A day in the life of.....

What a day this has proven to be from the start. First I wake (on my holidays mind you) at 5:45am. Now those who know me well would know that I wasn't even aware that there was a 5:45am, let alone thought I'd ever see the day when I was wide awake at that hour.

I laid in my bed quietly contemplating if I should take the option of rolling over and trying to get another couple of hours or what else the day may hold for me. I sleepily rolled over and turned the radio on to hear the weather report "It's going to be a 42 degree scorcher today!" Bloody hell. Yep, I was going to get that extra kip time before the heat stopped me from opting for an afternoon Nanna Nap later in the day.

Decisions were taken out of my hands quite quickly. I must have blown my cover by breathing a little too loudly as the pup came bounding down the hall and body slammed my bedroom door open then proceded to eat me alive from my left foot upward.

Legs and arms flailing, I tried desperately to fight off the beast without waking the neighbourhood as giant puppy paws rained down on my head. I sat bolt upright as an enormous tongue was thrust up my nostril, leaving me wide awake and kinda in a bad mood.

I shoved the furball down off my bed and gave her the obligatory morning pats which she normally demands of me while I'm still half asleep on the loo.

Mission accomplished, she races down the hall to maul her older furry sister Sabrina. Commotion breaks out as she is woken from her divine doggy sleep by this moronic dufus chewing on her head. The pup is certainly in for a short life. My only dilemma is I want to be the one who ends it but Sabi is certainly looking to be a good contender for the lynching stakes.

I decided to attempt the unthinkable and take the 2 of them walking together (a feat yet to be attempted in my household without the aid of my daughter and a pocket tazer for the pup). I drag my sorry backside out of bed, cough up the obligatory lung for the day as a reminder, Yes Lis, you do have a chest infection which could bring down a donkey, then made my way to the lead cupboard which is affectionately referred to in our house as The Saddlery.

All hell breaks loose as the two of them realise it's their lucky morning. The front hall is filled with bumbling masses of black and tan dufuses, each fighting for pole position to get out the door. You're an idiot, you know that, I hear in the back of my head.

Yes.... Yes I am...

As a precautionary measure against the inevitable lead pulling from the youngest member of the sled team, I bring out the Halti head harness which to date, she is completely unfamiliar with. I place it on her face, then the fun began.

We headed out the door, a walking circus of yelping, boisterous canines, each more determined than the other to get just that extra nose length in front of her sister. We turn the corner to leave the property when we spot the dear old lady from up the road with her ever-so demure Cocker Spaniel in tow. Horror washes over her face as she sees what she perceives as impending doggy doom heading straight her way.

I smile and tell her not to be afraid. "It's just their early morning sillies they're trying to shake out and they're really quite friendly dogs". Yeah, right! I see on her startled face. She crosses the road to avoid the commotion and we continue on our way, Sabrina singing her heart out as we go, Piper chewing on her neck.

We stop at the pedestrian lights to cross the road (well, duh Lis..). I look over and see a middle-aged business man on the opposite side, waiting to cross. In one impressive hand gesture, I sit the dogs in an attempt to show him that yes, we do go to doggy school. The green man appears and we both start walking to the median strip where we wait for the next green man to allow us to part company.

The commotion begins again. Piper and Sabrina fighting for the unconfirmed attention of this man, both wanting the first pat. He steps back in horror, contemplating his options - walk out in oncoming traffic or stay with these nutters.

"I'm not scared of dogs!" he shrieks. "I'm really not!"

Yes sir, who are you trying to convince here?

"That's great, because they're really quite harmless. They just look scary". He goes to say something in reply when the green man makes his appearance and he races off across the road. Nice work dogs. At this rate, we'll have half the neighbourhood thinking the Hounds of Baskerville are on the loose.

Our walk continues this way with the same routine, horror filled faces, me smiling stupidly, me trying to explain in 10 words or less why they shouldn't be afraid. The same thought which occupies my head on our daily walks comes racing back... I'll bet my right butt cheek that if these two were little Maltese step-ons, this wouldn't be an issue...

Now readers. I'm going to share some German Shepherd tips. I know they had a bad rap back in the 70s and even as recent as the 80s. I know they can kinda look scary to the untrained eye and they are kinda, well... big, but seriously, they're no different from any other dog. They're just in different suits.

Sheps have different barks. If you watch Jim Belushi's K9 series, you'll know what I mean. They're very vocal dogs. My eldest for instance likes to 'sing' for the first 10 minutes of her walk. Embarrassing? Yes. Savage? No. Sheps sing. That's what they do. They also mutter, mumble, grunt and groan. Some just like to do it more often than others.

So how do I know when to be worried with a shep, I hear you ask? Well, the answer is simple. If the ears are back, their body language is crouched and they look ready to run, if you see their front teeth, their lip is curled or you hear a growl, move on and leave the grumpus malumpus alone. If their ears are up and their big woolly tail is swooshing, tongue hanging out, all is good.

Now, as with any breed of dog, I'm not suggesting you go up and pat any Tom, Dick or Harriet's shep you may see in the street. Always ask permission to do so and generally you will be met with a lot of appreciation from the owner for not running off down the street screaming like the last passer-by did.

And thus endeth the sermon....

Long time, no post, I know!
Lots has been happening here.
I'll get the sad part over and done with first. On the 31st of August, my best friend Mr Badge passed away in my arms at the ripe old age of 16. I'll miss him for the rest of my days but I have no sadness that he passed away when he did. He went so peacefully and left no memories of suffering or pain with us at all. Our other 'baby' Sabrina misses him dearly and I worry about her a lot.
On a more exciting note, we're getting another German Shepherd puppy in 2 weeks time. Her name Piper and is now 5 weeks old. We just love receiving photos from the breeder every few days and the news that she's coming home so soon has been the most wonderful surprise.

Been hard at work with the business but feel I'm constantly pushing doo-doo up hill most days. I love the freedom of being my own boss but my god is it long hours and hard work!
I've been doing relief work at my friend's mortgage broking business and am enjoying the extra dollars in the pocket which are going toward paying for our young Piper.

The love life is still pretty non-existent. I've been dating and meeting new prospects with no real success. In the meantime, I still continue to retain my hope that I'll find true love one day! I dream of the day that I've found my soulmate and can settle into being dull and content and in love. How wonderful that must be.

I decided to drop by on my blog for the first time in a wee while and read and reflected.
My impulse reaction was to delete the posts from the start of this year and pretend to myself that James never happened, that he's not hurt my heart.
I won't do this as I don't wish to look back on him as the one who hurt me. I choose to look back on him as the one who showed me I'm worthy of love. That I am as sexy and desirable as the next woman and that I am capable of falling in love without fear.
I've asked myself why I allowed myself to fall for someone without guardedness, fear or suspicion. I choose not to follow up these questions as I have no regrets.
I am worthy of and will find love again. I'll find that one person whose touch lasts a lifetime. There will be someone else who I can't wait to see again, who I run out into the drive for like a young schoolgirl when he arrives.
It's all good.

A feather in my cap

My spiritual journey I have chosen to follow leads me to take stock each day of the things I'm proud of and grateful for. Today, my heart is overwhelmingly filled with the pride I have for the six fantastic girls I coach in basketball.
Some of the best highlights of my week are when I go to training and games to see my girls play and to see how they've grown with their skills this year. I often find myself sitting back and looking at them on the court and am filled with so much happiness.
They have gone from bottom of the ladder without a win last season with their last coach, now this season, we are 2nd on the ladder and have only one loss to our record which is so fantastic. To see how their confidence has grown is great! And just quietly, I get a lot out of this myself and feel such a great sense of satisfaction and achievement to be able to quietly say to myself "I did that!"
Our girls are playing the top team tomorrow and at this late stage, we're playing with 4 players which is a bit of a worry. I've been asking the Goddess to provide me with a replacement player who will bring us over the line to a win with this team! How thrilling would that be if we did!!

Feeling a little fragile

Sometimes the Goddess deals things my way which I've never been able to explain.
My beautiful daughter's brittle bones is one of those such things.
I don't think I'm angry at her for giving my baby this thing but days like today, I feel full of despair with lots of "Why my daughter???"
I can cope with knowing that I have OI and am ready and able to take on any of the challenges life deals me with it. Why Sarah though??
We've spent the day once again at the Children's Hospital in Melbourne getting this awful infusion pumped into her. I don't know why but I always feel so drained afterward and find that I fall in a heap for a few days after every infusion. Poor James had me swinging by his work on the way home today and throwing myself into his arms crying on his shoulder.
I don't think he understands the space I'm in - nor should I expect him to understand as he is so lucky enough not to have had a child with any lasting sickness/illness.
I feel quite alone with this today and want to curl up in bed and sleep the rest of the day away. Unfortunately, I have basketball to coach this afternoon as well as parent/teacher interviews to attend so curling up and forgetting the world today doesn't seem an option!

*sigh* Tomorrow is another day...

Me and my baby

We went out to Melbourne Docklands last Saturday night and had a wonderful seafood dinner and sat drowning in eachother's eyes all night. SO very disgustingly cute lol.

I'm feeling just awful tonight.
My gorgeous man came over to spend the night here and on his way over, I discovered my daughter had some wee creatures in her hair (argh!) so when he got here, I said we had to pop over to the chemist to get some shampoo for her hair.
I grabbed my keys so we could go in my car but he insisted on going in his car which is a gorgeous, brand new Audi.
We got there and parked in the carpark, I ran in got the stuff and we went to back out to leave.
That's when it all went to hell...
There was a god awful crunch coming from the front of his car so we stopped and got out. There was a concrete 'bumper' on the ground in front of the kerb (what is the point of them anyway???) and the car had gotten stuck on it and he's ripped the whole front of his car to bits, right up to the bonnet, right back to the side guards. There was a horrible grinding sound when he turned the wheel as well.
I cannot believe how much damage it has caused.
The poor darling kept his cool and drove us home. We sat on the couch and I tried to take his mind off things. He tried his best to put it aside and enjoy the evening but he just couldn't. I asked him if he prefer to be home at his place and that I'd understand if he did want to. Initially, he said no but after a while he said it would probably be best if he did go and head over to his brother's house and try to fix it up a bit. I feel just awful and in one way, feel that if it weren't for me, we wouldn't have gone out and it wouldn't have happened. In another way, I know it's nobody's fault really.
His calm reaction to what happened has just strengthened the way I feel for him. Years ago, I would have been shaking in terror, bracing myself for hell to break loose with my ex if this had happened. Not once did he raise his voice, lose his temper, didn't even drop an obscenity (I certainly would have!)
I've not heard from him tonight since he's left but will leave him be so he can get his head around it. Poor darling.