October

Okay.  So I had a major fail by not posting for 30 days of everything I'm thankful for.  My life has been extremely busy the whole month of October, so in a way I am thankful for that. With all the things that have been keeping me so busy, I am thankful that I am able to participate in all the activities.  Most of those activities have revolved around band, yes I am a band mom, but I truly have had a lot of fun.

So I am going to sum up October in this way:

October 1 my birthday.  Another year older-- don't really like that idea, but nothing I can do about that.

October 6 - Erin had all suburban choir auditions and a band competition in Washington, Missouri.  She was selected for All Suburban Choir AND the band came in first place.  This was the first time since the 1990's that the band received a trophy.  They worked so hard and this was just the icing on the cake.

October 13 - Actually home, but spent it catching up

October 14 - AUGUSTA!!!..   Love the sausage dinner at Christ Lutheran Church.  This is the church my momma was baptised at.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  I forgot my camera but trust me it was spectacular.  I figured all the trees would drop their leaves early due to the drought from summer, but once again, God showed us who is in charge.

October 20 -- You got it BAND!!!.  The band had an overnight in Springfield Missouri at Missouri State University.  It was a great day.  I don't remember what the band placed, but I think it was 2nd or 3rd place.  Not sure.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun.

October 27 - I had to administer the ACT test for my work.  Which means I have to account for every test book, and make sure there are enough proctors and classrooms to accommodate everyone.  It also means I get up at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday to get everything arranged.  Then after the test, we went to Ste Genevieve, Missouri for...you got it... another band competition.  So that has been my month and the reason I didn't have time to write. 

Love to everyone

Day 3 Sunday

Okay today's sounds a lot like yesterday:

Beautiful weather.  It is so fall like out that I can't wait for the smoke of fireplaces and crisp night air.  I am also thankful for friends that I got to spend the afternoon with.  I had a lot of fun.  :)

Day 2

Oh todaywill be so easy.

Today I am thankful for:   a fun Friday night and absolutely beautiful weather today. 

Last night Erin had some friends over.  She was supposed to play at the football game, but because of the storm, the game was cancelled.  So they went to Steak and Shake after the storm.  Julie met me there and her and I had good food while Erin and her friends had fun.  Then we came home and Julie washed out some clothes and we watched The Lucky One.  Good good movie.  I do think the book is better, though.

Then this morning the sky is so blue, and the air is so cool.  Just a delightful day. 

Have a good day everyone.

30 Days of Thankfulness

It seems lately that a lot of things that could go wrong have gone wrong.  I won't list them here, because that would be a real downer for everyone.  But lets just say that my faith has been shaken to the core once again. 

It seems that many times it's easy to fall into the "pity party pit".  Isn't that what satan wants?  I think so.  But then I am reminded that yes bad things happen, God did not promise us that everyday would be without it's trials and temptations, and yes life does get better even though we think it's never going to get better.

So since it is September, and I absolutely love the seasons that are coming up, I am going to try to find at least one positive thing to be thankful for each day starting today, and for the next 30 days.  It's my "30 Days of Thankfulness".  So here's today's entry:

I am thankful that I was able to get up this morning and go to work. 

     -  There are so many people who can't do this simple task.  Getting up.  It requires being able to move and breathe unassisted.  I see many people who have to use "aids" to walk, breathe, and what I think is the most humilitating...take care of "personal business". That in itself would make me want to run away screaming. 
     -   Having a job...with the unemployment rates so high, just the fact that I get a paycheck every two weeks, and can afford health insurance for my family is a huge gift.


What are you thankful for?  I'd love to know.

It's getting finished !!!!

Yay!!! Our bathroom is finally getting finished.  It's been going really slow for the past few months, but we finally have a new bathtub, and walls around the bathtub.  Next will be a new potty, and sink and then I guess the floor and paint.  I will be off work all next week, so I'm not sure how much will get done, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.  Meanwhile I will be painting my downstairs bathroom.  I feel like I'm making some slow but sure progress.  Will keep you posted.

Stay Tuned

I have been really behind on keeping up with this blog.  So I plan on doing a lot of updating during the next few days, hopefully sooner.  Please be patient with me.

Love L

Shadow

Ahh.... my heart is breaking.  We lost our precious Shadow two weeks ago.  He had been getting sicker the last few weeks, and he just couldn't fight it any longer.  We are all so sad...but, Brad, Erin, Julie, Joe and I all got to be with him when he went.  I really think he liked that.  He loved us all so so much, and we loved him. 

Shadow danced into our world as a five week old puppy.  He was so small that he fit on a 12" square of tile in our basement.  The stairs perplexed him as he would look up as if to say, "really?  you want me to climb that?" 

Julie and Shadow when she brought him home.



As Shadow grew, it became obvious that he was going to be a handful, but a loving handful at that.  When Cookie was alive, he would wait patiently for her to go outside with him and play.  He didn't always stay outside, but he seemed to like to lay in the sun on the hottest day of summer.  We all remembered the time we cleaned his kennel and it was a very hot summer day.  The sun was beating down on his kennel, but he stayed in it as if to say... "this is mine and I'm not leaving !!"

Shadow was a good listener.  He listened to everything Julie would say to him and respond in a way that only Shadow could respond, with his head down on your hands and a bitter whining as if to say -- I feel your sadness, joy, pain, (fill in the blank).  When Julie went away to college, he was always glad to see her come home and would greet her in this manner.  When she would pack to go back to school, he sometimes would take her clothes out of her suitcase as if to say "please stay".  He always got nervous when  Erin and I would go to Kansas City for the weekend and we started moving suitcases.  I hated leaving him, but it was better than putting him in a kennel.  He hated kennels, and would bark himself voiceless.

He was fiercely protective of us, so much so that when anyone came to the house that he didn't know, he would bark at them.  Even though this was so annoying, I really did understand why he did it.

He never jumped on furniture or chewed up anything.  He was a retriever through and through, except he hated water.  When he was a young dog, he ran from the house one day and straight to the pond behind our neighbor's house.  He was greeted by a flock of geese who lifted their wings and squawked loudly at him.  He never went in the water again. 

I will miss Shadow greeting me when I get home from work, and laying in the middle of all of us during family gatherings.  He would patiently lay under the table when we ate hoping for just a morsel to drop from our table.  When my Aunt Wee Woe was staying at our house, he stayed by her side all day and even stood still for her to brace herself on him.  When she died, he truly mourned her too.

Sunbathing with Julie the day before her wedding

I will always miss seeing him look out the window at us whenever we drove away.  But he patiently waited for us and was so happy to see us, and we were happy to see him.  I never knew a heart could hurt so much.  
Shadow.  We all love you and miss you.  We will never EVER forget you.  Rest in peace sweet boy. 

Love... Mom, Dad, Katie, Chantz, Julie, Joe, Erin, and especially Sam and Yadi.

Shadow loved to run in the snow.  It was his favorite thing

Another snow picture with his sweet girl, Erin

With his new best friend, Yadi

The front of a really nice card from the Vet that took care of Shadow

The inside of the card.  It still makes me sad to read it.

November 12, 1999 - April 26, 2012