Life. Off track, back on track, then completely derailed, and now heading off a cliff.

So....

I believe I was last here on the 4th or 5th? Where have I been since then? Get comfortable and buckle your seatbelt. This will have little to do with the dogs, who are supposed to be the stars of the show here, but since I try to be diligent about writing, I should address the moments when everything goes far too haywire to handle and I disappear.

First, let's go back to last week Tuesday. It started out as a great day. We had a few conversations about sending out invites to hold a small gathering at our house the coming Thursday or Friday. I knew Saturday wouldn't work, it was my sister's college graduation ceremony. I know Sunday wouldn't work, because it was Mother's Day, and of course, that requires that we travel all over to kiss our mothers and grandmother and etc. So Thursday was looking good if it worked for our intended guests.

So there I was, last week Tuesday, making plans. And there I went, Tuesday afternoon, to get my hair cut. This should have been uneventful. I went to a salon with my mother and we both left looking differently than we'd entered. She had a nice cut and a color. I had nearly a whole standard ruler length of hair removed and neatly tied into a ponytail for donation to a company that makes wigs for children with cancer.

There we sat next to one another in chairs, my mother's head getting covered in squares of foil. Her phone rang. She had some weird intuition, because she wouldn't let it go. I dug through her purse, and missed it by a second. It rang again. It was my sister, who'd had a car accident. She is fine. But her car is a bit damaged. She also had a miserable final exam, a wretched day, and was extremely upset.

The salon became a long drawn out endeavor. Everything took longer than expected. We didn't leave until just after their closing time. Exhausted. No plans were made when I got home. Everything just got pushed out until the following day.

Ater the head makeover and the announcement of my sister's car accident, the next morning, I got my act together and got back on track - still planning to host friends and have some fun. Then, the train of life was completely derailed again.

My grandmother was found to be now incapable of grocery shopping for herself. Since I am out of work, I will be the one to take her every week. Starting... Now! (This I am actually very happy about. I've not loved the idea of her driving lately....) But, of course, it wasn't planned for, initially, and added to the "to-do" list to juggle.

Then, my mother ended up in the hospital for a couple days.

My sister graduated MSU.

I started my masters thesis class - and found I have to be on the FAST TRACK to finish, or I have to re-take classes in order to get my masters degree. This is not an option, as we have no extra money to speak of.

We finished the gate. Then, we added the wheel on the bottom later on so it doesn't droop.

Life has been on fast forward, and I can hardly keep up.

Then we helped friends move their belongings from a storage unit in Canada to their home over here.

During all of this, Aaron's classes have been going on. Last night was his last Statistics test. He got an A in the course, but this because we've both been working our tails off.

Also during all of this, I've been trying to keep up the job search. Also during all of this, I've had several friends contact me for support upon losing their jobs. It's a sad, scary time.

Posting will be light for some time now. I have a matter of only WEEKS to finish my thesis, and I cannot miss the deadline. Aaron starts his next round of classes tomorrow night, and he's got two accelerated core classes for the summer. I believe there is a pretty darn good chance he may be done next spring, and get a fancy new piece of paper to hang on the wall. This is unconfirmed, but looking at how quickly he has we have been able to tackle it all, there's a good chance it will work out that way.

The dogs are doing great. The only news I have of late is that Mr. Jordy Jordinsky is learnng what CATS are. :-D And it's really cute. He's so curious. He has no idea what they really are. They aren't people, they aren't dogs, but they're alive, moving, and making noise. Not to mention, they move fast. He's having a ball with this. The family of foxes in the woods next door is doing amazing. The 7 babies are each already about 2/3 the size of their mother. They look much redder now. It appears they are learning to hunt for themselves. Aaron saw one of the youngsters recently with a black squirrel in his mouth.

So, the plan is.... I am going to get through the next several weeks however possible. Very little sleep. A ton of perseverance.

And then, we'll either have a BBQ in the backyard, or a picnic at the dog park. Or, maybe both! But for now, I have to keep my nose to the grindstone and get it all done.

P.S. By the way, I think it speaks to the way things have been going to noticed that I started this post on May 13th, and have come back to it at least five times with not enough time to actually finish any of it, and it's finally getting posted more than one week later. That is a perfect testament to how life is right now, and will remain for the next few weeks. Please be patient. I'm in a crunch! I'll return soon, and will probably be deep in celebration for the passing of this latest bout of stress and crap.

The Stick Game

Here's how it's played:
1. One dog finds a suitable stick.
2. The finder of the stick invites the other to play the game.
3. Tug-of-war ensues.
4. Eventually, someone wins. If Mackenzie wins, she doesn't get too far away before Jordy latches back on and the process repeats. If Jordy wins, there is s lengthy game of chase. Eventually, he will drop the stick or offer it back to her, and the process repeats. Either way, the process always repeats.... They never get tired of this game.

Jordy's Best Day

Early yesterday morning, around 7 a.m., while Mackenzie rested in the shady backyard, Jordy and I set off on a mile and a half jog to pick up my car from my parent's house. (I loaned it to them while their car was in the bump shop.) Since I loaned them my car, I also loaned them my keys.

Kenzie stayed home because she's not always good with tiny dogs, and my parents have two of them: a Jack Russell and a Shih Tzu.

We got to our destination to find that my car wasn't there. My dad headed to work, and took my car, so the paint could sit longer on his and dry/cure. This is not a problem. I just didn't know. I should have called beforehand, but I didn't want to wake anyone up.

There we were at my parents' house with no key to get back in even if we jogged back home. We were stuck.

This meant that Jordy got to explore a new backyard for hours, and play with two new playmates. He even got naughty and had half his body in my mother's pond... Thankfully, he didn't catch any of her koi. Hours later, I got my keys (and car) back, we headed home, and about four hours later we all went for a two mile walk with the neighbors and their dog. We all got home, and the humans decided it would be fun to walk some more and burn off the heavy dinner we had. (We and the neighbors went out for pizza.) Mackenzie had her fill with the two miles, and little Hailey's short legs can't make it much further than that. But Jordy? He's never tired, so he got to go on another three mile walk with just the humans. Spoiled! He found a stick, peed on many trees, and explored new territory where we hadn't walked before.

It was a busy day for the Jordinsky boy.

Mackenzie handles her long walks better and better every week. Tomorrow morning, she and I are running up to the vet to get her weighed and see her progress. We can see a big difference in her "waistline" already. (I wish my waistline progress would catch up!)

Lap Dog

Jordy has picked someone else to sit on this time.

Best Friends

Do your dogs hold hands?

Ours do! :o)