Charlie

Mr. Charlie H. is heart worm negative! He's on track to health and is participating in his usual and favorite activities, which I have listed for you below:

He walks! He lays down! He lifts his head when someone new walks into the room! He puts his head down! He rolls over to expose his belly for petting! He walks over to his food bowl! He eats! He walks upstairs! He waits patiently to be boosted into the car! He lays down! He waits to be boosted out of the car! He walks! He whizzes on trees! He lays down! He naps!

Bless his little heart. He suits us so well!

Irritating Tomatoes

About every night now, for the past two weeks or so, I go to the garden bed and pluck some ripe tomatoes off the vine. A lot of times one of the kids is carrying on, and I leave the tomato or tomatoes on top of the minivan while I wrestl, ahem, gently usher said child or children into the house.
The next morning, I usually bring the maters into the house. A lot of times one of the kids is carrying on, so I often do forget to take the fruit in. Then as we start to drive off, I see the tomato on top of the van, have to stop, and have to run it inside of the house.
This morning, after that had happened, J asked in a wondering, but also slightly irritated voice, "Where do those tomatoes come from anyway?".
I very much wonder where he thought they came from? Did he know I was having some tomato organization problems and was just asking to have this confirmed? Or, did he think one of the babykids was climbing up and placing them there? Or, did he think one of our neighbors was being really nice and giving us those tomatoes, but just leaving them in a really dumb spot?
Oh, to understand the mind of a 13 year old boy.

That's Enough!

The other night, T had trouble sleeping. It was late at night, about 9:30, and he called out to me. I went in his room to snuggle with him. He has a light-up "Moon in my Room". You can set the lights to any cycle of the moon and he enjoys telling me which cycle to turn it to. It didn't come on when I clicked the remote so I called for F.

F came in, removed the moon, changed the batteries, and brought it back. In returning, he placed the moon over his head and danced and sang, "I'm the moon man."
It was funny and I remember enjoying it, although wondering how he could have that much energy at such a late hour.

The next morning I was helping T pick out his outfit and get him dressed. He sat down and pointed up at the moon which was now securely hanging on the wall. Here is our conversation.

T: That's the moon.

A: Yup.

T: Daddy WAS the moon. Daddy was the moon MAN. Daddy sang.

A: Yup. He sure did.

T: Daddy sang and danced the moon man song. It was FUNNY. Hahahahahahaha!

A: Yup. It was funny.

T: Daddy laughed and sang and DANCED. Daddy was the moon. Daddy was funny. Daddy's funny. But that's ENOUGH.

A: What?

T: Daddy danced. Daddy was the moon. And YOU said, you said, THAT'S ENOUGH! You said, That's enough now Daddy.

This is what T remembers? Not that I snuggled with him and rubbed his little back and cuddled him while he went to sleep? All he thinks about in the morning was that I was the bummer-parent saying "That's enough" to all the fun...

The Many Things in T's Room

Books.

Boy & Bears.

(These bears were mine when I was growing up. Not so "en vogue" as far as bears go now, but he likes them very much.)

Fancy Disney Bear and Picture of Dog.

2ND Picture of Dog.
(These dog pictures will be going to Goodwill soon, and I paid an arm and a leg for them from Ballard Designs. If anyone wants them, let me know.)

Telephone toy and Book with puppy Dogs.

Book about that darn poky puppy--( it is actually a giant pillow!)

Dog.



Wait a minute. That can't be right. Surely we wouldn't. Not again. This must be a mix-up.

Trains.




& Dog. ?

Oh. my. It's not looking like a mix-up now, is it? That is clearly our blue shag.

Boy.



& Dog.


That is clearly our boy too. I would recognize the seasonally inappropriate monkey jammies anywhere.

Dog.


& Sloppy Dog Tongue.




I fear it is true.

Charlie.


Charlie H.

Oh. my. goodness. Look at that hair.

Thank goodness for the Progressive.

We drove to Bloomington, Indiana (ahem, not Bloomington, ILLINOIS--should anyone ever get the two confused in trip planning. They are not anywhere near each other, and also, really, on another, entirely unrelated note, not pertaining to MY life or habits at ALL, but one should really mapquest any addresses and meeting places PRIOR to loading the snacks and kids in the car and it wouldn't be a bad idea to also check the area code of the phone number of the dog's foster parents to see what STATE they might actually LIVE in prior to becoming emotionally attached to a dog that is 4 and a half hours away instead of 40 MINUTES away because some states in the U.S have the towns that have the SAME NAME. And it would be really disappointing and frustrating to have THAT happen. Seriously. Think about it for yourself.

Um, anyway...

We drove to get Charlie. We brought him home the 11th and he still likes us and we still like him.

So we're keeping him. And we're keeping ALL the kids too, because it appears that they will potentially be able to live in harmony. With the dog, at least.

Charlie is a 3 1/2 year old neutered male basset hound/golden retriever mix with an unknown history. He was fostered. He lived in Indiana. He has heart worm but that doesn't stop him from liking yoga, gettin' caught in the rain, and pina coladas.


He's sooooooooo calm. And that may be because the worms are choking his little heart and making him tired, but it WORKS for us. And he is, so far, very successful with his curative treatments.