Farewell to a furry friend

About 10 years ago, I had a friend that was injured. He had a dog named Jake that he had no idea what he was going to do with while he was in the hospital and recovering. So, I volunteered to "watch" him until my friend was ready. Jake came to our house and immediately made himself at home, him and Oscar became friends right away. He was a little hard to walk and had a lot of spunk but was the sweetest brown eyed boy. He would lean into you so he could be as close as possible to you and lay his head in your lap and stare up at you with his sweet face. Needless to say, our temporary arrangement ended up being permanent and Jake became a member of our home. He was there when we brought Kylie home from the hospital. We came home and laid her on the floor so he could introduce himself and he was immediately smitten! He adored her, he would pace when she cried and lay beside her. He felt the same way about Kiersten when we brought her home. As they grew with him, they could climb on him, lay on him, dress him up, anything they wanted to do, he was more than willing to comply. You could not ask for a better dog with kids. Even when my nephew Dylan came along, Jake was eager to offer himself up to Dylan as a jungle gym, pillow, you name it. About 6 months ago, Jake had a seizure completely out of the blue. We took him to the vet and they thought that maybe he got into something and had an allergic reaction. We thought and thought and searched the house for something different that he could have gotten into so we could get rid of it but came up with nothing. A couple of months later he had another one, we again took him to the vet and this doctor immediately took a liking to Jake. He spent the night with him and told us that he believed Jake had a tumor and it could be months, years, there was no telling. A couple of days ago, he started leaning a little to one side....we were concerned. Then when I came down the steps on Sunday morning, I knew something was really wrong. He was wagging his tail and happy to see me as always but he couldn't barely walk and his eyes could not focus on me. With a sinking heart I called Chip down and he took him to the vet. That is when the bad news came, the tumor was so large, it was pushing on his brain and there was no turning back. I couldn't let him suffer, he had given us all he had for so many years and he deserved way better. So now Jake is running around in doggie heaven, tumor free. Our house feels so empty and strange without him. It will take a while to get used to not seeing him at the door when we get home, to not hear him guarding the house all night while we slept, but I know he is guarding us from his new home.

God does have a sense of humor.....

This title is so true and I can prove it, I have two girls! LOL!! Not only do I have two girls, but one is extremely dramatic, squealy, whiny and emotional. Those of you that really know me, can see the humor in this as I am not an overly "girly" girl. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a bodybuilder that spits and scratches myself or anything, I just don't relate well to overly emotional, dramatic people. So to amuse me, I live with Kylie. Kylie is a great kid, she aims to please, she is very passionate about things, but she can pour on the drama and the tears in a heartbeat. EVERY night this week, it has taken at least an hour to get her to bed because she is SO upset that we are going on the cruise and won't see her for 6 days...... it sounds a little something like this:
-good night kylie, i love you, have sweet dreams okay..
-sniff sniff, okay but mommy, why do you have to go on a cruise
-because sometimes grownups need vacations, but it is not for long, we will see you next week
-But, sniff sniff, don't you looooovvvvveeee me, aren't you going to miss us....why can't we GO....
-Kylie, you are getting yourself all worked up over something that is not a big deal, we will bring you a cool thing back from the Bahamas and you have lots of fun plans and we will be back before the weekend
-But I don't want to ride the bus, i want to be able to hold your hand,
-OK, that doesn't have anything to with the cruise, but you are a big girl and I am there to hold your hand until the bus comes and hold it the whole way home
-BUT mommy?
-yes, kylie
-It's just I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to miss you and i am going to CRYYYYYYYYY

I will spare you the repeat of all of this about another 5 times, but this has been my week. We also dropped Kylie's grandma from SC off at the airport a couple of weekends ago, and that evening consisted of a very similar scenario though the conversation was different, it consisted mostly of I am going to miss grandma, when will I see her again......you get the picture. I have heard Chip was quite the drama king when he was little so I am sticking with she gets this from his side of the family!

I started teaching my class this week and I really think I am going to like it! It is a lot different teaching college over elementary school, but in a very good way! I hope they actually learn something from me, I know I will learn a lot!

Now that school has started back, I am able to see myself getting into a sort of groove with staying at home. Two days a week, I get to watch my nephew and the other three, it is just me and Kiersten until Kylie gets home on the bus. This is a whole new world for me, so I am learning and figuring things out as I go. It will be an adventure, I am sure! I will try to keep everyone updated of my adventures as I go.

Saturday, I board a big cruise ship with my man and our best friends and I am so excited, I can barely stand it! I have my closet packed and am ready to go!! I know when I get back Jillian Michaels will be waiting for me and I will be ready! Until then, BON VOYAGE!! Have a great week :)