A Day of Loss

Yesterday was a day that Jeramy and I have dreaded for a very long time; nine years and two months to the exact. Last night we lost Jackson, our 9 1/2 year old yellow lab. He was put down at approximately midnight last night. It was all so sudden and unexpected that I think the reality of it still hasn't set in. Yesterday started off as a better than normal day. We spent the whole weekend at my sister's house, all six of us (me, Jeramy, Ryleigh, Avery, Jackson and Rocky.) Becca and I went for a walk every day and I took Jackson with us every day. After our walk yesterday we went and saw my brother's new apartment, then we loaded up and headed home. We stopped in Conroe for a few hours to see some of Jeramy's family and noticed then that Jackson wasn't himself. He wouldn't eat and drank way more than normal. He also wouldn't go #2, though it was obvious that he needed to. Once we got home, his conditioned worsened. The girls were already in bed, so Jeramy rushed him to the vet by himself. They quickly diagnosed Jackson with a twisted gut or bloat. They told us that surgery was an option, but x-rays revelaed that he was in the latter stages and that it was not likely he would make it through the surgery. Jeramy and I made the very difficult decision to let our friend go.

Jeramy and I got Jackson in March of 1999. He was about 4 months old at that point. He was a shelter dog and was in desperate need of a good home. We were two college kids that didn't have any business owning a dog but we did the best we could for him. During his time with us he took many road trips, attended many college parties, tubed the Guadalupe and camped in the Mississippi wilderness. We have always loved him and always will. It's hard to even remember our relationship without that dog in our lives.

His personal items will be buried at my parent's house where my dad has already chosen a spot for him. My parents will be planting a tree in his honor. Thank you to everyone for your condolences.

To our dear friend Jack-Dog, you have brought immeasurable joy and laughter into our lives. You will be missed and never forgotten. Take it easy boy. We love you...Mom and Dad

Trip to Tennessee

So, our second trip within the last month took us a little bit further than the first. We loaded up our two children, five suitcases, one ice chest, lots of diapers, two cameras and ourselves in the ol' family Tahoe and drove all the way to Nashville, Tennessee. Well, not quite to Nashville, we were actually in the Franklin/Cool Springs area. Jeramy's mom, Pam, was engaged to be married and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. The first day of our trip we drove 12 straight hours all the way to Birmingham, Alabama. That's 4 states in one day with two kids in a Tahoe. The kids were incredible, though I can't say the same for the Best Western we decided to stay at the first night. What can I say about Alabama?? Lots and lots of Waffle Houses. Tennessee too. I bet we saw about 20 Waffle Houses on this trip. We attempted to eat at one, but the wait was too long.

So, on Thursday we drove to Birmingham and then on Friday we finished driving on in to Franklin. So, that's 5 states in two days with two kids in a Tahoe. We got checked in to the second hotel of our trip and I was no more willing to walk around without shoes on in this hotel than I was in our first. But, it was cheap and we weren't there much. After getting checked in we headed to the mall to get Ryleigh a pair of shoes for the wedding and ended up meeting up with Pam and Al. Ryleigh played and the guys watched Avery while Pam and I got our nails done, a much needed ritual before the big day. That evening, we all met up at this great family style, country style restaurant in Cool Springs. Pam's brother and his wife were there as was one of Pam's friends from Monahans. It was a great meal and a great evening spent with family and old friends and the latest addition to both categories, Al.

The next morning we got up and made the Waffle House attempt but settled on Shoney's. Then we headed out to the wedding site to help with the set-up. Where the ceremony took place really needed little decoration. It was out in the country on this gorgeous estate. We got everything ready to go and then headed back to the hotel to get dressed and make the two most gorgeous girls in the world....even more gorgeous. The ceremony was simple and elegant and everyone seemed to have a really good time. The happy couple said their "I do's" and then we all headed over to this awesome little dive called Puckett's Grocery for the real celebration. For those who don't know, Pam's new husband is quite an accomplished musician. He and some other guys were scheduled to play at this "grocery store". It's really more like a cafe/conveinence store. It was very intimate and a whole lot of fun. Ryleigh was running around being her adorable self and having a grand ol' time while Avery just snoozed away in her stroller parked in the frozen foods section. The music was great, the beer was great and the company couldn't have been better.

A little history on how Pam met Al... Pam knows Peggy because Peggy lived in Nigeria when Pam lived in Nigeria. Peggy is from West Texas as well. Peggy's relative is Lucky Floyd, who was my high school band director. Lucky Floyd was in a band with Al back in the stone age. This band had a reunion which Peggy and Pam were invited to. Pam meets Al and the rest is history. Now I knew this before the wedding, but it didn't dawn on me that I might be seeing my high school band director at this shin dig, not until Al called him up to the stage.

I remember Mr. Floyd as a skinny little guy that drove a very small gray car that was easily picked up and moved across the parking lot when the football team needed something to do in order to pass the time. He yelled at us a lot, which I think all band directors do, but he always gave us a sly smile when he was done with the yelling. Except for the one time that he got so pissed he left the room and locked himself in his office. About the time one of the asssitants decided to take over, he came back out to yell at us some more, then went back into his office. He left at the end of my Sophomore year, quite suddenly and due to some extremely cowardly reasons...cowardly on our school board's behalf, not his. He was the kind of teacher that earned the respect of his students. Even with the yelling, we enjoyed working for him. There was something normal and cool about him which he occasionally let shine through back then. And boy did it shine through at the after-party the evening of the wedding.

As I was ordering my second beer I heard Al call Lucky Floyd up to the stage to sing a song. My band director, whom I hadn't seen in 13 years, walked on the stage and commenced to wail into the microphone. He sang "Lucille" first and several other songs afterwards and it was all quite impressive.

The festivities all ended shortly after 10pm and we headed back to our room. We all passed out and got up the next morning and decided to head out towards the Natchez Trace. We grabbed some breakfast at this great little mom and pop diner in Franklin. While I was waiting on Jeramy to go back out to the truck to get Ryleigh's book, the owner took me back into the kitchen to show me the good food. There was a sign up that I wish I would have taken a picture of. It read "Do Not Eat Food In The Kitchen: You WILL be fired". This world needs more signs like that. After breakfast we decided to join Pam and Al for church and then went out to see Pam's new home. It's a great little cabin the woods and perfect for the two of them.

That day, after stopping in Memphis for some damn good barbeque, we drove to Jackson, Mississippi where we insisted on staying in a Hampton Inn...a nice, clean Hampton Inn. Finally, on Monday we made our way back home. It was a great trip overall, due in large part to our wonderful children who both did very well given all the time they spent in their car seats.

Congrats to Pam and Al....may your love for each other grow each day. Finally, some kindness in this world for someone who has always been so kind to this world. We love you Grand-Pam.

the monty clan

I feel like summer has started!

Today was Ryleigh's very first swim lesson! It was a huge success! I could not believe how she just walked righ on in without so much as a whimper. She got in the pool and did everthing that they asked her to. The set-up at the swim club that she's taking the lessons at is really cool. There's a sitting area for the parents and we can see right into the pool area. Going under water was her least favorite thing to do, but I think that will change over the course of the next two weeks.

Avery is doing great too. Sitting up like a champ and oh-so-very-extremely close to crawling. I can't wait to get both of them in the pool this summer. Except for the part where I have to put on a swim suite, that's not going to be so hot.

A month....really?............really??

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. We've been so incredibly busy over the past month! First of all, Jackson's ear healed just fine and though I vowed revenge and compensation, I never did anything to track down the owner of the other dog other than call the Houston PD, who totally blew me off. Apparently they have better things to do than help me track down the owners of a viscious ear-eating dog. Such is life and to them....karma man....karma.

Since my last post I have put approximately 6,000 miles on my Tahoe and have many tales of our traveling adventures. The first trip took me and the girls up to Arlington where we met up with my parents who took Ryleigh back to West Texas with them. She spent two nights with Grandma Terri and Papa Steve. The second night they went to "Nemo on Ice", aka, the Ice Capades. Ryleigh absolutely loved it and still tells us about it when we read her Nemo book or play with her Nemo hat or drink out of her Nemo cup or eat out of her Nemo bowl. My parents, they don't spoil our children at all. I met back up with my mom in Fredericksberg to pick up Ryleigh and got to spend of night with my recently preggers friend Karen. After I drooled over Karen and Jeremy Wallace's wonderful garden filled with strawberries, pumpkins and tomotoes, I headed back home with both of the girls.

One might think of me as slightly crazy for making two such trips with two such small children, but the girls did really well. And, this trip was only the beginning of many, many hours on the road in the weeks ahead.

More on that later...got lots of laundry going and a baby to feed. Who, by the way is well into eating solids. So far, we've had sweet pototoes, bananas, yogurt, cereal and peaches. Nothing really sticks out as her favorite, but she's willing to try anything so far.