Animal Crackers

 

Meet Wayne and Garth, or actually, that's Garth on the left. Just when I thought we were close to being empty nesters. . .

And meet Bruno.

He doesn't always sit at the dining room table. He thought he was so clever.

After Molly and Mosby died, we swore we'd be dog-free for a while, maybe forever. I offered to dog-sit for a co-worker/friend, and when she ended up being in need, while her teenage son was ill, it seemed a good arrangement. Come to find out, the dog had gotten bigger than she'd planned on, and he was outgrowing their two-bedroom apartment. The son got better, but Bruno stayed with us. I think her son has finally forgiven his mother and me for our collusion.

The kitties, well, "they" were supposed to be "a" kitten, promised for my birthday. But when we went to the animal shelter, there were these brothers and we hadn't the heart to separate them. So Wayne and Garth came home too. I'll take credit for the names, but we were all coming up with various duos. Batman and Robin. Cheech and Chong. No-- I didn't want to have to explain the drug references, or encourage the 15-year old to watch those old movies to understand the characters. Wayne's World was juvenile enough for me, thank you very much. And somehow the kittens are growing into the characters.

My goal is to get a picture of the dog and the kitties together, but detante is still a distant dream. They do play together, but there's no snuggling yet. I have hopes.

Slacker Update

I troll my regular haunts online and realize what slacker I am about this blog. I didn't mean to be away for so long! Anyway, I'm heading to Colorado tommorrow to visit the College Boy over the Easter weekend, taking bright-eyed younger son with me. I'm very excited for the trip and promise to take lots of pictures. I'll get mauled by the grand-dog as an added bonus. It is College Boy's last collegiate race in Fort Collins, and promises to be very exciting. I have no idea how to pack; it was 80 degrees there last week, and it snowed yesterday. Layers it is.

Hard to believe this is the last year of college for Zack. The last four years have been a blur.

Happier Times

Today would have been my mother's 75th birthday. Hard to imagine. She was just a couple of years older than I am now when her MS advanced to the point that she needed nursing home care, and only 63 when she died. That seems so much younger now than it did then!

This photo is four generations, my grandmother on the left, my oldest brother, his brand new son, and my mother on the right. She was 40 in this photo. I remember her lamenting that, at 40, she was too young to be a grandmother. I rolled my eyes, as I recall, but I can certainly relate now. I'm ten years older than she is in this picture and I know I'm not ready for grandchildren.

She knew she had MS when this picture was taken, but it hadn't really slowed her down yet. It would be 10 or so years later when she was immobilized. I like to remember her as she is here. Healthy, glowing with pride, beautiful.

Happy birthday, mom. . .