We lost our matriarch dog, Heidi, last week. She was at least 13 years old, and was probably closer to 14 or 15. About a month ago she suddenly started getting skinny and slowing down. She was still a happy dog, smiling and thumping her tail at you when you spoke to her, lying on her back to get a belly rub. So I don't think she was in any pain or distress, even up to her last hour. I miss her and had a good cry when she died, but it isn't as hard as it was when my Scout died.
We got Heidi in 2001. Thomas and the kids had stopped by a house in the country to buy some fresh corn. They had several dogs, and one of them was Heidi. She took a shine to Eler Beth, 5 years old at the time, following her around and running and playing. They offered her to Thomas, and he called me to see what I thought. Well, I didn't really want a dog. I really, really didn't. We'd moved into our house the year before, and I hadn't planned for a dog. But I couldn't say no. They came home and got me, and we went back to see the dog. The previous owners had called her Smilie, but I immediately knew she was a "Heidi," and I fell in love with her.
They told us she was a year old -- I put her at closer to two years, based on her teeth -- and that she'd been spayed. When I took her to get her shots I didn't asked if she'd actually been spayed -- I should have. lol A year later she presented us with eight beagle-mixed puppies. We loved them, though. They were adorable, and we ended up keeping two of them: Bruin, Eler Beth's dog, and Taxi, for Andrew. Needless to say, Ms. Heidi-Ma'am was spayed as soon as we could have that arranged, and we found good homes for the other six pups.
Three months before this, Eler Beth's dog Fanci (yes, another dog had been added to the family, and that's a whole other story!) had four pups, full-blooded Fox Terriers. So when Heidi's pups were born, we had 13 dogs/puppies on the place. And we ended up keeping two of those as well: Little Bit, for Eler Beth, and my own dear Scout.
Fanci's pups, especially Scout, loved Heidi. He would follow her around, try to get her to play with him, and sleep snuggled up to her. She was a good Momma-dog to her pups, and when Fanci died a few years ago, she became the Momma-dog. She had a beautiful Beagle voice, and she assigned to herself watch-dog duties and took them very seriously. She wasn't afraid of any other dog, no matter how much bigger than her it happened to be. She respected the cats we've had over the years and put up with Eler Beth's pet possum, although she looked a little disgusted about it, but she never, ever got used to the rabbits. And I wouldn't have expected her to, bless her old Beagle heart. Anytime Eler Beth had the rabbits out in the yard, either loose or on their leashes, the dogs were put up in their kennels, and Heidi would lower her head, stand very still, and just watch them intently.
She was a good, sweet old girl, and we'll miss her. Little Bit is now the oldest dog on the place, being three months older than Bruin and Taxi, and years older than Bryant. She always did want to be the alpha dog, and I guess she has her chance now. But she has some mighty big paw prints to fill!
I think I'll do it this year.
But I want to do it this month instead of next month.
Maybe.
A few posts previously I mentioned a writing project that simply fell in my lap. It was offered to me as a project that I could put my own name on instead of ghost-writing, or I could co-write if I preferred. I'm hesitant to write too much about it on my blog, but I really, really want to. It is a great story, and I feel privileged to have been asked to take it on.
It is a story based on the family of a school-fellow of mine. She is living an unusual -- well, unusual in the grand scheme of things, but not as unusual as it would have been a few decades ago -- life, with some very specifically unique, trying, and sometimes humorous -- as in, "You have to laugh so you don't cry" -- scenarios.
There are two very categorical circumstances in her family, with neither of which I have any real personal experience, so for nine months now I have been doing research and brainstorming ideas. I have gotten to know her and her family very well through her emails. She has been very frank with me, and, honestly, the information she has given me could be overwhelming if I let it be so. But I have parsed her emails, transferring what I want to use into my notes and skeleton of an outline. She has recommended reading material and videos for my research, and I have found a lot of information on my own.
I think I am ready to develop my main characters. You see, she wants it to be a work of fiction, but based on some of her own experiences. So now that I have all this information I have to separate the story I am going to write from her, her husband, their children, and other key characters in her real-life narrative. I can't let myself picture them when I'm writing. I can't let myself think of them with their real names. The characters in "the book" must belong to themselves. And so far I am having trouble getting the right "voice" for it in my head. I know who the
main character is and what's going to happen to her. But she doesn't
have a name yet, and she doesn't have a voice. It will come, I know. I've been here before, and it always comes to me eventually, but it has never mattered so much to me before as it matters to me now. I mean this is a really great idea for a novel!
This school-fellow of mine works with my eldest sister, who knows her family and their circumstances very well. When my friend started talking about how she'd love to write a book about her situation but knew she couldn't and that she'd love to give her idea to someone else to write, my sister recommended me. And I am feeling a lot of trepidation about it because I don't want to fail or make a mess of it. It could be so good if it's done correctly; but what if I'm not the one to do it?
Guess I won't know until I try, right?
I won't rush it. When I do have something coherent, I might ask a few of my Blogger friends to sample a bit and give me some feedback. I will at some point need a sounding board besides my own family. My sister Barbara is my usual sounding board, and she will continue to be so, but I want several readers who have different reading tastes and backgrounds. So don't be surprised if some time -- perhaps after the first of the year, although that might be a bit pessimistic -- I ask you for that favor.
This is my 10-year-old grand-niece, Javen Smith (my eldest sister Dennice's youngest granddaughter). Her father, my nephew, Jamie, introduces her:
"This is Javen's link to her soundclick page.
This is her first studio recording. It is a cover of the ever popular
"Cup Song" a/k/a "Miss Me When I'm Gone" as recorded by Anna Kendrick."
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12484250
She has such a nice, true voice. Very pretty. Reminds me of her daddy!
Give it a listen and let me know what you think.
I just realized I didn't make even one entry in July. I think it has been a long time since I've missed a month. We were pretty busy last month, and I just don't keep up like I used to. I haven't read anyone else's blog in a long while either. I'll make that a goal for the weekend.
I finally have a weekend that I'm not super busy. I love weekends when I can stay home, and I certainly have a lot of things I'd like to get accomplished around here. The local school kids started back to school on Thursday, August 1, which I think is way too early and hot to be going back to school, but what do I know. Eler Beth started her home schooling on the same day, but that's different! Others in the area started on the 7th or 8th and still others are starting next week.
Eler Beth is beginning her Senior year. Can't believe that after this year I will no longer be putting together lesson plans and such. I will miss it. Of course, I may be helping her with college homework. Or, I have thought about going back to school myself to finish getting my degree. Part of me really wants to, even if I never really use it. Part of says, "Are you sure you have enough brains for that?!?"
I'm already starting to plan Eler Beth's graduation party. Andrew didn't want one when he graduated. He wanted a trip to Florida instead, so that's what he got. He's never been one to have something like that where he's the focus, and we respected that. But this party for my girl is going to be a BIG one; at least that's what I'm planning. I want it to be extra, extra special, because she's an extra, extra special young lady.
Eler Beth is looking for part-time work. She tried everywhere back in the late winter, early spring, but it's really hard for teens in this area, unless they know someone who knows someone; even getting a job at a local fast food place is hard when there are so many applicants. She has worked for three years part-time for a friend of ours who has a lot of health problems, cleaning for her and running errands and things like that, but that is on an as-needed basis. She loves doing that kind of thing, though, and is very close to this friend. Then in May she posted on Facebook that she was looking for work, any kind of work, and did anyone need someone to mow their lawns or walk their dogs or something. Well, Andrew's best friend had just gotten a puppy, a 10-week-old Australian Cattle Dog, and offered her a job of walking him, helping to train him, and playing with him an hour a day each weekday. She was thrilled to get that and loves taking care of "Batman." She watched him one week while his owner was out of town, too. I wish she had a bunch of jobs like that. They would fit nicely around her school schedule and give her enough pocket money to do her for now. But that job will be ending soon, as Batman is moving a bit further away and won't need as much care through the day anyway.
Also, right after posting that another one of Andrew's friends gave her a weekly job of mowing his lawn. That might last into September or October. So between the three jobs she's been able to make a little extra pocket money, but now she's started putting in applications around the area again. She's saving for a very special trip next year. She is such a hard worker and a go-getter. She doesn't mind doing hard physical labor, and actually prefers it to sitting or standing around. A lot of places will be taking on extra people to gear up for the holiday season, so hopefully she'll get something that she can enjoy and that's close to home. She's such a good girl with a good head on her shoulders. Oh yes, and she volunteered at the local library all summer. She really enjoyed that, and that will look on her resumes too.
One day last week she was talking about a lot of her friends and their dating woes, including her cousin (18) whose fiance' called off their wedding, another friend (18) who just got married, and another friend (17!!!) who just got engaged. Eler Beth is a firm believer in not getting serious at a young age. She has had her crushes, and she has a lot of friends who are guys, but she wants to enjoy herself for a while and find out what she really wants in her life before she goes and gets serious with anyone. And that is, I assure you, all her own idea, not ours (although we applaud it); she is just that type of person. So anyway, she was talking about her friends' break-ups and heartbreaks and so on, and then she suddenly just blurted out, "Girls my age just need to get themselves a GOOD DOG!" Then she said, "Seriously, I have Bryant to love me unconditionally. And I can shower my affection on him and take him everywhere with me. He listens to me if I need to talk, and he loves and protects me. He's all I need right now!"
Good girl!
Well, I've babbled on long enough. I plan to visit my Blogger friends over the weekend to get a bit caught up. And I might even return and make another post. I hope everyone has been having a nice summer and that all are happy and healthy. Catch you later!
It doesn't seem possible that it has been 26 years already.
Well, in some ways it seems longer than 26 years. LOL
It has been a roller coaster ride at times, but always with a soft and smooth landing.
I love Thomas more today than I did 26 years ago, and that's saying a lot!
This must have been some kind of Thanksgiving assignment; I'm pretty sure his school doesn't blatantly advocate vegetarianism. This is something my great-nephew Tajulian did at school. It is so funny I had to share:
In case you can't read it, it says: Tajulian says, "Just say NO to turkey!" Instead, we should eat... (and he wrote) "chicken nuggets because they don't move."
Tajulian's mother, my nephew Jamie's wife, is a vegetarian, but my nephew isn't. One night at dinner their daughter Javen asked, "Mom, can I be a vegetarian when I grow up?" and Tajulian, six years old, piped up, "I thought you wanted to be a teacher!"
Yes, he does come up with some good ones!
We got Heidi in 2001. Thomas and the kids had stopped by a house in the country to buy some fresh corn. They had several dogs, and one of them was Heidi. She took a shine to Eler Beth, 5 years old at the time, following her around and running and playing. They offered her to Thomas, and he called me to see what I thought. Well, I didn't really want a dog. I really, really didn't. We'd moved into our house the year before, and I hadn't planned for a dog. But I couldn't say no. They came home and got me, and we went back to see the dog. The previous owners had called her Smilie, but I immediately knew she was a "Heidi," and I fell in love with her. 
