A Sad Day

We put Taylor down this morning. We came home and it was so weird to only have Aspen greet us. And then to come upstairs and see Taylor's pillow and pictures of him makes me have a huge lump in my throat.

Thank you to everyone who has posted comments and emailed me to say sorry and tell me your pet stories. That is really comforting in a strange way. We love our pets and they're part of our family. I know time will help but for now I just want to cry and cry and cry.

My Friend Taylor

It has been a hard week for me. As I wrote in my last post, my dad moved away. And then we found out this week that our dear Taylor more than likely has prostate cancer. He has one more test tomorrow to confirm but the doctor is almost certain. He can be on medicine but that would just prolong the inevitable and who knows what his quality of life will be? I go back and forth with myself about keeping him around for a while longer. But that would mostly be for me since he seems to not even want to eat, which has always been his favorite pastime. Today is probably his last day with me. I just can’t stop crying off and on. I keep looking at him and trying to imagine my life without him and can’t go there mentally. It will feel so empty around here without him.
Taylor has been my dog for almost 13 years. As of two weeks ago he was hopping around still and making my daughter laugh. He just took a quick turn. Although 13 is old for most breeds, his breed can go well past this age and be going strong at 16.
I was in college when I got Taylor. I was working at Nine West and he made himself a nice home in a Nine West box of shoes called Thayers. I didn’t like that name so I called him Taylor. He has seen me through the end of college, through my first jobs when I’d work really odd hours and eat terribly. He was with me the short stint I went to live back home and came with me to Colorado when I was offered a job with a magazine. Together we began our life in Colorado not knowing a single soul. I found so much comfort in coming home to him and walking him around the apartment complex. I remember many nights and weekends I’d make popcorn and sit in front of the tv and curl up on the couch with Taylor right by me. I knew no matter how lonely I was, that little dog completely adored me.
Then I met my husband and Taylor started our life with us as newlyweds. It took him time but he took to B. Then came our yellow Lab Aspen who is more B’s dog than mine. Taylor endured the darn clumsy yellow Lab wanting to play with him. Then came MiniMe and MiniB. He’s just always been at my side it seems. When I nursed both my kiddos he sits at my feet. I can’t imagine him not being here. How weird that will be. Even as I type he is at my feet. When I shower he is waiting on the rug for me. He’s my shadow. He’s my friend. I love my little T. I will miss him so much. I can’t even finish this post because of my crying. There is more I wanted to say about my little T but I can’t right now. Maybe later…

Life Changes

Ican't sleep. MiniB actually hasn't woke up once yet and it is already 5:45! I can't believe it. You'd think I'd be sawing logs. But no, I can't sleep. I feel sad. I was just lying in bed feeling so sad so I thought I'd get up and do something quiet. My dad is moving away to Minnesota today. Yesterday we said goodbye. Except for the one year in college where I went to USC in LA, we've always lived within driving distance of one another (which is probably why I only lasted a year). I could always be home within 5-6 hours and as of the last year and a half, he's been as close as Denver. He'd drop in any old time. I feel sad for me. I feel sad for my kids. I know I'll see him but life feels so very different to me today. I think because I lost my mom at such a young age, I probably cling a bit closer to my dad than normal. We'll all get through this. I just need time to be sad I guess.....

On a happier note, do you know about Slide? It is really cool. I made a slide show for my recent five-year anniversary in less than a half hour! You can apply different backgrounds and themes. I like this old picture show look. I have music added to my original but left it out of my blog version.

Anyway, happy Sunday. The sun is now up and the day can officially begin. The daylight always makes things seem a bit more cheery!

Eye Candy Friday and Craft Room Update

I'm by no means a good photographer. I am a photographer in that I photograph. I love to look at photos. I love to see the photographs in everyone else's blogs and I alwasy think "How clever! Wish I thought of taking a photo of that." Seriously. One of my favorite FlickR photos is just of a gummy bear stuck on a fork. How simple and clever. So I thought Eye Candy Friday would allow me to seek out more opportunity to improve my skills or lack thereof. Or to at least find beauty in the simple. I will start small. I'm not ready for the creativity of the gummy bear/fork photo. But what better guinea pig than B's garden? My husband has a talent and a passion and that is his garden. My pictures don't do the beauty he creates justice but here I go. Hopefully my Eye Candy Fridays will get more exciting!

Now...I've heard that many of you want to see my finished craft room. Is there any room I've ever loved more? Of course I will share pics! I just love this room. It is great because my daughter can play or watch tv in the basement and I'll just put MiniB in his bouncy. I just love that all of my stuff in in one place! I have a sewing area.



My bookshelves need more books but for now it houses my patterns I mail out when someone purchases from Stripes-N-Polka Dots and my magazines and ribbons.



And my favorite area is my stash shelves. This is pretty much all of my testing yarn for now. Speaking of testing, I've bombed on a new test pattern three times now. I think the fourth time might be a charm. In my next post I'll show you the bombs and hopefully the winner.



And here is one of my greatest creations (the other being my MiniMe), my MiniB. Doesn't he look like a deer in the headlights? It seems like since I always take the photos, I'm never in them. So B took one for me.



Happy Weekend to everyone!

Minis Make Me Happy

Icame across my old gratitude journal that I used to keep when I was single. I used to write in it every night before bed. It was a great exercise in stopping to think about the things that really matter in life--especially after a stressful day. Sometimes I could tell that I had to rack my brain to find something to be grateful for that day. Other days my list went on and on.

At a stoplight today I was parked next to a Mini Cooper. It made me smile. I remembered my first car--my VW bug. How I loved that car! Anyway, back to the Coopers--I've always thought they were cute little cars. I want one--a lime green convertible one. Do they make that color? I don't care! If I could splurge on a car, that would be what I'd want. Anyway, it was a rather rough day with the kiddos (MiniMe writing on granite counter, peeing on the floor twice, temper tantrum before bed, etc.). God gave me these kids. I get to raise them. I'm reminded that I have to stop and be grateful despite how bad the day went.

Today I'm grateful for....
1. The smell of MiniMe's hair when she snuggles
2. The rolls of baby flesh on my son's legs
3. The random but funny Mini Cooper
4. Fresh cherries (I've eaten way too many today)
5. My husband's handsome blue eyes

Thanks to Bendr for the Mini image