iris with green dog

hard to say which is funnier. The clueless dog, of the laughing (equally clueless) dog owner.

yes, I really do crack myself up.

m

You say it's your birthday!

hello 40!!!

I've been thinking a lot about my not so minor freak out about leaving my 30's.

Here's the thing: My 30's rocked my socks off.

• I had Noah, the best boy in the entire world.
• I met, fell in love with, and married Peter.
• We added to our family with two beautiful, funny, adorable girls.
• I became a Catholic and strengthened by relationship with God.
• I started scrapbooking and taught classes with uber talented artists at my favorite store.
• I wrote a book! Thought of it, designed it, worked on it for 2 years, and even finished it!!!
• I met a group of women whose friendships mean more to me than I could possible explain.
• We found a great house that, even with the crazy small backyard, we totally love.
• We both have jobs/careers that we love.
• and most recently, we found Iris and added her to our family.

And that's just the big stuff. That doesn't count every laugh I've heard from my kids in the other room, every smile they've giving to me, every fight that got worked out. Every debt we've managed to pay off. Every baseball game, or karate tournament, or talent show. That doesn't count every funny exchange between peter and I or every time we make each other bust out in laughter.

My thirties kicked ass! Plain and Simple. How could my 40's possibly measure up to a list like that? I've wondered that all week, coming into today. I woke assuming I would feel exactly the same. Everyone said I would, and I saw no reason not to believe them. Here's the thing. I DON'T feel the same. I feel BETTER. If my thirties kicked my twenties stupid butt, my 40's are going to do the same, I just know it.

So bring it on new decade! Show me what you got. You're got big shoes to fill, and I know you're going to rock the house!

m

it's a miracle we

We have been doing our taxes, this is a conversation we continually have about getting all the necessary information to Lynn, the CPA. I started out confused and it only got worse.

Me: See attached for number. Please call to get the 08 number for CPA

P: Looking for interest – not taxes

Me: Duh. Where is the number?

P: Don’t know

Me: Well who is our lender? This is for 08

P: Accredited?

Me: Hahahahha I think so. You do pay it, don’t you?

P: ME????? I thought you paid it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: Har har.

P: Don’t laugh – just looked at my bank acct and I did not pay May. They never pulled it out of my acct.

Me: Well now you have two reasons to call them.

P: STILL don’t know the #

me

This looked fun

And it was :)

take your answer for each of the following 12 questions and do a google image search of it:

•name
•favorite food
•hometown
•favorite colour
•favorite movie
•favorite drink
•dream vacation
•favorite dessert
•self description
•how you are feeling
•favorite thing in the world
•what you want to be when you grow up.


go here to make a mosiac

(idea from Stacey )

Iris and Noah

I really only have a few things to say about this:

1. That's is a dog, not a rabbit :)

2. Noah does not always walk on all 4's.

3. That is the cutest little Iris in all the land!

m

Iris rules, end of story

yeah, that's not the end of the story, y'all know me better than that. This Iris thing is too good not to delve right into, for like ever and ever. She's amazing, this little one, and we are all over-the-moon in love with her.

Here she is only minutes after landing in Sky Harbor International Airport. Freaked out, for sure, but we bonded instantly and she was peacefully sleeping on my lap within hours of meeting me.





Our first stop was my work. Had to say hello to the troops. It was the least I could do, seeing that they (especially Traci) was with me every step of the way in the puppy-selection process.

We didn't even go inside, that will happen soon enough. We hung out outside, she pooped, peed, pooped again and took a drink. I even managed to refrain from taking a pooping picture, that's how much I love you people. Cuz, if I had taken that picture, you can be damn sure I would have posted it. You can thank me later.





Here we are, still at the office, chilling in the niche of the windows. Check out the hose, which I wanted to photoshop out of picture, but decided against it as it does give some frame of reference on her size.





Here's our happy girl. Gotta love the smile of a Frenchie!

Tuckered out after a day of travel. Uncle Mike has 'the touch' and she instantly fell asleep in her lap. I can't wait for Iris to meet his dog, Harley.

It's kinda late now and everyone has left. The kids are asleep, and it's only the three of us now. Me, Peter and Iris. I think she's done with the jet lag thing and is running around the house, exploring the plethora of things she can either chew up, pee on, or if she's really feeling bold, BOTH. We are following her around with "appropriate" chew toys, which, amazingly enough, she's taking. I know this because I can hear the clicking of the bone against the tile floor as I type.

I have to give a quick shout out to her breeder, the 3 sisters at Green Acre Pets. Persis, my breeder, was a joy to work with. It's already clear that Iris has been well loved, well trained, and well bred. I am so thankful for their dedication to this breed, and this little doll face. If you should find yourself wanted a pure bred dog, look them up. They pretty much rock!

With that, I'm outtie, I'm going to lay on the floor and watch our little Iris play with her bone under the big chairs in the family room. I'd do a play by play but that would be exciting only to me, and I find it hard to type while laying on my stomach.

m