Holly’s Happenings

As you can tell from the last post, it’s been a rough day! But I want to send out a HUGE thank you to my wonderful friends in the blogosphere for their notes and messages of support and caring, it means a lot to me!

I’ve tried to spend the past couple of hours doing things that make me happy and make me feel better. I’ve listened to music, spent some time listening to the kids and their silly jokes, played with the dogs and spoke with my husband on the phone. All of which did help me feel better!

One of the biggest things that always makes me feel better is spending time, both online and off, with my friends. I have formed some very wonderful friendships with people that I have met online, people that have proven many times to be a wonderful source of support when I’m down and need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen to what I have to say.

I’m doing better, I’m still down, but I have finally stopped crying. In time this will pass and I will look back on it and wonder why it was such a big deal. It’s simply one of the many bumps that we hit in the road of life!

As a parent, my first obligation is to my children. It is my job to support and protect them as well as teach them the difference between right and wrong. I know that my children don’t always do things the way that they are supposed to and they do often make mistakes, that’s part of being human.

But what happens when we, as a parent, cannot right the wrongs that have been done to our children or fix them? How do you help a child accept the fact that there is nothing you or they can do to change what has been done? And how do we, as parents, accept the fact that the system and the schools have failed our children?

To put it truthfully, I can’t, and I WON’T! I do not tolerate any type of abuse towards myself or my children, I never have and I NEVER will! I made a decision about my child’s education that I honestly thought was in their best interest. Had I have known then what I know now, I’d never have made the choice that I did! NEVER!

I’m beat, I’m torn up, I’m disgusted, I’m sickened and I cannot stop crying! I’m done letting people walk all over me and/or my children! I’m sick of sitting back trying to be the bigger and better person and ending up being the one that gets shit on over and over and over! I do not think I have ever hurt this much in my life, nor do I think I will ever fully get over the effect that my decision has had upon my child. The only thing that I can do is hope and pray that my child can forgive me and that I can forgive myself! From there, we can both move on to the next thing life has in store for us. What that will be, I have no idea! But for now, I need to rest so that I can stop the pain that I am feeling inside!

I tell you, I have had more frustration over kid stuff in the last week than I have in the past year! It’s to the point that it’s not only taking it’s toll on me, it’s also starting to get to my husband as well! I understand that parenting is not an easy job and does not have a users manual, but for it to get to the point that it is affecting my family this much it’s beyond ridiculous!

After everything we’ve been through in the past week it would be so easy for me to turn to drugs or alcohol to try and numb the feelings I’m dealing with, but I know that’s not the answer or solution. Besides that, knowing me the way that I do, I’d end up in alcohol or drug rehab because it would become an addiction for me, and with everything we’re going through right now, we don’t need that added to it!

So please bear with me for the next couple of days, I have a TON of things going on and need to deal with them and get them out of the way, then I can get back to the things in life that are enjoyable to me, a.k.a. blogging and hanging with my online pals!

I figured I’d better stop by and give you an update about what’s happened since my post last week. Nothing with the situation involving my daughter has been settled, but that was to be expected because of the fact that this week is the OAT testing, and every student needs to be present for that. However, there was something that happened last night that has both my husband and I very upset, my husband more so than me.

There was a track meet last night and my husband went and took one of the dogs with him. While he was walking around with the dog he turned a corner to see the main girl that we’ve had problems with going through our daughters bags at the same time that one of her friends drop kicked our daughters lunch box 20 yards across the football field. When they seen my husband coming towards them they ran away, but several other kids that were sitting there watching these two do this came forward telling my husband what all had been done. The girl we’ve had so many problems with had taken my daughters cell phone out of her bag and had been making calls with it while digging through my daughters bag. There is also a missing digital camera, but we’re not 100% certain it was in her bag yesterday.

My husband gathered up my daughters things and went to the track coach to get our daughter and told the coach she was leaving. When the coach asked what was going on, my hubby explained about what he had just seen and the coach was IRATE! He told my husband he understood and said it was fine for our daughter to leave because all that was left to do was clean up and the other kids could take care of that, he also assured my husband that what happened would be dealt with. This morning my husband took our daughter to school so that he could go in and talk to the principal, but amazingly the principal had a feeling one of us would be coming in. The coach had called him at home last night telling him what had happened at the track meet. The principal told my husband that after testing was over for today the situation would be dealt with immediately and that he would call us and let us know the results. My husband made it clear to the principal that this kind of harassment was going to stop now or we would take it up to the next step. He also took in our daughters lunch box that was ruined because of being drop kicked across the football field.

I just want this to stop, both what is being done to my daughter and what ever my own daughter is doing. It takes two for a situation to get this out of hand! But I also cannot believe that the girl that has been doing this is stupid enough to now be caught by both myself and my husband. Does she not realize that because of everything that has happened lately that people are keeping an eye on what’s going on? Or is it more that the only people that are going to do anything about it are my husband and myself and that’s why she just keeps doing stuff like this? It’s just so frustrating! I’ll update later when we hear what all happened!

As you know from the previous post, I have one heck of a mess on my hands. It’s going to be a heck of a process getting it done, but I have faith, especially after the progress I made today! I was chatting with my gal Sassy this morning telling her how overwhelming it felt after looking at the pictures and that I didn’t even know where to begin. Her words were “Start where you spend the most time”. Now, if you know me well, you know that I spend a good part of my time in my new memory foam bed….LOL! Yes, I do spend a good amount of time there, but the bulk of my awake hours are spent right here at my desk, and the fact that you couldn’t see the top of it really was embarrassing! So I decided that I’d start with the family room since that’s where my desk is, as well as my desk, printer table and bookshelf area. I took the before pictures from this morning and put them side by side with the after pictures of the same area. In some of the pictures I noticed that there doesn’t seem to be much difference in the after pictures, especially the bookshelf, but there really is! The entire thing is much more organized, so much so that I have a completely empty shelf now…LOL! And yes, you’re seeing right, although it’s all cleaned and organized I totally did not dust off that bottom shelf. The photos are after the fold!
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Yes ladies and gentlemen, you are about to embark on what, to date, will be my most embarrassing blog post EVER! I am going to put myself “out there” 100% because if I don’t embarrass myself about this, I’m never going to do anything about it! Ladies and gentlemen, I am a pack rat and a clutter bug! I’ll admit that I’m not the worlds best house keeper, not even close! But I always have tried to make sure that I take care of the important things, i.e. dishes, laundry, floors, etc.

Lately I’ve been in a “funk”, so to say. My hubby and I have been arguing quite a bit lately, it’s gotten to the point that I’ve seriously wondered if my marriage could possibly be ending. Add to that the drama with the kids that’s gone on lately, and some of the financial stuff, and I’ve just not been in a good state of mind at all! Usually when spring arrives, I’m able to shake off my winter “blues” and get my butt in gear, but this year I just have not been able to do that at all, and the pictures you are about to see are the end result of what can happen when you don’t do something about a fairly significant case of depression.

Before I show you the pictures I have to add a little something in my defense. Yes, I haven’t done the best job of keeping up with things, which you are about to see, but I also have another adult and 2 teens living in this home who absolutely are 100% incapable of picking up after themselves, and frankly, it just gets FRUSTRATING! I don’t expect them to do major work, I just want them to rinse their dirty dishes and put them in the sink and/or pick up their dirty clothes, nothing that major!

So, without further adieu, click on the “read more” link to see pictures of my clutter! Starting today, I am going to be AWOL from my computer until I get this mess under control, because it’s completely ridiculous and makes me sick! I figure if I put them out there for the world to see, then you all can keep asking me for updates….LOL! Here goes, pictures below “the fold”, click on them to view larger
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After the events that unfolded at one of my children’s schools yesterday, I find myself sitting this morning thinking about how much things have changed since I was a kid! When I was in school, you felt safe and supported. Yes, there were bullies back then, there always has been and there always will be, but they were usually put in their place and the bullying came to a stop. The same goes for kids teasing other kids, it’s always been around and it always will be, but the teachers and principal always knew when a line was crossed and it was time to put a stop to it!

I have never been a parent that sits back and says my children are perfect and/or innocent, nor will I ever be. I know how my kids are here at home and I know the things they have done in the past. But you have to try to move on from things that people have done and you have to try to give them a chance at changing their lives. Just because someone does something once, or more, doesn’t always mean they’re continuing to do so. I “try” to give people the benefit of the doubt until they give me reason not to.

At one point yesterday it became necessary for me to pick my child up from school because of some teasing and making fun of that was being done by their peers. Although my child had told me that these persons had given them problems and had been just plain mean and vindictive to them for some time, I chose to think that my child had been doing the normal thing by stretching or twisting the truth to make things worse than they were. But imagine how I felt when I walked into my child’s school to pick them up and seen a group of children standing outside of the office doorway laughing and pointing and saying some not so nice things. And imagine how surprised I was as I neared the office only to see that when this group of kids moved away my child was sitting there with tears running down their face and that it was my child that was the focus of their attention, and that the office staff was just standing there, watching and allowing it to happen without saying or doing anything!

I’m not going to go into details because it’s just not necessary, but I will say that as a parent, this was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments I’ve ever experienced. To see my child sitting there, literally falling apart, and absolutely no one was supporting them or making these children stop what they were doing. I can’t help but wonder what type of parents these children have that would allow their children to think treating someone like this is totally acceptable. I also can’t help but wonder how these children’s parents would have reacted if they had seen their child being treated the way that I seen mine being treated! I kept my cool, but I did cry in front of the office staff and I did tell one of them that I could not believe that I seen what I did and that it was 100% UNACCEPTABLE and I would not tolerate it! And before you tell me to just deal with it, you need to know that what was being said and done went WAY beyond the realm of normal teasing.

So many things have changed since I was a young child myself. Some of those changes are good, some, not so good. But schools really need to stand up and pay attention to what is going on. And parents need to teach their children to not treat other people how they would not want to be treated themselves! Yes, kids are going to pick on each other, that’s simply part of life. But when it gets to the point that it affects a child so severely that the child is an emotional wreck, it needs to STOP! NO parent should ever have to witness what I did yesterday. To see your child in the emotional state that they are in and know that the people who are supposed to make sure that they feel safe and supported just sit there and allow this to go on is almost unfathomable!

As parents, we need to teach our children that treating people like this is NOT acceptable! No, no child is perfect, and at some point in time they are going to pick on someone. But to do it non stop to the point that it not only affects the child at home, it also affects the child at school, is simply too much! Would I feel this way if it were another child being treated like this than mine? ABSOLUTELY! No child should ever have to be put in this type of a situation, nor should they ever be made to feel this way!

OK, I’m going to shut up now, because I’m starting to repeat myself here, thank you for listening!

We’re almost two weeks away from Mothers Day, which is May 11th, and I thought I’d make a list of gift ideas and then ask you all to give me any ideas that you had, if you don’t mind. I know what I’m getting for Mothers Day, because it’s always the same thing and has been for many years! I get my flowers to plant in my flower beds. But if I don’t get busy getting them cleaned out soon, I may end up having to spend Mothers Day cleaning them out rather than planting flowers to make them look pretty…LOL!

Anyway, here are some of the gift ideas that I had for my own mother, tell me what you think:

1. Pictures of the kids, complete with frames
2. A gift card to her favorite store or restaurant
3. Coupons for her local car wash, my mom is a fanatic about keeping her car clean…LOL
4. A 14 karat gold medical id bracelet, some of the newer styles are GORGEOUS!
5. A coupon to take over one day of work for her, my mom has ran her own cleaning business for almost 30 years now, I think she needs a day off!
6. A gift card or prepayment to the salon she goes to when she has her hair and nails done

That’s about all that I can think of right now, but I’m sure I’ll come up with more as Mothers Day gets closer. What kinds of gift ideas do you have?

I’m so flippin pissed right now, it’s not even funny! I try my best to have mornings around here go as well as possible, I don’t like the thought of my kids walking out the door to go to school being upset, I don’t think it’s a good way to start the day. I’ve known for a VERY long time that neither of my kids are morning people, and that’s fine. We’ve made adjustments and make sure that we set their alarms earlier than what is actually necessary, that way they have a little more time to get ready for school.

This morning my daughter decided to wait until about 10 minutes before we have to walk out the door for the 5 minute drive to where she gets on the bus to START getting ready. Now mind you, I’ve been in and out of her room telling her to get up and get moving for almost an hour now. Just a couple of minutes ago she lays into me about the fact that I didn’t come in and make sure she was up and moving at the time that her alarm went off, and that’s why she’s running so late this morning getting ready. EXCUSE ME? I’ve been in and out of your room since 6:10 telling you to get up and get moving, yet you laid there NOT getting ready until 6:42, and now all of a sudden it’s MY fault? I DON’T THINK SO AND YOU ARE GROUNDED!

So now, rather than a 5 minute drive to the bus stop, I have a 25 minute drive to her school because we won’t make the bus in time. You can bet your butt that her alarm is going to be set 30 minutes earlier and I’ll come in her room with spray bottles and air horns if she’s not up and getting ready within FIVE minutes of that time! I’m SOOOOOOOOO done with this bullshit!

So, you’ve come here for some information, huh? Let’s see, did you know that 2+2=4? What? That’s not the information you’re looking for? Oh, oops, sorry, my bad! You wanted information about where to send my birthday presents this year since I moved, didn’t you? OK, well my mailing address is 9…… What? That’s not why you’re here either? HMMMMMMM……OK, I’m getting a bit worried here because that’s the information I was thinking you were looking for.

HAHAHAHAHA….GOTCHA didn’t I? Yes, I know why you’re here! You’re here because you are playing in the treasure hunt in hopes of winning a GORGEOUS 14 karat gold anklet from jewelelegance.com aren’t you? Well, I have some good news and some “not so good” news for you. The good news is your next stop on the road to victory is Musings è¿é, the “not so good” news is that you have to watch the video to get the code that you’ll need for her blog post. But don’t worry,it’s not super long and I promise it’s fun!

Thanks for stopping by! Have fun and good luck with the treasure hunt!!!! On to the video!!! Remember, the code you need is in the video and it’s VERY obvious when it comes up!! LOL

If you’re shopping for beautiful Diamond Jewelry, 14 karat gold anklets or any other type of jewelry, remember to check out jewelelegance.com, they have a HUGE selection, excellent prices and FREE shipping on all orders over $75!

I knew that my surroundings would come to life once spring really hit, but I had no idea just how magnificent it would be! I’m a self proclaimed news fanatic, the news is on from the time I wake up in the morning and it stays on until 12:30, minus 11 to 11:30 when I watch Frasier reruns. Then the news is back on again at 4:00 PM until 6:30 PM, then again from 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM, if I stay awake that long. So yes, you could say I’m a bit of a news fanatic…LOL!

But last week and this week I’ve taken to either hitting the mute button or completely turning the TV off once everyone is off to work/school and it’s just me and the dogs here. I then open the windows and just take in what there is to hear. I’ve heard some of the prettiest birds I think I’ve ever heard in my life, I’ve caught a few squirrel fights and I even managed to see and hear a deer run through the woods out back this morning after the fog lifted. It’s such a wonderful sound and it just gives me a peaceful feeling that nothing else ever has before!

Evenings aren’t as quiet, you have the kids fighting, the hubby trying to get them to stop fighting, and four dogs mixed in with all the commotion. On top of that, there are at least two TV’s going, if not more. So no, there’s no peace and quiet tonight, but that’s OK because it’s keeping me awake for something special! So STAY TUNED!!!

I no more than posted that post and they came on the show going into a house of a person that they believed was an animal hoarder. Now, I love my dogs, but 4 is almost too many sometimes. This lady had a total of 80 dogs and about 30 cats. Her home was so over taken by animals that she was using several air purifiers to try and control the smell and she had also reverted to sleeping on a small cot because of the amount of room that the animals took up. Now I admit that I’m an animal lover, but there is no way I would have so many dogs that they completely took over my house and my ability to breathe fresh air or sleep in a comfortable bed!

A short time ago I was actually in bed sleeping, but then I woke up remembering something I needed to do tonight. I powered up my computer, took care of what I needed to, and decided that I’d take the time to enjoy the peace and quiet a bit. I’m sitting here tonight watching Miami Animal Police on Animal Planet. It’s sad to watch this sometimes! I love my puppies dearly and I can’t imagine how anyone could treat a dog, or any type of animal, the way some of the animals on the show are treated. Earlier they had four small dogs, all were around a year or so old, and they had spent their entire lives cooped up in a crate that you would use for transporting a dog. There were 2 dogs per crate and the floor of each crate was filled with urine and fecal matter, it was just GROSS! Fortunately all four dogs recovered fully and were found new homes with owners that gave them wonderful lives!

It was an OK weekend, nothing too bad happened. But I’m telling you, I’m wondering more and more about my marriage. My husband and I are just a few days away from celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary, and I love him dearly, but lately I’m wondering just how much longer we’re actually going to make it together. We seem to just bicker and argue with each other non stop over some of the most stupidest of things! I try my best to bite my tongue and/or walk away, I don’t like arguing and fighting, not one bit! Hopefully it’s just a phase that we’re going through and it will pass with time, because if it doesn’t I can’t promise we’ll make it to our 17th. But, that’s not today, and today things are OK, I can deal with it!

Not sure what’s up for this week, I really need to find out for sure if my boss is going to call me back to the new shop and give me a regular schedule, if he’s not, then I’m going to go out and start putting some applications in to find a part time job. What I’m doing now to make money is a good thing, but I have to find something that’s a bit more steady pay wise and take some of this weight off my husband!

I just looked at my calendar and realized that Mothers Day is a little more than three weeks away. It wasn’t until I became a mother myself that I honestly realized how special Mothers Day really was! Over the years I’ve given my mother many wonderful gifts and cards to let her know how much she means to me, but this year, I’d like to do something really special for her!

A few years before my father passed away, he had purchased a ring for mom that had birthstones of all three of us kids on it. You could tell from her reaction that it wasn’t the ring that she would have chosen, but she wore that ring religiously for many years.

Mom is a little older now and the years have caused her knuckles to get larger because of arthritis. She doesn’t wear the ring my father gave her anymore because of this. So I was thinking that a new mother’s ring that could fit her finger would make an excellent Mothers Day gift this year, especially one like this:

Whatever I end up doing for my mom this year for Mothers Day, I know that in her eyes it’s more about the thought put behind it than anything else. I have no doubt my mother knows how much I love her and how much she means to me and that I’m proud that I call her mom! And as a mother myself, I can only hope that my children grow up feeling as loved as I did by my mother! Even though I was not her biological child, there has never been a single moment of my life where she has made me think that I was anything but her own daughter!

Mom, if you read this, I LOVE YOU! Thank you for being a wonderful mother!

I’ve worn glasses for all of my adult life, I’ve accepted that it’s part of life, and for the most part it doesn’t bother me. About four years ago I let the eye doctor talk me into getting bifocals, which turned out to be a nightmare. I’m not sure if it was because of the style of the frames and location of the bifocals, but I absolutely could not wear them without getting major headaches! They tried to adjust the location of the bifocals two different times, but it just didn’t help. At that point, I resorted to wearing my prescription glasses for everything but reading and computer work, and that worked out well.

But lately it’s been getting more and more evident that that isn’t going to continue to work out. At this house my computer is set up in the family room, as is my husbands. It’s a decent sized room, probably 18 foot by 18 foot, and besides our desks it also holds a recliner, the dogs couch, the wood burner and a large entertainment center with a 36 inch TV.

My desk sits directly across the room from the TV and I’ve found that if I wear my glasses so that I can actually see the TV well, I cannot do work on my computer at the same time because my glasses make the print on my monitor very small and blurry. But when I take my glasses off so that I can see what’s on my monitor clearly, I then can’t read anything that’s on the TV screen…LOL!

My husband says I need to invest in a good pair of magnifier reading glasses, which he’s probably right. But then I’ll have to go back and forth between the reading glasses and my prescription glasses depending on what it is I want to be able to see. I’m thinking it’s time for me to save up my money and look into getting LASIK surgery because this is just annoying!

Good morning everyone! It’s Friday and it is going to be a GLORIOUS day here in NW Ohio! According to the weatherman, we are going to have a high temp near 77 degrees today! That will be the warmest day we’ve had since October 22, almost 6 months ago!

I have the window open this morning and am loving listening to all the birds and wildlife outside! I think one of my favorite things about spring is being able to open up the windows and hear the birds talking in the mornings, it’s such a pretty sound! I’ve also seen some new birds at my feeders this morning, but they’ve been too quick and I haven’t been able to get a picture of them yet. But I’m going to keep trying and hopefully will be able to get at least one picture of them today! My little chipmunk has been visiting this morning as well! I can see that I’m going to have to get a bag of peanuts in the shells to keep around for this little guy. He’s been picking up all the seeds that the birds knock off the feeders and seems to be happy with that, but since I cater to my birds and the occasional squirrel, I might as well cater to my little chipmunk friends as well!

Not sure what is on deck for today. I’ve got a couple of loads of laundry that need to be done and I really need to get my floors mopped as well. The area around my desk and bookshelf could use some organizing, it’s getting a little out of hand again. Other than that, I’ll have to see what the hubby has in mind. He is off work today and gets a 3 day weekend for the first time in several weeks, so I’m sure he’s going to want to enjoy the weather a little bit if he can!

Financial struggles are nothing new to me, I’ve experienced them my entire adult life. I’ve become a person who appreciates what I have and I have learned to make due with what I have. I don’t do this with a bitter attitude, nor do I expect people to feel sorry for me, I honestly enjoy my very simple life, “most” of the time!

We’re finally getting to a point financially where we can keep our heads above water just a little. We’ve never been one for extravagant purchases, nor do I see us becoming that way. But I know that with a little bit of effort and a good budget software program, we’d be able to pull our heads out of the water just a little bit more than what we are now.

It’s difficult though, my biggest “down fall” is grocery shopping! I can go to the grocery store and spend a couple hundred dollars without even thinking about it. And no, I don’t buy all the expensive types of foods or buy strictly name brands, I actually purchase more off brand and/or store brand products than any others. I also do a LOT of my cooking and baking from scratch as often as I can because it’s so much less expensive than buying foods that are pre made! And it’s also more nutritious as well, so it’s a double bonus!

It would be easier if I were to get called back to work, like my boss said he would. Even if it were only for a couple of days a week. But still no word from my boss as to when the new shop is going to be open for business, and after waiting five months, I’m honestly getting tired of waiting! Maybe it’s time for me to go out and find a new part time job. I’d hate to, then have him finally call me back to work, but how difficult is it for him to call me and let me know what’s going on with the reopening? And yes, I have called him, he’s always busy and says he’ll call me back.

It wasn’t until my first semester of college classes that I was introduced to the handiest piece of technology I’ve ever come across. And it still amazes me that something the size of my little finger can be a lifesaver. But I honestly don’t know what I’d do without the convenience of my usb flash drive! It saved my butt more than one time in my classes because I’d always back up my homework onto it and if something happened and I couldn’t find the already printed version I’d just pop my flash drive into one of the computers in the classroom and print it up right there!

They also come in handy when you want to transfer files between computers that aren’t on a shared network or when you need to transfer files to a new computer, like I did just a few months ago. And when I was doing various paperwork for my boss, I could work on it here at home, upload it to my usb flash drive, take the flash drive to the office and download it on my work computer.

So I’m a big fan of these handy, dandy little pieces of technology, and I’d like to suggest that you invest in one if you haven’t already done so. They’re inexpensive and once you’ve used one, I’m sure you’ll wonder what you ever did without them. And there are so many different types and sizes of them, I’ve even seen usb flash drives that are ink pens, how cool is that? And if you’re starting a new business or just promoting one that you’ve ran for a while now, usb flash drives printed with your company’s logo and information are a great tool to help promote your business!

Growing up, I lived on a VERY large farm that was filled with livestock, fields and TONS of chores. But I love the way I grew up and don’t think I’d have fit in growing up in the city. But on a farm, animals really aren’t your “pets”, they all were there for a purpose and reason, none of which was supposed to be “fun”. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t name my favorite pig or steer, nor does it mean that I didn’t treat some of the animals like they were pets, I just didn’t let my dad know…LOL.

When I first started dating my husband he had a dog, whose name was Bosworth, but we called him Boz for short. Boz was a sweetheart of a dog and my first experience of actually having a dog as a pet. From the get go, I LOVED Boz, he was just so sweet and wanted to be wherever the hubby and I were, which wasn’t always easy considering that he weighed about 120 pounds…LOL! Boz was a part of our family until the summer after our son turned one. That summer we were all out in the yard playing and our son walked up to Boz to pet him and as he got beside him, Boz nipped at Keith. It wasn’t hard enough to break the skin or draw blood, but it was hard enough that it left a mark that turned to a bruise, and it was totally unprovoked, our son hadn’t even touched Boz.

I didn’t have to say anything to my husband, we had talked about what would happen if it ever looked like Boz would bite someone, especially the kids. We had already made arrangements with a friend of ours who lived on a farm that he would take Boz if this day ever came, so my husband called him up to make sure he was home, which he was, and the kids and I said our goodbyes to Boz as my husband loaded him into his truck.

It took a few years before we were ready to think about getting another dog, Boz had been with my husband for over 5 years when we had to get rid of him and I didn’t want to push the issue, but I did know that we would eventually have another dog. That day came unexpectedly when my husband had seen an ad posted that someone was giving away an adult terrier mix. Now my first thought when I heard terrier mix was a small to medium sized dog, so I was very shocked when we got to the house and this terrier mix weighed about 80 pounds. My husband and the kids were INSTANTLY in love with the dog that we would come to know as Dudley, but I sat in the background trying to motion “NO WAY” to my husband as he talked to Dudley’s current owners. I was outnumbered 3 to 1 and we left that day with Dudley in tow. He had a difficult time adjusting to living with us, he had been with the people we had gotten him from since he was a puppy, so they were the only home he had ever known. He would sit at the window in the front of the living room looking outside and he would start crying, almost as if he was crying for them to come and take him back. Eventually he did adjust and accept his new home and by that time he had completely won me over!

We lost Dudley almost 7 years later, but he was the dog that changed my heart about dogs! Since then we’ve had just one other dog until the four we have now. When we were living in the inner city I had the cutest chocolate Lab mix named Coco. Coco kept me from sinking into a deep depression and it broke my heart when we had to find a new home for her. But because of how dangerous our neighborhood had become, we had to get the kids out of the inner city and where we were moving to did not allow dogs and we had to move for our own safety! Coco is still with the family we found for her, I went back and visited her a few times at first, but it hurt so much because each time I went to see her I didn’t want to leave her, so I had to stop going to visit her.

And now we have the fearsome foursome….LOL! Never in my life did I think that I could love a pet the way I love these four! They are a constant source of unconditional love and keeping up with them provides enough exercise that I don’t have to worry about working out on fitness equipment….LOL! I love to hug them and give them kisses, but I love getting kisses back from them even more! When I’m down, just spending some time snuggling with one or more of them always makes me feel better. Yes, four dogs is a handful, but I honestly cannot picture what life would be around here without them around! And if you look at this picture, you’ll see why!

It hit me that I hadn’t posted any pictures of Sage lately, so I thought I’d better get some of the pictures uploaded from my camera and share a few with you. It was four weeks ago yesterday that we brought her home. It took the other dogs about a week to warm up to her, and about another week after that before they all felt comfortable around each other. She’s now definitely one of the “pack”! Wherever the other dogs go, Sage has to go…LOL! It’s cute to see her run around the yard trying to keep up with the other dogs!

Harley still has his moments where I think he’s looking at me thinking “was this really necessary”, but he does pretty good with her. Riley is her “protector”, he tries to keep the other dogs away from her if they’re playing a little too rough, and sometimes even us…LOL! We had her up on our bed the other night playing with her and she bit at my hand. I tapped her on the nose and said “NO NO SAGE”, to which Riley took his paw and pushed my hand away, like he was trying to tell me not to do that…LOL! But he’s an AWESOME big brother and pretty much lets her do whatever she wants to him. Willow, though, she now has a new shadow. I don’t care what room of the house they’re in or if they’re outside, wherever you see Willow, you’ll find Sage! The two of them are almost inseparable, to the point that they both eat out of the food dish together and go potty side by side…LOL!

Anyway, I’ll hush up now and get to the pictures. I’ll post one above the fold, be sure to click on the “more” link to see the rest. I have two of sage alone, two with the other dogs. I have to crack up when they’re all piled up on the “dog couch” sleeping, it’s just so cute! As always, click on the images for larger pictures!

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