It is what it is

Hard to believe that 3 years have flown by since we moved Amanda and Emily into the Villas on Apache.  Hard to believe that this is my third trip since May first.  Hard to believe that Amanda has graduated from ASU and is moving to California tomorrow.  We have almost everything packed.  Hard to believe July has raced by and it is the 29th, soon to be August.  My EMWP is finished, Amanda was home for nearly 4 weeks and summer is waning fast.  I am nervous about driving a truck to California.  I have never even driven in Arizona.  All my trips here, not once.  Someone else has always driven.  What have I gotten myself into.....again?  I can't believe how much stuff Amanda has.  She bought a bed, some tables, chest (all from Ikea, meaning assemble required), we have a couch and mattress to pick up today and still no refrigerator.  She only got this 500 sq.ft. place last Monday after spending the previous Thurs., Fri. in the ...

THE (MIS) ADVENTURES OF CASEY "Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.  So did my life and the lives of my entire family.  Casey was part of and still is, a part of our family.  We are adjusting, but surely not forgetting.  We trip over ourselves trying to ignore the fact that she is gone. It is still just too sad to talk about.  We start things like "Oh remember when we were in the pool last summer and we had to keep Casey off the deck....." or "Gee, it's funny not to have Casey eating anything dropped, or not tripping over her as she was always under foot."  We reminisce without saying too much at all.  We are all thinking the same thoughts.  We are all wondering if we get another dog, what will it be like.  We wonder if it is too soon.  We wonder if it is disrespectful......then think wait......to a dog???  She was so human-like.  She knew wh...

June 29, 2012 The Little Red Hen in the 21 st Century Once upon a time there was a Little Red Hen.   Now, this Little Red Hen lived on a farm and was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat and a noisy yellow duck.   The Little Red Hen started every day the same way, making breakfast for the dog the cat, and the duck.     She would call out “ Who will help me make breakfast”?   “Not I” barked the dog, not looking up from watching Sesame Street.   “Not I” purred the cat, staring at a bird outside.   “Not I “ quacked the noisy yellow duck, hardly pausing from Draw Something on his Mac Book.       “Well then,” said the Little Red Hen, “I will do it myself”.   And she did. When breakfast was ready, the Little Red Hen would ask,   “Who will help me eat this breakfast?”   “I will,” barked the dog.   “I will,” purred the cat.   “I will” quacked the noisy yellow duck.   One day, ...

“Lucy, I’m Home” Strange how things happen isn’t it?   I finished an entire “novel” on the (Mis)“Adventures of Casey” just last week.   I had to put it aside for awhile as it was making me too sad to continue to re-read and edit.   We lost our beloved beagle on May 20, 2012.   I have been in mourning and really missed having her around.   Every day, I thought about Casey.   When Amanda came home from ASU we talked about and missed her.   When Matt came home from Chicago, we were not allowed to talk about her.   I wondered if I would ever be able to get another dog.   Where do you start looking?   How?   Casey was a rescue beagle and a real handful. Once Amanda came home, she started looking on –line for beagle puppies.   While cute, I was not sure I was ready for a new dog yet, especially a puppy.   A friend of mine said recently, “Puppies are over-rated!”   All the puppies/dogs were either too e...

July 2, 2012 I have a coffee mug that I received last year for my birthday that has an outlandish number of the year I celebrated.   Yesterday was the first anniversary of that birthday.   It was a wonderful day, nothing major,   but special because so many people that I know and love went out of their way to make it special to me.   My daughter made me happy by just being there.   My boys called on iChat.   My husband bought me lavender roses and lavender balloons. I received a round trip ticket to Boston to visit my boys.    Even my mother-in-law called and wished me a Happy Birthday and told me she loved me.   She has never done that before.   My best friend sent every e-card she could find, those made me laugh.   We spent the day in and out of the pool, on the phone, a lot of doing nothing but filling every minute and ended up at Papa Vino’s for dinner.   We closed the day watching the new Muppets movie.   N...