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The early bird gets a lot done!

Just because I personally don't eat worms!

There might be something good to this 8 am school thing. Before leaving for school I started the dishwasher. When I got home, I walked Smitty, did 2 loads of laundry & entered about 50 items onto the just4kidz consignment website for next month's sale. I also ran to the post office & commissary. Had a treat of sushi for lunch & some time to watch Flipping Out reruns on Bravo.

Tonight we have our 1st grade orientation---basically what to expect from the school year & to meet again w/ the teacher. Who we already really like as she was one of the kindergarten teachers last year. And is super nice!

Fresh Market is opening a new store here tomorrow & I'm supposed to go check it out w/ a friend. Perhaps Publix will have some competition for my love?

1st day of 1st grade!

Here is Sunshine this morning as we left for her 1st day of 1st grade. We walked her to her classroom and found several friends from last year in the hallway waiting to go into their classes. After a few pictures inside her class, she told me "Mommy, it's time for you to go". I'm proud to say that I haven't cried today. After uploading some pics on FB, I went to meet some friends for coffee & 1st day stories. We started the tradition last year as weepy Kindergarten moms. This year, all eyes were dry.

As I was uploading our 1st day pic, I thought about other 1st day pics. Here they are:










Sunshine in Aug. 06 going to Pre-school for the very first time. She cried a little that morning (mostly because of the other kids who were crying) and I know I did. I remember sitting the orientation & thinking "What are you doing??? Go get her & bring her home!" It turns out preschool was great for her, and for me as it would become the only time I would have to myself when Hunter deployed in spring '07.






Sunshine in Aug. '07. Hunter had been deployed for 5 months so he missed this first day. Sunshine made so many friends in this class & we absolutely adored her teacher. She was wonderful with the children & took the time to work w/ Sunshine after Hunter came home for R & R (and went back to Iraq).









Pre-K in Aug. '08. Again, we were blessed with great teachers and with a great, great, super wonderful group of parents. Both Pre-K classes did so much together outside of school. We had almost-weekly play dates, mommy lunches, you name it. Even the teachers commented on how involved everyone was & what a sense of family there was between the classes. Ironically, this was the first year that we didn't walk Sunshine to her class. She requested to use the car line from the first day.



Kindergarten, Aug. '09. SO much drama before this day. Sunshine didn't want to leave her pre-school, her Pre-k teacher, her old friends, you name it. The first day she found a friend from pre-school & held his hand as she walked into school. Parents were encouraged not to go to the classrooms so we didn't. Luckily, we didn't need to.




Here's to a wonderful year, regardless of whenever your 1st day is!

Phineas & Ferb lied!

There is not 104 days of summer vacation. There were 74. Here's how we spent them:


Taking a ferry ride from VT to NY on our way home from our Vermont trip. Sunshine lost her 2 front teeth while we were in Vermont. Good thing Mommy had the sense to bring her little tooth box from the Tooth Fairy!











Playing on the beach & in the waters of Lake Champlain. Chilly, chilly Lake Champlain.

We also spent a lot of time at the pool where we saw some friends from school & made some new friends. Sunshine's swimming improved so much this summer. No need for floaties, she swims underwater like a mermaid, & dives down to retrieve things. Yesterday she lost a swim race b/c the boy she was racing against realized he was losing to her so he reached over & pulled her hair. His cousins told on him & his grandfather put him in time out for close to 30 min!









Reuniting with an old friend & discovering that you both love sand boxes, squirt guns, cartoons & hot dogs.

Being bummed that he doesn't appreciate a pink bedroom, barbies & doll houses.















Deciding ballet camp is a lot of fun & that you do want to take lessons (again) in the fall.




Tomorrow is the first day of first grade. Friday was spent doing some back to school clothes/school shopping with a friend & her girls (Sunshine's friends). Today we're enjoying a lazy Sunday morning & will go swim this afternoon. Hopefully Sunshine & I can get in a back-to-school manicure as a treat for her.

Happy Birthday to my sweetie!

So why the pic of Hunter as a present?

Out of all the gifts I've received in my life, Hunter is among the best. He puts up with me & my nuttiness (my boycotting Winn Dixie over the prosciutto incident of '07, my refusal to eat tomatoes in sandwiches or salads, my love of all things olive related, etc).

He's a wonderful husband & a great daddy to Sunshine. I feel safe in his arms & his hugs can make the day sunny again. I'm willing to bet Sunshine would say the same. When he puts her to bed & sings to her my heart melts & I fall in love with him all over again.

He's a gentleman in the truest sense of the word which is rare these days. Sunshine & I are lucky he's ours.

Happy Birthday, sweetie. You are loved more than you will ever know! xox

Things I love

Snyders of Hanover's Buffalo Wing Sauce flavored pretzels.

My Dyson

When Sunshine dresses up in her princess dresses & prances around the house.

The way my bed feels at the end of a long day

Sunshine's bedroom--the bay window, the color she chose for the walls, her bed.

The sounds coming from her room as she plays w/ 2 of her girlfriends.

The way Smitty wraps his paws around your arm as you snuggle & pet him.

The way Libby's paws smelled like Fritos.

The way certain skeins of yarn (Koigu, Malabrigo, etc) feel when you squish them.

Mad Men & rewatching that week's episode over again on DVR.

Olympia Dukakis' & Shirley Maclaine's characters in Steel Magnolias.

Sushi

Puppy bellies that are all warm & pink.

Writing with fine point sharpies.



There are more things, but this is a good list to start off with.

TS Eliot was wrong

April is NOT the cruelest month. That would be July.

Last year was horrible as Hunter's PTSD made things nearly impossible for him to function & on the 17th we lost my Dad.

This year started off fairly well---we spent the 4th with friends on the lake. We enjoyed our pool membership, the fact that all of us were on summer vacation & were looking forward to our trip to Vermont despite the fact that we would be attending a funeral/memorial for my aunt who died in March.

The morning of the 8th, I woke up to a sick Libby. Vomiting & just icky. Hunter thought it was because we played ball too long & too hard in the yard the day before. Well, wouldn't that have made her sick then, not 14 hours later? She took it easy the rest of the day & seemed to be on the mend.

Late in the afternoon on the 9th, she started vomiting again. We called the vet & got her in for an after hours visit. Xrays showed gas pockets in her intestines but weren't able to show her uterus. We took her home after being given fluids & anti-nausea meds & were told to keep an eye on her.

Saturday morning would be the last time we played Puppy Bowl. She got in 2 throws before she stopped. Sunday night we discovered symptoms that led to a Monday morning diagnosis of Pymetra. She had an emergency spaying on Monday the 12th & was released to us on the 14th. She was still very lethargic & didn't eat much at all.

We left for VT (via my brother's in DE) on Saturday the 17th---the one year anniversary of my Dad's death. Sunday we finished the drive to VT. By this point, we couldn't get her to eat, she was drinking more frequently & couldn't do much other than walk to a spot so she could rest.

Tuesday morning (the 20th), I discovered her urine was sweet smelling when I picked her up to put her on the couch. Our vet down here told us to get her to a vet in VT immediately. Tests showed our sweet girl was in kidney failure. A kidney flush *might* work but we were told that the chances were slim.

This is when Hunter had to pick me up up off the floor. We were out renting a car as ours was going into the shop for 2 new tires (why didn't our mechanic notice this in May when we had the car in there?). Our vet called me after talking to the VT vet & helped me to realize that we had done all we could for Libby & that our choice was humane. Having been Libby's vet from the time she was 10 weeks old & had her first puppy visit, she told me that while Libby's life was short, she was one of the best loved dogs she has had the chance to care for.

We dropped Sunshine off at my Mom's house & raced over to the vet. We got to spend an hours or so with Libby before she gave her the injections. I held her until almost the end & at that point, was petting her. She died at 2:48pm on Tuesday the 20th of July. I still cry thinking about it.

Our drive home was sad as I've never driven home from VT to GA without her. Last night (our first night home) there was no puppy on my pillow snuggling with me.

We pick up Smitty tonight (he spent 2 weeks with a friend of mine, her 2 girls & their 2 dogs) so our house won't be as quiet but there will always be a Libby size hole in my heart.