It's a good thing she is cute

Bless her heart...she does have a sweet face. This is a good thing because sometimes I think the lights are on but nobody is home. Stryker, by comparison is an Einstein of the canine world. Is it possible for a Rottie to be blonde? If so, then Schatzi is one. Not just a blonde but a dumb one. Sweet but stupid. I know, I know...she is young, she will learn and it is just wrong to lable her as a dummy. However.....she still doesnt know her name ( of course I call her many things....Schnitzel, Saurkraut and Liverwurst among them, so maybe she is just confused ), goes potty whenever, whereever she pleases ( then runs like the dickens to the garage where she SHOULD go if she cant get outside ), has decided kleenex and toilet paper are tasty treats, loves carrying my shoes around - she doesnt eat them, just makes sure I can only ever find one shoe of any pair....

The list is long but she is undeniably sweet. Sigh. Why in the world did I think I needed another dog??? This I do know...there will be no baby Rotties from these two. Just the thought of a dozen puppies makes me shudder.

It's only money...

There came a time, several years ago, when we decided that instead of giving presents on Christmas and birthdays we would give cash. Ok...checks actually but not gifts, per se. And at that time it was a good thing to do. Some of the kids and grands lived so far away that postage on said gifts would have been as expensive as whatever we sent.

This has worked well...until now. We are coming to the end of active earning years and the grandkidlets just keep coming with no end in sight (11 and 12 are due this summer/fall). It makes me very sad to think that we won't be able to "give" the way we used to but the reality is that we can't. I guess what I fear is the resentment or anger that might be leveled at us since cash cow has been our role for so long. And this is my fault. Need something ? Call mom.

I dont know why I have enabled so many for so long. We certainly didnt depend on our parents to provide trips or gifts or clothes....they did give to our children but we were the primary providers. I feel like a miserable failure, something familiar to me as I have failed in spectacular fashion, repeatedly, as a parent.
And I dont know how to fix this....

Guess I could win a few hundred million in the lottery....too bad I dont gamble.

Has spring sprung ?

Nope.
I went to Oregon for two weeks to meet the newest grandkidlet, Jacob John Wyman. What a cutie!!! He is a little guy but strong and loud : )

I had hoped the weather there would be warmer than Angel Fire but ( rolling eyes ) they got snow. And its a "wet cold" so it feels colder than here at home even though the thermometer says otherwise.

The day I got home ( April 2nd ) I drove into a whiteout. Visibility down to a few feet and slip sliding all the way. Actually went off the road twice...grateful we left the sand bag in the back as I am sure it helped with what little traction the car had. All told we got 18-20 inches of the white stuff. Have I mentioned I am sick of snow? No? I AM SICK OF SNOW. It's not just the snow...its the ice when it partially melts and the muck when it finally does melt.

We did get the tulips and hydrangas into the ground just before the first frost and several of them have poked tenative leaves above the mulch. Then yesterday it snowed again...only 4 or 5 inches this time. Hoping they didn't freeze and die....sigh. I guess time will tell.

We dont really get "spring" as such.....we have mud season. The dogs dont mind ( either the mud or me ) but it gets tiring when there are 20 paws tracking the great outdoors inside: leaves, twigs and assorted things I cannot identify. I have never given the poms seriously short coats but this year they may look like Mexican Hairless when I am done with them. Guess I have to wait till the snow stops since I dont want Pom-cicles but once it warms up the shears are going to fly and so will the fur.