Well, Oreo is not the only animal to impact our lives this week. We spent Thursday, Friday, and most of Saturday without television, internet or a home phone because a nice little squirrel chewed through all of our wires. We're hoping he will leave the new wires alone until we can get some help from wildlife services (we can't get the squirrel out of the crawl space, and he is also spending some time in the attic). Not having television and internet has been a little frustrating considering we missed Black Friday online shopping and lots of football, but we still had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We visited family on Thursday and Friday, and we have been able to relax today. I am not ready to return to our regular schedule on Monday. I guess I can look forward to Christmas break!

Labels: Family and Friends

Monday morning, this precious girl joined our family.

A new puppy is time consuming in much the same way as a new baby, so I am not getting a lot done, but the transition is going remarkably well. Our precious Oreo didn't cry at all the first night in her crate, and she went SEVEN hours without going to the bathroom. I took her out after 5 hours when I heard her stir, but she didn't go. I put her back in her crate and she went back to sleep for two more hours. Since she is only nine weeks old, I was shocked! I am not expecting a repeat performance tonight, but since I had two babies who were HORRIBLE sleepers, the first night gives me hope that my puppy will not follow in their footsteps. Also, we were very excited today when Oreo went to the door to be let out to go to the potty. We felt that this was a great sign for only the second day of potty-training.

See, having a puppy is a lot like having a baby...potty habits consume you in a way you never thought they would! We are so glad to have Oreo here. She is so sweet and playful, and we are looking forward to many years with her!

Labels: Family and Friends

I haven't posted in a while, and I have had a good reason. The kids and I just returned from six nights at our favorite place: Disney World! We had a fun trip, and we were thrilled to meet up with three other families from home during our trip. If you have read my blog for a while, you know I will be posting about the trip (all of you can be glad this trip was only 6 days instead of 10). Before I do, I am planning to get my Disney Photopass pictures so I can include them in the posts.

It's a good thing that I will have to wait to write about Disney because I don't have time to post right now. What am I doing? I am busy with unpacking, laundry, and grocery shopping today, and we are picking up Oreo on Monday. I think I am going to get all the sleep I can for the next three nights. I need to recover from Disney and prepare for a puppy!

Labels: Me

I am excited to say that I met another running goal on Saturday morning. While it was still dark, I crept out of my warm bed and snuck out into the cold. Since I am one who detests being cold, leaving my comfy bed was an accomplishment by itself. By the time I arrived at the 10K race in Nashville, it was sunny, but still a chilly 33 degrees.

I have been having knee issues, so I questioned whether or not I should participate (I may regret it Sunday). Since I am very goal oriented, I really wanted to follow through with my plan, so I lined up at the start, knee pain and all. Although my knee hurt the entire 6.2 miles, I am happy to say that I finished the 10K in 1:09:19. My goal was to finish in less than 1:15, so I was pleased with this time. The course included some very steep hills, so this added to my sense of joy when I was able to meet my time goal.

With the exception of my knee, I feel great, so I am hopeful my knee will start cooperating. I am pretty sure I have bursitis, but I am going to get it checked out on Tuesday. I do not want anything to keep me from my half-marathon goal!

Labels: Me

Last Friday, my Best Girl celebrated her sixth birthday with friends at her dad's favorite place (HA!).

The ten giggly girls had a wonderful time.

Most of the girls were from my Best Girl's kindergarten class, and they were surprised and thrilled when their teacher joined the fun. I had no idea Mrs. B. was coming, so I was as surprised as the kids. She said, "I just had to come see my girls!" Since she has three children of her own, I thought this gesture was above and beyond the call of teacher duty! I know she had better things to do on a Friday evening; we are very blessed to have such a caring teacher. You can see how much my Best Girl loves her.

The evening was a fun one, and my Best Girl didn't stop smiling all night. Near the end of the party, she got to enter the ticket booth. She had been looking forward to this for months.

As we were leaving, my husband said, "I'm glad that's over. We won't be coming back here for a while." Then my son said, "But Dad, I want to have my party here, too!" I guess Dad gets to come back to his favorite place at the end of January! :)

Labels: My Best Girl