Back To Life...Back To Reality

Good morning!!!! I'm ba-aaa-ack! (Thanks for the warning, huh?) ;)

Oh, I had such a lovely time away at the North Shore with my mom, my sisters, Bridgette and nieces. Great company, great times!!! We had some of the BEST weather...sunshiney and warm (which is pretty fortunate for the testy Lake Superior shoreline...the past few years have been rather chilly there...). I'll post some pictures in the days to come. I feel guilty spending too much time on-line...I've mounds of laundry and writing commitments I MUST tend to today! I've had plenty of play time the past week (and a lunch date in a few hours with girlfriends...).

So, like I said, I had the most FABULOUS time. Angel did not. (For those of you who are not my regular readers, Angel is my little papillon dog. Yes...I'm one of those people.) The morning before I left, wouldn't you know it, Bridgette came to me and told me that Angel's bed smelled. (Angel usually roams free in Bridgette's room and sleeps on her cushion on the floor, but Bridgette had locked Angel in her crate/bed that night.) Now, Angel ALMOST NEVER has accidents - that's one of the things I love about her. She's has only messed in the house once or twice since I've trained her. And, I can't remember if she's ever been sick. Until now - doesn't it just figure? Well, she got deathly ill - and poor Mike (who doesn't particularly love my dog, anyhow) had to deal with a deathly ill dog while I was gone. I was pretty worried about her while I was away. She spent one night at the vet. She was sick for one whole week. She got special food and didn't actually start keeping things in like a normal dog until I got back on Saturday - so for a whole week - 7 days - this poor 10 pound dog was dehydrated and on two different pills and eating measured amounts of a special canned food. And, my VERY LOVED husband had taken very good care of her during a very busy time at work - taking her to the vet and corralling her in the kitchen and scrubbing the floor almost daily. Poor guy. (Now that's true love, ladies...he certainly didn't do it because he loved the dog...he did it because he loved me. Awww...) But, Angel is now on the right track - allowed to roam the whole house again, and in two days will be returned to her regular food. Yeah! How's that for telling you more than you wanted to know? :) Anyhow, for that reason, I was a little anxious to get home. I didn't know how bad off Angel was (she had lost weight and was REALLY HAPPY to see me!!!).

My vacation, though - it couldn't have been more perfect. I'm lucky to enjoy my family so much. I know a lot of my friends would be mortified to spend so much time with their sisters and mom. Not me. We took two cars, because there were so many of us. My nieces were driving my Mom's car and took Bridgette with them. So, I rode with my sisters and my mom. At one point my mom said she thought if we laughed any harder, we may have wet our seats! It was honestly that much fun. And, it was constant. The thing with going with so many people is that you have the different personalities, too - so somebody is always game to do whatever you want. A lot of the crew are laid back and pokey. Not me...and, luckily not my sister Deanna, either. They call us hyper - so, we were up and dressed while the others lounged in the morning. Deanna and I would go out and site see and let the others waste their time lolly-gag around. The second day, Bridgette and my niece Jackie joined us and we spent too much time letting the others get ready in the morning. They called our cell phones and told us to come back and pick them up. They didn't want to miss out on our fun!!! :) And, did we ever have fun!!! Wherever we went, that is where the party was.

And when I got home, there was a package waiting for me from another special buddy I've made. Some of you know her the way I do. Jenn from Seizing My Day sent me a present in the mail, so that it would be waiting for me when I got back. She sewed me a scented eye pillow. She also included a beaded bookmark and a chocolate bar in the package. Thanks, Jenn! You are SO SWEET!!! I will definitely use all of them! I love homemade gifts. The chocolate bar was enclosed in a plastic sandwich bag...good thing - it's a little misshapen by the heat. ;) Lucky for me, my chocoholic stomach will not know the difference - it looks absolutely delicious!! And, another lucky thing for me, after my family dropped me off from our vacation, my sister took Aaron and Bridgette home. She lives in the same town as my in-laws about 5 1/2 hours away, so she's going to drop them off there for me and then next weekend my in-laws will be coming for a visit here and drop them off back at home. So...no kids this week! And, that means no kids to eat my chocolate bar! So, I will be sure to enjoy it all by myself!!! Great timing, Jenn!!!!! :)

Well, it's off to tackle my mountain of laundry and scrub my floors...my way. :) Have a great day!!!!