Thank You To My Husband

I want to say happy anniversary to my amazing husband, Chris.  He rescued me after I had already decided I'd never fall in love again.

A best friend that turned into the love of my life, Chris has supported me and loved me more than I ever could have imagined. 
I wonder if the next 7 years will go by this quickly...

Project 365 Week 35

Sorry I've been gone for so long, I had an abbreviated trip to Washington D.C. for BlogPaws, but I'm back for Project 365.  I missed a couple days, but I hope to do better now that things will be settled down.

Sunday, August 21 - Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sunday - no picture

Monday

Me getting ready to represent Pet Blogs United at BlogPaws.

Tuesday

Oskar soaking up some sunshine.  He's going for a groom on Tuesday & I think he looks grumpy about it.

Wednesday

I arrived in D.C. & braved a cab & subway ride to go into see the monuments.  Something that I'm pretty proud of myself for doing, giving my anxiety issues.  I decided to spend my day inside the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  I was planning on seeing the monuments on Friday night, but unfortunately I missed out on that as I had to fly home on Friday instead of Sunday.

Thursday

Flat Oskar with my BlogPaws swag bag!

Friday

Flat Oskar & Flat Tyler with 2 of the guys from Rescue Ink, the Discovery Channel television show.

Saturday

Chris lit off some fireworks to celebrate our upcoming anniversary.  It will be 7 years tomorrow!

I'll be post more about my trip this week.  For more Project 365, go & say hi to my friend Sara.

Project 365, Week 34

A look at my life un-edited & un-retouched.

Sunday, August 14 - Saturday, August 20

This is a pretty boring week!  All animal related shots that I was able to take while I was running around this week.  I didn't even get any shots of my boys this week.  Being teenagers either they are always gone, or not wanting their picture taken.

Sunday:

Chloe, my full figured cat.

Monday:

Iams sent me a bunch of auction items for the animal charity group I work with Paws of Peace and out Crossed Paws auction.  We're currently raising funds to cover the surgery expenses of some great pugs.  There's jewelery, home items & pet items, so click over to the auction and take a look around.

Tuesday:

This is from my Cute Overload calender, but I love the freckles on this pup's nose!

Wednesday:

Moe sleeping.  I think the paw over her face makes it looks like she has such a tough life!

Thursday:

Oskar saying hello.

Friday:

It's not a very good picture, but this huge bird was sitting on our fence.  It might be watching for the little bunnies that live in our yard.

Saturday:

Oskar & Chloe found rat TV fascinating!

Click on over to Sara's place to check out the rest of the Project 365 players!

Project 365 Weeks 32 & 33

I have a catch up to do so this is two weeks worth of pictures. 

Sunday, July 31 - Saturday, August 14, 2011

Sunday - no picture

Monday 8/1
Moe the kitty relaxin'

Tuesday 8/2
A huge bug came by to say hi

Wednesday 8/3 - no pic
Thursday 8/4
Some of our Flat Pets on the Expo floor at BlogHer.  They were in front a a huge bar of Ivory soap being carved at the Proctor & Gamble exhibit.  I have to say that P&G, especially the pet foods division showed us bloggers a fantastic time!  You can see Flat Oskar on the end.

Friday 8/5
The marina outside of my hotel window in San Diego for BlogHer.  It was a great conference, but my cell phone died, so I couldn't reach my blogging friend, Blue Violet, to meet up in real life :(

 Saturday 8/6
The amazing creme brulee that I had for dessert.  It was to die for!

Sunday 8/7 - I spent the whole day flying & running for planes.  No pics.

Monday 8/8
Fluffy Oskar meets Flat Oskar.  They seem to get along just fine!

Tuesday 8/9
Another batch of dog treats Oskar gets to taste test.  This dog has got it made!

Wednesday 8/10
Oskar saving me a seat on the couch.  After my trip I enjoyed spending down time with my buddy.

Thursday 8/11 - no pic

Friday 8/12 - no pic

Saturday 8/13
Just Chloe loafin' around!

Thanks to all of my blogging friends who have been hanging in there with me!  I hope to be back more often now that things are settling down.

For all of the other Project 365 posts go visit Sara.

A Time For Memories

Today at the funeral home visitation for my grandmother I had so many happy memories flashing through my head.  Stories that spoke from picture boards, some stories I knew, some I had to ask about.  Hearing stories from my mom & her 8 siblings about growing up with trips to the family farms, trouble they got into as 9 kids with no money under one roof.  A story my mom shared with us about my grandma's passing that she told to me & my children to have and to remember.

When my grandma passed she had my grandpa and all 9 of her children surrounding her.  I hope we are all so blessed as to have such a loving passing, and wish that I wasn't an only child, so that I had a large family to lean on when my turn comes to start letting the next generation pass. 

The love and grace and closeness that my mom & her siblings share is a special thing that I think all of my cousins wish for.  My parents generation only went so high as three children per family, and there are quite a few of us "onlies" in the group.

My mom's family is of a generation that you don't see much anymore and the legacy that they carry down from is quickly dying out.  My grandma was a young wife & mother when she went to work in the factories while my grandpa was out fighting in a tank, on the front lines in Germany.  They didn't have much and didn't expect much, but they all had each other. 

We all marvelled that at the funeral home my grandmothers nails were painted.  We had never seen that in our lives.  She was always working in the dirt with her garden, or canning what they harvested from the garden.  Baking rhubard pies from scratch & crocheting many things for her children, grandchildren & great grandchildren.  Making the best home made fried chicken in the ancient cast iron that was ever present with her stove.  Those hands were never still.

My mom commented how my grandma had such terrible gout in her fingers making things harder and painful for her to do, but today laying in her casket her hands were not swollen or painful.  They were holding her rosary, with a faint touch of fancy nail polish, finally pain free.  Amen.