Busy but good

Wow - almost 3 months without a post. Sorry, Melissa - I think you're probably the only one who may still read this thing.

We're slowly getting moved into the "new" house. It's so different from last time. Our last house was brand new and we got to pick flooring, counters, etc. This house was built in 1980. The guy who we bought it from (who I happened to go to HS with and is C.R.A.Z.Y), did a LOT of work on this place. The neighbors said he quit work to go back to school, but then didn't go to school and just pretty much worked on it. Some of the work he did is AMAZING and is part of what sold us on the house. He put in wood floors upstairs, new windows, a new roof, new doors, and did a fantastic job putting in trim throughout. However, he (or they possibly) had awful taste in some things. The bathroom vanities are very nice quality, but not even a little bit our style. They're very frilly. His paint choices were pretty shockingly bad too. I'd try to tell you, but can't convey it. When I tell people they are still surprised at how bad it is when they get here. So, the painter is coming next week I hope, I'm going to do what I can with the kitchen until we can save enough to redo it, the floors, ceilings, and built ins around the brick.

We're SO happy here though already. We're not in a mass development, we have a much bigger back yard, and the commute is 1/3 what it was last year. It's 7 glorious minutes to get Stella to the babysitters! Living in the apartment was much tougher on her than I'd expected, so that's another reason we're thrilled to finally be in.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted soon (Melissa - there's a moving announcement headed your way).

Other than the house, things are great. And I mean REALLY REALLY great! :)

Updates

Apparently it's been a while since I've visited and it's been pointed out that a few things have happened that may be noteworthy.

The first is that we sold our house. I was prepared (expecting) for it to take about 4 months. We worked our BUTTS off for two weeks trying to "stage" it. I spent more money than Jim wanted, we took several loads to the Goodwill, Jim's friend took a load to the dump for us, we rented a storage unit and loaded it up. It also involved, painting, mulch, light fixtures, planting flowers, and more. It's nice to know that it all paid off because even in this market we sold our house in EIGHT days! I'm so grateful, getting kicked out of our home so often was really taking a toll on the little one.

I thought that looking for a new place would be the fun part, but so far it's proven to be much more frustrating. I think we'll be renting a place to give ourselves plenty of time to find the perfect place.

I guess the other "news" is that about an hour ago Jim had our dog Annie put to sleep. She was the sweetest ole thing you can imagine. I always joked that she could go home with anyone and she'd be happy if they'd just love her. It was a sudden thing - this time yesterday I had no clue it was coming. In 4 months we went from 2 dogs to none, such a shocker!

So, in memory of our first dog... I love you Annie!

Quite possibly the cutest puppy I've ever seen:

And her happiest moments - camping and a stuffed animal.

Hmmm...

Jim and I were watching The Pacific last night. A woman was talking about her daughter: "Stella is our only blessing. I asked prayed for more babies, but God said 'No'. There's nothing you can do when God says 'No'."

We just turned and looked at each other. Whoa.

Ever since it's been echoing in my head, "When God says 'No'"

I Heart Faces - Baby Love

This is my entry for I Heart Faces "Hands Week". One of my favorite pics from Stinker as an almost newborn! Photography-wise it may not be the best picture ever, but I adore it!

Update

I don't have much time because I know Stink is going to wake up any second, but I wanted to do a little update.

A wonderful friend found a home for my Murph! Her sister fostered him for almost a week and a half (what a blessing!) until I could take him to his new home on Saturday. Mom and Bev drove me to Ellensburg to take him to meet his new family. I'm so grateful that they were there - if I'd been alone I know that I'd have sobbed most of the way. (Plus, we got to check out the Snoqualmie Casino on the way home. What a treat!)

His new family is WONDERFUL! They are a retired couple who have a farm on almost 4 acres. I was worried about several things: they have 2 cats (he does NOT like small furry animals), their yard isn't fenced and he's never been able to run free, and there are a lot of other dogs around (ok, he doesn't really like ANY furry animals). Well, Murph did get a little snarly with a dog while we were there, but the man was SO patient. He didn't freak out (like I did), he just said they'd have to work it out and it would be ok. The cats live outside so I don't think that will be an issue. And... the woman called the next morning to say that Murphy is doing great and they love him. He comes back home when he's let outside, he's been palling (is that a real word?) around with all of the guys, and he even got to sleep on the bed the first night. He loves to be outside so I know he's going to love it there!

I miss him desperately, but I can handle that as long as I know that he is safe, happy and loved!

Stella is doing great and doesn't seem any worse for wear after all of this. It's almost completely healed and although she may have a small scar under her eye I don't think it will be anything that's noticeable.

Maybe someday soon I'll actually be able to post about normal things again...

Progress

I think we (and by that I mean one of my friends) has found a home for Murph! I get to pick him up this morning, and while it's going to be torture to leave him 2 more times, it's also going to be wonderful to be able to see him two more times! Today I'm taking him to my friend's sisters place in Seattle. She's going to take care of him for a bit until I can get him over to Ellensburg where we're hoping and older retired couple who live on a farm will fall in love with him. If he can't be with me, I think this is a great alternative for him. He LOVES to be outside and chase things. :) The pass to get to the eastside has been bare and dry for such a long time, but of course today it's supposed to get 6-12". So... hopefully we can get him over there next weekend and he can start the next leg of this journey.

I keep telling myself that there MUST be a reason for all of this. Maybe there's another family who will really need him. Or maybe, just maybe, there could be another little stink joining our family this year and that just might be more than my poor sweet boy can bare. I'm trying very hard to have faith that there's a greater reason for all of this.

Ok, off to see my baby boy!

PS - have you ever had a song come on and at that moment you felt it was just for you? On my way home from running errands I was trying to find my CD with a song covered by Dave Matthews ("Woke up this morning, smiled at the risin sun. Three little birds, on my doorstep. Singing a sweet song, melody pure and true, singing this is a message for you. Don't worry bout a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright") I didn't find it, but last night I turned the TV to a kids station and it had been on for a while but we weren't paying attention to it. All of the sudden, that song was on. Of course - I started crying! I've been doing entirely too much of that lately. It needs to STOP!

Complete Misery

That's what the last 24 hours have been. Stella had been chasing Murphy around the house (which she loves to do and he hates) and he turned and nipped her. We took her to the Dr. to get it cleaned and got her on antibiotics. We were VERY lucky that it wasn't worse than it was.

But... this means we had to get rid of my dog. My first BABY. I know there aren't a lot of people who love their animals as passionately as I do, but I do. I adored that dog and the feeling was mutual. He was MY dog, MY pal. He followed me everywhere. When I was pregnant I had grand ideas of how much he'd love this little girl we were going to bring into the family. That never happened. He never got over the hurt and the jealousy.

So, first thing this morning my husband took him to the Humane Society. He has to stay in solitary confinement for 9 days and then they'll euthenize him. I can't breathe, I can't talk, I can't do anything but SOB. Yes, I know we had to do it but my heart is completely breaking. We have 8 days to find someone willing to take in a 9 1/2 year old dog who doesn't like other dogs and has nipped a young child. Doesn't sound too likely to me. I just keep thinking of how cold, lonely, confused, and scared he must be. I walk out of the bathroom and expect to see him laying by the door, I open the garage door and step back to let him come charging in, there are presents wrapped and waiting for him. I don't know what to do with all of this and I just can't stop crying.

I wish someone who's lonely could look past all of that and see the dog that I know and love so very much. He'd love nothing more than to have someone throw the ball for him, maybe go for a walk, and then snuggle on the couch. He isn't sick, he isn't old, and he isn't mean, this is just so unfair to everyone involved, but mostly my baby boy.

I pray that he can find some peace there and that he knows how in love with him I am. I don't even know how to be in this house without him.

I'm SO SO SO very sorry my baby boy!