Lousy At This Old School Bloggin' Thing

The entire month of August passed without an update from me. Did you miss me? I missed you, too, in between long sips of Pink Bikini-tini and enjoying the sunshine at the lake.

Maybe instead of going back to the days of trying to write something every few days, I should just post monthly updates instead. Of course, that would mean I'd have to ACTUALLY POST MONTHLY UPDATES. What a concept.

The end of August was a high time (the two older kids went back to school and not a moment too soon. There is a reason summer vacation is 10 weeks long because as much as we love the little buggers that's also about how long it takes for us to drive each other crazy before bloodshed or severe alcoholism kicks in.) They were thrilled to be back and once the school-bus drama (another post...maybe next month?) got sorted out, everything was coming up roses!

The low time came at the end of the month when we put our beloved-pain-in-the-ass, Marla, down. We have known since last summer the day was coming and our poor 14 year old pooch was suffering with hip dysplasia, deafness and a whole host of other problems.

Jeff and I brought her to the vet's together and I thought I was going to vomit from crying so hard. We got to spend a fair bit of time with her while the sedative was taking effect and we told her over and over how much we loved her, what a good dog she was and also saying thank you. Thank you for being so awesome, thank you for loving us even when we were total shitheads to you, thank you for giving me that extra sense of security that someone else was there to protect me and my babies if need be. In seconds, she was gone.

And I know she's not in pain and for that I'm glad, but I'm left wondering when I'm going to stop hearing her nails clicking on the floors? When will I stop walking around "her"? As in the spots in the kitchen where she was always laying down waiting for a piece of food to fall or the rug in the living room and just this morning I did a step-back/step-over because I thought (like always) she was laying on the floor right behind my feet. When will we all stop filling up her dish with water because it's there next to the water cooler?

And as of Monday this week, I'm back to work.

*sigh*

My life of leisure is officially over.

The Girls

I make beautiful babies.

I'm just sayin'.

The Hats

I love hats and this is the one I've worn for the past few summers.

My husband tells me I look like a scarecrow.

I think I look like what I am - a summertime dork.

Another Wedding Pic...

...and they're coming at you in dribs and drabs because every time I go to download a few the camera battery dies because I've forgotten to recharge it ahead of time.

But you've probably figured out that this is my son, Derek. And I think he is AWESOME.

When I Say Ugly, I MEAN Ugly...

We spend most of our summers at the lake and because I am on maternity leave we are spending more time than usual up there. Why not? I'll never have this kind of freedom again, so we're taking advantage of it.

I think some of you know that my husband is also a professional bass fisherman which means he spends a fair amount of his free time practice-fishing and doing tournaments - he had one this weekend. What I'm getting at is that while he is gone, I am with the kids keeping them entertained and this is often accomplished by playing with them in the water at our little section of beach.

After Saturday's experience I am now scanning our little piece of shoreline a lot more closely before any one of us dangles one tiny toe in the water...Livi was safe in her playpen, the dog was tied up, Dani was coloring in her books and wanting to get in the water with me but I asked her to wait a sec until I could get cooled off, which took all of 60 seconds because as you know, children are DEMANDING.

I ducked under and came up feeling cool as a cumcumber and Danielle decided she no longer wanted to get in the water. Seconds after this I'm a very happy mummy to have a child with the attention span of a gnat. I sat down in the camp chair (in the water) and watched Marla (the dog) walk 3-4 feet to my left and there she was sniffing at something, but I don't see anything, so I turned my attention back to the kids and then I heard a low growl. The kind of sound MY DOG DOES NOT MAKE. I looked back over and focused on a furry grey head that turned to stare at me and in the same second I screamed, ran for the kids, and screamed again for my neighbours, Clark and Marilyn, who came running.

It was the sickly, perhaps rabid, raccoon that has had everyone at the camp on high alert for the past two weeks. To make this story shorter, let's just say I owe Clark & Marilyn and another neighbour Paul (who did the dirty work getting rid of the critter...who knew that 2x4 would come in handy?) a lot of alcohol as thanks!

That drama ended quickly and then we looked over to find THIS UGLY THING sitting there on top of our pontoon wondering where the hell his dinner (and breakfast and lunch and brunch the day after) had disappeared to. It's a turkey vulture and they are prehistoric and frightening.

And then a bird hit the windshield that same evening.

After this, I think we're going to move into a bubble.

A Wedding

9 Weeks

That's all the time I've got left on maternity leave. How the hell does it pass so quickly?

It feels like only a few weeks ago I gave birth to Olivia and I had all the time in the world...

Baby Olivia turned 9 months old on Monday - she is crawling everywhere and pulling herself up to a standing position anywhere she can. She is a smiling, happy, easy-going baby and I thank my lucky stars to have ended my baby-career on such a lovely note.

It has been incredibly busy - so much so that my brain feels like it has been scrambled and I can't quite string together a simple sentence to explain it all. If you'll forgive me, maybe I'll just write down a few noteworthy bullet points!

• Jeff and I got married on June 12 and it was exactly what we wanted in our wedding. We had fun, the guests had fun and honeymooning was fantastic!
• The bass boat almost died. (Believe me, if you're married to any type of fisherman, but especially a bass fisherman - this is CATASTROPHIC news.)
• The kids finished school on June 22nd and we're still in shock to realize that Derek is turning 13 this fall and going into grade 8, while Danielle will be 5 and going to kindergarten.
• We are trying to decide what to do about our poor dog, Marla. Do we put her down which seems the humane thing to do or do we wait for her to go at home and traumatize the kids who may wake up and find her dead?
• If Danielle gives me attitude one more second she is going to lose every single thing in her room except her bed, a pillow and her blankets. Seriously. The shoulder-shrug and the "whatever" coming out of her mouth is enough to make me want to bitch-slap her. (And NO, OF COURSE I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, but jeezus, you other mothers get it, don't you?)
• We've been spending a lot of time at the lake because I'll never have this kind of time off work again. It really sucks to not be filthy rich.
• I'm in love with my husband. Still.
• I love my (generally) happy, and healthy children.

Life is good and I am blessed. Over to you.