The Waiting (is the Hardest Part)

Griffin patiently waits for his best buddy to wake up.

Being five is hard.

Gearing Up for the New Year

We had a wonderful Christmas! For whatever reason, things came together smoothly this year, so there wasn't any crazy running around at the last minute or any of that. The anticipation just about did the boys in on Christmas Eve...poor ol' Griff appeared to be in physical pain a couple of times -- he just could not stand the waiting! I am happy to report that they both survived though, and had such a fun day. Unfortunately, Camden woke up the day after Christmas sick to his stomach, but luckily it passed quickly and soon he was back to his old self. Just glad the poor thing wasn't sick ON Christmas day...that would have been a major bummer.

Santa did not bring me a new laptop, so I am still blogging via Smartphone, I fear. I really miss my computer! The impending New Year has given me the motivation I needed to do some organizing, which has been great. I have been getting rid of things I don't want or need anymore and I hope to tackle more drawers, closets, etc. in the coming weeks.

It has also dawned one that I will be turning 40 in 37 days. How did that happen?!? I am not exactly sure how I feel about it. I don't remember caring one way or the other, when I turned 30. I think somewhere around 38 I might have raised an eyebrow. I think I am mostly thinking, 'Holy cow, I can't believe I am 40!' It just seems so odd to me. The good news is, I am in better shape than I was at age 30, feel better about myself, and am more content than I have ever been before. This past year in particular has been a year of letting go -- letting go of disappointment, letting go of things and people I can't control...still a lot of work to do in that area, but it is a start. So, I suppose I am looking at the coming year as a challenge (the good kind)...with my health being at the top of the list (physical, mental, and otherwise). Let the games begin!

Making Progress

As you can see, a bit of progress has been made in the Roy/Smokey area. Don't get too excited though...they still spend the majority of their time wrestling and yowling. This was the first time, however, that Smokey attempted laying on the sofa at the same time as Roy. Baby steps, kitties, baby steps.

I have finally started letting Smokey outside this week. The boys are not happy about this at all, especially Griffin. He is afraid she will leave and won't come back. So far she hasn't even attempted to leave the yard. She does love it out there, though, and I am happy to report that she zeroed in on the pesky Squirrel Brothers in the blue spruce almost immediately. I hope they are shaking in their nasty little squirrel boots.

As for Riley, I don't know if he is experiencing a second wind, or if the old boy is just excited for Christmas. He has always loved a good squeak toy, and has quite a collection of them, but he stopped playing with his toys all together, a few months ago. However, for the past few days, he has been back to digging through his toy box and dragging out random toys throughout the day. It has been good to see him doing that again.

Blogging: Smartphone Edition

This post comes to you via my Smartphone. I am beginning to realize that my computer problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon, so I figured I had better see if I could blog from this thing. I can't believe I even figured out how to upload photos...it is crazy! Anyway, the above picture is of Camden and one of his classmates, reading instructions to their class on how to make a Christmas Cracker. The third grade classes are doing 'Christmas Around the World' this year, and his class is studying Australia. He has had a lot of fun with it. I have Pavlova baking in the oven as I type, for the feast at his school today. Then, at 3:30 p.m., we can all breath a big sigh of relief and I will probably have to sit and stare off onto space for a couple of hours! After that, the boys and I will get down to the fun stuff...getting our own family traditions in order, and get ready for the Big Day.

*Post edit: It turns out I had a crazy spelling error in the above post, thanks to Auto-correct. Unfortunately, editing is not something that is easy to do via Smartphone, and it took me about 45 minutes to finally erase that one word. So, I'm thinking that Smartphone blogging may not be for me after all! Ha!

Computerless

Well I have been without my computer for a week now. The battery has not died (yet), but unfortunately we are having a modem problem, that, oddly enough, only affects my laptop. Right now I am on Steve's work laptop, which is leaving with him to go to work for the week in about 5 minutes. Boo! So, if I am not responding to email very quickly, or blogging, or any of that fun stuff, it is because I am really bad at typing on my Smartphone. I miss my computer! I may even try to get the archaic desktop working.

This week is going to be busy. I will be working at the library this morning, followed by volunteering in Camden's class. Will be doing that again tomorrow, and then he is on Christmas vacation, yay! Griffin's vacation already began last week, so he is busy chomping at the bit, waiting for Santa to hurry up and get here already. Steve has five days off starting on Friday, so we are all looking forward to a nice, long holiday weekend. Hope you all are busy with Christmas preparations and enjoying this time!

Blabber

Three years ago, this week

I am getting really excited for Christmas! Thinking back, I would say that Christmas day last year was probably the most depressing day of Steve's entire deployment. Of course, I so enjoyed the boys and their excitement, but I just wanted a distraction from missing Steve. I remember we were able to Skype with him in the morning, but there was no Christmas dinner, or company, or anything like that. I remember wanting so badly for the phone to ring that day. Oh, I am so happy that is behind us! Now that we have Steve home with us, I am so eager to get back to our family traditions. We do Christmas pretty much like my parents did when I was little - - very laid back. I like to make some sort of egg casserole or cinnamon rolls the day before, so I can pop it in the oven the next morning when we get up, but not have to fuss in the kitchen. I like to stay in my pajamas as long as possible on Christmas morning, too. So, that is what I am looking forward to. So, SO happy that Steve is here with us this year to enjoy it all, too!

Speaking of Steve, he has been in Colorado this week for work. Both of the boys were pretty upset about him leaving, but I'm happy to report that they have done just fine. He is actually coming home a day early but they don't know that...can't wait to surprise them tomorrow!

Don't know exactly what happened with my Christmas shopping this year, but I managed to do 95% of it online, and I am pretty much done! I feel like I found exactly what I was looking for, for everyone on my list and it is so nice to have it done early and not be scrambling! I also tried something new and have been wrapping as I bought things, rather than leaving it all until the last minute. Should have tried this years ago! Ha!

Next week will be crazy with Cub Scouts, school festivities, baking for Steve's office party, and the like. I am hoping to get a good plan in place this weekend so I will be ready. I am itching to get baking some Christmas cookies but haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyone have any favorite recipes?

Week in Review

This week was a humdinger, to say the least. It started out like any other week really, with school, karate, and Cub Scouts on Monday. This was the first pack meeting that we were able to attend this year, and it was a lot of fun. I think we are in for a great year of scouting! By Tuesday morning, I was making a call to Riley's vet to make an appointment to have him euthanized. He is 14 1/2 years old now, and in the past 6 months his health and well-being have failed quite a bit. Over the past couple of weeks I had talked with the vet a few times, trying to decide what was best for ol' Riley. Such a hard thing to have to think about, but I also don't want to make the mistake of having him suffer. By Wednesday morning, I was driving down the vet clinic to cancel the Thursday appointment. By lunchtime on Wednesday I had called back and rescheduled it. I was pretty much a wreck. Whenever there weren't children in sight that day, I would get all choked up at the thought of Riley not being here. So Thursday came, and Steve took the morning off to offer some moral support. He took the boys to school and at 9 a.m., the vet and one of his technicians showed up. I could tell almost as soon as they came in that they were thinking maybe it wasn't such a good idea. I just love our vet - - I am so thankful for his wisdom and for how deeply he cares for animals, but also for their people. He decided to draw some blood and run some labs to see how Riley's liver function was, among other things, and we talked about a new schedule of medication that will allow Riley to sleep better at night and be more comfortable during the day. Riley still eats really well, so that isn't an issue for him.

I have to admit, when the vet said he didn't think euthanizing him was a good idea after looking him over, I felt like an awful dog mom! I struggle so with not wanting to be selfish (keeping Riley around because I don't want to let him go) and doing what is best for him. So, now Riley and I have a new lease on life. I don't know how long Riley has left, but I am going to make sure that it is high on quality. I sure love that pup, and I'm so thankful that we get to spend more time together.