Saturday, November 24, 2007

I'm baaaaaaack!

OK, so I've been a little remiss in updating the blog recently... Things have been a bit crazy with the moving and unpacking (which is still not done!) and also some family issues. Most of you will know that my grandmother passed away in October. I miss her a lot even though I only saw her a few times a year for the last bit. Even writing this now makes me a little weepy... it's hard enough to loose a grandparent, I cannot imagine what it's like for my mom. My paternal grandmother passed in 2005 (which was really hard on my dad and my aunt) and the recent loss of a second grandmother kind of rekindles that grief too. My family has had to deal with what feels like a lot of death recently because my brother, Chris, was killed in a car accident earlier this year. The result is that I have become closer to some of my surviving family members recently and I hope this will last. It has caused me to do a lot of thinking about how little time some of us have and how we shouldn't waste even a single minute. It's a good way of approaching life I think. I just wish the price of such a realization wasn't so high.

Anyway, on to less emotional things: Other than the previously mentioned issues things seem to be going pretty well! I really enjoy my job, but I am often working long hours. It seems to be appreciated, though. That's always a plus! Cleo is doing really well, but she misses the other greyhounds. She has taken to kidnapping my shoes when she feels she is not getting enough of my attention. She doesn't chew them - she just throws them in the air in front of the TV - just to remind me that she is (clearly) much more entertaining than whatever is on the tube. She recently got a new bed for the living room (because the one in the bedroom is too far away for her to stare creepily at me while I am in the living room or kitchen) which she really seems to enjoy. Check her out!


Her tongue was hanging out, which freaked me out for a minute, but she was just that relaxed!

Cairo and Mama are, well, still fat. They are on a diet, but don't seem to be losing much. I think they have cut down on activity to conserve calories.... They now hiss at one another at night because (apparently) a queen size bed is not quite big enough for the two of them. It would probably help if Cairo didn't have to jump up directly on top of Mama, but what are you gonna do, eh? They are both still sweeties to me though... In the spirit of getting in the way, Cairo also enjoys sleeping on (and over, and around) the stairs. If he (by chance) is not covering the entire step, he will go the extra mile by swishing his tail back and forth over the centimetre of space left for me to place my foot when I am ascending the stairs. Ah, my own personal obstacle course...

What? It's where I sleep!


My "Children of the Corn"

The weather is pretty nice right now, but chilly! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! It snowed here!

I'm dreaming of a white....thanksgiving????

Well, gotta go for now. Miss you all! PS: Happy wedding day Jen! (and Paul, of course)

5 comments:

Michelle said...

Welcome back to the blogging world! Sorry to hear about your loss. =(
The hounds are jealous of Cleo's new bed. =) My cat used to sleep on the stairs when they were just hardwood, but now that they are carpeted, she does not seem interested. ? But, my living room is quite the obstacle course with dog beds, the crate, toys and 4 dogs, the cat and the occasional foster. I feel your pain.
Snow...so pretty! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Michelle said...

Sorry for your loss Dani. Losing a family member sucks. I lost both my parents in 2001 a month apart, that really sucked. At least you have the little ones to distract you and make you laugh. Our dogs always bring a smile to my face when I get home with there noses pressed to the glass impatiently waiting for me to unlock the door. Then the way they go from window to window when Michelle comes home. What a crew. What a riot. I love that snow too. Hate shoveling it, but doing donuts in it is a blast. :) Mitch

Trina said...

Welcome back, Dani!!! We miss you and I can't believe you already have snow! It was 70 degrees here on T'giving! ;-)

Joe said...

Wow, this has been a rough year for you. I know what you mean, though, about reconciliation coming from a traumatic event. When my brother died in 1997 (I'll tell you more about it some other time), it was horribly difficult, but our family grew as a result of it, and I saw some of them grow tremendously as people. I wish that for you, too.

On a lighter note: my extremely overweight cat does exactly the same thing, and gets very angry if you touch her tail on the way past. The nerve.

Hope you enjoying your first snow as a Wisconsonite. Winter is coming. Muhahahaha...

Unknown said...

Hey Sweetie! Great to hear from you. Sorry about all of the sadness - call if you ever need to vent verbally instead of typing.

Teri and I are doing well - enjoying our own obstacle course of dogs and cats ourselves. My new job is fabulous, just fabulous. All we have left to do is move closer to Richmond and we'll be set.

Yeah, Thanksgiving here was much warmer than yours. The snow is so pretty - hope we get some this year.

Hope to hear from you again soon!
Melissa