Life lately...

I know it's been a while since my last real update on here, but really, when life gets as strange as it's been - it's just hard to actually put it all into words. And it really does seem surreal. And it doesn't seem to be letting off either.

Grab some coffee - iced if you're down south and temps are setting records.

About mid-May, my newest girl dog (named incredibly, creatively Girl) jumped the backyard fence via some left over brick stacks and got hit by our music minister in our driveway. She disappeared for a couple of days but upon arrival I knew something was drastically wrong. Her back leg would not work at all. It simply hung and was incredibly swollen. Several hundred dollars later, no less than 2 surgeries involving pins and screws, 5 weeks in the house, one remote, 2 CDs, 1 book, 2 notebooks, 1/2 bottle of GermX and 2 knitting projects later and she's doing just fine having been returned to the backyard. Where she wants to be. Where my hubby wants her to be. What kind is she you ask? What special breed is this worthy canine? She is a mutt, the best kind in my opinion. She wandered up last winter and we've kept her. I even had her trained. So, she is a very very expensive mutt that prefers to be in the backyard and doesn't want to come out of that yard. And all those trips back and forth to the vet? She shits. Profusely. In the Honda. Consistently. Even if no one feeds her. Even if we walk her for an hour before the trip. Profuse. Stinky. Shit.

Here's Girl on her recovery pillow.

Mother's stone on a beautiful hill in Wisconsin.

About the time Girl got done with the 2nd surgery, I received a call from my aunt telling me that Mother's stone was set. Crooked. Very unleveled. As in, she noticed it before she got out of her car. One cousin stated that Ray Charles could have set it straighter. So, I call the memorial company (18 hours away from here) and arrange for them to meet my aunt/cousins, etc. to have it straightened. She calls after that. Yes, it's beautiful. It's straight. Unfortunately, it's not over Mother. Huh? Mother is not in the plot she should be in. You see, my mother always had a terrible sense of direction and apparently, something carried through even after death. She was buried (last year, the first time) in one of my aunt's plots. Even though my sister and I went back and forth with the cemetery folks for 2 months or more before burying her urn. Now, they've put her in the wrong plot. I mean, what exactly do you call that? Reburial? Replanting? Transplanting? F!&$ up? That's what I call it. Especially when they have the audacity to give us 2 options: 1) We can come up and move her ourselves; 2) We can pay them AGAIN to move her. WTF?! Do they honestly think that I'm going to pay them one more cent, much less let them place a finger on her urn?! Incredible! And when speaking to my sister about this on the phone, they made a comment about what they had done when this had happened previously. So, needless to say, my sister and I flew up to Wisconsin to take care of Mother (we did) and to settle some land deed issues. I can actually say that after 37 years I was finally able to put my mother in her place! (I never would have done that while she was alive!) :)

Mother's stone, with Mother's urn in the midst of the reburial, replanting, putting in place, etc.

Also, I finally returned to the hand specialist for the surgery follow up. (delay much, me?) One spot was an osteochondroma and is now gone from all images. The other spot (on top of the knuckle) was removed, and is growing back. ARGH! This week I returned to try another round of cortisone in that area. My goal is to delay yet another surgery for as long as possible. If you're keeping count, it will be the third surgery.

So, while all that was going on, racing is still happening. We've learned that sometimes races can last onward of 12 hours. And sometimes they race in outdoor, concrete surrounded horse arenas.

The kids finished school in the top of their class. They also got to study counting money for 3.5 weeks and then moved on to measurements - on a ruler. So, after much consideration, prayer and research, I am going to be homeschooling them next year. I'm scared shitless.

That's about it. I'm sure I've forgotten somethings. As you can see, I've had a bit of bizarre going on, so it's hard to remember all of it. Oh yeah, I just remembered something. Today I got a letter informing me that there has been suspicious activity under a credit card. A credit card in Mother's name. Now, I remember calling all of her credit card companies last year and canceling them and shredding the cards. I remember having to repeat over and over less than two weeks after her death that she was dead to every single company. Sometimes more than once to more than one person. So, yes, I would say that it's suspicious activity! Now, I've got to get all of that straightened out. I really do wonder when all of that will be at peace. 'Cause really? I'm so done with strange shit that happens after someone dies. How much are we expected to deal with? Isn't it bad enough we had to watch our mother suffer and live with the knowledge she was going to die soon? Isn't it bad enough that she's gone way too early? When is it enough?

So, that's all that's going on here. Hope all is well with you. I'll try to do better about updating. :)

Take care - Me