Left out the Knuckle

In my last blog I inadvertently left out one of the most bestest dogs of all time. And for those of your who new her, Molly was a champ. That picture was taken at her favorite spot in the entire world. The bank of the Thunder Bay River at Van Camp. She could trot through the shallows in that river for hours and then flop down in front of the wood stove for a good nap. Molly was a good girl, a great companion and just an all around sweetheart. In my last entry I went through the nicknames of the Critter Crew. Well good ole Molly have quite a few of her own. Most notable was Molly Bear and Molly Moose (she was a bit of a brute). From Molly Moose we added "Knuckle". And for those of your who do not know what a moose knuckle is, I refuse to explain. Knuckle just stuck. From there it was to Knuckie, Knuck and Knuckle Head.

Molly just enjoyed being a dog. She loved tennis balls and diving for rocks in long lake (much to mom's dismay when she went to mow the lawn). She could lay on the deck for hours without ever needing to go anywhere else. I may paint an awfully "leave it to Beaver" portrait of her, but it's all true. Of she had her moments in her younger days. There was the time she chased the butterfly down US-23 N or the fact that we had a bat called the Molly Masher to beat her butt with when she jumped up.

She did have her enemies though. Her Tail and her foot. She would lay in the living room and snarl and grunt and attack and bite her back foot and tail. She'd try to trap her tail with her back foot but would then think her foot was trying to get her and couldn't make up her mind on which to attach. She was such a funny girl. I loved her tail. Mom always got Molly trimmed but the groomer always left her big fluffy tail. When she'd get really excited it would propeller and he whole bottom would go with it. It should be noted at this time that Jaime and I once upon a time though that dogs peed out of the ends of their tails. Thank Goodness we were older when we got Molly Bear and knew better. Another not so fabulous thing about Molly was her breath. IT WAS RANK. There is a story when we were all out at camp and she woke up my Dads good friend Dave by breathing in his face!

Molly was a traveler. When she was just a pup she went to Chicago with us for the weekend. She got me kicked out of a hockey rink! Good thing she was tiny, I zipped her in my coat and snuck back in. She has been to Houghton with me for a couple weeks at a time. I'd go to class and she'd curl up on my bed and wait for me to come back to go for walks. She also spent quite a bit of time with us in Petoskey. Her and Apollo became the best of buddies. Since Molly's been gone, when we get to my mom and dads, he still runs all over the house looking for her. In remembrance of her, when we're out at camp he will be sure to take a piddle on her grave marker rock. Showing some love of course.

Sadly Molly had to go to Doggie Heaven a few summers ago. The vet thinks she had a brain tumor. One day mom got up and Molly was listing to the side and could only hear out of one ear. The Vet thought it was a stroke and she'd come out of it. She rallied for about a week. She was happy then, still playing fetch and snuggling (she was the best snuggler). Then she went downhill extremely fast and Mom and Dad had to put her down, no one wanted her to suffer.

So here's to you Knuckle, BEST DOG EVER (shhhh don't tell the others, they may gang up on me)!

Fairy God Parents and Grandparents

I have no pictures to show you on the progress done at our house and this blog will be awfully short but I just have to give a big thanks to my parents AND my grandparents. While Jason and I were moving half of our stuff to Eaton Rapids (Jason started his new job today and he's texted my twice already this morning about how fabulous it is) my Mom and Dad were staying at our house for the weekend to continue the remodel. The two of them get so much accomplished, honestly they are working machines. Our whole basement is painted, a wine rack is installed, doors are installed, trim is up and it LOOKS AMAZING. AND my Gramma and Grampa D showed up to help out too. Now my Gramps is pretty much a master craftsman and he loves getting in on stuff like this. I am so thankful that he was there to help my Dad with the carpentry. And my Gramma helped clean! Now I'm pretty sure that my house will never be as clean as hers (or moms for that matter) but it is so much better since we left on Friday.

Being that I left a mostly unfinished house in total disarray on Friday morning and I came home Sunday nite to all of these things done (magically, little elves may or may not have been involved, it's still up for debate) I feel as if Fairy-God-People descended down on the house and worked they're little butts off! I was truly amazed and will forever be thankful to the 4 of them for all that they accomplished this weekend!

Happy Thoughts

Work and home has been really rough lately. So to get through it I have Happy Thoughts. That picture sums up one of my favorites. That was the last summer before we lost Molly. She was pretty much the greatest, sweetest, gentlest dog ever, but most of you probably know that. Now, between Jason and I, and my Mom and Dad we have the Springer Clan. AKA the Critter Crew, AKA the CRAZIES. From left to right is Hannah (Mom's baby) then Athena, Copper, and Apollo. The summer before we got married Athena and Apollo had a litter of puppies and thats where Hannah and Copper came from. Now they're one big crazy family. This picture was taken in the backyard at my parents house on Long Lake. Also one of my happy thoughts. My sister and I were very fotunate growing up. Not only did we have a backyard to play in, but we also had the whole lake and the woods. Lucky girls we are.

So thinking about the dogs. I've realized that I don't call a single one by their given name. We'll start with Hannah. She's usually just Han, or Han Banan, or Hannah Van. But my personal favorite is Hannah the Horrible. She's also been called Hannahble Lector. She's a great and well trained dog she just gets in these crazy moods around the other dogs and wants to play fight for hours. She's been known to pull nubbin, back legs, and ears to pull Copper down the stairs.

Apollo is the only boy, though he's pretty much the sissy of the group. He doesn't like to get snow in his paws, he doesn't want you to see him go number 2 and he will only eat out of the pink bowl (aren't dogs colorblind!?). For some reason we call him Mr. Bubbas or App-A-Low (thanks Pa Van). Jason's called him Sissy Boy on occasion but generally Mr. Bubbas.

Athena is easy. She runs the household and everybody in it. She's fuzzy and round and squishy and fabulous. Just ask her. And she whinnies when she's excited to see you. And there's a whole lotta whiggle involved in her rump shaking. We simply call her Bean. She was such a tiny puppy when we brought her home that we called her Athena Bean. Mom called her peanut, Bean won out.

And finally Copper Girl. She's just the sweetest suggler of the bunch. She is a baby. She likes to lay on her back and be rocked and have her tummy rubbed. She's got the biggest sadest eyes and droopy ears. And for some reason we call her Turtle. I'm not toally sure why. Jason used to call her the Littlest Turd and somehow that went to Turtle. Copper Bobber is also a name we have for her. Or just simply "Bob".

That post really was a bunch or ramblings/bablings. Well atleast I'm true to my blog! Y'all come back now ya hear!

Chaos at Home and At Work

That is the current chaos at home. It's such a mess and we have to keep shuffling crap around to paint things! The great room is pretty much done with all renovations until the new carpet is installed. Ma Van has been over for a couple days with the Hannah Monster knockin stuff off of the list I made her. I so owe that woman a spa day when this is all over.

And even more bad karma at home. The window in Jason's truck won't roll back up and it was supposed to monsoon out so it had to go to the dealership and then it'll cost us 3oo bucks for it! Spring better start so that money tree can start growing.

Work has been a mad house. First of all the heat is still on and it's like mid-50's out so by late afternoon it's a hot box in here. Plus I'm totally stressed because I had to push 3 projects out today! One for MDOT preliminary design checks and if you've ever worked with MDOT you know how particular they can be, one 20 page drawing set that is going out for construction AND (yes there is more) I had to do an color rendering of a 25 acre sports complex. Yes it does look amazing but still! Took for ever and I so did not have time for it today. ANd of course the guy needed it for a meeting tonite! I really don't know what this place is going to do when I leave. All work will probably hault!

It's beautiful and sunny out! Get out and Enjoy it! I feel a game of chuck coming on with the pups when I get home! That is if it's still daylight!

My Masterpeice:

Someone said I should

I was told I should blog. A) because I always have a lot to say and 2) because I'm pretty sure my husband would rather read it then have me talk his ear off.

I really do enjoy writing, always have, except I work as an Engineering Technician. Not exactly a creative outlet.

Life is CRAZY right now! Jason was laid off in December and I've been our sole income for the last couple of months. And now he's accepted a new position at a firm in Jackson. So we're moving! I'm still not sure how I feel about this. I love Petoskey. And the life we live in Northern Michigan. But on the other hand it's exciting to embark on a new adventure where the airport is close and the malls are closer and the RedWings are just a freeway away.

Because we now have to move, we've started a crazy amount of renovations on our house in order to get it ready to sell. Jason leaves for his job in about a week and a half and I'll stay up here while the house sells (finger and toes crossed) and I look for a job in Jackson. A big thank you goes out to my parents for the large amount of work they're doing at our house and to our good friends Eric and Meghan Morris for letting us rent their old house, thus making the transition smoother.

I'm not kidding people. It's mad crazy chaos at our house! If the dogs don't have drywall mud in their ears they have paint stripes across their ass.