Sad Day

Today has been a very hard day, as my family and I have had to say goodbye to our sweet girl, Taylor.

We noticed that Taylor didn't feel well this weekend when she spent all day Sunday laying inside the house.  She has always loved being outside in the yard, so this was not like her.  Monday morning my parents had to help her to her feet so she could go outside, but after some pain medicine she seemed to feel a little better.  Thinking maybe her hips were just bothering her (common in German Shepherds), my parents left to spend the fourth of July at my brother's house.  They returned home late that evening to a very sick dog.

It took both of my parents to get her in the car Tuesday morning, and at the vet, my mom had to get assistance to bring her inside.  Sweet Taylor did not feel well at all.  After spending the day at the vet, we got the news we didn't want to hear: kidney failure.  The vet told us it did not look good, but that he would do what he could.  The last two days were spent flushing Taylor's kidneys out and trying to get her body to respond to medicine.  This morning, though, it seemed as if Taylor was only getting worse.

I hate so much that I was unable to be with Taylor during her final moments.  My dad said she perked up when he and my mom and brother walked in.  I like to think she was glad they were there.  Both my mom and dad said it was a peaceful goodbye for our girl.

Taylor, also known as Tay Tay or Tater, was a part of our family for over ten years.  My brother Ben brought her home from college as a puppy and she eventually made herself at home at my parents' house.  She had her fair share of bad puppy moments - like when she ate every button off the back of my bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding (luckily the day after the wedding and not the day before) - but she grew into the most well-behaved pet we've probably ever had.  Not many dogs would welcome in three new puppies (Minnie, Henry, and Lolli) as well as she did.  Of course, she always needed to get one good growl in on them to show them she was boss, but after that they were pals for life.  In fact, they all thought she was their mom.  Henry, for one, spent hours kissing on her and following her around.

Puppies weren't the only ones Taylor loved, she also welcomed in three new babies (Jett, Bren, and Parker) even though they stole all the attention away from her.  There aren't many dogs that would lie still on the ground while a two-year-old climbed all over them.  It always made me laugh because the look on her face while they pulled her hair said "Really?" but she just let them have at it.

Over the past year, we've known that old age was catching up to Taylor.  Many a times we have said "She sure will be a hard dog to replace."  But that's the thing, I don't think you can replace a dog like Taylor.  Her German Shepherd and Lab mix made her unique, but so did her laid-back personality and loyalty to everyone in our family.

I will miss seeing this face as I pull up my parents' driveway.  She usually stood to greet me when I got out of my car.  As she peered through the bars of the fence the look on her face didn't indicate that she wanted to be let out, but that she wanted me to come in.  Come in and play.

I feel certain that both Greta and Minnie were standing at Heaven's gates this morning, ready to welcome her in with tail wags and lots of sloppy dog kisses.  We'll surely miss our girl, but I look forward to seeing her again one day.

Bam or Slam?

So, here's the thing: we've lived in our current house for a good while now - Doc for 4 years and me for a little over 2.  For the most part, I can say that our house is fully decorated.  But there's this one wall, this one stinkin' wall, that has been driving me crazy!  It's got a big blank area that's been screaming for something, but I just haven't been able to decide what it needs. Here's the wall I'm talking about.  It may not look like much to you, but to me, this is the wall I stare at every time I walk from the kitchen into the dining room or living room or towards the stairs and it just glares back at me with all its boringness.

Here, let me zoom out a little so you can get a better feel for the space.  But trust me, the blank space is going to jump out at you too.

See what I mean? You can't miss it.

Obviously I've known for a while that I needed to hang something there, but what?  The picture above was taken while I was standing right behind our love seat, in the middle of our dining and living rooms.  From this spot, if you look to the left, there's this big picture...

...and to the right, there's this big one.

Back over my left shoulder is another large painting by the dining table.

Don't worry, those three big wall hangings are balanced out by this gallery wall of craziness, on the opposite side of the room.

So that's why I've been so confused.  I've already got three big pieces, but I've also already got a wall full of small stuff.

One day it hit me; I knew exactly what should go there: a grouping of four square-ish paintings.  I could hang them in a grid pattern and they would work together like one big piece of art, but still be four individual pieces.  Genius!

But then, as I stood back and tried to envision four pieces hanging in a grid on that blank! space!, something else popped out at me...

Grrrr...it's already a wall-o-grids.  Back to the drawing board.

On a semi-related but kinda different note, when I acquire something new that I like but don't know what to do with, I put it on my dining table.  This is the bad side of having your house almost completely decorated - there's nowhere to put new things.  But I can't bare to just put them away, so I stick them on the dining table so that I see them every time I walk by until I'm so annoyed with them being there that I'm forced to find a place to hang/display them.

This really doesn't sound like that big a deal, but it can get pretty bad.  There have been times where I've had so much stuff piled on the table that I've had to leave the cleaning ladies a note to skip over it.  Such was the case last week when they came and I still had the canvas I painted, the name sign I made, and a gift from my mom all sitting on the table.

I think we all know where this is going, right?  Big, boring, blank wall + table full of cute stuff that needs a home = me trying to figure out a way to make it all work.  I laid the three items I already had out on the floor, but knew I still needed something else to put with them to come up with any kind of arrangement.

Gotta love Hobby Lobby and their 50% off sales.  I snagged three of these door knobs on the cheap.

And now, without further adieu, here's what I came up with.  (Forgot to scramble the letters in my last name so I had to spray paint over them.)

Sigh...I just don't know about it.  Two very different styles of painted canvases hanging in the same grouping - surely that's breaking some kind of design rules, right?  And I have our full last name hanging right above our first initial - is that weird?

I need your opinions.  I'm taking a page (post?) out of The Mustard Ceiling's book (blog?) and putting this up for BAM or SLAM votes.  BAM means you like it, SLAM means you don't.  Tell me the truth, I can take it.

(My mom suggested adding another long something across the bottom to finish it off.  I'm open for other suggestions too.)

Friday!

Can I get a woo hoo for the weekend?!  Man, I thought this week would never end.  I feel like I worked at least 12 days this week and our busy season is just now beginning.  It's gonna be a long few weeks.  But who cares about that right now?  It's the weekend, and a long one at that! Doc's office closed early today so by the time I made it home he'd already grocery-shopped and had a dinner menu ready to go.  He also brought home some fresh flowers!  There's a big vase full downstairs, but he also put a little bud vase upstairs on my vanity.  I love having fragrant flowers in the bathroom.  He's a good, good hubby.

Doc was nice enough to invite my dad over for dinner since my mom is still out of town.  While they chit-chatted, I gave Lolli a very much needed B-A-T-H.  Even with her buzz cut, she still looks funny when she's wet.

It's no secret that Doc likes to prepare a good meal, and he really out-did himself with this one.  My dad really lucked out in getting to join us!

Caprese salads (my favorite, though we've tried not to have them as much since that mozzarella cheese seems to make itself at home on my thighs...), asparagus with crushed red pepper, and prime beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon and topped with butter.  Healthy?  Not so much.  Delicious?  Oh yeeeaaahhh.

As Doc was plating the food, my dad told him to leave the asparagus off of his since he didn't like it.  Just then, I thought back to all those nights when, as a child, I was forced to sit at the table all night long until I ate my peas/broccoli/potatoes/whatever.  The rule at our house was that you had to have at least three different things on your plate and you couldn't get up to play until it was all eaten.  Oh yea, payback's a you-know-what.  I promptly scooped up one of my stalks of asparagus and placed it on my dad's plate.  "Can't get up til you've eaten all three things," I told him.

And, just as I sometimes did, my dad cut his asparagus and hid it in between all the good stuff so that he wouldn't taste it as it went in.  I guess he hasn't mastered the trick of feeding it to the dog...

Just when we'd stuffed ourselves silly, Doc brought out the mother of all desserts.

Holy toledo, that was good!  Wafer cookies, homemade white chocolate whipped cream, strawberries and raspberries.  With a dusting of powdered sugar.  Ohmygoodness.

When we finally felt like we could get up without bustin' a gut, I asked the guys to hop in the car with me to go for a short drive down the street.  The destination?  Allison's house.  Specifically, her closet.  Yep.

Allison handed her keys over to me for the weekend to do some Porter-sitting, and I thought it'd be a good time to do some mini-renovating too.  And why not take advantage of the two guys I had with me for the evening?

This is the little nook in Allison's closet that was less than useful.

Allison thought filling the nook with shelves would give her added storage, the only problem was that the space wasn't a standard shelf size.  So she called me up and I went to work cutting some custom-length shelves.

I started out as the lead-installer, but quickly moved back to lead-photographer when I couldn't find any studs other than the two I'd brought with me.  (Wait, did I just call my dad a stud?  Ew.)  I turned it over to the professionals men.

It was really too tight of a space for me to get any decent pictures, so I wandered downstairs to take care of my Porter duties.

I'm not sure that he realized I was there to feed him, because he greeted me by sticking out his little tongue.

The nerve, I tell ya.

It only took a couple scoops of food into his bowl for him to decide we could be friends.  Much better.

With Porter happy, I went back to check on the two guys in the closet.  Progress was definitely being made in the little nook.

Porter occasionally came to check up on us and supervise.

Then finally all the supports had been and installed and it was time for the money shot...perfectly level.

How bout those shelves?!

We put some stuff on 'em to test 'em out.

They're by no means perfect or high-quality, but they sure do make that space a lot more functional.  Nice work, guys!

(Allison, I'm guessing you weren't expecting me and my husband and my dad to spend our Friday evening in your closet.  Surprise?)

I think Porter may have actually been a little sad to see us go.

Now I'm ready to hit the sack.  I've got four glorious days off work with nothing I have to do.  Perfect.

Detour on the Way to the Airport

[Guest post by Doc.] One of the few benefits of all of my work travels is that, on occasion, I actually end up somewhere pretty neat.  This year, I have been lucky to go to some very beautiful places with magnificent views.

For example, in March I was in Jacksonville and had this view from my room.

Then in April I was on the opposite coast and could see the palm trees and the Pacific Ocean in Hermosa Beach, CA.

In May, I was smack dab in the middle of the country but still managed this impressive view from my hotel window in St. Louis.

I even found an appealing view in the middle of South Dakota...

But today, today was incredibly special.  Not only was the weather perfect and the scenery spectacular, but today I visited one of the most impressive places in our wonderful country.  Situated just across the Potomac from Washington, DC (and right on the Blue Metro Line) is Arlington National Cemetery.  I spent the night in Arlington, VA last night, so I decided to jump on the Metro and make my way to this historic landmark.

Walking down the immaculate drive, you can see the circle entrance to the Cemetery.  One of the things that continues to amaze me about our country is the vision of those that came before us - the vision to set aside several hundred acres of prime real estate and to spare no expense in creating an inspiring entrance.

As I began to walk the grounds, I was enthralled with the clear blue sky that created a warm 80 degree morning.  The Cemetery was not yet bustling with activity, and while most of the patrons worked their way towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or JFK's final resting place, I was on a mission to find a specific spot.  You see, I am fortunate to have a special connection with these sacred grounds - my grandmother is buried here.  Eventually (but hopefully not soon) my grandfather will be buried here as well.

As a Marine Officer, with a distinguished career in both wartime and in peace, my grandfather has been honored by our country to have his earthly remains laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.  My grandmother, his wife of over 50 years - a woman who watched him go off to war, welcomed him back after he was wounded in the South Pacific, moved with him from Virginia to California to Hawaii to Indiana and all places in between, shared in raising their children, and ultimately settled down with him in the area where he grew up - also earned that right.

She was laid to rest in June of 2004, and while I have been back to the DC area many times since then, this was my first trip back to see her tombstone.  Much has changed since I was there 7 years ago and so I took a few pictures to share.

Situated along the east side of Cemetery, very near the Visitor's Center, is this spot.

While I had broken a sweat walking over to this area, I was pleased to see  that there was a little shade.  My grandmother did not like being hot, so having this tree provide her shade along with a breeze off the Potomoc, I knew it was cooler here than many places in the Cemetery.

If you have not been to Arlington, you cannot fully appreciate the immaculate grounds and the attention to detail.  While it looks like all of the tombstones are lined up, it is incredibly impressive when you see not only the straight lines but also how they form perfect diagonal lines as well.  These two pictures, one to the left and one to the right exhibit the precision with which the stones are laid.

After I had spent some time in quiet reflection and was getting ready to leave, I noticed one more impressive site.  Standing behind the tombstone, I took this picture.  Look closely back between the trees...

Can you tell what historic landmark it is?  It's the Washington Monument.

All in all, it was an emotional day for me, but I am very glad that I took the time in my schedule to visit this place and remember my grandmother.

Paint Night!

Once again, Allison has beaten me to the punch and already blogged about our most recent paint night.  Go check out her post for more pictures! Have any of you guys done one of these Girls' Night Out paint parties?  They're the new fun thing to do, and I think most cities are catching on.  I know there are several different companies that do them in our area.  In fact, we've done this once before at a different location.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the scoop:  you sign up for a paint class and get to paint your own masterpiece.  Now, that might sound a little daunting to anyone that's uncomfortable with a paint brush, but these are almost fool-proof.  The price of the class buys your canvas and painting materials, and a professional artist guides you along so that you don't royally screw up your piece of work.  At most places, you can also bring in your own wine and food to make it a real party.  For this paint night, my friends and I all purchased a $20 Groupon.  Not a bad price for a girls' night out, especially since we got to come home with some new artwork for our walls!

I enjoyed this place a little more than last time because we got to stand up to paint and had a little bit more room.  There were also three different paintings we could choose from, or you could freestyle but we weren't quite brave enough for that.

Even with three paintings to choose from, we all picked the same thing.  Great minds think alike?

I didn't take any pictures of us in action, so these photos are 100% stolen from Mary Elizabeth.  Here we are all working on perfecting our backgrounds.

This could be me coaching Jenny on the perfect painting technique (like I know?) or it could be me scolding her for stealing paint off my plate.  A little sneak, that one...

(Looks like Jenny got cut off.  Karma?)

Here's Mary's painting about 75% of the way through.

I love the colors Mary chose for her painting.  This is it right after she had applied her texture.  This was a scary part since the texture medium is a different color when you apply it than when it dries.

And here are all the finished masterpieces.  I love that they're all the same, but still so different.  I think they'll look great in all of our houses!

I tried to snap a couple of pictures of mine when I got home.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

You can kinda see the texture in the trees here.  The texture medium I used was HOT pink when wet.  Talk about making me nervous!  I'm so glad it didn't stay that color.

We bought my mom one of these classes for Mother's Day so we've got another paint night coming up soon.  I can't wait!