SPOOKTACULAR!

Every October we stroll thru our zoo one night with monsters, pirates, goblins, princessess and LOTS of lit Jack'olanterns. 

Each year we go with the same families we met at Jamie's Preschool at Christ the King.

I call us the Fab 11. 

The two other families have both a girl Jamie's age - Chayse and Madison, and two girls two years younger - Ali and Abby. (The babies!) 

We also usually do the Winterfest in St Augustine and last spring we all went on a great cruise to the Carribbean.

To tell the truth I am so over this event but I go for Jamie. It's ten dollar each and they give out candy. (It used to be like trick or treat, now it's about 6 candy stations where they give out about four penny candies at each station. No Chocolate.

But the girls love it. 

They love being at the zoo at dark. They love an extra opportunity to dress in their costumes. They love jumping in the bounce houses and dancing to Thriller Beat it and other traditional disco dances and they LOVE being together.

So next year I am sure we will go again.

Missing my Mom

This was taken on Mothers Day this year and Mom died in her sleep the following Tuesday night/Wed Morning. I think about her every day - I have this photo on my Ipad home screen so her face greets me several times a day.

I still can't believe she is gone.

She has always been there for me. (Even when I maybe didn't want/need her there.)

And therein lies the guilt. I wish I had taken her on one of the cruises we went on. She was so disabled it would have been tough on her. There is a lot of walking involved on a ship and some of it could be rough.

Or I should have went over more and just hung out with her. She told me about a month before she died that she thought she wouldn't make it through the year.And I didn't take that seriously. I said, cmon Mom you have so much to live for, don't say that!

I ignored the signs...She was losing control of her bodily functions and she just didn't feel well most of the time. Her apartment had a foul odor. My brother said it was her body deteriorating that smelled so bad. Some of the items we took out of her apartment had that odor in it.

She was dying. She was only 72 years old but she had had bad health for many years. Diverticulitus, Lung disease, Congestive heart failure, breast cancer twice, diabetes and many other problems. She was dying but I wouldn't ...couldn't see the signs.

She is gone. I miss her every day.

Found Dog gets new Home

We were awakened to a neighbor calling us at home Saturday morning saying they thought our dog was in their driveway. It was a golden retriever type dog, but it wasn't Samson. It was a young female and it appears she had been dumped. The husband of that family DID NOT want another pet although the young wife named Tara did. I told her I would take her home to my back covered porch to hang out while we tried to find her owner.

The poor dog didn't wish to leave the area where she had appeared Friday night around midnight. I tried to get her in my car at noon on my way to floor duty at the office but she wouldn't get into my car.

I was under orders from my husband not to bring another animal INTO our house. Well I wasn't planning on bringing her into the house. Just into our back porch.

When I came home from floor duty later that afternoon, she was still there in the front yard. I tried again to get her into my car and it was no go. She was determined to stay on the street.

So I rolled my car about 2 miles an hour calling through the open windows, "Come on Pretty, come on girl!..." and she followed me home. I had gotten a leash on her, but it was still a challenge getting her into the back porch.

I put up flyers all over the neighborhood and put her on Craigslist as a FOUND DOG, and called the Golden Retriever rescue group in our town G.R.E.A.T. The lady said she would be able to come get her Monday or early in the week.

I got no calls...NO CALLS?! If you lost your dog wouldn't you check Craigslist? or drive around looking for flyers?

Monday morning I took her to the vet and she didn't have a chip. Then GREAT called and said they were trying find a place for her.

Tuesday the lady from GREAT called back and said she didn't have a place for her. That the organization was out of funds, that they may have a spot at the end of the month.

Oh great. So I am sure Jamie thought we were going to keep her. After all she was very well behaved and was ok around Samson (She let him be the Alpha dog). She was also fine (But curious about) our cats. But I was determined not to break my promise to my husband. I kept the dog out of the house, though it broke my heart to see her little face looking in at us when I said goodnight to her each evening.

The neighbor lady, Tara called and said she DIDN"T want the dog to go to the shelter NO MATTER WHAT...but she couldn't take her.

So now what? More posters, trip to Pet stores to post flyers bringing her sweet face with me each time in hopes of finding her a home. I put the word out at my office and on my Facebook page. I DIDN"T post a free pets ad on Craigslist as too many weird and bad things happen to 'Free' pets that are obtained on Facebook, however Tara did.

She called me and said she got flooded with calls immediately after posting the Free Dog ad and got worried and a bit creeped out. So she texted a message to all in her phone and she got a great response, from a family with 2 kids and two small dogs who always wanted a golden!

So Lila or "Delilah' got a new home!

Get it? Samson and Delilah?

I saw another stray dog yesterday by my daughters school, but this time I didn't answer the call.

I hope someone else did.