A Place to Write

I’m suddenly having a hard time finding time to write. Or do anything. The week after we returned from California the world shut down. Brendon and I were asked to work from home. Schools closed. Restaurant dining rooms closed. Everything worth doing outside the house closed. At first I was excited to work from home. Then overwhelmed. Now I’m still busier than I’ve ever been but I have no desire to go back into the office full time. We have fallen into a routine. Each morning Brendon gets up to exercise. He was doing it from home but the gyms have finally reopened so he’s there as soon as the doors open. That leaves me at home caring for our new puppy, Tucker. Tucker is a smart dog. He’s pretty much potty trained at this point and of course he’s adorable because all Old English Sheep Dogs are. But he will not go back to sleep once Brendon leaves. I’m coping. He’s wonderful but he’s no Bently. He deserves his own post. Eventually Tucker barks one too many times and wakes Aspen up...

I don't want to forget the positive parts of this week and that was our trip to Disneyland. We left Aspen at home with Grandma and just took the big girls on a trip to Disneyland. Our first stop was Alpacas of the Southwest for Michelle Day 2020. Benny the Alpaca was very nice but the tour was short and we were done quickly. Then we set off for California. We decided to stay one night with Sue and Kent. As we were about to turn onto their street (a generally quiet street in Monrovia) a car ran a stop sign and flew out in front of us. Brendon slammed on the brakes to miss him but the other car did not stop. He kept speeding off down the street. Half a second later three police cars came flying down the street from the other direction, missing their chance to cut off the crazy driver. Later that night we were able to find the car chase on the news and could even see our car on the helicopter footage. The driver had been involved in a road rage incident and then stole a car and ha...

I think there's general confusion over how to mourn the loss of a dog. Everyone knows dogs don't live forever so it seems every dog lover loses at least one in their lifetime. Dogs are family members. How do you honor their memory but also move forward? We had a great trip to Disneyland this week. While we were there J let us know Bently was acting strange back home. He couldn't get him to get up and it was starting to rain. Bently just wanted to stay in the rain. Eventually, with David's help, he got him inside. J left that night and we returned the next day to find Bently unresponsive on the ground, covered in blood and poop and pee. He was breathing and would open his eyes but he didn't lift his head to greet us. Brendon started sobbing instantly and as soon as I came inside I knew it was the end for Bently. At first I tried to get the girls to stay outside but then I thought they should be allowed to say goodbye. I let them in and we all cried together while...