Biker Mannings!

There is a problem with our camera...we keep not using it!  Again, I will post without pictures.  The alternative is NOT posting, which has been the route I have taken often in the last days!  BUSY times!

Two weekend events:  Saturday, we brought home a foster dog...thanks SO much to my friend Lindsay...Ah hem...  She called me to come up and see a dog she was considering to foster or adopt from the rescue we work with.  Charles had the girls downtown at the childrens museum all day...BIG hit with BOTH of them.  So...I was home, cleaning as usual.  I agreed to run up there to see the dog for a "few minutes"  A couple hours later, WE came home with a dog...Lindsay did NOT...  Again I say...Ah hem.....

This beautiful creature's story just tore my heart out.  She was taken from her owners who had put a collar on her when she was a puppy and never bothered to adjust or replace it as she grew.  The collar got embedded into the skin of her neck.  Our rescue friend, Beth, had to take her to have the collar SURGICALLY removed.  The owners should be fined and jailed!  They got off with NOTHING.  Sickens me.  Somehow, this dog is gorgeous, healthy, loving and as friendly as can be.  She is truly grateful that someone saved her.  She appears to be a pure Carolina, which I had never heard of.  You can google Carolina dog to see one.  She is a solid tan beauty.  The big part is that Kennedy got to help decide to bring her home for a trial, and she was SO happy!!!  We will see how it goes, then decide if we will foster her until she finds a family...or if WE are her family.  So far, she is doing great!  I THINK we are going to call her Zoe.  We thought Caroline might be good since she is a Carolina, but Kennedy and Mia REALLY want to call her Zoe.  It seems to fit.  Beth was calling her Helga, but we nixed that! 

Second:  We got Kennedy a bike today.  She was SO excited!  We had to unpack groceries and Charles had to prep for the stir-fry dinner he is making for all his girls tonight, so they had to wait to go riding.  Kennedy was walking around the house saying "BICYCLE" quietly to herself, just waiting in anticipation!   A few minutes ago, Charles and the girls took off for a ride.  I am petrified that Mia will come back injured, so pray she does NOT!  WOW!  Right as I typed that, Charles called to say everyone is remaining upright and it is going well so far!!! 

Kennedy has come a LONG way in the last 2 weeks.  Beth commented at the rescue site that her English was getting good.  She IS using lots more.  She is calling us mom and dad on her own, and she is playing around and happy most of the time.  The unfortunate news is that with looming teacher layoffs and possible pay cuts, we had to cancel our plans to vacation with the Kennedy family in July.  (Most of you will recall that they are the reason we found out about our Kennedy when they adopted her best friend who they named Kaui.  We named Kennedy after them!) It could be as late as August before jobs are certain, and we can not afford to spend money like that.  I have not told Kennedy yet, and will probably wait until school is out to do that.  We are working on the taxes that will include the adoption credit and plan to pay down as much of the adoption debt as possible with every penny.  If we lost my salary, we would not be able to stay in our house, so please keep that in your prayers.

Man, that happy paragraph ended in a big ole' downer.  Sorry.


Anyway, laundry is calling...AGAIN, so I will end this post!  And Lindsay...again I say THANKS!!!!  ;)