Miracles

Do you believe in miracles? I think I do. I am sure some big miracles happen every day, but the small ones are hard to ignore. My family is going through a stressful time trying to sell our home and trying to find our way through the winding path of Middle School and Elementary school. Conferences were this week and don't even get me started. Both kids are in special education. They have "learning differences" which in our day would be called dyslexia. It's not easy. I was out in my back yard talking to myself (I know... a bit crazy) repeating what I usually say when alone "it's going to work out, I'm going to be okay, it's going to work out, I'm going to be okay" when I looked up. My yard is a narrow yard surrounded by retaining walls. There is what we lovingly call "the cliff" in the backyard where there is just stone. Out of the stone, alone with dead leaves all around was a single flower that I swear was Queen Anne's Lace (my mother's favorite wild flower) blooming in the freezing cold. Was this a sign? I like to think it is my mother letting me know that somehow, some way things are going to work out and that she is with me. It's comforting. Of course, she had a quirky sense of humor, so when the fireplace backed up and filled the house with smoke I had the distinct feeling that she was laughing. Thankfully, today the fireplace is behaving and we don't have something else wrong with the house... for now anyway.

A Ray of Sunshine

We picked up a puppy last Saturday and boy is she sweet. My little girl named her Grace (aka Gracie) and my little boy decided she needed a middle name so... he named her Judy. So funny. He thinks that Judy is a funny name. So Grace Judy is a 13 lb puff ball of joy. Unlike her predecessor, Nala, she is very fresh, loves to bite and well, she's a talker. She likes her rawhide bone, but when it won't squeak or break she gets down low to the ground, stalks it and then barks her head off. It is so funny. Although, not so funny when she is barking and nipping at me. She starts obedience school on Wednesday and not a moment too soon. Gracie is a Newfoundland and she must be trained early or she will be too big and willful to control. I think she is going to love it though. Today the funny thing she did was run away from the vacuum cleaner when it was on and then when I turned it off she attacked it. She is really strong. I had unplugged it and was going to the laundry room to get something I needed when out of the corner of my eye the vacuum was moving across the floor. Gracie was pulling it by the cord all around the kitchen. She is something else. Gracie is such a great distraction. I love her.

Another ray of sunshine of the cautiously optimistic variety... two couples have come back to see my house for the second time. I have everything I own crossed that something good will happen. Please, please, please.

Once I figure out how to download pictures from our new camera, I will post some of the precious doggie and precious kids. bye