldest is running cross country, and has her first meet Tuesday. Our youngest started soccer, including an hour and a half of practice in the heat of the day today.
Our dogs went to the vet last week (thank you, dear husband-he took both dogs to one appt.) Our little chubby beagle has lost 8 pounds in a year! Woo hoo! He's still about 5 pounds overweight. He was like that when we got him, truly. :) He eats weird things all the time; anything he can find! Mulch, rubberbands, string, feathers, leaves, anything he finds! Yes, often he gets sick. The vet just said he's strange. :) Our weimaraner hates going to the vet, and they've never been mean to him or anything. He's just a spaz.
Two interesting finds this week: Baby Love Letters is a site with questions to get you thinking about letters to write to your children, to leave them/give to them. Pretty neat idea, even though I have kids not babies, it would still be neat to write to them. Grandkids, someday, too.
One article they referenced on Baby love letters was about a daughter who had letters from her dad. Appropriately named Letters from Dad.
Another interesting site: I've added Cari to my prayer list. Wow, an incredible woman, and fighter. Visit her site to be updated on her progress.
I have tons to do, kids to take places, get the food ready for life group tomorrow, among other things, but I already cleaned yesterday...
Have a great weekend!! :)

Welcome Home

My girls are home, which is a very nice. I drove an hour and a half to meet my grandparents halfway to pick them up. The house was far too quiet without them. :) Although, it was nice to clean their rooms without them here: I could throw things away that I knew they didn't use/play with and no one was here to complain. I also did clean out the crawl spaces and rearranged the furniture in their rooms, as well. My husband and I went out for dinner almost everynight and one morning for coffee while we were sans kids, as well, which was wonderful. We rarely get time without the girls, let alone more than one night at a time. It was great to have some date time, and even better not to have to schedule a sitter! :) We just went out to a few dinners, had some beers once, and a glass of wine another night. We went with his parents out and some window shopping, as well. I was at a loss for a moment as to what topic I'd be "informing" on, but then I looked up cheap date night ideas!
Some ideas I found were, not great, or extra creative, but I was on a time limit:

• zoo
• museum of fine arts
• art festivals
• state park
• farmer's market
• pier to feed ducks
• picnic
  

My husband is anxious to see the girls and is on his drive from work. Then he will be taking our little beagle to the vet. What a wonderful husband, because I don't want to take him! :) He, the dog, needs his nails cut and refuses to let me do it, as his previous owner didn't do it too often, so he's not used to it or like to have it done.
Hope all is well.

Friday

Well, I have waited a bit to write again. It was Memorial Day weekend and we took a trip to my grandparents' cottage. All three of my living grandparents were there, my parents, and my brother and his wife, who is expecting. The weather was wonderful. The cottage is on a lake, so the girls played in the water quite a bit. My husband got sunburned, as well. We came home Monday to piles of dirty laundry, yuck. I subbed last Friday and this Tuesday in kindergarten, again, but then tackled the laundry and got it caught up again. I am currently supposed to be cleaning house, but rain makes me sleepy and want to crawl back into bed.
My husband broke his principles and bought me flowers! They arrived yesterday, they were beautiful and totally unexpected! My husband likes to buy plants which last, whereas fresh flowers look nice for a bit and then die. But, he surprised me this week with a beautiful arrangement. It was such a pleasant surprise. He had told both girls and neither spilled the beans, which is unusual! :)
The girls have just a few more days of school left. They are giddy about the upcoming vacation. My youngest will be sad, after a week of vacation, but my oldest is looking forward to time away from school.
I'm not reading anything at the moment, aside from the Bible study book, the Bible and devotional book for the group I'm leading. I am, however, reading a book to the girls: Judy Moody (was in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood.) It is a silly chapter book for kids, but the girls have gotten a laugh out of some of it.
Soccer, dance, tumbling, school meetings, and the like are all over with. Our evenings are pretty free...until the summer activities and get togethers start! :)
Previously, I wrote about my great dog, Merlin, the weimaraner. He is a beautiful grey, he's big and has great ears. He is affectionate and sweet...I could go on and on. However, my second dog...in the avenue of informing, I will tell about him. He is a "stepchild", so to speak. His name is Percy, and he was my sister in law's dog. She moved into an appartment and couldn't keep him. So, we said we'd take him for a bit. Then the hubby said we'd keep him...ugh. The dog doesn't like me; it's as if I'm the stepmother and he doesn't like me for taking his mom's place... He is supposed to be full bred beagle, but he seems more to me like a mix. He's just brown and white, with no black. And his tail curls over his back.... http://www.akc.org/breeds/beagle/index.cfm
He is good with the kids, and my husband, but he gives me a difficult time. I keep trying though, and now, when there are thunderstorms (which he hates) he has come to me, so I believe he's coming around. He stole my youngest daughter's waffle last week, however, and had to go into his kennel.
I think that is all my news. I am off to finish the housework.

Weimaraners

Well, it's been ages since I wrote last. I have been to busy to "inform" anyone. :) I substitute taught 5 1/2 of the last 6 days, compounded with the girls' activities, my church circle's annual "all daughter dinner" and a quick visit back home. We went up to visit the family and take food to my parents.
Today we went on a family walk. It was beautifully sunny, however a bit on the frigid side. The dogs were so excited when we got the leash out; they love walks! I have inherited my second dog as my sis in law could nolonger keep him. He's a beagle. Barks a lot, but loves to snuggle, and he's small. His name is Percy and we've had him since December.
My dog that I've had since June 2000, is Merlin. He's an 80 pound weimaraner. He's a "mama's dog". Some mornings he won't even get out of his bed when my husband comes down for work, he bolts up when he hears me get out of bed. Here you will see a photo of a weim.

http://www.akc.org/breeds/weimaraner/index.cfm
Weims are high energy. Merlin just slowed down from "puppy behavior" in the last year or so. And he was born April of 2000. He's a bundle of strength and pep, but he is great with my daughters. He is very protective of us girls and does not like salesmen who appear at my door. :)
He is very gentle with my children and learned commands wonderfully, however, his first year with us was a challenge. Neither my husband nor I had ever really had indoor dogs, so this dominant guy was an adventure, but we stuck it out and he is a wonderful dog. He loves to run with me and play with the girls, to be touching me all the time that I'm home-he has not liked that I've been gone all day subbing!
Here is a weim club of America website for further info,
http://www.weimclubamerica.org/
although some of these characteristics do not fit my boy at all. :) He's a spoiled guy, that's for sure, but extremely smart and loves his family. That's all I have time for, for now.
Hoepfully I'll get time to write more soon!