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Mine: A Tale of Two Photos

2010-03-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am away from my boys. And my special pittie princess and my fluffy ornery cats. Hmm...boo hiss on all this alone time. So while I should be using it to sleep, as I complain I can never seem to get enough of it when I am with all my lovelies, I suppose I'll blog instead. Who needs priorities?!

I miss them.

I also miss {the real version of} them.

In the second photo you can see Bugga's tell-tale "scrunch face." The face he makes when someone actually asks him to smile. I want to be in his head and know what smiling means to him. ;) And in the second photo, you also see Paisley deciding she is most certainly uncool with any further shenanigans that involve being held in place, no matter how much she loves both Papa and the Bug. Especially if there are no treats involved. "Pshaw...hello humans, have you forgotten your primary role as treat dispensers for my hungry belly?!"

No, no cats. Again, they are far too independent to put up with such riff raff as the family picture. No amount of treats or unlicked cereal bowls can change that.

These photos bring a smile to my face. Excuse the quality, they were snapped quickly with my phone when I realized I wanted to see their faces when I could not see their faces. Makes sense, right? That's the beauty of this digital age, right? Sure. Seems to have panned out for now anyway.

On any given day...

2010-03-16T14:02:00.001-07:00

These are two sights you will see in our home.

Turtle...

holding down the rug.

Monkey...

holding down the pillows (all 7 lbs, soaking wet, of her).

We have cats. Have I mentioned this?! Amidst all the Bugga-ladled posts, and all the pittie-ladled posts, have I mentioned these family members?

I was once a cat person. In some sense, I still am, or obviously these two kooks wouldn't be here. But once, I was a cat person, who was decidedly not a dog person. Imagine! Something flipped in my brain, or maybe just my circumstances, who knows. Either way, the canine species entered our realm of existence and the poor cats had to come along for the ride and hope they weren't forgotten entirely.

They ensure that they remain on radar by ruining furniture. And howling at inappropriate times. And having nasty cat fights in the living room at 6 a.m. just to make sure I'm alert to their plight. Oh and leaving furry evidence on every surface they can manage to touch (and sometimes by the miracle of air flow physics, surfaces I can't imagine they could ever touch).

Yes, cats live here too and I wear the evidence like any proud cat owner. Not in the form of kitty cat sweatshirts or anything (eh...do people still wear those?). Today I display the evidence on my blog.

~~~~

I have been MIA once again. Sometimes I go missing because life is so legendary I can't be bothered to blog. HA! {Okay, truthfully, this has never once happened!} Lately, it is more because life has been almost unfairly of the boo variety and I spend way too much of my mental energy just trying to make sense of it. Maybe in time, when recent events have settled a bit more, are a bit less raw, and I feel a tad more hope, I'll be able to share. Thanks to any readers who have hung in and still occasionally venture to this forgotten corner of the cyber world.

Silence is golden

2010-02-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

Isn't that the saying?

At any rate, still here. I promise. Just a little...quiet. ;)

Tea Time

2009-12-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

Nebraska, here we come! Today is a day of packing, eating (gotta get rid of those leftovers, HA!), laundry, cleaning, and all the fun that goes into preparing for a full day on the road, followed by a week in the good ol' hometown, and another full day on the road.

Before we go, a few final photos. These evoke cozy and home and winter, all of which I love.

Tea has usurped coffee as J's hot beverage of choice these days. Personally, I enjoy a little of each. At any rate, the little Bugga just must do as the big people do (as evidenced by one of my earlier posts this week).

Though to be fair, J does not lick the outside of the cups. Bug put his own spin on tea enjoyment there. ;)

Lots to do, lots to do. Here's wishing everyone an amazing holiday season this year, and to all our NE peeps, we'll see you soon! =)

Family

2009-12-18T09:49:00.001-08:00

It's Friday, and lookeeeee, I'm capping off a week full of blog posts. Who knows what bug jumped in my hair to cause this, but it's been fun. ;)

Anyway, as we approach our departure from MN heading toward our childhood home of NE, I am thinking of family. And how it is most certainly not always defined by blood or genetics or a tree. I only have a brother, and I love him, but I was also blessed to have grown up with another family full of girls (and one lonely little guy, HA) and they have been like sisters to me. A blessing indeed!

We even had those classic sister moments of fighting, hair pulling, pranks and nastiness, but there was also just a lot of love and I know my relationship with that family has shaped me just as surely as my own true family did.

I'm not a person who collects friends, I value real and genuine and once I know and love someone, they are pretty much on the same ranks as family in my book, because it just doesn't happen everyday. And here is what happens when women I've considered sisters (even though they had enough in their own family, they didn't need one more!) grow up and have littles of their own...

Beautiful...

Little girls...

I may not be as close with their Mommas as I once was, but seeing these little faces quite nearly brings a tear to my eye. I can't wait to see them again.

And this time, I need to catch their Mommas with my lens too. =)

Eureka!

2009-12-16T22:14:00.000-08:00

Do you ever let something pass you by, not giving it a thought, only to find yourself in wide-eyed discovery by the same thing at another moment?

And so it is with this picture. I was reviewing some old photos and for some reason, this photo I previously didn't even remember existing suddenly jumped out and slapped me in the face. Not even 100% sure what it is about it that now strikes me. It's my "kids"...they were probably looking out for Papa to get home...together.

That must be it. That together part. Something so simple about their sharing: of space, of moments, of pleasure in each other's company. I sit in awe of those two so often. Or rather, in brief moments when I am not overtaken by chaos, frustration, demands, etc. {Oh I exaggerate!}

If I weren't so danged in love with Pai's eyes in my current banner, I would make this my new banner in a heartbeat. ;)

Brrrr

2009-12-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

Three little ladies are here to tell you...

that regardless of what the calendar may say, WINTER is here. ;)

And while Sula was enjoying herself... (I think she was trying to build a snow fort.)

Paisley was doing this.

HA! Poor Paisley, gingerly trying to remove the cold from her delicate paws. =) I love it.

And a short Sally update. If the pictures don't make it clear, she has been fully integrated into our crazy little household and has been for a while. She is doing remarkably well with everyone. She and Sula play pretty rough, but it is still just that: play. She is more respectful of Paisley, and of Mel when he was still here. She is wonderful with Grady too, and the cats. Yup, she's the whole package, the whole itty-bitty-teeny-tiny-pocket-pittie package. ;)

ps~Am I on a roll or what?! Three days in a row, craziness. I know, I am so inconsistent and unpredictable, what can I say?!

HIS Camera

2009-12-15T08:06:00.001-08:00

I love this little boy. I've upgraded him from toddler to little boy now.

Except when I call him my baby, that is. ;)

But do babies really have imaginations like this?!

Missing Mel

2009-12-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

Today I reminisce about a boy I miss. Mel. No, he didn't get adopted, but he did move on to another foster home. There was a...let's say "unfortunate incident" with one of the resident cats. =( Sad, yes. But everyone is okay. It was a bit of a wake-up call though that we needed to lessen our foster load and no matter how much we adored Melly, the one who couldn't co-exist with the cats had to be moved. (He and the cats have been living separately pretty much the entire time Mel was here, but there were some Houdini crate-escaping moves by Mel that led to the "unfortunate incident.")

This is the first time we've had to part with a foster before their adoption (aside from Sula's pups, of course) and it was HARD. ={

So here are some of the last photos we took while he was with us. All the reports from his new foster home have been wonderful, which makes me miss him a little less, just to know he is loved and fitting in so well in another home.

This series cracks me up. It was unintentional, yet it totally captured the essence of Mel.

There he sits...

With all this activity around him...

There's my Melly, holdin' steady. :)

With his boy. Time for kisses.

Mel definitely tops the list when it comes to awesome-ness around Grady. He remained gentle and sweet no matter what the boy was up to, and never seemed annoyed or even particularly startled by anything that Bugga dished up.

I fondly remember one night, in particular, when both Mel and Grady got scolded--for separate infractions of course--and Mel quietly approached a fit-throwing Grady and reached up and kissed him so gently as if to say "I feel you, pal, I hate it when Momma and Papa act like that." ;)

I love how my shutter was obviously set to Mel-speed for these shots, and not Bugga-speed. =)

Grady was "being a dog" alongside Mel. Mel loves to lay on his back, sometimes he wiggles around like he's itching a scratch, other times he would just lay there with his legs folded gently and dangling over his big barrel chest. Golly, I miss me some Mel. ={

Anyway, you'd think it wouldn't be so darned hard to get 4 dogs to sit and look cute, in the same direction...but man oh man, it is! So I thought, hey, it was a fail, why not butcher it further with some flickr fun. ;)

{Sally looks gooood in a top hat, if you ask me. Pai had to settle for a Rudolf-nose. HA!}

This was their last day all together. Having 4 adult dogs in the house was surprisingly easy aside from technicalities like the difficulty of cuddling with all 4 simultaneously. I never did figure that one out, and that makes me sad. It's like a brain-teaser puzzle I couldn't solve and it's driving me crazy, I'm sure there's a way! =) Oh well.

Here's wishing Mel all the best, we love you still boy and we'll surely see each other again!

A day in the life...

2009-11-30T13:15:00.001-08:00

* with largely unrelated photos. Like for real, these photos have barely anything to do with the written words accompanying them. ;)

Wake up.

Hear my insanely adorable kiddo get up, go potty, get his underwear, return to his room, get into his newly renovated closet where everything he needs is in his reach and talk himself through getting dressed.

Laugh at his sweetness when he finally comes to my room and announces "I got clothes on Momma!"

Feed son. Feed cats. Feed dogs. Feed self.

Watch from kitchen window as a squirrel approaches a bowl of acorns that has been sitting on top of our covered wood stove on the patio for months (why?! Who knows...).

Watch as bowl falls and shatters on the patio.

Think coffee. Think pie. Then think pie is almost gone. Better make another pie.

Marvel at kiddo's beautiful imagination. Marvel at the relative peace of a house with a kiddo, 4 dogs, and 2 cats. Relative peace. ;)

Read books with kiddo, smile as he recites book titles.

Move furniture around in preparation for Christmas decorating.

Lunch. Just for humans. Silly doggies...lunch is for humans.

Finally get coats on son, self, and 2 doggies (2 other doggies having quiet time) and head out to clean up shattered glass on patio.

Sally shows fear of stepping out onto metal steps; lift her up, put her down on steps and ignore odd noise as she takes off across yard.

Clean up glass.

Watch kiddo, and 2 doggies play and run in yard.

Grow a brain and finally notice the bloody stump on Sally's back left leg where a nail once was.

Run to metal steps, immediately find entire nail. Eeewwwwww. {Feel free to leave a comment thanking me for saving you any photographic evidence. ;) }

Take Sally inside for an abbreviated bath, which she hates as much as a full bath. Go figure. Clean wound. Giggle at her apparent consternation over the cleaning, but not so much over the wound itself.

Kiss her snout and forehead repeatedly. Watch her forget the cleaning too. =)

Put Sally to quiet time, release other 2 doggies. Watch 3 doggies and kiddo play in yard.

Bring them all in...thinking about coffee and pie again...and watch kiddo pretend he is a dog. {Don't worry, he alternately pretends he is a frog, or has a camera, or that he went to a museum.}

Blog about it. ;p

Exciting business right?!

**Okay, this represents only about half a day, and I'm sure I left out a bunch of minutiae, which I'm sure you all don't miss. At any rate...exciting?! Maybe it's all relative...

A little push...

2009-11-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness...hey, I'm still here. Hard to believe I know. I just go missing and pop back in every now and again. Bad bloggy manners, I tell ya. ;)

Anyway, I got a shout out on a blog-friend's blog today and I gotta say, it was just the kick in the pants I needed to get something new up here.

Hmmm, and now where to begin?! Oh it is so tough. Well, here is Sally:

She has been here a week. These things I know about Sally...

*She's just a wee peanut of a thing, at around 35 lbs

*She's fascinated by her mirror reflection in the windows at night

*She's awesome in her crate

*She's better with the cats than poor Mel (seriously Mel, it is time to make friends with those furballs!)

*She's got some of the greatest, most comical, entertaining zoomies

*She is smart; I would swear her little brain must be exploding with how quickly she is taking things in, overcoming fears, and getting used to no-doubt brand spanking new stimuli (key among them, a toddler!)

*She is a bust dog

Our rescue brought 8 dogs from this summer's huge bust into our program. Sally was the lone adult we were able to carve out room for, the rest are pups ranging from 2 months to 5 months. Sally is no bigger than the 5 month olds. ;)

Despite what I know about Sally, there is so much more I don't know. We can make a lot of conjecture about her early life based on the dogfighting bust, but the fact of the matter is that I don't know--I don't know if she was fought, I don't know if she lived on a chain in the woods or in someone's basement, or even if she might have lived a life not all that different from her life now. I have no idea what her early socialization was like, if she knows how to play with other dogs, or how she'll react to people of different sizes, shapes, and ethnicities. Her initial responses to Grady paint a picture of a dog who had never seen a young child; but she is coming along remarkably well to life with a toddler around just the same.

The truth is that I like to think of her largely like I do any of the dogs we bring home--I use caution, I watch closely, and I give them every chance to show me their best. I know it is prudent to understand her background and what that may mean for her behaviors. I also know that I don't want her past--a past she never chose, a past she was unfairly born into--to define her. I refuse to let her past dictate what she is capable of or what her limitations are, when she is right here, willing and able to show me herself.

Because I feel slightly remiss if I post without a picture of the Bugga, if nothing else for Memaw and Papaw...

There, I feel better. ;)

It's Thanksgiving week! I adore Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for these days?

The Haul

2009-11-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

Again, here's our little Halloween Doggie.

Yes, you can bet there was barking. He seems to know what to do, even though he lives with some of the more quiet dogs I've had the pleasure of knowing, judging by the cacophony of non-stop doggie racket from neighboring dogs. Speaking of which, today it would seem they are all on high-alert, making me a tad nervous. Until I remind myself how crazy it is to take my cues from dogs I don't know and often can't even see. ;)

Annnyway...here is what his Halloween haul consisted of, this his first year of costume-ness. ;P

2 suckers

3 apples (if we count one each for Momma and Papa too)

2 cloth bags (again, if we count Momma's too)

5 candy-corn print pencils (what fun!)

2 plastic green footballs (instant love, you'll see)

2 organic lip balms (um, yeah...awesome)

2 activity/coloring books

Not bad, considering the boy didn't actually trick-or-treat. Forsaking that traditional activity, Bug got all dogged-up and we took him to the Arboretum.

No haunted houses, ghosts or goblins, or funky stick-your-hand-in-and-be-grossed-out-by-common-household-goods displays (do people still do those?! I might be behind the times here)...we have years ahead of us for him to take in such spooky fun.

For this year, it was just about getting out of the house, enjoying time together, and since the weather was fair, being outside and enjoying all that Fall has to offer. And enjoy, we did!

A doggie in the making...

I love the "tongue of concentration" here. I display this trait a lot too, and had my face been visible, I wonder if we both would have been showing our sincere concentration via our tongues hanging out of our mouths. ;)

A different view.

Notice Mr. Random-head-in-the-shot. This photo reminds me of photobomb. Albeit a much less funny--actually not funny at all--version.

{My all-time favorite photobomb here. I laugh maniacally every time. It feels darn near sinful, but I can't help it, that face zeroes in on my funny-bone like some kind of short-range comedy missile. I now return to my post about...hmmm, what was this about again?!}

Alert doggie. HA!

Get it?! The ear being up...okay, we were laughing at the time. Hard to believe there wasn't copious amounts of sugar involved, huh?!

The sky in this shot turned out so interesting. That is not post-processing people!

Just part of the pack...

And again.

We found this fun outdoor play area, and we had it all to ourselves. Bug wanted to walk along this fallen tree and to keep my nerves in tact--because some of it was mighty high off the ground--we compromised and held hands.

And J snapped away.

Which was fun, because I am rarely in the photos it seems, and I am trying to remedy that a bit.

This concludes our Halloween coverage.

This last photo is blurry and totally not great, but there's something about how he has his hood down and his little ears flopping, and his cute hat and mittens. Seems a fitting goodbye to Halloween for this year I guess. =)

Until next time, Happy Monday and Welcome to November.

Sad Doggies

2009-11-01T09:30:00.001-08:00

What does it say about me that such sad doggies can bring such a large smile to my face?

Nevermind. Don't answer that.

More Halloween fun to come.

*Please excuse me for blasting Paisley right out of the photo. Unhappy, cold, and impatient subjects + bright light streaming in from the window = me settling for what I could get. ;)

Hey, I'm back!

2009-10-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

It's only been 2 days since I last posted, and not my customary 20-some days. ;) HA! I have been a horribly negligent blogger lately, I know. At least I can admit when I have a problem right?! (Eek..bad joke, sorry.)

I got a delightful email from a sweet woman today, a fellow companion animals rescuer. I can't say "dog rescuer" because she rescues cats too. Wowsa. I haven't thoroughly explored her blog yet, but in even brief viewing, it seems pretty fair to say the number of pets through her home makes our total after about a year and a half of this fostering business seem pretty paltry. {For the record, counting the pups, we are standing at 19 beautiful doggie creatures.} So go Laurie go! =)

Due to her inspiration--and my recent trip to NE whereupon I learned there are people reading my blog and they do pay a bit of attention and I have been woefully inept at updating because they were asking questions that to me felt like crazy old news, til I realized if you went by my blog and thought I was on top of things...well, you get it--here is an update on our little family.

Was that really one sentence?! Goodness...if it was, it shouldn't have been huh?! And I do know where my delete key is, I just choose to let it languish while I force innocent people to follow my line of thinking. ;) Back to it...

Paisley. My love. Mi amor. Mon petit chou. Golly goodness if this girl isn't one of the top 10 best beings to ever come into my life. Don't ask me to round out that top 10, because someone would feel bad falling below a dog and all, but seriously, I loooove this girl.

And here she is in all her nekkid glory. She rarely gets to be nekkid because there are usually multiple dogs in the household, so it is a simple safety (and practicality) issue: a collar gives you something to grab should you feel the need. She was nekkid for 2 days because her foster sibs were off galavanting with veterinary students, bless their souls (the dogs AND the students!). She also got to sleep in bed with us for two nights and to not hear her Momma sound like a militant* trying to keep three dogs and a toddler in line. I *think* she was pleased with those two days. ;) Though to her credit, she has seemed pretty pleased to have her playmates back too.

Sula. Sweet, sugarpie SulaSu. Me loves. I've already been pretty forthcoming on my feeling toward this little beefcake (note to self, must post photo of her insane muscles, the girl is stacked!). Here she is doing what she does best, with an absolute stranger no less, at an adoption day event.

She did go to a family for a couple weeks, but they ended up deciding it just wasn't for the best to keep her. They adored her, so it is not a testament to her being a bad dog or them being bad people, it just wasn't the right fit. So she is here, and I am happy. =) Turns out, Su's got quite the personality, complete with rough edges, but you know (or maybe you don't) that I'm cool with rough edges. These dogs are no more perfect than you or I, so can't we cut them all a break?! ;) She gets barky toward other dogs when she is overwhelmed. That's actually not much of a rough edge, but still, she's not the "perfect" gal she may have seemed when she was exhausted from raising those littles of hers. =)

And of course, Mel. Melly. Smelly Melly--not because he stinks, but because he was the sniffin'est thing we'd seen in a while when we first brought him home.

{Photo courtesy of the J man; I love this shot, one of my new favorite foster photos of all time.}

Still here, still his own unique little dude. "Look honey, Mel's a real dog!" This is the standard joke around here when he does any of a number of things that pretty much any dog would do. Why?! Because when we met him at the shelter, he was doing pretty much nothing that lots of normal dogs would do, besides maybe walking on all fours and having a tail. ;) And the tail was in question because it was tucked so far beneath him we weren't quite sure it was there. He wasn't our typical pull. He was my "compassion" case, I had to bring him home, I had to see if there was a real dog in there...and lo and behold, much to my endless pleasure, there IS! A pretty sweet little one, if you ask me. J is in love too; I don't think I've seen him fall this hard since...well, okay Una. So that wasn't so long ago. And she's still available too! Now his tail wags and he quite nearly wiggles, or as close to the wiggles as we think Mel can get, and he is happy to see us and he seeks us out and he kisses Grady and we wuv him oh so much. =)

Except....aw man....that's the same as "but." ;) Except he can't live with cats. Of which, we have two; this is the first time we've had to crate and rotate out our companion animal species. And he has problems with his right hip and both ACLs. Yeah, I'm just patting myself on the back over this pull, believe me. Oops! But he's here, and we're banking on the fact that there IS a family out there for this little guy. My special needs boy. =)

Last but not least, there's the Bugga. Grady Boone. Goofer Snoodle. Me sure loves him too.

He certainly has his own rough edges, the rough edges of a two and half year old. ;) Wow. But those rough edges are more than smoothed out when he hugs my leg and says "I yuv you Momma," or when he screeches when his Papa gets home and says "I missed you uh-day Papa," or when he tells his Memaw he "had a bootiful day."

So there you have it. Our house in review, minus cats who are still here and still loved (have I mentioned Turdie is quite the mouser?), and J and I who must be here, because can you imagine the insanity of all those beings without two half-sane adults around?! Yeah, I don't want to think about that either...

*J just informed me that my use of the term "militant" may lead people to believe I am harsh, physically violent, and politically extreme in my handling of our household. HA! I attempted to then inform him that it was hyperbole, I was being facetious, and that the context would assure people that is not the case. So here is my little p.s. in case your brain works more like J's than like mine. ;)

What else would he be?

2009-10-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

Really, was there any question what the Bug might be for Halloween?!

I know, I know, we're so predictable. So this isn't his first Halloween, technically he has been among the living for 3 full Halloweens now (counting this one, which I do realize has not occurred according to the calendar yet), but this is his first Halloween.

I didn't grow up with a great love for Halloween. Nothing against it, but I just didn't enjoy coming up with costumes and I'm an awful liar, so it always felt like such a farce to be dressed up as something/someone else. {Wait, no, I'm not implying that people who love Halloween are great liars. Just needed to clarify that.} In years past, the little man wasn't old enough to express his own interest in or enthusiasm for Halloween, hence no costumes, etc. And we don't live in a setting ripe for trick-or-treating, so it was a non-issue. Fine by me. ;)

Anyway, this is Bugga's first year having a costume. Naturally, I stuck close to what I know. He still doesn't quite get the whole concept, and getting him to "choose" a costume wasn't really happening--it changed by the moment, depending on what he might be looking at or eating or what book we just read. I, in turn, looked around me and hatched a plan. Go figure. It was something I could make easily and cheaply, and inspiration of the canine nature always abounds around these parts. =)

So here he is. Of course there's a tail.

What, you've never seen a doggie driving a truck?!

No, we won't be trick-or-treating next weekend. Truth is, we just don't need the sugar. Just ask my family--2 glasses of juice and a popsicle and I think we all learned our lesson. ;) {To think, I was only gone 10 minutes!} We might find some other costume-friendly avenue for an outing, or he might just dress up again and be part of the pack for the day. HA!

A tired dog is a happy dog.

By the way...where did October go?! ;)

What happened to September?

2009-10-01T10:20:00.001-07:00

So I have this husband. Alternately called J, or Doug, or Hubs, or What-the-hecka-do-you-think-you're-doing-I'm-trying-to-sleep. He answers to all of these, sometimes more positively than others. ;)

Anyway, he's a good guy. I'm lucky. Because whenever I say "Hey hun, can you do me a favor?," he almost shockingly does NOT head for the hills.

Like last night, the favor in question was this:

Take a handful of almonds, and a handful (or more) of peanut M&Ms, put them in the coffee grinder, let it go nuts (HA!), and then sprinkle it on some ice cream. For me, please. =)

Odd? Yes. Odd that he obliged? Quite possibly. But that's okay, we love each other, and that means not questioning when your wife requests you grind things to smithereens and sprinkle it over ice cream.

Other times the favor is more along the lines of "Please don't leave me, I want to bring another dog home." Recently, it was this dog.

We call him Mel. J actually named him, so I suppose he got something out of it too. =) If you find him on petfinder, his name is not Mel. {And yes, he's a he even though we have him in a pink collar; we have a slightly twisted sense of humor around here at times.} We don't know what will happen with sweet Mel, it appears he has hip dysplasia, and not having dealt with hip dysplasia before, we are at a loss of determining if he can find a happy home, or if he is in more pain than he should be made to bear regardless of his home. ={

In the meantime, he's living the life. Yummy food, gentle kisses, good cuddles, soft beds, and people to love him.

That's all I ever want for any of them I suppose. Can't complain. Just like I can't complain about my Hubs, who sweetly obliges my whims, both of the ice cream and dog variety.*

*Among others, I can't lie. ;)

Siblings

2009-09-20T19:03:00.001-07:00

Blood has nothing to do with it.

Neither does species {evidently}.

Yup, these 2 are like brother and sister in my book. ;)

See you on the flip side

2009-09-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

It is official, sweet Branny boy is home to stay with his new family.

This past weekend, I went to his new home to do the adoption paperwork, and surprised myself by breaking into tears in relaying a simple story to his new Momma about how J noted the light bouncing around our home one day, and no Bran to chase it anymore. ={

It was mostly happy tears, but also those bittersweet tears of having shared our family with this beautiful creature and knowing that it was over for us, yet just beginning for his new family.

Bran makes #9. Pumba, Mischief (LT), Libby, Timon (Hammer), Bailey, LuLu, Olive, and Bowie came--and went--before him. I suppose if I count the pups, Bran actually makes #14, with Fergie (Suvi), Marie (Nya), Charlotte (Penny), and Tre (Millie), and Mugsy (Caliber; don't get me started on his new name) joining their new families before he found his place in this world.

It is yet to be seen if Sula will become #10/#15. She is still very much on trial, though actually the trial is on hold as she is back with us for the week. ;) Seeing as how I love her so, you can imagine this came as a very welcome visit. She goes back to her potential family next week and we will see where it goes. Her first 2 weeks with them weren't the smooth sailing I think most everyone expected, so the trial we thought was just a formality (because of her unaltered state, for the next week anyway) has turned out to be very much a trial after all.

For what it's worth, this is why I love trial visits, or foster-to-adopts. In a way, it takes the pressure off and keeps us (the rescue organization) very much in the loop for support and encouragement. Let's face it, the beginnings of relationships are rarely easy, and the dog-human relationship is no exception. Granted, sometimes a trial is not necessary and not warranted or wanted by the family, but there are times it is immensely helpful and it can frame those sometimes rough early weeks in an entirely different light.

Sorry, today's post turned into a commentary on rescue. Oops! That happens I guess. ;) Just goes to show, I often don't have a plan when I sit down to blog. Successful bloggers probably have a plan. HAHA. At any rate, I'm off the cuff usually, sometimes I have a picture. And the crazy voices in my head of course, if that's any consolation. Which for me, it's not. Oh well.

To atone, I offer this...

Happy Friday everyone! =)

Promises, promises

2009-09-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

I just asked Paisley if she was going to live forever.

"Sure Mom, of course, haven't we been over this?! I promise to live forever, okay?"

I was reassured, for a moment. Then I saw her roll her eyes.

The nerve!

Guess she tires of her Momma's clingy, insecure ways. ;)

Don't ask...

2009-09-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Don't ask what these are...

I couldn't tell you. Personally, I just call them...pretty...and wild...and abundant on our little slice of this great planet.

My jelly jar glasses get a bit lonely too and I thought I'd give one of them something pretty to hold on to for a bit. ;)

I've been feeling the sting of this lately...

Empty nest. =( Okay, so it's still rather full in all reality, but "empty" can be such a relative term. Bran and Sula--recent foster-dogs-extraordinaire--both journeyed to new families this past Friday. It landed me in a bit of a funk for a few days. Now I've settled back into the {mostly} easy life with just the Bug, Paisley, crazy felines, and the hubs to keep in line. HA!

And anyway, how can I be lonely with this little face around?!

I call him many names too...Bugga...Goofer Snoodle...Little...Buggie...BuggO....My Little Turkey. ;)

Whatever I choose to call him, this is my new favorite face:

This is the face that makes my insides do backflips and turn to jelly all at the same time. I'm told--by J, who I suppose has studied my face more closely than anyone else at this point--that he gets this face from me. That my nose does this same scrunch, right up between the eyes. I'm guessing, it doesn't look near so cute on me. It's a face of consternation sometimes, just silliness others. Regardless of its roots at any given moment, I love when this expression pops across his little face.

This wraps up the random update for today. ;) Thanks for stopping by! =)

This one's for Memaw and Papaw

2009-08-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

I fear I've made them suffer through a few too many dog-heavy, Bugga-light posts.

This boy...

...keeps us laughing.

Random trivia:

He had this outfit last Summer too. I suppose the fit was a little different then, but not much. Crazy!

Next goal: To capture pictures of him doing his downward facing dog. ;)

Yawn Blink

2009-08-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, at least the coffee is on, maybe that will help. The last week has been something of a blur.

The short version: last Thursday, Puppies + Sula + Bran went to a vet in the cities, then the puppies went home with Laura, another Director for MN Pit Bull Rescue; {Friday the pups all got spayed/neutered, though that was all on Laura, as I was home having the laziest day of my entire Summer}; Saturday ALL the program dogs were at a Grand Opening event for a new dog training facility; then Sunday, a carload of pooches and Laura and I drove all over MN (well, it sure felt like it) for adoptions and foster placements.

Whew...that was the short version?! ACK, I've never been good at being concise. ;)

At any rate, driving home from the vet last Thursday, knowing I was coming home to a puppy-free environment, driving with Sula next to me, I couldn't help but feel like it was just the day prior that we had brought her home. With her insanely large belly containing who-knew-how-many puppies. Of course, we were soon to know, we just didn't know it at the time. ;) Okay, I'm not making much sense, but the point is, I felt like I blinked and it was over. The puppies were graduating to a life without their Momma, I was going home to a lonely--yet admittedly less busy and stressful--household. There were tears, but goodness, that's nothing new with me. ;)

Thankfully, I've been blessed to see my little snuggle-muffins a few times since last Thursday. I even kind of lucked out and landed one back here with our family while she waits for another foster placement. I feel lucky to be enjoying this special time with Bobbie, but I miss her sissies and bro too.

It also looks like Momma Sula has found herself a new family, though she is still here for the time being while we more fully assess her temperament and give her time to heal and rest up now that the puppies have gone...except for Miss Bob, of course, who is temporarily back. So...more tears, but what's new?!

Here are some parting shots of the pups we took a week ago today, their final full day with our family.

Sula's last nursing of the pups. This is how she nursed primarily for their last 3 weeks with her, reluctant, but still dedicated. ;)

Token boy of the litter, Mugsy. Already completely shameless in his cuddle-monster ways with any human who is close enough to reach out and touch.

Originally Marie, now Nya. Hello Junkyard Puppy. ;) She worked hard on this hole, then just laid in the cool earth she uncovered. This is also Mini-Paisley, in so many ways, not the least of which is her coloring.

Una. Oh Una.

J was so thoroughly enamored with Una, he harassed me relentlessly for days about her expected return date to our home. =( "She's not coming back honey, you know that." Such sadness. But darn, little Tramp Stamp, the temptation was there, believe me. =)

Hey Char, why must you be so stunning?!

I have a disproportionate number of pics of Charlotte. I can't explain it. She either made herself more available or I was drawn in a way I was unaware of. A mystery.

Tre telling Charlotte a secret. I bet it was a good one. Maybe it would solve the mystery of all the pictures I have of her...hmmmmm. ;)

And then there's Fergie, now Suvi.

She was more attracted to Bugga than any of them, another mystery I can't explain. Especially considering he wasn't always exactly gentle when faced with their attempts at getting close to him.

Dot. My Pokey Little Puppy. Oh how I adore her, and her little extra skin flaps around her nose, that filled with dirt and made her look ridiculous within moments of playing outside.

Look at all that wrinkly, fuzzy skin....ahhhhh, it kills me! I will most certainly need to see how these littles grow into some of that good stuff. =)

Tre and Bobbie. The girls everyone mistook for boys. ;)

Bobbie looks so different already, if we could get some sunshine, I'd get some updated pictures. Tre is a soft girl, and I mean that both physically and temperamentally. She's going to need a soft touch, structure with tons of love to bring out all her best. Bobbie is more confident, more ready for whatever crosses her path. She takes on the 3 big dogs, including her Momma, in this house with little fanfare.

Sweet Tre. Oh and those blue eyes of hers I spoke of in the past....yup, they went green (like so many of us these days, HAHA).

Uncle Bran!

J trying to lure the whole crew into a group shot. It proved to be insanely challenging. But check out Una's earnest attempt at that treat, gotta love her!

The closest we came. I'm sure Fergie/Suvi is in there, she just is hidden in the back. If you click to make it big, I'm about 99.357% sure that the black spot above/behind Tre and Charlotte is her backside. ;)

Have I mentioned Sula is so very food motivated. This is her determined to get more out of J.

"Uhhh...hey, guy...you see this, this is called sitting, I'm doing it exceptionally well. Do you have a little something there, in the bag, in your pocket...just a little something...give a girl some encouragement man!"

I have more, many more, pics of The Great 8, as I dubbed them. I'm just starting to feel like they thoroughly took over the blog and some readers may well be mighty sick of pup-a-palooza.

Plus, Bug just requested I read him a book called Naughty Parents. Gees...he's getting pretty good at getting right to the point, huh?! ;) Better go!

Balancing Act

2009-08-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Papa and Bugga...

Just another silly evening before bath.

Oops, lost one noggin {Bug}, gained one noggin {Paisley}. =) Or rather, Chief Investigator Paisley D. Jackson.

Tell me, Investigator Jackson, do you believe your licking the subjects helped or hindered their chances for achieving their objective?

"No comment."

My kooky boys. {And girl.}

Save the boy!!!

2009-08-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

As the pups grow older, Bugga + the pups is becoming a very, very interesting {and exhausting} combination.

Here, he starts by trying to teach them a dance.

Okay, just kidding, but that's what I thought when I first saw the picture. ;)

Then it's run-for-your-life time.

Darn, he's a cutie toots.

Now, stop and try to cuddle them. See how that goes.

Uh oh, it went south. Quite literally. ACK!

And it gets worse.

Oh poor boy...

"Hey pups, I'm going to skuut down the hill, c'mon!!!"

It's a skuut-solution. Happy problem-solving little man, good preparation for life. ;)

*Muchos gracias to J today for the photos. I'm guessing I was inside during all these shenanigans trying to pretend I don't share a house with a toddler AND 8 puppies AND 3 adult dogs AND 2 ornery cats. Oh and 1 trouble-causing, rebel-rousing, laugh-inducing husband too.

**Naw, never mind, I would never pretend any of them away. I promise! =)

***I also promise, without any hint of doubt, that Bug was NOT injured in any way during the taking of these photos. In case anyone out there is worrying their pretty little heads or looking up the number for CPS or alerting the media to the latest pit bull mauling (8 on 1 makes for a nice headline, I'm sure). ;)

Monday...be mine

2009-08-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Monday, nice to see you! Can you believe how relieved I am that you are finally here?! Bet you don't hear that everyday.

Well, Monday, you deserve it. I'm here to say "Monday, you're special and you bring good things." ;)

Whew, had to get that off my chest. The weekend was...um...rough. Or ruff. Whichever way you look at it, Monday has proved a vast improvement.

And it all had nothing--or everything--to do with these littles.

Oh sure, they look innocent enough...

Wait, where was I going here?! No really, they are innocent enough. That just doesn't translate into "easy" or "passive" by any means. Their innocence comes firmly wrapped in insatiable curiosity, excrement, and enthusiasm.

Yes, I said excrement. I'm swimming in it people and if I couldn't blog about it...well, then I'd just be cleaning more of it up, so please, let me blog about it. =) Grant me this small pleasure and I promise I won't post illustrative images to drive home that point.

Back to the cuteness...

This is Una. Una has a nickname. It's not pretty, it's not sweet, but darn it all if it hasn't stuck.

Want to hear it? Can you guess it, by some wild chance?

I'll give you a minute. And a clue: look at her coloring.

{Dum da dum da dum....doowop doowopwopwop...sorry, I'm out of music in my head}

Ready? It's Tramp Stamp. Yup, we call her Tramp Stamp, because of that brindle patch spreading along her rump. She also has "shoulder tats" on each side, but it doesn't have the same ring as Tramp Stamp.

Anyway, here she is from another angle.

Lastly, Dot. Oh my Dot.

'Nuff said. Happy Monday. Next week, let's try not to upstage the weekend...just maybe, okay Monday?

To think like a dog

2009-07-30T08:57:00.001-07:00

To say I love her seems an understatement.

I can't quite explain it. It seems too obvious to blame it on being there when she gave birth to her pups. To go through that when our relationship was so fresh it had dew on it probably did have an indelible effect, yet our bond almost feels old, weathered, deeper than a mere 6 weeks--with any sort of experience--would warrant.

I know I need to let her go. It is becoming abundantly clear. There is a family who thinks of her, who want her with them, who long to love her for the rest of her life. I have these same desires and thoughts, but that's not what I signed on for and I know it, regardless of the pain that sometimes brings.

Just to be clear, I don't love her because she's perfect either. No dog is perfect, just like no human is perfect. She doesn't listen as well as Paisley, or as well as Bran for that matter. She has the most hilarious habit of chewing on pillows and blankets, sometimes when she seems nervous, other times when she is being silly and playful. She barks at phantom noises. She thinks she owns this place...and me (darn, I didn't realize I was that transparent).

So yes, I'll let go. I must let go. Not today though, thankfully. She's still mine for a while. Then, just like all the other dogs who have graced our family and then moved on, she'll reside forever in my heart and memory, bringing mysterious smiles to my face whenever she crosses into my direct consciousness. Holding so tight only to let go hardly seems worth it sometimes, were it not for those moments.

For now, I'll snuggle tight with Sula and I'll do my best to think like a dog: to be in the moment, to not fret over tomorrow or the next week or the goodbye yet to come. I can focus on the love before me and be thankful for all that it is, right now.

You have another solution? ;)

2009-07-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

So many memories conjured up by these photos.

I soothed a tantrum with spoon-licking. I'm not proud. I never said I was awesome at this parenting stuff, okay?! ;) I do things I shouldn't...like stop a tantrum with sweets. I wish I didn't, but I did.

And to make matters worse, I decided to photograph it. I'll never forget that {almost} tantrum. =)

Nighty night!

A boy and his skuut

2009-07-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

The pep talk...

Check the love! Awww, Papa and Paisley both there to cheer the boy on. =)

Wheeeeeee....

He loves his skuut. Who needs training wheels? Who needs pedals?!

Hope your week is full of fun adventures. =)

Just because

2009-07-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

Love me some...

2009-07-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

Love me some happy dogs...

Love me some tired dogs too...

{Guess that's what mothering 8 sprightly, needle-toothed pups does to a dog!}

Love me some giddy, life-loving adult dogs.

For the record, if we ever decide to quit this crazy game of fostering dogs and finding them loving homes, I'm 97.865% sure it'll be because we adopted an adult dog. I flippin' LOVE adult dogs. =)

However, I also love me some puppy breath. ;) {Me getting lovin from Una, my kissee, and Fergie.}

Puppy breath: the most disgusting thing you'll ever love. HA! Well, for some people anyway.

Tre, looking cute and curious. You can't see it in this photo very well, but Tre has the most amazing blue eyes. I will be anxious to see if it stays that way or if they change.

J getting some lovin from Marie (left, and Paisley's mini-me by the way, crazy!) and Mugsy (right), the lone boy of the whole bunch. Good luck Mugs!

Fergie (left) and Dottie (right), aka "The Pokey Little Puppy" because she is often lagging a ways behind, watching the crowd, observing and making sure the time is right for her to pounce. Or to lay down and just nap away from the hubbub. She is known to do both. ;)

Charlotte, showing her ornery side, going after sissy Tre.

It seems every week, someone new takes the role of "biggest stinker of the bunch." =) Last week was Charlotte's turn at the title and I think this picture captures her reign quite well.

Bobbie, getting ready to pounce. Big time!

This photo is apt, because though it was taken last week, when Char reigned supreme at the top stinker, Bobbie has usurped her crown for the time being. Can't wait to see who's next! ;)

The whole bunch thinking of chasing down Momma Sula.

This is a popular game these days, as Sula is craving a tad more independence, the pups are eager to keep their Momma to themselves, nurse her dry, and then bite the hand that feeds them in attempts at play. Poor Sula! I keep assuring her this is the last time she'll ever have to do this. It seems my words are little comfort though. Oh well. Soon enough she'll be free.

Okay, now lest you say "Hey, Amanda...or Dougina...or whoever you are...didn't you have a child. Yeah, yeah, didn't you give birth a while back and he was quite cute and oh so fun? And you called him Bugga and...come on, wasn't that you?!"

Well, now that you mention it...you're right! That was me! Don't fret, he's still here. ;) And still loved and still quite cute and fun.

And he's loving every minute of this current adventure. =)

~~~~

*Thanks Trish for asking about the pups! I don't have a whole lot of readers, or at least not a whole lot of commenters, so you can bet I notice when someone actually comments and asks a question. Also an FYI regarding comments, I'm turning the word verification off, as it seems to deter some folks.

Teeming with life...

2009-07-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing, even if the recent chilly temperatures haven't exactly supported that fact. ;) We are just teeming with life around here, most recent additions include the barn swallow chicks.

Turtle knows something is out there, he just can't see what. ;)

This is down on the covered patio of our walkout basement, also known as "the potty spot." Yeah...um...not what I would consider the ideal place for my babies, but then again, I'm not a barn swallow.

The Momma and Papa bird are not the least deterred by all the activity in and out of the basement door, the dogs, the crazy puppies, the super-crazy toddler. They just go about their business, doing what needs to be done.

Sometimes I think I could learn a thing or two from them in fact. =)

Hang in there...

2009-07-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hang in there Paisley girl,

He'll grow up before you know it.

Certainly too fast for me, though I often need to remind myself of this.

Ghosts of Guests Past ~ Ode to the FAM

2009-07-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

I'm back at the beautiful game of catch-up/time travel....woooosh, and we're back in the wondrous month of April, for Bugga's second birthday. What kind of mother doesn't blog her son's second birthday when it actually happens?! Well, I suppose I would be that kind of mother. ;) Oops!

Jeremy's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their 3 darling offspring made the long trek up from NE for the weekend preceding Bug's birthday. It was so nice to have them visit and we had so much fun!!!

Here's Bugga with Jake (left) and Jedd (right). He loves being around his cousins, and these guys are so good to him even though they're older and more able and all that good stuff. =)

This is J's sweet sis Danelle, her hubby Kelvin, and all the kids, including our own, which I enjoy because it makes it look like they have 4 kids. And were there a companion picture of J and I at that same moment, it would look like we have none. HA!

Anyway, something interesting to know about our bro-in-law Kelvin is that he cannot...sit...still. No way, no how, the guy is go-go-go-go-go. And then go a little more. If you please. So you can bet the weekend was full of activity all around. I am by nature a tad lazier...eeek, at least I admit it openly, right?! But even I had to admit, we had a blast and saw stuff here in MN that we hadn't yet seen in our roughly year and a half of state residence, so that was cool.

We went to the cities, of course. We adult females absconded with Grady to IKEA while the adult males and remaining chitlins enjoyed the Mall of America. Then we had some fun--sure, that's how I remember it, "fun"--winding our way through traffic and finally landing near a park, the name is which is very much escaping me.

{I blame whatever happened to my brain after this occurred...for the record.}

We had a grand time exploring, nonetheless. You don't need to know the name of a place to enjoy it, right?! Right! =)

Jake did everything in his power to escape the ruthless glare of the camera all weekend. See here, he's looking away, taunting me. The scoundrel.

Jedd tried to run too, but I can still catch him. ;) Barely.

Jenna, on the other hand, knows how to work it. =) Isn't she beautiful!!!

See boys, does she look like she is in pain here?! It isn't so bad, I swear! Come back and let me take your picture. ;)

To his credit, Jedd and I seem to have a deal worked out, he'll let me take his photo, but he gets to be silly. Personally, I wouldn't want it any other way. Just don't tell him, okay?!

Jenna has her fair share of silly too. It's a slightly more quiet, subdued silly though. =)

We also traveled to St. Cloud, to yet another park whose name has left me. Anyway, it was a cloudy day...yup, on the day we went to St. Cloud...mwahahaha. Oh gees, sorry, the strangest things entertain me. Anyway, we didn't get a lot of good shots that day, but this kind of made me laugh.

Someone is undoubtedly making fun of me here. Either Kelvin or J, not sure. I have evidently blocked those details out too, and would happily be thinking it was all sweetness and light that weekend, were it not for the photographic evidence. Oh well, it couldn't have been that bad. ;)

We did spend a little time at home. This pictures cracks me up, I title it "Like Mother, Like Son."

So that was Bugga's 2nd birthday weekend! THANKS so much to the family for traveling so far to be with him, it really made it so special! =) Can't wait til we see you all again, whenever that might be. Much love and many hugs...

PSA

2009-07-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

I just tore myself up off the floor, from amidst a pile of pitties--slobbery kisses, tangled legs, soft ears, sweet eyes, and pushy snouts all vying for loving attention--to bring you this public service announcement.

People suck. =( As certain dogs are vilified darn near daily in our national media, these horrible things were happening right under all our noses basically. Where was the media then? Where are they now?

378 dogs. The count is at 378 dogs that were being used--and in the most horrendous possible ways--by humans for profit. 26 people arrested, though you know that doesn't even come close to covering all the involved parties, all the sick, twisted individuals that got some kind of kick out of watching dogs tear each other apart.

I apologize for sounding angry, I really do, but my stomach aches over the evil treatment of animals at the hands of some humans. And that goes beyond this current story also. I try to remind myself that there are loving humans doing amazing things for dogs and cats and other companion animals and wildlife all over the world; it just gets hard to keep that in mind on weeks like this. When news like this breaks.

If you have it in your heart to want to do something, the Humane Society of Missouri could use donations to help care for the dogs as they await hopefully fair evaluations to determine their ultimate fates. As a fellow friend in rescue pointed out, it warms the heart that they include sturdy toys and creamy peanut butter in the wish list. I'm fairly certain these dogs have never known such simple pleasures.

If nothing else, love a dog today. Any dog you can get your hands on. Or just wave nicely to the dog owner walking down the street. Spread a little positive energy toward the 4-legged creatures among us. I know I'll be doing my small part. ;)

*Yes, all the hyperlinks are separate articles/sites. Just an FYI.

Back to your regularly scheduling programming soon...up next, Bugga's family makes his second birthday extra special. ;)

NINE

2009-07-08T07:22:00.001-07:00

THANKS for putting up with me like no one else probably could. ;)

THANKS for making me laugh. Every day. =)

THANKS for being on the same page with me (most of the time, ha!)...even when most people consider me out in left field or I've turned the corner to crazy-town.

THANKS for our son, and for the being the most amazing co-parent I could have ever imagined.

THANKS for reaching for the stars when I'm often content to hug the ground.

THANKS for being the yin to my yang, the peanut butter to my jelly, the orange juice to my M&Ms. (What?! Don't tell me you don't like OJ and M&Ms together?! Who are you people?!)

THANKS for being my handyman and makin' it happen, cap'n. ;)

THANKS for picking me.

THANKS for NINE years...here's to 99 more. ;)

{Okay, that last bit, not possible really. Though I do imagine that by that point, 127 will be the new 101, so you just never know, now do you?! }

Love you J. I think I'll keep you. =)

Could it be...?

2009-07-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

...that I'm dreaming of the weekend already?!

*Sigh* Sweet vintage-stove-turned-"firepit."

Of course, there's no law against lazy nights out by the fire during the week, it just never seems to happen that way. =)

*Yes indeedy these pictures are old, as evidenced by the bare trees in the background. But not as old as one might think...Spring in MN tends to test one's patience.

A different kind of holiday...

2009-07-04T18:13:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! While many around the country light fireworks, have a barbeque, head out to parades, and any other manner of celebrating our country, we...well, we kind of had a normal day. ;) I know, go figure, go figure.

The Bug is just a smidge young yet for staying up late enough for fireworks. We tried it last year, and he melted into a heap of infant-becoming-toddler moodiness as we waited for the fireworks to start. Last night, we noted that at 7:45p, he had a eerily similar fit. We decided at that moment that staying up til 10p to watch fireworks was not in the cards this year either.

Fine by us, though. I can already hear some displays happening in our neighborhood, so we don't feel completely left out of the fun. ;)

I'm sitting on the patio, as J gets ready to start a fire, so I thought I'd post a few photos of our day. You know, to keep me from mauling the bag of marshmallows prematurely. ;)

More dirty Bugga.

Each day, he expands my horizons regarding all the ways dirt can be used, the ways it is funny, the heartbreak it can cause if you separate a boy from his dirt...the possibilities are endless (as is my laundry pile).

My funny-face Bran, always so happy just to be outside.

One of the many reasons I love dogs so much is their immeasurable pleasure in the simple things in life. =)

You can't forget resident girlie, Miss Paisley. Nope. Never. Because she would never let anyone forget her.

Just go ahead and try, she dares you. ;)

Sweet Sula loves her time in the sun too. Her small break from those 8 rapidly-growing, ever-hungry, increasingly-mobile pups of hers.

We took a 9.5 mile bike ride this morning. Whew...I was pushing it at the end. Jeremy, however, could have kept going for probably double that. I mistakenly tried to race J down one of the last hills--after a killer uphill. For me, that is. Not him. Drat! Anyway, the downhill proved just as futile. I call gravity on that one though, I mean really...he's bigger than me, plus he was pulling Bugga in the trailer. Now that doesn't speak well for the fact that he beat me up pretty much every hill too, but I'm choosing not to focus on that. ;)

No pictures of the bike ride, but on the other end of the spectrum of the day's activities, here are J and Paisley enjoying some hammock time.

"Up...pease...up"

Once up, he pretty much just disturbed the peace of the hammock for everyone else. What would we expect though?!

Pai and J, in slightly different light. And with some crazy eyes from Paisley, just to keep you all on your toes. =)

For some reason, I love this pic J took from inside the hammock.

Bugga cleaning up before going inside. ;)

Well...really, that water was for the dogs, but Grady makes little distinction between himself and the dogs, often drinking out of it just like they do, and just as often dumping dirt into it and taking his wet hands and making mud. Oh the joy!!! Dirt...water...together. Ahhhhh. The boy's heart swells at the thought I swear. =)

We ended our day with some cheap-rubber-ball soccer--inside, just to jazz things up--and now a little marshmallow roasting and doggie snuggling. Oooh, better go, J handed me my roasting stick, I can nearly taste them. =) Now if I can just keep the dogs from thinking they need to share....

Ghosts of Guests Past ~ Ode to Stewarts

2009-07-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

As I went about finally cleaning the guest room after Dad's recent visit, I was reminded of all the guests we've had over the past year. Our friends, the Stewarts, came to visit back in March of this year. Also way back then, I promised to blog the visit. Clearly, this post is really stretching the whole better-late-then-never philosophy. Eeek!

Annnnyway...

Here's to you Stee-warts. Did you know that's how J had you entered into our phonebook on our phone? ;)

Get ready for some severe picture overload. I don't think I've posted this many photos to one post since last Fall when Chris and Nichole got married and took us all on their honeymoon (I love saying it like that, hehe; posts here, here, here, and here. Whew.)

With 3 munchkins in the house, you can bet there was tons of this:

Welcome to mid-March in MN little man. =)

Yes, we were blessed with new snow right before their visit. Thankfully, the sun-washed dessert-dwellers were actually excited for the change in climate. As I dreamt of Spring, I thought they were a bit bananas, but it worked out well. ;)

I think these poofy pants might have taken up their own suitcase. HA!

Princess, indeed. =) She is such a perfect mix of sassy of sweet...the kind that raises your eyebrow as it forces a smile across your face. Love miss Gabby!

Oops! I do not remember how Mason ended up in this position, but what a photo op, right?!

The dogs got in on the mix too. That's Ham-bone, formerly Moanie (more on him and his visit in another post), trying to keep up with Paisley. My girl got air, baby! ;)

This looks like a really dangerous proposition for Justin doesn't it? If memory serves, no one was injured, so it's all good.

Snow monster. ;) Check out Justin in the background, already stripped down to shorts.

Then the kiddos would come inside, warm up, and enjoy some time on the lounger.

We also journeyed to the twin cities, enjoying--errr, tolerating?--a super-crowded children's museum, and then on to the Mall of America, that iconic stop that everyone wants to make. =)

Here, Mason snacks as he watches for his Mom and sissie on one of the rides.

Gabby's face says it all after they were done. =)

Mason and Grady found this little stage; this was before one or the other of them took a break for it to try their entertainment skills. Hehe.

Mason and his Dad, Justin. Doesn't the little guy look so sweet here? That's how they get ya...

It was off to the lego tables next. Note Gabby's look of concentration here.

You knew those pesky boys weren't going to let that go.

Oh no! There it is. They did it now.

She's a trooper, she recovered. =)

Let's see, what could I have possibly not covered? Ahhh, well, this is how Gabby spent a good portion of that weekend:

She and Paisley had a bond that evoked truly dangerous thoughts, I tell you. Like the thought that Paisley needs a little girl in her life. ;)

Right up to the very end, Gabby lavished affection on Paisley and Pai soaked it up in a way that caught me by surprise.

Not that she doesn't soak up Bugga's love and attention too, just that she is often as likely to avoid it. ;) The girl likes her space, usually. With Gab though, she was quite content right where she was, it was so precious!

So THANK YOU Justin, Tara, Gabby, and Mason for trading your AZ sunshine for MN sunshine-with-snow!

We can't wait to repay the visit, preferably when it's below zero here. =) Love to you guys!

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone! More catching up on the way, stay tuned. ;)

Momma Sula

2009-07-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

As the Bug is busying himself covering and uncovering Paisley in her chair (darn, she's a good girl; her patience with the boy often rivals and/or exceeds my own), I thought I'd take a moment to introduce our 8 newest {temporary} family members.

I shared briefly how Sula came into our lives Saturday, June 13th and by 8a the next morning, she brought another 8 little beings into the world.

Here they are, a couple of days later.

I'll spare you all the gory details and equally gory late-night video. ;) Well, "gory" to some might well be "beautiful" to others. I myself was somewhat in awe, if not completely freaked out at the same time. Having brought forth my own little being into this world, I felt a strange connection to Sula throughout the process. She labored largely with her head hanging out the baby pool, in my lap, letting me massage and pet her and whisper encouragements that I'm sure meant little to her...being a dog and all. =)

As you can see, she did great, and delivered 8 beautiful, healthy puppies.

Each and every one of them knew what their duty was, and this is it. Most of the early pictures are of this, because this is all they do. Much like human babies. Who'd 'ave thunk?! HA! {Sarcasm alert, in case anyone wants to lecture me about mammalian laws of nature or something.}

Sula is holding up like a champ to the demands of motherhood.

Albeit a rather tired champ, at times. ;)

Again, much like a human Momma. =)

Blogger-ade anyone?

2009-06-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

*Title courtesy of J, as he inquired yesterday if I had been drinking blogger-ade, you know, to account for the sudden presence of new posts. ;)

Anyway, I am hopping in my time machine and going back to last month, and really, I have farther back than that to go to update all the visits/happenings/good times I would like to, but for now...well, baby steps people. =)

Last month J's brother Chris, his lovely wife Nichole, and daughter/Bugga-cousin-extraordinaire Kaylee came to visit. We had an amazing time, though it was too short, as with any visit from people we adore. ;)

Chris and Nichole were big with child at this point. Evidence A.

And Kaylee was soon to be a big sister, and quite excited about it. Evidence B.

;)

Okay, enough with the evidence. Goodness, you'd think I've been watching CSI or something with...um, evidence in it. ;) Well, I have been watching Arrested Development over and over and over as if no other show ever existed, and there is a lot of talk of evidence there. Hmm, all pieces to the puzzle.

Gosh, this catch-up business really sends me on a lot of tangents huh?! Back to the point...

Kaylee is so sweet, and so so easy to photograph because she does endless amounts of adorable things.

See?! Even when she's making this face, isn't she cute?! ;)

And Bugga thinks she is just the greatest. They have a total blast together. I love this picture of them looking out a big window at the MN Children's Museum.

Everyone swinging. =)

Well, as I said, this was just over a month ago, and what do you know?! Last Thursday Chris and Nichole welcomed little Dominic into the world and we couldn't be more thrilled! Kaylee is a big sister, and taking to it wonderfully I hear. So there is a new little love to behold, some sunshine into this often sad and dreary world. ;) Got a little dramatic there, oops. But I think you catch my drift. YAY Baby Dominic!

Speaking of loves, here are my two. This little duo is my everything. Even if sometimes I wish this little duo would hop in the car and leave for a few hours, allowing me to refresh/clean/nap/read/zone out/relax/reorganize the entire house/inspire world peace...returning later with supper in hand. And dessert. And matching "I {heart} Momma" tattoos.

Kidding about the tattoos of course. But never about the dessert. ;)

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Chris, Nichole, and Kaylee and welcome to the family little Dominic! We can't wait to meet you! =)

Dirty...

2009-06-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

...just doesn't really cover it these days.

;)

Happy Monday.

Dusting off the cobwebs

2009-06-25T11:15:00.001-07:00

Swish. Swoosh. Whew.

As you can see, I'm finally trying to dust off some of the cobwebs of this little blog and play a mad game of catch-up. Spring cleaning was never so much fun, huh?!

What's that?! It's Summer already. Crap.

Anywho...my Dad returned home to NE this week. He left the great state of MN on Tuesday, exactly 2 months from the date he first arrived. He went through 4 weeks of residential treatment during that time, here in MN, which was a blessing because we could visit him on weekends and often brought him back to our house for day or whole-weekend passes. Was it successful? Only time will tell. I want to be hopeful, but history keeps me guarded. I can say he was in good spirits, and his physical health was far improved from when he first came to stay.

Probably the best part of his visit was watching the relationship between him and Grady develop and flourish, after being basically non-existent for Bug's first 2 years of life. Dad requested pictures with Bugga and the big 2 dogs before he went home and the following chronicles the folly of attempting such a thing. ;)

The dogs didn't want to sit still.

Bugga insisted on holding his broom.

And not looking at the camera, both of which irked my sometimes too-serious Dad. Personally, it just made me laugh and I assured him it was probably the best we could hope for with a 2 year old. =)

I'm posting this picture simply as an illustration of just how difficult it was to get those 2 to sit still for even 2 seconds.

Oh my goodness....I just realized how far behind I am indeed. None of you know this dog. This leggy, big, brown and white boy dog. DOH!

This is BRAN. {One of } Our new foster{s}. ;) See now? Catch-up is an understatement.

So Bowie got adopted on May 23rd, exactly one year to the date that we brought home our first foster Pumba. Personally, I love dates and I find it endlessly interesting when dates coincide like that. But I know not everyone shares my sad little fascinations, so I'll move on.

We took a little time off. Dad was in treatment, during the weekdays anyway, and we were enjoying some time down to just our humble little family of 6--J, Bug, me, Paisley, Monkey, and Turtle. You know, our quiet, little family. ;)

June 1st, Mr. Bran came bouncing into our family. Bouncing, bounding, jumping, licking, smiling, tail-chasing, these are some of Branny's more treasured pastimes. He is 5 years old. He is sweet. I swear he is mixed with lab, because he has a few little...um...quirks. =) Nothing awful, but it must be the lab in him, that's all I can say (no offense to any lab-lovers that happen upon this blog!).

Fast forward to June 12th, Dad completed his treatment and came back home to our house. We were up to 8 family members, but that was nothing, we were about to double that +1.

Enter Sula, June 13th.

Then enter Sula's 8 babies that very night. Yeah, more on that later. Don't you worry. =)

See that, in the background of that pic there? Is that...wait...really...chain link?! In my house? I did always have slightly different home decor tastes I suppose.

Since I'm off topic, can I just take a moment to say how enormously GRATEFUL I was to have Dad here for that adventure!!! Wowsa! It would have been freak-out central without his calm and experienced demeanor throughout the night and beyond. He stuck around and helped as we became a household of 17 living, breathing beings. 17. 17. 17.

Sorry, oops, I get stuck on repeat every now and again. Minor side effect of the past few weeks. ;)

Alas, we are back down to 16 now. Darn near lonesome, I tell you. Good thing I have all of you, right?! {Echo} {Crickets} Um, well that's okay, I might have things to do around here after all. ;)

I didn't miss it...

2009-06-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

...no, I didn't miss Father's Day. I mean, he's still Papa today, just like he was on Sunday. So no, I didn't miss it at all. ;)

What a great Papa he is too. Papa, Dad, Daddy, the "man", or just J--all those titles get tossed his way daily it seems--whatever you call him, he's there, willing to share a hug or a wrestle-fest.

I couldn't have asked, hoped, or dreamed for a better partner for this journey of parenthood. Or the journey of life in general. =)

Plus, where else would my child inherit such amazing hair?!

He takes his roll as a "doggie parent" just as seriously as he takes his roll as parent to our Bug, and he enjoys all the spoils just as much too. =)

Happy Father's Day to my J, my Doug*, my honey, the man. Love you always, thanks for keeping me laughing and helping me keep this crazy family in some semblance of sanity. =)

*Inside joke, going waaaay back to the beginning, as it were. High school even. Okay, since I've given up all hopes of not being a huge dork, I'll go ahead and share. So J and I were just lovey-dovey high schoolers dating. He had his little crew of ragamuffin pals (ha!) and one day we were all hanging out and they kept calling each other "dog." How very urban of them huh?! If only there weren't corn fields a stone's throw away. Anyway. They left and I naively asked Jeremy "why did they keep calling you Doug?" I misunderstood. Story of my life. ;)

An equation

2009-05-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

This...

Plus this....

= best buds

;)

My kind of math. Hehe.

I can't imagine life without these two clown-attack-jacks, as I am known to call them (what?! They cause a lot of trouble around here, you know!).

I have to think of title too?!

2009-05-21T00:07:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been much too long since I last posted. Go figure. ;)

At any rate, the thunder is rolling in and I should be snoring--and no doubt my sweetie J is snoring--so I thought there's no time like the present to post something. Anything. Pretend I haven't gone MIA yet again.

So tonight, I love me some hubby J (snoring, but not in this pic, obviously).

I love me some Bugga, even covered in paint (also snoring, but not in this pic).

And I love me some foster pup Bowie (also snoring, currently in the same room as me, so I know it's true).

Love me some getting tagged by crazy cool bloggie pals (ahem, Leah, who I would guess is snoring as well, though I have no way of knowing for sure).

I do not, however, love me some adult acne, unfinished oatmeal, morning hair, and messy kitchen just beyond view of the camera lens. I know it's there. That's all that matters.

Love me some of my own Dad too, shown here with the doggies falling helplessly under his spell (all those pictured should definitely be snoring).

Love me some PaiPai girl, in a hammock, always and forever, never grow old, live with me forever you crazy dog. ;)

Love me some funny paint-eating faces from my Grady-Bugga-Boone. =)

Well, since all my loves are doing it too, I suppose I should join the party....zzzzzzz. ;)

~~~

Side note for anyone who might be following along...my Dad did enter a residential treatment facility last week. I am so proud of him, I honestly questioned if such a day would ever arrive. I know it is a big step for him, and beyond my scope of thinking honestly, so we are focusing on trying to support him as he goes through this next part of his journey. I could not have gone through the past 4 weeks without the support of so many friends and family, from phone calls to emails and prayers and well wishes, we couldn't thank you all enough.

It's not so bad...

2009-04-29T08:51:00.001-07:00

Just ask the dogs. ;)

Oh gosh, and speaking of dogs, you all haven't met Bowie, our latest foster. Yes, he is almost alarmingly similar to Paisley: lots of white and pink on his face, a more faded brindle, and one blue eye, one green, as opposed to Paisley's one blue, one brown.

And look at what the poor boy has to deal with around here! Not only are dogs through our house toddler-tested, and cat-tested, and at least marginally dog-tested, but they are J tested too, and I can't think of any better reassurance of their stability. Try as I might, I just can't train it out of him. ;)

~~~~~

THANK YOU everyone for your support as our family is going through a difficult time. It truly means the world to me and is a great comfort to know people are loving and kind at a time when it is sometimes hard to focus on the bright side.

A soft rain is falling, and my Bugga is oh-so-snuggly lately, so I think it is time for books, blankets, and cuddles. A perfect rainy day if ever there was one. =)

a new reality

2009-04-23T21:51:00.001-07:00

The tears began to flow as I hit the interstate on-ramp. Not 2 miles from home. And before I knew it, my foot was firmly planted and I was speeding (yes, in the legal, or shall I say illegal, sense) down the interstate, tears streaming down my face. Doing the exact opposite of what everyone said, and what everyone said was to "be careful."

Indeed, I would not say speeding while crying is considered a careful act.

Why was I speeding? What was my hurry?

I had left my comfortable life--Jeremy, the Bug, the quadruped entertainment/snuggle troupe--and found myself rushing toward a new reality.

Speeding away from helplessness and toward almost certain pain.

Yet there I was and it seemed the uncertainty, fear, guilt, anger, hope, apprehension, and anticipation--along with a myriad of other nameless emotions--were weighing down that gas pedal as surely as my foot was.

Several miles later, I finally found equilibrium again, but it was fragile. Tears proved to be my unrelenting companions today. It was just like that.

I traveled today to meet my brother and pick up my Dad to come home and live with us for a while. My Dad is an alcoholic, with rapidly failing health. Those 2 factors are so enmeshed I'm sure no one could untangle them. This is my family. And this is our last ditch effort to get our Dad healthy. I'm clinging to a hope that he is still there--beneath the addiction, beneath the loneliness and sadness of the past several years. I'm just hoping to see a glimmer of the man I grew up with, the guy I once thought knew everything (don't all daughters think that of their fathers at some point?).

In a perfect world, he would be in a residential treatment setting. It is where he needs to be, and we hope in the future he still might go. Because truth be told, I don't know squat about addiction and coming down from your demons. Oh I've been around it my whole life and I'm no angel myself. I have my bad habits certainly, like picking my lips and spending too much time on the computer (love you macbook, missed you today). But that's just what they are, they are habits, not addictions. And I'm essentially clueless as to what the future will hold, particularly the next few days. Dad's first days of sobriety. A chance to see what might be left when his relentless companion is gone.

It is worth mentioning that my brother got him through day 1 and most of day 2. That my brother has been enduring a lot being the most easily accessible child, living in the same town, seeing firsthand the ups and downs, and how each down seemed just a bit farther down than the one before it. Until we got to where we are now, just shy of that ubiquitous "rock bottom" you always hear people talk about. Or maybe this is "rock bottom," who really knows? Maybe it's one of those things you can only really see in retrospect. I guess we'll find out.

Tonight, somehow, all feels peaceful. I'm fairly certain all the other beings in the house are sleeping; something I surely should be doing too. I don't know what tomorrow brings. I don't know how long Dad will be with us, or if we'll be successful together in fighting this beast, or if things will be surprisingly easy, or surprisingly hard, or if I'll want to run screaming from the whole darn mess. So much I don't know. But if this peace proves fleeting--which I'm pretty much counting on--let me savor it now. Let me shore up, because I know I'll need it.

My Friday Sweets

2009-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

No, not anything I baked. Though you can bet your bloomers I've been baking lots lately and consuming more than my fair share of chocolate.

Well, then again, I guess in another sense, I sure did bake this sweet. ;)

My Bugga man. At lunch just now, he started to get down from his seat while in the middle of his left over bean burger. Now, normally, I don't allow him to get down and flit around during meals, so normally I would have been all over the situation. Alas, I'm kind of sick, Bug has been definitely sick, and something told me to wait a moment and see what he had up his sleeve.

And boy am I glad I did.

My little guy, sweet as chocolate pie (or a fruit pie, if you so choose), got down and moved his seat so that he was right next to Momma, touching my leg in fact, and crawled back up, pulled his plate over, and resumed his meal.

Talk about meltin' a Momma's heart. =) Yup, he sure melted my chocolate-clogged heart.

I'll be darned if that doesn't somehow make me want to bake some more.

Take that how you will. ;)

*Gosh, I am one ornery, ornery lady today.

Except...it's snow

2009-03-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

Flakes the size of quarters. I'm not April's foolin' you early either.

Okay, maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. Really. ;)

*Picture just for illustration purposes, different snow, different day. Full disclosure.

Sunshine after the rain

2009-03-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

I am posting something today that is a little different, a little bit down. It's reality though, and I am not so self-involved to think for a second that I am alone when these feelings strike, though we can all feel that way from time to time. Regardless, read at your own risk. ;)

I am happy to report I am feeling much more sunshine and rainbows about life lately. I had hit a funk, and thankfully, I have an awesome hubby who, despite his own sleep-deprived challenges these days, helped walk me through that funk and back out the other side. I just hope I have been able to do the same for him on his less-than-stellar days. We should all be so lucky, right?!

I'll share a pic or two to make it worth the visit today. ;)

Bugga and Papa sharing a drink of water. =) And then sharing a smooch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Failure. What a word.

Well, FAILBlog has been giving me some good chuckles lately, my new favorite for oft-innapropriate humor. (Seriously, warning, some may find the humor in FAILBlog offensive; please refrain from judgment of what tickles my funny bone, thank you!)

And being involved in rescue, the term "foster failure" is one I know well. Though, in reality, it isn't such a bad thing and I really think a new term needs to be coined for making a foster pet a member of your family permanently.

Back to the point: failure. It is term that keeps bouncing around in my head in recent days. I debated internally for some time about whether or not to post any of this because really, no one likes a negative nellie. But the fact remains, I've just been feeling like a failure lately.

Bugga is rapidly approaching his second birthday and for some reason, I am gripped with fear over whether or not he is "normal." Why? That is a great question. Somehow, before now, I never really fretted over it. I was never that uber-competitve Mom, comparing my child to other children, counting all the ways he was "advanced," or pushing him to do this thing or that just so I could say "hey, my baby {sat} or {walked} or {said "watermelon"}. Not that I haven't thought my child is amazing and wonderful and everything most every parent thinks about their child. ;) The knowledge that there is GREAT variation in how each individual develops kept worries at bay, and helped me to circumvent the need to play that game, the "my baby is better" game.

So now that he is almost 2, all that worry that I pushed aside and thought I had successfully avoided has suddenly chased me down, tackled me to the ground, and is biting my hind end ferociously. There's an image, eh?!

I still don't the know the why of it all. All I know is that I can't stop wondering if I should be drilling things into my young son's brain--like colors, the alphabet, numbers, world geography, mechanical engineering, and maybe a little abnormal psych thrown in for good measure (okay, that last one I may just be able to provide his own personal case study...oy)--or if I should be letting his own natural curiosity soar and guide what he is learning for now. My heart screams for the latter, but that outside pressure and internal war lead me toward the former. ={ Yet, when I try that, the "drilling," I end up in situations like yesterday, when I was trying to go over an alphabet book with him and every letter was "d," because he just really wanted to explore "d" at that moment. Hmmm...maybe he was hinting at the whole "drilling" idea. Never thought of it that way...

Why all the fuss? And why NOW? I wish I knew. Bugga will be 2 years old soon. Instead of being thankful for every moment with him, his good health, his every ability, skill, and trait that I adore, I am worrying over any possible way I may have failed him to this point. What a waste! And believe me, I know it, but it is gripping at the moment, despite my efforts to shake it.

Compounding all that fun, J is in the midst of 6 weeks of 12-hour shifts at work. Olive, our current foster, is young, drive-y, and generally dislikes her crate, making any attempt at dog-free and child-free "quiet time" an utter joke. Paisley is my good girl, keeping me sane in so many ways. So I trudge on, attempting to see the bright side through the haze. I know it's there, maybe if I squint....hmmm, not today. Maybe when I wake up tomorrow. We'll see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I previously reported, I'm feeling much better. Whew. ;) It really was my own attitude that was tripping me up. Don't you just hate it when that happens? I'm back to being pleasantly entertained when Grady says every lego is "geeen" and all the numbers are 2. It's alright. I know from my interactions with him that he is just fine, that he understands so, so much and that what he "knows" now will not define his future.

Annnyway. Hmmm, what else? Little Miss Olive looks to be competing with Timon for the title of "shortest-term foster dog." She's been here 2 weeks, and she has 2 pretty great homes vying for her family member status, so she will probably be leaving us soon. We feel so blessed to have had her with us, for any amount of time though!

Of all our fosters, she is the most like our own Paisley girl. Not in looks of course, but in personality, in abilities, and also in challenges. ;) Even with her short stay, we have fallen quite hard for this little gal. I know, same story, 7th verse now, right?! We're already lining up our next foster too, so you'll get to hear the 8th verse as well. Lucky you! =)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

{More from the hanging-dangerously-out-of-the-window series}

Okay, not quite wordless, but if you know, you know that's not quite possible. ;)

Just can't keep up...

2009-03-19T12:50:00.001-07:00

Oh for goodness sakes, I'm so behind on things I'd like to blog at this point, that I'm not sure I can catch up. That is when I usually just go for a mammoth, and often rambling, post with little direction or resolution. Yup, that sounds like the plan, just not today.

Jeremy has entered the realm of 12-hour days, thankfully just 5 days a week and not the 6 days originally called for when the discussion began a few months back. This will carry on for about 6 weeks. Right through the Bugga man's big bad 2nd birthday. Good thing we don't have anything spectacular planned, as we'll probably be lucky if J can keep his eyes open by that point. ;)

On top of that delightful-ness, we have a new foster doggie. And...hmmm...what to say?! Let's just say, she has evoked one of my favorite sayings many a time already: sometimes the most challenging things in life are the most rewarding. ;) Her name is Olive. She is beautiful. I imagine you'll be seeing more of her, that is, if she lasts (there is an application in on her right now!). We are not her first foster home, she has been with ARLP for a little over 2 months and we are actually her 3rd stop (4th, if you count a less than 2 day stop at a temporary foster home).

Hopefully I will return with updates on the following:

* Hambone's wonderful visit (formerly Timon-Moanie)

* Our reunion with great pals the Stewart family!!!

* Bugga's fear of change (warning: sad picture, poor Buggie)

Maybe at night, when J is snoring by a little after 8p, often involuntarily, I can blog....it's a thought. Of course, that assumes nothing else needs to be done. HAHAHA, that hasn't kept me from blogging before. ;) Check you all later! =)

A good day

2009-03-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

Awww, just felt the need to share some Wednesday good-ness.

Coffee on our trusty chemex...manual drip baby, seriously the best coffee.

Fresh snow from yesterday's storm. Pretty! =)

The Bugga playing with a zipper.

Hammer, formerly foster dog extraordinaire Timon, is visiting for the week. {Believe me, I'll be back with pictures, because you would NOT believe the squish-a-muffin he has turned out to be!}

AND last, but certainly not least, our good friends the Stewart family are leaving the sunshine of AZ to come visit the snow of MN tomorrow and we are so excited!!!

Stewarts left NY just a few short months before we moved away and we haven't seen each other since. Okay, so that only amounts to about a year and half, but that is certainly long enough to be ready to sit down with some good dessert and laugh it up for a few nights, which is exactly what we have planned. Go figure. ;)

Here's hoping Wednesday is finding you all steeped in some kind of goodness too. =)

What Momma don't know...

2009-03-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

...won't hurt her. In theory.

That is, unless you take pictures and leave them for Momma to find. ;)

Don't forget the action shot.

So there went any attempts on my part to teach Bugga that his truck stays on the ground. And NOT on the lounger, the chair, on the table, ON the dogs, ON the cats, ON Momma. Oh well. =)

Hide your breakables!

2009-03-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

It has happened once again. Another dish, broken. Nay...shattered. Somehow, I can't go a week without breaking a dish. Really. All our dishes shiver and quake in anticipation, always wondering "is it my time?" I reach into the cabinet and I literally hear them all suck in their (admittedly nonexistent) breath, waiting, watching.

And so I've also come to the conclusion that my toddler's propensity for spilling his water and flying head over feet during normal daily activities is at least partly genetic, and not wholly "typical toddler," as I may like to believe.

Before Bug was born, I would have said any genetic tendency toward the awkward and clumsy would come from J. No offense meant there really...but who among the two of us put an axe in his foot? And who among the two of us could barely eat a meal--particularly a potentially long-term stain-inducing meal--without spilling any or all of it on himself or the furniture? That would be my husband, on both counts.

But then Bugga came. Who cared who spilled anymore...the house was a wreck anyway, right?! ;) Just recently though, it has become painfully clear that I am the walking disaster of the household. Dishes seem to be my main victims of late. But the downstairs couch and carpet remember fondly a thorough soaking in red wine by yours truly not so long ago. (If ever there was a reason not to imbibe, huh?!)

Today, it was a freshly rewarmed plate of breakfast pizza leftovers. For all I know, I ingested tiny fragments of glass because I am not one to waste food...especially food that was essentially ready to be eaten. ;) And Bug learns, once again, that "there are certain messes Momma and Papa have to clean up, honey..." *sigh*

No current photo evidence of my plights, though I do have a couple to share of Bugga and his newest, old toy. Hmmm...surprising the camera has yet to fall victim to my lack of coordination or control. ;) Get it?! "Fall" victim...okay, sorry. Moving on...

Can you believe this tattered little bunny is from my childhood?

And it even still "sang." =) Til day 2 of its journey into Bugga's childhood, that is. Oh well, it's still cute and he still loves to carry bunny around.

Yes, Bugga got a haircut this weekend. Likewise, I know it looks awful crooked up front there. It will grow though. ;) A little crooked never hurt anyone. Okay, that may not be true, but in this instance, I'm sticking with it.

So, I wonder if there is a background of shattered glass and spilled food out there for the blog. It might better represent the real me, after all. ;)

Aren't they adorable?!

2009-02-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

Have you seen our beautiful boy and girl???

Check it out! (click the link, I know it isn't always clear to everyone when I post a link like that, so thought I'd be more explicit this time, hehe.)

~~~

I should probably clarify...we didn't take that photo. A MN photographer named Bill Cady came out and "shot" our foster dogs at the time, Bailey and LuLu, and he was generous enough to let Paisley and Grady get in on the action too. Okay, let's face it, like he had a choice when it came to the Bug!!! ;) He did the shoot back in early January for the upcoming art show benefit that the webpage is advertising. Anyway, you can check out more photos from that shoot by clicking here. =)

Talking

2009-02-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

So what do you do when your 22-month-old keeps saying the f* word...over and over...and over again?

Well, for starters, you don't go out. Goodness knows you don't want to be at the grocery store or the library when your cute toddler starts in with the trucker talk. ;) Especially since he has really ditched the whole whisper-shy routine in favor of the top-of-the-lungs, make-sure-everyone-knows-I'm-here routine. =)

The next step is trying to keep your giggles to a minimum, so as not to encourage this new "word."

For the record, NO, J and I do not use this word in our day to day discussions. And NO, we rarely ever watch television when Bugga is awake, so he couldn't have gotten it there either. My suspicion is that he is simply playing with new sounds and his ability to put sounds together. Lucky us, he seems to have landed on a favorite combo that just so happens to be a taboo slang word. Yippee!

It would appear the third step, for me at least, is to tell all of you. ;) Who knows, maybe he'll be seeing some of you who visit this site and I wouldn't want anyone being surprised when my son drops an f* bomb and I just sit idly by as if it didn't just happen.

In other news, LuLu got adopted yesterday by a wonderful family with three young boys and two dedicated parents. Life will be good for Lu, I can feel it. Of course, I feel life will be good for all our fosters with their new families, or else I wouldn't let them go. ;)

Before we took off for her new home and family, we attempted some family portraits to remember our good times. Despite the overwhelming response Lu brought in terms of suitors and admirers, she remained with us longer than any of our previous foster dogs, including Miss Bailey. Lu was with us a whopping two and a half months. Still nothing compared to how long some dogs wait, whether in foster homes or in kennel runs at local shelters. I really do plead with people...ADOPT if you are looking for a pet, there are just countless homeless animals out there. I know, I'm a broken record with my standard PSA...yet I can't quite leave it un-said.

Anyway, here are some shots of Lu's final days with us. Bugga and his girls on the lounger.

Attempted family portraits...

Everyone but Monkey made it in. =) She's far too independent-minded to join a group shot. HAHA.

(For those not in the know, Monkey is our nearly senior female cat...the one who is tiny and spirited and has gone up against foxes and who knows what else and lived to tell the tale. Well, not quite on the telling the tale part--we wish--but she is definitely still with us.)

Up close and personal with Luey, isn't she gorgeous?!

Paisley is enjoying the incredibly spoiled and privileged life of an only-dog for right now. We are hopelessly lazy dog owners when we are down to just her, because even at her worst around here, she is so easy. She is still our give-an-inch, take-a-mile PaiPai girl though, so I'm sure the gravy train will have to stop soon. For now, though...well, let's just say I was mighty warm in bed last night. ;)

Yesterday

2009-02-16T11:52:00.001-08:00

I'm remiss of something to say this year, but last year I wrote a long post.

So this year, I'll keep it simple. I miss you Mom, love you too. Wish you were here.

{And because I don't have a scanner, I'm settling for a photo of a photo.}

The shape of Valentines...

2009-02-14T07:52:00.001-08:00

It's that day. The day of hearts and candies and flowers, oh my!

But around here this morning, this was the shape of things...

Bugga up at 6:30, WAY too early.

Came to our bed, was acting all squirrel-y.

J changed him, put him back to bed, gave him his books

and came back to rest.

A couple hours later, we hear him around.

We come out to find, a huge mess to be found.

He had the Natures Miracle...open...everywhere. ;)

Then the dogs...someone brought poop in on their paw,

Pai wouldn't eat, she must have sensed it all.

Turtle's been sick, so pills he must have,

he won't eat either, but he pees in the house. =(

Everything and everyone finally cleaned up,

I open the computer to find...

The Bugga had been there too. ={

Oh my! Indeed.

Somehow he opened countless windows

and changed the background to this:

{See...he loves her...but not in a weird way, HAHAHAHA.}

I have no idea how he managed it either...

So there you have it, the REAL shape of things around here this morning. Not that I am ever deliberately fake on here, but I do sometimes keep some of the ugly details of everyday life to myself. This morning though, it all had me laughing too hard to keep to myself. ;)

Happy Valentines! Hope yours is more glamorous, more romantic, more calm than ours has been so far. *Though I can't say for sure if I'd trade you...hehe. I take my lumps and love 'em. =) Most of the time. ;)

I'll share a few more pictures before I go. It's the least I can do for having written both "pee" and "poop" in this post. ;)

J has been on a black-and-white kick lately, so most anything I post in black-and-white was taken by him. =)

Momma messing with him...and then Paisley joining in too. ;)

What is it with little ones and their parents' bed?! He thinks it is hilarious to jump in our bed and throw himself under the covers. Here he is demonstrating, complete with his signature one-eyed squint. =)

We routinely start the day now with the sound of Bug opening his door, waiting a moment, and then scurrying across the span from his room to ours, coming in and hopping in bed with us. It is actually a pretty fun way to wake up these days (as long as it's not too early).

Trying on Momma's big winter socks. =)

Forget babylegs, he can just wear my socks, HAHA.

~Excuse the graininess of some of these photos, the ISO was CRANKED this morning and I didn't realize it and since we really haven't ventured much into the world of post-processing on our photos, I just left it. ;)

Don't know where I'm goin'...

2009-02-09T10:12:00.001-08:00

Don't know where I've been...

I'm just going to dive right in here and pretend like it hasn't been eons since I last posted something. ;)

See, I kept thinking to myself...it's been so long since I last blogged, now it needs to be something special, something spectacular even, to make up for the long silence.

Then I remembered...duh, I don't do spectacular. HAHAHA. =)

At any rate, I'm back. And if nothing else, I come armed with some pictures. I'll be honest, most of them are doggie photos, but I'll throw in a Bugga pic just so I don't lose anyone that doesn't have as severe a case of doggie-love as we have around here.

I also cannot think of a creative way to bring the blog up to speed, so again, in the most lackluster manner I can think of, here I go...

Bailey has been adopted. *gasp* *awwww* Bailey has taken her zen-chewing, patented-somersault-into-a-snuggle, high-energy, ever-happy-gal ways and moved in with a new Momma.

I had started to truly believe I could never let her go--she was my dog--but then we met her new Momma. It was the day of an adoption event and honestly, on the way there, I was chastising myself for being a complete fraud, an impostor. Because I was taking Bailey to an adoption event, yet I couldn't ever see her leaving our family. There we were, at PetSmart, when a woman walked up and peered at our group--12 dogs that day, can you believe it?!--and asked for one of the puppies. "Figures," I thought as I directed her to the puppy pen in the middle. No hard feelings, just everyone wants to meet the puppies and can easily look past a mature beauty like Bailey Rae. Well, lo and behold, a short time later the woman was back and this time, she was peering only at Bailey. ;) The questions started coming, the petting ensued, and before long it was clear there was only one dog on her mind.

I nearly cry just thinking about it. I cried on the way home, softly, "not a big deal, who knows if she'll follow through," I thought. Then that night in my email inbox...the application. That's when I bawled. At first it was only over my own sadness and sense of loss. But at the same time, I knew in my heart this was GOOD, so amazingly good and everything Bailey deserved and all I ever wanted for her from the moment I first saw her.

It all happened so fast, which is kind of rare. We were leaving for WA in a matter of days and the application and reference checks and all that goes into the adoption process happened fast enough for Bailey to go her new Momma for a trial visit the night before we took off for WA. Trial visits rock, in my opinion, for 2 reasons: a) it doesn't feel so final that I am a basket-case saying goodbye to the dog and b) it gives the family and the dog a real chance to get to know each other and take it slow before the people commit their lives to the dog. Because that is what we're after of course, a lifetime commitment. =)

Anyway, last weekend, it became final, Bailey was home. She has a new family and they are so happy!!! That's what makes it worth it and always tempers my heart-ache. Seeing the hope in the person's eyes, the promise of love in the way they touch the dog...it is those things that convince me every time that I have to let go.

Wow, okay, so I started typing thinking I had nothing to really say today and look at all that came pouring out. Whew...anyway....

Here are a couple pics of all 3 girlies--Bailey, LuLu, Paisley--on their last day all together. The girls in their little jackets:

I will forever remember our time with 3 female pitties in the house as a time of amazing joy. Amazing in part because I never quite thought it possible to have such harmony with 3 female dogs, let alone 3 female pitties, under one roof. Anyone that knows the breed knows what I'm talking about here. ;)

Grady with his big girls, Bailey and Paisley.

We still have Miss Luey Kabluey. Kind of shocking since she is blue (the color du jour it would seem, in some people's minds anyway), and adorable. When she first came, J said "you know the sad thing is that she'll probably leave us before Bailey." Just goes to show, you never can predict how long a dog will stay in rescue. ;)

What else has been going on around here?! Let's see...

*J has taken to making his own bread, thanks to the book Artisan bread in five minutes a day. We couldn't recommend it more, the bread is amazing and versatile and really as easy as the title suggests. Of course, J's bread-making also somehow cost us our baking stone as it cracked into a beautiful puzzle of jagged stone while baking a loaf of bread one night (that was fun!).

*I have been trying my hand at some other creative pursuits. What have I learned? My skill level is no where near what I can create in my head. ;) Still, here is a sweater I made for Paisley out of an old sweater that J had decided he no longer needed (I just love re-purposing things, far preferable to buying new materials if you ask me):

*Grady is a toddler. I know, I've said it before, and I keep repeating because it just boggles my mind each and every day. He has ditched most all remnants of his young life now. He sits at the table just like us, unassisted by any kind of harness of booster. He drinks out a cup exclusively at home (sippies when out of the house still). He sits on a regular toilet seat. Daytime diapers are a thing of the past, the way past really because he's been out of them for quite some time now but I wasn't really feeling confident enough to go blabbing it on the blog (haha). He sleeps in a regular, full size bed. Okay, that one is way old too, as he has been sleeping on at least a full-size mattress since his first birthday. But still, it is amazing to me that he has yet to turn 2 and we have been able to transition out of so many of those devices and "baby items" that you use to adapt regular life to a little being. Bugga is just getting so big and so silly and so capable that is it simultaneously entertaining, scary, heart-wrenching, and don't forget, frustrating. Must throw that last one in, because I wouldn't be being honest if I claimed it was never frustrating to have a toddler around. ;)

Here he is, the boy himself, in case anyone forgot what he looks like. =)

So that's life around here these days. How are you all?! Hehe.

~Contrary to what these pictures seem to indicate, we do dress the boy from time to time. Thought I should clear that up, in case anyone has CPS on speed dial or something. Given the frigid temperatures in MN in winter, I wouldn't blame you, honest. ;)

We made it...

2009-01-24T22:10:00.001-08:00

We are home at last. Hey...Chris and Nichole, here's a haiku I wrote about our trip home today:

Restless is the boy,

Mom and Pop can't make him stop.

Restless on the plane.

Good thing I had lots of good memories to get me by when I closed my eyes to pretend that Bugga was being still next to me. ;) You know, versus the reality of him bouncing like a pinball between all our seats. HA!

Okay, okay..I'm finally back with pictures in tow. I do apologize for the delay. ;) This is going to be fairly random too, so if you like order and reason...well, what are you doing here?! HAHA.

Our little walking advertisement. Better than a sandwich board at least.

Daly dog, in the flesh. Er, fur. Exhausted from all the wedding day hoopla.

A father-son moment to be...uh, proud of??? That is what you get for giving the boy hubies J!

Budding artists. For sure. ;)

The happy couple, 2 days post-wedded bliss.

Ring thing. Brandon engaging in the time-honored new-husband tradition of incessant ring-twisting. I love it!

You know, if the artist thing doesn't pan out...

Uncle Brandon's hat (photo taken by Auntie Lindsey).

J, Bugga, me in Seattle (another photo courtesy of Miss Lindsey).

Lindsey and Daly dog.

Could she be any more adorable???

Exploring the Seattle Aquarium. We joked that people must have thought he was a "famous baby" because we had so many cameras on him...and so many people staring. ;)

I have to end with these because they totally crack me up! Here is Bugga with his Uncle Chris and cousin Kaylee, all being silly for the webcam.

Sleeping Bug. Snoring pups. Purring kitties. Home sweet home. Good night all! ;)

Welp, looks like January is going down as a low-blog month around here. Maybe because it seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye...scary! Have no fear, February is almost here. ;) Oh wait, it's a short month. AGH! At least we plan on staying close to home...

Contrary to the look on Bug's face...

2009-01-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

...we are having TONS of fun in WA right now! ;)

Today is Sunday...yesterday was Saturday (always good to have a little review right?!), and that meant WEDDING DAY! Our long time pals Brandon and Lindsey finally "did the damn* thing already"--as the best man so aptly put it during his toast--and we couldn't be more thrilled for them. Or more honored to be part of their amazing day. =)

So again, today is Sunday and with yesterday being THE day, we are all finally able to breathe again. Hehe. I thought I'd sit down and send out a little blog love. ;)

Here is the bride herself...anti-bridezilla of the century...even though we're only 9 years in I know there won't ever be a more cool and sweet bride, EVER...okay, enough, here she is!

Okay wait, I have to give a quick shout-out to my new sis-in-law Nichole, who was very anti-bridezilla too. =) I have some awesome ladies in my life huh?!

Back to this bride though, hehe, here she is getting her "hair did."

Looking contemplative. ;) There were nerves, but only over the magnitude of the event itself; pretty sure marrying Brandon was a no-brainer. =)

J has been SUPER DAD over the past few days, being pretty much solely responsible for Buggie as I've been busy trying to be there for the bride (I hope I was at least okay, Linds!). And Bug has weathered the long days and crazy whirling activity around him like a champ. Mostly. ;)

I wish I had pics of the bride and groom in their wedding day duds, but alas, we got busy and the day/night slipped completely away from us. We were too busy having fun I guess! What I really wish we had is a shot of Brandon carrying Lindsey over the threshold when they got home. ;) Yup, they came home to house-guests on their wedding night. What kooks! And we sat around and drank wine, ate chips, and told silly stories til way too late.

So CONGRATULATIONS to Lindsey and Brandon! Whatever shenanigans may have befallen you day...or however wonderful it was too...the rest is what really counts. How you live your life together is the true testament of your love for one another and I know J and I have felt blessed to be able to witness that. ;) And we wish we could witness it more often in fact! J will start preparing his job applications for WA soon I'm sure. HAHA, just kidding. Sort of. ;)

*Please excuse my language there. I wanted to leave the direct quote intact because it was just too funny. ;)

The Many Faces of Bugga

2009-01-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

Grady is at a stage where he just makes so many faces, each day a new funny face it seems. So expressive, I love it!!!

These are from Christmas morning.

It was pretty low-key, as you can imagine. Just the three of us, and the pets of course. Nice and quiet, which suits us perfectly. In case anyone is wondering, yes, I went old-school and wrapped his gifts in newspaper. ;)

I adore his little dino sleeper. He actually got it last Christmas from Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Brandon! Can you believe it? I can't figure out how it is still fitting, unless it is a magical grow-with-me sleeper. And if so...you devils you, where did you find such a thing?! HAHAHA.

This is my favorite. =) One of the books he got is Big Wolf and Little Wolf and we love to read it as a family. I am "Mama Wolf," "Little Wolf" and narrator, J is "Big Wolf" and sometimes narrator. Bugga lends his voice to some good family-style howling at the end. ;)

On nights when Papa isn't home for bedtime because of work, when we read this book and I am reading/singing Big Wolf's lines, Grady stops and says "Papa" a couple times for good measure. As if to say "nice try, Momma, but Papa is really Big Wolf." ;)

Happy Wednesday to all! Within a week we'll be in WA. WOOHOOO! =) And within 2 weeks we'll be in CO. WOOHOOO again. ;) The happy traveling Jacksons are taking to the road again, or rather the sky really. Should be another fun adventure.

Bugga's Room

2009-01-06T13:48:00.001-08:00

I found myself in the Bug's room today. We usually don't spend much time in there. It is pretty spare, because we don't have toys in his room, his play space is out in our living space. His bedroom is for sleeping. ;)

At any rate, sometimes we do go in there, just to add some spice to life I guess. I know, we're pretty crazy right?!

And I laid on his bed today and I looked around and felt almost overwhelmed by all the meaning and love and warmth we have stuffed in there. Most everything in his room has ties to people we love and who mean the world to us, just like Bug himself. ;)

There's the mobile of intersecting globes with figures from various cultures of the world hanging from it that I got at a little fair trade shop in B-Spa (that's Ballston Spa, NY) with my wonderful friend Megan, who I still miss terribly. And a blanket she knit for the Buggie while he was still "Peanut" in my belly.

There are 4 Memaw-made blankets as well, all made with evident skill and lots of love. And 3 piggy banks, one from Memaw and Papaw Jackson, one from our dear Lindsey and Brandon, and one from Aunt Kim and Uncle Kirk.

The furniture in his room includes a bed and dresser that were in my room growing up and a rocking chair that came from Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's shop. Plus a blanket from my amazing former co-worker Bonnie (again, given when Bug was "Peanut") and another from our dear friends the Stewarts (or at least picked out by them, when they did our registry for my shower, HAHA; forgive me I can't remember if it was actually Justin and Tara who gave it to us in the end or not).

Yes, the boy has an outstanding number of blankets, because when they are given or made by someone we love, I can't imagine doing anything else with them. ;)

The crowning glory has to be the one blanket that hangs on the wall. It is a small baby quilt, the top was cross-stitched and embroidered by my Mom. It hangs right above his bed. She never got to meet Bugga. Never got to hold him, to trace the contours of his newborn face with her fingers, never got to coo at him and "ooh" and "ahhh" over his newborn grunts and wiggles. She never got to celebrate his firsts or delight in his laughter. So many "nevers." Yet, I know she's here with him in a different way. I'm reminded of it every night I put him to bed when I look up at the blanket she poured love and hope into years ago, not knowing there were more grandchildren in her future, not knowing she wouldn't get to be with them like she wanted.

She's with him in all the ways that I am a product of her and her love and guidance. She's with him through who she made me, both in her being my Mom and through her loss, because it shaped me in countless ways I can't fully understand or express. This love and loss reminds me every day of the importance of my role as his Momma, and it shapes the decisions I make within that role.

Yes, I laid there and I took stock. I smiled. I laughed. I cried tears of a mourning that will never fully leave, but just ebb and flow like so many things in life. Then my son got up on the bed and sat next to me, and I cried tears of pure happiness over the simple blessing of him. There, with Bug next to me, and all the love and promises and hope surrounding us, I found myself laughing again.

And why not? Buggie was laughing after all. ;)

Party like it's '99

2008-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

Wait, no...make that party like it's the 99th post. ;) Plus, it has almost been a full year of blog-fun for me. My how it has flown. =)

I guess you could say I am not prepared to bid a fond farewell to 2008 when I looked at J about 5 minutes ago and proclaimed "oh yeah, it's New Year's Eve...?!"

We've been sick around here, that'll be my excuse for now. Even though I feel generally cruddy right now, I did want to post something to end 2008. What better way than to finish a thought I've been promising to finish for a while now. The nothing new update. Finally. ;)

Way back in October--what feels simultaneously like a moment and a lifetime ago--we pledged to ourselves a month of anti-consumerism. We weren't going to buy anything new, save consumables like food, bath needs, and medicine; though thankfully we are not a very medicated family. ;) Because we are indecisive, commitment-phobic folks much of the time, we only planned a month-long experiment. It went even better than we could have imagined.

How well it went can be summed up like this:

A) We really didn't miss buying stuff,

B) it was fun coming up with alternatives to buying new, and

C) we couldn't argue with the pocketbook at the end of the month. =)

We have had an un-official budget for quite a while now of keeping our monthly non-bill spending to x amount or below (again, no I'm not sharing what x stands for because it seems wrong; never discuss money or politics, right?!). Well, during our month of nothing new, we were over $600 below x!!! It was wonderful, and again, you can't argue with savings like that.

Those of you that actually know us though, know that we seriously don't like stuff that much so it is really hard to account for where that savings actually came from. One thing that made a difference was that we didn't have any travel expenditures that month (which was strange for us for about the last half of 2008). Of course, to my line of thinking, travel expenditures don't count as "stuff" spending anyway, so...ugh. Back to square one on explaining the savings. ;)

All that said, the hardest parts of nothing-new for us are Bugga and the pets. I'm not against used clothes and such for the Bug, but shoes for one are hard to come by in a used form that I'm really comfortable with, especially since (as my smart and thrift-wise sis-in-law Danelle pointed out) shoes often form to feet. As for the pets...uh, used dog toys?! Yeah, I don't think so. Have you seen dog toys after they've been actually used as dog toys? ;)

Let's face it, we all have way more stuff in our lives than we ever really need. It gets silly. I, for one, am ready to simplify. I've been ready. Heck, one of the reasons I really had to adjust to the whole idea of parenthood was because kiddos come with stuff. ;) (Though even there, you really can get by with much less than commercials or a visit to Target would indicate. HAHA.)

Hmm, so what is my point? That is a great question and since I'm a little under the weather, I'm having a hard time remembering. ;) Many brave souls out there commit to an entire year of nothing new, like my bloggy pal Leah is contemplating.

For us, I think the experiment just brought into finer focus our personal approach to needs v. wants and all the stuff that is constantly dangled in our face, being told we need it, we want it, we have to have it. I think it is human nature to want, in many ways, but in our modern society, we project this want onto things all too often. Instead of placing it on activities, relationships, experiences, things that can't necessarily be measured and valued as specifically as the things we spend our money on.

Okay, this is all too much for my sickly brain tonight, so excuse me if I'm not making sense. I need a picture. This one seems to fit.

We did get Grady Christmas gifts. We didn't get him much, just some books and a standard unit block set. And you know what he has been playing with the most for the better part of the last week? Yup, a box. =) Which is funny considering one of the books we got him is Not a Box, a very cute book that highlights imagination and the natural tendency of children to play with simple objects like boxes.

Going into 2009, my motto is "there is more to life than stuff." ;) Okay, it's not far off from how I've felt for years now, but with a few well-planned loopholes, J and I will enter into a year of...well, very little new. I just want to spend another year enjoying my super Bug, my wonderful hubby, my amazing pets and foster dogs, and everyone else we love, whether from a distance or those we will be lucky enough to actually see and actually hug. =)

Happy New Year everyone! Party extra for me, because I doubt I'll make it to midnight. ;)

Can you believe it?!

2008-12-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

It is Christmas Eve already?! Pure insanity, I tell you. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time goes by while we go about our daily lives. ;)

Even Bug seems a bit surprised by it all. Hehe.

And some randomness while I'm making supper tonight. We went to Omaha this past weekend and had an awesome visit with so many people: (in order of appearance) second college roomie Ruth, J's parents, J's sis Danelle and her 3 kiddos, the bride Maren whose wedding spurred this great trip (and her family and new hubby of course), my brother and sister-in-law and their 3 kiddos, our amazing friend Beth, and my first college roomie Amanda and her 2 kiddos (and 3 daycare kids too). Whew, so much fun packed into a relatively short amount of time. Of course, we didn't take near enough pictures, so not everyone will be reflected here. Still, here is a small glimpse back at our weekend.

The boys at the hotel. Bugga was slightly obsessed with the phones in our adjoining suites. He had so much fun with all his cousins, it was adorable to watch.

Memaw and Papaw Jackson and the Bug himself (excuse the poor lighting here, sorry!).

We came home to lots of the white stuff. Enough that I have gotten the car stuck in the driveway twice, much to J's chagrin. He certainly wouldn't have gotten it stuck, so it must be my driving skills (or lack thereof). ;) Oh well. It sure is pretty out. =)

To close today, here are some snuggly girls. =) We are so blessed to not only have our wonderful Bugga boy, but 3 beautiful and (mostly, hehe) well behaved girl doggies right now, and of course our sweet and somewhat neglected cats. ;)

We know many of you out there are similarly blessed in your lives. Sending holiday wishes and lots of love to all tonight.

Better go, supper is almost on the table and then we will be taking a ride to check out all the lights, something I have fond memories of doing with my grandparents growing up. Here's hoping traditions, new or old, and lots of love are characterizing this holiday season for all of you too. =)

Girl Power

2008-12-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

The snow has fallen and I have found myself with an unexpected day at home with the hubby and all the pets and the little man...just my kind of day! ;)

And as good a day as any for an update. We are officially on estrogen overload around here. Meet Lulu Blue:

Yes, tiny puppy. Yes, female. Yes, ADORABLE. Not to mention SASSY! Big girl attitude trapped in a puppy body. =)

Lu is part of a litter of 7 that found themselves homeless sitting in animal control and amazingly, all the wonderful volunteers of A Rotta Love Plus stepped up and found placement for all 7. It is slated to be temporary though, as the pups are scheduled to go the Humane Society later this month after a parvo hold is up.

J, however, is IN LOVE. What's new?! This guy is ridiculous when it comes to puppies. =)

All 3 girlies are doing well together. Paisley is a tad on the annoyed side, Bailey has adjusted really well, and Lu isn't phased by anything that comes her way. Confidence is a trait she has in abundance at this time. ;)

Bug LOVES all the pets, so another little one is just gravy for him. Plus, she is another one he thinks he can pick up. ;)

And one I can fit in my coat for a short outing. That bundle is ALL puppy, so don't go getting any ideas anyone!

The puppy pen has proven a slightly fruitless exercise with this one. ;)

So that is the state of things around here. Tons of fun, as always. This coming weekend, we'll be heading to Omaha for an old friend's wedding and a visit with some family and friends. Should be awesome, just pray for good weather!

I haven't forgotten that I want to do an update on the nothing-new experiment. I'll try to come up with other non-dog things to talk about too, I promise. ;)

The Bug is calling for lunch, so I should go. WAIT, I haven't even had my coffee yet Buggie! Can we slow down...please... =)

Bailey Rae and other goodness

2008-12-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, quickly today...Bailey Rae is still here (yup, she got herself a middle name, unlike the rest of the household furry fellows whose "middle name" is really just their species, i.e. Paisley Dog Jackson, hehe). She's fabulous, cuddly, playful, a good listener, and we couldn't be more pleased with our current pittie population. ;)

She is beautiful, don't you think?! =)

The best news of all though is that she and Paisley are FRIENDS! Can you believe it?! They get along so well, eat side by side, quite often sleep together at night, and are just very peaceful together. It is so lovely! Yup, life is pretty easy-peasy with these 2, making us kind of lazy doggie parents really. Though that is changing...an update on that soon. ;)

I hope to give an update on our month of "nothing new" that ended a while back. The short version for now: it was a SUCCESS! =) And then came this month, but I don't really want to talk about that. ;)

Some of you may know that I am slightly blog obsessed. It's an affliction really. Not sure of the cure. BUT, it's not ALL bad because there are some wonderful things happening out there via blogs. There are great ideas, and calls to action, and just lots of thought-provoking folks out there doing good and blogging about it. =)

Here is just a sampling of what has caught my eye lately...

BAD RAP to help group of OK dogs - You knew at least one was going to be dog related, right?!

Recycling Christmas - Um...AWESOME! Note to fam, this is what I want for Christmas next year. *wink* Okay, this OR for us to travel somewhere warm. Not both because we don't want to take the stuff with us do we?!)

Cans for Comments - Having formerly managed an emergency food pantry, this idea really stuck out for me. Of course, I had to suggest that they really give a treat and donate a bag or 2 of fresh produce too. ;)

And of course, I know there are lots of other people out there doing wonderful, amazing things and not necessarily blogging about it and that is awesome too. Heck, if you're doing something great, I'd love to hear it! Have some cool way of giving back to your community? Or maybe some charity you think rocks and I should know about it? Do tell!

In the meantime, I'll be wrangling me some super Bugga and some foster dogs--like I said, update soon--and trying to stay warm and probably thinking about what else I can do this holiday season, or year-round, to make a positive impact, whether big or small. Because it all adds up in the end, right?!

I'll sign off with this total mis-fire on the camera. It just makes me giggle a little. And even if all we can do sometimes is bring a smile to another person's face, then that is something in my book.

ps~Your comments bring a smile to my face. ;) Just sayin'....

Just your random Saturday gush...

2008-12-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

Oh my, I really LOVE this kid...

That's all. ;) Over and out blogland.

"Papa & Me" Friday

2008-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

So yesterday wasn't a good day. I was tired, cranky, the mailman honked in our driveway and woke up a similarly tired and cranky Bugga. Just not good and I don't mean to complain really, because I know even our worst days are not so bad as the kinds of things others must contend with (I'm thinking sickness, poverty, abuse, and the like; you know, real problems).

J got home, later than I expected, and I promptly retreated to our room with intentions of merely "cooling off" and rejoining the party in a few minutes. Um...oops, I fell asleep. What the..?! I mean, I have enough trouble falling asleep at night, how could that happen?! At any rate, Papa handled supper, Bugga, the pets, bath and bedtime with grace and ease. =) So proud of that man! Even if it did make me feel all the more guilty for being cranky and tired in the first place.

In honor of my bad day...well, that seems strange, but I'm going with it...I am sharing some pics I took of J and Bugga a while back. These two are so alike and have so much fun together, it is really a pleasure every day to watch these two crazy beings interact. ;) Even when I want to retreat from the craziness for just a moment or so (or 2 hours worth, as was the case last night).

There you have it, my version of lemonade out of lemons for this Friday. =) Have a great weekend everybody!

Something tells me...

2008-12-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

...this just isn't right.*

I guess this is what happens when a little one can reach your decorations. ;)

And I suppose it would also be why a good 75% of our decorations are still sitting in storage in the guest room. I just have nowhere to put them that might be reasonable safe from the Bug. =)

I guess I could just trick out the guest room...

*That's a "days til Christmas" decoration, in case that wasn't clear.

A Dessert to be Thankful for...

2008-11-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I owe the world...ahem, all 3, maybe 4 of my readers a true Thanksgiving Thankfulness post, but it just isn't coming to me. That is not to say I am not thankful. Heck, maybe I can be thankful for double negatives. ;)

At any rate, no outstanding way to say how thankful I am for all the tremendous blessings in my life is coming to mind at the moment, so...instead I am sharing this yummy recipe.

Carmelized Upside-Down Pear Tart

This has become a holiday staple in our house. It is so sinfully delicious, yet with a very short ingredient list and the star of the show is definitely the pears. So there, you can feel half-way healthy enjoying a wonderful slice of this treat. That is, if you can find it under the mound of homemade whipped cream. Oh wait, that might just be me. ;)

I know this is wrong, but I have to start with the picture that blatantly reminds us that it is still a dessert and inherently...how do I put this...not health food?! Yeah, that works.

Ahhh, but then you add the pears baby. Mmmmmm. Never mind the sugar that went in the pan first. Just don't think about it, put it right out of your mind, no need to worry about it. Pretty, right?

If you're feeling adventurous, or rather, organized--haha--you use their pastry recipe and make yourself this easy and tasty dough. Once the butter and sugar carmelize--I know, I said don't worry about the sugar, but I had to mention it to talk about the carmel, sorry--you place your lovingly rolled dough (or lovingly unpackaged dough if that is your chosen route) over the pears and tuck it in nicely, like your babe to bed. ;)

Pop all that goodness in the oven and once the pastry is beautifully browned, take it out, let it sit a bit and then invert it onto a nice serving plate. Preferably with a rim because there might be some carmel-y goodness seeping here or there.

There you have it. It is soooo good and it presents nicely too, if you ask me. Even hubby who claims a deep-running hatred for cooked fruit desserts will gobble this tart right up. =)

Oh, and Bugga-approved too. Okay, that's not a stretch, nearly all food is Bugga-approved. ;)

Just some musings...

2008-11-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Is it a sign that the cats' diet has gone too far when the tiny one keeps trying to eat my fig bars?

And is it a sign that our laptop is, in fact and as suspected, officially going down the crapper when a muriad of internet windows open without our approval and my desktop shortcuts fade in and out like some bad movie effect?

And might it be a sign that I am a little too holiday-ready that I put eggnog in my tea today? (Sans the alcohol, in case anyone was wondering.)

And finally, it is a sign that I spend too much time on the internet (even with our computer sick as it is) that my first stop for sharing these delightful pre-Thanksgiving musings was to blog them?

Ahhh...affirmative on all counts I fear. ;)

At any rate, I will someday return with photos and other nonsensical (nonsensible? Hmm, too lazy to figure out which is correct at this point) ramblings in the possibly near future. Vague enough for you? I thought so.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to ALL!!! =)

Brrrr...and Bugga-blog-love as promised

2008-11-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

Pop quiz time, for my faithful bloggie pals.

I'm blogging, so Bugga must be...

a) hanging upside down from a ceiling fan
2) napping
iii) making me a snack
e) out with his friends

Ahhh...if you guessed 2, you are correct!!! *ding* *ding* *ding*

And what do you win??!! Why pictures of said napping beauty. ;) Aren't you glad you tuned in today. =)

Wearing Papa's slippers. Tummy hanging out, makin' a Momma proud.

Close up view, lovin' me some baby toes. Toddler toes. Whatever.

Just chillin' in his book box, which he emptied in a surprisingly organized fashion that day (hmmm, maybe he is my son afterall, despite the running and chocolate hating...).

So while I'm going about my business, I sometimes think about what I want to blog, what I want to say. It often includes all the fun things I was to report that Bug is doing these days, yet somehow when I sit down to actually write it, my mind draws a horrible blank. I think I'm going to have to go old school and start jotting down notes. Maybe it is becuase he is typically napping when I am blogging and my mind is taking a Bugga-break and refuses to conjure up all the fury and fun of him. But that doesn't make sense because I'm putting pictures of him up....Hmmm, whatever it is, I will try to remedy it and come up with more than just pictures some time in the near future. ;)

I will leave you today with a view of Oscar, our personal weatherguy.

See him there, all bundled up, bracing for the cold. Oscar is our pal, in summer he looks like he's at a beach. Right now, he looks like he's headed for the north pole. Bummer, but we knew it was coming. Heck, I must be a true Minnesotan now (draw out that "O" when you say that, if you want to pretend for a moment that you are too, only without the freezing temps), because low 30s doesn't feel so bad anymore. You'll probably see Oscar again when he is frowning down at the -5 below him and trying to build a fire to keep himself warm. ;)

Off to enjoy what is left of sleepytime and try to keep myself from falling asleep too. Because I know that the moment I do, he'll just wake up. =)

Hi, I'm Bailey.

2008-11-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

Meet Bailey. =) Our newest foster. An adult female. Yes, you read me right, I said female.

Those of you who know me and have listened patiently--or better yet asked questions!--as I go on and on about pit bulls know that generally speaking, for successful housemate matches, the safer bet is opposite sex pairings. So why would we bring an adult female into our house, you may ask?

Well, for one, we're not looking to make a successful housemate match. ;) We're looking to give a down-and-out dog a place to chill and enjoy life while they wait for their next (and hopefully last) family to find him or her. In this case, it just happened to be a her in need of our services. =)

Now, being the beautiful she that she is, we haven't introduced the girls to each other yet. I say yet because we fully intend to be able to introduce them at some time in the future, once Bailey is more settled. So far, they have seen each other through the baby gate and crate doors and all body language was positive, thank goodness!

Bailey is an owner surrender, she was actually adopted out from A Rotta Love Plus as a pup. Two years in, she is coming back into the program due to some rather bogus reasons on the family's part, to be quite honest. Their reasoning doesn't jive with the lady we're getting to know here in our house, that much I can tell you. To their credit, it appears they did do some solid obedience work with her and she loves to play (have you ever met a dog that didn't know how to play?! It is heart-breaking!).

To their discredit, her first day or so here, she was covered in a cloak of fear that caused a good amount of worry. Pit bulls are typically confident, people-loving pooches; to see one exhibit fear toward a human is an unsettling experience for sure, knowing how atypical it is of the breed. Of course, there is no way to know for sure what her life was like and if her former owners instilled that fear or if it is just the drastic changes in her life that made her wary (we were her third stop in four days since leaving her former family).

Still, watching that cloak dissolve and a happy-g0-lucky girl emerge has been one of the more rewarding foster experiences we've had in our short time as fosters (it was just 6 months ago that we took in our first foster, Pumba!). And lucky for all of us, it hasn't taken long for her to begin to leave her fears behind. =) She just came to us Wednesday morning and is already showing very steady improvement in that area.

Our former fosters were all pretty much in and out of our door within about a month, some much less, some a tad longer. Sadly, I won't hold out hope that the same will be true for Miss Bailey. Two things are stacked against her: she is all brindle (with dark "smudges" on her back, very unique) and she is an adult. =( For some reason, the all-brindle dogs tend to wait longer, just like black dogs tend to wait longer (black dog syndrome, ever heard of it?).

I want to take a moment to encourage any and everyone out there to consider an adult dog the next time you're looking to add a furry family member. Some worry--unnecessarily I might add!--that one would be taking a greater risk with an adult dog, that an unknown history and lineage is just too scary to consider. This is so untrue! An adult dog, appropriately temperament tested for stability, is less work than a pup and their temperament is already set, meaning that generally, what you see if what you get. The BAD RAP "monster myths" section discusses this well, if anyone cares to check it out.

Okay, I've gone on about dogs long enough I suppose. ;) Suffice to say, we're lovin' our new Bailey sweet and getting to know her has been a total treat so far. Hopefully a family will see all the benefits of an adult dog and all the sweetness she has to offer. Yes, pups are cute and fun, but if you don't want a dog, don't get a puppy. =) Might as well skip all that work and get to the good stuff if you ask me! HAHA.

I'll be back with some Bugga-blog-love soon, I promise! He has been melting hearts and taking names around here lately. When he's not making us roll with laughter, that is. ;)

And to all you non-doggie-lovers and non-pittie-enthusiasts, thanks for hangin' in. =)

Just trying something...

2008-11-11T12:05:00.001-08:00

Me, that is. Not the Bug, though it does look like maybe he's trying to wash my dishes here...if only there were dishes in sight and in reach. ;) My big blue gloves are a step in the right direction though, wouldn't you say?!

No, I am trying something new. I want bigger pictures, and a snazzy layout and some other fun stuff that I can do in my head, but evidently not with my computer. ={ Bummer, I really need some crazy tech-genius friend to come and save me from the thoughts in my head these days. Oh well. Lacking such a pal, I will go it alone and probably drag my feet and stumble a bit.

So if the blog seems wonky or missing all together--just a worst-case scenario, right?!--fret not. ;)

What else is going on, you ask? Because there must be something else, right?! Hehe. Well...let's see. Moanie-Bones is enjoying the good life, still on a trial visit though I'm pretty sure he's there to say (they've renamed him Hammer to boot, but I am sticking with Moanie for me and my memories). Paisley is enjoying the super-lazy life of an only dog for the time being. Bugga is just...well, Bug...more and more of everything every single day. If that means anything! =) Talking more, testing more, reaching more, running more, knowing more, doing more, MORE, MORE, MORE. It's crazy and fun and frustrating and trying and heart-warming all at once, or at least all in each day. ;)

I have to share this little funny because it was one of those moments where I about fell off my chair laughing because it was oh-so-J, but through the lens of the Bug. We were reading his nighttime books in his chair in his room last night and we got to this line in the book No Matter What:

"With time together, a smile and a kiss, love can be mended with things like this."

I stop, I say to Bug, "can you show me your smile?"

He leans in to the book and smiles a goofy-man grin, completely over-exaggerated and silly.

"And what about a kiss?" I say.

He turns around to give me a kiss and lets out a huge, noisy toot just as we smooch.

Lovely. Anyone who knows my sweet hubby knows just what I mean here. ;) I proceeded to laugh and hug him and laugh some more and he did a classic toddler fake-sounding laugh because Momma was laughing and it made the moment all the more funny to me.

I can't think of a better way to end the day with my boy than laughing before bedtime.

Well, it's snowing. And coffee is calling to me while Grady is refusing to nap, so I'm sure there's something else I should be doing other than blogging. ;)

Thanks to Leah, my one and only menu-helper from last week. She has inspired us to add lentils to our diet and we will do just that this week, we can't wait! 10,000 points for her! =)

Back to the real world not found in the depths of my computer screen--woa, such a thing exists?! ;) (Seriously, some days I need a reminder.) Later gators!

Help!

2008-11-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

Okay people, I'm feeling horribly uninspired in the meal-planning department and today is the day I am supposed to plan and make my menu for the coming week so I can go shopping with the Bugga tomorrow. How's that for a run-on sentence. Anyway...

So, bring it on! Got a family favorite you'd like to share? A meal that always hits the spot? I'd love to hear it and TRY it. ;)

Bonus points or anyone that can incorporate beans. Yes, I'm keeping score on all of you...tsk, tsk, some of you are wayyyy behind, so it's time to step up.

HAHAHA, just kidding of course. =)

Tomato stack from this summer; sorry no pics of yummy fall food. I'd love to change that though..

Love beans, not big on meat, but like fish. Breakfast counts for any meal of the day. Desserts are yummy too, though trying to be a responsible parent I have relegated them to add-on status. ;)

Got a recipe that makes you feel all warm and toasty? Perfect, I heard snow is in the forecast! ={

Okay folks, get to it...INSPIRE me. =)

...