Oh No!

John took all of our clothes to Iowa, so Jack is having to wear his pants like a hat :(

My Buddy

It has been a horrible morning. Let me first say that I realize that in the grand scheme of things, my morning pales in comparison to dealing with loved ones' illnesses/accidents, financial strife/unemployment, etc... but this still weighs really heavy on my heart. Emotionally, I am an absolute wreck and am sick to my stomach. Sometimes, it really truly sucks to be an adult and have to make adult decisions - today was one of those days.

This morning, I returned Buddy to the shelter (no-kill) that we got him from two years ago. Unfortunately, Buddy has a fear/anxiety issue when it comes to strangers - and it makes him very aggressive toward people he doesn't know. We had a couple of set-backs with him this week in this regard that reinforced previously discussed concerns, and ulitmately we determined we can't keep making excuses for the behavior. We have tried obedience and behavior classes to no avail. What the issue comes down to for us is how would we live with ourselves if he actually bit somebody (especially given the fact that we know he has these issues)? That scenerio/possibility is something we couldn't live with. I honestly don't fear that he would have ever harmed Jack, but even the possibility of the thought of him snapping and hurting one of our friend's young children... it's a risk and road we don't want to go down. If he didn't have these fear/anxiety issues he would be the perfect dog, but that is just not the reality of the situation we are in.

No matter how much logic/reasoning there is behind the decision, I have no doubt that there will always be a part of me that thinks we could have done more - that we didn't try hard enough. It eats me up inside now, and I don't forsee it subsiding anytime soon.* Perhaps we could have kept him quarantined from the outside world/strangers. But that is no way for him to live; its no way for us to live - to constantly be in fear that our dog may attack our friends/family if we let him out of a cage? So I understand and believe in what we did this morning - it just doesn't make me feel any better.

*I am sure Beatrice will be depressed too, which will make me think about it again and start the whole cycle all over again.

I was hoping that this post would be theraputic in some way for me... sad to say it is not. I really do love Buddy and will miss him dearly. Hopefully (and prayerfully) the shelter can find him a wonderful home where he doesn't have to have any visitors/strangers sprung on him - he deserves it. I love you Buddy.

Busy Week for Jack & I

MONDAY: Electrical repairs
TUESDAY: Radon Mitigation System Installed


WEDNESDAY: Termite experts treat our house.

Jack has been late for daycare and I've been late to work every day this week meeting with contractors. We are exhausted and ready to see Da Da this weekend!

Almost done with this move...hallelujah :)

A note for my friend Oliver...

Oliver,

Where are you? I check your blog often and you have not been around for months.

I miss you and your blog.

Your friend,

Jack

P.S. I like trains.

A quick trip through a scatterbrained mind.

I haven't posted in a while. No excuses (well, actually, yeah... an excuse), but we have been crazy busy (and our thoughts are often other places as well - see below) these last couple weeks. We were super blessed to have the house sell so fast, but we are T- 2 weeks now for closing date, and we just have a ton to do before that date; it doesn't help the fact that I am not in KC during the work week. Come October 1, life should slow back down again, and you will be sick of me again!

The pics are of Jack sitting up in his bed tonight. He is getting really good at balancing himself sitting up. What you miss in these pictures is him falling backwards (after about 5 minutes sitting up) and then trying to decide whether or not the fall is worth crying over; apparently it was not, but it was worth a quick stick out of the lower lip.

Things in the football world are as they should be. Jack witnessed his first (of many) Hawkeye victories today. He was very excited... though that was probably just him passing gas.

Other things to note: New job is good. Benefits are better. After 2 years I can work from home 2 days a week (that is in addition to being able to work 4 10-hour work days, rather than the standard 5). So...to recap... 4 days of work, and 2 of them from home? Do I feel some rejuvination of my playstation skills coming back? Yes, yes I do.

On a sad note, please pray for my cousin, Jeff Moore. He was seriously injured in an ATV accident last week while in Minnesota. While there have been a lot of positive signs so far during his hospital stay, it will still likely be a long road of recovery. You can read more here if you would like. Jeff is a really good guy that would give you the shirt off his back (I know that is a cliche saying, but for Jeff it really is true). When bad things happen to good people, it is always a little harder to swallow, and that is certainly the case here. We pray that God will do good things in Jeff's life.

GO STATE!!!!

We miss you, Daddy!

Excited to see you this weekend!

Our prayers...

...are heading your way, Jeffrey Thomas. We love you.

Lazy Days

Iowa Walk to Defeat ALS

On October 4th, Nana, Jack and I will walk in honor of John Boyle, a friend & co-worker of Nana's at Heartland AEA. If you would like to support Jack or I in the ALS Walk to Defeat ALS and support those affected by Lou Gehrig's Disease, then please donate through either Jack or my personal pages:

Lindsey's Page

Jack's Page

Chilly and Unfashionable

Looks like I need to go shopping for some cold weather clothes for Jack. This is the best I could do on a 55 degree day! Where did summer go?


Nice outfit little man! Navy socks, baby blue pj bottoms, fleece jacket, and brown & white onesie. Nice :)

Well....

...we have good reasons for our lack of posts.

FIRST, our laptop broke :( The electrical cord is faulty and we have ordered a new one from amazon.com and hope to have it within 6 business days :) Until then, I'm using an older and much slower laptop.

SECOND, not only did we sell our house, we also made an offer on a house in Iowa and it was accepted yesterday. Here's a picture of what the house looks like...

Don't worry, we did not purchase an underground bunker :) We hope the house looks like this on December 1st :)

THIRD and finally, Jack's second tooth appeared and he turns 7 months old on Monday! Not really an excuse for the lack of posts, but we find our evenings/days filled with entertaining Jack, packing, and signing a never-ending pile of documents.