It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I've written anything.  We lost Blackie back in October of 2017 and then Koko a year later - I lost the will to write much.  Work got in the way too and we all got a little depressed.

Now it's 2020 and it's the end of the world as we know it.

I've retired from my commercial job to focus more on my family.  I also became a Realtor and started designing custom homes.  I've never been busier in my entire life. 

Whoops.

At least I'm working from home.  Which I thought I'd love, but not so much.  In between the "mommy, look at this You Tube video!" and the "Honey, do you have just a sec to look at this" interruptions I feel like I never get anything done!  

 

The boys are in 5th grade and we DID send them back to school.  They left 4th grade at Spring Break and never went back, so we weren't falling for that again.  The school put them in the same classroom to reduce exposure which I appreciate, but there are only 2 physical classes this year for the 5th grade and they have 25 kids in each room.  They have separated the desks and put plexiglass around the perimeter on 3 sides, but they are almost on top of each other.  They do wear their masks all day which is good, but their faces are breaking out so they now wear acne medicine.  Thank you Covid.  

Sean tells me that if he buys his food, which is all packaged this year, and he can't open the package he has to wait until lunch is over and take it back to his desk where he can open it with his scissors.  None of the staff members are allowed to touch his food and help him.  They can't open it for him in any way.  My baby starves all the way through lunch.  At least they let him eat his now-cold food when he gets back to his desk.

SURELY SOMEONE HAS GLOVES. 

Christopher is 4 1/2" shorter than me and I steal his tennis shoes.  They are comfy.  

Sean is still 3" smaller than Christopher but he's mighty on the soccer field. 

 

Paul bought them (and himself) dirt bikes this summer and they are all pretty good at it.  Paul used to ride as a kid and Sean is convinced he's going to compete when he's older.  Chris just likes the ride...

I keep the mythical dream that I'm going to get a new kitchen.  One day.

 

We did get a new Border Collie and named him Jake aka J-Dog aka Jakester.  He was hard to love as a puppy.  His favorite food was poop.  Cat poop, dog poop, bird poop, but he preferred his own poop.  Dang, I'm going to throw up just typing about it.  He's out-grown that, thankfully, and we adore him now.  He's tied to Paul's hip and loves playing/herding the kids.  We're writing a rap song about him.  It's called J-Dog.  You must read this in a low growly voice.

My name is J-Dog

A Border Collie

They call me Jake tho

But that's just folly

 

When we go walkin'

People be hatin'

I'm so good lookin'

Do I smell bacon?  

 

My job is simple

Protect the fam-ly

Bark at the neighbors

I'll bite your Camry

 

That's all I can remember at this point.  It's in a notebook that I can't find. 

 All for now.

A Very Sad Day

We lost Blackie on Friday October 6, 2017. He was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in January of 2014 and at the time he already had a lot of muscle atrophy in his rear legs. Our veterinarian put him on lots of pain medications and told us that there was no cure for the disease. And it would get very bad for him. And it did. 

A few months after the diagnosis, he couldn't jump into the back of our SUV by himself anymore. He'd walk out to get in the car and he'd stand up and put his front legs on the back and we'd have to help him get his rear into the car. He could always jump out by himself and he loved to go for rides in any car any time of day. 

By January of this year, we had to pick him up to get him into the 4Runner as he couldn't jump at all anymore. By this June on a trip to Ruidoso, he couldn't walk up two steps to get into a cabin we rented. That's when things started getting really bad for him. The rapid deterioration of his back legs led to him not even being able to stand up by himself by July. The vet put him on even more pain pills and recommended a harness we could put on him to help him get up. He did okay on the new harness for about a month before he started having some type of pain that was causing him to pant constantly and drink lots, and I mean, lots of water everyday. We had tests for everything and they couldn't find a cause so we just had to deal with him as he was. A geriatric puppy who still thought he was a three-month old pup. 

In the last two weeks, his front legs would no longer hold him up most of the time and he'd lay down wherever we helped him lay down. The poor guy had two modes, asleep and panting if he wasn't asleep. He finally couldn't even stand up to relieve himself. 

It was painful to watch him go downhill so quickly and even more painful to know that it was never going to get better for him. He was such a great and happy pup even in pain. Everyone who knew him loved him dearly and we are all so very sad that he's gone now. As the Irish always say, "May he rest in peace." We miss you so very much little pup. 

July 4th Weekend

Better late than never I suppose.

Aunt Jill and Great Aunt Debbie had us all out to Tyler for the Saturday before the 4th of July - the 2nd.  Jill has completely renovated her old home in Tyler and it looks so GOOD.  Not sure why I haven't featured it yet on The House Enthusiast.  Oh yeah.  I'm lazy. 

"Stay tuned for Jill's renovation on The House Enthusiast!"

Anyway, she had her back yard all decked out.  There was a zip line, trampoline (brand new), a fire pit (not used ... because July in Texas), two big fans, and picnic tables.  I was impressed. The boys had a great time with their cousins and I got to catch up with family.

 Brent and Paul putting the trampoline together

 fun on the trampoline

#Christopherdarling channeling his inner #MileyCyrus

 Hey - Cristy finally showed up!

 

Just chilling - or at least trying not to bake

 

  Cousins

 

 

 Of all the things offered here in Jill's Backyard they choose to play in the dog crates.

 Maci eating a watermelon.  Christopher told us he ate 8 pieces..... 

#parenting

 Woah.  When did Andy show up?  And of course I have NO pictures of his illusive wife.

 Girls only

 Here we are, pretending to look at my phone.  I'm sure it's off. 

#acting

 Also pretty sure Christopher is back there eating watermelon.

Thank you Jill and Debbie for the wonderful day!!!

Just Keep Swimming - 6th Birthday Party

Wow, It's been a while since my last post.  We've been settling into the new house and the boys had another birthday.  They are 6 now... I can't believe it.  They are my most favorite people in the world.

They have also both lost their 2 bottom front teeth.  This was the last picture of them both before that started.

This was taken by my talented cousin Wendi Kessler. 

For their birthday we took a couple of kids to play at Shenaniganz and then had their classmates over for a pool party.  It was an all day affair.

They had a great time!  Aside from all the kids, Aunt Peggy, Uncle Pete, Uncle Bobby, DiDi, Pop, Terry, Chris, Marc, Laura, Kellye and Stefan were there.  That means that mommy had a good time too :-)

Dinner at Mi Cocina

The boys are starting Kindergarten on Monday....  I'm happy and sad at the same time!

We went to Mi Cocina last night for dinner and were able to sit outside for the first time since Summer started.  They are growing up so fast!

Life with Blackie

In August 2004, I just bought a new house and got a new puppy, a three month old Border Collie named Blackie.

I kept him in a crate while I was at work and to house train him that took him only two weeks to figure out. He loved to play tug of war with a piece of rope while he showed me his moves by twisting and jumping over my arms. He also liked to play fetch with the same rope as I'd throw it down the hall and he'd run back with it jumping up and hitting me on the legs with his paws until I was black and blue from the experience. He'd play for hours like this and when he was nine months old I took him running with me for the first time. He loved it and he would strut down the running path. Obedience training was a snap for him. By this time he was out of his crate and allowed to run around the house while I was at work. He'd sit by the front window and wait for me to come home. All the neighbor's knew him and always asked me about him. They didn't know he'd chewed up two window sills and some carpet while he waited for me to come home for lunch and after work. I thought he was lonely so I got him a playmate, a little Border Collie female from the same breeder, and I named her Koko.

Koko and Blackie never really bonded like I thought they would and all she wanted to do, and it's still the same to this day, is to chase Blackie with a toy in her mouth. I'd take them to the local park and let them run around and smell everything and we made the best of it.

Then I met Patra and everything changed. Patra had three cats and a bird. The Border Collies didn't mind the cats and the bird but they weren't happy that they were losing their precious spots on the bed at night. Blackie hung onto his spot on the right side of the bed, Patra got stuck in the middle, and I got the left side with a kitty cat who slept on my head. We got married and moved to a bigger house in Dallas with a huge backyard and everyone was content. However, we lost two kitties the first year and then got another one who's never left the house. The dogs made do with the new house by playing in the back yard while Blackie would run with me at White Rock Lake and White Rock Creek.

Life was moving along for the animals and then we adopted another dog, Zoe a Blue Heeler mix, and the house became full of tension.We kept Zoe until we were getting ready to sell our house and Patra's brother took her in. Tension among the animals resolved itself.

Then in 2010 our twin boys were born and the animals had more humans to deal with in the house. Things went well until the boys were walking and Blackie snapped at them a couple of times. By this point he was getting, "grumpy" as the boys called him. He'd slowed down to the point where he didn't really like playing in the backyard anymore and would only run with me in cooler weather. Koko spent her time hanging around in the backyard barking at the neighbor's dogs.

Now it's 2015 and Blackie has really dramatically slowed down. He can no longer run with me for any distance at all and only walks with me to the park on short walks and even that seems to be stressful for him. Getting up and jumping into the car is now a real problem for him. My heart is breaking with thoughts of losing him but Patra has told me not to mourn him that he's got a lot of life left in him. We go to the vet in a couple of days to find out if there's anything other than old age dragging him down so quickly. I'm just sad that he's not the puppy he used to be and it's hard to watch an animal age so rapidly.

I love that little monster.

Update: Blackie's running days are officially over. Arthritis in both hips and his right rear knee. Doc has him on pain medication and supplements to manage the arthritis. Now we wait and see how he does on the medication. 

Painted Furniture

I've been painting furniture!  I've been invited to attend the Dallas Swap and Flea to try and sell some of my pieces.  I hope it goes well.  I really love doing this!  Here is what I've done so far.

Wish me luck!