Heartache

Once again, we've lost a beloved pet. Our five year old kitty Lottie had some health issues over the past month and seemed to be doing better. Late last week she rapidly started to deteriorate and we took her back to the vet. The vet phoned me early Saturday morning to say that they'd lost her in the night. Lottie was undoubtedly one of the sweetest kitties that God put on this Earth. We still have two cats plus Kelsey's cat that comes home from school with her on breaks, but losing Lottie is still so very painful.
This pic is Lottie with our basset hound Fred, who many of you will remember we lost a little over two years ago. They were good buddies and I like to think that maybe they're together again.

Here's a few pics taken shortly after we first rescued Lottie and her brother. He went to live with Lindsay's best friend and is fat and happy.

Thanks for letting me share - if you have a pet, please give them a few extra strokes so they know just how special they are to you.

Laurie

Boogie on the Bricks '11, guaranteed fun!

This weekend is the annual Boogie on the Bricks in Athens, home of Ohio University in southeastern Ohio - about two hours away. I have a lot of family in the Athens area and Lindsay graduated from OU so we've spent a significant amount of time there. Athens is a nice little town with about a dozen bars in its downtown and the majority of the streets have remained brick - beautiful to look at, especially given the beautiful surroundings of the OU campus, but a little bumpy when traveling by car. There's an interesting mix of galleries, shops and restaurants in the area too. The main street is closed off for Boogie on the Bricks, a stage is set up at the end of the street and several local bands play all afternoon and into the evening.
There's a group of us "girls" going and we're looking forward to a great time. Those attending? Both of my daughters, my best friend of 34 years, my oldest daughter's best friend since second grade, and my oldest daughter's future stepmother-in-law. We're spending the night and because there will most likely be a little alcohol along with the boogie, we'll be cabbing it to the downtown and back to the hotel.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I have a birthday this Sunday and have decided to call it "springing forward" rather than "getting older" - it softens the blow just a tad!
Laurie

Knocking the dust off

I've been very neglectful, haven't I? I knew I was being lazy, but didn't realize just how lazy until a friend contacted another friend, who then contacted other friends, asking if I was ok. I even had an email from a reader friend from here inquiring whether something was wrong. My apologies.
To be honest, I've been a little stressed at work and just lost interest for a while. I was barely skimming emails and hadn't logged onto Twitter for a few weeks. Things are still stressful, but I'm coming to grips with the changes and am trying to charge onward and upward.
For those who were concerned, I thank you for caring. I imagine the damage is done and I've likely lost a quite a few readers, but I'm hopeful that once things pick up they might straggle back and bring their friends!
Thanks for being patient and sticking with me!
Laurie