Sophie

A boy and his dog share a special bond. They grow up together. Playmates, pals, buddies. One a confidant who cannot share the secrets whispered into a warm furry neck, who licks away tears and barks excitedly at a belly laugh. The exuberance of childhood contained in a wiggly, whining bundle of happiness and unconditional love.

Our sweet Sophie was hit and killed by a truck this afternoon. My poor J.T.'s heart is broken and mine is a little cracked.

She will go to rest with her favorite ball and lots of tears (I'm crying my eyes out right this minute).

She was loved.

We miss her so much.

Under the Bed Part II

I cleaned out from underneath my bed.

This is what was under my bed.



In this pile.... there is nothing, not ONE thing, that belongs to me.

The owl clock... THAT belongs to Rob.

The red juice cup with the "stuff" clinging to its edges?

THAT went straight in the trash.

Happy Music

This song has been running around my head like a Wild Thing since I heard it during the upcoming movies bit at Harry Potter (which I loved).

I love songs that make me want to close my eyes and dream. Imagine running through the yard with the cold spring grass licking at my feet and the breeze rushing at me, through me, around me. Lifting my face to the sun and soaking up the light, heat, happiness. Picking honeysuckle blossoms and painstakingly releasing that single long stem to capture one drop of sweet nectar. Songs of carefree childhood.

What's your slice of happy today?

Morning

7 a.m. - Glance at clock and determine that "just five more minutes" is perfect.
7:25 a.m. - Get up and fumble blindly to the bathroom to put in contacts.
7:26 a.m. - Start a load of laundry.
7:30 a.m. - Pop two pieces of whole grain in the toaster oven and unload the dishwasher while bread is toasting.
7:34 a.m. - Bread has skipped right past toasting and into burning. Get out two more pieces of bread and repeat.
7:40 a.m. - Low fat cheese, toast and a cold diet coke and the morning news.
7:50 a.m. - Begin making the pillow-wrinkled face presentable for the public. A light moisturizer, eye makeup (which I never do well... they never quite match... one eye has slightly more liner than the other or the shadow isn't evenly applied), creme blush and a dusting of powder.
8:00 a.m. - Let the hair battle begin. The hair is armed with humidity and natural curl. I am armed with anti-frizz gel and a flat iron.
8:15 a.m. - Still working on the stubborn cowlick in the front. Decide that cutting cowlick out is an impulse best not acted upon. It's really tempting though.
8:20 a.m. - Flip on the lights in the kids rooms so they can begin the: "Mooooommmm. It's not daytime yet..." complaints.
8:25 a.m. - Slip on skirt and hot pink shirt. Buckle wide black belt over shirt. Looks stupid. Take shirt off and pick our pink patterned empire waist blouse. Arms look too fat. Decide on the wrap-dress. But now my shoes don't match and the multicolored necklace doesn't match the pattern of the dress.
8:35 a.m. - Walk down the hall to the kids' rooms wearing one shoe (where the heck is the other one). "Rise and shine people! Hit the deck! Bathroom, brush teeth, get dressed... let's go!"
8:36 a.m. - Roaming around the house looking for other shoe. Not in the dining room, not under my bed, not in the laundry room.
8:37 a.m. - Kids still lumped under covers. Don't think they've moved since 8:20 a.m. complaint.
8:38 a.m. - Drag the boy out of bed by his feet (don't worry... no injuries) and push him towards the bathroom.
8:38:30 a.m. - Dress the girl WHILE she's sleeping (I'm very speedy at this... practice makes perfect), including shoes and socks. My missing shoe is discovered in her closet. Should've looked there first.
8:40 a.m. - Boy has made it the bathroom. But is just standing in nightshirt and underwear, staring at the mirror. "Teeth don't brush themselves son. Get cracking now. Please?" Boy picks up toothbrush.
8:41 a.m. - Began the hair battle with the girl. I am armed with the only hairbrush she will tolerate, two ponytail holders and a hairbow. She is armed with cranky and a whole lot of stubborn. I win. But only because I outweigh her by xx pounds. There is great wailing and gnashing of teeth (that bit is by me, the wailing is her) and I once again am thankful our neighbors don't live within earshot of our house.
8:43 a.m. - The boy has both the toothbrush and the toothpaste in hand. But one has not met the other and the breath is still stinky. Threaten to brush them myself and am rewarded with action.
8:45 a.m. - Tell the boy that the girl is ready. He manages to throw on shorts and shirt (backwards of course) and sandals in record time so he can beat her to the car.
8:48 a.m. - Everyone in the car and buckled. Yay! Backing out of garage. Make it all the way down the driveway and realize the boy's lunchbox is still on the kitchen counter. Pull back in and grab lunchbox. Repeat the reversal out of the garage and realize that I forgot the frozen yogurt for the lunchbox. Repeat trip back up the driveway, into the house and out again.
8:53 a.m. - Finally pull onto the road and realize I've forgotten my sunglasses. Crap. Glance at clock and debate another trip back up the driveway. Decide squinting is worth it.
8:53 a.m. - Kids begin argument over which song they want to hear. "Number 10! NO!! Number 4. NO! Number 10!" We comprised on number 7.
8:56 a.m. Pull onto Westside Road. Right behind a tractor. No passing zone for 3/4 of a mile. Lovely.
8:57 a.m. - Still behind tractor. Wishing I hadn't take that extra five minutes onto my snooze (okay I know it was 25 but work with me).
8:58 a.m. - Tractor turns off. Yay! Smooth sailing all the way to the raptor center. Green lights and all! I must have done something right.
9:05 a.m. - We are last arrival for Wild Life Camp. College age student with no kids and lots of knowledge casts me look of mild censure. Mumble apology.
9:10 a.m. - More green lights on the way to Abby's school. Lucky day! She insists on taking largish singing Frosty the Snowman in for show and tell. Teachers very impressed with my cleverness for selecting cold toy to 'beat the heat.' Smile and accept praise. Do they need to know that I argued against bringing that one? I think not.
9:15 a.m. - Everyone squared away. Looking forward to work! Nice, quiet work. Where there are grown-ups and there is no arguing over seating arrangements or music selections.

How was your morning?

Well HELLO there!

I'm back! I'm sure all ten of my readers missed me. We're hanging in the land of blah. Nothing exciting going on. Just muddling through the heat, kids activities here and there, trying to stay on top of the weedy garden, and the yard work. Did I mention muddling through the heat? My love/hate relationship with Summer continues. I hate the hot of summer. I hate the cold of our two week winter. A nice light sweater day is heaven. Wish it was that perfect temperature every day. On with the Meme... Stolen from here, from which it was stolen from Cathy Zielske.

TODAY....

Outside my window... Overcast morning skies have given way to sunshine. I would have preferred the overcast to stay... and bring some rain with it!

I am thinking... about my boy. He's spending an entire week with Grandma Pat and Poppy and 5 of his cousins. I miss him already.

I am thankful for... air conditioning. Can't imagine life in this heat without it. Even though I grew up without AC... I have no desire to ever live without it again. Ever.

From the kitchen... Fried okra, fresh from the garden! Grew it myself and quite proud of it.

I am wearing... pink/brown/white print sundress and brown sandals.

I am creating... checks! First of the month bill paying time.

I am going... to the eye doctor this afternoon. I keep getting some kind of funky build-up right in the center of my contacts, lending a fuzzy, out-of-focus quality to my vision.

I am reading... nothing. Must get to the library/book store ASAP. I want to get my hands on...

I am hoping... that Angel and I can do a girl lunch this month! I need some girl chat.

I am hearing... the drip of the faucet.

Around the house... things are a mess. Rob is the organized one while the rest of us could set records with the speed of our mess-making. Abby is particularly speedy while J.T. shoots for maximum diameter, leaving Spiderman and his friends (lego, Darth Vader, Indiana Jones, Transformers too) scattered in every. single. room.

One of my favorite things... a family holiday. We celebrated my mother's birthday on Sunday. My nephew turns 16 on the same day, so we had a massive joint celebration with lots of noise, food, and cake. J.T. made a card for mother that said: "Happy Birthday to you. You look lick (like... still can't spell) a Grandma... and you are one too!" He was very proud. Grandma Pat was thrilled.

Overheard ... (I added this one): Abby to Rob: "Sometimes your mother says bad words." Rob: "I know."

A few plans for the rest of the week... Clean-up before the cleaning lady comes. Find time for working out (but it's too HOT she whines), a glass of wine (or three), and gardening.