Happy New Year!

So much to do, so little time! As usual, far too much time has passed since I've been here, and a lot has happened.

On November 18th, my darling Sarah earned her angel wings.  Her kidneys were failing rapidly, and she was getting really sick.  The weekend before she went home to heaven, she stopped eating and drinking, resulting in a trip to the vet.  There was a treatment that Dr. Forbes suggested might help, but because she was going downhill so quickly it would only be a band-aid solution, if it helped at all.  I decided that I couldn't put my baby through something that may or may not help her, so I decided it would be better if I let her go.  I took her home that day, and on Friday we went back for the last time.  One small belssing that came about was a blizzard that hit on Thursday, keeping me at home.  I got one last day to spend with Sarah, cuddling, taking pictures and making some last memories.  We laid her to rest next to my mom's dog Mugsy (they were the best of friends when he was alive, and now they're together again), and in the spring I'm going to plant some pink roses next to her grave.

Having Molly has helped a lot, which is what my mom was hoping for when she bought her for me.  She is such a little clown - so full of personality! I could write a novel about her and exploits, and I've only had her for four months! Her favourite game is playing fetch with her ball, although she also likes tug-of-war fetch.  This is exactly what it sounds like: she brings the toy and we play tug-of-war until I manage to get it and then I have to throw it for her to run after and retrieve.  If I try to stop before she's ready, she'll push at my arm or leg with the toy/ball until I start playing again.  One of her stranger quirks is that she loves, and I mean LOVES, to shred Kleenex (as well as napkins and other paper).  And she's fast too!  Apparently this morning while I was at work she managed to get hold of the box of Kleenex from the coffee table and was happily shredding away when Dad caught her; fortunately she'd only gotten through 2 or 3 when he found her.

Christmas, as always, was wonderful.  James was able to come home, and he brought his dog Hemi with him.  I'd been hoping that Molly and Hemi would make friends, but she was terrifed of him and squealed like she was being eaten if he so much as looked at her.  I suppose though that her fear was understandable - she's really only used to Nicky who's not much bigger than she is, so to suddenly have this great big 170-lb. beast in her house was probably scary.  Although she was getting better with him by the time James left: she had pretty much stopped squealing if Hemi came near her, and wouldn't immediately run and hide if Hemi entered the room.  She needs some oedience training, and I'm hoping that will help her get socialized more.  And I'm thinking in the spring she and I may take a road trip to visit "Uncle" James and "Cousin" Hemi. 

With a new year comes some new creative projects: a scrapbook journal, a 6"x6" scrapbook of favourite scriptures and inspirational songs, and a "baby" book for Molly.  With all these new projects, I've set myself a goal of one layout a week, and I've joined a couple of challenges at scrapbook.com to help me out.  I'm also going through the stack of scrapbook magazines; I'm saving only the articles/ideas that I think I will acutally use, and getting rid of the rest of the magazine.  I've found a bunch of ideas for Molly's book in the process, and I'm thinking I may make a separate section in my scrappy binder for pet ideas so I can find them easily.

I'm just about finished my room re-decoration.  There are just a few projects left.  I want to get a wall-mounted lamp (or possibly two) for better light for reading in bed, I need to get curtain rods and window treatments, and I want to re-hang my bulletin board.  And I found the cutest pink LED lights at HOme Hardware before Christmas that I want to hang up; I just need to figure out how to do it!

Well, that's probably enough for now.  Over the weekend I'm hoping to post pictures of the first two layouts of my scrapbook journal.

Until next time,
J.