Oh, Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

When my foster friend came over Sunday to help me put my tree up, we wondered whether Lolly was going to attack it.  Wolfey's been around for 8 1/2 years and he's never bothered the tree a bit, but Lolly tends to eat random things, so you just never know.  In fact, when we made our Lowe's trip for a new tree stand, we joked that we were going to get back and the tree was going to be destroyed and the stand would be pointless.  Thankfully, we got home and not only was the tree still intact, but it didn't appear that Lolly had messed with it at all.  We made a point to put all the breakable or sentimental ornaments up high so I wouldn't have to worry as much, but still on Monday when I went to work I worried that I'd get home to find the tree in pieces on the floor.  I arrived home to find one lonely little ornament chewed up on the living room floor.  I wasn't thrilled, but it was a lot less of a mess than I'd expected.  Tuesday I found the same thing, although there had been less damage done to Tuesday's ornament, so I took that as a good sign.  Wednesday I found nothing!  I was hoping that meant that she was just adjusting to the new arrival in her space and finally felt as if she'd let it know who's boss.  Then I got home last night.  There were two (intact) ornaments in the dining room, one (intact) in the kitchen, one (broken but not ruined) on living room floor and one completely demolished ornament on the couch.  Grr!  I know this is something weird and tempting, but still.  She's so destructive!  I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to get this darn dog to stop eating my stuff.  I know there are no-chew sprays, but I hate the idea of having more chemicals in the house, in addition to the fact that I'd have to spray the whole house to protect it from her!  I know buying a new crate (since she destroyed the last one) makes the most sense, but I really hate the idea of crating her all day, especially since the whole point of getting another dog was so Wolfey would have company.  Anybody have any other ideas?

I think Lolly is part cat

It doesn't seem to matter what position she's in or how hard I push her off the bed, she always lands on her feet!  Which I'm thankful for, since I push her off the bed on a near daily basis, but still, it's weird!

I'm pretty sure Lolly broke my nose

Remember when my girl was being so snuggly?  Well, at one point she sneezed and slammed the top of her head right into my nose.  I heard a crack and it hurt like hell, but it didn't swell or bruise so I didn't think too much of it.  I had a dull headache for several days but it seemed to pretty much go away.  Then yesterday we were wrestling and she got me in the nose again.  I've had such a headache ever since, it almost feels like I'm going to throw up it hurts so bad.  Seriously, what am I going to do with this dog?  She's just a puppy and really isn't aware of her own body, but she's just too big to be so rough!

M. I. A.

Whew!  It's been a while!  I took a few days off work and didn't step foot near a computer.  It was really nice!  Okay, so highlights from my days off...

Wednesday
I slept in (as much as I can with my goofy morning-person dogs!), cleaned and made my contribution for Thanksgiving, then headed to my parents' house to help prepare to host 50+ people for Thanksgiving.  My aunt and her boyfriend came in from Chicago and we went out to dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants.  It was nice to spend some quiet time with out of town family before all the craziness hit for the holiday!  We decided that Man would join my family for Thanksgiving, despite it being crazy fast in the relationship.  Yikes!

Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving!  I made last minute preparations for guests (made lactose-free mashed potatoes for Man) and tidied up the house before Man arrived and we went to my parents' house house.  The day was insane, with so many people packed into the house, but it was a beautiful day and many people spent a portion of the day outside.  Generally Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday, but this was definitely the best I can remember.  I can't tell you how many people pulled my aside to say they thought Man is a keeper!

Friday
I spent most of the day at home, recovering from my food coma and sleeping off the allergy-induced aches and pains.  I just couldn't resist all the goodies on Thursday, and was really regretting it Friday.  Still, it was nice to snuggle up on the couch with my pups, even if they did bring a deer head into my back yard.  Gross! At least they didn't try to bring it in the house.  That evening I went to my friend's house to help her put up her Christmas tree.  It was a comedy of errors, that included an impromptu Lowe's trip to buy her a new tree.  What a mess, but such fun!

Saturday
I drove up to Indy to see Man and we spent the day together.  We went out to lunch, he showed me his new house (he won't move in until late this week) and where he grew up, and he cooked me a delicious dinner.  He had planned to spend Thanksgiving by himself (his parents aren't around and his ex had the kids for this holiday) so he had bought a mini turkey and made all the fixings.  Since he spent Thanksgiving with my family instead, that's what we had Saturday.  I must say, he's a pretty good cook!  I stayed out way too late, but had an amazing day.

Sunday
I went to brunch with some out of town family before they headed home, then went home to spend some time with the pups.  I worked on making some new dog food and before I knew it, my friend had shown up to help me put up my Christmas tree.  Once again, many problems and a Lowe's trip were involved, but as always, we had a blast.  At one point I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face, and I love that my house is now a winter wonderland!  We determined that this will be a yearly tradition for us, since it's so much more fun to have a partner with whom to decorate.  Last year we were both newly-non-moms, and neither of us put up a Christmas tree.  This year we were reminded of how our foster kids were in awe of the trees, and we shared memories of Christmas with our kids, but we also looked forward to making new memories with family, friends, and hopefully some day, with new kids.

Is it weird that I feed my dogs a raw diet (including raw meat) and and get cow bones from the butcher but it grosses me out when they come home with deer bones? I think my biggest issues with it right now is they brought a jaw bone. Teeth. Ugh.

No baby mama drama here

It's amazing to me how well the boy's bio mom and I get along. That's not to say it was always easy. I mean, DCS took her child from her and gave him to me. Anyone who imagines that could ever be easy has no grasp on reality! But it's pretty awesome how we grew to have a mutual respect for each other. She just texted me to say happy Thanksgiving and we ended up chatting for a bit, catching up and it was actually really nice. It's really too bad I couldn't have that relationship with the boy's adoptive (I'm assuming, since I don't get updates) mom, but I really have a ton of respect for how bio mom pulled through and handled the situation. Odd though it may be, I really do county myself lucky to have her in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

If Thanksgiving is anything like the day before Thanksgiving, it's sure to be a great day! I hope you all have as wonderful a holiday as I intend to. Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

Need. Sleep.

I've mentioned before how sometimes missing my kids can hit me like a ton of bricks, but I never realized that not missing them could happen as quickly. Let me rephrase that. It's not that I don't miss them, because I do. Every day. In fact, I didn't realize it would be possible to still miss them so much after this long. There are times, though, when I'm reminded of the things I don't miss. Like cleaning up Wolfey's accident last night and Lolly's puke in the middle of the night and then having to get up for an early meeting this morning. The boy rarely slept through the night, and as I sit here in my zombie state at the end of a long day, I am so thankful that, more often than nt, now I get my rest.

The ick factor

I arrived home to find someone had had icky tummy during the day. The dogs had kept it contained to one small area. In the process of cleaning it up, I managed to spread it to 3 different rooms, down the hall and onto the basement stairs. Needless to say, I've been cleaning since I got home.

At our best

I need a photographer to sit quietly in my room and document the ridiculous ways my dogs wake me.  Every day it's something new.  Usually by the time I can reach my phone for a picture they've moved but this morning Lolly was just too cozy to care that I was wriggling around, reaching for the phone.  Any takers on being my dogs' stalker?  Because moments like this are too funny not to photograph!

Be prepared, the following picture is NOT PRETTY.  You've been warned!!

This is how Lolly woke me this morning.  I know, I look awful, but I just couldn't not share it!  Yes, this is a little close, even for me, but it is absolutely impossible to not feel loved in my home :)

Indy day

I drove up to Indianapolis today to spend some time with friends. First I met Bestie to go to lunch and go hiking. We took her baby, who was such a trooper and fell asleep in the carrier on our hike. Such a cutie! I went back to Bestie's house to freshen up, then met a new friend for dinner. We had a great time and are already trying to find a time when he can come down this direction. It was a great day, but I had 2 long days in a row and now the pups are attacking me for attention. Must go love on my doggies!

My Napoleon

As we were out in the front yard, my neighbor walked by with his pit bull.  Wolfey took off, barking and carrying on.  Thankfully, the pit is way better behaved than my little brat of a mutt, because he completely ignored Wolfey, who he very easily could have eaten for a mid afternoon snack (for the record, this is just one example of why it irritates the crap out of me when people act like pit bulls are mean dogs).  I don't quite get it, but Wolfey completely ignores little dogs, plays with dogs his own size and tries to attack big dogs.  I imagine it has to do with his history (having been severely abused as a little guy, he always tries to protect me and our territory now) but Mom likes to tease him and says he has short man syndrome.

Oat stuffing

Was incredible! Yes, I'm still planning to have. Few bites of Mom's traditional dressing on Thanksgiving, but I'll save myself a lot of allergen-induced pain later by focusing on eating this amazing stuffing instead. Yum!

Wednesday dinner

Oh, I'm soooo looking forward to dinner tonight!  I dropped the dogs off at my parents' house on my way to work this morning and they were all excited to be there for the day, but I just keep thinking about that oat stuffing!  I really do love Wednesdays :)

My dad is the best!

Dad is trying out recipes for alternative dressings for Thanksgiving!  He's so awesome :)

My plan is to try the skirlie, and if it's good, make some of it for Thanksgiving for you and Janet.

 

I also found a recipe that's similar, but has apricots.  But, I think cranberries and pecans would work too.

 

----- Original Message -----

From: (Me)

To: (Dad)

Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 2:56 PM

Subject: Re: oat stuffing

YUM!!!  I can't wait to try it!  For the record, I'll be eating Mom's dressing on Thanksgiving, and just paying for it later!

---

From: (Dad)
To: (Me)
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 11:25 AM
Subject: Re: oat stuffing

http://itsallgouda.blogspot.com/2008/11/great-scot-super-savory-stuffing-that.html

 

----- Original Message -----

From: (Me)

To: (Dad)

Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 10:22 AM

Subject: Re: oat stuffing

The attachment didn't come through but just from the name I'm loving it :)  And I'm all for substituting apples for onions!

---

From: (Dad)
To: (Me)
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 8:35 AM
Subject: oat stuffing

Karen,

 

Here's what I'll make for tomorrow's supper.  Thinking about substituting apples for the onions around the outside of the chicken.

 

Way back when I was fostering Lolly, BBS and the monkeys fell in love with her and wanted her for their own.  Unfortunately, with Lolly's behavior and health issues, BBS knew it just wasn't an option, so we told the kids no.  BBS and I continued to work behind the scenes, though, and considered that maybe once I had Lolly healthy and trained, I may give her to the monkeys for Christmas.  As Lolly has settled in to my home and she and Wolfey continue to improve their relationship, I've become a bit reluctant to follow through on this, and since BBS hadn't brought it up in a while, I just let it die.  Then when I took the dogs to visit the other day, the monkeys brought it up again.  Lolly was so good at their house, seeming much more relaxed and comfortable at their house than at mine, and it reminded me that she just needs so much more attention than I can give her, and I once again began to consider it.  While it breaks my heart to think of sending her away, I also know that they could give her more love and attention than I ever could, and I know it would be so good for her.  BBS and I talked a lot about it and went back and forth several times.  Finally, yesterday, BBS called and said she just couldn't do it.  I hated to admit it, but I was so relieved!  Yes, Lolly drives me crazy sometimes.  Yes, she is super clingy and needs way more attention than I can give her.  Yes, it's true that I've only had her a few months.  But she's family!

She sleeps!

Lolly has gotten progressively better about sleep since she came to my house, but we still hadn't had a night of going to bed easily and really sleeping well...until last night!  Woohoo!  We worked hard and played hard Saturday and Sunday, and it really showed.  Saturday night I think she'd gotten her second wind by the time I got home and although she settled back down fairly easily, she definitely needed some love before we went to bed.  Last night, though?  8:30 and she was down for the count.  Mom called around 9:00 and Lolly didn't even lift her head.  Around 9:30 I got up and walked to the kitchen (we'd been in my room, at the complete opposite end of the house) and Lolly didn't bother to get up to follow me.  I was settled in to bed by about 9:45 and both dogs were dead to the world by then.  Lolly did wake me around 6:00 this morning, but after a night like that, I'll take it!  I haven't slept so well in months and I loved every second of it!  For the record, a special thanks goes out to my walking buddy for joining us for an evening stroll and to mother nature for the beautiful day so we could spend so much of it outside!

I love Fall!

Yesterday didn't go quite as planned, but it was an awesome day. BBS and I had talked about taking the kids and dogs to a local park to go hiking, but Miss Thing had soccer in the morning and was worn out, Buddy was asked to help his grandpa with some yard work and Schmo just didn't want to. Instead, we spent the day at BBS's house and did all kinds of fun Fall activities. The dogs were in heaven! They tromped through the woods with Miss Thing, played in the leaves with Doll Baby and got lots of love from Princess. At one point, she was laying completely on top of Lolly, but Lolly just laid there loving the attention. I worked hard with Wolfey to get him to accept kids' rough behaviors, pulling his tail and ears and playing a little too rough, so he would be okay with little ones doing that, but Lolly seems to have come pre-programmed to love the little roughnecks! It was a great day, and the pups are worn out. When we got home they both sacked out on the couch, and if I didn't have plans, I just might have joined them!

Last night after work I went back to my parents' house to get the dogs and had dinner with my dad.  The following is from our dinner conversation:

Me: How were the dogs?

Dad: Your mom got pretty frustrated when she tried to put her shoes on.  Lolly kept getting in her face; probably took her twice as long as usual to tie her shoes.

Me: Yeah, she's so loving, but she just doesn't know when to back off.

Dad: Is she loving or clingy?

Me: I can't believe how laid back she is here.  I think maybe it's because there are more people around, so she doesn't have to worry that she's going to be left or not get attention.

Dad: You're kidding, right?

Me: No, she's way more relaxed here than she is at my house.

Dad:  Really?  Because here she's like a fart in a frying pan!

Only my dad!  I love that he tells it like it is.  He's right that Lolly's pretty hard to nail down, but it was really great to see that she could be more relaxed with more people around.

Reblog

I don't often reblog.  In fact, I'm not sure I've ever done it.  I figure if you want to read someone else's blog, you'll go there and read it yourself.  But this particular one just says it so much better than I could.  When I was fostering, I had real issues with why the boy was taken away from his mom.  DCS had given me a little (VERY little) background and the boy's mom was generally pretty open with me, and while I could see reasons for DCS to be involved, it just didn't seem like enough to me.  I know there was a lot that I didn't know, so I assumed there must be enough for him to be taken from his home, but it just seemed...well...odd. I always said that while she was never going to win any mother of the year awards, no one would ever love that little boy like she did.  As sad as it is, I'm glad to see another foster mom who sees it the way I do.  Check out Rebecca at Fosterhood in NYC for her view.

An overnight

I had incredibly long days scheduled for yesterday and today, so rather than leaving the dogs home alone a super long time and having to drive the extra long distance out to my house just to sleep and turn around again, I decided to stay at my parents' house last night.  It meant getting out of the house extra early yesterday (though since Lolly had me up around 5:00am that wasn't a problem) but it also meant that the dogs would be let out around 4:00 when my mom got home instead of around 11:00 when I would have gotten home, and that I had a much shorter drive home last night and to work this morning.  It was pretty nice.  Additionally, it was fun hearing Mom tell me all the silly things that the dogs did.  It was all normal day-to-day stuff, but it was interesting to hear it from someone else's perspective.  She told me how Lolly tried to give her attack loves while she was putting her shoes on, how Wolfey seemed to roll his eyes at Lolly's silly behavior and how Lolly just needs way too much attention.  All stuff I know, but it was still fun to talk about it with someone who FINALLY experienced my zoo first hand!  It was also nice to have two more pairs of hands to help with the petting.  Wolfey got some much needed one-on-one while Mom, Dad or I kept Lolly distracted.  I really am lucky to have such loving, accepting parents.  They never would have dreamed of having an inside dog before Wolfey, and now they let me bring TWO!

Spending the afternoon with BBS, Doll Baby and Princess + walking with my walking buddy and the dogs = a pretty great day

'Tis the season

SPOILER ALERT: BBS, if any of the monkeys are reading this, don't let them read this post!  It will ruin their Christmas surprise!

Mom and I started Christmas shopping yesterday!  I've always said I was going to start early but then never followed through.  This year, between my hospital bills and the dogs' vet bills, money is super tight, pretty much forcing me to start early, just so I can spread out the expenses.  BBS and I also agreed to cut back this year.  She and I will not be exchanging gifts (it's only a $20-30 savings, but at this point, every little bit counts) and we discussed that I won't be spending as much on the monkeys as I usually do.  So I set out with cash in hand, swearing to not break out the plastic.  Amazingly, I'm more than half way done with my Christmas shopping and haven't broken the bank!  I found the cutest snowman kit at Target, complete with top hat, carrot nose and biodegradable snow paint and built on that idea.  I bought igloo brick molds and little snow shovels and put together a whole snow day kit.  I plan to wrap each thing individually and then put it all in one big box to be a group present for all the monkeys.  So far I've spent about $30 (there are a few little things I still want to look for, I'm thinking max of $10 more) for FIVE gifts!  I also bought a puzzle for my grandma and a little treat for my dad.  I've never gotten this much done this early, and it feels really good.  On top of that good feeling, Dad called while we were out shopping and invited me to dinner, one of my favorites - sausage and sauerkraut!  Yum!  What started out as a dull day of housework ended up as a fun, productive and yummy day, complete with a game of Rumikub after dinner.  I really am a lucky, lucky girl!  Here's hoping Doll Baby's birthday outing tomorrow goes as well!

Happy birthday, Bug!

I had a great night out last night, celebrating my cousin's 21st birthday with a bunch of her friends. I was worried I was going to feel like the creepy old lady at a kid's birthday, but it was actually a ton of fun. I really am lucky to have such an awesome family!

BBS = Builder, Believer, Supporter

I know I've mentioned before that I have the best big sister in the entire world, but she really is amazing.  I love that she's just as excited over this job opportunity I'm creating for myself as I am.  Maybe more so!  She has been an awesome help, and I feel like I've made great progress toward finding a job that is truly right for me.  I really couldn't do this without her.  She's been teasing me, of course, that with as much work as she's putting in she ought to be getting paid, but I promised I'd pay her in "awesome auntie hours" and she's such a great mom, I think she's just as happy to see her kids benefit from her hard work as she would be to be paid in actual money!

Dear Genius Self,

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" is not a good approach when it comes to sleeping pills.  Thursday night I wasn't feeling too hot and really needed a good night's sleep, so I took an Excedrin PM.  The dogs had me up 5 times.  When my alarm went off yesterday morning, I was so groggy I overslept and was nearly late to work, despite getting ready in less than 20 minutes.  So last night, being even more tired than the night before and having a throbbing headache from lack of sleep and eating allergens, I once again took and Excedrin PM.  And once again the dogs had me up several times during the night.  It's now 12:00 and I'm just now feeling functional.  Thank goodness I don't have to be anywhere tomorrow.  I have big plans to sleep!

Fat lip

I really do love Lolly, but she is SUCH a roughneck! She does not understand the concept of giving me a little space and gets aggressive to get close to me. I now have a fat lip from her trying to get between me and the water I was drinking. I guess there are those times when I say "you're lucky I love you!"