Twelve Years and Six Months.....

Can a person every have "too much" time with their dog. I doubt it..... Freckles was like Marley when we first got him at 7 1/2 weeks of age... I never thought I'd survive puppyhood with him. But I did.  Now 12 1/2 years later I look back on the first months (well maybe first year and a half) and I realize how quickly it flew by.  My neighbors would just laugh when I told them my woes.... and to this day they still laugh at me and recall all of my "Freckles stories". 

Now I sit here knowing he's hooked up to an IV with the possibility of making a decision soon. He's not suffering at all right now, he's just not feeling well. I'll get through it and will make the best decision for him (not me). In fact, the vet already knows my wishes.

I got lots of great photos of him, and for that I am thrilled! When I repaint my office, some of my "Freckles art" will be proudly displayed on my wall - especially this last photo....( I am so glad I got a good camera)

Twelve years and six months flew by................

Sock It To Me .......

At first this may appear to be an intricate knitting project I am currently undertaking.

However, truth be told it is a sock!

Two socks actually, two fairly dirty socks.

These socks have been sitting here since Sunday afternoon - when my college-bound daughter peeled them off of her sweaty feet following her participation in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament.  I wouldn't normally have a problem with her removing her wet socks. In fact, I think it's a good idea!

However, these socks have been sitting in this one spot since Sunday, and it is now Thursday.  And, the socks have been sitting outside one of the entrances to my home....

...the entrance we use all day long when we come and go from our house...

And the entrance that friends and neighbors use....

And I have had to repeatedly walk by them, day in and day out. I refuse to take them inside. You don't know how hard it was for me to just walk on by, but I did walk on by every single day.  I really couldn't figure out why they sat there so long and considering she's leaving for school this week, I didn't want to make a big stink about it (no pun intended), but I really found these socks to be annoying.

Is it just me? Am I making a big deal out of it? Could I just exercise a bit more tolerance?

I THINK NOT!

In Eight Days!!!!!

She leaves on 8/21 for college.  I have been so excited for her up until this moment, when I am starting to feel sadness creeping in.  I told her yesterday that she will be leaving for college as a kid (granted she just turned 19 but she really is still a kid) and she will be coming home an adult who is hopefully all set to pass her nursing boards and start taking care of people.  My little girl who I was told was not quite ready for kindergarten because she still couldn't master cutting with scissors is now going off to college.  I still have the packet the preschool gave me demonstrating her deficient scissor skills as they strongly encouraged me to to send her to another year of pre-K to give her another "year to grow" and "develop stronger fine motor coordination".

So, here I am now with lists of things to buy. She just came into my office and showed me the list of needed/recommended items the college sent and on it they have "stuffed animals". I think they know they are getting our "kids".

I have seen commercials where a daughter asks for the keys to the car and the dad sees the daughter as still a very young child.... There are days that in my mind's eye I see this......

But in reality, this is the little girl who is ready to set sail on this next adventure in her life.

We are in the midst of lots of dorm shopping. It's kind of fun, it really is.  I will miss having her living under our roof full-time but my friends tell me that I may feel differently when she returns home for summer break with all of her stuff, she will come home a slightly different person.  Life's all about adjustments.  I will adjust when she leaves and I will adjust when she returns.  Right now I am trying to savor all of the moments I can.... because she leaves in eight days.

Summertime Fun

We took a last minute extended weekend away with the kids to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA this past weekend, and we had an absolute blast. Although I don't do many rides, I still find enough to keep me busy in the park while the kids go off and do some wild coaster riding.  Here is a photo of the Griffon, which is located in New France. It is 205 feet high, and before it plunges its riders, it just hangs over the top edge for about 5 seconds....

Note the expressions on the riders - terror seems to be the common  reaction. My two genetic material packages are right in the front row. I don't know where they get their bravery from - Neither hubby nor I will venture on to a ride like this.

I spent my time visiting the Abbey Stone Theatre for their production of Celtic Fyre.

My daughter and I went to see this particular show THREE times... my son begrudgingly attended two times with us.  If we had made him go anymore than that, this is the face we would have been stuck with...

See my point?

We spent some time with some colorful birds - they like ponytails - my daughter found this out the hard way.  Let's just say that if the old wives' tale is true, my daughter has a fair amount of good luck headed her way.

Water rides are a favorite in my family.  Le Scoot is a great log flume that gets you fairly soaked. I went on it earlier in the day (thankfully I put my camera in a waterproof bag) as my son assured me that I would not get "that wet".  I got drenched  but the camera was just fine.

I was able to capture this moment after I got off the flume.

This little vacation is just what was needed for a bit of a pick-me-up. On Sunday, I will once again head to Maryland for a few days to chaperon my son's high school band camp.  Temperatures are supposed to be in the 90s, there is no A/C,  there are lots of  bugs and mice, and the cabin doors do not lock.

Oh how I will miss the luxury of our motel room in Virginia - even if it was the size of a postage stamp....

Hank

My brother-in-law is preparing to take flight from this earth.....

Hank, you always knew how to prepare amazing asparagus for me.....

 

11/15/42-7/19/10

Mentalpause

Believe it or not, I sort of forgot I had a blog!!! It certainly isn't for lack of anything to say as I have LOTS to say, it's just that my mind is always subdivided and going in a thousand different directions, none of which seems to include posting updates.

We've survived lots here - graduation ceremonies, tornadoes, parties, and basically life in general. I cannot complain. Life is good - tiring and trying - but good.

I have lots of pictures but haven't uploaded most of them. I think that I am in the midlife phase of what I am calling "mentalpause".....  so I'll leave you with just a cute photo of Ruby.....

Fledging

Since early March, I have been engrossed in the lives of six barn owls - a mom named Molly, a dad named McGee, four owlets named Max, Pattison, Austin, and Wesley, and one lone unhatched egg that all who were watching named Dudley.  For almost four months I have been intrigued by the day-to-day life of a mother owl nurturing her babies, and a father owl who provided food every single night for mom and babies, with dad stopping momentarily in the owl box to bond with his mate - a ritual carried out every single night. Did you know barn owls mate for life? I didn't...  Did you know that they can actually feel emotions?  I did not.  Did you ever witness the beauty of nature inside an owl box 24/7?  I hadn't until now.  I joined the ustream site right after the first two eggs hatched and have been hooked ever since, fully knowing that approximately 70 days from the hatching, the babies would begin the process of fledging - leaving the nest to strike out on their own.  

This morning at 5:17 AM, the last two owlets fledged, leaving a couple thousand viewers both sad and happy - happy that all four owlets survived to adulthood so that they can begin their own families, but sad because this one chat room that has intertwined so many lives together for the sole purpose of watching this beautiful event in nature will no longer air the lives of six barn owls.

This week, the process of "fledging" has begun in my own home.  My oldest child, my daughter, graduated high school, left the following morning for Walt Disney World for senior week, and will soon be preparing to head off to college.  Funny how both events happened around the same time.....

I've watched nature prepare its young to face the world, and now I'm preparing to send my "young" out into the world....