Catching up and sibling rivalry

                 This is Jim and his siblings at his dad's 80th birthday party:

                                  The family:

     I don't include those pictures because there is sibling rivalry there .... it just fit since it's a picture of siblings.  No deepness there, anyway.

     So I am back.  It's amazing how cut off I feel without my internet.  I don't think that's a good thing.  I think we must have had more free time back before computers and the world wide web.

Oh well.

So Friday was the day we put George to sleep.  I took some pictures while he and I had time together before the "event".  Those will be at the end of this post.  

Saturday my dear friend K came over and put my crosses up on my wall.  They look great and I'm glad they're back.  The breakfast area looked really bare without them.

Colby decided to investigate them:


 
            She couldn't get down from the ladder so I had to rescue her, "fireman" style!

                    Daughters #2 & #3 had their last college/sorority formal last weekend.  Here are my lovely daughters:

      Here's Daughter #3 and her handsome date --- a friend from waaaay back:


We had a storm come through tonight and the power went off ..... for 2 hours.  DEJA VU!!

Son #3 and I put a movie in to a computer and started watching it.  When the power came on he decided it was time for bed.

I'm going to have to hit the hay soon, too.  My sleep the past 2 nights has been minimal.  I've come to a difficult decision:  I'm going to have to kick Gabby's big butt out of my bed .... starting tonight.  She snores in my ear ..... much louder than Jim ever snored.  I KNOW that man is up in Heaven saying, "I can NOT believe she lets that DOG sleep right up against her in our bed!!  She NEVER let me sleep that closely!!"  And I didn't.  I've always needed my own space for sleeping.  Gabby has taken over my space.  I have a king-sized bed and she sleeps on my 1/8 portion.  And she pushes against me while she's dreaming and kicking and crying!  But last night was the last straw.  This is where the "sibling rivalry" comes in.

I woke up around 3:00 a.m. and worked for quite a while to push that hulk of a horse, I mean, puppy, over so I'd have some space and wouldn't fall off of the bed.

Well, Rigby heard me talking to her so he decided to come in and sleep with us, too.  He started at my feet and slowly worked his way up to my chest, purring like a car without a muffler (which might seem nice at 3:00 in the afternoon ......  at 3:00 in the morning? .... not so much).  

But the thing that tore it was ..... the closer he inched up on me, the closer Gabby inched up across the bed.  No kidding.  It was tit for tat.  Rigby inched up ..... Gabby inched up.  Over and over and over again.  

Rigby ended up with his head right under my chin.  Gabby ended up with her head on my pillow .... right next to mine.

And I just lay there, trapped ..... because I knew that if I got up and put Rigby out of the room and put Gabby into her garage ...... I mean, crate, then I'd be totally awake for the rest of the night.  

And so I lay there ... trapped and sleepy.  I managed to fall back asleep but still had to wake up several times to wake Gabby up from her very physical dreams.

Sheesh.

So that's it ..... she'll be in her garage-sized crate now.  We shall see how it goes tonight.

We shall see if I give in.  

What do I love more ...... Gabby ....... or my sleep?

Hmmmmmmmm, that's a very, very tough choice.

I'll let you know how it goes tonight.

Oh, and here's my new plan for Q&A's ....... I'm going to start making Wednesdays, "Ask Me Wednesday".  So keep asking whatever it is you want to know about me, our family, raising 6 kids, making mistakes with 6 kids, whatever you want to know.  I did have someone ask me to share a favorite recipe (one of the kids' favorites --- which I'm really going to have to scrounge around for .... pleasing all 6 at the same meal??  A miracle!), so I'll be posting that this Wednesday. 

Keep the questions coming!

OK, that's it for tonight.  I'm glad to be back.

I'll leave you with my last pictures of George.  He was a great pet.