Bright Spots in the Darkest Days

The day after Mabel died, I was booked to teach. Despite being a complete and utter mess, I kept the gig... I had a ginormous vet bill and what good would sitting home do?

I was teaching in the better school district, where the parents are often very well paid professionals and have certain expectations of how their children should behave.  This often makes teaching there a dream compared to the "hazard pay" district. But apparently all bets are off right before school is out.

I was teaching a junior math class and as I was handing out the class work I noticed a sandwich on the floor. I found the kid it belonged to and the kid he was throwing his food at and had them clean it up. As class went on, I kept hearing a strange noise behind me but as I was occupied with the school's new fangled attendance system on the computer, I never gave it much thought.  At the end of class, it was much louder. And suddenly, I realized the naughty boys had been throwing food at me the entire class and as they left the room they lobbed the remainder of the sandwich at me.

I wrote them up... the only time I've ever done that in this district... and the school sent someone to take pictures and clean up the mess.  I was on the verge of tears as the next class began. I gave them their assignment and spent the rest of the class biting my lip to keep it together. By the last class, word had spread through campus. A senior asked if he could leave for some reason and I let him. He was gone a long time. When he showed back up, just before class was out, he returned with a box full of smoothies from the local Jamba Juice and insisted I get first pick, because he had heard I'd had a bad day. 

His kindness lifted my spirits but I knew I had no reason to hurry home and was growing sadder and feeling so sorry for myself.  The day ended and I went to the office to sign out and saw him:

He was a therapy dog. I don't know why he was there...I've never seen him since. The school secretary told me to give him a hug... and I dove to the floor and just rolled around with him...not caring one bit that my employers might be looking. As I hugged him, I started to sob. And he started to lick my tears away.

Concerned, his handler came over to apologize and correct him. "He's trained not to do that."  Only when I looked up at her did she see my tears.  I could barely whisper, "My dog died yesterday." She backed away and left me with him. I cried and cried until there were no more tears and then we played and played.

I don't know where this angel came from but I'm forever grateful our paths crossed that day.

Snack Time

Hey Momma, I'm certain it's snack time!

The Magical Orange Balls

I know I mentioned finding forty odd balls during our beach trip. That doesn't mean they all got the paws of approval from Miss Macy Blue and her best pal Otto Rotto! Oh no!

There were hard balls and baseballs (Are you kidding us?) There were soggy nerf balls and sponge balls (Ewwww!) There were soccer balls and volley balls (Too big!) There were tennis balls which all got played with...

But none can compare to the magical orange balls! There were two. The one you see with the lines on it was a plastic squeaker ball.

But there was one that they spent most of the beach outing with. Besides being orange, it was covered in tennis ball material and appeared to have once had a rope. It was about 4" in diameter with was great for Mr. Otto and Miss Big Jowls. And it squeaked!

Oh what joy it brought!

I just loved when Otto had it in his mouth and would look behind him to see if Macy was chasing him.

Macy took great delight in tearing it's skin off...

But alas, we lost it when a certain girl dropped it and we were several "blocks" away from it when she showed her distress.

I am now searching for the ONLY object I've ever seen Macy play with... Any thoughts???

Celebrating Her

I've now spent two of my sister's birthdays without her. It hasn't gotten any easier. I always touch base with my Mom and my brother-in-law and then I always try to do something that would make Patsy happy. Whether it's a good meal or a movie or just being outside, I find some moment that she would just love and I feel her with me.

My mother is always so sad on this day, so full of longing and tears. I listen, I cry with her but I know my sister would not approve. Oh, she'd be happy we miss her...but not about the sadness.

My brother-in-law always changes her flowers at her grave and often takes her a balloon on special occasions. Patsy loved balloons. Today, as has happened before, the balloon he got for her got away from him and quickly made its way to the heavens! We often say, she wanted her balloon right away! It makes us laugh.

My brother-in-law has a special lady and, as luck would have it, today is also her birthday. I love that! We all do. It gives him and Mom and me something to celebrate on this day that has been so special to us. It's hard to be sad when you want to be happy for someone you care about.

I changed my profile pic on Facebook to one of her. It helps knowing that good friends and family know why and they often chime in on how much they miss her too.

After my check-ins, Macy and I, Otto Rotto and the Rottrover were all off to the beach. We went to a different one this time as our friend Wizard couldn't make it. One that another of our hiking buddies knew of.  It was kind of impromptu, planned earlier in the week. Patsy adored the ocean...could stare at it for hours. I knew she would approve.

Macy loves to body surf and will often dive into the waves!

As magical things go, this beach was so special! It was the beach I see in my head. You know, the one without any people? In 50 years, I've never been to this beach...I thought it didn't exist...just some kind of fantasy! But it does!!! It was amazing! We walked over four miles and saw five people and five dogs. In all that walking, we only leashed up to avoid a dead seal!

It was magical for the dogs too! I am NOT exaggerating when I tell you we found around FORTY balls to play with!!

 

Our Blue Heaven

Patsy was on my mind... I had several beautiful shells and one stunning rock wash up at my feet.  It was such a blissful day and the perfect way to celebrate a special day!

Rainy Day Cuddle

Good morning most excellent peeps and pups of Blogville! It was raining here..the first rain I've seen in my new furever home! I've spent the morning cuddling on the sofa with Momma...but the sun is out and  we've got chores... Hoping for a beach day tomorrow!  Have a great weekend! Love, Macy Blue