The looming sadness around our household is due to the quietness brought on by the passing of our 16 year old lab, Caroline. Even with the puppy Cabela around, she just doesn’t seem to make as much noise as her elder. The explanations of what happens to dogs when the die aren’t getting easier with our nine year old. Time has flown by as he (the 8 yr old) announced that “YOU got to spend 16 years with Caroline and I only got to spend 8 years with her………..where four of those didn’t really count b/c I wasn’t big enough to walk her. ” WHAAAAAT? Out of the mouth of babes….still struggling to understand. 
Pets are REALLY a part of the family. As the staff at the veterinarian will attest, our family – all 5 of us plus the 75 pound dog – were all in the clinic room as Caroline moved on to another world. I’m pretty sure they would say that that dog was DEFINITELY going to be missed as a family member. Take care of your pets. Take the time to slow down and play with them daily – they really can be a type of stress-release. I’m all for crate training, but gee-whiz, just because we are busy doesn’t mean they have to stay locked up all the time. Just kills me.
Cabela has definitely taken a strong-hold on our hearts, even though she’s lucky to have survived this morning. She strategically left a few “surprises” in my bathroom (hey – at least it’s the bathroom, right?), broke a canister that has been sitting in the window the entire time she’s been here, and got out the gate this morning while Alex haphazardly left the gate open. Wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t been semi-dressed (all I was doing was taking Sis to basketball at 6:55), and if the grass hadn’t been so wet and cold. After 20 minutes of vigorous exercise for both myself and the dog, she’s all comfy in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT! As this little dog (now about 20 pounds) and our family decide how to peacefully coexist, we’ll continue to mourn Caroline while remembering all the good times we had with her. I’m sure Cabela will make Caroline proud, just have to figure out how to convince Grant of that!
Did I mention the 2 separate teen drivers I also tangled with this morning? SLOW DOWN! Just because YOU woke up for school late, doesn’t mean you have to drive like a moron and kill someone. We’ve already had one kid hit in the last few weeks, we don’t need anymore. And by the way……….that round, 8 sided sign with the letters S T O, and P on them means………wait for it. STOP! Try it. You might see something you like. I had to jump in front of the moving cars because I knew they’d see me. It was our fault for the puppy get out the gate, but again – SLOW DOWN.
The drivers on our street are absolutely amazing. I can’t fathom what their auto insurance is like. I know with the erratic ways they drive that they HAVE to have had accidents or hit inanimate objects. It seems that one end of our street just doesn’t care about local driving laws – oh – I’m sorry……these laws apply to everywhere in the United States. Maybe even Mexico. They don’t stop for stop signs. Don’t look before they back out of the driveway…….I’m mean, they come barreling out backwards without looking. The kids that the parents “overlook” the habits that the kids have developed, well……..they aren’t going to be needing my insurance agent contact, they are going to need my auto accident attorney. I’m not even really sure if he represents auto accident involvees if the accident was THEIR fault. I’m on that…………
Anyway, I need to move towards the shower and actually make an attempt at getting ready for work, even though I’ve already technically started – ha! Make it a GREAT day!
