Saying Goodbye

A lovely guy came early this morning to pick up 

this table. Hannah had re-listed it for sale and this time

Bam! right away.

Slowly but surely my things are going 

away to new homes and making new memories.

As they were loading pieces onto the truck, 

I started weeping and Hannah my sweet girl

immediately understood why.

I got a tremendous buy on that table and

 bought it specifically for this house

26 years ago. I painted all the pieces

including the china cupboard that is now

also gone after the Oct sale.

So many memories took place 

around that table. Birthday parties,

holidays, my annual Christmas sit down

dinners for 12 friends,

and every night dinners when it was

still the four of us. 

So happy and grateful for our home 

and our family. 

Minutes after the buyer drove away,

I was saying goodbye to darling daughter and 

her loves Tom and David.

The tears then flowed some more.

I am so weary of saying goodbye.

Being forced to let go of loved ones 

and cherished keepsakes,

even though it is the process of life.

These two

"How lucky I am to have something

that makes saying goodbye so hard."  pooh

Ugly Cry

Every year someone gives a gift to mama

that results in an ugly cry.

This year the winner was Hannah,

with a memento of my four - four legged loves.

Gadget and Libbey came before the blog but have 

been mentioned of course.

Justice and Howie have been blog subjects 

since the first day. 

It's been hard with the granddogs here.

A constant reminder of what is missing.

The sounds of a dog jumping off a bed then

hitting the floor. Nails scrambling across the tile

as they make the sharp turn into the kitchen.

Doggie sighs as they settle down to sleep

in their chosen chairs.

Sounds of lapping at the water bowl. 

Even doggie farts, thank you David.

I miss it all until I ache.

One kid couple in Michigan since Sunday.

Other kid couple at his dad's today.

I'm going to watch movies and 

bake and eat cookies till I'm ill.

Merry Christmas to all

and may god help us next year.

I fear some more ugly cries.

Getting Comfy

The Granddog is getting comfy.

I got out of the shower this a.m. to find him 

in my bed. 

His folks worry about him but I 

think he is doing alright. 

The bed will remain unmade 

as I do not have the heart to disturb him.

I'm a pushover.

Memory Tree

For many years I had two 

large gates in my hallway

covered with memorabilia,

 many of the pieces are gifts

 from blog friends. 

The majority from my very 

special friend Carole.

I sold the gates at my last sale 

and the pieces that hung on them

 sat in a box on my bedroom 

floor for over two months.

Today I remembered this skinny tree

 tucked away in a closet

and trimmed it out with anything 

from the box that would fit.

One small star light strand up the middle. 

There are keys from my dad, 

the first wishbone from my

first turkey with my husband, 

trinkets I made long ago, milagros, 

even a pocket watch.

The memories make me happy.

Good thoughts to help me sleep.

Counting the days till kids and grand-dogs arrive.

I'm grand-dog sitting David the talking husky.

 Good thing we spent the week

sleeping together at Thanksgiving so he 

won't be worried about his folks. I hope...

Not everyone can be here at the same time,

so a very patchwork holiday.

January may bring a very special gift for me.

It is not for sure just yet, but soon I may have

another best friend to share my life.

It arrives not in the manner I had planned,

but it is a gift out of love and friendship to me.

I am cautiously excited.

How is everything going for you?

Z

Priscilla

This ball of energy came very close to being renamed

Mamie Eisenhower, an homage to Howie,

 whose real name was Eisenhower,

and coming to live with me.

 I spent last week in LA with the kids

and my DD#2 had scheduled an appointment

at the dog cafe for Saturday.

There you get to spend one hour in a large room

 playing with available dogs and then you fill out an

extensive application, home visit etc.

I went with an attitude that this is all too soon,

and I had a certain type in mind...

Priscilla hopped onto my lap within minutes 

and promptly fell asleep in my arms.

I was in love.

 She stayed there about 40 minutes

until suddenly her best friend 

Randy was adopted and left.

She was frantic.

If you go to the link and are in LA 

Vivien was also a love, but too large for me

while carrying 0/2.

We left, and Ben and Hannah

filled out the application ( right outside the door)

as time was of the essence.

It took 45 minutes doing that, and that night we answered

 a zillion questions on line and sent pics of entire home.

Fast forward we discovered she had been returned

 once already due to her super high energy 

( they referred to her as tazmanian devil) 

which did not scare me too much 

as she was only 8 months old.

But the first three weeks after adoption, 

she would have to live in 

LA with Tom and Hannah who work A LOT

and she would add stress to their schedules.

Then we planned they would drive

 her to me at Christmas.

When we discovered the hyperactivity

 I decided the timing wasn't right 

and so I removed my application.

This is not a "first serve" 

they "SELECT" the best fit for the dog. 

Ben and Helene took me to two more shelters on Sunday

but I didn't connect with any other pooches.

At first it felt like serendipity with Priscilla even though

I am still grieving, but then my practical self

said don't rush, it'll happen.

A week with the kids was amazing. 

David my grand-dog slept with me every night.

I can now tell you that Ben and Helene

bought a house. They close very soon.

They are beyond excited 

and then 5 months later the wedding!!!

Excited and uber stressed

I missed being able to see inside or help the move

by one week. Things were delayed.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious.

I made a five cheese mac and cheese

( first time we had for turkey day) that I 

will make again, and Ben made

 his famous sausage stuffing 

and Hannah cooked a perfect bird. 

Of course I came home with a horrific cold/cough

Luckily driving like a bat out of hell

 got me home in 4 hours.

I got my 0/2 and perishables out of the car

and left everything else in it.

It may stay there till the weekend.

Gonna catch up with Y'all soon.

Is it really December 3rd already!!

Damn I only have the porch decorated so far.

Maybe we'll just hang there the whole time. 

Z