I am 24 years, 6 months, and 3 days old ....

I received this email today .... and it's one of the best ones I have gotten in a long time ...

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21 YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!' May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away.

Farewell 928 ....

Hello 117!!!

Well, Andrew and I are all moved into our new apartment. And let me tell you ... we couldn't be happier! We have thrown out our shields and bullet proof vests ... no gunshots in the new neighborhood. : ) And Andrew's beloved (the truck) is handling the outside weather very well without her garage. Andrew, on the other hand, is having a harder time. I just keep telling him that it takes time to adjust. But wouldn't you know that we had some pretty good rain her first night out .... hahaha ... kinda makes me giggle.

We have been looking forward to moving to a new area for the past few months ... and we kind of feel like we are on vacation as we get use to it. Except for the work part ... that's no fun. We are looking forward to the farmer's market, the ale house down the road, and weekend movies at the park. There is also a cute little historical area so I am starting to daydream about buying one of the houses next summer.

Funny story .... our new home has sliding glass doors from our living room and bedroom. Well, Miss Lou had a small "blonde" moment (if that makes sense seeing as though she is our black lab) and kind ran into the door. Poor thing ... she just looked at me as though I did it to her. I could hear her thinking, "not cool, mom ... not cool."

I'll take a few pictures of some of my favorite things about our new home and post them soon ...

Be on the lookout!

Happy weekend ... you can find me at the pool.

Louie's chew resistant bed ....

Okay ... Louie has always been a bit of a chewer. She has never chewed up anything that didn't "belong" to her (except for my brown flip flops). But for some reason she has always been obsessed with chewing up anything with a squeaky and almost ALL of her beds. Here is a brief overview of all of Miss Chewy Louie's beds ....

Bed #1

Her very first dog bed was a beautiful, round, sage green fluffy bed from PetSmart. We got her this bed the very day we got her ... not knowing what was in store for us and our new puppy. At first she pulled off the zipper and then a few weeks later I came home to a big ball of fluff in her crate. So, at that point we knew we couldn't buy her another bed just yet. At some point she would outgrow this chewing phase. Right?!?!

Blankets 1,2, and 3

Her second "bed" was one of Andrew's old comforters ... that lasted for awhile. She chewed the edges, created a few holes, and pulled out the filling but it was holding up well. It eventually had to be thrown out because of the 'dog' smell. We refused to wash it in fear of what may happen to our washing machine. Then (me being the genius I am) gave her an old feather filled comforter. You can picture how that turned out. Following the feather filled comforter came another blanket. She loved that blanket. She loved it so much that she would pull it out of her crate and bring it into the living room. We were constantly picking of strings of the blanket all over the apartment and Louie would also end up eating a few of them. That didn't create anything pleasant ... trust me.

Bed #4

Louie's Grandma and Grandpa Raynor bought her a FANTASTIC bed for Christmas. The company insists that it is chew resistant (I have all of the paperwork ... just in case). It is beautiful .... it's red with black labs printed on it and her name is on the front. She has attempted to chew it apart but no such luck! Thank goodness!!!

Bed #5

Well, the bed she got for Christmas is way too big to fit in her crate. And while she is still in training mode, we don't feel too comfortable leaving her out to roam around the apartment for long periods of time. So, while we were at Target yesterday we found the perfect size bed. It even had a sticker on it that said "Chew Resistant Bed". And then it contradicted itself with the tag saying "This bed is not suitable for persistent chewers." Well, I was optimistic. I convinced Andrew into buying it by saying, "It feels just like the one she got for Christmas and it is sewn very nicely." So we bought it.

Well, this is what I came home to today:

I quit.