My Life Steps...Do not try this.

Please do not try this. These are very important steps. If you try to complicate them, change them, or reorder them, then disaster will be imminent.

Step 1: Wake up 6am

Step 2: Let out dog

Step 3: Make large pot of coffee.

Step 4: Feed dog.

Step 5: Feed kids.

Step 6: Pack lunches

Step 7: Dress kids (also includes changing diapers)

Step 8: Chase kids to car.

Step 9: Take kids to school.

Step 10: The only allowable varied step. Sub-steps include grocery shopping, dry clean picking up, or other errand running, or straight home to clean.

Step 11: Pick kids up from school.

Step 12: Feed kids lunch

Step 13: Read to kids

Step 14: Put one kid down for nap.

Step 15: Play

Step 16: Do dishes leftover from breakfast and laundry piled up.

Step 17: Shuttle to afternoon activities.

Step 18: Feed kids dinner.

Step 19: Give kids bath.

Step 20: Put kids to bed.

Step 21: Feed dog.

Step 22: Let dog out.

Step 23: Go to bed.

Step 24: Repeat...from step 1.

Occasional optional allowable steps: Step 4a: shower (only required after 3 full days have lapsed). Step 11a: Stop at McDonald's first. And not more than 2 times a month per every 2 months Step 21a: board meetings for volunteer activities and Step 21b: Book club evening out with girls.

Required non-stop additional steps: Step 1a-21b: Play Star-Wars.

Do not try this at home. I am a professional.

Good-Bye

Hands down today was one of the hardest days in my life. Today, Wilson felt like it was 5000 miles from Rocky Mount. The drive with Bandit was sad and beautiful at the same time. He stuck his head out the window and let his jowls flap in the wind for the last time. I turned around in my seat and watched his boxer slobber dirty up my windows and I didn't care. Just seeing his eyes slant against the wind was one of the most beautiful sights.

We fed him pieces of steak on the way. He licked his chops after each piece and awaited the next. We got to the vet and Jason and I were able to be with him through to the end.

I worry for Scarlett. She's never know life without him. Come to think of it, Jason and I have hardly known our life together without him too. I can still picture the day we got in the car after excessive research by me on the breed and breeder, and Jason turned to me and said we can't just go "look at" puppies. Was I prepared to come home with a dog?..We were newlyweds married only 6 months. We will celebrate 10 years this August. A lifetime...

I will miss Bandit so much. It's hard to sit here and type and not look over to see him passed out on the couch. The tears still come...but time will heal.

I got a few cards today that made may heart soar. For those of you who have been down this road before us, thank you for offering your comforting words. Believe me...they have meant the world...

As everything else, time will heal this tender wound. I was just so thankful to come home to a faceful of wet kisses from Scarlett. We will give her extra hugs and kisses and keep her close for we are so thankful she is in our life.

For those of you who haven't walked this road...eventually the time will come. I will not lie. It is awful. So, hug your dogs. Give them bones. Love on them like there is no tomorrow. Because it comes much faster than you can ever imagine...and we enjoyed a full life with our Bandit.

Run, Bandit, Run. Enjoy yourself. Frolic and jump...and be sure to do laps so fast your belly drags the ground. I love you and will miss you terribly. You were the perfect dog. God Bless my old friend.

I love you...

Tears...

I am so sad...Tomorrow we will say good-bye to our beloved Bandit. I can hardly keep it together. Normally, I have wit and humor pouring from me...but tonight its just tears...It's been a short nine years...

I am so thankful for the healthy, happy, romping, years Bandit has given our family. What a joyful dog. I will miss him so much. I will need such strength tomorrow...

It will be so hard to say good-bye...

I love you, Bandit. Thank you for always understanding me and never judging me. Thank you for always offering your wet nose and kisses to lick away my tears and your strong shoulder to lean on. You are a beautiful dog. I will cherish our special memories. May you now be able to run without stumbling, get up without falling, and be free from your physical frustrations. I look forward to running with you again someday...

May your crossing over the Rainbow Bridge be with only comfort and knowing how much you are loved and how much you will be missed...

I love you...

Thankful Not Taking a Ride on The Vomit Comet

Ooooooooooooooooooo...there is nothing worse in the whole wide world than the dreaded vomiting virus. It is so awful, words (thankfully), can't fully describe the full horror of the illness. I just want to send out a broth-filled, bland diet, hello to my friends who have contacted this terrible sickness...and PLEASE...keep it to yourselves! I have no problem dropping off cases of Lysol to your homes...You know who you are...take care and see you in a few weeks! ; ) Get well soon my sickie friends...YUCK!

Boy Scouts (and mommies) Say Always Be Prepared

Be prepared...I was...

Well, after months of scavenging used North Face shell jackets and Patagonia pants in miniature on ebay, trips to sporting goods stores desperate to find snow gloves, and paying shipping from faraway stores in Montana (where it actually snows in February and the stores still stock these items...unlike here where the bikinis are already dismally displaying themselves front and center on the racks), I was ready to goto the mountains this weekend. Emerson looked so cute in his ski outfit complete with his NF shell and his Obermeyer insulated (which I proudly esniped at the last minute) jackets - you know in case it was 18 degrees or 50 degress he was all set.


Dalton luckily was able to squeeze into some old hand-me-downs and except for the fact he looked like a bad patchwork quilt, everything was covered and fit for the most part (poor second born). While his brother looks like a kid model for REI, he looks like a ski school dropout. Anyway, the important thing is, we were ready!


Now, for anyone that packs for more than oneself, and double this if there are any females involved (time and volume), packing for a winter trip takes minimum a full day. There's at least five lists involved here...1) clothes to pack 2) essentials to pack close by (ie diapers, cups, etc). 3) entertainment (including adding new playlist to ipod, buying new movies for car, testing DVD players, spending 30 minutes looking for the right cords) 4) other essentials (cameras, battery chargers, phone chargers, cell phones) 5) leaving home list (call animal sitter, etc), and 6) honey-do list. Now, remember, all of these tasks need to be performed under a continued attack of demands from children. Plus, time out for making lunch, cleaning up spilled self-help snack I was unaware of and was ultimately crushed into the carpet by the wheels of a suitcase, rescue flushing toilets, diffuse arguments over a toy that hasn't been touched in 3 months by either child, investigate loud CRASH sound, time time-outs...and this is just naming a few. Packing for a trip is like preparing for a year end meeting. If you leave out a crucial detail, it could derail the whole thing. Now, imagine preparing for that meeting without a door on your office. Well, at least, there's Walmart for anything I might forget to pack...while a meeting...well you would just be screwed.

So, here we were. All packed. Ready...set...SICK! Aaaaaa! Nothing like a child waking with a 101 degree fever and complaining of tummy troubles. There is nothing more frightening to a mother's ears than digestive issues which more than likely will result in the dreaded vomiting virus. So, all my efforts are still, for the most part, packed in the car a day and a half later. I guess the bright side of this is it could have been worse. Vomit in a car...well, you may as well go through the car wash with the windows down...

Anyway, so we are sad we missed the Wintergreen trip. Hope all of you who went are having a great time!

Lots to say...Little time...

Okay...so my post for today is read my other blog...(goto profile...then to boy crazy) because my newest soap box and crusade is to abolish the dated term "stay at home" mom. Will have something else for my general bloggies soon. ; )

Where or Where?

Where in the hell is the DELETE button??? My personal puzzle...