4 years

My old friend... has it really been 4 years already? I feel like you were just here with us yesterday.



Rockie was a "challenging" dog. From the very beginning she had a lot of faults. She was terribly headstrong. She was going to do what she wanted to do, right or wrong. She was extremely smart... the obdience trainer called her "crafty." And yet, she was, at one time, the greatest love of my life. I still get a little pang of heartache when I think about her, but I know we'll meet again... someday.

Rockie

March 17, 1992 - July 26, 2006

"Bad dog, good friend"

My Adopted Child

Once there were two women, neither knew the other

One you do not remember, the other you call mother.

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name

One gave you the seed of talent, the other gave you an aim.

Two very different lives shaped yours into one

One became your guiding star, the other was your sun.

One gave you emotions, and one calmed your fears

One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.

The first gave you life, the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it.

One gave you up—it was all that she could do,

The other prayed for a child—God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears,

The age-old question of all the years,

Heredity or Environment, which are you a product of?

Neither darling, neither ... just two different kinds of Love.

A poignant post on a blog written by a 17 year old girl. I was touched... I hope you are too.

And now there are nine.

I love family reunions

I love a family reunion. We had ours at the Outer Banks this year and EVERYONE was able to attend. My family is not particularly large, so it was amazing to see everyone!

Single-parenthood

Single-parenthood, even the temporary kind I am experiencing right now, is rough. It's so nice to have someone to help out, even with the very simple things early in the morning. It's only day 2 of the new routine, and I feel completely overwhelmed. To make matters worse, I was up past midnight, trying to get the kitchen ready for the contractors, who arrived at 8AM to start demolition on my kitchen. I failed that too. The contractors will have ended up packing up some boxes this morning. I just could not get it all done, not by myself.

I hope things go better tomorrow. Tonight I am dropping Camille off at her school for the summer reading program. I need to go to the store and purchase the appliances for our new kitchen. Wish me luck!

Matching Day

Today is matching day at the Seeing Eye. Mike will meet his new guide dog today. He seemed in a very good humor when I spoke to him on the phone this morning. The excitement and anticipation must be killing him! (I know it's killing me!) He'll meet his dog a little after 1:00 this afternoon. What an exciting day!

UPDATE:

So we think Mike's new dog might look something like this...

Happy 5th "Forever" Day, Sweet baby girl!

These are the days you were not supposed to have...

When we brought this fragile little home, 5 years ago, she weighed 13 pounds at 11 months of age. She had rickets and MRSA infection that could have killed her...

2005

2010Today she is a happy, healthy kid. She'll be 6 years old next month. She is the light of our lives... we could not be more grateful to God for this gift. Amen.

You've got to be kidding me!

The annual school uniform sale is next week? Yep! It's no joke. School uniforms, gym uniforms and polos will be sold next week! Yikes! School doesn't even start up again until September 8th! I think I'm just going to wait it out...

Down to the wire

Well, Mike leaves for the Seeing Eye in 10 days and I now I must admit that I am beginning to feel a bit anxious and nervous about it. I want him to go. I've been excited for him as I know this will be a terrific opportunity and adventure for him. But now that the time is just about here, it's really getting real. I guess before it was some sort of romantic fantasy... now it's actually going to happen. He's going to have a life changing experience and I'm going to be thrust into single parenthood for a month! Yuck! But we'll both do what we've got to do because I know the ultimate outcome will be well worth it. In the mean time, we've got a vacation just prior. We're leaving for the beach on Sunday. Mike's time at the beach will be cut a bit short due to the fact that he must report to the guide dog school.

Happy 4th of July

Thinking of Jon Paul

We're thinking of you today Jon Paul. Missing you, sadly...

1 Samuel 1:27
"For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him."