RIP Maddie

Today while looking through the shelter ads for our missing dog, I found her! Omgosh - it was her! I couldn't believe that she, who's terrified of storms & fireworks, made it through 4th of July. She took off on me up at our cottage on June 30th. I posted flyers, left my name/number with all the shelters in that area, looked online at their ads - nothing. I figured she went off to pass away since she'd be 15 next month. She had been acting funny that whole day and when I tried to get her in the car, she ran from me - several times. She's never done that!

We've searched and searched and couldn't find her until today. But I was too late. They had already put her down. She was just brought in on the 21st and they never called! It was only a week that they had her and then put her down. WTH?

I'm pissed, sad and relieved all that the same time. Pissed that they didn't call. Sad because she's gone. Relieved that we now have closure. I feel so bad. I keep trying to tell myself that she lost her mind and was just out wandering happy go lucky, not scared or hungry or looking for us. But the picture above is from the ad the shelter posted, and she looks scared. She looks good otherwise, but she looks scared. They didn't have any info on her and the pic was with another dog's pic and info. OMGosh this sucks that she's gone and I was too late in finding her! I know it's for the best, because she was old, going deaf and had a tumor, but I still feel like I let her down. I hate how bad it hurts when you loose a pet. Rest in peace my sweet Maddie girl!

Stumbled Away For A While

I stumbled away for awhile and I'm sorry. I've felt like I was on one of those merry-go-rounds at the park. Ya know that kind that you can't wait to spin it in circles, the faster the better. Then you jump on and all you can do is hold on for dear life trying not to fall off (or throw up). Between personal and professional merry-go-rounds, I'm ready for a nice gallop on a springed pony!

While I wait for the ground to stop spinning, I've updated my blog with a new look and am off to mow the lawn while jamming to my favorite 80's songs on my MP3. It's so good to be back!

Yes! It's Friday!

to you all! Can you believe it's the weekend, finally? Who's ready to kick off their shoes and relax? We have a weekend full of soccer which is fantastic. Love watching the kids play. Not biased or anything, but they are good! ;) Can't wait for tonight though. I planned a bonfire and kickball game 3 mi. run at the park for Brad and me, while the kids rode their bikes. Should I mention S'mores Taco Bell, Moscoto Tequilla and shaved legs (which went to waste b/c the electrician short circuited fell asleep before the power was even tested!) Happy Friday Saturday, Happy Weekend!

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What Would You Do?
Okay blog buddies, I have a question for you. Brad and I have a family member that knew of my uncle's passing, but has yet to mention any kind of condolence to me. Sidenote: yes the person was told & yes the person is close enough that something should've been said.

We're pretty sure this person didn't pass along the news to other family members b/c Brad has yet to hear anything from them either. Another sidenote: one family member was told by us and did send along a very nice email! We love ya's! Both Brad and I are having a hard time with this b/c it's the second time this has happened. So on one hand, we aren't surprised.

And no, we didn't want gifts or anything like that. Just a simple email or text to say "Sorry to hear..." would've been enough. Yet there wasn't even that! Although we did get countless junk emails from this person over the past two weeks - so it's not a broken computer.

My question to you is, would you say anything or just let it go? If you would say something, what would you say and how would you do so? I don't want to offend the person, nor do I want to come off as a _itch, yet we are hurt that nothing was said. Who should say something? If it's my family - me? If it's Brad's family - him? Or doesn't it matter as long as one of us says something?

Can ya send a bit of advice? Thanks!!

Take Your Child To Work Day

My oldest got to go to work today with his dad. Brad's an electrician for the University of Michigan. Yes, he knows how to "turn things on" and "make sparks fly"! Here's a picture of our kiddo standing in an old bank vault.

What The _____?

Do you ever those times you find yourself scratching your head saying, What the___? You fill in the blank! There are several words I've used to end that sentence - all depending on what made me ask that question in the first place. So today I'm going to share some of my WT__ moments over this past week. The picture is of (l-r) Brad (my hubby - he thinks the glasses will hide the fear in his eyes!), me scratching my head, and Sarah (my sister's friend)

*I wasn't going to post about this because it's just nasty. But the more I thought about it, it really is amusing in hind sight. Last week as you know we buried my uncle. Well, at the viewing on Tuesday one of my daughter's came up to me and said she had something behind her ear. I looked and oh, WT__ is that? Oh $**!, it's a TICK! Talk about wanting to hide, barf, climb the wall but hello ding dong, you're the mom and you're surrounded by people at the viewing - be calm! I called Brad over and nonchalantly tried to have him look. "It's not a tick. It's just a blood blister." Seriously dear, a blood blister? Calm went out the window at that point. "Um, no! It's frickin tick! There's legs that are moving!" I know, gross, sorry. So we go into another room and I get on the phone to a friend who's a nurse. My sis gets on her phone and pulls up "How To Remove A Tick". We tried touching it with a heated tweezer end, nope. Tried freezing it's nasty @$$ with an ice cube, nope. Thankfully there was an urgent care at the end of the street, so Brad took our little bug girl for a visit. Good news, tick removed quickly & no sign of infection and it's not a deer tick. Not sure the kind (nor do I care), but apparently it's rare b/c 15 staffers came in to look at it. Leave it to The Smith's to add excitement to a viewing and then be a freak show at the Urgent Care. WT__?

*Funeral day comes and we arrive at the funeral home to be greeted by my uncle's "daughter". Long story short: uncle sterile - wife had 2 kids - U guessed it, not uncle's (DNA proved it) - divorce and only maybe 5 visits with my uncle for their entire life. "Daughter" beat all the family there that morning, told staff when asked she was his daughter and was waving her birth certificate all around while crying, sobbing, talking loudly and acting like she was on something. She said she flew in from Missouri yet her car was the first in the processional line b/c she arrived first and after all, is the daughter. WTHeck? If she had been smoking something, she could've shared at that point! The sad thing is, her daughter and husband were there too. The hubby was in his military uniform and kept quiet, and I felt so bad for him. All in all, the family did a good job keeping our mouths shut and not strangling this "stranger". Pastor also was a great help by removing her from the room. All during the funeral it was sob, snot, whah! Oh brother. Wait, or should I say cousin? Anyways, long lost daughter can't stay for the cemetary and leaves. But as we pull into the lot, guess who's pulling out? WT__?

*Now fast fwd. to Monday. My aunt decided to start the procedures of notifying the insurance co. and such. To her surprise, they had already been contacted. What? By Who? U guessed it, WackO had already called last Tuesday the day of the viewing! Another shocker, she might be the beneficiary to everything. WT__? It looks like my uncle had the kids as beneficiaries when he thought they were his and may not have gotten off his royal behind to change it. Oh crap this is going to be a bitter, nasty battle. Again I say, WTHeck?

*How about a good WT__? We went with my sister, her friend & her friends daughter to Kings Island in Ohio this past Sunday. I kind of conquered my fear of rollercoasters. I'm still terrified of them, but will ride again. I went on The Beast, The Racers, Vortex, FireHawk, all the Planet Snoopy kid rides, Monster, Scrambler, Shake/Rattle & Roll, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill and Drop Tower. This one was a WT__ moment! They strap you in, spin you up the 315 ft tower, then plumet back down at 67 mph. How fun, exciting, scarey, envigorating and memorable! But you guessed it, that was a WT____ am I doing time. Totally thought we were going to die and orphan our children. Kept praying for God to not make it hurt when I smashed to the ground! And our 10yr son. Oh he was not a happy camper. Think he had a WT__ moment too!

We Only Got 86,400 Seconds In A Day

So what are you waiting for?

As Kris Allen say's in his song Live Like We're Dying,
"We gotta start looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying.
We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying"

So what are you waiting for? Make your "Bucket List". Get it out of your head and write it down on paper. Post it on your fridge and start living your life. Don't make excuses. Even if it's something simple like taking a walk at the end of your day - get off your a$$ and do it! If we start small we can accomplish big things. We don't know what today has in store for us. What if you had a stoke at the end of the day that left you paralyzed and unable to speak? Would you regret your life until that moment?

Why is it that if we are healthy, we all wait until a funeral to re-energize our view of life? We promise during the funeral to start living life but then revert back to not making time for fun and special moments in our lives. We get too caught up make a living and not a life. So why not make today be the day that you really start to live like you're dying? Honestly, we don't know how many more seconds we have left to hear the birds chirp, feel the sun on our cheeks, dance in the rain, blow bubbles, conquer our fear of roller coasters, tell someone how much we love them or have a beer in Mexico.

Start looking at the hands of the time you've been given, turn it all around... Live, live, live!!!!