Friends

This week Travis went to Santa Clarita to visit his best friend from our old neighborhood. He's a really nice kid that Travis met on the school bus in 1st grade. They have been friends ever since. They both love sports, although Andy likes the Angels and Travis likes the Dodgers- Travis likes arguing about baseball with him. When the boys were in junior high, I drove Andy to school in the morning and his mom brought them home in the afternoon. They continued to be friends through high school as well. After graduation, Andy went away to college and then we moved away, so I was happy to hear that they made a plan to get together for a few days this summer. I haven't heard too much about what they have been up to, but today they went to the beach with a group of their high school friends. I'm glad that Travis found and kept such a good friend. Even though he'll be going back to school soon, they can still keep in touch over the internet.

Must Love Dogs

A few nights ago, I couldn't sleep...my mind was racing about what to do about this dog that I know of...poor little guy stays locked up in a small cage 24/7 and is never let out to run around and never gets any attention. I'm pretty sure this is animal cruelty, so I went to the animal shelter and filed a complaint. I don't know if any good will come of it, but I figured if there was something like this going on and I did nothing to help, then I feel just as guilty. Anyway, this led me to the animal shelter, which I wanted to visit, but at the same time, didn't want to.

There was a little Yorkie or Silky Terrier there that I had seen on the website and wanted to meet her (maybe add a 3rd dog to my pack?). While looking for her I passed cage after cage of sweet dogs who barked at me to get my attention. The sign said not to put fingers in the cages, but I didn't listen...I can pretty much tell who is friendly...most of them were. There were a few that caught my eye; a Boston Terrier, an adorable and friendly little chihuahua, and a black poodle mix with missing teeth and a sweet way about him. I found the Yorkie (she was big so I think she may be a Silky) and she was hiding in her kennel. A nice volunteer brought her out to meet me and she was shy at first, but quickly warmed up and even jumped up onto my lap. I think she would make a good addition to my pack, but I have to discuss it with my family and not make a rash decision.

Anyway, anyone who knows me knows that I was crying all this time while visiting these dogs. I have such an overwhelming need to help them. I can't adopt them all...but I want to do SOMETHING...something to make their lives a little better...there are volunteer opportunites, but I don't know if my heart can take it. I love dogs so much and have an instant connection with them. (I feel like the "Pied Piper" at home with my two dogs following me wherever I go) I think I was meant to work with animals, but I just need to figure out how!

Never satisfied

I hate to sound ungrateful, because I really am grateful for all I have; a beautiful home, great husband, great kids, my dogs, etc; but I have been feeling blue lately.

I can't seem to shake this feeling of regret about moving! Maybe it's normal to feel that way after selling our home of 13 years and moving to a "new" town? I thought the transition would be easier- Grant and I both grew up here and lived in the area for a long time, so it's not like we were moving to unfamiliar territory. I guess maybe I had built my expectations up too much. I thought I would see my friends more often - I've only seen them 2 or 3 times since we moved here in November (we bought this house in February). I thought I'd have better luck finding a job. All we seem to be doing is spending more and more money on this house!

But the worst part is that Travis is not happy here- and that breaks my heart.

All the time I spent missing Pedro and complaining about Canyon Country...now I miss it!

Oh well, that's me...never satisfied!

The Beach

Today, my son Grant Jr. and I took our dogs to the Dog Zone dog beach. Bandit is a shih tzu and Emily is a mutt (supposedly a shih tzu - cocker spaniel mix) from 2nd Chance Dog Rescue. Bandit had been to the beach before, but this was Emily's first time. The beach is not fenced off, so Grant was a little nervous about taking the dogs off their leashes for fear that they might run away, but they didn't. They would just run and play with other dogs, never venturing too far away, and always looking back to make sure Grant and I were still where they left us! I really love seeing the joy in their faces as they run at top speed through the sand. This is such a joy for dogs and one that they seldom get to enjoy in thier world of leashes and fences.
Grant decided to coax Emily into the water and she happily, but cautiously followed. The trust that Emily has in Grant was apparent as she follwed him deeper into the water-it was really beautiful! This little 25lb dog who was born in an animal shelter, adopted and dumped back in the shelter twice, has a big enough heart to trust her boy enough to follow him into the ocean -what a wonderful sight to behold. This is an example of the rewards of dog parenting and especially of adopting a rescue dog-it feels wonderful to give this dog a home, complete with food, shelter, and love and to also enrich her life by giving her experiences like going to the beach and going swimming with her boy and running full speed across the beach.

new to blogging

As the title states, I'm new to blogging, so let's see how this goes...I have freinds with much more interesting lives who have posted wonderful blogs. I don't know if I'll be able to measure up!

A little about me and my family; I met and married my husband while living in San Pedro. We just moved back in November 09 after living in Santa Clarita since 1996. It's a nice place to raise a family, great schools and cheap housing, but all of my husband's family lives here and since my father-in-law recently passed away, we felt a need to be closer to family again. My husband and I share a love of San Pedro since we grew up here, went to school here and met and fell in love here, but my kids didn't grow up here-it's been a bit of an adjustment for them. We bought a house that was built in 2008, but never lived in and never completed either. We have been spending the last 5 months or so finishing up the house. It needed fixtures and flooring and now needs landscaping and concrete work in the yard.

I guess that's my first entry...more to come.