Fur-parenting

Oh Lord. It's a cold Sunday morning, 6:48am. My fur-babies are whining to go out and I am terribly comfortable and warm in bed. When I cannot stand the high-pitched squeals any longer, I get up, let the puppies outside and meander around the kitchen.

And then the high-pitched squealing commences.

I give it a minute, praying it will stop, and when it doesn't, I peek out the back door. Tank (our youngest furchild) is producing this ungodly sound at the edge of our closed pool.

Then I hear the sounds and see the splashing.

Caly, our older fur-baby, is flailing frantically in the middle of the pool. It's 33 degrees outside. What else would a fur-mommy do?

In the pool I go to pull Caly out.

My heart was fighting the freezing water by beating 19740898575 MPH. Caly and I get out of the pool, inside and wrapped in blankets. She's shaking, I'm shaking, and I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life!

I call Romeo, then the vet, then my Mom, then Romeo again. Caly is warmed up by now, and running around chasing Tank.

Thank God.

I have never been more sure that I am not ready or prepared to be a parent! I have never been more thankful for Tank and his obnoxious whining! I have never been more overjoyed to be whipped with Caly's lethal tail!

Happy Sunday!

Now that I've finally tamed my heartrate, I can honestly say that for at least awhile, I'm going to be a very cautious fur-parent. My Mom told me that you have to let your babies figure things out on their own, and sometimes they're going to have to hurt themselves to figure it out.

Reason #49586920 to wait to have children.

Goals for 22

Yesterday, I embarked on the journey into my 22nd year. It was a lovely day. I recieved some BEAUTIFUL flowers from my parents and from work, and a whole bunch of lovely birthday wishes. I spent the evening with good friends, who thankfully invited me to dinner for the big 2-2. I had a wonderful day, and I am so blessed.

My parents made mention to something that caught me a bit off guard, though. They had asked if my birthday wish came true, and to that, I replied, "It did, but it's held up in Texas and will arrive in xx days.", obviously referring to my wish that Romeo would be home with me. My Dad said something then, and you know, he really is the smartest Dad in the world, because he said:

"Don't be counting your days away. Even now, when you want your days to fly by, appreciate them, because soon enough, when life is back together again, and happier days are here, they're going to keep flying by, and before you know it, you're another year older."

Thank you, Poppy. You and Mom always know what to say to keep things in perspective.

Anyway, this all got me thinking. This past year has been the biggest whirlwind of my life. From marriage, to deployment, to home-buying and everything in-between, I've lost sight of a lot of things. This isn't necessarily bad, because I've outgrown a lot of hobbies, achieved a lot of goals, and grown into a better person than I was this time a year ago. It's now time to reassess the life I'm leading, and the person that I'm growing into, to better prepare for future success.

With that in mind, here's my life list for 22:

1. Go back to school, succeed, and step closer to your educational goals.

2. Pay off A LOT of debt. Build a secure savings.

3. Send cards, letters, packages. ON TIME.

4. Go to church.

5. Master a few dozen recipes, and come up with a few of my own.

6. Beat Romeo in a video game (without him letting me win!)

7. Run a marathon. Complete a p90x cycle.

8. Appreciate time with Romeo, be supportive and understanding, but true to myself and my feelings.

9. Continue to climb the ladder in my career, stay organized and focused.

10. Go skydiving.

11. Go on a vacation. Finally have a honeymoon.

12. Host a party or two (or three, or four, or five!)

13. Successfully cook Thanksgiving dinner.

14. Go hiking.

15. Run with Romeo.

16. Build something. Be crafty.

17. Volunteer. Coach a team.

18. Learn something about Romeo every day. Make up for lost time.

19. Keep in touch with family with more than just Facebook. Call, write, skype.

20. Always bring something when I am invited somewhere. Never show up empty handed.

21. Go to Biltmore Estate.

22. Be done with Christmas/Birthday shopping AHEAD OF TIME.

I'm sure as the year progresses and I (hopefully) start crossing these off of my list, there will be plenty more to add. I'm looking forward to a lot of things this year, but I'm not going to count down any more. I'm not going to count my days away, because when it comes down to it, aren't our days already numbered? Why waste precious moments wishing them away?

Protect and Serve

There aren't any combinations of words that could be even near appropriate enough to thank our Veterans for their sacrifices.

I know nothing of the sacrifices our Soldiers make. I can guess, I can be told, but I won't ever have a clue.

I'll never know what it feels like to walk away with such pride, despite how much it hurts.

I'll never know the fear or the rush of combat.

I'll never know the pain of losing a comrade.

I'll never know, nor have to find out, because our nation is blessed with brave men and women who are willing to sacrifice their lives so that the rest of us won't ever have to know how it feels.

I do know, though, how to love my Soldier.

And I do know how to support our troops.

And I do know, that without our Veterans, our lives as Americans would not be what they are.

Thank you, Veterans, past and present, for your endless sacrifice. You are the face of a True American.

Countdown To-Do List

With Romeo's arrival slowly inching towards right-around-the-corner, I have come to the realization that I have accomplished very little in the period of time that I've had to myself. With that in mind, I have concluded that I will be a very busy woman throughout the next few weeks. Adding all of the things to do at home to the chaos at work, I should be insane by Thanksgiving. Nonetheless, the time will pass quickly and my sanity will come back with Romeo.

So, without further distraction, here is the to-do list:

• Clean/Organize/Paint/Decorate the office. Not necessarily in that order.
• Shampoo the carpet, since my lovely furbabies decided to finger(paw)paint with an ink pen.
• Touch up the base boards.
• CLEAN- like fo' real.
• Tidy up the back yard
• Mow the lawn.
• Wash/Clean the vehicles
• Organize the man-cave

Ok, now that I actually documented the to-do list, it doesn't seem so bad. I'm sure there will be more to add to it in time, though.

Wish me luck!