Almost at the end of a very long day

The alarm clock was ringing way too early this morning. My husband was scheduled to be at Habitat For Humanity very early, to join a group of men scheduled to work on a house this morning. He hopes to continue the volunteer work, even when he finds a permanent part-time job.

However, this morning it meant getting up early to drop him off,
returning home to make certain Christopher was ready for work
and then dropping him at the book store,
returning home to make sausage lentil soup for lunch,
then picking up my husband,
taking him home,
turning around immediately to get Christopher from work,
arriving home for a quick bowl of soup before,
taking Christopher for a follow up visit with his doctor
(okay, I lost you a long time ago),
and a return home...
(covering two towns and numerous county roads in the process).

Such is life with one car... fortunately, Christopher can drive himself to his tennis class this evening while I recuperate.

On the way home from the doctor's office (and an excellent report, recommendations only to increase allergy meds), the familiar sound of Amarillo By Morning came from the cell phone pocket of my purse. Christopher answered it and I knew from the long silence it was his dad calling with the results of the blood work. Our girl's kidneys were failing and unless there is a miraculous turn around, we will take her in on Thursday morning for a simple shot. We will then return her home to her resting place under the dogwood tree in the backyard.

When I arrived home, I picked her up and placed her on my bed. She always loved to sleep on it, with the cotton sheets and cushy mattress. We had a long talk she and I, about old days and pleasant memories, about the dark times when she would give me kitty kisses as if to say she understood, and definitely about all those evenings when we curled up together with tea and a book.

I told her I would see her again and she'd be able to run and to jump, to see and to hear, as playful as the day she and her sister came to live with us ...balls of fur with those over sized paws.

For no furry member of any family has ever been more loved.

I will return on Friday my friends and post all about the giveaway. A "little something" I've been working on with the Victoria publishers since June.