Back Where We Began

An old friend randomly e-mailed me last week and she ended her e-mail with something along the lines of "Everything comes full circle, I think". Today, I went back and read some blog posts from Jan. 06, when I first started this blog, and lo and behold, everything really does come full circle. It's a long story, that probably doesn't make sense to anyone but me, but I am finally giving up and going back to art. (Well, sort of. I am only a couple classes away from completing all requirements for psychology, so I still plan to finish it out, but I have decided that come Spring semester, I will be taking classes in person and minoring in art. If I decide to double major, then so be it, but for now, let's just plan on the minor.) This has been years in the making, as for some reason, I have fought with everything in me to avoid art, and in some twisted way, avoid God. And I let my experience at the art institute serve as the perfect excuse to continue this wild get away. Well, He finally beat me...er, rather I finally realized I never even had a chance. I don't know why, but for years, I have told Him that I should be a doctor instead of an artist. And I have all but reamed Him a new one for "burdening me" with art. And for a stubborn idiot like myself, it takes near death for me to give in. There is a verse that talks about "in your faithfulness you have afflicted me", and while I don't believe God ever causes death, disease, pain, on his children, I do believe He will cringe, and stand by as we destroy our very souls. And so for the last who knows how long, He has been faithfully cringing as I bring destruction into my own life, wondering how many weights I will lift until the barbell comes crashing down onto my chest and stops my breathing, finally realizing that it is going to take someone bigger, much bigger, and someone stronger, much stronger, to lift it all off and let me breathe again. So, I don't know what I will do with art. I don't know how we will pay the bills if my school schedule conflicts with my job schedule. I don't know that it's really a practical degree. I don't even know if I will like it. But, I do know I'm tired and I'm ready to stop running.

Good Quotes

I came across this quote today by an unknown author, but thought it was refreshing:

God tells us to burden him with whatever burdens us.

Life in General

I figured it's about time for another update. Abe is officially back to his old sassy self and it makes me very happy. (Thanks to anyone who prayed for my puppy dog!)

I am so messed up with time. I had looked at the calendar yesterday morning and realized how quickly Canadian Thanksgiving is coming. So today I was grocery shopping, and thinking I needed to get all of the stuff for it...then I realized after I got home and unpacked the groceries, it's still another week away...hmmm...my mind was already into October. Oh well. Hopefully everything will keep! Unfortunately, Jesse and I both have to work the day of, plus Jesse has classes that day as well, so we will celebrate on Sunday instead of Monday I think.

We ordered the hardware for our kitchen cabinets yesterday. We kept going back and forth debating between "brushed nickel" or "oil rubbed bronze"...I don't actually even remember which we went with in the end. Anyway, I am hoping to start sanding down the cabinets soon and getting them ready for the paint. This has been one of those projects that has been put on hold for way too long. I think the summer time slows down the house projects because it's so much more fun to be outside than in. Now that the weather is getting chilly again, I find myself looking around inside and wondering what I can change. Plans for the fall: kitchen cabinets, slight redecoration in the bedroom, and a major cleaning/re-organizing of the office. And of course, lots of yard work. I want to plant some bulbs this fall. I thought about it last fall, but never got around to it, then when spring came and I had no blooms, I was kicking myself.

My brother got engaged a couple weeks ago, so I am going to a little party deal for him tonight. I'm excited for their wedding (they have set the date a year out, so I have a while), but it will be the first wedding in I don't even remember how long where Jesse won't be working and photographing. I actually don't even know if we have been to a wedding together where he wasn't working.

Anyway, that's it for now I suppose.

My Big Boy

Thank God my big boy Abe is getting better! After a week of throwing up, crying and whining through the night, scratching and pacing, one regular vet visit, two emergency vet visits, one bottle of pills, one tube of antibiotic ointment, one container of liquid medicine, one complete blood count, one x-ray, five hundred dollars, and many tears (that would be mine), he is getting better!!! (And I don't care if it's silly or trivial, I will ask anyway for you to pray that he makes a full recovery by the end of this week.) But yeah he is getting better!!!

Jesse Is Funny.

It has been a rough few days around here. Abe has been sick, and also acting slightly mental, so we have gotten little sleep the last few days. I was healing up well from the surgery, but started going back down hill when Abe started going down hill. He is on antibiotics now, as well as ear drops, so hopefully this will all be looking up soon and he (which means we also) will be sleeping quietly through the nights. In the midst of all this chaos, Jesse's five o'clock shadow turned to an eight or nine o'clock shadow. Anyway, yesterday we were both really feeling the stress and over-tiredness, so in an attempt to cheer me up, Jesse emerged from the bathroom as Pedro the Spanish Conquistador:



(Don't worry, he shaved it off before going to work the next day.)

thelongestrantever....

Can I just say that I am glad summer is ending? This has been a hard summer. I seriously think I had a quarter-life crisis. Let's recap here...realizing I don't want to get a PhD in psychology after all, which means majoring in psychology for a bachelor's doesn't really get me anywhere further than where I can get without a degree, so my degree is somewhat pointless but I have taken out too many loans and gotten too deep in to quit, so I ponder changing majors, but that would mean going to school in person and maybe having to quit my job, which let's face it, is really a dead end job anyway, but it pays great for while I'm in school, gives me good hours, and I have a generous and kind boss and like the people, regardless, I had various meetings with schools about changing my major, of which I finally now for this week at least have it narrowed down to two options, which I won't publicly say, because let's face it, I'm flaky and I want to do something different every month if not every week, I had surgery and beforehand was slightly wondering if I was going to die, because my life seems to have lost all purpose and direction this summer, lo and behold, I'm still alive, and everyone gives me the advice that if I want to be successful and happy in life I should just follow my passion, but apparently, this summer, I have no passion, so that advice really stinks for a person in my position, they say if money were no object, what would you do all day, that's what you should pursue, well what if I'd buy a big lot of land and have an orchard and five dogs and bake and sometimes pretend that I am going to learn to sew and make cool things, but then I'd get out my sewing machine and have to measure fabric and I'd get frustrated that I cut it too short, but I don't want to remeasure so I'd sew it together anyway and it would be lopsided in the end and unfit for use of any kind, then a week later, I'd probably repeat all of this with something like woodworking, you can't really make a career out of that, ya know, so maybe I should just follow what I know I am good at, truth is, I can out organize anyone, and I am a frickin awesome administrator, but really, who wants to work at some company administrating if you don't even care about their bottom line, so I stay in school plugging away because none of the future life makes sense except that I hope someday we don't have think twice before buying new underwear because we don't know if we really can afford it or not, and it's so depressing that most of my underwear have my name written in them, it's true, because they are so old, I had them when we went to Nicaragua, and the laundry was community laundry, so if you really wanted to keep tabs on your panties, which believe me you sure do in a place like that, then you need to have a definitive marker, and really after being removed from that situation, it's slightly hard on the ego to slap on a pair of undies that have your name written in permanent marker across the butt, and my dog is sick, my poor big Abe dog is sick, and my poor little Horton dog has broken out with yet another rash and is eating his butt as we speak, and this is really my life, which I happen to somewhat enjoy, because really, I'm not a high fashion high life kind of girl, and there is something cute and lovable in the way my dog licks his butt and doesn't care if all the world sees, nonetheless, I am concerned that my big boy Abe is aging faster than my little heart can handle and I can't bear the thought of him living in pain, so I made him a vet appointment tomorrow and hope to find out something good, although I don't know what, but I do know that I am glad I can drive our SUV doggie vehicle, which had the window smashed in by some nice person in the middle of the night two nights ago, which caused a big ruckus in the morning as Jesse was leaving for work, thankfully Jesse is stinking awesome and found a piece of glass at a scrapyard and fixed it himself instead of having to pay 200 something for someone else to do the labor, but that is just another thing on his plate that is probably near ready to crack under the pressure of everything else on it, BUT fall is here and a new season is coming, which means, I will buy new underwear. I will consider taking up knitting. I will redo another room in the house. I will brush my dogs and marvel as their furry winter coats grow big and soft, and I will relax with a cup of chai. So eat that, summertime.

Just Two More Clips...

Jesse and the Fish



Riding Test Track

Jesse Has Dessert

I finally know how to upload videos, so I will post a few clips from vacation. (Side note: the video quality is quite poor...I'll get better with time...)

We're Back!

We are back from vacation and we are very tired! We caught an early flight out of Orlando, so we had to get up at 4:50 (3:50 Missouri time) in the morning. Not fun! But, at least we made all of our flights! We had a really good time, although it was jam packed. Here are a few photos...

This is Jesse at our resort the evening we arrived. The resort was very pretty, although we were so busy doing other things, that we hardly spent any time there!





Disney World is made up of 6 parks, lots of cool resorts, "Downtown Disney" (a shopping/dining/entertainment area), as well as a few other things like golf courses and the wide worlds of sports. We only had time make it to four of the parks. The 2 we didn't go to are water parks.

We started off at Animal Kingdom, which is my favorite of their parks. As always at Disney, the theming and attention to detail are amazing. This is Jesse in "Asia".


Here I am being an "honorary bug". (The glasses are for a 3d show.) Jesse and I went to this show last time we were at Animal Kingdom and still love it. The special effects go beyond just a 3d movie screen to smells that they pump into the theater, air that blast through, and mechanics in the seats that make you feel different effects.



This is the "safari". Disney rides are different from other amusement park rides, because they always tell a story, and the rider is always involved. So, for example, on this ride, we were on a 2 week safari in Africa, and end up helping the wildlife reserve save 2 elephants from poachers. Jesse and I really like this ride, because you get to see so many different animals, and you can't see a cage or fence in sight.

Animal Kingdom has a ton of beautiful scenery. I could just walk around the area all day even if there were no animals!



Besides seeing a ton of animals, we also rode a fun dinosaur ride, and I tried out their newest thrill ride, Expedition Everest. Jesse wasn't feeling really great, so he stayed back and waited for me. I think he may have been the smart one! I've never been quite so surprised or freaked on a ride before in my life!

After we were done at the park, we went to eat at a restaurant at one of the other Disney resorts, called the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is Jesse getting ready to enjoy his dessert plate!



This is us just walking around the resort grounds and seeing more animals.


We were on Disney's dining plan, which was awesome. You get 2 snacks, 2 counter service meals, and 2 sit down meals for each night of your stay. You get to choose where to redeem the meals at, so there is a wide variety. And the meals include drinks, appetizers, main dish, and desserts, so you get a lot of good food. Plus, the meal plan already includes tips, so you don't even have to worry about that. Having the meal plan let us eat at places that we could otherwise never afford. For example, our first night there, the meal we ate was 80 bucks!

Day two we went to MGM Studios in the morning and Epcot for the afternoon and evening.

At MGM, we only went on one ride. We decided we weren't brave enough for the others (like tower of terror). The coolest thing we did there (in my opinion at least) was the "Lights, Camera, Action, Extreme Stunt Show". Basically, cars speeding around, things catching on fire, and stuff like that. But they roll back the clips and then explain how they do different stunts and such in movies, so it was pretty interesting.

This is a photo of us before the show, with the "movie set" in the background.



And this is Jesse singing in the rain!



As we were leaving MGM, it started to pour rain. Thankfully, we had checked the weather before and bought ponchos to bring with us, so we busted those out right as we arrived at Epcot.

Jesse sporting his fashionable poncho...


A big part of Epcot is the world showcase, where they have all these little lands set up to be like countries. We decided to have dinner in Morocco at Marrakesh. We got to enjoy a little belly dancing while we ate! (Sorry for the bad photo....Jesse is much better than me!)


This is Jesse in line for one of his favorite Disney rides, Test Track. The idea is that you are testing new cars, so you go through all the crash test dummy experiments. The ride ends with the "barrier test" and you go speeding out the building around a track. It's a fun ride.


And, here's us in front of the Epcot ball.


Epcot also had a ride called Soarin, which we love. The idea is that you are hang gliding over California. It's basically a big IMAX screen, but you sit in seats that go up and dangle you in front of the screen, then they pump in air to simulate the wind, and as you go over different scenes, they pump in smells (like pine trees as you fly over a forest). My favorite part of the ride was when we crested over a cliff, and Jesse taught all the little children on the ride a new phrase spelled O-H S-H-I-T. (Jesse's not a big fan of heights.)

Anyway, our last day there we went to the Magic Kingdom, which is the park that most people think of when they think Disney. It has Cinderella's castle and most of the Disney classics like It's a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I made Jesse try on some silly hats and pose for photos.







This is in front of the tea cups.


And of course, who can go to Disney and not see the castle?

Great Minds Think Alike....Or not??

I knew Jesse and I were similar, but I laughed when I saw how my results compared to his results.

My worldview is shattered...

I have been meaning to blog this very disturbing news for a while now. It is finally time. Here's the story...

A while ago, we were chatting with N about his favorite shows, which include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This just happens to be a show that I loved as a kid. In fact, as weird as it is, I had a crush on Michelangelo (orange belt, nunchucks). Anyway, so the conversation is trotting along fine, when I mention Shredder, the ultimate villain. Suddenly, it screeches to a halt, because THEY KILLED SHREDDER! I was shocked. Shocked. Anyway, needless to say, the TMNT that I once knew and loved is no more. How can the show even exist without Shredder, the main nemesis? It's sick really, sick.

Quick Update

I am in day two of my Fall I semester. (Mi suegra sería feliz de saber que yo me matriculé en español.) I'm comtemplating a double major, but I will give it a few weeks and see...I was pretty excited about graduating a year from this Christmas, but if I do the double major deal, I'm going to be adding a lot of time. Ugh. Jesse starts his semester tomorrow and I can't even keep track of what all he enrolled in. All I know is he has a full load.

We leave for vacation a week from tomorrow and I am getting excited. I will try to post some video clips when we get back. Jesse makes great vacation videos.

Anyway, have to run for now. I need to help Jesse find a binder.

Lessons Learned

After living with Jesse for 5 1/2 years, this is what I have learned:

He thinks half cooked potatoes are the most disgusting food in the world. He will only turn in one direction when he sleeps. He likes the toilet paper hung in a such a fashion that it drapes over the front, and not behind the back. If you ask him a question and he doesn't know the answer, he will tell you an answer anyway. If you ever say "You're right", he will immediately respond with "I'm sorry, what was that you said?". He can do math in his head faster than anyone I know and he can fix anything that goes wrong in a house. If he says he will cook dinner, you can assume you are having a)chili or b)pasta, unless it's summer, in which case you are having a)grilled potatoes or b)grilled fajitas. He refuses to say "bruschetta" the way most of North America says it, and insists on saying it with the real Italian pronounciation. He prefers Coke to Pepsi. He has excellent teaching skills and he likes to listen to NPR (Canadian translation=CBC Radio).

3.....2.....1....

Official countdown to vacation: 11 days

Official countdown to fall semester: 1 day

Official countdown to freaking out over everything that needs to be done before vacation: 3 days

Jesse the Role Model

Last night, we had N. We were chatting with his mom out by our car, when N came running toward the car, then stopped and mumbled he forgot something, and turned around to run into the house to get it. What he had forgotten was his hat. He doesn't normally wear hats when we are with him, but his mom told us that he wants to start wearing a hat so he can be like Jesse. (Ever since I worked at Zephyr and got free hats, Jesse now wears them all the time.) Anyway, she also told us that he has to get glasses, but he is excited about it because now he will really look like Jesse with a hat and glasses.

Another busy week

We took N to "Worlds of Fun" Thursday. It's an amusement park around here. I've never been to a Six Flags, but from what I know, it's not quite as big as that, but it's definitely bigger than Calaway Park or a place like that. Anyway, we were thinking it was our big splurge for the summer with N, since he goes back to school soon. Turns out, he is afraid of about 90% of the rides there. I actually felt quite bad for him, because his fear was very real and very apparent on a couple of the rides that we actually did go on. It's hard to see a kid, especially one that you have come to really care about, be filled with such anxiety. However, despite not riding many things and a few moments of panic for N, the day did end up being fun, and I really enjoyed getting to know N a bit more. It has been a really good summer with him and with our relationship with his mom. I hope it continues on this path. We are approaching our one year match anniversary (coming up in September). Seems like it has gone fast. Has definitely been a roller coaster. It's weird, because I mean, BBBS asks that you make a one year commitment at minimum...but after a year, it's not like you can just be like "okay, commitment done". I mean, you're involved. It's a relationship and you don't just sever that and toss it away, ya know? We definitely plan to keep seeing N, although I admit it will be tricky this fall as Jesse starts in with classes and the schedule starts to book up.

Anyway, yesterday Jesse worked a double, and I ran errands and tried to get stuff around here done...the mountain of laundry, paying bills, garden stuff... Oh, and I actually went to the gym all by myself...whoo hoo...I'm slowly getting over that whole intimidation thing.

Today, after Jesse got home from work and napped, we went over to my brother's to help him put in new floors. He got the click together hardwood stuff. It will look nice when they are all done, but it's debatable if the click together is any easier than real hardwoods. I mean, no nailing is a definite plus, but the bad side of no nailing is that the floors free float, and as such, move...pretty easily actually, which can be a bugger when you don't want the floor to shift! Anyway, tomorrow I think I might spend some time on our house and possibly start on the bedroom. Today, I think I finally got the plan to come together in my mind, and now I'm excited to get it done. Although we haven't done the kitchen cabinets yet, but I'm feeling too lazy to start in on that one tomorrow.

That is about it for now...I'm mainly just blogging to unwind and don't have anything in particular to say. OH! But before I go, here a couple photos of some garden stuff...(I know, I know, just humor me and look.)



Yesterday, I picked all of these tomatoes. (I took the photo to show Jesse how many we got.) Then, I spent a good hour or two with the food processor making salsa, basil/tomato mix thingie, and tomato sauce. I lost count of how many bags I froze, but I think it's safe to say that we will be able to eat tomato products all winter long. Yum.

And this...our first watermelon! Jesse likes to call this variety "personal size". They are small enough that we can eat a whole melon in one sitting. Last week, Jesse was dropping some roll kuchen hints. I have no idea how to spell roll "coo-kin" by the way.

Anyway, that's it for now!

Serious and Not Serious Stuff

Well, finals are over and I got all of my homework and what not finished up this morning. I am very glad to be done...that is one big stress off, although I still feel a bit "off". I've just been struggling so much lately with purpose and direction. I'm really questioning psychology and art seems to haunt me. A few weeks ago, I had a dream that I went back to KCAI and I was looking for something that I had lost there. I don't think that all dreams mean something, but I do think that sometimes we can "dream out" our feelings, even if we don't necessarily know we have them. Regardless, I woke up feeling very sad from that dream and that seems to have been the starts of my entire search for what in the world I am doing, and if I want grad school or not, and if I'm even in the right major and this and that and blah blah blah, and I am still stuck in all of that blah blah blah. I just wonder if I will ever find the right fit. And this fall, with Jesse going back to school too, I just feel like something will be changing, but I don't know what that is.

Oh well...I'll wait and see I guess.

In the less serious world, I officially decided to go vegetarian. Technically, I am a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, meaning I still eat eggs and dairy. I have been doing it for quite a few weeks now, and surprisingly, I really don't miss meat. Most people I've told immediately ask me "Why?!", with a scrunched up "Are you nuts!?" face on, or they say "Where will you get protein!?" in a somewhat accusing and panicked tone. You would think I had just told them that I am giving up water or something life sustaining. Anyway, so for clarification in the blog world, I will answer these questions. Before I go into why though, let me say that I don't think it's wrong to eat meat, as many people seem to assume that I hold that belief just because I choose not to. I don't think that at all. I decided to do it for a combo of reasons that all added up to enough to make me personally want to stop eating meat, and that is really the extent of it. Some reasons are smaller, some reasons are bigger. For one, I've never been a big meat eater in the first place. Two, there are numerous and substantial health benefits to eating a mostly plant based diet. Three, plant products are environmentally friendly compared to meat products. Four, I very much disagree with factory farm practices, and factory farms supply a very large portion of the meat that I would be eating (restaurants, the majority of meat in grocery stores, etc). Those are the main four reasons probably, with some weighing a lot heavier than others. Anyway, so that is that. I have actually been really enjoying trying new foods. And as far as where I get protein....nuts, whole grains (which I consume mass quantities of), eggs, milk, soy, beans, cheese...all decent to excellent sources of protein that I eat up.

Anyway, speaking of health and diets...Jesse and I went back to the gym today. After our initial consultation deal, they took our info and created a program for us, so today we went around with one of the trainers and learned our programs and how to use some different machines and how to have the proper form and where our heart rate should be and how to breathe and stuff like that. It was actually really fun. Granted, I still had my initial intimidation "I want to get out of here" feeling as soon as I walked in and looked around, but once we got going, I really forgot that there were even other people there. Plus, Jesse and I were given the same program. I guess because we had similar goals of what we wanted. Obviously, his involves heavier weights and stuff than mine does, but we do all the same exercises (minus one), so we go around on the stuff together. It really helps having a partner, so I don't feel so stupid when I forget how to adjust a machine or when I am breathing like an asthmatic bull. I am actually looking forward to going back. Hopefully it stays this way! Jesse was kind enough to buy me a "work-out outfit" complete with new gym shoes so that I didn't have to keep wearing my grass stained shoes that I mow the lawn in when we go. Now once I tone up a little, maybe I will actually look like I belong when we go to the gym!

Anyway, around here, we are pondering when to start in on the kitchen cabinets. We are going to paint them, and although that's pretty minor, it does mean we will need to tape everything off, sand them down, prime them...which will take some time. We thought about doing it this weekend, but time is already getting away from us, so maybe next weekend instead. We are painting them a creamy white color.

After that is done, I'd like to redo the bedroom, but that will be minimal as well. When we first moved in, I loved that room because it's on the east side of the house, and in the morning, the sun would gradually creep in and fill the room with light. We ended up putting up window shades as well as other material over the windows and they pretty much never get opened now, so the room is constantly dark. It's nice for sleeping in and for when Jesse takes naps, but it is also kind of just dim and uninviting and I feel like our bedroom always get the raw end of the deal when it comes to decorating. When we moved in to this house, I told Jesse that I would really like to put some time and effort into having a nice bedroom. Originally, with the sun coming in, I thought it would be nice to do a Kona type theme in there (not like crazy tropical Hawaiian shirt prints or anything, but a subdued ocean type theme). Anyway, we deviated from that idea and ended up going with browns and some reds (I was rebelling against the blue living room walls and didn't want blue anywhere else in the house at the time.) But, now that the living room walls have been brown for some time, I think I could handle some blues and cooler colors in the bedroom and I really do miss that sunshine that used to pour in through the window. So, I am thinking of reverting back to the original ideas for the bedroom. It actually should be a fairly simple, cheap, and easy redo. Any paint that I would need, I could mix from colors we already have, and beyond that, it would just be a couple yards of material and few man hours. Oh, and maybe a plant.

Anyway, I should be done with the blogging. I have been trying to get to bed at a decently early time to help make it easier for Jesse to get to bed early because of his insane morning work hours. Although I will definitely never make it onto the exact same weirdo schedule he has, I am trying to at least somewhat align, and as such, it's technically past my new bedtime.

A Depressing Week

Please excuse me while I have a whiny pity party.

I have finals tomorrow and haven't really studied at all. It has been insanely crazy around here the last few days and after exhausting myself trying to study any extra second that I have, I am finally giving up, and letting the chips fall where they may. I should have done that three days ago.

N's mom's car broke down. Radiator leaks all over. Jesse went out and replaced the radiator for her, but she just called and is broken down on the side of the road again, so he is off to get her and see if he can figure out what went wrong. I think there is still a leak somewhere. Hopefully it will be something as simple as tightening a hose or something, but I hope he is able to figure it out without too much time or stress. I feel awful for N's mom, as it's the only car she has, and she has been having a neighbor take her to work this week. This week both of the boys are away at camp, so at least she isn't having to find ways to shuttle them around this week. I think they come back tomorrow or Saturday, so hopefully Jesse can have the car fixed by then....and hopefully it doesn't cost any more money to buy new parts and what not. (Jesse was concerned that her battery was also going when he replaced the radiator.) You can pray for Mr. Mechanic Jesse to figure out what's wrong and be able to fix it quickly, and especially for N's mom, with everything that she has on her plate.

Jesse and I joined a gym. We had our initial consultation thingie where they do your body fat analysis and weight and talk about your goals and work on setting up a plan for you and what not. I am officially the heaviest I have ever been and feel disgusting. Gyms are totally intimidating to me and it took all of my courage just to walk in and let someone who probably works out every day pinch fat all over my body and publicly record the findings. Really, they should hire fat people to do that part, so you don't feel quite so bad about yourself. =)

My tomato blossoms are not setting fruit lately and I cannot figure out why.

I don't like Jesse's dumb work schedule. I feel awful that he works so hard and has such bad hours. I worry over his health and if this job is hurting it. Plus, with him leaving the house practically in the middle of the night, I hardly sleep after his alarm goes off and he leaves, and it has really caught up with me this week in feeling really tired and sleepy and stressed out.

Abe is getting old and I am worried about him. His back legs are starting to give out on him more and more lately and he's pooed in the house twice this week. (One, I almost grabbed with my bare hands, as I had just woken up, and groggily wondered "What's the brown thing on the floor?"...Thankfully, I registered what it was about two seconds before picking it up.) He doesn't seem to be in any pain, and I am so thankful for that, but I fear for the future and worry that we will have to make tough decisions over various doggie surgeries or remedies, none of which we could probably afford. Horton and Abe are such a part of the family to me, and I just want to do everything that I can to protect them and make sure that they are happy and healthy. I can't imagine being a mom - the love must drive you insane, as I go this crazy over my dogs, let alone a human.

Anyway, life is not so bad...just this week feels like I'm a shirt that's being wrung through one of those old-fashioned washing boards. Next week will be better I have no doubt...or so I tell myself. =) Pity party done.

Our "boys" and us

Although we have been happy with our swing, I think Horton likes it the most. He gets pretty excited when he sees one of us walking toward it.

And no matter how much extra space there is on the swing, he just has to sit right up against you to get in some snuggle time.

I'm picking some cherry tomatoes.

Horton taste tests them, but he isn't too sure what to think. His discriminating taste buds much prefer the ketchup.

Abe likes the snuggles too, but his hips have a hard time getting onto the swing, so he usually prefers the grass.

Mmmmm....this photo was taken about 1 second after I got a big delicious Abe kiss.

Summer

Remember being a kid when two weeks seemed like forever, and summer time went on and on? What happened to that? It's mid-July already! Spring just started, let alone summer. Anyway, here's what we're up to lately...

Horton and Abe inspect the work of art that Abe created on the patio...(why again, are dogs so loveable??)

Jesse got a free frisbee at his college orientation. We tried to get Horton to play with it, but when you throw the frisbee at him, he squints his eyes, ducks his head and runs away.
Still no luck with the frisbee thing...
Jesse is redoing the laundry room and back part of the garage to make better use of the space.

I am anxiously awaiting red tomatoes (and bell peppers and cucumbers and watermelon).