I fly to the moon, I shrink the moon, I sit on the toilet bowl....what?

Last weekend our larger neighborhood of 4S ranch was having a movie showing in the park and we took the Tichy's. It was Despicable Me and I freakin' love that movie. Nothing better than sitting outside under the stars, snuggled in a blanket enjoying a flick - nicely played. Rob looks really far away from us in this photo and I love how Zoe is looking at us like we're dorks...guess she knows us pretty well. :)

Puppy report...

Well, G had his surgery on Tuesday. It actually was a good success and for that we're so grateful. The vet said he had literally NO ACL left, so poor sweet boy was hobbling on a knee that was bone on bone! I'm so glad we went ahead and had it done. The recovery had been pretty rough, 2 sleepless nights for us with an uncomfortable little boy who unfortunately is on a hunger strike. No food = no pills = unhappy puppy + parents. But, we crammed some in him today with peanut butter (who knew he would ever turn THAT down?) and I'm hoping we can get his pain under control.

Next steps: a week with this lovely "superhero" star cast, then another week + of sutures and then he starts some gradual stretching and physical therapy. For now every time we take him out, we have to put a baggy on his leg so he doesn't get his cast wet - he tries to step out of it, we follow him dragging the bag the whole time...it's a mess and sometimes we just have to laugh.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, this has been very nerve-wracking and we're hopeful the worst is behind us! Much puppy love right back atcha -

I promise not to get all snarky on you...

...but, we're STILL landscaping. Yup. The latest and greatest "for sure I promise you" final deadline was supposed to be last Friday. But now supposedly it's tomorrow. You all ready to hold your breath with us? haha! Oops, that was slightly snarky. But can you blame a girl?

But on a non-snarky note, the rest of our backyard furniture was delivered and it looks glorious!!! Galileo has already claimed the double-chaise lounger for himself. Let's be honest, home boy could use a tan so I'm glad he's taking advantage of the rays.
He did let me join him for a snuggle, however. I plan to take plenty of naps out here:By the way that little tree next to us is a Plumeria tree we bought at the fair - I absolutely love Plumerias in Hawaii so we're going to try our best to grow one here. Here's hoping!

And around the BBQ we got some matching stools - love it! Who's coming over for a steak?

And "aerial" shot of the BBQ with the new chairs and lounger: Soooo exciting!!!!! We truly are so close, the landscape lighting got finalized today and we got some rose bushes planted. I snark because I love.

And on to more fun news...goodbye hair!

I did it! After a year of thinking about it and researching donation options (clearly this girl does NOT move fast on any big decision, haha!) I finally took the plunge and chopped off all my hair. A full 12 inches is on its way to Locks of Love and I'm absolutely thrilled! I love the outcome, my head feels about 2 pounds lighter and I look even more ditsy now when I walk since I"m doing the bobble-head thing. :) I'm also super stoked to have a cooler (temperature-wise, I'm not that vain, sheesh!) 'do for the summer, my long hair was getting to be sooooo hot!

But most of all, I'm so thrilled to get to donate my hair. I hope some little girl becomes so happy when she gets her "Bethie" wig :)

So, enough of the blah-blah, here's the outcome:

Just to remind you what I looked like before :)

And drum roll please......after:
Yippie!

Update to aging sucks

Well, I guess it's good news/bad news. We've learned why Galileo has been limping so much and the answer is.....ACL tear. Poor buddy! No wonder he can't put any weight on it! We feel just awful for him and it saddens our hearts to have to make him go through yet another surgery.

And yet at the same time I think we're both relieved it's something tangible and fixable - his prognosis should actually be pretty decent although he still will have the underlying arthritis issue of course. But even if he can hobble around the beach again like old men are prone to do, I'd say surgery will be well-worth it.

So keep our sweet little guy in your prayers next Thursday the 28th when he goes in for surgery, he needs all the good thoughts he can have as he heads in! Much love, and thanks to all of you for your calls/emails...we've definitely needed the support and we're so grateful. xoxo

I hate aging.

Not in me, so much. I generally like where I'm at - love my 30's in fact. I'm talking about Galileo. It has been so incredibly tough to watch him age - this year in particular seems to have brought the most significant and drastic changes.

He has been hobbling on and off for the last several months and our vet suggested he has Arthritis...so now the old guy's food prep is like a 7 course meal for royalty. Home boy gets Glucosamine, a thyroid pill, 2 different types of allergy-free foods, no-salt (for making him thirsty so he drinks more water to prevent more bladder stones), and fish oil and water. It's like a 10 minute process, good thing we adore him so much :)

It doesn't seem to be helping his hobbling though, he now is walking on 3 legs most of the time, so back to the vet we go tomorrow. Oh, and poor buddy is currently a Beldar Conehead (again) - when we were in Hawaii he started sucking his thumb, so to speak, and nervously bit at one of his old guy bumps on his leg. It got worse and worse so we had to get it removed. Our poor buddy has been such a medical conundrum...he's like the Billion Dollar doggy at this point. It's amazing how I can help people in crisis every dang day and yet watching my sweet boy in pain is the worst and I'm reduced to a blubbering mess. Quite effective, I realize this.

Anyhoo, here's some cute little pics of him post-surgery. When he's trying to be comforted, he likes tiny little spaces so he crawled under the bookshelf commando-style for this priceless gem:
and here's the conehead look of "why did you do this to me, Mama?" (btw, this look is very effective, I can't even tell you the amount of guilt-snuggles and treats he's gotten in the last several months)
Man, I love this little guy! Please send your prayers and good thoughts for his healing, I'm simply not prepared for him to age. I vote no.

4th fun!

We had a nice, low-key 4th with friends at Aaron and Mo's pool and house - it was a fabulous day. Not much to report on, just some random shots to enjoy:

Pool time!

Karen and I love to make out on the 4th:
Bennett and I playing "shark":
Fun with the underwater camera:



Those adorable babies (and babes):Kicking it: A sight to behold: Kevin hanging out with the kids. Alone. Fantastic: Hope everybody had a fabulous 4th!

We finally bust out the BBQ...

and it was delicious! Our backyard is still not done - but at least the BBQ is up and running and that gets us through!

Here's the BBQ master (and assistant) at work...

They also sealed the slate so it looks so dark and glossy now, it's gorgeous!




We painted the white fireplace brown, it looks way better!

And one more shot of the fountain:

and a hysterical fountain video, cracked me up!

Nope, not done.

I know this is going to come to a shock, it certainly did (NOT) to us, but our landscaper is not done today. Despite this being the 3rd "end date" he swore to. But don't let the bold fool you. We're not bitter (yes we are).

But, I am happy to report, we have a working fountain! Ain't she purty?

It's so hot today I'm tempted to get in. Standing up and hunching over, but in nonetheless.

Stay tuned for more (mis)adventures of our trusty landscaping. He assures us we're actually fairly close, just need to complete the sprinklers, lighting, seal the tile and slate, build the arbor, build the lattice, plant more trees.... ok, we're not close.

*sigh*