Dear Moo,

You have been my dog, my friend, my comforter, my trusty-side kick for more years than I like to admit - 14. I still remember the day you picked me to take care of you - all of the other puppies ran to the momma dog, while you ran to me. I think you knew we were meant to be together. You have stood by me through good times, hard times, crazy times. You helped me pick JD (well, you didn’t bite him, that was a good sign, I thought)…You laid beside me with migraines, fat bellies, and sore hips. You loved milk and ice cream. You mothered Alex for us.

I knew this day was coming, I have been trying to get myself ready for it, but I am not ready. You have lived with a heart murmur for the last few years and just in the last 6 months it became clear to us that it was soon. That day was today. I know you tried to hold on and fight. You made it through the vet appointment and once you were comfortable again, you went to sleep. I am sorry that I wasn’t there. Maybe you wanted it that way, I don’t know, but you will always be in my heart. My Moo. I won’t be able to ever forget you.

Love,

Momma

Dear Navy Blue Toyota Camry Driver in the morning,

Look, I know you want to get to work. I know you want to drink your coffee. But to swerve into my lane, while I am in it, while I have my kids in the car is not cool. How hard is it to actually look over your shoulder? How hard is it to use your blinker? How hard is it to swerve back into your lane, wait 30 seconds only to try it again to only have the same thing happen again (I mean my horn startling you to realize that you can’t come into that lane right now because, jack-ass, I am still there)?

And by the way, waving your coffee cup as an apology in my direction, while I drive by you, does not help or make it OK. It just pisses me off more.

Sincerely,
Your fellow commuter, this one with kids,
Laurie

Today, here’s a couple of things that have been on my mind….

JD’s Bulldogs are one win away from winning the College World Series. I’m a fan by marriage (and a proud one at that, as long as they aren’t playing MY team), so Goooooooooooo Dawgs, ’sic ‘em! Your big fans in the MD area are rooting for you!!

I found a fun link over at Oh My Stickin Heck where you can search flickr by color! It’s fun and great the pics you can find this way.

I’ve been playing on Twitter a lot. Are you following me yet? If not, join the fun now!

What are you up to?

I have no idea how or why…but hell I knew I was in it for something! Now I can retire!

Thanks to Mommy Pie for the hook up!

Dear Munchkin,

I recently tried your Disposable Paper Placemats designed for eating out, because well, that’s what we do, eat out. A lot. I bought your brand because, our normal brand, Table Topper was not available that day and I figured they are all the same.

I was so so so wrong. The brand I like, by Table Topper, peels and sticks easily and removes from the table easily.

Your brand was bulky although it stuck to the table easily. But when it came time for us to clean up to go, I could not get your placemat unstuck from the table. Originally when I tried to pick it up, here is what happened to it:

It tore, leaving the long line of placemat and adhesive still stick to the table. Not a problem, we thought we’d work at it a little bit to get it unstuck and peel up the rest. Not so, it came off in pieces, like this:

So we had to work at it to get it unstuck! With our nails…and scrape and peel and scrape and peel. This is not what I need when I am trying to a) wrangle two young sons who are ready to go (and they mean NOW, not when you get the placemat cleaned up) or b) trying to have a relaxing evening out (or as relaxing as you can get with 2 young sons), this left me frustrated and angry.

So, thanks for making a product that seems like it will make your life easier, not at all.

Sincerely,

Laurie

First there was this:

Which turned into this:

Then this:

Changing to this:

And ending with this:

Oh and he got some help from a certain Big Brother we all know…

Who said R is allowed to learn how to climb stairs? You can see all the pics here. Jeesh.

I love the sense of elation I see on R’s face here. He looks so happy and thrilled to be swinging…and I get to be so happy and thrilled to share it with him.

Thanks to the car accident (hi all, I am fine), I am now sporting the mom-van. It’s not just a mini-van, it’s the grand caravan of mini-vans. I could cart around another 3-4 kids besides my own. Exactly what I need to commute to the city every day and park in a small-ish parking garage. The girl who is kind of uncomfortable driving JD’s Matrix, is now driving a bus.

I have been trying to figure out why I have been so mad about the rental car I got - I think mostly because it’s bad enough that I was in an accident and my little sweet Honda is in the shop now, fixed in a week to 10 days..but that this is the physical reminder I get everytime I go to drive somewhere:

And I am finding it it hard to swallow. Also, there’s this:

The key-fob that is smarter than me. I can’t seem to get what-side opens what-side, because am dumb.

We made it. Beautiful weather so far. The drive was pretty uneventful….

R seems to like the beach…

C took to the water in a way that amazed me - considering what happened last time…

Splash!

But really, we’re doing a lot of what I wanted…just chillin’…

In 3 days, I should be able to greet this in person:

In 3 days, this is how we’ll leave our shoes:

In 3 days, I hope this is NOT my big boy’s reaction:

In 3 days, I’ll be able to get a comparison photo of me and my first born at the beach, boy time flies when you become a mom:

(ohmigod, he looks so little here)

In 3 days, we’ll be hanging out, laughing, drinking, eating, and just having an all around great time with 3 of my favorite people:

In 3 days, I get to see this one, playing on the beach for the 1st time…

Times are good, but in 3 days, I can’t wait to see them get just a bit better!